SF Saiyuki Starzinger – Episode 61

Launch! Kitty’s Laboratory

Monsters reanimated from dinosaur fossils invade the Kitty Research Institute. Kugo and his best friend Mori protect Professor Kitty, but their last hope, the Galactic Antenna, is destroyed. Professor Kitty has no choice but to launch the entire laboratory into space, where she can radiate Galaxy Energy toward the sun. Kugo and Mori patrol the evacuation center and fight the reappearing monsters. However, Mori loses his life in the process.

You can download the torrent file from Anidex or Anirena, or get direct links from AnimeTosho.

Translation Thoughts

I’m never 100% sure of what Kugo says, especially when he’s angry or agitated. I know I’ve said this too many times. The same thing happens with Hakka.

I believe Kugo says at 5:27:

化石のくせにちょこまか動くない
Kaseki no kuse ni chokomaka ugoku nai
You’re a fossil! Don’t move around!

It’s something along those lines. He’s saying that fossils are not supposed to move but to be still.

Mori says at 7:24:

とて伏線切れません
Tote fukusen kiremasen
I can’t foreshadow it

He’s saying he can’t guess how many dinosaurs are out there. I changed that line a little bit; I didn’t like the word “foreshadow” in this context.

Here’s a line I know I should have changed, but I didn’t. A little later, Mori says:

キティ博士は絶対死なせてはならない人なんだ
KITI-hakase wa zettai shina sete wa naranai hito nanda
Professor Kitty is someone who should never be allowed to die

A professional translator would have said, “That sounds weird in English. We should change it to «We cannot allow Princess Kitty to die at any cost.»“. Maybe.

SF Saiyuki Starzinger – Episode 60

Here it comes! Earth’s Last Day

Solar heat began to decrease because of the decline of the galaxy’s energy. As a result, abnormal weather occurs all over the world. Cities are destroyed by the sudden appearance of dinosaurs. Princess Aurora learns of the abnormalities and fears for Professor Kitty’s safety, while Kugo heads for Earth with Princess Aurora’s consent. In an effort to suppress the decline of solar heat, the institute rushed the construction of the Galactic Antenna. Meanwhile, dinosaurs attack the laboratory. Can Kugo protect the antenna, the last hope for mankind?

You can download the torrent file from Anidex or Anirena, or get direct links from AnimeTosho.

Translation Thoughts

At this point, I’m sure you know that Kugo always calls Professor Dodge (ドッジ Dojji) a dork (ドジ Doji). The word ドジ Doji can be a noun, like “dork”, or it can also be an adjective, like “clumsy”. ドジやらかした Doji yarakashita means “to make a stupid mistake”.

In this episode he makes a funny pun with both words at 2:12:

またドッジ助教授がドジやらかしたんじゃねーのか
Mata DOJJI jokyouju ga DOJI yarakashita nja nee no ka
Did Assistant Professor Dodge screw up again?

Assistant Professor Dodge even calls his employees like that at 10:26:

お前は何をやってんだこのドジめ
Omae wa nani o yattenda kono DOJI-me
What the hell are you guys doing? You dorks!

And this exchange is pure comedy gold:

早く大事なアンテナなんだ
Hayaku daijina ANTENA nanda
Hurry up! It’s an important antenna!

あったら助教授あっち行ってくださいよ
Attara jokyouju atchi itte kudasai yo
In that case, Assistant Professor, please go over there

どうして
Doushite
Why?

てそこでギャーギャー言われると気がついてダメなんですよ
Soko de GYAAGYAA iwareru to kigatsuite dame nan desu yo
Because if you’re over there you won’t scream at us!

The word ギャーギャーGYAAGYAA is an onomatopoeia that means “scream”.

SF Saiyuki Starzinger – Episode 59

The Mystery of the Ancient Planet

The Cosmos receives a signal for an SOS. It seems that there is a ship trapped on some planet. Since the Cosmos needs to correct its orbit in order to get there, Kugo heads for the site in his Starcrow. Kugo is attracted by the planet’s gravitational pull and is suddenly attacked by a group of strange soldiers. He escapes the attack and is reunited with Bellamis, who tells him that the strange soldiers are foreign troops of Gyuma’s army who are being hypnotized by a divine statue called Mandragon. So he and Bellamis set out to exterminate Mandragon!

