Translation Notes

Chapter 1 … Shizuka Hiratsuka feels keenly nostalgic about the past.

1 “…the word calm has an abnormally Shizuka Hiratsuka vibe to it.” Heisei, meaning “calm,” includes the kanji for “flat” (hira) and “quiet” (shizuka), which appear in her name.

2 “…very likely the school would ‘make inferences’ and act based on what they believed she wanted.” The term used here, sontaku, is very specific to Japanese business culture, and it means to make inferences about what important people want and then acting without specific approval in order to appease them. It was a buzzword especially around 2017, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe got into a number of scandals involving discounted deals or special contracts granted to him based on things he had never said, as people tried to get on his good side. This business culture has been criticized as a way for people in power to avoid responsibility.

3 “It’s like turtling with Guile.” In Street Fighter II, crouching with Guile is known as the machi-gairu (waiting Guile) stance in Japanese and was a popular tactic.

4 “…then you start reading ahead into each other’s moves like you’re Yoshiharu Habu at a shogi tournament, and before you know it, you’re getting sorted into the social equivalent of Habus and Habu-nots.” Yoshiharu Habu is a professional shogi player. The original pun here was on Habu’s name and the word “social exclusion” (habu).

5 “In these games of reading one another, if you lack the Guile to roast the competition, then forget T. Hawk or Eagle or even Birdie—you’re just a cooked goose.” The original Japanese line here is a succession of puns: “In these games of reading one another, if you can’t win [deep-fry], you’re not zangi [fried chicken / Zangief] or kara-age [fried chicken] or anything—you’re just yakitori [fried chicken, failing to win a single hand in a half game of mah-jongg].”

6 Treasured Tool is a term for special weapons in the Fate universe.

7 “Maybe soon enough, they’ll be saying the term political correctness is discriminating against people who failed their civics class, and that word will be politically incorrect, too, I dunno.” In the original, this was “…they’ll be saying the term word-hunting is discriminating against hunter-gatherer people, and that word will get hunted [too]…” Kotoba-gari (word hunting) is similar to what we might call the “euphemistic treadmill” in English, with the most taboo words tending to be associated most often with disability and class.

8 “Strength is power.” In Japanese, this line is Chikara wa power, literally “Power is power,” a nonsensically redundant quote from Black Zeus in Shin Bikkuriman.

9 “…lifting is the most powerful solution. You get what I mean? Because I sure don’t.” Lifting Is the Most Powerful Solution is a comic life-advice book by the author Testosterone that was popular in 2016. Meanwhile, “You get what I mean? Ahhh, you won’t get it” was the catchphrase of Chitose Shokakuya, a singer / TV host who was big in the 1970s. Here, Hachiman is taking advantage of the vague subject to make it about himself.

10 “Mach stress” is another Buronto-ism, the famous FFXI player of “With this, I can win” or “Rarely often happens” fame. Many of his remarks have become Internet memes.

11 “If I don’t, then Doraemon can’t go back to the future…” This is a famous line from an episode of Doraemon where Nobita is in a fight with Gian, and he says, “I have to win on my own, or Doraemon can’t go back to the future!” (Doraemon is a robotic cat from the future sent to help Nobita.)

Chapter 2 … There’s something Iroha Isshiki wants to make sure of, no matter what.

1 “What the heck—is she a gate guard at Edina or what?” Edina is a town in Dragon Quest III where the guards won’t let anyone through who isn’t noble enough.

2 “Oh-hooo, verily sooo?” Ee, hontou ni gozaru kaa? is a quote from Sasaki Kojirou / Assassin in the Fate franchise.

3 “But what does it all meeeeean?” In Japanese, this line ends with dattebayo, the iconic verbal tic from Naruto. Originally, it was just Naruto saying, “What do you mean?” but the line turned into a meme on the Naruto threads on Futaba Channel. There were a number of nonsensical memes only understood by insiders (“It’s Izanami”; “It’s become a sacrifice”), prompting people who weren’t in on the joke to respond with this line, which then became a meme in its own right.

