Wa! 12

[Scanlation with this translation reserved for otakami]

WA!
Chapter 12

p.67
Chapter 12


p.68
It’s the po-po [1]

MIKA: Tobira-kun! I know I keep telling you this, but a minor should not be playing those kinds of games!!
SFX: fuming
MIKA: It’s the law, and you should follow it!
ISSHIN: ...What strange things you speak of.

ISSHIN: I’m already 20 you know?
MIKA: Huh?
MIKA: You were held back, Tobira-kun...?

ISSHIN: And heck, aren’t you 20 as well?
MIKA: [bold]Whaa!?[bold]
MIKA: N...no I’m not! I’m [ i]16!![ i]

ISSHIN: If we don’t set our ages to at least 20, we may have problems further down the road, you know? *
*[20 is the sort of “coming of age” age in Japan, including when you can legally drink.]
Mutter: In this day and age
MIKA: [bold]!?[bold]
MIKA: Set...!?
Mutter: What does that mean??


p.69
Heated speech

MIKA: Hmmm... So restrictions against ecchi things might get stricter in all sorts of ways...
MIKA: That’s great!
SFX: snicker
SFX: sigh
ISSHIN: ...Underage pornography in which the models exist in real life certainly [ i]should[ i] be banned.
ISSHIN: However!

ISSHIN: Going as far as forbidding two-dimensional creations is utter stupidity!
This is nothing short of an act of libricide which infringes upon our freedom of expression!!
MIKA: B...but...

MIKA: Some people might become influenced by unethical stories and copy what they see...
ISSHIN: [bold]Nay![bold]
ISSHIN: All we seek are 2-D girls! It is [ i]because[ i] we are despondent of real, 3-D women that we get hooked on games!!
But in spite of that...

ISSHIN: Those politicians cannot differentiate between 2-D and 3-D!!
MIKA: Is that something [ i]you[ i] should be saying?


p.70
A noble determination

ISSHIN: .........
SFX: sigh...
ISSHIN: ...Well, there’s no use in throwing a speech at you here, prez...
MIKA: Well, I suppose so...

ISSHIN: .........
ISSHIN: I have decided.
MIKA: O...on what?

ISSHIN: [bold]I will become a politician in the future![bold]
MIKA: Whaa!?

ISSHIN: [bold]I... will change this country!![bold]
SFX: grasp
MIKA: Japan’s in grave danger...!!!


p.71
!?

KIKU: Hey! You guys have cleaning duty today too, don’t you!?
SFX: oh!
Boy: Sorry, we’re in a rush~
Boy: We’ll leave the rest to you, Kikukawa!

KIKU: Seriously!
SFX: fuming
MIZU: [bold]......!![bold]
SFX: sparkle
MIZU: [bold]Like, barf me out![bold] [2]
MIZU: Right!?

KIKU: Wha?
MIZU: Umm... There’s also...
MIZU: G...
MIZU: Ga...

MIZU: [white bold]Gag me with a spoon~!![white bold]
KIKU: [bold]Gag me with a spoon!?[bold] [2]


p.72
Penny wise, [3]

KIKU: Wh...
What happened, Mizukichi?
KIKU: You’re being a bit weird.
MIZU: ......
MIZU: ...I thought I should be more in tune with trends and did some research...

MIZU: Was it weird?
KIKU: Sorry,
KIKU: It was weird.

MIZU: ...That’s strange...
SFX: down
MIZU: That magazine I bought yesterday said they were popular, though...
KIKU: Something’s wrong with that magazine...

MIZU: I thought I got lucky since I bought it for 10 yen at a used book store, though...
SFX: doo~wn
SFX: shock
KIKU: Th...that’s no good...!
Mutter: When was it from!?


p.73
The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, [3]

KIKU: But a magazine’s too slow to for you to quickly catch up on the vogue these days.
SFX: ahaha
KIKU: It’s the internet now, the internet!
MIZU: Then please tell me the newest trend.

KIKU: Huh? Me?
SFX: nod
MIZU: Please.

[none]

KIKU: ...Umm...
KIKU: There’s an old saying, “don’t follow trends, start them,” and...? [4]
MIZU: I don’t care about the old.


p.74
Break 28

UME: There are words that normally sound serious, but become easygoing when put in katakana, right?
SAKU: For example?

UME: [bold]Funeral portrait![bold]*
*[“Iei” in Japanese, which means portrait of a dead person.]
SAKU: [white bold]Yaaay![white bold]

UME: [bold]Whaling![bold]
SAKU: [white bold]Wailing![white bold]

UME: [bold]Uppish[bold]*
*[“go-rippuku” in Japanese, which means pissed off]
SAKU: [white bold]Apish![white bold]


p.75
Break 29

SAKU: ...Oh, the apish made me remember. Whenever I see the yojijukugo “Gorimuchuu,”*
*[A “yojijukugo” is a four kanji idiom, and “gorimuchuu” means in a dense fog]
SAKU: I always picture a scene where two gorillas kiss.

Go Ri
Mu Chuu

Gori*
*[Gori is often used as shorthand for gorilla in Japanese]
Muchuu*
*[Onomatopoeia for kissing]

UME: Aah!
UME: I can’t get the gorillas out of my head!
What have you done!!
SAKU: Nothing I can do there.


p.76
Do what?

MIKA: .........
Tobira-kun, so while you play these games...
MIKA: Do you do it?

[none]

ISSHIN: ...What do you mean by “do it?”
MIKA: ...!?
SFX: oh!
MIKA: N... nothing!!

ISSHIN: [bold]What do you mean by “do it?”[bold]
MIKA: I told you it was nothing!!!


p.77
Do what??

ISSHIN: I play games in order to sublimate my spiritual hunger.
ISSHIN: It is most certainly [ i]not[ i] to satisfy my lust.