You can download the torrent file from Anidex or Anirena, or get direct links from AnimeTosho.

Translation Thoughts

I think this is the episode where Kugo and Bellamis interact the most. It’s clear that Kugo has some feelings for Bellamis, and he doesn’t really want to fight her. Bellamis, on the other hand, has decided to fight Kugo and beat him one day. That’s what she always says, but looking at her eyes when she looks at Kugo makes you think she might want something else.

It’s time for you to decide who should end up with Kugo:

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At 12:44 Hakka says:

うな丼3超大至急
Unadon sanchou daishikyuu
Three bowls of eel and rice, ASAP

うな丼 Unadon is a popular Japanese dish.

Hakka doesn’t like when the Princess worries about Kugo, and he said that he was hungry, so that’s what he says on the radio when he’s supposed to call Kugo.

At 16:40 Kugo says:

ベラミス、残りの異星は俺の麻酔光線で眠らせてやるか
BERAMISU, nokori no isei wa ore no masui kousen de nemura sete yaru ka
Bellamis, should I put the rest of the aliens to sleep with my paralyzing beam?

This is the first time Kugo says “Paralyzer Beam” in Japanese. He says 麻酔光線 masui kousen, which means “paralyzing beam”, or maybe more accurately “anesthetic beam”. He always says “Paralyzer Beam” in English.

SF Saiyuki Starzinger – Episode 58

Edra, Queen of Illusions

Princess Aurora receives a message from the Queen of the Great Planet. But is it really from the Great Planet? The group heads for the queen’s palace, unable to shake off their doubts. Then, Princess Aurora disappears right in front of Kugo and the others. Sure enough, the planet was not the Great Planet. The queen’s name is Edra, the ruler of the planet Argo. She has lost her home planet in the battle against Gyuma’s army, and in order to restore it, she enslaves Princess Aurora and tries to monopolize the Galaxy Energy!

You can download the torrent file from Anidex or Anirena, or get direct links from AnimeTosho.

Translation Thoughts

In this episode, you can see Princess Aurora defeating an enemy using her Galaxy Energy. I think it’s the second time I’ve seen her do that, the first being on episode 18.

Kugo says at 7:35:

着陸態勢に入るぞ
Chakuriku taisei ni hairu zo
We’re going into landing gear.

I struggled a little with that line, and I didn’t like the final result. It literally says “We are entering into the landing posture”, or something along those lines. You could translate that to “Let’s get ready to land”, or “Let’s begin the landing”.

At 14:05 Professor Kitty says:

オーロラたちは幻の大王星を見せられたに違いありません
OURORA-tachi wa maboroshi no daiou sei o miserareta ni chigai arimasen
Aurora and the others must have seen a phantom Great Planet

The word 幻 maboroshi means “illusion” or “vision”. The title of this episode uses this word (幻の女王 maboroshi no joou), but I couldn’t find a way to use it to describe that this Great Planet is a fake one, an illusion.

The problem is that the word for “illusion” in Japanese is an adjective, so it can be used to modify nouns. In English, the word “illusion” is a noun, so you have to come up with some similar adjective to modify the noun “Great Planet”:

  • Phantom Great Planet
  • Fictitious Great Planet
  • Unreal Great Planet
  • Fake Great Planet (this one isn’t that bad, actually)
  • Deceptive Great Planet
  • … et cetera.

The best I could come up with is “phantom planet”. But it doesn’t really mean it’s a ghost planet, because that may sound like it is haunted. Just keep in mind It’s just an illusion.

SF Saiyuki Starzinger – Episode 57

The Ghost Monster’s True Identity

While eating, Hakka is struck by an invisible ghost. Moreover, an energy pipe is broken, and the Cosmos loses power. As soon as they switch to infrared lighting, Hakka sees the ghost for what it really is: a gaseous monster with phosphorus-like properties. They must get rid of it as soon as possible, but Kugo cannot use the Astro Pole for fear of damaging the ship’s interior. Soon after, the monster rushes into the Princess’s room in search of the Galaxy Energy!

