Ningen Kakumei - Episode 1 release & TL notes

Episode 1

I'm really glad the DVDs WOWmd bought had VobSub on them. I literally wouldn't be able to figure this series out without them - the characters use a whole lot of religious text quotes, which are, may I remind you, from the 13th century or earlier, and consequently use deprecated pronunciations, kanji combinations, and the meanings more obscure than the muttering of a doting grandpa, which I had to look up... at Soka Gakkai's official web sites for interpreting Nichiren's writings!
The context is also enormously complex. Being a complete layman in Buddhism, I often find myself in a recursion, when looking up some concept I need to understand to properly translate the line, I have to additionally look up two more explanations, each one of which also has in itself some concept I need to look up, etc. This is honestly the slowest I've ever translated an anime, despite having the Japanese CC. Oh, and let's not forget, I also need to furnish this very file you're reading with some sort of succinct explanation for said concepts each time. Speaking of which, the TL notes are as follows... 

• Toyotama Prison, where episode 1 starts on July 3, 1945:
  

• Toda's refusal to worship the Shinto talisman in episode 1: I'll try to be succinct with this.
  Prior to the war, Japan had introduced a Peace Preservation Law, which permitted the persecution of communists and other anti-government elements en masse, including religious organizations. Naturally, Soka Gakkai members were actively speaking out against the war. The government had little tolerance for that, so in 1943, they were brought to a Main Nichiren Temple in Tokyo, a hallowed ground for Lotus Sutra Buddhists, where they were offered a traditional amulet sold at Shinto temples, as a token of their allegiance to the government's cause - a "Kamifuda," literally "God card/note/paper," in reality - just some paper folded together. Now, it should be noted that Soka Gakkai teachings are based on Buddhist tenets, which are not the same as Shinto, even if both are all Greek to most of us. Shinto is Japan's homegrown indigenous system of animistic(= all things are alive, therefore it's nothing unusual in them worshiping a piece of paper) beliefs, which include Kappas, fancy red gates, and other autistic stuff the weebs know Japan for. Buddhism, in turn, is centered on its enlightened followers, and it came about in India, spreading to Japan through China - at the time, the enemy country, which is all the more why Shinto and Buddhism were and still are constantly at odds. Interestingly enough, though, Buddhism has its own stupid tradition of venerating texts. Like, the words, the message, the meaning, rather than the actual parchments. This part of Buddhism kinda vibes with me, ngl.
  Anyways. Having turned down the amulet, both Toda Josei and Tsunesaburo Makiguchi got themselves charged with a breach of said Peace Preservation Law and lèse-majesté (because the Emperor Hirohito at the time was considered a deity, worshiped in Shintoism, kinda as if he was the king of Kappas and stuff).
  TL;DR: Shinto amulet = Kamifuda = piece of divine paper;
  Defying Shinto in 1943 Japan = "Look at my lawyer dawwwg I'm going to jail."
  
• As promised, First President Makiguchi himself:
  
