Welcome to the Translators Notes

By Episode:
1
Seat numbering is by alphabetization, not rank.  Karen’s last name, Aijou, places her in front.
Da yo following non non simply emphasizes non non.
Kuro-chan refers to Claudine.  The first two syllables of Claudine’s name, pronounced in Japanese, are Kuro (Kurodiinu).
“Eh” will not be subbed.  Eh means eh I promise.
“-han” is a name attachment from Kyoto dialect that maps to san.
The Royal Academy of Theatrical Actors parallels a real school, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.  They have the same name in japanese but not in english.
Dumkaren is a lame attempt at making Bakaren make sense.  Bakaren is a portmanteau of Baka (idiot) and Karen (idiot), which works in Japanese, but not so much in english.
The Giraffe’s catchphrase, Wakarimasu, does not translate cleanly to “I understand,” but it is the closest we can get.  Wakarimasu alone has no subject and so it is possible that it means I understand, you understand, we understand, etc.  This makes it a lot more vague.
4
Kaoruko’s noble upbringing means she’s most likely used to tatami flooring.
5
This is potato
6
Bit of explanation for the title, Futari no Hanamichi.  Futari refers to this episode’s focus pair, Kaoruko and Futaba.  Hanamichi, 花道, literally comprises the characters for flower and road.  It can refer to a path to a stage, or a spotlight for someone. Here it’s also represented literally with a path lined/made of flowers, such as the pink path Kaoruko was flying over as she dunked Futaba.
Futaba’s ‘symbol’ is a Daruma.
Goro is onomatopoeia for rolling.
7
Futaba’s starlight line as the curse character, jyubaku, sounds like jibaku, which would mean self detonation (hence the meme).
I also like high places
-Fly
12
Nekojita: Cat’s tongue, sensitive to hot things.
“Hoshitsumi” is another vague phrase used in Revue Starlight.  Tsumi can mean crime/sin, but it can also be the conjugated form of the verb Tsumu, to pile up or to acquire.  Thus, if you looked at the the english book, it referred to the tower as The Tower of Starlight Gathering.  However, in the revue’s title, the character for sin is explicitly used, so I went with Revue of Astral Sin instead.  The later one uses the character for the pile up/acquire version.


By Character (mostly a breakdown of their names):
Aijou Karen 愛城 華恋.  Aijou -> Love + Castle, Karen -> Flower + Love.  This is not the same ‘karen’ that she uses during her stage introductions, that one is 可憐, which means sweet/lovely or pitiable.  Karen has both of the characters for love in her name, which come together to form the word for romance, 恋愛 (renai).
Also Karen is Fly's spirit animal.

Saijou Claudine 西條クロディーヌ.  Saijou -> West + Article/Classifier for long or thin objects or animals.  Claudine is just Claudine.  The second kanji in Claudine’s name is not normally used in Japanese, but is normal in Chinese.  The name Saijou essentially refers to her being something from the west.

Isurugi Futaba 石動 双葉.  Isurugi -> Rock + Move.  Futaba -> Twin + Leaf.  Isurugi is a pretty strong sounding name.  The ‘twin/pair’ part (futa) likely refers to the whole futaba-kaoruko dynamic, whereas leaf ties into the flower theme.

Kagura Hikari 神楽 ひかり.  Kagura -> Compound word referring to Ancient Shinto music and dance.  Hikari is written in kana (basically the alphabet), and means light.

Hoshimi Junna 星見 純那.  Hoshimi -> Star + Look.  Junna -> Purity + Beauty.  The second character in Junna’s name is most commonly used in naming things, and is a common word in Chinese.  It isn’t used much alone in Japanese, but is part of some compound words like (setsuna, instant | danna, husband/master of the house).

Hanayagi Kaoruko 花柳 香子.  Hanayagi -> Name of real dance style.  Kaoruko -> Aroma + Child.  I was surprised to find out as well.  Apparently Hanayagi Ryuu is the school of traditional japanese dance with the most followers.

Tsuyuzaki Mahiru 露崎 まひる.  Tsuyuzaki -> Dew + Cape (The geographical feature).  Mahiru -> Written in alphabet, so it’s vague.  However, “Mahiru” was a theme in her revue and the one referred to there was 真昼, or midday/broad daylight.

Tendou Maya 天堂 真矢.  Tendou -> Sky + Hall.  Maya -> Reality + Arrow.  The Ten in Tendou, beyond referring to the sky, also refers to the heavens. I don’t know what other meaning there is to squeeze out of her name.  I suspect Maya was designed to sound western.

Daiba Nana 大場 なな Daiba -> Big + Place/Scene.  Nana is just Nana as far as I can tell.  This name is 100% just a meme.  Normally when you say Banana in Japanese, the accent is on the first syllable, Ba.  This stands in contrast to banana in english, where the accent is placed on the second syllable.  When you say her name, however, the accent ends up where it would in english, and sounds like Banana being said in english.  Even better, having ‘dai’ in front of it makes it big, so her name is basically Big Banana.