❝The first thing I noticed about my little contract holder was that he was so horribly, inevitably, beautifully human. [And alas,] I lost that soul and gained an eternal binding. I’m not sure if I regret it though. After all, I have so much to look at with each of those pretty little idiosyncrasies.❞ – Flamingo Pink Crayon #
Summary: Kai sees his pulmonlogist, who’s mystified by Kai’s symptoms. Jon expresses his concern about his brother’s mental health. Kai finally meets up with Becca and deals with the fall out. Jon hires an ASL tutor. Kai turns to Nikki for help in his crisis. Jon visits his parents grave and we learn of one of the Taylor family secrets that could have significance in Kai’s life.
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Sebastian refers to himself as an akuma (悪魔), which is often translated into English as demon or devil. But what does the word really mean?
Japanese has many ways to say “demon/devil,” and they don’t all mean the same thing. Akuma is the most common, generic word for a demon, and does not necessarily have any specific religious connotations, including whether or not it is “evil” (in the Christian sense).
Its two kanji roughly translate to “bad/evil influence.” However, it’s important to note that “evil” has a very different connotation in Shinto belief than it does in other religious/moral frameworks.
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This aligns with how Sebastian is often portrayed as a corrupting influence. Like a force of nature that can be destructive. The concepts of evil and sin like we find in Christianity and even Buddhism are not found in classic Shinto belief.
Let’s also not forget that part of why Yana uses “Akuma” is so she can make her famous “akumade” pun, or, as it translates in English, “simply one hell of a butler.”
But, you ask, “POI, didn’t you define ‘Akuma’ as “the devil/Satan” in your vocab list for Vatican Miracle Examiner?”
Yes, I did. “Akuma” is used for “demon” for many religions, including Hinduism, Buddism, Islam, and Christianity. But the word itself isn’t exclusive to Satan, and often, when that is who is intended, in Japanese we write サタン (Satan) for clarity.
So, no, Akuma doesn’t always mean Satan or even refer to a Christian entity. It doesn’t even refer to an entity that’s “evil” in the sense we think of in English.
It’s simply a generic term for a supernatural creature that is in opposition.
So Sebastian is not Satan, or Lucifer, or even a Christian demon (fallen angel) in canon. He is merely a corrupting influence.
100+ vocab terms from Ch 1, Vol 1 of the 5-part manga series.
Mostly Catholic terms in Japanese and unique usage related to the series.
This list is not exhaustive. I focused on terms that would be unfamiliar (or unfamiliar as used in this series), and/or directly relate to Catholic terminology in Japanese.
I list part of speech, pronunciation, and simple definitions. I have not included additional of these if they are not relevant to this series.
Character names will have titles where applicable and those will be in brackets to minimize confusion; titles will be listed under general vocab as well.
At the end of the list I’ll have a few sources for some of the more obscure terms in case you want to read more or get better context.
As of now I have things listed in the order in which they appear, roughly, in the manga.
Note: This will be a long post since it’s the first chapter in the series and 31 pages long.
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Character Names/Places
Note: I’ve chosen to spell names close to the katakana spellings; keep in mind some may be transcribed with slightly different spellings (like Joseph instead of Josef).
平賀•ヨゼフ•庚 [神父] - Hiraga, Josef Kou [Father], Franciscan order
ロベルト•ニコラス[神父] - Roberto, Nicholas [Father], Franciscan order
良太 - Ryota (Josef’s younger brother)
サウロ[大司教] - Saul [Archbishop] , Franciscan order
ニコラス[枢機卿] - Nicholas [Cardinal], secretary of the Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints (also potentially the head of the miracle examiners), also known as “the prefect (of the Curia)” in English
ドンナ•ドロレス - Donna Dolores, a nun from St Rosario Church
[大天使]ミカエル - [Archangel] Michael
[聖]ペテ - [Saint] Peter
パウロ[大司教] - [Archbishop] Paul, Dominican order
アントニウス[神父] - [Father] Antonius
セントロザリオ教会 - St Rosario Church, a church in South America where Josef & Roberto are sent to investigate
バチカソ市国 - Vatican City, the City state of the Vatican
Other Vocab
奇跡、きせき (n; の adj) miracle
常識、じょうしき (n) common sense, common knowledge, common practice
確かめる、たしかめる (Ichidan v; trans v) to ascertain, to check, to make sure
神父、しんぷ (n) Catholic priest [Note: this is the term used when speaking to someone , like “Father” So-and-So, as opposed to a general word for priest, 司祭, which you don’t use when speaking TO someone but rather about them.]
