Talk:Meidō Zangetsuha

Kanji
I believe you have the Kanji wrong on this one as well. It should be 冥道残月破. Dethklok91 (talk) 14:13, January 18, 2013 (UTC)

The translation is wrong as well. I'm no translator, but literally it says something like "rending a moon out of the underworld". Which makes a lot more sense than "Dark Path of the Dawn's Moon Wave"! Troyp (talk) 06:47, April 6, 2014 (UTC)
 * Actually, that's not what it says at all. Meido Zangetsuha is composed of nouns, but you make it seem like there are verbs, which is not true. Meidō is a pathway, not the Netherworld. Zangetsu is not a term used for a plain moon, so that part is also inaccurate. And as I said, I don't know where you're getting "rending" from.-- 02:24, April 7, 2014 (UTC)


 * "Rending" is one meaning of 破. It could also mean breaking, annulment, reversal, etc., I chose rending since it makes sense. 冥道 is a buddhist term for the underworld. Literally it means "dark path", but that doesn't work as a translation. 残月 means "morning moon" if you want to quibble. You could argue about the exact interpretation (and particularly the meaning 破 should have here), but I'm sure "rending a moon from the underworld" is at least an improvement on the existing translation. Complaining about verbs is just ridiculous. "Rending" is a gerund, anyway: it's being used as a noun. Troyp (talk) 04:46, June 28, 2014 (UTC)

For some reason, 破 has traditionally been translated on this site and in the franchise as "wave," though I admit that that's inaccurate. But whether it's the Backlash Wave, or the Dragon Strike (Azure Dragon Wave), or what have you, that's how it's been translated, for whatever reason. So while these translations are technically "canon," they're factually inaccurate, so I'm in somewhat of a quandary on what to do about it.

However, "rending" (which I believe is being used as a verb in your translation, not a gerund; to say "rending a a moon from the underworld" sounds the same to me as "to rend a moon from the underworld.") is not a suitable replacement. Though I think overall your translation is not unsound. Clearly, rending a moon out of the Netherworld is more or less what the technique does. Why would it create a "Dark Path" of a "Dawn's Moon"? What does a Dawn's Moon even have to do with it? But I think "cut," rather than "rend," would be better, especially since we're referring to swords and it is constantly said by Tōtōsai that the Tessaiga in particular is a "cutting sword." So this would make sense considering most of Inuyasha's techniques have the same character in their name.

However, using Netherworld instead of Dark Path is difficult for me to accept, since mekai is the term used for the Netherworld in the series, and I'm not sure why Rumiko Takahashi would use another term, though it's entirely possible. But technically, creating a path to the Netherworld is what the Meidō Zangetsuha does, so "dark path" also makes sense. So, in essence, "Cut a Dark Path of the Dawn's Moon." Though I still like yours better, I can't wrap my head around it at this time. Could you provide a link that shows that "Dark Path" is a Buddhist term? While I believe you, my usual sources didn't show anything, and I want to see an explanation for myself of the term before I consider changing the translation any further. 15:24, June 28, 2014 (UTC)

re cut vs rend: Like I said, I'm no kind of Japanese translator, so I'm don't really have an opinion on more subtle points. "Cut" sounds fine to me.

re gerund vs verb: Well, that's all a gerund is, really, a way of using a verb as a noun phrase: "I like rending". (Of course, it could just as easily be a past participle if you stick an auxillary verb in front of it, eg. "I am rending". As an isolated phrase, you can't really distinguish between the two.) Although I guess this is pretty OT.

re "netherworld" usually translated as "mekai": Is it? I watched Inuyasha in English, so I don't know what words they used for things unless they were said or written in Japanese. Would it be odd to use one word for something in general, but another as part of a techique name? It doesn't seem odd at all to me. It's just the kind of thing an author might do, maybe because they like the sound of it in the name, or the connotations, or just the variety. I find it hard to believe it's a coincidence that she used a term for the underworld (which happens to make the technique's name literally describe its action.) I'm not familar with the word "mekai", though, and a quick dictionary search for the romaji isn't giving me any results.

re links for "meido": here's a few I found


 * jisho.org romaji search for meido

Troyp (talk) 21:24, August 15, 2014 (UTC)
 * [post on meido the underworld]
 * another blog post

As I said, I basically agree with your translation, for the most part, but due to canon issues surrounding the translation of 破, I can't really approve of the change without wider discussion. I will bring this up at the next Daimyō-kai. 22:28, August 15, 2014 (UTC)

Naraku's Immunity
The article says that Naraku was immune to the original attack while in his ultimate form, then says the shikon jewel was immune to it altogether. So my question is, was the reason Naraku was immune to attack because he actually was immune to it, or was it because he had the jewel on his person? And was that why the second version was effective? Because it could cut up his body and then absorb the parts not in contact with the jewel? I haven't gotten that far in the series yet, so the specifics are a bit unclear to me. Damaijin (talk) 23:59, March 30, 2013 (UTC)
 * Naraku's ultimate form was the Shikon Jewel; Naraku absorbed it, and it manipulated him completely. So the two can't really be separated in this case. I believe that in essence you're close when you say the second version was effective because it wasn't trying to pull the Jewel into another dimension, but was directly targeting Naraku's body. However, he simply regenerates since the Jewel cannot be destroyed. It isn't until Sesshōmaru uses the Bakusaiga to destroy his body, Inuyasha kills him with Meidō Zangetsuha, and Kagome purifies the Jewel with her arrow that Naraku's remained soul finally disappears from the human world, although the Jewel uses the delayed Meido technique of Byakuya to suck Kagome into the Jewel itself, where she purifies it with the one true wish.--Suzaku 朱雀 Maze Castle 04:22, March 31, 2013 (UTC)