Howdy?
I've spent the past few weeks (months) indulging in more manga and anime, all while trying to maintain real-life social connections, work responsibilities, and health/self-improvement initiatives.
I've been hanging out in Reddit lately--something I never imagined doing--and I'm actually enjoying it? Blame Shingeki no Kyojin discussions for luring me in. Now I'm following and engaging in discussions about some of my top manga/anime series: Code Geass, Nana, Shingeki, Horimiya.
Anyway, I only wrote here because I've come to appreciate having a deeper understanding of Japanese thanks to my online classes.
I was listening to a song while doing a report for work when I heard the word 'sae' once again. (さえ particle - even, just, if only, as long as) I remember being particularly bothered by this word when I read NANA because it was used in one of Takumi's dialogues that shed light on his true feelings. But I couldn't for the life of me understand how to interpret how the word was used.
Now that I understand it a little better, I read the dialogue again and I was surprised at how much weight that one sentence had on how he viewed all his relationships.
The dialogue in question:
Ren: どーせおまえは地獄行きなんだしこーなった以上一緒に連れてってやれよ。(Douse omae wa jigoku iki nan dashi kou natta ijou issho ni tsuretette yare yo.)
Takumi: 言われなくても連れてくよ。おまえもナオキもマリちゃんも全員道連れにしてやる！おれはもう菜々と皐さえ無事に生きのびてくれればいいよ… (Iwarenakute mo tsureteku yo. Omae mo Naoki mo Mari-chan mo zenin michidzure ni shite yaru! Ore wa mou Nana to Satsuki sae buji ni ikinobite kurereba ii yo...)
Roughly translated, Ren is saying to Takumi, if you're going to hell anyway, might as well take (Reira) with you. Takumi snaps back at him and says, 'I'd take (her) with me even if you don't tell me to do so. I'll take you, Naoki, Mari-chan, all of you with me (to hell). Never mind me - I'm okay as long as Nana and Satsuki continue to live a good life.
The original English translated the Nana and Satsuki part as "I just want Nana and Satsuki to be kept out of this." (As in, 'I'm fine with taking all of you to hell as long as Nana and Satsuki don't get dragged to hell with me.') While this translation isn't entirely wrong and does a good job of keeping the flow of conversation smooth, I find it lacking. It doesn't express the intensity of Takumi's emotions in that moment.
A better interpretation, in my opinion, is this: I don't give a damn about what happens to me or to any of you anymore (not even Reira because this whole dialogue started with Ren suggesting Takumi take Reira to hell with him)--I'll take all of you to hell with me. As long as (I can be assured that) Nana and Satsuki continue to live a good life, then it's okay.
So, in that moment, Takumi stopped treating Reira like a treasured item--something that he's been doing since they were younger. In essence, Nana and Satsuki started surpassing Reira (and Trapnest) in Takumi's hierarchy of priorities. How this change of perspective and priority will affect Takumi's actions and behavior towards people and work in the future remains to be seen though.
Edit 15.04.2022 - More than a year later but I just have to add something to this now that my Japanese has progressed (& my English has degraded lol).
Before we move on to the analysis, I need to explain a bit of grammar.
Aside from sae, we need to pay attention to Takumi's use of kurereba. Kurereba is the "if" form of the word kureru which means to receive. But this word, in particular, is special because it highlights the giver instead of the receiver (i.e. A gave me something vs I was given something by A), and it is mostly used to show gratitude to the giver. This can also be used on non-living things (i.e. events) - as long as the person receives anything deemed valuable to him/her, s/he can use kureru to express that they received something and are grateful for it.
Why is that important? This is because it shows us what Takumi receives and who or what gives it. Let's look at the phrase again and break it down bit by bit:
Takumi: 言われなくても連れてくよ。おまえもナオキもマリちゃんも全員道連れにしてやる！おれはもう菜々と皐さえ無事に生きのびてくれればいいよ… (Iwarenakute mo tsureteku yo. Omae mo Naoki mo Mari-chan mo zenin michidzure ni shite yaru! Ore wa mou Nana to Satsuki sae buji ni ikinobite kurereba ii yo...)
言われなくても連れてくよ (Iwarenakute mo tsureteku yo.) - I'll take (Reira) even if you don't tell me (to do so).
おまえもナオキもマリちゃんも全員道連れにしてやる！(Omae mo Naoki mo Mari-chan mo zenin michidzure ni shite yaru!) - I'll also take everyone-you, Naoki, and Mari-chan (with me to hell).
おれはもう菜々と皐さえ無事に生きのびてくれればいいよ… (Ore wa mou Nana to Satsuki sae buji ni ikinobite kurereba ii yo...) - For me, as long as (doing this will allow) just Nana and Satsuki to continue to live peacefully, then I'm fine (with doing it)...
The last sentence is a bit hard to translate because it just doesn't translate well in English. I previously highlighted Takumi's use of sae - that is to specifically highlight Hachi and Satsuki in his dialogue; how he only wants the two of them to live peacefully. But I also need to highlight the word buji. It can, quite literally, be translated as without incident, but is mostly used in the context of safe. So to say buji ni ikinobite means to continue living safely or without incident.
Now let's go back to kurereba. Here we see Takumi showing some sort of gratitude by using kurereba, but gratitude for what and for whom? When you read the sentence as a whole, you get to see that the object of the sentence, the thing that Takumi receives, is "Nana to Satsuki sae buji ni ikinobite (just Nana and Satsuki to continue to live peacefully)." Remember that kurereba is the if form, so he's saying that if this condition is fulfilled, ii yo (it/I'm fine).
Who or what is the giver then? Who or what helps fulfill that condition so much so that he feels grateful for it? The thing with Japanese is that it's a context-heavy language and so much of the sentence is omitted or implied (as you can infer from all the parentheses I added in my translation). Takumi no longer mentioned the giver in this sentence because it's already implied and has been the topic of this conversation all throughout: it's him going to hell and dragging everyone with him.
To put it simply and reinforce what I stated in my earlier analysis, Takumi is saying that for him, he is fine doing things that will lead him to hell and will drag all the people he mentioned above (including Reira) with him if and only if it will aid in giving Nana and Satsuki, specifically, an incident-free life.
This shifts the highlight and the purpose of his actions to Nana and Satsuki and shows us, readers, how his priorities have shifted. The purpose of his actions... the reason why he does things is no longer Trapnest or Reira. It's now Nana and Satsuki.