こんにちは！
Hellos and welcome, dear readers!
連日更新の波に乗ってる
サーファー・タカペンです！
落ちるのもはやいですが！
This is yours truly, on the wave of daily blog updates! (and probably at the tail end of the wave at that!)
さて、今日はちょっぴり
タカペンの昔話です
Today's blog entry is going to be about a bit of my old history.
先日エスカフローネの曲の
英語カバーをあげたので、
ちょっとアニメとのなれそめ話
でもを、と思い付いて！
When I uploaded the Escaflowne English cover, I so wanted to talk about my memories of the anime, so I figured I'd dedicate a whole entry to anime. :)
多分長い記事になります(笑)
Probably going to be a longer entry! :)
- 渡米後のアニメ / Animes After Coming to the U.S.
- 日本文化クラブ / Japanese Cultural Association
- エスカフローネ / Escaflowne
- 卒業後 / AFter College
- コロナ渦 / The Pandemic
- 纏め / In Summary
渡米後のアニメ / Animes After Coming to the U.S.
タカペンが渡米した時代には
インターネットなんてなかったので
渡米＝日本の文化から切り離される
でした
When my family and I came to the U.S., there was no such thing as Internet. Coming overseas basically meant completely getting cutoff from your roots.
毎週土曜日あった日本語の補習校に
かろうじて日本の本の貸し出しや
数年後にはビデオの貸し出しも
あったのですが、リアルタイムで
アニメを観ることなんてできませんでした
In the area we moved to, they did have a Saturday Japanese school where they had a tiny library where I could borrow Japanese books, although the selection was not that extensive, to say the least. A few years after we came, some videos also became available for rental as expats going back to Japan would "donate" them to the school. Long story short, there was not really much anime available once out of Japan, especially in the U.S.
漫画は少し売られていましたが
これらもとても数が少なく
読みたいものがほとんどありませんでした
There were a very few manga books that I was able to obtain at a tiny Japanese grocery store near the school, but the selection was mega tiny, so I had bought maybe just a handful of them.
なので渡米してからは
実質アニメのない環境でした
And so, once we moved here, there were pretty much no more animes.
唯一当時アメリカにきていた
セーラームーンだけは
吹き替えで観てました
The only exceptions were Ronin Warriors and Sailormoon that had made it to the U.S. way back when.
日本のセーラームーンの
アニメを初めて観たときは
うさぎちゃんの声たっか！！
と、とてもびっくりしたのを
今でも覚えてます（笑）
When I first heard Serena's original Japanese voice, I was shocked at how high pitched it was because I was so used to the American dubbed version. lol
サムライトルーパーに至っては
大人になるまで日本のアニメだと
言うことすら知りませんでした（笑）
And in regards to Ronin Warriors, I didn't even know that it was a Japanese anime until I grew up and Internet became available. lol
他には補習校で貸し出していた
ビデオでたまにドラゴンボールを
数話観たり、あと火垂るの墓も
何故かあったので、それは
中学生のときに観ました
Other than those two animes that I was able to watch on U.S. TV, I was able to watch a few episodes here and there of Dragon Ball Z from the "donated" videos. They even had "Grave of the Fireflies" which I watched when I was in middle school.
トラウマになりました（笑）
Which was traumatic, to say the least!
そんなこんなで、たまに
飛び飛びのアニメを観れたり
観れなかったの10代でした
So my teenage years passed not really watching much anime.
日本文化クラブ / Japanese Cultural Association
そんなタカペンがしっかりと
日本のアニメを観ることが
できたのは大学に入ってからでした
I finally got to watch a full length Japanese anime when I went into college.
人数の多い大学で、
日本文化クラブ
みたいなのがあったので
日本人と交流してみたいな
と思ったタカペンは
早速入ってみました
My college was pretty big and they had a Japanese cultural association, so me, wanting to get to meet actual Japanese people from Japan, went to join the association.
結果、外人しかいませんでした（笑）
Once I got there, lo and behold, there were no other Japanese students at all. lol
主にアニメを視聴するクラブでした（笑）
It was basically an anime club. lol
なんか思ってたのと違う？
アニメ観るのか～
おもしろそ～
となんとなくそのまま
クラブに入ることに
Not exactly what I had imagined, but I figured if there were no other Japanese organizations on campus, I might as well stick around, and that's what I did.
