3 replies to this topic

[Vance Finiraldi]

So, for the record, what should it be and what does it even mean? Twilight Dreams Scans and the groups before it used Suraga, but Death Toll Scans used Slager (which I didn't realize was supposed to be Suraga until I did a binge re-read). Is it actually supposed to be some sort of transliteration of the English word "Slugger" or does it have an actual meaning in Japanese?

[cmertb]

Good question. According to jp wiki, "suraga" is derived from "shiraga" through a typo on a cell phone keypad (in Japanese, it's just one character difference). "Shiraga" (白髪) means "white hair", which is Riku's trait when he kenseis.

 

While the above is speculation, it seems more plausible than "slugger" because that would have to be spelled "suraggaa", rather than "suraga", per standard transcription rules. It's also possible the word could come from a language other than English (e.g. German, as some other terms in this manga), but I can't help with that.

[Ethriost]

Good question. According to jp wiki, "suraga" is derived from "shiraga" through a typo on a cell phone keypad (in Japanese, it's just one character difference). "Shiraga" (白髪) means "white hair", which is Riku's trait when he kenseis.

 
That's most likely the case.
 
This image below is taken from the tankoubon raws of vol.4. Take a look at the third panel:

Spoiler

 
Komaki said "Shiraga = Suraga". I'm not sure whether the scanlator forgot to typeset it, or that line just isn't there on the magazine version (this series' releases have few differences between the magazine version and the tankoubon, e.g., extra pages as well as added/rearranged panels).

[cmertb]

I don't remember what the English tl of this page is (and I didn't read already scanlated chapters in Japanese either), but yeah, it makes it pretty clear that Shiraga=Suraga and also in the bubble above it there's an attached text that says "It's probably a typo (wrong key press)".

 

It would be interesting to compare if anyone could also link the scanlated page and the mag raw page.