Boogiepop and Others
Page 15
Second year, Class D
Kirima Nagi (F)
Kinoshita Kyoko (F)
Saito Rie (F)
Suema Kazuo (F)
Watanabe Misaki (F)
Yurihara Minako/Manticore (F)
Second Year, Class F
Niitoki Kei (F)
Suzumiya Takako (F)
Third Year, Class F
Kamikishiro Naoko (F)
Sasaki (F)
Takeda Keiji (M)
Teacher
Nakayama Haruo (M)
(F) =: female (M) = male (0) = other
COUPLES
Who's Shacking Up with Whom
Kimura Akio (M)
Kamikishiro Naoko (F)
Tanaka Shiro (M)
Takeda Keiji (M)
Miyashita Touka (F)
Saotome Masami (M)
Yurihara Minako (F) / Manticore (0)
Noguchi Sachiko (F)
Sakamoto Jun (M)
DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE
The Teachers’Pets
Niitoki Kei (F)
Saotome Masami (M)
Tanaka Shiro (M)
Takeda Keiji (M)
THE “IN” CROWD
Movers and Shakers in the Boogiepop Universe
Miyashita Touka (F) / Boogiepop (0)
Yurihara Minako (F) / Manticore (0)
Echoes (M)
Kirima Nagi (F)
Saotome Masami (M)
TRANSLATION NOTES
Translating a foreign language work is a challenging task that can result in a lot of sleepless nights and headaches for the production team involved. The general rule of thumb for any English-language release is to make sure that it retains the intricacies of the source material, while not reading like a literal translation. It's a difficult line to walk, but we at Seven Seas believe that preserving cultural nuance is of utmost importance.
For this reason, we've strived to present a translation that is as close to the original as possible, while keeping the flow of the novel intact. The following pages of translation notes are presented here as a way to offer some additional insight into many of the terms, characters and other cultural items that you may not have understood while reading the novel. These notes also offer a further look into some of the choices that the editorial staff at Seven Seas had to make while bringing the work to you. Enjoy!
COVER
Dual Titles - Though this novel is entitled Boogiepop and Others, the Boogiepop series is one that is known for carrying multiple titles on many of its covers, and this book is no exception. If you look back at the cover, you'll notice that the title is presented in both English and Japanese. The Japanese title for this novel is a mixture of the Japanese phonetic alphabets, Hirigana and Katakana, as well as a solitary Kanji character, and the title is commonly romanized as “Boogiepop wa Warawanai.” However, this Japanese title doesn't translate as"Boogiepop and Others." The title literally translates to either "Boogiepop Doesn't Laugh” or “Boogiepop Doesn't Smile.” In essence, this means that the full title for this frrst novel could be thought of as “Boogiepop wa Warawanai: Boogiepop and Others” or “Boogiepop Doesn't Laugh: Boogiepop and Others" -- where the second portion of the title is meant as a subtitle to the work.
Seven Seas has chosen to use the English subtitle of “Boogiepop and Others” to keep it consistent with The Right Stuff Intemational's DVD release of the live action movie, which is itself based upon this novel. Furthermore, we are using Boogiepop Doesn't Laugh as the title for the two-volume manga adaptation of this novel -- an adaptation written by Kouhei Kadono and illustrated by Kouji Ogata that sheds additional light on events presented in this novel and reveals new events and scenes. We have chosen to split the titles to avoid confusion between the two releases.
INTRODUCTION
Shoji - In Japanese homes, sliding doors that consist of translucent white rice paper stretched over a wooden frame.
Tatami - Traditional straw matting that is commonly used to cover floors.
Three Year Term - As many anime and manga fans are well aware, Japanese high schools tend to focus on three-year terms known as first year, second year and third year, whereas most North American high schools tend to have four-year terms, consisting of ninth through twelfth grades. For clarity's sake, this novel has mostly used first, second and third years, but we have employed the term “senior” in a few spots, referring to a third year student, where it felt more natural from a storytelling standpoint.
Student Discipline Committee - Kei is the president of the discipline committee, and other characters tend to address her as “President.” This particular type of committee seems to be a common feature in Japanese high schools, but no one seems to be sure why, since they don't actually do anything. For this reason, this committee should not be confused with the student council, nor should Kei’s position be confused with class president.
