Notes for Discommunication Seireihen chapter 6

v1.0.1, 2011-10-01
For the latest version of these notes, or to use the hyperlinks, go to http://www.ikaga.org/notes/seireihen06.html

Page 145

Rinko actually says randoseru, which is the backpack elementary school kids wear.

The billboard in the bottom-right panel is for "Onigoroshi," probably a reference to Wakatake Onikoroshi sake.

Page 147

Tohto University isn't a real school, as far as I can tell.

Page 150

Tsugumi uses an archaic female pronoun here, so I've decided to render it as the royal we.

The frame at the right says "poke-emon," evidently an unholy combination between Pikachu and Doraemon.

Page 154

Kokkuri-san is a game similar to Ouija, where the participants appeal to spirits to answer their questions.

Page 155

I couldn't find much about yorimashi on the English web, but the Wikipedia article on yorishiro mentions them briefly.

Page 162

Ushi no koku mairi is a curse method where you strike a nail through an effigy of your victim, specifically during the Hour of the Ox (ushi no koku, 1-3 A.M.). Generally the effigy is nailed to something of spiritual significance, such as a tree near a shrine. (WP-ja)

Page 163

I'm still not clear on what the connection to ukei is. Apparently the first ukei was when the Susanoo made a challenge to Amaterasu. In order to prove their sincerity, they would each take an object from the other and birth gods and goddesses from them. In this way their words became their bond. I also read through the chapter of Yukio Mishima's Runaway Horses (excerpt) that mentions ukei, and in practice it seems to be a oracle ritual, though "fraught with sacred power." Perhaps Ueshiba is making a connection from "words" to "breath."

Page 172

Since "Yume Tsukai" does literally mean "dream users," I guess there's nothing more to say. [Andrew Cunningham renders this as "Dream Masters", which more explicitly states the implied mastery. More marketable, too.]

Page 173

A graduation anthology is not quite the same thing as a yearbook, though it's similar. As portrayed in this manga, everybody gets to publish an article and a picture.

Page 174

Given the timeframe, I think it's likely that the author received an advance copy of the YMO live album ONE MORE YMO. Scitron is a Japanese label that focuses on video game music.

Once again the scribbles reference Natsuhiko Kyogoku's series of mystery novels ("Kyogokudo"); Enokizu and Sekiguchi (Seki-kun) are characters from it. "Kato" is Yasunori Katō from Teito Monogatari.

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