Liar Game - Roots of A 1

I accidentally translated volume 1 chapter 1 instead of volume 2 chapter 1 *facepalm* Posting it for good measure and so I won't feel I totally wasted my time >___<
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Page 01
Box (right): From here, we turn back the clock to the June of 5 years ago
Box (left): Teito University campus

Box (right): Here, was a young Akiyama Shinichi
Box (bottom left): Akiyama Shinichi (22) Teito University 4th Year Humanities Faculty

Box (right): Teito University... It is said to be an elite university with the highest entry cut-off in Japan
Box (middle): In reality, among the five Behavioural Sciences 4th year students gathered in Social Psychology specialist Professor Okabe's Criminal Psychology seminar
Box (left): Three people including Akiyama have already been privately offered careers in the government service. The remaining two, too, are elites who have been made deals from first-rate companies.

Guy: ... Hey, you guys
Guy: Why did you all even choose Professor Okabe's seminar?

Page 02
Igarashi: Because it seemed interesting, criminal psychology did.
Box (left): Igarashi Natsuki (21) Confirmed employment in a government ministry

Komaki: Me too. After all, everything you learn in University is worth shit when you're out in the real world.
Komaki: That's why I thought it'd be best to do even a little of something more interesting.
Box (left): Komaki Hitoshi (22) Confirmed employment in a bank

Ohno: I heard from a senior that Professor Okabe's seminar was unexpectedly slack
Ohno: And really, when you compare with other seminars, we don't have to submit quite as many reports
Box (left): Ohno Jirou (22) Confirmed employment in a television station

Matsuo: That's right
Matsuo: Okabe's seminars are relaxed, for the most part
Ohno: But there's just one hurdle...
Box (middle): Matsuo Masami (22) Confirmed employment in a government ministry

Page 03
Ohno: That unique atmosphere of severity about him

Matsuo: Exactly!! That gloomy atmosphere is the precise reason why Okabe's seminars are so unpopular.
Matuso: I've heard of students from other seminars going for drinking parties with their professors and having discussions till the next morning...

Komaki: Professor Okabe-- He doesn't do that at all, does he?
Matsuo: He's always so cold, or perhaps, his tension's low, or he's weird... Or...
Igarashi: Scholars who study criminal psychology are all like that, aren't they? They're thinking about murders and abnormal tendencies day in and day out.
Igarashi: Of course they'd be gloomy.
Igarashi: Right, Akiyama?

Page 04
Akiyama: Well...
Akiyama: You may be right

SFX: *sliding door*

Box (middle): Okabe Yukiya (62) Teito University Humanities Faculty, Professor of Social Psychology, Specialty: Criminal Psychology
Okabe: Good Morning
Matsuo: ... G-
Matsuo: Good Morning

Page 05
Akiyama: ....
Ohno: ... Wh- What's up with this silence...
Komaki: I'm telling you this can't be anything but weird

Okabe: I've discussed criminal psychology with all of you up till now
Okabe: But today...
Okabe: I'll give you an assignment to do
Students: !?
Okabe: The assignment is...

Page 06
Okabe: Profiling

Ohno: !!
Okabe: I touched on this during the discussion, but profiling is about sussing out a profile of the criminal based on both psychological and scientific approaches during a criminal investigation. I also listed out the methods in turn during the discussion.

Okabe: Thus, today,
Okabe: I'd like you all to actually profile someone
Igarashi: Excuse me
Igarashi: We won't be able to do a profiling without actually going to and seeing the crime scene and collected evidence, right?
Okabe: Hehehe
Okabe: The person I want you to profile is not a criminal
Okabe: It is the writer of this letter

Page 07
Igarashi: ... This is?
Okabe: I presume
Okabe: You all know about the "Letter Balloon"
Akiyama: I've made one before, at an event in elementary school.
Akiyama: It's the one where you tie a letter to a string attached to a balloon, correct?
Okabe: That's right

Okabe: This letter was caught in a tree near a house at Setagaya
(TN: Setagaya is somewhere in Tokyo)
Okabe: However
Okabe: Unfortunately, the portion with the address and name of the sender got wet and the ink ran, making it unreadable
Igarashi: Perhaps it was made wet by the dew or something when it was stuck on the tree
Okabe: Perhaps

Okabe: This is it
Okabe: I want all of you to suss out a profile of the sender
Okabe: I'll give you two weeks. I don't mind if you discuss among the five of you. Please compile your reports and hand them in at the end of two weeks.

