Volume 3: Rivals
Episode 10: We're Second Year Students!Bobbing Pigtails - Osaka is rubbing Chiyo's head with a pencil board. Because pencil boards are made of plastic, rubbing it against hair produces static eletricity, just like a balloon. This is why Chiyo's pigtails move with the pencil board.
While most anime fans are familiar with pencil boards (which are made as collectible items with pretty atwork on them) through anime merchandise, pencil boards were originally developed for a more practical purpose. They are meant to be placed between sheets of notebook paper so the imprint from writing on the paper does not make dents on the subsequent sheets of paper. Office supply stores will carry plain colored pencil boards to be used for this mundane purpose.
First Year Students Just the Other Day - Because the schol year begins and ends in spring, theere is only a couple of weeks between the end of the old school year and the beginning of the new school year.
Tomo With a Mustache - Tomo is dressed like the Japanese stereotype of an Inidan guy. This is because she has curry for lunch. (Although, after watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you think it's a French guy.)
Oishii Strawberries - This is a pun of sorts. Oishii means "tasty", but it is written using different Chinese characters to make it look like a brand name (like "Tropicana Oranges, for example). Boxes that were originally used for shipping fruit are often re-used.
Marco - Sakaki arrives at the name "Marco" because, in Japanese, to be round is Marui and ko means "child" or "little one'. "Marco" is a phonetic combination of those two words. Technially, however, the ko ending is generally reseved for girls' names.
Marcho Traveling 3,000 Leagues - Here, Sakaki is referring to Marco, 3,000 Leagues In Search of Mother, which, as part of the Nippon Animation Corperation's "World Masterpiece Theater", ran for 52 episodes in 1976. The series is based on a chapter from the novel Cuore (1886) by the Italian author Edomono de Amicis (1846-1908). The chapter, a story within a story entitled "Dagli Appennini Alle Ande" ("From the Apennines to the Andes), tells of a schoolboy's journey from Genova to Buenos Aires spurred by the cessation of letters from his mother, who had gone to South America to find work as a nurse.
The novel as a whole is written in the style of a schoolboy's diary. The author originally wrote it to instill appreciation in young boys for the recent national unification of Italy in 1870. In 1895, the book was translated into English as Heart and again four years later as Enrico's Schooldays. A treatment of the entire novel was animated in 1981 by Nippon Animation Studios.
Public Health Center - In Japan, public health centers deal with the overall health of the community it is in charge of. This includes managing illnesses and diseases as well as coping with pets. They offer pets up for adoption and process lost pet information, but they will also put down strays if nessecary, which is why Sakaki looks so horrifed.
Katana's Note: Tama the Kitty - "Tama" could possibly be a reference to Tama, the cat of Mitsukake in "Fushigi Yuugi". The two slightly resemble each other.
Baka - This is probably one of the best known Japanese words among anime fans. It means "idiot", "stupid", "fool", etc. In this case, Kagura resorts to using Japanese, because she doesn't know how to call someone an idiot in English.
Episode 11: Kagura and Sakaki
English Skills In Japan - Although English is taught in regular middle schools and high schools, the majority of Japanese are not fluent in English. This is because not all hihg schools may require English, especially in the more technical, career-oriented/vocational high schools (for students who don't intend to on to college). In addition, English is not necessarily required in college, so, after high school, many people gradually lose the English they learned.
Taking Physical Measurements At School - Japanese schools are generaly more involved in the health of their students and keep track of it regularly. This includes measuring height and weight. Measuring bust size, however, is probably not part of the usual practice at most schools.
Neco Coneco - (AKA, the worst mistake ADV made with Azumanga Daioh.) The white cat with the white kitten on top of its head is called "Neco Coneco" in the show. This is from the two Japanese words Neko meaning "cat" and koneko meaning "kitten". The English spelling of "Neco Coneco" is a more stylized reading of this standard romanization.
Katana's Note: The worst thing ever changed is this - this and this alone. The English sounds horrible, and is pretty harsh sounding. Neh-co-co-neh-co. Ugh. It is really, and truly, and even in the freaking MANGA, Neko Koneko, which is pretty much a very cute phrase. Nee-ko-ko-nee-ko. If you switch to the sub version (during episode 15, the summer break episode, and when they acutally say the name), you will hear the real pronunciation.
New Year's Allownace - Giving some extra cash to children is a traditional part of New Year's celebrations.
Episode 12: Chiyo-chan's Day
College Kids With Lots of Free time - College is often considered a breeze compared to the cramming that goes on for entrance exams in middle and high school. Some people have even gone so far as to describe it as the childhood of the Japanese.. This is because, for the majority of the people who who don't intend to stay in academia, what school you attend pretty much sets you up for life. Therefore, once you get into college, there's far less pressure to perform.
Kagura's Classical Lit Reading - The passge Kagura reads is from a novel called Koushoku Ichidai Otoko or A Man Who Loved Love, which was written by Saikaku Ihara and published in 1682.
A Fried Noodle Sandwich Is Higher In Difficulty - Generally, fried noodle sandwiches are more popular than melon breads and sell out much fasther. This makes them a much harder item to get a hold of.