You can download the torrent file from Anidex or Anirena, or get direct links from AnimeTosho.

Translation Thoughts

There’s so much dialogue in this episode. It was exhausting!

In this episode, Jogo and Kugo really bully the poor Hakka, and they should be over that by now. As expected, the Princess is pissed off about it. It pissed me off, too!

Jogo teaches kids that watch this show a lot about phosphorus and its properties in this episode. Phosphorus exists in two major forms: white phosphorus (also called yellow phosphorus) and red phosphorus. As Jogo mentions, when white phosphorus is exposed to oxygen, it produces a very faint glow in the dark, between green and blue. Also, the odor of its combustion has a characteristic garlic smell.

The heads of modern strike-anywhere matches usually contain phosphorous sulfide, produced only with red phosphorous. The most common matches that you strike on an abrasive strip in the matchbook do not have phosphorus sulfide in the head; the phosphorus sulfide is actually in the strip. These are safer than the strike-anywhere kind.

Like Jogo says, white phosphorus is extremely toxic to humans.

I’m sure one or two of you will learn something new about phosphorus if you watch the episode!

At 1:53 Hakka says:

これだから姫は話せるんだよね
Kore dakara hime wa hanaseru nda yo ne
This is why Princess can speak, isn’t it?

That’s a correct translation without any context. But you shouldn’t translate this line like that in this case.

The meaning of 話せるhanaseru (can speak/can talk) comes from 話す hanasu (speak/talk). But 話せる hanaseru can also mean “to be understanding” or “to be sensible”. It is still the potential form of 話す hanasu (potential form of the verb “to speak” is “can speak”) but depending on the context, it can mean “to be understanding”, like in this case.

This episode looks like a showcase for Japanese insults. Here are some new ones that I haven’t covered in previous episodes. At 2:01 Kugo and Jogo say:

くいしんぼう
Kuishinbou
Glutton

It can also mean “gluttony”. Another example, at 5:19 Jogo says:

何を言ってるんだこのねぼすけ
Nani o itteru nda kono nebosuke
What are you talking about, sleepyhead?

A ねぼすけ nebosuke is a person who’s always sleepy, or who over sleeps.


SF Saiyuki Starzinger – Episode 56

Fierce Duel! Kugo vs. Gaima

The Space Shark is disabled. The soldiers who lost the will to fight were executed in rage, leaving only Prince Gaima on board. He escapes in his mecha-robot Hydra and approaches the Cosmos. Kugo and his men send the Princess to the Great Planet while they stay behind to confront Hydra. There is no way to defeat the mighty Hydra even if they fight separately, and the only way to win is for all three of them to jump into its bosom simultaneously. Can they successfully defeat Hydra and Prince Gaima’s ambitions?

You can download the torrent file from Anidex or Anirena, or get direct links from AnimeTosho.

Translation Thoughts

This is the final episode of the Prince Gaima arc and the last arc of the series. From now on, we’re back to the episodic style of Starzinger until our friends reach the Great Planet in the last episode. Remember, Starzinger has only 64 episodes. The last nine episodes are Starzinger II, a different series.

The following line is supposed to make you cry, and if it didn’t, then I failed as a translator:

あなたたち3人がついてくれるんですもの
Anata-tachi san-nin ga tsuite kureru ndesu mono
The three of you will follow me

Princess Aurora says that no matter what happens to her, the three cyborgs will come to rescue her. I thought that a better translation would be “The three of you will be there for me”, since it would better express Aurora’s feelings. Another one that’s good is “The three of you are always there for me”.

Also, remember this line:

ギャラクシーエネルギーは愛です
GYARAKUSHII ENERUGII wa ai desu
The Galaxy Energy is love

If I remember correctly, this line is going to be repeated many times from now on until the end of the show. Remember that Galaxy Energy is the fuel used to restore the galaxy’s energy. I’ve explained this before in episode 40.

At 20:05 I believe Kugo says:

しようがねえよ。主人公後から登場するか
Shiyouga nee yo. Shujinkou ato kara toujou suru ka
It can’t be helped. Maybe the main character appears later?