Page 08
Okabe: However
Okabe: If the quality is not up to par, you can bid your summer holidays goodbye as I'll be holding special lectures

Students: Eh!!
Okabe: Please do your best

Someone: Who was it?
Someone: Who was the one who said Okabe's seminars were relaxed since there were no reports?
Someone: Now, now
Someone: Since it's become like this, all we can do is wring our minds for the answer
Igarashi: Now then,
Igarashi: What do you think of this letter?

Page 09
(Letter)
Nice to meet you.

Thank you for picking up this letter.
The snow on the mountains has melted and the cherry blossom season has come.
How about where you live?
Has spring come?

Spring is the season of traveling and of new encounters.
Matriculation ceremonies, changing classes, starting employment...
Spring is the season of hope.
Until then, no matter how tough the going gets
The vitality overflowing from the buds of the trees and flowers
Give us the strength and courage to live.
That's what spring is all about.
Spring is amazing, isn't it?

I hope that this new season will bring you courage and hope.
And if it's alright with you
Please let me know that you've read this letter.

Page 10
Ohno: The first thing you can tell is that the person who wrote this is a boy
Ohno: Since he uses "boku" to refer to himself
(TN: "Boku" is typically a male pronoun, but it is not uncommon for girls to use it too - I'm a girl and I use it. Apparently it's getting more common nowadays.)
Ohno: Next, the season is spring
Igarashi: That's not a profile
Igarashi: That's just lifting exactly what was written wholesale

Ohno: Then you try a hand at profiling!
Igarashi: The season is spring... Is what is written
Igarashi: But you can narrow down the time period more

Igarashi: Probably
Igarashi: Between 24th and 31st March

Matsuo: Wow, you've narrowed it down
Matsuo: Is it because of that line about it being the "cherry blossom season"?
Igarashi: Yes, but beyond that, here, too
Igarashi: "Spring is the season of traveling and of new encounters. Matriculation ceremonies, changing classes, starting employment..."
Igarashi: What he's done is make a list of the events that happen in spring but...
Igarashi: For some reason, there's no "graduation ceremony"
Ohno: Ah, you're right

Page 11
Igarashi: Most likely, by the time this letter was written, the period for "graduation ceremonies" was already over. Graduation ceremonies usually take place between 10th and 24th March.
Komaki: I see
Igarashi: On the other hand, "matriculation ceremonies" and "starting employment" are included... Which means that these will happen after the writing of the letter
Matsuo: ... So that's how you arrived at that theory...

Matsuo: It does show that it was between 24th and 31st March, doesn't it!!
Igarashi: There's something else, too

Igarashi: "Matriculation ceremonies, changing classes, starting employment" are written in that order. Normally, when you list things, you'll write them down in the order that they come to your mind, right?
Igarashi: In other words, this person is one who thinks of "matriculation ceremonies" and "changing classes" before "starting employment" when thinking of "spring events".

Ohno: ... Meaning he's a student?
Igarashi: Probably
Komaki: How about the opening line that goes "The snow on the mountains has melted"? Tokyo and the south don't get mountains covered in snow even in the thick of winter.
Matsuo: The northern provinces, then
Ohno: North of Northern Kantou, around Koushinetsu?
(TN: Kantou is the eastern half of Japan, including Tokyo)

Page 12
Ohno: Compiling all the views we've got, we've got that the sender is a male student living in the norther provinces and that the letter was written in late March... Right?
Ohno: ... So, what next?

Komaki: .....
Matsuo: .....
Igarashi: We're in a rut, huh?
Ohno: With just this standard of work, the professor isn't going to pass us
Igarashi: Mmhmm

Ohno: Akiyama, you haven't shared any of your views at all. What do you think of the profile we've got so far?
Akiyama: Yeah, it's not bad
Akiyama: If I could just add something basic...

Page 13
Akiyama: I wonder if there even is a correct answer

Igarashi: Eh?
Matsuo: Ahh... Now that you mention it... That's right
Akiyama: We were told... That this letter... Was caught on a tree near a home in Sendagaya, right?

