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The black cover of the first edition. It's plain black with the name of the book and author, and a raven in flight in the centre.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Subjectivity

This book is so good it made me mad.

5 Oct 2026

A chopped cheese sandwich wrapped in alfoil. The contents are visible from where the sandwich has been cut in half and turned to the camera: Melted american cheese, chopped burger patties, and a bit of lettuce and tomato.

Big Sams - Chopped Cheese

Stodgy bread undermines an otherwise great sandwich.

24 Sept 2026

A professional photo of the cheeseburger showcasing the pickles, sauce, and american cheese. Apologies for no shot of my own, I forgot to take the photo before I ate.

Prince Consort - Classic Cheeseburger

An above average rendition of a below average recipe.

24 Sept 2026

A visual model of acquired gender. It shows what it is NOT: an acquired gender of "woman" corresponding to a gender identity of "woman". Then it shows what it is: an acquired gender of a tesseract with question marks surrounding it corresponding to a gender identity of "woman".

The Model of Acquired Gender

A satisfying model explaining the difference between internally felt identity and gender identity categories.

22 Apr 2026

The cover of the book 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'

How I Rationalise Determinism

If all we are is a product of our influences, is any of our identity or personality even ours?

4 Feb 2026

Akio, in a white prince's uniform with long lavender hair, looks down at Anthy, who wears a red dress and clutches her chest as she looks up at him against a fiery red-orange background. The subtitle reads "You know everything about the world, and that is why you chose this path."

Utena Fansub Ep 39 Translation Notes

あなたは世界のすべてを知った上で、この道を選んだ方です。

7 Aug 2025

Utena, in a pink gown, points a sword at Akio, who stands in white prince's clothes, in front of a giant ornate purple sphere with an upside-down castle and sword hanging above. The subtitle reads "the unadulterated will to be a prince will fade from your soul."

Utena Fansub Ep 38 Translation Notes

歳月を得て、君はもうただ王子様を目指す魂ではなくなっているはずだった。

31 July 2025

Against an orange sky, Touga rides a bicycle with Saionji lounging on the back, passing a pedestal vase of red, blue, yellow and purple roses. The subtitle reads "I'm sure they have received their letter too.", with "they" in italics.

Utena Fansub Ep 37 Translation Notes

今頃、彼女のもとにも手紙は届いているだろう。

28 July 2025

Miki and Juri, in their white student council uniforms, seen through the bars of a window frame; Juri stands with her arms crossed. The subtitle reads "Looking at them now, I only see a girl."

Utena Fansub Ep 36 Translation Notes

なぜかな。

20 July 2025

A close-up of Akio's torso in his red shirt and purple tie against a blue sky, a lock of his silver hair falling over his shoulder. The subtitle reads "Would that your love could be eternal..."

Utena Fansub Ep 35 Translation Notes

その思いはもしも永遠ならば…

8 July 2025

A shadow-play silhouette of a girl with pigtails and a short skirt, carrying a bag, walking across a pink stage curtain beneath a stylised rose shape. The subtitle reads "The untold, untellable story... The Tale of the Rose!"

Utena Fansub Ep 34 Translation Notes

未（いま）だ語られざる、それは、薔薇物語ー！

12 June 2025

A dark blue night sky fading to black, with the tops of a few lit lamps at the bottom of the frame. The subtitle reads "If you're with someone special, go make tonight last forever!"

Utena Fansub Ep 33 Translation Notes

今夜の二人は永遠さ！

4 June 2025

Utena and Nanami duelling against a pale background: Utena lunges forward with her sword outstretched while Nanami, in her yellow duelling outfit, leaps above her with a curved blade.

Utena Fansub Ep 32 Translation Notes

そんなことは重要なのか？

25 May 2025

A close-up of the lower half of a face: a blonde girl in a yellow uniform with pink fringed epaulettes holds a phone to her ear. The subtitle reads "Hey Touga, where are you at?"

Utena Fansub Ep 31 Translation Notes

俺たちは二人きりの兄弟じゃないか？

11 May 2025

Utena stands beside a red convertible with two people inside, under an orange sunset sky and autumn trees. The subtitle reads "Because! It wouldn't be a date if it wasn't just the two of us."

Utena Fansub Ep 30 Translation Notes

だって、デートは二人っきりでするもんです。

27 Apr 2025

An overhead view of the academy's courtyard: two green lawns surrounded by tall arched buildings, with tiny students scattered across them. The subtitle reads "Yeah, right. I bet she was just getting hysterical over nothing."

Utena Fansub Ep 29 Translation Notes

でもさーるか先輩もひどいんじゃない？

19 Apr 2025

A tiny silhouetted figure stands beside an ornate bench beneath dark crossing beams, against a vast glittering orange-red background. The subtitle reads "And you... You must feel..."

Utena Fansub Ep 28 Translation Notes

ずっと言葉にできない思い。

12 Apr 2025

Seen from above through a circular vignette, four girls in matching uniforms dance and pose on a tiled floor beside a doorway. The subtitle reads "Super duper late! Super duper late! Nanami's a baby who's super duper late!"

