Sorry, but when I watch episode one I have to watch all seven series and I get kinda fixated on silly little things in the background, like the stickers in Willow's locker or the obscure band references … or this:
I've known for ages how the nerds who made Buffy vied to out-cool one another with obscure little easter eggs (hidden in-jokes, people … keep up) scattered throughout the programme and I just found another one.
I'm in series four at the moment. Probably the only slightly weak series (though Kate put it a little stronger) but it does have its redeeming moments such as Anya's hilarious seduction of Xander and the cranberry cum-shot; the Spike and Willow "vampire impotence" skit ("I swear this kind of thing's never happened to me before"). Plus some lesbian witches but hey, that's just my own particular thang going on there.
Anyhoo, I was just watching the episode where Oz (for Robyn and Lynn: he's a werewolf) gets the hots for Veruca the lady werewolf and the Scoobies are sitting around at the Bronze and Oz is wearing this teeshirt with 大変 written on it.
Now that's just asking for trouble with Old Dive …
大 is no problem … As any fule kno it is pronounced "おおきい", and it means "BIG".
I thought at first glance that Oz's teeshirt might read "BIG LOVE", but "LOVE" (as in love for the opposite sex) is 恋, which has the same top radical, but with the radical for "HEART" underneath (Awwwww).
変 really got to me, so I did a Giles and hit my Japanese textbooks …
Those sneaky bastards at Buffy Central had me stumped for a good half hour until I finally tracked it down.
It's a pretty obscure kanji with the おん reading of "へん" and the くん reading of "か", usually as the verb "かわる", which means "UNDERGO CHANGE, BE ALTERED or BE TRANSFORMED"
How fucking cool is that for a werewolf to wear on his teeshirt?
Undergo change/be altered/be transformed … BIG TIME!
大変
So … two nerd points to Old Dive and a hundred cool points to those tricksy Buffy backroom folk. Their attention to detail leaves me in awe.
I know I'm sad; you don't have to tell me.
20 comments:
Aww, Crap. Yet another Buffy post to pretend to show interest in. Actually, this is pretty cool. Gilmore Girls was full of that same kind of details, crazy obscure references being spouted off at lightning speed. Good investigative work, Dive.
Hee hee. Thank you, Robyn.
I do love a show that has such amazing attention to obscure little details. If it's made with such care then it's usually worth watching.
Buffy???? ROTFL! I had NO idea you were a fan, Dive. Had I known before...well...I don't know. Would it really have made a difference?
That IS kind of cool to have that message on a werewolf's shirt...and that you took the time to translate it....and that Blogger actually shows the characters...the letters, that is. We all know YOU are a character in Blogger, but that's something all together different.
Would you like that T-shirt for your next birthday? :D
Hey, got a new blog - A Pinay In England.
joy
Your Love Coach
The Goddess In You
Oz doesn't need obscure lingo to be cool, he just is.
But season four sucks. If it weren't for the scariest episode ever - "Hush" it would have been a complete waste.
RED HELMET!
RED HELMET!
RED HELMET!
I can ONLY deduce!!!???!!!
EEEEEEK!
Missed you DB!!!
SMOOCHES!
Me
;)
XOXOXO
Hush was excellent just to see Buffy do a hand job. Dive you need to get out more.
Hee hee, Katherine: Buffy's a lot smarter than it looks, and cool and funny, too. Plus, what's not to love about a show that gives you lots of scantily dressed girls kicking ass and puts a middle-aged Englishman who loves books right in there with them … writes a middle-aged Englishman who loves books and girls.
As for the kanji; stupid Blogger only shows it in posts. When I type it into comments it just comes out as gibberish. C'mon, Blogger! Get with it!
Hee hee, Joy: Big something … Not sure about transformation though.
I'll check out your new blog.
Kate: Oz is way cool. Without Oz, there could have been no Scott Evil in Austin Powers.
And I'll be watching "Hush" today, while muttering to myself all the way through to make sure I still can. Boy, that sure is a creepy one.
Ame: HA! CAUGHT YOU! You thought you could slip in a "red helmet" without me noticing?
Hee hee hee.
Glad you're back.
XOX
I get out too much, Old K; that's why every now and then I need to sit in a darkened room and watch Buffy for a few weeks.
Hi Dive! Thanks for visiting A Pinay In England. Soon I'll be adding ALL the other shows. Next week my guest will be the Chief Executive of Norwich Mind - to talk about his visit in the Philippines about 25 years ago!
Re Nationwide - well, they came through for 'Thom'. Long story - all on the blog.
Enjoy Buffy!
joy
A Pinay In England
Great news about the house, Joy.
And it's wonderful to be able to hear your show at last.
I'll be listening every week from now on.
Yeah Dive, that's...um...cool. So now i know Oz is a werewolf. I'm prepared, should it come onto the screen in the future!
I do understand, however, the obsession with a series. Just recently i got a new DVD player after nearly a year without one. I have, over the last few weeks, gone through my whole set of Sex And The City again. NOW you're talking! Oh it's been fab. I'm now considering going back to no. 1 and starting again so i DO understand how you're feeling Dive!
Thanks, Lynn.
That's the trouble with DVD sets; you watch one, you've got to watch the lot.
I never did see any of Sex In The City though. The idea of anything sex-related having Sarah Jessica Parker in it was just too icky. I've had prettier things fall out of my nose.
Ew!
Bing has always been a Buffy junkie, I came to her late. And like you, she was always catching some obscure little thing and fixating on it.
I swear that I am shacking up with a female Dive.....
If you ever catch the movie, The Savages, there is a line in there that goes something like, "We are not in a Sam Shepard play..." It struck me as hilarious and I was the only one in the theater who laughed. So, maybe I am just weird in some obscure way that no one else understands.
But, yeah...I always missed the Buffy lines/symbols and Bing was always pouncing on them.
A female Dive? That's way scary, Maria, but I know what you mean … The musician / Buffy fan / neatness obsessive thing, and we seem to have all the same taste in stuff, too.
I'll have to look up The Savages and see if I laugh.
I tell you Dive, you missed something there then. I reckon, that Sex & The City is the biggest secret, or at least, overlooked prog by men! Thing is, most men i've spoken to think it's all girly and silly and chick flicky. Well, it is, there's quite a lot of that, but the sex!!! Goodness there's so much in it, it makes me blush. No ok that's going too far, but why men are not interested is beyond me lol. Agree about SJP though. Way too stick thin! Great character though.
It's the SJP thing, Lynn.
She looks like a horse with a facial disease. Having her in a programme with sex is going to put any man off sex for life. Like aversion therapy.
I mean EWW!
Not only have I been out of circulation lately with crappy phone lines but I have never seen a Buffy episode - God how inadequate do I feel now!
At least I can read your Pesky Appendage Post with some degree of expertise!!!!
Interesting post. Those are chinese characters too. You did good in finding the meaning and translation.
Jules! I'm shocked!
Hee hee hee.
Hi, Alice!
Thank you so much.
I popped over to check out your blogs only to find you've been to Guilin! WOW! That's the place I want to go more than any other. Your photos are great.
Hi Dive, Guilin is a very interesting and beautiful place, especially the caves. Sorry my photos are so faded and I tried to find time to scan more of my past travel photos. Thanks for visiting my blogs.
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