Fruits Basket vol. 12 (Tokyopop version)
Furuba vol. 12 is in my hands. ^^ Here's a sign of true love--I'm so excited about having it, despite having it in Japanese and having read two translations, that it makes up for nothing else being in (no Death Note 2, no Hot Gimmick, no NANA . . . ). This is one of my four favorite volumes in the series (8, 12, 14, and 18). And the "in the next volume" page confirms the April release date for vol. 13. >.< I dread to think how long it'll be before 14 comes out.
First off, whoever is writing the character bios at the beginning of each volume needs shooting. Starting Rin's off with "[s]he has the hots for Shigure" almost made me shriek. *coughs* Moving right along . . .
Tokyopop is still having trouble with some of the characters' names for each other--we've got another instance of Yuki addressing Tohru by her given name (*smacks*), and at the end Shigure is calling Haru "Haru-kun" instead of "Ha-kun". Honestly, you'd think that would be the *easy* part. >.>
Ayame is just fabulous in print. I keep forgetting, because I really didn't like him much in the anime, but then he shows up and I just die laughing at his outrageousness and everyone's reactions to him. *grins* Poor Yuki.
All of Rin's material is really interesting--there's her whole section with Yuki and Haru, but the little touches in other scenes are very nice. I love Kunimitsu's reaction to her abrupt appearance at Kazuma's (I think more than anything else, *that* was what tipped me off originally that she's spent a lot of time there. His total resignation over her behavior is adorable), and I like that despite her being so bitchy to Tohru, we later see that she took enough notice of Tohru's injury to ask Shigure about it.
And while I really don't like that the character bios are making assumptions, Takaya-sensei certainly is going out of her way to create a disturbing vibe between Rin and Shigure. It's not so much the almost-kiss between them in vol. 9 (which isn't so disturbing until its explanation finally comes), but the one page between them in this volume is . . . I can't quite name what it makes me feel. The way she's sitting against his chair is both vulnerable and wary, and somehow the fact that she's barefoot unsettles me--partly because she leaves her shoes on at other times, partly because that outfit without the boots would look completely different. I think the feeling I get from it is that she's still laying herself bare to him, even though by now she has to know she shouldn't. It *does* give those few panels a faintly sexual sense, and not the same kinda-on-equal-footing variety that vol. 9 suggested.
I was reminded last night that I believe firmly that Shigure's behavior is responsible for the severity of what Rin's been through, and I'm pretty sure he knows it, if she doesn't. I wonder how that affects his view of her--that strange mix of fondness for a child he was (or seemed to be) close to, and the secrets he knows about her, and the fact that (if nothing else) she forced him to be aware of her as a 'sexual being', even if he wasn't actually interested. (And, of course, his total lack of respect for her feeble attempts at strategy. ^^)
For some reason, translating Rin's final snarl at Yuki as "you piece of shit!" instead of "bastard!" bugs me, mostly when Haru echoes it. His whole response in this version is really clunky--it feels to me like Tokyopop is pulling half of it out of thin air. Shadow's translation says, "'Bastard', huh? It's not nice calling someone a bastard", and Tokyopop's says, "Come on now, he's not as bad as that. It's not nice calling people pieces of shit". *examines Japanese edition* The first part says "'kusottare (or kusotsutare--I can't tell for sure if that's a small 'tsu' or not) wa dou ka na", but my Japanese doesn't go beyond sounding it out . . . anyway, looks to me like Tokyopop totally invented that first line. (But maybe their translation of her actual name-calling is accurate? Does "kuso" literally mean "shit", or is it an unrelated expletive that coincidentally gets translated that way sometimes?) Anyway, to me their invented line doesn't read AT ALL like something Haru would say.
Haru and Rin's scene in ch. 70 has a significant line translated yet *another* way--a line or two before she slaps him, Tokyopop says, "I thought I understood everything about you, Rin. But maybe I got so complacent that I failed to hear you calling out to me when you needed me most?" (Interesting in light of ch. 105.) Shadow's is, "I intended to try and understand everything about you. Did I--did I miss your greatest cry?" And the scanlation's is, "Everyone meant to understand you, and yet, that most precious voice, did I miss it?" (which sounds lovely, but doesn't hang together very well). I'm wondering if the "complacent" part is an invention as well . . .
[EDIT: notes on the translation in the comments. ^_^]
There's a progression in Haru in this volume that I'd noticed before: when he and Yuki are talking about Rin before all this happens, he mentions that he's starting to think she might have meant what she said when she broke up with him, and that he's only beginning to realize how deeply it's hurt him. Then later, after he kisses her and she slaps him, he says he's "seeing things more clearly" (which is beautifully ambiguous when phrased that way--Tokyopop's "I'm really starting to come to my senses" has a very different connotation, and I think it runs against what we know about his thought process). After this, he starts being active towards her again, breaking out of the passiveness that had been settling in. Given that, I think the line clearly refers to the fact that she completely melted in his arms, rather than the slap.
I love that Rin's a horrible liar. Her entire façade is built on her "poison tongue" (I do like that part of the translation), not on any ability to lie with a straight face--the second she loses momentum, she's a goner. (That kiss will never stop making me swoon. *stares at icon*) She's so little and vicious and obviously *pissed* at her inability to resist Haru. *^^* I even adore the scene where she makes Yuki cry, because it shows off so much about her--that she lashes out when she's cornered, and is much more effective at using the truth as a weapon than she is at lying. (It certainly won't help her reputation with the fanpoodles, though.)
