Sloppy
Katsumi has her priorities.
As always, if you like the comic, please consider donating on my patreon. Even one dollar goes a long way.
Don’t forget that I stream every Sunday! You are more than welcome to join in on the fun.
The stream is held at the following hour:
UTC: 1PM
EDT: 9AM
PDT: 6AM
CEST: 3PM
Don’t forget to vote for Twin Dragons at Topwebcomics!
http://topwebcomics.com/vote/21879
Thanks for voting!
Soooo, she can speak, alright then, hopefully in time the others get to know and see Ka-chan, only time will tell
It most likely comes down to requirements to see/hear Kasumi, Jin naturally meets them, his upbringing, the philosophy of life instilled in him in accordance to the tenants of his martial arts training are likely the key contributors in that regard. I think it might have something to do with certain spiritual mindsets; a lot of Asian martial arts fall in line with certain religious teachings.
The most prominent religion in Japan, which I’m assuming Jin is of descent, is Shinto. China’s Buddhist philosophies were also exported over to Japan, and were well received. Taoism and Daoism are dominantly Chinese religious orders, last I checked. Any one of those could have some element to them that makes seeing Kasumi viable for someone, not Jin. I’m assuming seeing Kasumi requires some spiritual element, since we were shown that the more analytical scientific method doesn’t allow someone to be aware of Kasumi in some capacity beyond Jin’s word in regards to her presence.
In a sense, Kasumi seems to have some similarities to Aboriginal American spirit guides, so there’s a good chance that someone who follows in with those beliefs could see Kasumi as well. And spirit guides have rules to them, you’re not permitted to give out information about your own spirit guide without the other party asking the proper questions, a tradition that isn’t shared outside a given clan or tribe, and different tribes have different rules regarding spirit guides, which includes their acquisition and the questions you are permitted to ask to get an answer regarding them.
Love how the are together, their interactions are so pure and expressive ^^
Hate to be that guy, but “-kun” is specifically used to refer to YOUNG males, or those to whom the speaker is romantically interested. It has “cutesy” connotations, so addressing a grown male as “-kun” without prior association is a good way to make them angry.
More importantly, though, I love the little reveal here. Not Kaa-chan speaking, I kind of saw that coming; I mean in regards to Jin’s footwork. You can’t really convey footwork in comic format, only posture, so Jin’s footwork being sloppy comes out or nowhere.
Daniel here. Can’t find it now, but I remember Jin being 9 years old, while the main cast are basically all 14. I’m not expert, but I’m guessing that might qualify Jin for “-kun” age, if not the Twins & Cleo potentially too. Maybe, far from 100% on that one, but Jin still being in single digits should qualify…
…And to throw adult Martial Artists around like he did would take strength AND skill. But it seems Katsumi is being a perfectionist here, which I can kinda understand, Lion-Dogs are important guardians of their Temples…
He’s 10.
Being that person even more, but from what I’ve heard, “-kun” is more to refer to someone of lower social status in general – that said, from what I understand, it’s not disrespectful.
“-chan” is more of an affectionate way to refer to someone, in general, and has a “familiar” sort of feel to it. It could be used for, say, a crush, or a small child that you find adorable. (If you want to give it even more of a “cute widdle” feel, you could turn “-chan” into “-tan.” XD; ) I’ve also heard that some girls have gotten into a habit of referring to themselves in third person as “-chan.”
But yeah, the same person could be “-san,” “-kun,” “-chan,” or even “-tan” depending on who’s talking to them. (This is something I’ve seen examples of, though not enough to find appropriate links. XD; …I guess one example I’ll use is that, it the Japanese version of the MLP:FiM song “B.B.B.F.F.”, “Oniichan” is used instead of “Oniisan” for “big brother.” https://mlp.fandom.com/ja/wiki/B.B.B.F.F. )
If two or more people are in a close “in-group,” you might even see a dropping of honorifics, altogether.
I’ll also note this comic using “-san” for girls (as well as pointing out an interesting, unrelated coincidence with the term “-kun” XD;;; ). http://friedchickenandsushi.com/comics/2010/12/14/fcs073-student-racial-slur.html
I don’t see the problem of using “kun” here, Jin is a young boy (9 I think?), for me that is far from being “a grown male”. But my view on age might be outdated by this point, who knows? And for that matter, kun is not only used for young males or someone you are romantically interested in.
Kun (君【くん】) is generally used by people of senior status addressing or referring to those of junior status, or it can be used when referring to men in general, male children or male teenagers, or among male friends. It can be used by males or females when addressing a male to whom they are emotionally attached, or whom they have known for a long time. Although it may seem rude in workplaces, the suffix is also used by seniors when referring to juniors in both academic situations and workplaces, more typically when the two people are associated.
Although -kun is generally used for boys, it is not a hard rule. For example, -kun can be used to name a close personal friend or family member of any gender. In business settings, young female employees are addressed as -kun by older males of senior status. It can be used by male teachers addressing their female students.