[none]

ISSHIN: [bold]I am not like you.[bold]
MIKA: I...
MIKA: I don’t do it, either!!

ISSHIN: [bold]What do you mean by “do it?”[bold]
MIKA: S...sadist...!!


p.78
Title

MIKA: ...Leaving that aside, many games of this nature have some astonishing titles...
MIKA mutter: Isn’t it inconvenient to read them at the store...?
ISSHIN: The impact is important.
ISSHIN mutter: Not many people read the titles out when buying them

ISSHIN: There are many cheap titles based on puns, though.
ISSHIN: Also, if you use kanji like “lewd” and “shame” it starts to sound like it.
MIKA: H...hmmm...

ISSHIN: Shall I make a pun title using the president as an example?
MIKA: S...
SFX: ah!
MIKA: Stop it!!

ISSHIN: [bold]Sex Council President shameless Iwachidori”[bold]
MIKA: Gyaaaa!!!


p.79
Wakuwaku*
*[Excited]

MIZU: At what times do you get excited you watch TV, Okiku-san?*
KIKU: Let’s see...
KIKU mutter: Uuum
KIKU: Like when the winner is decided on a quiz show?

MIZU: ...How normal.
MIZU: It’s so normal I don’t know how to respond.
KIKU: W...well, I’m [ i]sorry![ /i]
KIKU: Then what about you, Mizukichi?

MIZU: I get excited when they insert a note saying, “This program was recorded on the [blank] day of [blank] month.”
MIZU: I find myself looking for people in it that have died or have been arrested.
KIKU: What are you getting excited about!?

MIZU: I also get excited when they blur part of the screen, and I wonder, “What in the world was there that they couldn’t show?”
SFX: giggle
MIZU: Usually it’s just a rival product of the sponsoring companies, though.
KIKU: .........
KIKU: ...Say, you’ve been talking about the TV a lot, haven’t you...


p.80
Zuun*
*[Dejected]

[none]

[none]

[none]

MIZU: ...Since I don’t have money, TV’s about the only thing I can enjoy......
SFX: depressed
KIKU: I...I’m sorry, Mizukichi!
SFX: oh!
KIKU: Let’s go play together next time!!
KIKU: Okay!!!?


p.81
Zuuzuu*
*[Drool]

MIZU: ...But I don’t have any money...
KIKU: L...look, it’s okay!
KIKU: I’ll pay for it!!

MIZU: ...Really?
KIKU: O...of course!
KIKU: I’ll treat you to anything you want to eat!!

MIZU: ...Anything?
KIKU: Y...yeah!
KIKU: Parfait, crape, anything!!

MIZU: ...To tell you the truth, I want a PS3 at the moment...
KIKU: [bold]That’s way too brazen.[bold]*
*[This word is “zuuzuushii,” which the title is related to]
MIZU: ...Then ignore that last statement...


p.82
Break 30

UME: Was there anything you learned recently that made you go “Whaa!?”
SAKU: Let’s see...

SAKU: Something like how in Hello Ki**y [censored]
SAKU: Ki**y-chan owns a Persian cat?

UME: [bold]Whaa!? A cat, even though she’s a cat herself!?[bold]
SAKU: [bold]A cat, even though she’s a cat herself.[bold]

UME: [bold]Is that not like a human owning another human!?[bold]
SAKU: [bold]It really is like a human owning another human.[bold]


p.83
Break 31

UME: ...Oh, she’s good, that Ki**y-chan. [these asterisks stand for censored stuff]
SAKU: ...Well, if you anthropomorphize an animal, there’s bound to be incongruities.

UME: It’s also a mystery what kind of meat the lion king eats each day.
SAKU: Oh, right, right,
SAKU: Speaking of incongruities, about Chee** in A*panman – [5]

SAKU: In that world where not only hippos and rabbits, but even things like bread and rice balls are anthropomorphized,
SFX: yap, yap
SAKU: Am I the only one who thinks there is some deep meaning behind how only Chee** is still just a dog?

UME: .........
UME: It may just be you.
SAKU: Is that so.


p.84
Death throes on death row

MIZU: [bold]“Death row”[bold] and [bold]“death throes”[bold] [6]
MIZU: Sound alike, right?

KIKU: ...Well,
KIKU: Yeah...

[none]

KIKU: ......And?
MIZU: ?
Uh, that’s it?


p.85
p.86


~~notes~~ -ack, there are a ton!

[1] Soo, I really couldn’t figure out what this was supposed to mean. The title was “changakuru” in hiragana. Something like “-chan is coming”??? Boohoo...

[2] Mizuki actually says “chou emu emu” (super/uber MM) and “choberiba~” which are Japanese slang used by girls and young women (refer to kogal). The MM stands for “maji mukatsuku,” something like “that seriously pisses me off,” while choberiba is short for “chou berii baddo” (super “very bad”). Used in the ‘90s in very much in the same way as “saiaku~” or “saitei~”. I swapped them out for some valley girl slang (‘80s or something).

[3] These titles referred to Japanese sayings, which were cut short. The first one corresponded to “penny wise and pound foolish” and was left as is. The second one was (comparing heights of) acorns, meaning they were the same/none of them stand out, so I replaced it with a quote including mediocrity: “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”

[4] This was another saying, basically meaning fads come and go, so I replaced it with a better one.

[5] Anpanman is a fairly well know children’s anime in which the main character is a superhero that is an anpan (sweet red bean paste (anko)-filled pastry), and the main characters own a dog with a misshapen head and high-pitched yelps called Cheese.

[6] Mi(d)zuki is talking about “danmatsuma” and “danchidzuma” which mean death throes and apartment wives, so the title’s supposed to be “apartment wife’s death throes”