Season 4 Begins With A Japanese Speaking Dog & Some Gakuran

I was having some trouble figuring out how to tie some loose ends and get the next chapters out there, but then I just decided to do it and tie up those loose ends later (i.e. sometime this week). I’ve gone ahead and started Season 4 (because it always feels so good to start a new season… so fresh and tasty), and decided it was time to re-start that wonky story you’re using on TextFugu to learn about conversation in Japanese. In that story, two new characters have been introduced. They have no idea they are in this story (someone should let them know, maybe), but I’m sure they won’t mind (and if they do mind, I’ll have to change their names to Baggie and Makuranman). I also thought this was a good way to introduce TextFugu readers to interesting blogs relating to Japan / Japanese, as well. Here’s a description, taken word for word from Season 4′s first lesson: “Run On Sentences, Part 1.” (You’ll have to be logged in and a member to access this page).

ガクランマン

The “Gakuranman” is a crime-fighting millionaire from Britain who follows and solves strange crimes around the world. Despite his riches, he’s found that the excitement of solving crime far outweighs the dangers of motorbiking in the Alps or financing a seat for himself on a Russian space rocket. Of course, nobody knows his real name (that would mean the end of him and his estate!), so he goes by the secret identity “Gakuranman.” A gakuran is a school boy’s uniform in Japan (fitting, since he’s in Japan right now, solving Mary’s murder), and “man” just means “man,” like Superman. Despite what you may think, the moment he puts on his gakuran, nobody is able to recognize him. What a tricky fellow this mysterious guy is. Oh, he also has a Japan-related blog, here.

マッギーちゃん

Maggie is a dog that has developed the ability to speak (through hard work and much practice). Although unbeknown to all of you, she was also at the crime scene and saw exactly what happened. In her spare time, she likes to teach children English, write about the Japanese language, and do the things that dogs tend to do best. Even though she can talk, she tends to keep to herself and not speak unless absolutely necessary (or if you give her a bone or treat).

So, go ahead and find out how they meet, and look forward to part 2 coming out in the next few days, I believe.

Those Loose Ends

So, there are some loose ends, from when I randomly decided to end Season 3 and start Season 4 (well, not that random, I actually think it was a good place to transition). Things I want to do anyways, though:

• Catch kanji up to the most current lesson (and hopefully get ahead of the lessons).
• Write a better ending to Season 3 (and two, for that matter).
• Go through and do revisions on Season 2 to get it up to snuff with Seasons 1 & 3.
• Do some layout & consistency revisions on Season 3 (on the lessons that were written before the format changes).
• Get some worksheets for a few worksheetless chapters that need them still.
• Catch up on bounties (sorry!)
• Figure out some neat things for forum-people to do to keep it interesting every day.

That should do it. I’m off to eat dinner now, I think!