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Learning Japanese with Berserk: The Brand
🕑 Added 2022-01-26 12:00:05 +0000 UTCThe Brand of Sacrifice is a key element in Berserk that gets developed in the eponymous second segment of the story. In Japanese, it's called ็่ดใฎ็ๅฐ, pronounced ใใใซใ ใฎ ใใใใ (IKENIE NO RAKUIN).
็ๅฐ (RAKUIN) is the word for "brand" or "mark" and refers to a pattern applied on something, from simple stamping of a document all the way up to cattle branding. ็่ด (IKENIE) means a living sacrifice, like for the ritual killing of an animal to appease the gods.
Worth noting is that the cobra apostle calls it differently when he sees it as he dies. He says ็่ดใฎ็ผๅฐ, using the word ็ผๅฐ, pronounced ใใใใ (YAKIIN). It's another, more specific word for "brand" that implies the use of a hot iron. All other characters, from Guts to Schierke or the God Hand, call it ็ๅฐ (RAKUIN).
Comments
Skullknight.NET
Hard to say. Might be to indicate to the reader that it's "burned into" Guts, and not just a magic sigil on the skin.
Walter
Interesting. Do you think the cobra apostle's variant usage implies anything about how he thought of it?
