Welcome to Kimetsu no Japanese, a site for learning Japanese from a manga Demon Slayer.
Today’s topic
Ch.21 Vol.3
Zenitsu Agatsuma (我妻 善逸)
Reference source : 五峠呼世晴 (2016) 鬼滅の刃3 集英社
何だよォー！何でそんな般若みたいな顔すんだよォーッ
Why are you looking at me with such disdain and pity…almost like I’m not here at all!?
Reference source :KOYOHARU GOTOUGE. (2018). DEMON SLAYER : KIMETSU NO YAIBA. VIZ Media, LLC
Maybe this is the first time Tanjiro really got angry against Zenitsu because of his coward feature. Zenitsu was frightened Seeing tanjiro’s face … because it looks like “hannya”! What’s “hannya”?
Lesson
| JPN | 何だよォー！何でそんな般若みたいな顔すんだよォーッ |
| JPN♪ | nanda yō! nande sonna hannya mitaina kao sundayō |
| ENG | What!? Why are you making such a face like “hannya”? |
| WORD | JPN♪ | MEANING |
|---|---|---|
| 何だよ | nanda yo | what? *See more details in Explanation 1 |
| 何で | nande | why |
| そんな | sonna | such |
| 般若 | hannya | 般若 = 般若の面(hannya no men : mask of furious woman) * See more details in Explanation 2 |
| みたいな | mitaina | like … (… みたいな) |
| 顔すんだ | kao sunda | 顔すんだ* =顔をするんだ(kao o surunda) to make a face * “すんだ(sunda)” is informal expression. |
| よ | yo | <sentence-ending particle> used when appealing something |
Explanation 1 | What is なんだよ(nandayo)?
“何だよ(nandayo)” or “何だ(nanda) is an interesting phrase. It literally means “what?” But it could be a different meaning depending on the situation. It can express disappointment, happiness, anger, relief, etc. Also it could be used as an interjection, intimidation and self-talking.
In most of the cases, you can use it in an unexpected situation.
Situation examples :
| 何だ、私の言うことが聞けないのか。 | nanda, watashi no iukoto ga kikenai noka. | Nanda, you say you can’t listen to me? (ANGER) |
| 何だ、夢か。 | nanda, yume ka. | Nanda, it was just a dream. (RELIEF) |
| 何だよ、照れるな。 | nandayo, tereruna. | Nandayo, don’t flatter me. (HAPPINESS) |
This is a convenient phrase but it’s completely informal. So please use “nandayo” or “nanda” by yourself or with your family or close friends.
Explanation 2 | What is “般若(Hannya)”?
This is a mask of Hannya!
There are many kinds of Hannya mask, it is only one of them.
“Hannya”, the word itself is from Buddhism word which means “wisdom” or “insight leading to enlightenment”.
So why has this word become a meaning of such a furious looking?
Although there are some theories, one theory holds that a monk named 般若坊(hannya-bo) made the mask of furious woman like Oni (demon!), and the mask of that horrific face was called “hannya”. This mask is used in Noh (能), a Classical Japanese dance performance.
Today, when we say “Hannya” we imagine the mask quickly.
But as stated first, as a Buddhism word, “Hannya” is known as “Hannya Shingyo (般若心経)” which is one of Japanese Buddhism sutra which consists of only less than 300 words.
That’s all
Now you understand why Zenitsu was so frightened by Tanjiro having a hannya’s face!
You also learnt a convenient phrase “nandayo” or “nanda”, so please start using it from like..
“nandayo, I’m hungry…” which Inosuke would likely say.
Learning other languages with manga is great, you’ll never reach to this kind of rough phrase only by textbooks..
Both proper textbooks and manga may generate a synergistic effect!
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