“Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun” is a new Japanese Anime show, and its original title is “魔入りました! 入間くん (Mairimashita! Iruma-kun)”. Did you notice there are 2 funny kanji jokes in it?
Japanese Kanji Joke 1: 魔入りました(Mairimashita)
The Japanese phrase “Mairimashita” has 2 meanings and both of them written this way “参りました”.
- came (It’s a very polite way to say “came”)
- surrendered (defeated and impressed by someone)
The pink hair guy, Azz, uses both a lot in front of Iruma. When you see the subtitle says “I’ve slain.”, that means #2 above.
However, in the title Mairimashita is spelled “魔入りました”. There is no such a Japanese phrase, but it makes sense if you understand the meanings of those kanji.
The unfortunate human boy Iruma got sold by his parents to a demon. The demon adopted him as his step ground son, and Iruma joined a school in the demon world. That’s the basic story.
魔 means “magical”. 入 means “enter”.
Now I should show you the examples of Japanese words with 魔.
- 悪魔 (akuma) : Devil, Demon
- 魔界 (makai) : Demon World
- 魔法 (mahou) : Magic
- 魔力 (maryoku) : Magic Power
- 魔王 (maou) : King of Devils, King of Demon World
So, we can imagine that “魔入りました” wants to express “(Iruma) came into the magical demon world.”
Japanese Kanji Joke 2: 入間(Iruma) is a Human
The second one is easy. Iruma (入間) is a human (人間).
Oh? …Yes, 入間 is 人間. Both words look alike, don’t they? This is on purpose of course! Those 2 kanji 入(enter) and 人 (person) look similar.
Computer font gave a little nick on the top part of 入. But that is not the difference. I’ll write both quickly to show you the idea.
Get it? I know…they are ridiculously close.
人間 means human. 入間(Iruma) is a human! It’s obvious for the people who know Japanese kanji, but no devils notice that. lol
Today’s Kanji Shirt is “Invincible”! Iruma is always survive somehow miraculously.
If you want to know the meanings of any Japanese kanji that you don’t see English subs for in a particular animation or live action movie, tell me “Name of the Show”, “Season and Episode #” and “the Exact Moment (Minute: Second) if it’s available”!
If it’s just Japanese kanji that you see around you, like a shop sign or a tattoo, you can send me the photo as long as you are allowed to take picture of it.
I can’t promise to reply to everyone but I’ll try my best!
Email to: info@kansaichick.com