CHAPTER 1-1
Touka's Name - We have decided not to use the Boogiepop movie and art book's method of romanizing “Miyashita Toka,” as the word “toka” is a Japanese preposition, and it seems awkward as a name. We’ve elected to spell her name so that it's similar to the original Japanese pronunciation by retaining the ’tou’ sound (pronounced t6.)
A Male in a Female's Body - The character of Boogiepop is usually referred to by using male pronouns, but occasionally other characters will claim they aren't really certain if it is a male or female-just that he/she has the same pretty face as Miyashita Touka's. This kind of gender confusion has been a common convention in Japanese literature throughout history.
Sempai and Kouhai - Seven Seas requested that Andrew, the translator, made sure to preserve the terms sempai and kouhai as much as possible. There are a few exceptions, though. When sempai is used in place of “you,” we did remove it, as the resulting line would seem too unnatural.
Double Dating - It's pretty unusual for a school to ban dating these days, but Shinyo Academy is unusually strict. The term that Keiji uses in Japanese is “group kousai.”
Ghost Stories - Once Boogiepop appears in front of the crowd, Keiji compares Boogiepop's face to that of a nopperabou-a faceless ghost. This term actually comes from a ghost story that goes something like this: you meet a ghost with no face (a nopperabou), and it frightens you so much that you run down the hill and into the first soba shop you see. As you slurp your noodles, you tell the shop owner about your experience, and he asks, “Did it look...like this?” and suddenly, he, too, has no face.
CHAPTER 1-2
Campus Advanced Information Administration System - Originally “Koudo Jouhou Kanri Gakuen System.”
Naoko's Song - A very traditional Japanese song that is famous for being in Akira Kurosawa's film Ikiru. Rather than use the translation that appears on the Criterion Collection DVD, we've elected to further refine it into verse with a slight rhyme. The original appears as follows:
“Inochi mijikashi Koi se yo otome
Akaki kuchibiru Asenu ma ni
Atsuki chishio no Hienu ma ni
Asu no tsukihi wa Nai mono wo”
CHAPTER 1-3
The Writings of Kirima Seiichi - Seiichi's quotes are always a bit of a nightmare to translate, as they have to strike a balance between seeming cryptic but being vaguely understandable. Our translation is the result of studying the Japanese closely and puzzling out the meaning of the passages before ever translating a word.
CHAPTER 1-4
Did He or Didn't He? - Boogiepop says that he never appeared before the psychologist, but this is later contradicted in book six.
CHAPTER 2-1
The Village of Eight Graves - The first mystery novel starring famous fictional detective Kindaiichi Kousuke (referred to by some as the “Japanese Columbo"). Yokornizu Seishi's The Village of Eight Graves (or Yatsuhaka Mura) is a very fun book that is told in the grand tradition of adventure novels, such as King Solomon's Mines, in an overbloated, Victorian novel style. Apparently, it was inspired by the Tsuyama Sa
njuuninkoroshi incident, in which thirty people were murdered.
Doctor Murder - Originally “satsujin hakusei.”
CHAPTER 2-2
Karma Dance - An East Indian tribal dance that is performed during the worship of the God and Goddess of Fate-the bearers of good and bad fortune. The Japanese phrase would be “karuma mai.”
CHAPTER 2-3
First Kitchen - A popular second-rate fast food chain in Japan.
A Ready-Built House - Japanese people tend to buy a piece of land, knock down whatever house is on it, and have a new house built that is designed for their specific needs. It seems rare to actually live in a house that someone else has lived in. But at other times, real estate companies will build houses before they find buyers, like this one. Note that Kirima Nagi's “brother,” Taniguchi Masaki, is a central character in the next two books.
Ten-Mat Room - In Japan, tatami mats are used as units of measurement that tell you how large a room is.
Distortions of Reality - The word “yugami” can also be translated as “kinks” or “flaws,” but we've chosen to go with the word “distortions,” as the word will become a recurring motif that will be seen throughout the rest of the series~specially in the fifth novel, where it appears quite heavily.
CHAPTER 3-1
Being Scouted - The prep schools that scouted Yurihara seem to be regular high schools that are at a significantly higher level than Shinyo Academy.
Diet Cola - This is actually left generic in Japanese. We can only assume that none of the major soft drink companies want themselves identified as having drinks that are good for dissolving fatal poison tablets in.