4 “…Seventeen CosmoGirls with Vogue thoughts in their heads…” Originally, these magazines were Akamoji (meaning “red letter”), Popteen, and Pichi Lemon.

Chapter 3 … Yui Yuigahama continues to stand back and watch, to the end.

1 “Fashion-wise, I was in the old Takanohana-oyakata style.” Kouji Takanohana is a former sumo wrestler known for always wearing scarves just hanging around his neck without wrapping them, and he has a lot of scarves. (Oyakata is a rank for someone who manages other sumo wrestlers.)

2 “Even if I say, Vaaaanilla! Vanilla! Great pay! she’s not gonna come follow me, huh?” Vanilla is the name of a recruiting service that seeks girls for sex work businesses.

3 “Aha! So you’re actually a good person, eh?” This is the same reference as “Aha! Then she’s a hot stud, eh?” from Volume 12. It’s based on the Internet meme Hahan! Sate ha hizokusei da na (Aha! Then fire element, huh?) over a picture of a swimmer with a silly expression on her face. The meme is used whenever coming up with guesses that are very apparently wrong.

4 “So she’s actually a genius, eh?” This is the same reference as above.

5 “Times like these, you have to take a helping hand from anyone, even a cat!” A common Japanese idiom is “borrowing a cat’s paw,” meaning “being so busy you would even accept help from a cat.”

6 “…and we’ll get a new Armored Core game!” Armored Core is the series FromSoftware did before Demon’s Souls, but since Dark Souls became such a hit, fans are generally resigned to the knowledge that they’re basically never going back to Armored Core.

7 “Who are you saying hello to? Pathos? Or courage? In that case, first you have to say farewell, no tears…” This is a reference to the lyrics from the opening song to the tokusatsu show Space Sheriff Gavan.

8 “So down-to-earth! Like the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs!” The original line here is “Dry! Komachi is Super Dry!” (like the beer). In Japanese, dorai means “unemotional” or “down-to-earth.”

9 “Praise the Earth” (“Daichi Sanshou”) is a very standard choral number in Japan, and you can find many recordings of it on YouTube. “Song for Leaving the Nest” (“Sudachi no Uta”) is a standard graduation song.

10 “And, like, that’s the acclamation, and that was elementary school.” The acclamation, or yobikake, is a part of elementary school graduation ceremonies where they line all the children up to give recitations about their time at school and thanks toward the teachers.

Chapter 4 … Once again, Hachiman Hikigaya makes a speech.

1 “Slowly, slowly, like a kyogen performer…slowly, slowly, slowly…” Kyogen is a type of traditional Japanese comic theater. This line is a reference to a bit where a comedian from the manzai duo Chocolate Planet did an imitation of the kyogen performer Motoya Izumi.

2 “…maybe I’ll be able to fire off a midair Motoya chop…” This was a move Motoya Izumi unveiled in 2005, when he entered pro wrestling. It involves jumping from the corner to leap onto his opponent and repeatedly karate chop his head.

3 “This is a Soubu High School workplace reform, the Professional High System…” The “Highly Skilled Professional System” is a workplace reform that was discussed in the news for years before finally being enacted in 2019. The intent is actually the opposite of what Hachiman describes; it basically cuts off overtime pay for skilled white-collar workers in an attempt to reduce superfluous overtime. It’s called “Kou-Pro” for short using the kou from “highly skilled,” which Hachiman puns on the high in “high school.”

4 “Wait and hope” is a quote from The Count of Monte Cristo, but Zaimokuza surely heard it in Gankutsuou, the anime loosely based off the original novel.

Chapter 5 … At some point unknown, the ending credits begin to roll.

1 “…into the grand blue. The courtyard just about turned into an ocean of red…” Grand Blue, localized as Grand Blue Dreaming, is a manga about a diving club.

2 “Oh yeah, the Pastimer’s Club, right? My memories about it are vague, but I do recall it being a workshop of fun, the time we played Millionaire there.” The Pastimer’s Club is the name of the club in Asobi Asobase, which is subtitled as “Workshop of Fun” in English.

