Translator's Notes 1996 Summer - Sailor Stars 1996 summer - Sailor Stars 5:16 Entry Number 666 666 is said to be the number of The Beast. 5:24 Chou Very Bad Ko Mates & It's Chou Very Bad The Animamates are dressed up as ko-gals in this song, hence their name as the Chou Very Bad Ko Mates. Ko-gal (kogyaru) was a kind of fashion that was popular around when this musical was staged. It is a contraction of "koukouseigyaru" (High School Gal). The fashion featured shortered school uniform skirts, loose socks, scarves and dyed hair. This trend was particularly devoted to materialism, they were seen as girls whose main interest was latest high-class fashions, trendy words, expensive brands and being on their cellphones. Naruru and Ruruna in the Sailor Moon manga are other examples of kogals. In this scene, the trend is being made fun of. The phrase "Chou Very Bad" (translated here as So Very Bad) is one of the (if not the) most associated phrase with the trend. The lyrics of "It's Chou Very Bad" are a little confusing, but basically the point of the song mixes in things that kogals do, things that animals do and things that the Sailor Animamates do. Since this song can be a bit confusing for people unfamiliar with this subculture (after all, its rather gone out of fashion). Here is a quick run through of the song. Iron Mouse's Verse - Having a rich boyfriend who gives her expensive jewellery, but all she wants to do is chew on it like an animal would. Refusing to do housework since the clothes would not be trendy Titanium Kerokko's Verse - About surrending to the Shadow Galactica and what comes to people who show-off. Pewter Fox's Verse - About hiding the fact that she's one of the Shadow Galactica in disguised. Tin Nyanko's Verse - Sleeping all day like a cat, and not wanting to do work like a Kogal stereotype. Along with being too wealthy for the affection of men beneath her class. Pewter Fox's Second Verse - About Galaxia not forgiving their failures. 8:32 Usagi's Sash This also reads "Head of the Performance Committee" 8:37 There's nothing we can do The girls were saying "abunai" (that's dangerous), Usagi jumped in saying "hokanai" (nothing we can do), due to the words similarity, so the girls might accidentally say "hokanai" too in order to get herself off the hook. 11:40 Aventure Aventure is the French word for Adventure, in this case, we've preserved the root language to differentiate between avanchuuru (aventure) and adobenchaa, which comes from the English "adventure" 19:51 Taiki's Poem This is actually from the traditional Tanabata song. 19:59 Tanabata Literally "Evening of the Seventh", a Japanese star festival celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunisolar calendar. The festivities usually begin on July 7th. This festival celebrates the meetings of the deities Hikobashi and Orihime, these deities are represented by Altair and Vega respectively. This musical was recorded in August, which might have something to do with why Tanabata is being referenced. Tanabata occurs some time between July and August. 21:02 Phage Phage were the monsters-of-the-day in the Sailor Stars anime. 25:47 Hanako Hanako of the Toilet Hanako of the Toilet is a Japanese urban legend regarding a World War II era girl who haunts the bathrooms of schools. It is said if one knocks on the third stall of the girls' bathroom on the third floor and asks if Hanako is there, she will reply "I am here" and a girl in a red skirt will appear. There are several variations of the myth, some students are challenged to perform the steps to summon Hanako to prove their bravery. 30:11 Sign The sign reads "Toilet" 30:51 Shining buttocks / Hotaru This is because "hotaru" means "firefly" 31:12 Sailor Busters Scene In this part of Sailor Busters, each of the girls sings for the other special skills, hence some of the music that is borrowed from other songs doesn't match the singer, Hotaru for Ami, Ami for Minako, Makoto for Hotaru, Minako for Rei and Rei for Makoto. 32:12 Seiryuu Byakko Sujaku Genbu Kuuchin Nanju Hokutao Sandai Gyokunyo These are words relating to Chinese Astrology, what is important here is that together these form a kuji-in, a nine syllable mantra. Minako is acting as Rei here, replacing her usual kuji-in (Rin Pyou Tou Sha Kai Jin Retsu Zai Zen) with this one. 34:12 Hallway Slippers Like many other Asian cultures, Japan demands that shoes should be removed in buildings, hallway slippers (uwabaki) are light shoes made to be worn indoors. In Japanese schools, there are assigned lockers for each student to specifically put their hallway slippers in. 46:19 Constellations Pisces, Canes Venatici, Capricornus, Carina, Ophiuchus and Leo are all recognised constellations. Rangifer, Aranea and Anguilla are no longer and are obsolete. 1:03:19 Genroku Subspace The Genroku Era was a high point in the Edo Period, it lasted from the year 1688 to 1704. 1:04:44 The Edo Period Scene This scene is a homage to Japanese Period Drama (jidaigeki) which is a genre of television, film and television. These are stiJidaigeki vary widely in how accurate they are, It is important to note that the language used in Jidaigeki, and in this scene is particular. It is modern Japanese but the grammar is incredibly formal and archaic Japanese is peppered throughout it. 1:04:44 Song & Dance This song is "Genroku Hanami Odori (Genroku Flower-Viewing dance), a famous 19th Century Kabuki song. It actually has lyrics to but they seem to only be performing the dance. The girls are dressed as courtesans, female performers who often engaged with flirtiness and playful sexuality with men. These types of performers are precursors to the later "geisha". 1:04:44 Young master! Mamoru, being referred here as wakasama (young master) is a feudal lord. 1:05:40 Europeans "Nanbanjin" literally means "Southern Barabrians" but during the Edo Period it was used to refer to Western Europeans, particularly Spanish and Portugese. 1:06:48 Edo Mamoru, Ami and MC Fly All these seem to be typical period drama stock characters. The lord with a sense for justice, the village girl and the villain. 1:07:21 Usanosuke Isshin This speech is basically the exact same speech she gave to the Shadow Galactica earlier, just changed for the time era. 1:07:23 Usanosuke Isshin This is a play on Tasuke Isshin, a ficitional character who appears in several period drama. He was a fishmonger who epitomises a sense of duty (giri) and compassion (ninjou). Fitting for a character like Sailor Moon. 1:08:38 Miss Chibiusa Hotaru is slipping into the speech style that the other characters are using. 1:09:10 Whitey Possibly a reference to the colour of his sword. 1:11:16 Carrying pole A yoke of wood that is used to balance loads on the shoulders. Usanosuke probably uses his for carrying baskets of fish. 1:11:52 I simple do not know! Chibiusa is slipping into the language too.