SEVEN SEAS’ COMMITMENT TO
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TRANSLATION AUTHENTICITY
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Japanese Name Order
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To ensure maximum authenticity in Seven Seas’
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translation of Boogiepop at Dawn, all character names have been kept in their original Japanese name order with family name first and given name second. For copyright reasons, creator names appear in standard English name order.
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Honorifics
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In addition to preserving the original Japanese name order, Seven Seas is committed to ensuring that honorifics-polite speech that indicates a person’s status or relationship towards another individual-are re-tained within this book. Politeness is an integral facet of Japanese culture and we believe that maintaining honorifics in our translations helps bring out the same character nuances as seen in the original work.
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The following are some of the more common honorifics you may come across while reading this and other books:
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-san - The most common of all honorifics, it is an all-purpose suffix that can be used in any situation where politeness is expected. Generally seen as the equivalent to Mr., Miss, Ms., Mrs., etc.
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-sama - This suffix is one level higher than “-san”
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and is used to confer great respect upon an individual.
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-dono - Stemming from the word “tono,” meaning
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“lord,” “-dono” signifies an even higher level than
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“-sama,” and confers the utmost respect.
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-kun - This suffix is commonly used at the end of boys’ names to express either familiarity or endearment. It can also be used when addressing someone younger than oneself or of a lower status.
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-chan - Another common honorific. This suffix is mainly used to express endearment towards girls, but can also be used when referring to little boys or even pets. Couples are also known to use the term amongst each other to convey a sense of cuteness and intimacy.
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Sempai - This title is used towards one’s senior or
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“superior” in a particular group or organization.
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“Sempai” is most often used in a school setting, where underclassmen refer to upperclassmen as
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“sempai,” though it is also commonly said by employees when addressing fellow employees who hold seniority in the workplace.
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Kouhai - This is the exact opposite of “sempai,” and is used to refer to underclassmen in school, junior employees at the workplace, etc.
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Sensei - Literally meaning “one who has come before,” this title is used for teachers, doctors, or masters of any profession or art.
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Oniisan - This title literally means “big brother.”
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First and foremost, it is used by younger siblings towards older male siblings. It can be used by itself or attached to a person’s name as a suffix (-niisan).
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It is often used by a younger person toward an older person unrelated by blood, but as a sign of respect.
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Other forms include the informal “oniichan” and the more respectful “oniisama.”
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Oneesan - This title is the female equivalent of
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“Oniisan” and means “big sister.” Other forms include the informal “oneechan” and the more respectful “oneesama.”
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Echoes was walking through town. His eyes were vacant, his hair was a mess, and his buttons were undone. He staggered along.
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The sky was dark. It was colder than it had been all day. The air was clear, free of moisture. Dawn was approaching.
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"........."
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Echoes moved his legs forward, as if powered by some external force, dazed. He had no idea where he was going. He just felt that walking was better than standing still.
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The streets were quiet. Nothing moved except a gentle breeze, but it made no sound. Echoes’ footsteps produced the only sound he could hear.
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"........."
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Echoes stopped walking. He looked blankly
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around.
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How long had he been here? He couldn’t re-
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member. This did not seem like where he should have been.
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Nothing moved. No one was around.
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There were countless fractures in the pavement.
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Rubble was piled everywhere. Most of the buildings were broken, collapsed, or ready to topple over.
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It was a desolate landscape.
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"........."
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Yet there were no cries of sorrow. No mangled bodies. There were no people anywhere.
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Instead, there were only ruined buildings as far as he could see.
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Everywhere he went he found destruction. Not once did he find anything moving, hear any voices, or see any signs of life.
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Even now, the only motion came from the pre-
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dawn air drifting past him.
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"........."
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Echoes began walking again. As he walked, he tried to remember. What was he doing here?
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He should not exist. His body had turned to par-ticles, dissolved into nothing. So why was he wandering aimlessly through these ruins?
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"........."
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On he walked.
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He had wandered like this before, but back
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then he had had a purpose. And there had been a girl on the street who had reached out to him with her hand.