Kun can mean different things depending on the gender. Kun for females is a more respectful honorific than -chan, which implies childlike cuteness. Kun is not only used to address females formally; it can also be used for a very close friend or family member. Calling a female -kun is not insulting, and can also mean that the person is respected, although that is not the normal implication. Rarely, sisters with the same name, such as “Miku”, may be differentiated by calling one “Miku-chan” and the other “Miku-san” or “-sama”, and on some occasions “-kun”. Chan and -kun occasionally mean similar things. General use of -kun for females implies respectful endearment, and that the person being referred to is sweet and kind.
I agree that it’s properly used in this situation; the footnote just left room for misinterpretation that I didn’t want anyone to misusing.
I think especially in THIS case, the -kun comes from the “teacher-student” relationship.
What I’m learning from this whole discussion is that I should never try to use Japanese honorifics, because I’d be guaranteed to get it wrong.
Never use Japanese honorifics in English-language dialogue, at least. If you fail to use honorifics when speaking in Japanese, then you come across as very rude.
I’ve always wondered if I could pull this style of poem off… Here goes.
And, so, the fun hits a pause
Katsumi shows soft claws;
helping and advancing;
talking about ‘dancing,’
keeping him in training;
helping him with focus;
she is his true locus.
She is his true locus,
helping him with focus;
keeping him in training.
Talking about ‘dancing’,
helping and advancing,
Katsumi shows soft claws.
And, so, the fun hits a pause.
Palindromic poetry? I can see why you hesitated. I’ve only heard that once before, and it was in Bentley Jones’ “Dirty Little Secret”, I didn’t realize it was a thing. But you did excellently as always.
Looked it up. I DID get it slightly wrong. The line ‘she is his true locus’ shouldn’t have been repeated.
And, so, the fun hits a pause
Katsumi shows soft claws;
helping and advancing;
talking about ‘dancing,’
keeping him in training,
helping him with focus;
she is his true locus
helping him with focus;
keeping him in training,
talking about ‘dancing’,
helping and advancing,
Katsumi shows soft claws.
And, so, the fun hits a pause.
The example I mentioned used the central line of the palindrome in repetition, I didn’t see anything wrong with the first version.
Here’s the example in question: https://youtu.be/JwSrDN41E4k | Palindrome starts at about 2:57
Well, nice to see Katsumi speak finally. If she had stayed silent forever that might have lent credence to her just being a figment of Jin’s imagination. And criticism no less! Thought Jin was pretty good already but I guess she wants him to be his very best.
Looking forward to next week, get the feeling the food festival is going to be a lot of fun!
As far as we know so far, only Jin has heard Katsumi speak. If only he can hear her just like only he can see her, then it doesn’t change anything regarding whether she’s real or imaginary.
You’d need her demonstrating she’s privy to knowledge that he doesn’t have, as presumably actual supernatural powers like telepathy of clairvoyance haven’t been shown to exist (at least so far as I know). Like her telling him about events in another room (although I don’t know, she’s not said to be restricted to the same area he’s in is she?).
Yes! My thoughts match yours. Proof would be much easier if they can separate some.
But if they can’t, if Katsumi can read, simply have Katsumi read nonsense, and Jin repeat it. At some point, you have to either assume katsumi exists, or that Jin can read a shielded monitor from across the room.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.
Reiniger was indicated to have performed tests on this matter, with the statement that his “results cannot be explained”.
Footnotes: “/An/ honorific…” both times.
I will say you’re right but this is, again, one of those grey areas. If the ‘h’ is pronounced, ‘an honorific’ becomes a clumsy thing. Usually people react by dropping either the ‘n’ from ‘an’ or the ‘h’ from the word after.
Personally, I think you’re right on this case. But Robin has his own people checking too.
“Honorific” is pronounced as the suffix ‘-ific’ attached to ‘honor’, which uses a silent H. jprime got it right this time.
Catch and release: an important part of our modern ecosystem!
Have to commend Jin for his priorities. Although with our modern era, you can watch almost any show whenever you want, or your schedule allows it, so it’s pretty close to non-issue for him, but you do kind of have to watch an episode’s on-air dates to get ahead of potential spoilers; the same holds true with tabletop RPGs now too, there are actually a few sites that allow you to take part in games remotely, the one I prefer is a text-based service with an app you can download to your phone, so you can really play on your time.
You could simply avoid where spoilers propagate until you get the opportunity to watch the episode. #StatingTheSimpleSolution
Social media is of course, probably the biggest threat, but even if Jin has a social media account (and he seems a bit young to meet the requirements and too honor-bound to lie in order to work around them), it’s not the end of the world to detach yourself from it for a while.
Another big warning area is wikis, which as online frequently-updated encyclopedias focus on information over spoiler-sensitivity. However, as a frequent proponent of wikis, I tend to visit them in order to review after the fact, and if I find that something I don’t recognize is there, I abandon ship immediately. Again, not gonna kill you if you wait until after the fact.
Friends, of course, don’t know if you’ve missed it unless you tell them, so the primary question is whether or not Jin’s friends have the attitude of “Did you see the episode last night?” or “That episode last night was intense, I can’t believe…” and how quick Jin is to react. If his conversational reaction speed is anything like his combative reaction speed, I think he should be able to cut in with an “I haven’t seen it yet” if they fall into the latter category.