I’m not 100% sure of that line. If that’s what he’s saying, he’s referring to himself and will participate in the fight later. He does, indeed.

SF Saiyuki Starzinger – Episode 55

The Battle of the Gilara Star System

Princess Aurora is trapped in a cave by Prince Gaima. The ceiling and walls could collapse at any moment. After discovering the Princess’ whereabouts, Kugo and the others go to rescue her, but the entrance is buried, so Hakka has to dig through the ground to get to her. Prince Gaima is furious when he learns that Princess Aurora is still alive, and attacks again with the Space Shark. Kugo rushes forward with the Starcrow to settle the matter!

You can download the torrent file from Anidex or Anirena, or get direct links from AnimeTosho.

Translation Thoughts

Hakka says his funniest “Starbood, launch!” in this episode. Actually, this episode is full of Hakka’s goofiness.

Also, it seems that Starbood wanted to take the Princess with it and leave Hakka behind. This was very funny. But it’s interesting that Starbood decided to take a different route at some point.

Gaima is really intimidating. At 7:37 he says:

できないようだったら貴様の首は飛んでいるところだ
Dekinai youdattara kisama no kubi wa tonde iru tokoroda
If they can’t, your head will be flying

If the triple cannon can’t be repaired, Prince Gaima will just cut off the captain’s head and send it flying. How charming!

SF Saiyuki Starzinger – Episode 54

Desperate Situation! Princess Aurora

Kugo and his friends have fallen into Prince Gaima’s trap and have been separated from Princess Aurora. He rushes to go after her, but he cannot use the Crow Belt because it may cause an explosion of the hydrogen spectrum. Princess Aurora, who had escaped to an asteroid, is approached by the Space Shark. She takes advantage of the fact that she has only one-tenth the weight to deceive her enemies, but Prince Gaima finds her. Princess Aurora escapes into a cave, but there is nowhere to run. What is Kugo going to do?

You can download the torrent file from Anidex or Anirena, or get direct links from AnimeTosho.

Translation Thoughts

Every time the Princess is in danger, she always asks Kugo for help. She clearly has a favorite, doesn’t she? This makes me feel bad for the other two cyborgs, who are also supposed to be in love with the Princess. They have no chance; when she’s in a pinch, she only thinks about Kugo being the prince who is going to rescue her. And he always does.

I think this is the episode where Aurora has the most dialogue.

At 6:34 Princess Aurora says:

月の表面の重力加速度は16.6%だから月の表面より軽くなれるはずだわ
Tsuki no hyoumen no juuryoku kasokudo wa 16. 6% dakara tsuki no hyoumen yori karuku nareru hazu da wa
The gravitational acceleration on the surface of the Moon is 16.6%, so I should be lighter than if I were on the surface of the Moon.

The word Moon is capitalized here because Princess Aurora is talking about the Earth’s moon, which is named Moon. The acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the Moon is in fact 16.6%, so Princess Aurora made her homework. She was born there anyway, so this must be general knowledge that is taught in Moon’s schools.

We’re good so far, right? Then she says:

もし重力加速度が地球の10%以下なら私の体重は1キロにも満たないことになる
Moshi juuyoku kasokudo ga chikyuu no 10% ikanara watashi no taijuu wa 1-KIRO ni mo mitanai koto ni naru
If the gravitational acceleration is less than 10% of Earth’s, then I’d weigh less than 1 Kg.

Even though the writers tried their best to be accurate about gravity in space, Princess Aurora can’t weigh less than 1 kilogram on an asteroid that has 10% of Earth’s gravity. Let’s say Princess Aurora weighs 50 kilograms because she looks like she would weigh just 50 kilograms. Her weight on the surface of the Moon would be 8.25 kilograms, and her weight on the asteroid would be 5 kilograms.

If Princess Aurora weighs less than one kilogram on an asteroid where its acceleration due to gravity is 10% of Earth’s, that means she weighs less than 10 kilograms on Earth!

I knew she was a little on the thin side! I once had a German Shepherd that weighed four times more than her! And he was lean! Not to mention that if she weighs less than one kilogram on the surface of that asteroid, she couldn’t be running like that.

