[1199] The Samurai
└ posted on Thursday, 30 July 2020, by Novil
Unfortunately, there will regularly be weeks with only one update in the coming months. I currently don’t have any material for new strips anymore because I’ve put all my free time into the upcoming Gaia anthology The Complete Gaia. I hope you understand that this book and writing a proper ending for Gaia has topmost priority at the moment.
- Sandra: … and this is my raccoon Woo.
- Hitomi: Awww, he’s soooo kawaiiiiii!
- Hitomi: HIYAAA!
- Sandra: ?
- Hitomi: Ancient samurai technique to tame tanuki spirits.
- Sandra: Teach me your ways, senpai!
![[1199] The Samurai](/comics/2020-07-30-1199-the-samurai.png "[1199] The Samurai")
We will not accept anything less than a wedding between those two at this point. The ship has sailed, and it will not be stopped or sunk, Richard need to net this perfect gil now, or we may just swoop in and take her for our self.
Regarding the topic if “sensei” or “senpai” is more appropiate.
On the first look it seems easy. “Sensei” is the common title for teachers and Hitomi teaches something to Sandra. The thing is, it is japanese that we are talking about, nothing is easy. “Senpai” is usually translated with “upper classman” or something like that. This is misleading, though. The senpai-kohai relationship is more complicated. The senpai is someone who is longer in a job and is required to teach his/her kohai stuff, while the kohai is required to show respect towards his/her senpai. Therefore teaching alone isn’t really the distinctive feature between those words. I’d argue a sensei is someone who instructs from an respected social position, while a senpai is more someone who is in a similar position than the kohai but some years advanced. That’s why I think senpai is more fitting. Further more senpai has been memed way harder and that makes it more funny than sensei.
Note that I wasn’t saying that based on my knowledge on Japanese sensei is more appropriate.
I was joking saying that given Hitomi’s astounding skills, she shouldn’t be called a near equals and rather be recognized as a greatmaster of the petting arts.
While I understand your love for Japan and its pop culture, can’t you give a rest to this kind of stereotypical depiction such as: Asian girl = Kung-Fu, Mystic Ancient Secret type of plot by now? It’s a bit embarrassing for us.
That aside, this Tanuki thing reminds me of when I was driving Tohoku (North) region highway with my American friends. There was a caution sign about animals coming out on the road. It had a silhouette of Tanuki. They asked me what animal it was. I said “It’s Tanuki” and they asked me “What is Tanuki?”. I didn’t know how to say Tanuki in English, so I used a translation app on my phone. It said “Raccoon Dog”. So I answered “It’s Raccoon Dog”. They bursted out laughing, saying “Raccoon Dog!? That’s impossible!” or something like that. They didn’t even believe the existence of Tanuki. I really wished they had come up with a better English name for Tanuki.
yes. asian women should be dull and boring. only white girls are allowed to be interesting. so progressive
CIS wrote:
Where there is a raccoon god around here somewhere. I wonder how she would react to these techinques.