And finally, community. If the people of the community are collectively into something, it can be difficult to dodge spoilers, but that’s a case-by-case basis. It IS possible the shrine community is secretly a pack of otaku and one of the buildings is devoted to the series everyone enjoys, so if that’s the series Jin misses on, then dodging the spoilers is gonna be nigh-impossible. However, it’s REALLY dodgy to make assumptions on that from an outsider’s perspective.
All that said, considering Jin -just- got off a training session, I think he deserves at least an episode’s runtime worth of cooldown before he resumes training.
Even if Jin can postpone watching the show, I guess he’s eager to watch it as soon as possible. That was a thing long before the Internet. “Oh, a new comic magazine came in the mail. I must read it immediately!”
Personally, I believe that Katsumi is not just an imaginary friend, he is more like a “spiritual leader” or Jin’s conscience.
I’m liking Katsumi a lot. Though I think it’d be hard to argue with a huge spirit canine
The first two panels made my day.
Re: JA
Ooh hey, we get a bonus full sized image this week~
(May want to fix that soon)
(Note for anyone reading this after the fact: When I had first checked it, the JA vote incentive was the full size image, not the web-friendly one. It has since been fixed~)
I like Ka-Chan’s fancy eyebrows. 🙂
Since Katsumi can talk to Jin, this opens the possibility of “proving” he exists.
She.
I wonder if Katsumi is some kind of old family spirit/guardian since she seems able to train Jin in their martial arts style.
Possibly, but not necessarily. It’s clear that Jin already knew that his footwork wasn’t the best, so Katsumi doesn’t tell him anything new. Jin knows how it should be done; he just needs to practice more to get it right.
“Easy for you to say when you have four of them!”
“Release Jin back into the wild.” Hehehe!
Katsumi’s tail looks very much like a wisp of smoke in the last panel. It’s fitting. It underscores her incorporeal nature.
The plot thickens! I’ll have to admit I was not expecting Katsumi to be able to talk. Between her feral appearance and the fact we’ve seen her so many times with Jin now without so much as a peep, I figured if the two could communicate at all it would be through some kind of shared wavelength. (If not just pure telepathy.) It’s interesting to find out she does have a voice of her own, as well as being able to separately observe Jin and make comments about his form. The discrepancy in their priorities (hers being training and his the show he might miss) truly does seem to solidify that while Katsumi is linked with Jin and presently only visible to him, she is more than just an extension of him. She truly does seem to be her own separate, sentient being. Sorry for rambling so long about it, but this just opens up so many new possibilities I hadn’t considered and it makes me a bit giddy. I can’t wait to see where you’re going with this Robin! I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next installment. Keep up the good work, and as always, stay awesome!
“….. Sorry for rambling so long…….”
I, personally, do not think you have anything to appologize for, as I do enjoy reading what you have to say about things~
(As a side note, whenever someone says/writes “the plot thinkens” I always mentally change it to “the thot plickens”. Is it just me, or do other people do that too? ~)
I sometimes do it, in memory of my best friend, who used to do it a lot. 🙂
On the other hand, if we assume that Katsumi is an extension of Jin, then their conflicting priorities becomes a representation of Jin’s internal conflict between what he would like to do and what he thinks he ought to do.
Thanks Alpha 😀 Always nice to hear your observations ^^
Yes, Katsumi talking is bound to be surprising to a lot of people. It gives her more credibility now. Still not telling what she really is to Jin, though :p
Jesse’s Adventure really seems to be heating up. The Ox Kid pulling out that whistle and what he said when he did makes me think he has a larger agenda. I’m guessing with his knowledge that he is Native American. I wonder if he intends to use those wendigos to try and take revenge on the colonials who overran his ancestors land? Maybe even drive them away?
Curiously, the latest Fred the Vampire book featured a Wendigo – several of them.
cant help but wonder who or what Ka-chan is.
IS he imaginary?
Perhaps Jin has a split persinarlity and it manafests AS Ka-chan in her mind?
is from or on another plane of exsistince?
Is he a spirit of some kind becuse if he is it would indacat there might achly be some kind of magic in this world after all.
Only the maker of this comic strip knows.
Jin has to miss his show? What show is that?
Katsumi seems to be rather strict in looking after Jin and aiding in his training. Also, Katsumi can talk?! Well, talk to Jin… Poor Jin can’t watch his cartoons or whatever shows he watches. At least he’s able to hang out with his friends, that’s given him more expression than I’ve seen of him.
Kaya is so funny
Katsumi: “Now, if only Reiniger would stop trying to get me involved in his Inu-Yasha cosplay.”
SHE SPEAKS
and asdfghjkl Jin is just fuckng precious
リアル ドール 下半身 あなたは今日ラブセックス人形を購入しますか、そしてこれが事実であると仮定して、なぜですか？
FunwestDolls https://sexdolllist.com/site/funwest-doll.html