• Soka Kyoiku Gakkai - literally "Value Creation Educational Society" - a religious organization, founded in 1930 by the guy above with the intention to promote peacemaking, accessible education, and Lotus Sutra. In 1946, Toda Josei truncated the name to just Soka Gakkai (minus the "educational" part).
  TL;DR: Soka Gakkai = Soka Kyoiku Gakkai = the sect supercharged with the "Human Revolution" idea = "Value Creation Society" = "the Society."
• Gohonzon-sama Toda is worshiping in this episode is a generic term for a venerated religious object in Japanese Buddhism. It may take the form of a scroll or statuary. Like saying My Good Lord in Christianity.
  TL;DR: Gohonzon = Buddha.
• Daishonin-sama that Toda addresses is the name accepted by Soka Gakkai for the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist monk Nichiren, on whose teachings the Soka Gakkai as a part of the Lotus Sutra branch of Buddhism was founded. The full name is Nichiren Daishōnin (日蓮大聖人) which roughly translates to Great Sage Nichiren/Buddha Nichiren.
  TL;DR: Daishonin = Nichiren. - Please disregard this part, I have removed it from the final version because I was losing my mind over 10 different names for one and the same thing.
• In this episode, you would meet the certain "Common Path" - my very liberal interpretation of the Kosen Rufu concept, which I'm likely to rethink at a later point. You can read all about what Kosen Rufu was originally about in a wiki article; here (and in this series) I would stick with my own interpretation, largely based on Toda Josei's and later Daisaku Ikeda's biographies. Here's my explanation, utilizing vivid imagery for you ADHD kids: Kousen Rufu literally means "spread widely the river cloth," which eventually boils down to [widespread] peacemaking and the abolition of nationalism in favor of the global interests of humankind [where all nations blend into a single stream], which ultimately means a shared fate for all the humankind = a common river = a common path / road [like that, formed by a bolt of cloth, rolling down the hill]. Within Soka Gakkai (whose name literally means "Value-Creation Society"), Kosen Rufu would eventually evolve into a concept of "Human Revolution" - a goal of attaining universal societal change through individual enlightenment - "Creating value within yourself to transform your environment."
• It was Toda who drove the Soka Gakkai away from religious sect patterns towards NGOs in a more general sense by stressing the necessity of practical results of a spiritual transformation. In other words, he essentially said, "Reading sutras, praying, and being pious is cool, but without a material improvement, the practical result, contributing to the progress, it's all for nothing."
  TL;DR: Common Path = be the change you wish to see in the world.
• "Nichiren's prophecy" Toda is quoting in this episode is an excerpt from Nichiren's letter to Yasaburo - some influential samurai who provided Nichiren with asylum and asked him for guidance when preparing for a religious debate. Translation for this part is largely based on Soka Gakkai's official translation of Nichiren's works, adapted to better fit the current situation Toda applies this prophecy to, and without the parts he omitted. The full text is
  

  The priests of Japan today are all men of great evil, surpassing even Devadatta or the Venerable Kokālika. And because lay people revere them and make them offerings, this country is being transformed before our very eyes into the hell of incessant suffering, where countless people in their present existence {referring to the Buddhist concept of reincarnation}, in addition to undergoing starvation, pestilence, and horrible agonies unknown in previous ages, will be attacked by a foreign power {Originally, Nichiren refers to the Mongol Empire, but Toda's alludes to the Americans when quoting it}. This is due solely to the workings of deities like Brahmā, Shakra, and the gods of the sun and moon.