CHAPTER 4-1
Speech Patterns - Naoko's speech patterns change dramatically when she starts talking to Kimura. For that matter, so do Miyashita's a little later-something about him seems to make girls speak a bit more openly. Probably explains why he's got so many girlfriends.
MOS Burger - A fast-food restaurant chain that originated in Japan, and next to McDonald's, is the largest fast-food franchise in the country.
CHAPTER 4-2
Ronin - A student that failed hislher college entrance exams, and who is currently attending cram school. Keitaro Urashirna from the series Love Hina is a prime example of a ronin. In feudal times, a ronin referred to a masterless samurai.
American Coffee - Coffee that is brewed weaker than a “regular” cup of coffee.
CHAPTER 4-3
Hoshi Shinichi - One of the most popular short story writers of Post-War Japan. During his career, Hoshi wrote over a thousand short stories and published several full-length novels and biographies. His area of special interest was in science fiction writing.
Tanabata Festival - Commonly known as “The Star Festival” and held on July 7, this celebration is based on an ancient Chinese legend about an epic love story between the two stars Altair and Vega that are separated by the Milky Way, except for this one special day.
CHAPTER 5-2
Lecture Hall - Like an auditorium, but without chairs. (pg.189)
CHAPTER 5-3
You Aren't Human - Originally “hitodenashi!” This bit and the second reference to distortions in the world were by far the two most difficult lines in the book to translate, as it's difficult to try and capture the nuance of a line and still have it sound like something you'd shout at a moment like this.
Waiting Until Graduation - It does say a lot about the book's world view that Kei can't imagine Saotome Masami and the Manticore taking over the world until after they graduate.
CHAPTER 5-5
Rumors - Nagi's theory seems contradicted by Touka's reaction on the phone; she might be wrong. The Boogiepop Dual manga certainly suggests that the rumors about Boogiepop have been spread independently of Touka.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in 1968. Kouhei Kadono grew up uncertain about his direction in life. He spent a considerable portion of his early years frittering away his youth before somehow ending up writing novels.
In 1997, Kadono-sensei's first Boogiepop novel, Boogiepop and Others, took First Place in the Media Works’ Dengeki Game Novel Contest. Early the following year, the novel was released to widespread acclaim and ignited the Japanese “light novel” (young adult) trend. Since that time, Kadono-sensei has written thirteen Boogiepop novels and several related works such as the Beat's Discipline short story collections and the two Boogiepop manga series entitled Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh and Boogiepop Dual, In its entirety. the Boogiepop series has seen over two million copies in print and spawned a live action movie and a hit anime series.
In addition to the Boogiepop universe, Kadono-sensei's body of literary work includes a wide array of fantasy aid mystery novels such as the Jiken, Soul Drop, Limited World and Night Watch series.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Born in 1970, a native of Osaka, Kouji Ogata spent his early twenties struggling to get enough credits to graduate from Design School. In late 1996, Ogata-sensei was commissioned by Media Works to illustrate the first Boogiepop novel, Boogiepop and Others.
At the time, Ogata-sensei was simply a rising star with a distinctive, eye-catching art style, but he gradually was able to further hone his artistic skills with each subsequent work. His watercolor-style paneling seen in the two- volume Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh manga series was a particularly high point of his early career. In addition to providing illustrations for novels and manga, Ogata-sensei has been involved with supplying character designs for anime productions including Boogiepop Phantom, Spirit, and Gin-iro no kam no Agito. In his free time he enjoys motorcycles, tennis, and remote controlled models.
End Matter
WHO AM I? MY NAME IS BOOGIEPOP
There is an urban legend that children tell about a that can release people from the pain they are suffering. This “Angel of Death” has a name -- Boogiepop. And the legends are true.
When a rash of disappearances involving female students breaks out at Shinyo Academy, the police and faculty assume they just have a bunch of runaways on their hands. Yet Nagi Kirima knows better. Something mysterious and foul is afoot. Is it Boogiepop or something even more sinister?
Experience the story through several characters’ eyes as you piece together the true order of disturbing events, in this unforgettable prelude to the Boogiepop Phantom anime series!
Over 2 million copies in print worldwide!
Original print price: USA $9.99
Original print ISBN: 1-933164-16-6
Liberation edition: Sue Dunham
OCR version: 1.0