While doing my internet rounds, i somehow found this interesting linguistic analysis of this drama and the way the relationship of Segasaki and Dayo is established through language. And while i have some reservations concerning this drama, i also used to be a linguistics major and i love reading a analysis!
Links are here: reddit posts; tumblr posts (accessible only with tumblr account but you can see screecaps there which i find helpful and which dont always work on reddit) by incredibly insightful reddit user u/NeedOffDays
DISCLAIMER: i did not write the analysis, im not the OP and i dont speak japanese so i cannot talk about how relevant or factual it is (but people in comments under original posts dont riot so i guess it must be ok :))
Why i find it interesting:
Even without speaking japanese, to a frequent drama watcher, there are obviously many social cues or nuances in this drama (eg. eagasaki not attending team dinner; Segasaki speaking harshly/with short sentences, japanese language being more careful with its wording, etc etc) that help to understand to some degree dynamics of Segasaki and Dayo.
What is harder to grasp (for a foreigner) is the linguistic aspect, which seems to play a significant role in perception of their relationship. That is something the english language - due to nature of the language itself AND nature of subtitling (eg. reading speed and space constraint) fails to translate and therefore fails to relay within the drama. Turns out a whole ass large aspect is missing on us!
One of my biggest pet peeves while watching the drama was that it seemed (based on eng sub) that Yo is too unwilling to participate in this "thing"/relationship - saying stuff like "i hate you" etc etc. That seems very unhealthy, no? The level of lack of communication is too big for these two dudes, no?
Turns out it is not as problematic as it seems, friends, as many things are left a) unsaid, b) said in too polite roundabout way, c) said with expectation of you reading between the lines but its not actually that hidden, d) other.
I dont plan on paraphrasing or giving report on the analysis itself (just scroll through it :)) so i suggest going by yourself to the posts linked on the top to dive deeper into this. For me, the biggest surprise is when the op discusses the different kinds/uses of word "hate" (mainly analysis of ep 3). Also, i was aware of Segasakis courtness but the level to which he goes was lost on me so that was very interesting as well.
Basically - while Segasakis character seems to be easier to understand based on social cues, i feel like it helps me to understand Yos character more when you know about the linguistic element (as he pretty much contradicts himself in many ways).
I still have some beef with this IP, but based on this analysis, i see relationship depicted in this drama as less toxic and awfully codependent than initially and i think the analysis is an intersting resource for many confused mdl users similar to me :)
Thanks for attending my TED talk!