Akiyama: If I remember correctly, the professor's house is also in Sendagaya
Akiyama: Could it be that this...
Akiyama: Was found by the professor himself in his own house?
Ohno: Ah! It jives!!
Ohno: The probability is high!!
Komaki: He could have picked it up and by chance, the address and name were gone and he thought, "Perfect, I'll use this as an assignment in class"

Page 14
Igarashi: That means the professor himself doesn't know the correct answer!!
Matsuo: Then there's no way he can nitpick at our reports, is there?

Ohno: What the hell---- All that about forgetting our summer holidays if the quality was subpar... It was just a threat to make us do the profile seriously---
Komaki: Fuu---
Igarashi: Somehow everyone's become relaxed in no time

Ohno: From here, we can probably get by writing theories like that
Matsuo: Hahahaha

Page 15
Okabe: How is it? Is your report progressing well?
Akiyama: Yes
Akiyama: It's going well for the most part

Okabe: Is that so?
Akiyama: Professor, I have a question
Akiyama: Do you yourself know the correct answer?

Page 16
Okabe: Of course
Okabe: I know who the sender is

Akiyama: Thank you very much (SFX: *bow*)

Ohno: He knows the correct answer?
Ohno: Hahaha that's just a bluff, right?
Igarashi: I mean, there's no way he could go "There's actually no correct answer", right?
Akiyama: I wonder...
Igarashi: More importantly, Akiyama, I've managed to get more of a profile. Firstly, about the personality of the sender. He's a serious, methodical, yet positive person. You can tell so much from the straightness of his lines...
Akiyama: ....

Page 17
Friend: Nao~~~ We're going
Nao: Hold on
Nao: I picked up a 100 yen coin
Arrow: Akiyama
Nao: I've got to give it to the police
Friend: You're so honest. It's alright to just keep it

Akiyama: !
Akiyama: Could it be...

Box: And so... The day of the report submission
Okabe: "Judging from the letter, this was written in late March. This can be deduced from the line 'Spring is the season of traveling and of new encounters. Matriculation ceremonies, changing classes, starting employment...'---
Okabe: He has listed out a number of spring events, but for some reason, 'graduation ceremony' has been left out.

Page 18
Okabe: When this was written, most likely the "graduation ceremony" was already over... Thus, considering 'starting employment, matriculation ceremony' to be events to come after the letter was written, we can narrow the time frame to late March.

Okabe: The sender is a male. One can tell from how he uses "boku" to refer to himself. From the line 'matriculation ceremonies, changing classes, starting employment', one can tell that the sender thinks of 'matriculation ceremonies' and 'changing classes' before 'starting employment' when it comes to 'spring events'. From this, we can say that he is a student.
Okabe: From the kanji he uses, he might be a 2nd or 3rd year middle schooler. If he were a university student, it would be difficult to think that he would place 'changing classes' at a higher priority than 'starting employment'.
(TN: Kanji are the chinese characters that make up one of the three writing systems of the Japanese language. It is the hardest and most complex of the three.)

Okabe: There are no wrong words or grammar mistakes, so his grades may be good. From his use of the expression "the snow on the mountains has melted", he probably lives in Northern Kantou or in Yamanashi at best.
Okabe: It would be too early to talk about cherry blossoms blooming in late March if he were in Touhoku
(TN: Touhoku is the northern part of the main island of Japan, Honshuu)
Okabe: Furthermore, his words are aligned neatly, and this, coupled with his good penmanship, suggest that the writer is meticulous.

Okabe: He uses many positive words like 'hope', 'courage' and 'encounters', suggesting that the sender is an optimistic person with a personality that views a glass as half full rather than half empty
Okabe: On the other hand, from the fact that he attached a letter to a balloon to let it fly away, one can deduce that he is a romantic, still imbued with a childish worldview..."
Okabe: ... This report on the profile of the person is...

Page 19
Okabe: All wrong

Students: !!
Students: !!

Igarashi: Just where exactly is it wrong?
Igarashi: In the first place, the professor doesn't even know who the real sender of the letter is, does he?
Okabe: I do
Okabe: I know exactly who the sender of this letter is

Okabe: Is there anyone who has a different profile from the one in this report?

Page 20
Igarashi: !!