  
  Toda saying that prophecy came true refers, once again, to the State Shintoism and the ensuing overwhelming corruptness and depravity among Japanese clergy of the time. You could say this original Nichiren's letter was, at the time, a sort of Martin Luther's 95 points declaration (it is then unsurprising Nichiren Buddhism also formed), his protest, except it was made private, both because there wasn't yet any church door he could nail it to (Japan itself hasn't even been unified yet), and because the traditional practices of Buddhism imposed seclusion and inwardness (as opposed to Soka Gakkai's aggressive propagation) upon their followers.
  TL;DR: Nichiren = Japan's Martin Luther.
• Nihon Shogakkan Publishing Office - literally "Fair / Just / Righteous Education Japan."
  TL;DR: Nihon Shogakkan = publishing company for correspondence education.
• Lotus Sutra (hokekkyou) - for this one, I believe the corresponding wiki article suffices. It is important to know the difference, though: every Lotus Sutra follower is a Buddhist, but not every Buddhist is a Lotus Sutra follower. Consequently, every Nichirenist is a Lotus Sutra follower, but not every Lotus Sutra follower is a Nichirenist, and finally, every Soka Gakkai member is a Nichirenist, but not every Nichirenist is a Soka Gakkai member. You know how it always is with religious autists - no two of them can ever come to terms with each other, and because of the recent controversies enshrouding Soka Gakkai, to many, this notion is important to emphasize. 
  You will also encounter in this series a "Lotus Sutra Path," which is my liberal interpretation of "myouhou rufu" (literally "marvelous law of Buddha stream") which is commonly translated as "Mystic Law." I did it to avoid introducing yet another term in the series that'd effectively be all Greek to everyone. I call it liberal because "myohou rufu" technically has nothing to do with "hokekkyou."
  TL;DR: Lotus Sutra [Path] = Nichiren's sect = (by extension) Common Path. 
• Head Temple Taisekiji - the holiest of sites for the Lotus Sutra adherents (hence the "Head Temple" plaque) and a notably popular Buddhist temple within Japan. It was founded by a senior disciple of Nichiren himself, which is also why offering a Shinto hanafuda to Soka Gakkai members there was deeply humiliating.
  TL;DR: Taisekiji Temple = Mecca for Nichiren's followers.
• The song Toda hums to himself in this episode is "Song of Comrades," which wasn't yet completed at the moment depicted there. Translation for it is largely based on this. The background is there as well.
• "Society's female division leader" - not sure if I need to explain this, but yes, Soka Gakkai divides its members into gender and age groups.
• Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Just like Toda said, from the outside, Nichiren Buddhism boils down to this - you meditate while chanting this monotonously. Literally means "Glory to the Lotus Sutra." Basically, it's just an ordinary chanting rhythm, substitutable by any other (although this video has another opinion), but this one helps you to not forget what you're here for while meditating.
• "Degenerate Age of Dharma" - there exists three ages of Buddhism - Age of the Right Dharma (500 years after Buddha's death), Age of Semblance Dharma (another 500), Degenerate Age of Dharma (10000 years) (you are here, unsurprisingly). More on that in the wiki.
• Shakyamuni = Siddhārtha Gautama, the original Buddha. Sakyamuni is what he was called in China and Japan. Yes, there can never be too many names for Buddha.
• Tathagata = basically, "The Ascended One" - a generic suffix for confirmed Buddhas. As always, more in wiki. - Please nevermind this part as well, I decided to make both just "Buddha" because fuck it, namaste 🙏.
• "Various Buddhas of ten directions and three times" - basically, just a picturesque quote from a sutra, a fancy way to say "there are Buddhas everywhere and in all times, all around us." Specifically, the ten directions are the eight directions of the compass—north, south, east, west, northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest, plus up and down. Three times are past, present, and future.
• Bodhisattvas of the Earth - this one is surprisingly relatively simple and doesn't mean "Buddha/Nichiren": a being who has developed a spontaneous wish and a compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. The "earth" part probably means that they come from the laymen, not some ascended entities.
• Here's the beautiful song from the end of this episode, based on a poem by Daisaku Ikeda. My translation for it is also largely based on the one in this video because it's good.
  
  
  
  
  
• Finally, as some of you may know, a certain Yamamoto Shinichi who only appears in the last 5 minutes of this episode is none other than... an open self-insert of Daisaku Ikeda himself! The man of enormous magnitude and wisdom, and the one behind the very book "The Human Revolution" this anime is based upon. My acquaintance with Daisaku Ikeda happened several years ago. Back then, I knew nothing of his background - only the things he did for Japan and the world were my ultimate criteria, which by then have already earned Ikeda a huge deal of respect in my eyes.
  Then, last year, I watched this OVA and fell immediately in love with it, again, not yet having a clue Ikeda was behind this one as well. You could say things were always destined to turn out this way. I am proud like never before of having subbed even this one episode and my only regret is that I cannot erase my memory and re-experience "Ningen Kakumei" for the first time once again. This is truly a Futari no Lotte-tier prime material, standing proudly as yet another magnum opus of my subbing career. Futari no Lotte inculcated me with addiction to opera, Ningen Kakumei - with addiction to choral hymns.
  No words can convey just on how many levels this story has made me into a better person. I look forward to the day I can finally sink my teeth into it earnestly. But for now, farewell and Nam Myoho Rengo Kyo. 
• Before I forget, something unthinkable happened with this release (as if WOWmd acquiring the raws for us wasn't already unbelievable enough!) - Ms. Muzussawa agreed to let us leverage her enormous subbing experience, providing an extensive quality check for this OVA. Kudos! 
  Still, though this beautiful series could always use a bit more polishing - say, proper typesetting, additional QC, perhaps even an encoder? 

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