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At the start of Seitokai Yakuindomo OVA episode 19, there is this scene where it shows Kotomi's essay:

Screenshot of Kotomi's essay

In text:

「家族」…。その中でも兄妹とは…禁断の一線を超えさせない理性の言葉。私の家は両親は仕事の事情などで留守に成りがちでよく兄とは二人きりになる。特に休日や平日の夜。まるでどこかのパソコンゲームのようだ。しかも未成年が遊んではいけないような。未成年の男女が二人きり、夜中で未成年が遊んでいけない状況にある。そこで食い止める劣情の防波堤が家族であり、そして兄妹と言うキーワードだと思う。しかしこのキーワード、危険が伴う。肉欲に任せて落ちれば燃え尽きてしまう近親相姦。我も危険なら彼も危険。共に大地を見ることができるのか？

I was able to understand almost everything with jisho.org, except the bold bit. That whole sentences, as far as I know, means something like "Can we see the earth together?" Why "see the earth" all of a sudden? It was talking about the fact that if we don't control our lust, it will become incest, so why "see the earth"?

I tried googling "大地を見る" but nothing related seems to come up. Is there something I don't get?

EDIT: Translation

"Family"... "Brothers and sisters", is a rational word that will not cross the forbidden line. Because of my parents' jobs, my brother and I, just the two of us, always stay at home, especially in holidays and weekdays. It's like in an adult game. Two minors, in the middle of the night, doing adult things. Situations like this often appear. In such situations, the breakwater that holds back the lust is "family" and also the keyword "brothers and sisters". However, this keyword goes hand in hand with danger. If we don't control our lust it can become incest. If I am in danger, he is too. Will we be able to see the earth together?

Aki Tanaka
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  • could you add your translation of the parts you understand? I think the answer would become pretty obvious in context – Hakase Jun 18 '17 at 20:51
  • @Hakase I edited my very rough translation in, is it somehow related to danger? – Sweeper Jun 18 '17 at 21:04
  • Perhaps you should ask on [Japanese.SE] instead coz it seems to be nuanced. My guess is it's either "is there a chance for us to be accepted by the population of the world (despite an incestuous relationship)?" or a metaphor for "may we be able to calm down our lust enough to get a grip on the solid ground of decency?" And as always, "serious writings" in anime (especially in comedies like this one) tend to have references to actual serious works. Someone who is familiar with japanese literature might be able to recognize that last sentence from some popular classical poetry. – Hakase Jun 18 '17 at 21:14
  • @Hakase I was thinking that too, but I thought it was a reference to something that's specific to otaku culture... Can this be migrated there then? – Sweeper Jun 18 '17 at 21:19

1 Answers1

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This seems to be a somewhat obscure reference to the original Gundam anime.

Specifically the preview for Episode 5. It goes:

重力に任せて落ちれば燃え尽きてしまう大気圏突入。

その瞬間にシャアはホワイトベースに奇襲を掛けた。

我も危険なら彼も危険、共に大地を見ることができるのか？　

機動戦士ガンダム、次回「大気圏突入」。 君は生きのびることができるか！

The title of Episode 5 is literally "Plunging into (the) atmosphere" (officially, its "Reentry to Earth" ). Implying some sort of double entendre, likely implying illicit intercourse.

I can't comment much on the style of writing in particular, but overall such an abstruse wording is not uncommon in literary Japanese. The Japanese people seem to enjoy euphemizing and beating around the bush in their writings. The specific nuances are very difficult to translate.

For an example:

Natsume Soseki once taught his students that the correct Japanese translation for “I love you” is “Tsuki ga tottemo aoi naa” (The moon is so blue tonight); what he meant was that to express within the Japanese cultural framework the same emotion expressed in English by “I love you,” one must choose words like “The moon is so blue tonight.”

(from Sato Kenji’s “More Animated than Life: A Critical Overview of Japanese Animated Films,” Japan Echo, 12/97)

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