Okabe: In that case, Akiyama-kun, your answer please
Akiyama: ....
Akiyama: Yes

Akiyama: The sender is a 19 year old male. I would have to say his personality is gloomy and pessimistic
Akiyama: The letter was written in early March and flown from Southern Bousou Peninsula
(TN: That's somewhere in Chiba, near Tokyo)

Ohno: What the hell
Ohno: There's no way that could be right
Okabe: ....
Okabe: ... Hou

Page 21
Okabe: Correct

Ohno: !?
Matsuo: Ehhhh!?

Komaki: ... How on earth did you arrive at that?
Akiyama: Let me explain
Akiyama: When I first saw this letter, there were a number of things that didn't sit well with me
Akiyama: Firstly, the ink smudges

Igarashi: Didn't it get wet by dew when it got caught on the tree?
Akiyama: Is that really the case?
Akiyama: I've flown letter balloons before when I was in elementary school, but I put my letter in a plastic bag so it wouldn't get wet even in the rain
Akiyama: Furthermore, if you folded this letter along the creases, look, you get this, right?
Akiyama: I think it was flown like this, but...

Page 22
Akiyama: If it had gotten wet in this state
Akiyama: It'd be strange that only the address and the name, but not any part of the text body, had gotten smudged

Matsuo: Ah!
Matsuo: You're right!!
Akiyama: That means
Akiyama: That the smudge got thee after the letter had already been read

Akiyama: In that case, it's no surprise that the professor knows the name of the sender as well as the address
Akiyama: But the way the professor worded it was a little different
Okabe: I know who the sender is

Akiyama: "I know who the sender is"... It carries the nuance of not just knowing the address and name alone
Akiyama: Most likely...
Akiyama: It carried the nuance of his having come into contact with the sender in some way or another
Okabe: ...

Page 23
Akiyama: There's something else that bothers me
Akiyama: This letter was being written to a stranger, right?
Akiyama: How would you write a letter if you were writing to someone you didn't know?
Akiyama: You'd start with the "Nice to meet you" greeting. ... What next?

Akiyama: A self-introduction, right? Normally.

Akiyama: And that's it. For some reason, this letter doesn't have a self-introduction
Ohno: Ah
Ohno: You're right!!
Akiyama: I couldn't help being bothered by the fact that the sender of this letter simply didn't talk about himself
Akiyama: Did he not want to talk about himself?

Akiyama: If he didn't, then his use of the positive words "hope" and "courage"...
Akiyama: I wondered if it was hiding the fact that he was fighting off the painful situation he was in

Akiyama: That being the case, I wondered
Akiyama: If it had anything to do with the fact the professor knew the sender...
Okabe: ...

Page 24
Akiyama: And so... I finally found out
Akiyama: The true identity of the sender

Igarashi: !?
Igarashi: Based on what assumptions!?
Akiyama: Sorry
Akiyama: From here on, they're not assumptions anymore

Akiyama: The professor's wife
Akiyama: I asked her... Secretly

Ohno: Huh!? What the hell? That's not a profile anymore is it?
Akiyama: That's right... But then
Akiyama: I couldn't help but ask
Akiyama: Professor, I'm sorry for doing such things behind your back...
Akiyama: But your wife told me... About the sender...

Page 25
Akiyama: That he had a grave illness

Matsuo: !?
Okabe: ...

Box (right): His name was Takeda Koushirou, and he'd liven a mostly bedridden life for the past 3 years, since he was 16
Box (left): That was probably why his sunny personality became one that was silent and withdrawn
Akiyama: He may have been 19, but I think the reason he would place "matriculation ceremonies" and "changing classes" before "starting employment"
Akiyama: Stems from his regret at being unable to have a fulfilling school life

Box (1): His mother, finding it hard to see her son like that, suggesting attaching a letter to a balloon and flying it
Box (2): Because she wanted to lift his spirits even a little
Box (3): Bored of mundane hospital life, he gladly took her up on the suggestion
Box (4): His mother prepared 50 balloons for him while he meticulously wrote out 50 letters
Box (5): But he never spoke about the fact that he had a grave illness in the letters. Instead, he wrote words of hope. He was trying his best to act tough, not wanting others to pity him
Igarashi: The reason why he didn't write "graduation ceremonies" may also have been because its a word that carries the notion of "separation", right?

