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Board: Mimi wo sumaseba (1995)

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baneneko ?
  by - hgonzalez-3 (Thu Jul 28 2005 04:37:23 )
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UPDATED Thu Jul 28 2005 04:41:00

Another question to those lucky ones who understand japanese.
From the english script:
http://nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mimi/script_mimi_en.txt

(Shizuku speaks to the cat, in front of the closed shop)

Shizuku: Do you live here? You're not going hungry?
Shizuku: You're not very sweet either, are you?
Shizuku: Just like me...
Shizuku: Why do we change, I wonder? Like me... Even though I was always
such a meek, gentle girl. Reading books, too... I don't get excited like I
used to. Right away, you know, something inside says, "It's not likely
things would work out this well." Not very sweet...

I somehow feel that the translation could be better.
But the question is specifically about another line: A little later:

Shizuku: .... And there was this wonderful shop here,
right? It was like being in a story, (Seigi turns red here... why?)
I was all excited. I said something
bad. I told Moon he wasn't very sweet. Just like me.
Seigi: Moon, like you? You're not alike at all!
Seigi: That cat is half goblin. (bakeneko)
Seigi: And you ... (these last words, before the "speak collision", is not
in the english script, but in a spanish one i have)
(Here both get a little embarrased)

Now, what does that line "That cat is half goblin" implies ?
What is a "bakeneko" ? I'd suspected that the words carries
some implication of ugliness and/or evilness (and that's because,
saying that "the cat is not at all like you" would imply some sort
of compliment).

Re: baneneko ?
  by - excel99 (Thu Jul 28 2005 06:28:14 )
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'bake' (or 'obake') is a blanket term for ghosts, monsters, phantoms, goblins, etc. 'Neko' means cat. He seems to imply that the cat is 'strange,' which in Japanese is never a compliment. I don't think he's saying the cat is scary or dangerous. Just odd.

After exclaming, 'You're not at all like the cat!' he feels embarrassed because he thinks Shizuku might realize he likes her. So he offers up an explanation for how the cat is different. But the explanation itself implies that he thinks highly of her.
Re: baneneko ?
  by - marsodyssey2010 (Fri Aug 5 2005 08:32:27 )
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You're half right. A bakeneko is actually a shape shifter in Japanese mythology.

In Japan it is believed that if a cat becomes very old then it can become a magic shapeshifting cat that likes to play tricks on humans. The most accurate translation would be goblin or trickster. It is the Japanese equivelant of an elf that likes to play jokes on people in western myths (sort of like Puck from a midsummer nights dream) or a wolf that can take on other forms to lure hunters to their doom in Indian myths.

Amasawa is saying that that the cat just uses people, it runs around the neighborhood and tricks people into giving him food by playing house with them. By saying that Tsukishima is not like the Moon, he is saying that she is genuininly kind and warm, not like Moon who just pretends to be to get food.

English Language Anime: Dub it, don't pervert it.
 
 


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