Love, Chuunibyou & Other Delusions Episode 2 -- The Priestess... of the Melody (Senritsu no... Puriisutesu) --- [00:16] Pursued by a shadowy figure, Rikka takes refuge behind an outdoor playset at Kara Bridge Park. http://docrobot.sdf.org/images/chuuni/playset.jpg [00:27] "Nyaa..." One of the most famous examples of Japanese onomatopoeia, "nyaa" is equivalent to "meow" in English -- a mimicry of the sound a cat makes. This bears mentioning due to the almost alarming amount of onomatopoeia used in conversational Japanese, a fair amount of which will appear in this show. Also, the alliteration in that last sentence was unintentional. [02:27] Yuuta's Dream Sequence A nice view of Nibutani's rather ample endowments. Known as 'fanservice' by anime enthusiasts, this entire dream sequence really doesn't exist for any reason other than showing off a soaking wet Nibutani in a cute bathing suit. Among a certain type of fan, an argument can be made that this is reason enough. [03:00] "Heilige Wasser!" Holy water. When English and Japanese just aren't cool enough, whip out the German. [04:40] Our heroes walk across the Seta River Bridge on their way to school. http://docrobot.sdf.org/images/chuuni/sr_bridge.jpg [05:17] "I was elected class rep..." The Japanese equivalent of a homeroom president. Typically assumes a minor administrative role in running a homeroom class alongside the assigned teacher and any other class reps there might be. Often sits as a representative of the class within the student council body. This position entails additional work and responsibilities but tends to look good on a college application. [09:30] "I told you to call me Rikka..." In Japanese society, the family name is written or spoken first and then followed by the given name. This is in contrast to many Western cultures where the given name comes first, followed by (typically) one middle name, and ending with a family name. In this case, Yuuta refers to Rikka as "Takanashi-san" in the dialogue -- Takanashi being her family name, and "-san" being an honorific suffix roughly equivalent to Mister or Miss in English. This is not only correct, but it's also one of the few socially acceptable ways he could have referred to her, considering that she's little more than an acquaintance of his. Given names, especially without an honorific attached, are typically reserved for close friends, family, and lovers. The careful viewer will note that Rikka, for whatever reason, doesn't honor these formalities. She instead chooses to call Yuuta by his given name, and not "Togashi-san" (or "Togashi-kun"), as would be expected and insists on his usage of her given name. [10:12] Kumin's Name / Senpai He completely botches her name. This happens all the time in Japan. Unless you happen to know the exact reading for a name, or it's a really common one, you're eventually going to make this mistake. Most people just take this with a smile and offer a polite correction, much like Kumin does here. The characters used in Kumin's family name are such that *any* Japanese speaker, native or not, would immediately attempt to read them as the calendar date "May the Seventh" -- or "gougatsu nanouka" when spoken. Take a look at 'on-yomi' and 'kun-yomi' readings sometime for a little more insight as to what causes this confusion, and then enter the magical world of 'nanori' readings to completely lose what was left of your mind. Another great example of this is the kanji used in Rikka's family name that would normally be read as "kotori asobu" (lit. "little birds at play"). Why are they free to play? That's because there aren't any predators around. As such, it can also mean "taka ga inai" (lit. "there are no hawks here") with Takanashi being the "shortened" form of this reading. Of course, yet another writing of Takanashi can also refer to a particularly tall pear tree. Still want to learn Japanese? Also, note Yuuta's usage of "-senpai" as an honorific suffix here. In a school setting, this translates to 'upperclassman' and is still largely considered to be a necessary formality in educational and business environments despite modern criticisms far outside the scope of this guide. See also 'kouhai' (underclassman, 'later colleague') for the opposing term. [11:40] "Genbu, Guardian of the North" Although he's an actual figure in mythology, a Chinese constellation, and has appeared in numerous fictional works, this particular reference is probably to the Genbu who appears in the popular manga "Fushigi Yuugi", published in Shogakukan's "Shoujo Comic" magazine. [14:41] "I'm Takanashi Touka, her sister..." Ahh, so this is our shadowy assailant from earlier -- Rikka's older sister. The red eyes are certainly not a good sign, and probably *not* the result of any pet allergies. The jet black hair and shirt don't look too promising, either. That being said, she also has a couple of other interesting -- and seemingly contrary -- features which are plainly visible in this shot. First, she has the same stray curl of hair as her younger sister. In anime and manga, this is a character trait known as 'ahoge' (idiot hair). This is a feature meant to show a foolish or carefree personality. While it certainly fits Rikka's character, it seems completely out of place on Touka. Let's just chalk it up to genetics. Additionally, pet collars aren't everyday fashion in any part of the world -- least of all in Japan. While they're sometimes worn to denote a submissive personality type in the BDSM world, this seems highly unlikely even given what little we've seen of her personality thus far. [15:39] "This is neither acting, nor is it a dream!" Fukuyama Jun is the actor portraying Yuuta. He's more famously known as the voice behind the fallen prince "Lelouch Lamperogue" in the popular mecha anime "Code Geass." As a bit of verbal fanservice, Fukuyama tends to ham it up with a similar style to his Lelouch voice when Yuuta is having one of his "Dark Flame Master" moments. [18:21] "You're raising your own death flag." A 'death flag' is just one of many 'event flags' that can be set in popular genres of Japanese video games, namely "dating sims' and 'visual novels.' These aren't usually considered to be video games in the traditional sense, but something more akin to a digital version of a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book -- although often with adult subject matter and/or pornographic content, depending on the age rating and target demographic of the game. Making choices push the story in a specific direction, and the act of making a choice that leads to a specific event later on is more commonly known as "setting (or raising) a flag." This is used as a figure of speech when someone does or says something in the real world that's comparable to setting a flag in one of these games. [19:19] "Konigin der Nacht" "The Queen of the Night" in German. Most famously one of the major characters appearing in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's operatic masterpiece "The Magic Flute." Most likely meant to be either the proper name for the weapon, or the verbal incantation required to summon it. [19:56] Our heroine battles with the Priestess at Kara Bridge Park. http://docrobot.sdf.org/images/chuuni/restrooms.jpg --- "This *is* the end of the earth, because the world is round!"