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In Aoishiro, on the 2nd day during Lunch, Momoko is complaining about the lack of animal protein in the meals Yasumi has prepared, who has been trying to keep to vegetarian Buddhist Meals.

Momoko asks Suzuki Yuukai, the monk of the temple, if he would run her out of the temple if she ate meat, he says:

I don't condemn eating meat at all.
(Literally, "at all" = "no hair")

This is what Yuukai looks like

Suzuki Yuukai

After reading the liner notes of Maria Watches Over Us, I know that some humor in Japanese language comes from puns on how words look very similar but have vastly different meanings only because of one character of the placing of a space.

I know Yuukai is bald, however, I don't get how not condemning eating meat at all = him having no hair, as at dinner on the second day, he points out that he does eat meat (asking Shouko if his "Iron Body" could come from a vegetarian diet). I played the English fan translated version.

So I am wondering, is this actually some sort of pun only understandable if you know Japanese (i.e. read the original Japanese text)? What exactly does he mean?

Aki Tanaka
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Memor-X
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    Can you identify the place where the conversation takes place in this video (or the next part)? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoAthcesNSw – nhahtdh Jul 07 '14 at 05:19
  • @nhahtdh edited my question with the part 3 video, your link was Part 2 and only had the Day 1 Dinner, the scene i can confirm is Day 2 Lunch, the moment starts at 49:04 though i don't know how to link to that moment, just to the video – Memor-X Jul 07 '14 at 05:30
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    @Memor-X See my edit for how to link to a particular time in the video. – Logan M Jul 07 '14 at 05:36

1 Answers1

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I found a walk through of the game in Japanese on YouTube. The link shows the exact scene in the unpatched Japanese version.

The same line in Japanese is

「[肉食]{にくじき}を[咎]{とが}めるつもりは[毛頭]{もうとう}なし」.

The pun is on 毛頭なし, where in this context, it means "not at all". However, if you interpret the idiom 毛頭なし literally, it means "no hair" (毛 = hair, 頭 = head, なし = no).

As reference, here is the entry of 毛頭 on Weblio:

【一】 （ 副 ）

（下に打ち消しを伴って，打ち消しを強調する気持ちを表す）毛の先ほども。少しも。いささかも。 「立候補する気は－ない」 「そんなつもりは－ない」

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nhahtdh
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  • Well, I would disagree with _the phrase itself can also mean "no hair"_ - you would never use 毛頭 to refer to "hair on the head" (instead, you would say 髪の毛 or just 髪 or something). So this is strictly a pun / play on words, not a "valid" alternative interpretation of 毛頭なし. – senshin Jul 07 '14 at 07:23
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    I'm pretty sure that just means "as [small/meager/etc] as the tip of a hair" - i.e. it is only figurative, not literal. – senshin Jul 07 '14 at 07:32
  • @senshin: Think about it again, you are right. I'll edit it. – nhahtdh Jul 07 '14 at 07:33