And it’s simply amazing how Princess Aurora can breathe everywhere in space! She’s only human.

I understand this is a show for kids and some flexibility is allowed, but this episode was insane.

I believe the Bi-Tank is called like that because it’s able to fly and drive at the same time.

SF Saiyuki Starzinger – Episode 53

Suprise Attack! Black Sun

Bellamis realized that her mission was to bury the evil army and took on Prince Gyuma’s army by herself. However, she was bombarded by Prince Gaima and fell on an asteroid. Prince Gaima suddenly appeared before Kugo, who was on a reconnaissance mission. He mistakenly believes that Kugo is his enemy and attacks him without listening to his excuses. Kugo, feeling that there is no way out of this situation, takes advantage of the impending eclipse of the Gilara Sun and launches a surprise attack on the Space Shark!

You can download the torrent file from Anidex or Anirena, or get direct links from AnimeTosho.

Translation Thoughts

This episode has a lot of scientific mumbo-jumbo from Jogo that doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense. So be prepared to read a lot of random scientific stuff. I translated most of them directly, but even in Japanese, it sounds confusing.

At 8:43 Kugo introduces himself to Prince Gaima like this:

俺は宇宙一の暴れん坊ジャンクーゴ様だ
Ore wa uchuu ichi no abarenbou JAN KUUGO-sama da
I’m the most violent kid in the universe, Jan Kugo-sama.

Honestly, this might sound cool in Japanese, but in English, it sounds terrible. Since this is a show for kids, I changed it a little bit to what kids would want to hear about who Jan Kugo is.

At 11:36 Prince Gaima says:

まず貴様から血祭りにあげてやる
Mazu kisama kara chimatsuri ni agete yaru
First of all, I am going to give you a blood festival

The word 血祭り chimatsuri means “blood festival” or “bloodbath”. Now that I think about it, maybe “blood fest” or “bloodbath” would have been better choices for this translation. At the time, all I could come up with was “blood festival”.

SF Saiyuki Starzinger – Episode 52

The Man Who Came Back From Hell

After the destruction of the planets Gyuma and Lassetz, the remnants of Gyuma’s army continued their activities, despite Princess Aurora’s prayers for peace. Prince Gaima, son of King Gyuma, was surprised to hear the news of the destruction of his planet. It seems that a man named Kugo defeated his father and destroyed his homeland. Prince Gaima, proud to be the strongest cyborg warrior in the Gilara system, vows to take revenge on the Cosmos, Kugo and his friends!

You can download the torrent file from Anidex or Anirena, or get direct links from AnimeTosho.

Translation Thoughts

This is the first episode of the Prince Gaima arc, which goes up to episode 56. This is also the last arc of the series; after this it’s just episodic stories (or fillers if you will) until they reach the Great Planet on episode 64, the last episode of Starzinger I.

Prince Gaima is King Gyuma’s son who was in the Zeta star system, but he returned to this home planet after the whole Zeta star system exploded because of the weakening of the galaxy’s energy. He didn’t know that both his father and his planet were gone.

At 1:57 Kugo says:

うるさいんだよなもう人がせっかくいい気持ちで眠ってるってのに
Urusai nda yo na mou hito ga sekkaku ii kimochi de nemutteru tte no ni
It’s noisy even though there are people sleeping peacefully

The direct translation shows a little more of Kugo’s sarcasm than the line I used. I just felt it didn’t sound right, so I changed it a little bit. It’s funny to me how, after this line, Hakka asks the same question to Jogo, but quieter this time.

I struggled a little bit with the line at 2:14:

ボスは死んだんだよそんな生き残りたいしたことはないよ
Bosu wa shinda nda yo sonna ikinokori taishita koto wa nai yo
The boss is dead, they are not a big deal, surviving like that

What Kugo is trying to say here is that since the boss is dead, what kind of life could they have? How can they survive like that? It’s not much of a survival.

Hakka says at 5:34:

あれが本当の一人相撲だぜ
Are ga hontou no hitori sumou da ze
That’s real one-man sumo wrestling

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard about sumo, the national Japanese sport. The joke here is that the army destroyed itself, and it looked like a one-man fight.