Page 26
Akiyama: He was bedridden, so he hadn't seen the scenery outdoors for a long time... He had come to Chiba hoping that the change in climate would do his health good, and didn't know that snow didn't fall on the mountains of Bousou
Ohno: ? Then what about that line about "The snow on the mountains has melted"?
Akiyama: That was the scenery from Niigata, where he used to live
(TN: Niigata is in Koushinetsu, which was mentioned earlier)
Akiyama: Memories of the spring scenery from when he was well

Box: And so, one day in early March when the south wind blew strong, his mother released all 50 balloons from the roof of the hospital

Akiyama: Letter balloons rarely actually reach anybody
Akiyama: But by some stroke of luck, one balloon actually fell into the hands of a young girl in Setagaya
Akiyama: 18 years old at that time, she was...
Akiyama: Professor Okabe's only daughter, Reiko-san

Komaki: Eh!?
Box (middle): Reiko-san, too, was living a depressed life at that time. She was a famous basketballer chosen to play on the national team, but had to give up basketball when she sustained a severe injury to her knee
Box (left): In addition, she had holed herself up in her room. Although high school graduation was right ahead, her path from then on was undecided, and she spent every day like that in her room.

Page 27
Box (right): That which saved her, was this letter
Box (middle): If you can brave the harsh winter, a spring of hope will surely follow
Box (left): The message of the letter gave her hope and strength

Box (right): She, who had not stepped out of the house in ages, went to a preparatory school the next day to hand in an application
Box (left): She was born again. She had taken a brand new step of life
Igarashi: ....
Ohno: .....

Akiyama: The sender was, for some reason, not Koushirou-kun, but his mother
Ohno: ?
Matsuo: ?

Page 28
Akiyama: He died
Akiyama: Soon after Reiko-san's letter was delivered

Igarashi: !?
Akiyama: This was what was written in the letter

Box (1): "Koushirou was happy that his letter was able to give someone courage--
Box (2): Thank you, Reiko-san. Koushirou read your letter in his last days before he died"
Box (3): Reiko-san first found out that Koushirou-san had been afflicted with a grave illness through that letter, and dumbfounded, she couldn't accept it at first
Box (4): She returned to her room and re-read Koushirou-san's letter
Box (5): Her tears flowed freely

Page 29
Box (right): It was those tears that Reiko-san shed then
Box (left): That caused the address and name on this letter to get smudged

Akiyama: Professor Okabe
Akiyama: My sincerest apologies... I ignored the fact that it was a profiling assignment and tried to find out the real situation

Okabe: I don't blame you
Okabe: ... No, on the contrary

Page 30
Okabe: What you did was absolutely right

Komaki: !?
Akiyama: Eh?

Okabe: I passed you a single letter, and told you to come up with a profile for the sender... Normally, you would draw your conclusions from the text alone
Okabe: Just like in this report
Okabe: But Akiyama-kun was different... He approached me with the letter
Akiyama: ...
Okabe: He asked me... Why I had this letter, and why I had set this assignment

Okabe: That was exactly the purpose of this assignment

Page 31
Okabe: You are all brilliant
Okabe: Each of you will become elites in high positions when you go out into society

Okabe: But perhaps because of that brilliant mind
Okabe: Many elites come to neglect to look at the heart

Students: ...
Okabe: Psychology is a subject that searches the depths of the human heart. At the very least, for each of you, each like a box placed in this psychology classroom---
Okabe: I do not wish for any of you to become someone who neglects to look at the heart

Page 32
Okabe: This is because more than any detailed profile
Okabe: That which will allow you to understand the human heart best is interacting with others

Students: ....
Okabe: That is the end of my discussion
Okabe: Please compile everything into your graduation paper at the end of your summer holidays
Okabe: ... In addition, as for this report...

Okabe: All of you pass

Page 33
Students: Yay---!!

Someone: I'm so relieved -- I was so worried about how it would turn out! Ahaha
Akiyama: ...

Akiyama: Professor Okabe
Okabe: What's wrong?
Akiyama: Is there still time left to apply for graduate school?
Okabe: Yes, but don't you already have an offer from a government agency?
Akiyama: No

Page 34
Akiyama: I've changed my mind
Akiyama: I want to study even more. I want to learn more about "the human heart" from Professor Okabe

Okabe: ....
Okabe: ... I see

Box (right): That day, Akiyama decided to do a post-graduate
Box (left): This was 5 years before he met Kanzaki Nao

LIAR GAME roots of A (end)