Ruri Rocks: Unlocking Character Insight Through Translating Everything

One of the things that sets Ruri no Houseki/Ruri Rocks apart from other series this season is the care and attention the translators have given the show like they did here, translating the little post-it notes on the map Imari is holding. The shot is only a couple of seconds long and you have to pause to actually be able to read them, but it shows so much about Imari’s character that might’ve otherwise stayed hidden:

Episode ten has Nagi unable to take the girls on an already scheduled expedition, so it’s up to Imari, her kouhai, to do so. Since it’s her first time doing this on her own and she’s anyway more comfortable doing archive research at the university than she is climbing mountains, she’s understandably nervous. We see this at the start of the expedition, when she’s a bit unsure which direction to take and has to be told by Ruri — who always has been a bit doubtful of her — to take charge. When they hit a dead end when they’re almost at the end of their journey, she takes out her map again to consult it and this is the first time we get a good look at it.

The way Imari has to frequently consult it during the journey already shows her inexperience compared to Nagi, who has to do so far less often, but this shot confirms it. Having to have reminders about trying to not make rocks fall when climbing slopes and warning people if they do, as well as to hydrate frequently are very Imari coded. Again, Nagi wouldn’t need this because this is all second nature to her. It shows Imari’s sense of responsibility that she made sure to include these reminders, just as her decision to not try for a detour after they hit this snag does. It would be easy to let herself by badgered by Ruri and Shoko to continue, but she knows her limits and responsibilities.

So often this sort of little background thing isn’t translated, especially when it isn’t directly relevant to the plot, so I’m always happy when translators do make the time and effort to do so. In this case what we got was a bit more insight into Imari’s characters, important even if the actual text translated didn’t really matter. You may have guessed what the post-its were about even if they’d stayed untranslated, but would you have even noticed them in that case, or would they’ve just remained background clutter?