Utena Fansub Ep 27 Translation Notes

遅れてる！

31 Mar 2025

Akio, seen from behind on a white sofa, and Anthy standing near him in a large room lit by an orange sky. The subtitle reads "When you think of her, what do you feel?"

Utena Fansub Ep 26 Translation Notes

お前は彼女の事どんな風に思ってるんだい？

26 Mar 2025

The episode 25 title card: large pink roses framed by black wrought iron with a coral rose in each corner. The English title reads "ETERNAL APOCALYPSE FOR TWO" above the Japanese "ふたりの永遠黙示録" and "DUEL : 25".

Utena Fansub Ep 25 Translation Notes

ふたりの永遠黙示録

17 Mar 2025

A grey shadow cast on a pale curtain: a small, rounded, hunched figure beside a looped cord. The subtitle reads "He's grinding his little teeth."

Utena Fansub Ep 24 Translation Notes

小さな歯ぎしり。

7 Mar 2025

The episode 23 title card: large pink roses framed by black wrought iron with a coral rose in each corner. The English title reads "WHAT MAKES A DUELLIST" above the Japanese "デュエリストの条件" and "DUEL : 23".

Utena Fansub Ep 23 Translation Notes

だから決闘場に入れたのさ！

22 Feb 2025

Utena Fansub Ep 22 Translation Notes

さすがに何でもよく知ってるわね。

9 Feb 2025

The episode 21 title card: pink watercolour roses inside an ornate black wrought-iron frame with a rose in each corner. It reads "NASTY PESTS", then "悪い虫", then "DUEL : 21".

Utena Fansub Ep 21 Translation Notes

お兄様にたかる虫は一匹たりとも許せない。

1 Feb 2025

Wakaba, wearing a leaf-shaped hair clip, looks into an oval mirror while Saionji stands behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

Utena Fansub Ep 20 Translation Notes

何言ってんのよ！

26 Jan 2025

Utena and Wakaba sit silhouetted on a grassy hillside under a large tree, with a blue sky and an arched aqueduct behind them. The subtitle reads "You're such a normal girl, Wakaba."

Utena Fansub Ep 19 Translation Notes

やっぱり若葉って普通の女の子なんだね。

19 Jan 2025

Utena sits reading a book in the greenhouse while Anthy stands behind her holding a golden watering can and smiling. The subtitle reads "If you loved someone, you'd understand."

Utena Fansub Ep 18 Translation Notes

つわぶき君はよく続くなー。

12 Jan 2025

Shiori, a girl with short purple hair in a sailor uniform, smiles faintly inside an ornate black wrought-iron frame with a peach-coloured rose in each corner.

Utena Fansub Ep 17 Translation Notes

いつも私を守ってくれた

8 Jan 2025

Nanami, wearing a yellow jacket with fringed epaulettes, smiles brightly with a large silver cowbell hanging from a collar around her neck. The subtitle reads "It's an "almglocken"!"

Utena Fansub Ep 16 Translation Notes

あるはれたひるさがりいちばへつづくみち

4 Dec 2024

A hand picks up a blue glass mug from a tray beside a second mug with pink banding, both filled with the creamy pale drink Miki made, next to a cream-coloured pitcher.

Utena Fansub Ep 15 Translation Notes

ミルクセーキ作ったけど… 飲む？

1 Dec 2024

A glowing glass box outlined in red floats in a beam of blue light against darkness, a tiny black rose standing on its luminous turquoise floor.

Utena Fansub Ep 14 Translation Notes

では、香苗さん。

22 Nov 2024

A red title card framed by dark wrought-iron scrollwork with a rose in each corner, bearing the French word "soi" in large italic letters. The subtitle reads "the Duel by the name of Self."

Utena Fansub Ep 13 Translation Notes

ついに彼女は七番目の試練、自分という名の決闘にも勝ち抜いたわけだ。

18 Nov 2024

Wakaba, with brown hair in buns, pulls an exasperated face in the foreground while Utena stands behind her looking glum, both in school uniforms under a blue sky and green trees. The subtitle reads "I guess they like it."

Utena Fansub Ep 12 Translation Notes

私たちも今までいろいろやってきた、疲れたわね

14 Nov 2024

Two black silhouettes face off with swords against a glowing red backdrop, one with long flowing hair and one taller figure raising a sword, while Anthy stands small between them in a long red dress.

Utena Fansub Ep 11 Translation Notes

だめだめ。

12 Nov 2024

Nanami, in a dark dress with a yellow bow, stands glaring at a large grey box with two pieces of duct tape loosely holding it shut, in a gloomy setting. The subtitle reads "You got between me and my brother."

Utena Fansub Ep 10 Translation Notes

破廉恥にもほどがある

31 Oct 2024

An overhead shot of black coffins marked with red rose crests; young Touga, with red hair, and young Saionji, with green hair, stand by an open coffin where a pink-haired girl lies among pale petals.

