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joycestick.moe
ジョイス・スチック
@joycestick.moe
410 followers 310 following 10K posts
くそ producer of doujin media works + amateur preservationist + advocate for free sex. one half of @gravityhousegames.bsky.social

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joycestick.moe
(I am also a lot appreciating how she is kind of almost an entirely different character from how she was in hatsukiss)
Takasora whispers: "Like... stuff about Rin, for example." Ichigo is all wide-eyed and aaaah. (previous page she was like. "you wanna ask me stuff don't you. you know you do")
November 25, 2025 at 9:06 AM
joycestick.moe
I appreciate a lot that Takasora is still just. around
manga page. it's a lot of dialogue to type out, but the gist of it is Takasora greets Ichigo-sensei outside the grocery store.
November 25, 2025 at 9:02 AM
joycestick.moe
okay setting the garbage novel translation aside

a new manga chapter appeared a few hours ago let's gooooooo
Ichigo-sensei: "Why... am I... sleeping in Togawa-san's bed...?" (she's very shocked by this) Rin: "Mmm..." (her super sheepish mischievous expression)
November 25, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by ジョイス・スチック
osha.tgirl.gay
It's genuinely awful, I keep seeing the same thing happen with manga and every time their argument is "would you rather it not be translated ?" and honestly YEAH ? I'd rather not have it at all since because of your half-assed garbage the odds of some competent team picking it up plummet !
November 25, 2025 at 6:40 AM
joycestick.moe
they could just be honest and say they hate it when reading is fun.
November 25, 2025 at 6:11 AM
joycestick.moe
anyway I guess I'll just go put it in the seven seas reader survey again.
November 25, 2025 at 4:33 AM
joycestick.moe
this is a problem that localization can solve, like, if you just have her say "Teach", or something (like Blue Archive did with Kirara) but then y'know, you have to be consistent about localizing honorifics overall or people think you're wrong, and etcetc...

otaku time is a flat circle I guess.
November 25, 2025 at 4:30 AM
joycestick.moe
reading the novel TL had me thinking a lot about this exhaustive treatise from the manga scanlator on the novel translators' choice to try and write out the orthographic difference in how Rin says "Sensei"