3 “He is a fool, a buffoon, a clowning knave!” In Japanese, this third term is hyouge mono, an archaic term meaning “jocular fellow” and a reference to the historical manga Hyouge Mono by Yoshihiro Yamada.

4 “…unease stirred among all three of the glasses. Zawa…zawa… I don’t know why even Zaimokuza was joining in on their zawa zawa-ing.” Zawa zawa is a normal sound effect for murmuring or unease, but the manga Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji takes it to memetic levels, with constant zawa…zawa… in basically every tense scene (read: every single scene).

5 “…a bill that features a portrait of Ichiyou Higuchi, it makes paying the bill easy (we call this a grown-up with Growing Up).” Ichiyou Higuchi is one of the most prominent modern women writers in Japan, and she features on the five thousand yen note. One of her most famous books is called Takekurabe, sometimes titled in English as Growing Up. In Japanese, instead of the “showing up/shown up” bit, the wordplay here was oreshirabe (personally researched), chichishirabe (researched by my dad), and then Takekurabe.

6 “I am very thankful. Thankful for everything that has made our meeting possible!” This is a quote from Netero in Hunter X Hunter when facing a particularly formidable enemy.

7 “We were on the road to having a toast: Thinking of our firm bonds, happiness to you.” This is from the lyrics to the 1988 single “Kanpai” (Cheers) by Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi.

8 “My youkai radar cowlick was pinging, but I was too scared to face the source.” The hair of the protagonist of GeGeGe no Kitaro is known to stick up in the presence of youkai.

9 “…I encouraged myself: I’ll do my best to wrap this up!” Ganbaru zoi, with the cutesy meaningless sentence-ending zoi, is from the protagonist of the manga New Game!

Chapter 6 … Privately, Hayato Hayama feels regret.

1 “…all the parts of a human, body and mind. My cells are at work, so I don’t have to be, right…?” “All the parts of a human, body and mind” is a reference to an old ad for the Olympus Corporation, which manufactures optics, like for cameras and medical equipment. “My cells are at work” is a reference to Cells at Work, an educational biology manga.

2 “Zombie Land Chiba” is just a Hachimanification of the anime Zombie Land Saga.

3 “Tamanawa isn’t a crude fish. Don’t classify him with suckers and blowfish.” The original pun here was on bora (volunteer) and bora (striped mullet, a kind of fish), the joke being on fish that you generally throw back when caught. Hachiman says, “He’s actually super-gourmet material.”

4 Supreme Being Overlord is a reference to the light-novel series Overlord.

5 “…Soubu High School Neo-Prom-ject.” The Japanese title was Soubu High School Prom Saiko Project, with Saiko being a pun on “reconsider” and “greatest.”

6 “Alternating between hot and cold gets me sorted out…” Hachiman brings up a lot of very specific sauna lingo here that even many Japanese people might not understand. Totonou (sorted out) describes the feeling you get after a sauna, which varies for different people, and some people even describe feeling high or euphoric. Rouryu is hot water with scented oils that’s thrown on the coals in a sauna to produce steam, said to have health benefits, while a gurushin is a cold-water pool with a temperature below 50ºF (under 10ºC).

7 A super sento is a public bath facility with added features, such as having a variety of bath types with different themes, or things like massage chairs and general relaxation facilities. It’s not the same thing as an onsen (a hot spring), since the water is artificially heated.

8 “Since it’s, y’know, the next hot… Never mind…” Instead of hot, the original wordplay here was on the idiom “I can feel it [like a tingling sensation] on my skin,” which means “to know from experience.”

9 “Praying that Hayama Magic would make the call for Chiba…” Hayama Magic was part of a routine from the comedian Shougo Kawashima, in which he plays a street magician. Kawashima was also born and raised in Chiba.

10 “I’d even forge his signature…” In Japan, official seals are unique, custom-made stamps of your name legally registered to you and are used instead of signatures. In the original, Hachiman refers to stealing Hayama’s—essentially, identity theft.