Utena Fansub Ep 9 Translation Notes

しつこいのは一番嫌われるんだぜ、先輩

26 Oct 2024

A page from Saionji's exchange diary with a crude doodle of a green-haired Saionji with a sword trampling a cartoon Utena while a dark-skinned, purple-haired Anthy in a red dress clings to him, surrounded by handwritten Japanese. Added English labels read "STUPID TENJOU" and "DYKE" next to the kanji 天上 and 男女, and "P.S. SORRY FOR THE RANT..." beside the signature. The subtitle reads ""I'll rip apart that annoying, ugly dyke"

Utena Fansub Ep 8 Translation Notes

生意気でブサイクで男女の天上をめっためたに打倒して

22 Oct 2024

A close-up of a large pale peach rose against a black background. The subtitle reads "Believe in miracles, and your love will be returned."

Utena Fansub Ep 7 Translation Notes

ただもし彼女が本当に世界を革命する力があるというなら私がこの手で奪ってやるさ。

16 Oct 2024

Utena and Miki stand by a school window while Saionji, in a black kendo top and purple hakama, walks past with his eyes closed and a hand on his chest. The subtitle reads "No one cares, dude."

Utena Fansub Ep 6 Translation Notes

ちなみに僕とアンシーの愛は… しのぶ愛。

11 Oct 2024

A shadow play girl silhouette in a cap and kerchief, gripping the handles of a ship's wheel in front of a large painted pink rose. The subtitle reads "My oh my, Captain, my Captain!"

Utena Fansub Ep 5 Translation Notes

かしらかしら、でもかしら！

5 Oct 2024

A meme made from a frame of a student with long wavy blonde hair in a school uniform, looking dazed and exhausted in a dim room with books and roses behind her. The caption reads "ME WHEN I" at the top and "WHEN I FINISH TRANSLATING UTENA EPISODE 4 THE SUNLIT GARDEN PRELUDE" at the bottom.

Utena Fansub Ep 4 Translation Notes

ねえ、じゅり先輩

2 Oct 2024

A sketchy, watercolour-textured frame from the ball in episode 3: a crowd of faceless students with blank white eyes stare out, including one with wavy purple hair in the centre and several blond students around them.

Utena Fansub Ep 3 Translation Notes

でも私、人が大勢いるような場所は苦手なんです。

30 Sept 2024

Utena Fansub Ep 2 Translation Notes

まあ、一人部屋らしいから、クールな僕の趣味には合ってるよ。

27 Sept 2024

A frame from the fairy tale opening of Revolutionary Girl Utena: a faceless silhouette with long pink hair inside an ornate black wrought-iron frame with a pink rose in each corner. The subtitle reads "Casting the thought aside,"

Utena Fansub Ep 1 Translation Notes

王子様が呉れた指輪はやはりエンゲージリングだったのでしょうか。

23 Sept 2024

A blobfish after being brought to the surface and decompressed. It looks pink, bloated, and blobby.

Gender Abolition: A Modular Essay

Various interconnected thoughts relating to the question of gender abolition.

21 Sept 2024

A blobfish as it looks in its natural habitat. It looks like a regular dark grey fish.

The Philosophical Blobfish

Abstraction through language destroys pure thought. Translating our thoughts through language changes their meaning.

4 Sept 2024

Gendered Pronouns in Japanese vs English

English pronouns are not a universal representation of gender.

28 Aug 2024

A portrait of Steven Krashen next to a portrait of Judith Butler.

Parallels Between Gender and Language

Some precursor thought that I expand on in later posts.

21 Aug 2024

Linguistic Shared Understanding

Precursor thoughts that led me to the Blobfish idea.

8 Aug 2024

The cover of 言語沼.

The difference between あのー and えーっと

A difference native speakers aren't even consciously aware of.

6 Aug 2024

An image of the night sky, showing many stars. You would call the stars in this image 星 in Japanese.

When is a star not a star?

Words are just inexact ways of grouping related concepts and objects, and you can see this plainly when looking at the differences between languages.

26 June 2024

A promotional poster in English for Kotaro Lives Alone. It shows Kotaro, a 5 year old boy, holding a toy sword and walking down the street towards the camera. Walking behind him are the characters Karino (a young man in a tracksuit), Tamaru (a yakuza in a leopard print suit and sunglasses), and Mizuki (a young woman in a cropped hoodie and jeans). Tamaru and Mizuki are smiling at Kotaro while Karino is deadpan.

Really good anime translation: コタローは一人暮らし

A great example of how anime should be translated.

17 May 2024

The widely circulated poster of Goncharov which made the original post go viral

How long will the Japanese Wikipedia article for Goncharov last?

And how big is the internet, really?

20 Dec 2023

Ink Kami

25 Aug 2023

Breath Kami

23 Aug 2023

Tea Kami

19 Aug 2023

違う is the only い-adjective in Japanese that doesn’t end in い

The most interesting word in all of Japanese.

18 June 2023

Warzoid & Crown o' War

6 May 2023

Hikikonoko and Hirakitake

2 May 2023

Magiconch and Occullusc

2 May 2023

Sootle, Larvent, and Volcanicle

2 May 2023

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