The Twelve Kingdoms Forum

The Toan no Tsubasa translation is now complete. Eugene's blogged that he's planning to translate Higashi no Watatsumi, Nishi no Sokai ("Poseidon of the East, Vast Blue Seas in the West") next.

http://www.eugenewoodbury.com/tonan/index.html

Eugene Woodbury has started translating the Tonan no Tsubasa novel.

I wouldn't use the word "reactionary", which generally is used to mean someone extremely conservative, old fashioned and right wing. However, many rulers seem to be selected for their ability to correct the problems from the previous reign.

Yeah. The spambots are a menace.

As for being absent from the throne, I'm not reading this as literal separation from a chair, but instead as poor government. Youma infestation is a sign of failing government. Shoruyu can go out and wander around because a) he has competent and trustworthy ...

He fairly obviously was in a mutual relationship with Yuka. Youko was a friend and had a crush on him, but it seemed fairly shallow. He fairly obviously knew, but she'd apparantly never brought it up and he didn't want to ruin their friendship by telling her that he prefered the school pariah to her.

We don't know how old the gun is. There are probably people out there who can take one look and tell us the make and model, but I'm not one. There's no particular reason to believe it is that old.

Do we ever see any rockets or fireworks in the twelve kingdoms? I'm trying to recall, but can't think ...

I'm unaware of any good 12K fanfiction, I'm afraid, despite having written one. It's not bad, I hope, but it is just one scene as I can't write a plot to save my life.

Looking at the fanfiction.net ones, they're mostly King/Kirin romance (which is specifically and cannonically a bad idea), mostly ...

He was able to buy it, because the seller thought it was a random piece of useless junk.

The problem is, revolvers are not that hard to figure out. They have an obvious handle and there's a lever to pull where the fore finger goes. (Unless it's single action - which is, I'd think, unlikely)

It's ...

We're using different definitions of the phrase "special quality". You're using it in terms of having a personality. I'm using it in terms of having a special quality that makes you a significant character in fiction. Youko, for example, has a special quality. She is the annointed King of Kei. This ...

Yuka is a decent and somewhat sympathetic character. However:

1) Youko had no particular logical reason to suspect the farm-wife from the start. The choices at the time were basically trust her or kill her. And killing strangers out of fear is not a healthy approach to life. The fact that she later ...

I wouldn't say that Asano had potential as a hero or was a significant love interest for Youko. At the start, she had a mild crush on him, but she didn't really connect with him or anyone (which is what she had to grow out of as part of her character development).

Asano's role is basically that of ...

Significant chunks of Tonan no Tsubasa have been translated, but it hasn't been finished and the translation's English isn't the best.

Oh and one more thing. Our primary source about what it feels like to sense the Ouki is from Keiki explaining it to Taiki.

And Keiki has been a miserable failure every other time he's tried to explain something.

Good point about Hourin - I'd forgotten that.

But the time taken to find something is always unpredictable. It's the same for your mobile, lost arrows and car keys. It's presumably the same for kings. It does seem odd that Keiki would have traveled to Hourai without having checked Kei throughly ...

I think we're dealing with a translation/cultural problem, rather than a plotting problem. IMHO, the Kirin doesn't see the aura around the king, rather he/she just knows that the person is the king. It's internal rather than external. Remember that Taiki felt something when he first saw Gyousou. He ...

A more sophisticated than ususal spambot, but still a spambot. [sigh]

Thanks. The place was getting wrecked.

Edit - did you also unsubscribe the spammer?

Agreed - but I don't know who was responsible for this pace at all. He/she might have moved on.

I don't think it's like a marriage at all, it's far too formal. I think it is just like the books describe it, it's more like a King and their high adviser. There is never any real compassion between the two, it never goes beyond the bounds of friendship. Just look at Keiki's previous King, and how ...

luluxiu wrote:I still think there are getting on Youko device simpy account she was replaced rulers LOL ... I do not know what, but I will walk in our discussion of this LOL ...

Another spammer. [sigh]

Yep. That's what they did with the Slayers novels.

IMHO, these isn't one answer to the question. Each pair is different and behaves in different ways. Shoryu and Enki are old friends who spend their time sarastically insulting each other. Kourin, apart from some ineffectual protests, was her king's doormat and enabler. Youko and Keiki just plain don ...

Nope, I meant Shoukei. She is probably my favorite character. And I doubt the Kirin would have been lynched. Normal people don't even have access to the palace or anything. And there was really never any feeling of contempt towards her from the people, just at the King.

We don't know that. It ...

Or possibly, if he didn't kill her, she'd have been lynched, as nearly happened to Shoukei. So he was giving her a quick and easy death. The question of Hourin's death is one of the mysteries of the series.

Mab, are you using Shoukei where you mean Gekkei?

I think being out of place was an important part of the theme of the characters. As Mab said, their main purpose in the anime was to externalise Youko's inner debates. Asano was the guy who tried to remain a nice normal high school student. It didn't work out for him. Sugimoto was the one who threw ...