Chapter 7 … What Hina Ebina sees through the lens is…

1 “He must be a primitive… A Chiba primitive…” A Chiba genjin is local slang used by people who live in Chiba for the purpose of commuting to Tokyo (in fact the majority) to describe Chiba natives, living farther away from Tokyo.

2 “…he hasn’t evolved at all since the Chibanian epoch.” The Chibanian epoch is real; it was formerly known as the Middle Pleistocene and was renamed in 2020 due to strata discovered in Chiba prefecture.

3 “He’s got to be from the Jomon period… Does he come from the Kasori Shell Mounds?” The Jomon period is between approximately 10,500 and 300 BCE. The Kasori Shell Mounds is an archaeological site in Chiba.

4 “Yuigahama chanted File Attach! …But it missed! Yuigahama is confused! It does sound confusingly like Fire Attack, though, I’ll admit.” The original gag here is on the katakana in fairu tenpu (file attach) visually resembling the katakana in parupunte, a random effect spell in the Dragon Quest series, usually translated as Hocus Pocus.

5 “…there’s more muntjac in Chiba lately—there’s too many, and people are always going ‘Oh! Deer!’ and I wonder what I did wrong this time.” He’s specifically talking about the Reeves’s muntjac, a species of small deer native to Southeast Asia. Some escaped from a zoo in Chiba in the 1960s and 1970s and have since become an invasive species. The word for muntjac in Japanese is kyon, which is also a character from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and the original line here was “There’s too many, and people are always saying, Kyon-kun, Kyon-kun” (which is how that character is referred to in Haruhi).

6 “Hurr-hurr-hurr, let it happen, let it happen!” Yoi de wa nai ka! is a stereotypical line in period dramas, often accompanied by the “obi spin,” where a man yanks on a woman’s obi, ripping it off to spin her like a top.

7 “Is she Datsue-ba? A scene like something out of ‘Rashomon’ was unfolding right in front of me.” Datsue-ba is a mythological old hag who waits by the river of the dead and strips the living of their clothes. “Rashomon” is a short story by Akutagawa that ends with a man down on his luck brutally stealing the clothes off an old woman’s back.

8 Don’t Stop the Camera! is the Japanese title for the 2017 comedy zombie movie One Cut of the Dead.

9 “Heh-heh-heh… And then you and Hayato…” With a terrifying smile—a slasher smile, if you will—Ebina chuckled at me.” This whole section is a series of fu puns, where the character for “rotten” (from fujoshi) replaces other characters, starting with Ebina describing herself as fujuubun (insufficient) to be photographed and chuckling fu-fu-fu, and then Hachiman describes her laughter as fuon (ominous).

10 “Meanwhile, I was nothing but moved. With this much moving going on, I could generate enough power for a whole city! Though this is moving us away from the point!” The original wordplay here is “But I was so full of emotion [kangai]—how many farms could I water [punning on kangai, irrigation]! Well, that’s kind of the wrong emotion, though!” Kangai-chigai literally means “the wrong emotion,” but it also sounds like kangae-chigai, meaning “misunderstanding.”

11 “…but being in a room with both her and Yuigahama, it was like, Wo-wo-whoa-wo whoa-wo-wo. I almost expected someone to fire off a shinken in there.” This is a reference to the manga Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, and the shinken, translated as True Fist or Super Fist, is a technique used by the protagonist.

12 “Well, they do say a boy will grow so much in three days, you won’t even recognize him the next time you see him…I’ll drop dead screaming.” That saying is attributed to the famous Chinese general Lu Meng, who also appears in the classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms in a particularly gruesome death scene.

Chapter 8 … While wishing to not go wrong again, at least…

1 “‘So is it just me who’s been personally requested?’ I asked…‘That’s my professional alias’…‘That’s a great name for the number one most in-demand boy in the establishment.’” “Personal request” (shimei) is the term used for selecting your chosen host/hostess at a host club or cabaret club. The word for “professional alias” here is also exclusively for such professions. These clubs also generally have their staff ranked, and their number one will be the most requested at the club.

2 Beauty Looking Back is a famous seventeenth-century woodblock print of a woman turning around to look behind her by artist Moronobu Hishikawa.