Talk:Bleach: Hanatareshi Yabou

Sorry for the brevity of this, but trying to decrypt any info on this game with my sporadic knowledge of Japanese grammar is very tough and slow-going at best. Since the links to this game on the Japanese site itself had their data as images rather than text, I turned to the Japanese Wiki on this game, so I've no idea how accurate it may actually be. I plan to put more info on the appropriate pages as I can arrive at it, but I must warn: my data could be wrong, as it is derived chiefly from the Japanese Wikis and my own imperfect knowledge. However, seeing no big progress on the issue yet, I'll do what I can.

The title Hanatareshi Yabou (in you guys' romanization, it should be ~ Yabō) seems to translate "Loosed Ambition(s)" or "Unleashed Ambition(s)." Hanatareshi seems to be some archaic adjective formed from the verb hanatareru (with a stem hanatare-) "be loosed, be freed," the passive form of hanatsu "loose, free." Several manga and anime seem to be using this deliberate archaism to affect a sense of elegance and conservative language; another example is using the old adjectival ending -ki (corresponding to adverbial -ku), e.g. tsuyoki (instead of usual tsuyoi) "strong," which matches tsuyoku "strongly." Yabou means "ambition(s), aspiration(s), designs," but can also mean "treachery" (prob. < "ulterior motive"). This sense "treachery," though, is not the most primary, so since English "ambition" can also have a negative sense, I would keep it.

The game revolves around Bansui Amatsuki, a former Shinigami who "wields a shocking amount of reiatsu" even for a captain-class Shinigami. Long ago, he was a gifted researcher who specialized in souls and reishi, and devised many inventions long before the founding of the Technological Development Bureau (which Urahara founded and Mayuri Kurotsuchi now runs). The phrasing confounds me, but apparently he believed that by suppressing the Hollowfaction process, he would eliminate the need for the Shinigami as a martial force (but don't hold me to that, the sentence is very labyrinthine to my eyes). Some of the text even looked like he was regarded as Urahara's esteemed mentor, but this is difficult to interpret.

However, he was enmeshed in a dispute with the authorities of Soul Society (man, Central 46 just can't stop fighting with people, can they? :) ), betrayed by the Shinigami, and banished from Soul Society. Because of this, he harbors a deep grudge against the Shinigami, and "plots the destruction of the world."

I started a little bit of work on the others, too--who are named in the Japanese Wikis. One of the Hollows (the chief and biggest one, I'd guess) is called "Shemihaza" (シェミハーザ Shemihāza ; my romanization is unconfirmed), apparently named for the famous fallen angel of demonology.

Though this is as far as I've gotten, and it could be riddled with mistakes, I hope this helps set the ball rolling. I'll continue doing what I can, and please let me know if you have any questions--I'll try to answer them. Adam Restling 04:34, January 1, 2010 (UTC)