and in particular "the goal isn't to mindlessly copy the letters and say 'I captured tone.'"
Chapter Notes - "Sensei" vs "Sensee" (too long for alt text. splitting it up) In Japanese, all of these are just informal or expressive variants of the same word. Normally, 「えい」 (ei) is pronounced as a single long "e" sound /e:/, so "Sensei" already sounds like "Sensee." That's why you'll see 「せんせー」 or 「せんせぇ」 in manga - they visually capture that long vowel and add a softer, more emotional, or playful tone. Phonetically, they're identical to 「せんせい」; the difference is only orthographic, originating from how kids say/write these words after hearing them (clearly articulating "ei" as a diphthong is tricky even for adults), which over time became used in literature to portray childlike/casual speech. 「せんせ」、on the other hand, actually drops the long vowel, ending on a short "e." It sounds a little snappier, easygoing, and less formal. Rin uses it right from the start, not because she's being affectionate, but because that's just her natural, unfiltered, casual speech. So: 「せんせ」 sounds slightly shorter, while 「せんせい」/「せんせー」/「せんせぇ」 all sound exactly the same. The latter two are purely stylistic. Writers use these spelling tweaks dashes (-), little vowels (え), tildes, even small to give dialogue a kind of orthographic personality, a visible rhythm. It's how they show softness, teasing, or energy. English just isn't built for that; our spelling system isn't phonetic, and our tone lives in phrasing rather than script. That's why I keep everything as "Sensei." Because like, how'd you even write the rest? "Sense-"? "Senseh"? "Sensee"? Would anyone actually want to read such a mess of typographic crime in the name of "tone"? (continued in image 2) And if I start going down this road, what about when this happens to other words?「学生」 (gakusei), pronounced and sometimes written がくせえ (gakusee), just means "student." Should I write "schudent" every time a character says it casually? All these variations exist only to show personality as reflected in speech, yet they sound the same aloud. Literature's truly an art, ain't it? Contractions or shifts like 「ありがとう」 (arigatou) > 「ありがと」 (arigato), 「おはよう」 (ohayou) > 「おはよ」 (ohayo)、「すごい」 (sugoi) > 「すご」 (sugo) / 「すげえ」(sugee), or 「わからない」 (wakaranai) > 「わかんない」 (wakannai) and so many others work the same way. They express warmth, closeness, or attitude, but trying to mirror that literally ("morn," "thank ya." "amazin'," "dun' get it!") would inject an accent, add connotations that never existed, or just break immersion. Japanese tone is rhythmic; English tone is structural. You can't directly trade one system for the other without breaking something. Now, someone may ask: "Why not just write 'Sense' or 'Sensee,' leave it that way, and add a translator note explaining it?" Well, other than the above regarding orthographic differences being impractical to capture and a road you don't wanna be going down: 1) A note can tell readers the meaning, but can't make it feel natural every time it appears. Once the reader learns it, they still pause whenever they see it, recalling the explanation instead of hearing the character's voice. That's comprehension, not immersion. Notes patch understanding, not restore flow. 2) Not everyone bothers to read TLNs (even more so for friggin' essays like this), so you'll still have people confused halfway through. 3) "Sense" would still sound wrong. In English it's a real word, not a nickname, and it carries meanings ("feeling," "logic") that clash with the intent. Japanese truncation is phonetic; English truncation is lexical. They behave completely differently. (continued in image 3) 4) Pronunciation. Even readers unfamiliar with Japanese instinctively pronounce "Sensei" correctly (sen-say), because it's a well-known loanword. But "Sense" would almost always be read like "sense" (of smell) for the unfamiliar. It is closer in writing to 「せんせ」, but it sounds less like it. "Sensee" also reads as "sen-see" (sight). English just doesn't mark long vowels that way. You end up with a word that's both confusing and further from the original. 5) On its own without a footnote, it doesn't even "deliver the tone" at all. It looks like a typo and sounds wrong. In a dramatic or emotional scene, "Sense!" or "Sensee!" to an average English reader look more like a joke than a heartfelt call. The moment the eye stumbles, immersion dies. So yeah, I could explain it once and make readers remember, but the moment we need a footnote the reader has to find to stay readable and natural for any average reader at any chapter, we already failed the translation. A good note adds flavor after the story, not homework before. Now, here's some critical context: in the novel, Itsuki notices Rin's way of saying "Sensei" and recognizes her voice by that. Rin also sometimes switches back to the standard form (せんせい), and Itsuki points that out. This isn't just a stylistic quirk here, but a real in-universe trait. TL;DR: Rin calls Itsuki "Sense"/"Sensee," sometimes written 「せんせ」、「せんせー」 or 「せんせぇ」 all informal, expressive forms of "Sensei." Only 「せんせ sounds slightly different; the others just look different. I'm keeping them all as "Sensei", cuz' the goal isn't to mindlessly copy the letters and say "I captured tone."
November 25, 2025 at 4:23 AM
joycestick.moe
,,,anyway yeah I need to pick up Japanese again cause probably no one is ever gonna license this
November 25, 2025 at 4:03 AM
joycestick.moe
,,,,, weh
it isn't very good

the English prose is just entirely too stiff

I'll probably just wait for more of the manga
station fronts, there are no touts for izakayas or other businesses; it was wholesome. But as a teacher, I can’t admit that. “Hmm, that’s a weak reason.” The atmosphere was one of “I’m not going home unless you convince me.” I wanted to grab her by the scruff of her neck and take her home instead of this back-and-forth, but with the size difference, that seemed difficult. Togawa-san is formidable. “Mmm...” My inexperience with this kind of student guidance outside of school becomes apparent. A student... a student............ a student should. “In the first place,” I toss aside the whole night thing, and focus only on the time. “You are a student.” “Uh-huh, uh-huh.” “Go home and study.”
November 25, 2025 at 4:02 AM
joycestick.moe
the end result seems fine, I guess. good enough. I will be rereading it if it ever gets licensed though
Everything I have in my arms, it all burns me. She’s ten years younger a high school girl my student in a uniform in a skirt her underwear is blue she’s taller than me a second year a minor I’m a married woman a teacher it’s my day off I have a home I have a husband it’s an affair she’s a high school girl she’s 17 years old I’m a married woman she’s a high school girl it’s cheating I’m a woman in her prime it’s infidelity she’s a high school girl. Just one of these elements could bring about my downfall, yet I have managed to gather so many of them. And here I was, on her bed in my student’s house, with her, and our lips are on top of each other. The scent of a high school girl is so strong it blurs my vision, and it’s twisting my mind in a direction it shouldn’t go. Even now, I think back to that time.     If I hadn’t been so complacent, I would have turned back then.
November 25, 2025 at 3:24 AM
joycestick.moe
edited MTL. bleh. whatever
November 25, 2025 at 3:19 AM
joycestick.moe
fuck it I guess I'll link it www.patreon.com/collection/1...
Married Teacher & her Student | Collection from Ren Translations | 7 posts
Get more from Ren Translations on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:18 AM
joycestick.moe
okay, so um

I did. in fact. find an English translation of the light novels. it is on the patreon page of a group called "Ren Translations"

I dunno if it's any good but I downloaded it so I'm gonna read it.
November 25, 2025 at 2:13 AM