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She was not here anymore.
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Nobody was.
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was coming.
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"........."
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He looked blankly up at the feeble light.
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And then, from somewhere far away, he heard
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music. It was not a mechanical broadcast, but a thin whistle blown by someone nearby.
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"........."
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Echoes ran in the direction of the sound.
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He ran and ran, passing ruin after ruin, the sound growing steadily louder, clearer. There were no other sounds, and so the faint tune had carried a considerable distance.
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At last Echoes reached what must once have been a very large structure, judging from the size of the mountain of rubble...the corpse of a building.
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A black shadow sat on top of the mountain, whistling to itself. It wore a large hat shaped like a black pipe, and its body was wrapped in a black cloak. There was black lipstick on its pale face.
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In profile, the face looked rather lonely.
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"...ah," Echoes said. He wasn’t sure if the person was male or female. “Who are you?”
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The shadow turned toward Echoes. “I hope the whistling didn’t bother you,” it said, with mock innocence. The voice was like a boy’s, and yet like a girl’s.
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“No, not at all,” Echoes said, shaking his head.
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He decided to ask a different question. “What are you doing here?”
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“I could ask the same. Who are you? Why are you here, in the world after destruction?”
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“My name is Echoes,” he said.
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“Oh?” the cloaked figure said, pursing his lips.
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“So you ’re Echoes!”
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"...you know me?” Echoes asked, surprised.
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The stranger answered warmly, “You’re friends with Kamikishiro Naoko, right? The person who came here from someplace else.”
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“I’m impressed,” Echoes said. “That’s exactly right.”
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The dark figure shrugged. “Kirima Nagi and
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Niitoki Kei told me about you. It seems we have a lot in common.” Then it cocked its head. “I also heard about your mission. So, Echoes. . .tell me. In the end, which did you choose?”
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Echoes just shook his head. “I don’t know.”
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“Oh?”
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“I...” Echoes began, then hesitated for a moment. “. . .I was unable to speak to people before. I believe I am only able to do so now because I am just a shadow. I’m only an echo of myself, lingering on.
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I’m not really the one who was called Echoes. Thus, I don’t know what he decided. His decision is headed somewhere very far away, speeding away forever.”
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The cloaked figure nodded. “That makes sense.
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That explains why you are here, in this distortion. You were wandering the gaps of space, and you happened to synchronize with this one.”
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“Who are you?”
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“My name is Boogiepop.”
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“You have a strange name.”
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“As do you. But yours is a good name, very poetic,” Boogiepop said, winking.
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Echoes looked gloomy. “The method by which I earned this name was not so pleasant.”
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“But not all your memories of that name are
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unpleasant, are they? There were people who called you by that name happily.”
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Echoes shook his head. “That was not me. Those happy memories belong to the real Echoes, long since gone. I am merely an echo of him. I have done nothing to earn the honor of being loved.”
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“I see. . .you don’t have an easy time of it either, do you?” Boogiepop said, sympathetic.
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“And you? How did you come to get your
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name?”
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“Oh,” Boogiepop said, with a strange, crooked, half-smiling, half-mocking expression. “That’s a long story. Do you have time to hear it, Echoes-kun?”
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Echoes smiled ruefully. “Time no longer has
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any meaning for me. I can listen to all the stories you have to tell.”
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“I see. Then let me begin by telling you about the scarecrow.”
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“The what?”
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“The scarecrow. A straw man used to keep crows away...”
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1.
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Kuroda Shinpei. That was the name the composite human Scarecrow used publicly.
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His duties were investigative. He was not
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investigating anyone in particular, however. He had merely been told to look for people who “hold a possibility that does not yet exist.” A possibility no one, least of all the person in question, was aware of.
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It was Scarecrow’s job to find it.
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In the morning, Shinpei boarded a crowded train and headed to the office like a typical human.
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He usually wore a long dark gray coat and matching hat, but he removed his hat while on the train. He looked like any ordinary salaryman. His most distinctive feature was the unfastened belt on his coat.