クラブ内唯一の日本人として
ちょっと「すげー」な感じで
みられてましたが
タカペンも日本語が喋れるだけで
日本の文化はそこまで知らないので
特に教えてあげられることは
なかったのでした（笑）
I think there was a sense of awe from the other members of the association becaue I was Japanese, which I didn't mind at all, but since I grew up in the U.S., there wasn't much I could teach people about Japan. lol
エスカフローネ / Escaflowne
タカペンがクラブに入った年に
確か観たアニメの一つが
「天空のエスカフローネ」でした
One of the animes we watched the year I joined the anime club was "The Vision of Escaflowne."
横に長い講義室にブラウン管の
テレビを二つ、同時再生できるよう
繋げて部屋の片方ずつに置いて
その前に椅子をずらりと並べて
暗がりの中、皆で鑑賞です
（アメリカではテレビを観るとき
部屋の明りを消すので）
The room we had was small but horizontally long, so they had two TV's setup with cables running between them so that the video could be played back simultaneously on the two TV's. They were placed on either sides of the room, and there were chairs lined up in front of them where we'd sit and watch in the darkness.
そんなに大きいテレビでもないですし
タカペン当時から近眼で眼鏡も
そこまであってなかったので
見えるのは遠くの四角いちょっと
ぼやけた動く絵です
We didn't have big screen sized TV's, although the box shaped TV's were big in a three dimensional way, and my nearsightedness had progressed beyond the glasses I had at the time, so all I saw was a far away and slightly blurry moving pics in a box.
それでも凄い、面白い、と
食い入るように毎週観てました
Even under such circumstance, though, the animes were enthralling.
エスカフローネは今でいう
異世界転移もので、かつ
ロボットアニメになるのでしょうか
Escaflowne would now be categorized under isekai, and it was also a mecha anime.
まだ若くて中二病を若干
引きずってたタカペンは
「いや、日本のアニメだし
なんでもないし、おもしろいよね」
みたいなスタンスでしたが
今思うと大分はまってました（笑）
I was young back then, so to a certain point I acted like watching animes was nothing, but looking back, I was really into them. lol
エスカフローネは鼻が
とんがってるのが特徴で、最初は
意味不明と思っていたのが
ずっと観ているうちに
その特徴的な鼻こそが
エスカフローネと思えたくらいです（笑）
The only thing about Escaflowne was that the noses of the characters were just so strangely pointy. So at first, I took a slight adversion to the anime, but by the time I finished watching the whole anime, I felt that Escaflowne would not be Escaflowne without the pointy noses. lol
クラブでのなんかの景品で
エスカフローネのサントラCDももらい
好きなのかよくわからないながらも、
大分エスカフローネがタカペンの
大学１年に色々な思い出を残しました
I even won an OST CD at some raffle we did at the club, so regardless of whether I liked Escaflowne or not, the anime left an indelible impression on me.
1年生寮に入ってたのですが
皆１年生らしく夜に騒いで
うるさくて眠れませんでした
For example, I lived in a freshman dorm, so it got quite rowdy at night.
そんなときルームメイトの
CDコンポを借りてエスカフローネの
サントラCDを大音量でかけて
眠りについてました（笑）
On those nights when I couldn't sleep because of the noises outside my room, I'd borrow my roommate's CD player and blast on Escaflowne OST CD. That was my lullabye. lol
卒業後 / AFter College
卒業してからは
アニメを観る機会が減り
DVDを学生時代の友人から
借りたりして、ちらほら
観てた気はしますが
一時期からネトゲにはまり
そこからコロナまで
アニメはほとんど観てません
After I graduated, I didn't have the opportunity to watch too many animes. My college friend lent me some DVD's here and there, but once I got hooked on online games, I really didn't watch any animes until the pandemic.
コロナ渦 / The Pandemic
コロナ渦になって、大きく変わったのが
アニメを観る習慣がつきました
One of the things that changed after the pandemic began was that I started watching animes regularly.
リモートワークになり、
外に出るのもはばかれるそんな中、
お昼休憩時間にHuluで
アニメを観るようになりました
It was a Tuesday in March of 2020, that we were told to go home with our laptops things so that we could work from home. Initially I thought that it might be just for a week or so working from home. Then things started looking worse and worse, and it seemed that we'd be working from home for at least a year or more.