Cleaning At School - In Japan, schools generally don't have much in the way of janitors. Students do most of the cleaning, which includes sweeping/wiping/mopping the floors, clearing blackboards, and taking out the garbage. In addition to cleaning their own classrooms, classes are often assigned other areas of the school to clean, such as the library, school grounds, and science labs.
Chiyosuke - The "-suke" is a somewhat old fashioned ending for a male name.
Katana's Note: Chiyosuke is pronounced somewhat like "Chiyos-skae". For people familiar with the German language, it's kinda like tacking on the Estet (ß in purity, or SS in basic English) to Chiyo's name and adding a "k" sound - Chiyoßkae. ...*laughs*
Picks and Peaks - In this line in the preview, theer is a pun. Kagura says there is no yama they cannot overcome. Literally, yama means "mountain", so it sounds like a very typical pep talk kind of line, but yama can also refer to "picks" in terms of making bets. This terminology has crossed into the academic realm to refer to the key topiccs that students think may be covered on a test. In other words, the students are "betting" on certain topics, choosing to study only those points rather than study everything that's been covered.
Episode 13: Exams
A Persimmon Eating Guests - The line Tomo delivers about a persimmon that eats a lot of guests is a mangled tongue twister. In Japanese, the real tongue twister should be, "Tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kuu kyaku da,", which means "The guest next door is a guest that eats a lot of persimmons."
The Pinwheel - In the live action samurai show Mito Koumon, one of the ninja type character's signature is a pinwheel thrown like a dart.
S - Unlike in English, where (with some exceptions), tacking on an "S" to a noun turns it into the plural form, there is no such plural form for nouns in Japanese. Therefore, the "S" concept is one they learn only in English class.
Blue Three - There are two things about the Japanese language which makes the "Blue Three/Bruce Lee" mix up possible. First of all, Japanese have a hard time distinguishing between "L" and "R" sounds, because they do not exist in the language. (The anime series Fooly Cool/Furi Kuri is a prime example of this.) Secondly, there is also no "th" sound in Japanese, so the best approximation the Japanese have for the "th" is the "s" sound. Thus, when romanized together, "Blue Three" and "Bruce Lee" become "Buruushurii". So "Buruu Surii" would be "Blue Three" and "Buruusu Rii" would be "Bruce Lee". Of course, the fact that they are splitting it in the wrong spot is entirely due to their ignorance.
Futile Resistance - When Tomo says, "Oh, my, here's someone putting up a futile resistance,", she is imitating Lupin the 3rd's voice.
"You...Also." - Here, Tomo wants to say, "You, too," in English to Kagura, but can only remember the "you" part, so she says the "too" part in Japanese, which is "mo".
Episode 14: The Ocean, Summer Kimonos, and A Party!
Packets of Tissue - In Japan, people trying to promote their business or cause often hand out packets of trissue with their info printed on the plastic wrapping instead of flyers. Packets of tissue are more likely to be kept, since they are useful, especially in a world where public bathrooms rarely provide either toliet paper or ways to dry your hands.
"Nyaow" - Chiyo's final syllable in this line in Japanese should have been "Yo", but she says "Jo". Chiyo saying "Jo" here shows that she is still not entirely normal when reminded of that incident. The "nyaow" is meant to be a mangled "now".
Raw Ham With Melon Is Better? - The idea here is that raw ham with melon is much higher in class combination than sweet and sour pork with pineapple in terms of both price and elegance. In addition, there are some people out there who dislike having pineapple in sweet and sour pork, while raw ham with melon is a more accepted combination.
Getting Goldfish - One of the common activities that can be found at a festival is "goldfish scooping". Basically, the participant is given a bowl with some water in it and a wire hoop with paper covering the hoop, so it forms a kind of paddle. The challenge is to use this paper scooper to catch goldfish out of the tub they are swimming in without the paper breaking from becoming wet. Generally, these goldfish are not healhiest of fish and rarely last long once they have been brought home. Even so, releasing them into the sea would be rather cruel, considering they are freshwater fish.
Putting Kimonos On - It takes a bit of practice or training (six hours of lessons or so) to put on kimonos properly. While summer kimonos are generally simpler, it still takes a bit of experience to get it to look right, especially the bow in the back. Lessons in learning to put kimonos on properly are one of the traditional lessons a bride-to-be should have taken. Other lessons of this sort include how to conduct tea ceremonies and flower arrangements.
Summer Kimonos - Called "yukata" in Japanese, the ones the girls are wearing should not be mistaken with the yukata that can be found in inns and hotels, which are meant for sleepwear. The sleepwear kind of yukata is made of much simpler and less refined material. The type of ykata meant to be worn outside to festivals and such range in price, with the cheapest being around 3,000 yen (about $30) to the more expensive ones costing 30,000 yen ($300) or more. Often, accesories, such as the sash, wooden clogs, and handbags can cost another 10,000 yen ($100) or so.
Yukarin - This is just another nickname for Yukari.
Kaminarimon - This is the main gate to sensoji temple in Asakusa.
