"Ah, SAI-yuki!"

[rachelmanija]

Yesterday my refrigerator defrosted, which I of course didn't notice until after eating something from it, after which I felt vaguely nauseated all day and had to replace everything in the fridge, which luckily was not much. (Do pickles go bad after a defrosting incident? What about mustard?)

I took that as an excuse to go to the Japanese market with the used manga (in Japanese only) adjunct store. The women there do speak English, but they'll let me practice Japanese on them as long as I don't take too long to understand what they're saying. If I hesitate more than ten seconds, they'll translate. It makes me feel like I'm on Japanese Jeopardy, and makes shopping there a bit unnerving.

Me: "Saiyuki wa arimasu ka?"

Two ladies and young man: Blank stares.

Me: "Ah, Gensomaden Saiyuki?"

Two ladies and young man: Blank stares.

Beat.

Young man (enlightenment dawning): "SAI-yuki?"

Me: Hai!

Two ladies: Ah, SAI-yuki!

Me (in my mind only): Huh?

The young man led me to-- score! -- volumes two, three, and-- double score! five-- in Japanese, two bucks each, original Japanese covers, oversize format the better to ogle the guys with, and also with lettering large enough that the hiragana cheats next to the kanji are mostly legible.

I spent much of this morning attempting to read volume five. My Japanese sucks. I wouldn't have understood any of it if I hadn't seen the anime already. It's the one that's mostly an extended flashback to everyone meeting for the first time-- well, the first time since Heaven-- beginning when Gojyo picks Hakkai up off the middle of the forest path and then after a lot of spoilery stuff they become roommates. Or possibly "roommates." There was a drawing of condom wrappers with an explanation I couldn't understand at all, but was probably, "They're for Gojyo's girlfriends. Girlfriends. Definitely girlfriends. To repeat: girlfriends."

Also, if anyone has read that far already in Japanese or scanlations... how shall I phrase this... does it make any sense whatsoever for Hakkai to wear a monocle? I mean, is that explained at all? Do the monks have really incredible healing powers that Sanzo himself never learned?

I also bought a CLAMP comic I never heard of called REX, about a cute little dinosaur. I wanted to buy some X, but they only had volumes I already had, with no additional or different art.

The market offered some new Pocky flavors: coconut milk, orange/chocolat, cream, cookies and cream, and maple custard.

what flavor pocky are you?

[c] sugardew

I also bought some darling little teeny weeny kawaii miniature sushi/sake sets, the ones that come in little numbered boxes where you have to collect all five hundred to get a complete banquet set. They also come with little white tablets. I'm not sure if those are candies or drying pellets. After the defrosting experience I was afraid to try one.

Comments

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

Aww! Pocky Pocky Pocky...Glad you found your Saiyuki. :-)

[majinkarp.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten that some of the Japanese editions have furigana next to them (the newer issues/volumes don't)! If you want, I can send you scanslations for the yet-untranslated volumes.

To answer your question, Hakkai now has an artificial eye. He can see out of it, but not very well. In later flashbacks you see him wearing glasses, but for some reason he's switched to the monocle by the beginning of the journey. My theory: it's not so much an affectation than it is that he's trying to hide behind it. Having a monocle makes him all the more unreadable, plus along with his bangs draped over the eye, it's harder to spot the damage. Muraki in YnM does the same thing, as does Hatori from Fruits Basket (the hair, I mean--not the monocle). Why do you think Gojyo has long hair? It hides his scars.

My favorite pocky is Pocky Decorer. It's so rich that every box you eat probably shortens your lifespan by a year.

[larryhammer]

Pickles should be good -- pickling was a way of preserving veggies before there was refrigeration. Mustard is likely to be good, because of all the vinegar, but taste it to see if it seems off.

---L.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Hakkai can see out of... um, OK. ;) I like your theory. Although I think Gojyo looks better with short hair, scars and all. And speaking of Hatori (yes, I had some time on my hands yesterday):

Omae wa dochira juunishi no MEMBAA desu ka?
[koyasunomiko.com]

I don't know about that, though; I don't think anyone who knows me would pick him as my analogue, even on second or third thought. Maybe the little white belts would.

What sort of software would I need to read the scanlations? I downloaded bittorrent but it doesn't work on my computer.

[majinkarp.livejournal.com]

Don't put too much thought into it. Remember, this is the series with a Jeep in ancient China.

I can transfer the files to you if you have AIM or MSN. Alternatively, I can upload them to my web space and you can download them directly. The latter would take a while, since I'd have to do it a few volumes at a time. Other than that, all you need is a program that can open ZIP files and some medium for viewing JPEGs.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

And heavenly gold cards. All part of its unique charm.

I have hotmail through msn.com, is that what you mean?

But I can usually open zip files and jpegs. Yes, please, I would love to get the files! Could you please try sending volume 4 to Rphoenix2@hotmail.com, and I'll let you know if I can open it.

Or did you mean I only need to be able to open zip files if you upload them to your website? Um... whichever one you think would work, please.

[majinkarp.livejournal.com]

MSN Messenger is a chat client that you can also use for direct file transfers. If you download it, you should be able to use your Hotmail address and password to log in. I'll upload the manga to my web space for you instead though, and send you the links. The files are divided by chapter, not by volume, so try one out and let me know if you have any problems with it. You'll need Winzip or some other program for opening the ZIP files regardless of how I send them to you.