And oh, the parent-teacher session with Shigure and Mayuko is just wonderful.
Why isn't *everyone* reading this series? *_*
First off, whoever is writing the character bios at the beginning of each volume needs shooting. Starting Rin's off with "[s]he has the hots for Shigure" almost made me shriek. *coughs* Moving right along . . .
Tokyopop is still having trouble with some of the characters' names for each other--we've got another instance of Yuki addressing Tohru by her given name (*smacks*), and at the end Shigure is calling Haru "Haru-kun" instead of "Ha-kun". Honestly, you'd think that would be the *easy* part. >.>
Ayame is just fabulous in print. I keep forgetting, because I really didn't like him much in the anime, but then he shows up and I just die laughing at his outrageousness and everyone's reactions to him. *grins* Poor Yuki.
All of Rin's material is really interesting--there's her whole section with Yuki and Haru, but the little touches in other scenes are very nice. I love Kunimitsu's reaction to her abrupt appearance at Kazuma's (I think more than anything else, *that* was what tipped me off originally that she's spent a lot of time there. His total resignation over her behavior is adorable), and I like that despite her being so bitchy to Tohru, we later see that she took enough notice of Tohru's injury to ask Shigure about it.
And while I really don't like that the character bios are making assumptions, Takaya-sensei certainly is going out of her way to create a disturbing vibe between Rin and Shigure. It's not so much the almost-kiss between them in vol. 9 (which isn't so disturbing until its explanation finally comes), but the one page between them in this volume is . . . I can't quite name what it makes me feel. The way she's sitting against his chair is both vulnerable and wary, and somehow the fact that she's barefoot unsettles me--partly because she leaves her shoes on at other times, partly because that outfit without the boots would look completely different. I think the feeling I get from it is that she's still laying herself bare to him, even though by now she has to know she shouldn't. It *does* give those few panels a faintly sexual sense, and not the same kinda-on-equal-footing variety that vol. 9 suggested.
I was reminded last night that I believe firmly that Shigure's behavior is responsible for the severity of what Rin's been through, and I'm pretty sure he knows it, if she doesn't. I wonder how that affects his view of her--that strange mix of fondness for a child he was (or seemed to be) close to, and the secrets he knows about her, and the fact that (if nothing else) she forced him to be aware of her as a 'sexual being', even if he wasn't actually interested. (And, of course, his total lack of respect for her feeble attempts at strategy. ^^)
For some reason, translating Rin's final snarl at Yuki as "you piece of shit!" instead of "bastard!" bugs me, mostly when Haru echoes it. His whole response in this version is really clunky--it feels to me like Tokyopop is pulling half of it out of thin air. Shadow's translation says, "'Bastard', huh? It's not nice calling someone a bastard", and Tokyopop's says, "Come on now, he's not as bad as that. It's not nice calling people pieces of shit". *examines Japanese edition* The first part says "'kusottare (or kusotsutare--I can't tell for sure if that's a small 'tsu' or not) wa dou ka na", but my Japanese doesn't go beyond sounding it out . . . anyway, looks to me like Tokyopop totally invented that first line. (But maybe their translation of her actual name-calling is accurate? Does "kuso" literally mean "shit", or is it an unrelated expletive that coincidentally gets translated that way sometimes?) Anyway, to me their invented line doesn't read AT ALL like something Haru would say.
Haru and Rin's scene in ch. 70 has a significant line translated yet *another* way--a line or two before she slaps him, Tokyopop says, "I thought I understood everything about you, Rin. But maybe I got so complacent that I failed to hear you calling out to me when you needed me most?" (Interesting in light of ch. 105.) Shadow's is, "I intended to try and understand everything about you. Did I--did I miss your greatest cry?" And the scanlation's is, "Everyone meant to understand you, and yet, that most precious voice, did I miss it?" (which sounds lovely, but doesn't hang together very well). I'm wondering if the "complacent" part is an invention as well . . .
[EDIT: notes on the translation in the comments. ^_^]
There's a progression in Haru in this volume that I'd noticed before: when he and Yuki are talking about Rin before all this happens, he mentions that he's starting to think she might have meant what she said when she broke up with him, and that he's only beginning to realize how deeply it's hurt him. Then later, after he kisses her and she slaps him, he says he's "seeing things more clearly" (which is beautifully ambiguous when phrased that way--Tokyopop's "I'm really starting to come to my senses" has a very different connotation, and I think it runs against what we know about his thought process). After this, he starts being active towards her again, breaking out of the passiveness that had been settling in. Given that, I think the line clearly refers to the fact that she completely melted in his arms, rather than the slap.
I love that Rin's a horrible liar. Her entire façade is built on her "poison tongue" (I do like that part of the translation), not on any ability to lie with a straight face--the second she loses momentum, she's a goner. (That kiss will never stop making me swoon. *stares at icon*) She's so little and vicious and obviously *pissed* at her inability to resist Haru. *^^* I even adore the scene where she makes Yuki cry, because it shows off so much about her--that she lashes out when she's cornered, and is much more effective at using the truth as a weapon than she is at lying. (It certainly won't help her reputation with the fanpoodles, though.)
And oh, the parent-teacher session with Shigure and Mayuko is just wonderful.
Why isn't *everyone* reading this series? *_*