ルルドの泉、いすみ (n) Fountain of Lourdes, aka home of “Lourdes Water” in France
奇跡調査官、きせきちょうさかん (n) miracle examiner
調査、ちょうさ (n; するv; trans v) investigation, examination
聖痕現象、スティグマータ (n) stigmata (phenomenon)
未知、みち (のadj; n) the unknown
知れる、しれる (ichidan v; intrans v) to become known; to be discovered; to be known; to be understood
舞い込む、まいこむ (godan v む ending; intrans v) to happen unexpectedly
大司教、だいしきょう (n) archbishop
キリスト (n) (Jesus) Christ
聖書、せいしょ (n) Bible, scriptures, holy writ
黙示録、もくしろく (n) book of revelation; the apocalypse
悪魔が書いた魔法書 - literally, “magic writing written by the devil” [see additional notes below]
古文書、こもんじょ (n) historical document, ancient manuscripts
断片、だんぺん (n) fragment
読む、よむ (godan v, む ending; trans v) to decipher, to read, to recite (a sutra, prayer)
原文、げんぶん (n) original text
会、かい (n; n suffix) meeting, assembly, conference, clerical order
イエズス会 (n) society of Jesus, aka Jesuit order
ドミニコ会 (n) Dominican order
フランシスコ会 (n) Franciscan order (which Josef and Roberto belong to)
派閥 (n; のadj) faction; used in the manga as in orders of priests
破門、はもん (n; するv; のadj) excommunication
枢機卿、すうききょう (n) Cardinal (title)
執行部、しっこうぶ (n) leadership (for example, the Roman Curia, that is the administration of the Vatican)
列聖、れっせい (n; するv) canonization (of a Saint)
列聖省長官、れっせいしょうちょうかん (n) literally, “canonization ministry secretary”; I believe this is intended to refer to the Secretary/Director of the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints; a position in the Vatican overseeing things related to canonization [see additional notes]
祈り、いのり (n) prayer
申請書、しんせいしょ(n) Written application
申請、 しんせい (n; する v; trans v) application, petition, request
教会、しょうかい (n) church, congregation
修道女、しゅうどうじょ (n) nun
大天使、だいてんし (n) archangel
神の子、かみのこ (n) son of God (Jesus Christ); child of God (Christian)
処女懐胎、しょじょかいたい (n) virgin birth, such as Mary with Jesus (immaculate conception)
受胎、じゅたい (n; するv; intrans v) conception
聖母、せいぼ (n) Virgin Mary; holy mother
カソリック (n) Catholic, Catholicism, Catholic Church [note there are a couple diff katakana spellings of this word, but this one is used in VME]
受肉、じゅにく(n) (Christ’s) incarnation (as Jesus of Nazareth)
降臨、こうりん (n; するv) descent to earth (of a god); advent; epiphany
罪、つみ (n; なadj; のadj) sin
永遠、えいえん (n; なadj) eternity; immortality
贖う、あがなう (godan v, う ending; trans v) to atone for
最後の審判、さいごのしんぱん (n) judgment day; final judgment (religious sense)
聖、せい (n) Saint (may also be written with katakana, as in 「セント」, like “St Rosario’s Church”
ローム (n) Rome
司教、しきょう (n) bishop (catholic)
代理人、だいりにん (n) proxy, representative
存在意義、ぞんざいいぎ (n) raison d'être, reason for existing
I did a lot of searching trying to figure out what book, specifically, was meant here, and came up with 2 possibilities:
the Gigas Codex, ギガス写本 or 悪魔の聖書, a book that is not held by the Vatican but was supposedly written with magical assistance from Satan himself;
the Grand Grimoire, 大奥義書 or 大いなる教書, not written by Satan but that is held by the Vatican.
It’s possibly intended to be vague, but the exact phrasing here is different than used for either of these actual books and I couldn’t find any other possible real option. Note the anime does call a book “the devil’s book” and describe it as a “Bible written by the devil” but it doesn’t seem to really be a reference to Gigas, so maybe it’s intended to be a fictional book inspired by these real texts for the purposes of the story.
Secretary of Dicastery of the Causes of Saints - 列聖省長官
![suosuke:
““ ❝The first thing I noticed about my little contract holder was that he was so horribly, inevitably, beautifully human. [And alas,] I lost that soul and gained an eternal binding. I’m not sure if I regret it though. After all, I have so...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzzyz4MJKT1r5ta8io1_500.png)
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