Initially because work was so quiet because most businesses had come to a halt or at least slowed down, I had the luxury to enjoy my full hour of lunchtime everyday. That was when I started watching anime on Hulu, which I'd signed up for years ago to watch Sailormoon Crystal. (I ended up watching just an episode or two lol)
そこで初めてじっくり観たアニメが
「痛いのは嫌なので防御力に
極振りしたいと思います」
でした
The anime that I was watching during my lunch hour was "Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense."
大分前ですが「小説家になろう」で
少しだけ読んだことがあって
そのときはへー、VRMMORPGネタね
とちょっと思ったぐらいだったのですが
アニメがあると知って、まぁ
嫌いなお話じゃなかったし
観てみようかな？ と思って
観始めたら楽しくて、毎日１話観て
１期の最後まで観ちゃいました
Many, many years ago, I read a bit of the original story on Naro, and at that time, I just noted that it was another VRMMORPG story except it wasn't a isekai but just playing online. When I saw the anime on Hulu, I decided to give it a try since I hadn't actively disliked the original story or something. And once I started, it became part of my daily routine to watch one episode during my lunch hour, until I finished watching the first season.
VRMMORPG内のお話なので
殺伐とした雰囲気もなく、
ただメイプルちゃんが
楽しく無双してくだけの
ある意味日常系ストーリー？
Like I mentioned, it's not an isekai but a story of Maple, the main character, playing a new VRMMORPG game and just enjoying herself with her friends.
コロナなんて言うよくわからない
世界になった中、軽い気持ちで、
そして軽い気持ちになれるアニメでした
With the stress of being in a pandemic and all the other good stuff that went on in year 2020, Bofuri was the breath of fresh air that I needed.
２期も観たい！ と思って
当時調べたところ、それこそ
コロナの影響で２期の制作が
延期になったと
Once I finished with season one, I looked up on the web about season two, and apparently the production had been delayed thanks to the pandemic.
そんなアニメですがやっと今月
２期が始まりました！！
ずっと楽しみにしてたので
じっくりとても大切にしながら
観てく予定です（笑）
But finally, after almost three years, we have the second season! I plan on watching it diligently! :)
先日ネットフリックスにやっと
１話がきたので、週末に観ました
相変わらずなんでもないストーリーで
気持ちをとても楽にしながら観れました
The first episode just became available last Thursday, I think it was, so I watched it over the weekend. The new season still has the same old cheerful and care-free atmosphere that is so relaxing and soothing to watch. I'm already hoping for a third season. lol
纏め / In Summary
アニメは私の人生の中で
観れない時期や、観ない時期も
結構長年の間ありました
There were fairly long stretches of time in my life where I was unable to watch anime, as well as times when my interest drifted away to other things.
それなのにこんなおばさん
ゲフンゲフン
いえ、年配ペンギンになって
こんなにアニメにはまる日が来るとは
１０代のタカペンには
想像もできませんでした
A teenage me would never have imagined that now at middle age, anime would be a pretty integral part of my life.
世の中グローバルに、
そして便利になりました
The world has become more global and very much more convenient.
こんな世の中で、いつまで
アニメを観るのかわかりませんが
アニメに救われた部分も多々あり
いつまでも日本の文化の一部で
あり続けて欲しいと思います
In such a world as the one we're in now, I don't know how much longer I'll be watching animes, but there have been times that animes have helped me in my life, and I hope that anime will continue to be a strong part of the Japanese culture.
Although, now that I think about it, even though anime is produced in Japan, watching anime has likely become part of a global tradition and culture. Hopefully we'll have many more years, decades, of good animes to watch.
以上なんかしめっぽくなりましたが
アニメと私についてでした
Not sure why this entry's become so sentimental and nostalgic, but there you have it. A story of anime and yours truly.
ブログ連日更新は多分この記事までです
次は『ポケットを空にして』翻訳の
説明記事になると思います
This entry will likely be the last of my daily update streak for now. lol
The next article should be my explanation in Japanese for the Pocket song from Escaflowne.
それでは今日もお付き合いくださり
ありがとうございました！
So thank you as always for reading this far!
次の記事で会いましょう！
Hope to see you in my next article!
ではではっ！
Taka, out!
