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kiseki

English translation: a play/pun on words between 軌跡 and 奇蹟

16:39 Jun 8, 2005
Japanese to English translations [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Japanese term or phrase: kiseki
The term is from the book title CLAMP no kiseki. That is the romanji given by the U.S. publisher for what looks to me like hiragana characters on the cover.
Corina
English translation:a play/pun on words between 軌跡 and 奇蹟
Explanation:
I totally agree with the other answers who list several possible meanings for 'kiseki', but considering the context I would quite strongly assume that it's a play on words between 奇蹟 (miracle) and 軌跡 (trace, path).

here's why:
- (as others have pointed out) it refers to a collection of works produced over 15 years by a group of female manga artists (who call themselves CLAMP), so the connotation of (historical) path seems right
- it probably also is a clin d'oeuil to the line one of the characters in their 「カードキャプターさくら(Cardcaptor Sakura)」says to herself all the time: きっとだいじょうぶ、きせきだっておこせる (everything is sure to be okay, I can even make miracles happen)」- this line apparently figures in the theme song as well and I've heard schoolgirls singing it
- also if we remember the fact that main audience of CLAMP comics are youngsters and school kids, then, although for instance, 貴石 (precious gems) or even 鬼籍 (devil's register - reference to death) might spring to the mind of us grown-ups, it is unlikely that this particular title here makes an allusion to these slightly more sophiesticated understandings.

hence my guess - hope this helps and clarifies the idea...

one last note - I think in fact there is not one right answer to this and all of the answers here (I think, myself included) are giving their best guess... and that's probably precisely the point of using hirakana rather than kanji, to give it a touch of playfulness of this kind.
Selected response from:

tappi_k
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:45
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3a play/pun on words between 軌跡 and 奇蹟
tappi_k
5 +1軌跡
Yoshimine
4 +1軌跡, 貴石,　帰籍
humbird
5this is a play on words/double entendre
aira07
4miracle
Kurt Hammond


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
miracle


Explanation:
Kanji would be 奇跡

So, Miracle of CLAMP? What is CLAMP? A character in the book?


Kurt Hammond
United States
Local time: 12:45
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 47

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Will Matter: I thought so too, originally, and almost posted the same answer but it looks like it's something else. Nice try, though.
3 days 21 hrs
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38 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
軌跡, 貴石,　帰籍


Explanation:
Kurt's answer could be the one. On the other hand there are few others which fall into this katakana expession. They are in my answer. 軌跡 means "track",貴石is "precious stones", 帰籍 means "return to original registration". Last one could be a bit difficult if you don't know Japanese "Koseki (family registration)" system.
Of all answers given (including Kurt's), which is more likely depends on what CLAMP means.

Just a thought of two.

humbird
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 40

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Can Altinbay: CLAMPノキセキis a series of 12 books celebrating and reprinting 15 years of publication of 漫画 by the CLAMP collective. I think there is a pun on 奇跡, too, but the more direct meaning would be 軌跡,so humbirdさんに軍配を上げます。
27 mins
  -> Can-san, arigatou gozaimasu.
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
this is a play on words/double entendre


Explanation:
This is a play on words. The biggest hint is that it is written in KATAKANA and not in kanji.

"Kiseki" can mean a number of different things depending on what kanji is used to write it. Here are some (not all) of the words/meanings that they probably wanted to convey to their readers:

奇跡 - miracle
軌跡 - track marks
輝石 - a precious gem

The Japanese LOVE double (or triple, or quadruple) entendres as they present ambiguity.

Hope that helps!

aira07
Local time: 12:45
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Can Altinbay: Maybe you missed by comment to humbird's suggestion.
1 hr
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56 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
軌跡


Explanation:
軌跡means a path or history. CLAMP is the name of SYOJO MANGA animators. I believe that five or six young female animators collaborated to produce a manga 15 years ago and they named themselves CLAMP. Since then, they have changed the members several times, but they have kept the name. The book that the asker refers to is the CLAMP’s collections from their 15-year-HISTROY, PATH or works.

I hope it helps you.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 59 mins (2005-06-08 17:38:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Here is the CLAMP¥'s official Website below.

http://www.clamp-net.com/

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs 25 mins (2005-06-08 20:04:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Thanks for note, aira07 san. I, then, correct my answer above refering to people who draw or create manga from ¥"animators¥" to ¥"manga artists.¥"


    Reference: http://shop.kodansha.jp/bc/comics/clamp_kiseki/
Yoshimine
Local time: 04:45
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Can Altinbay: Yes, tracing their path. I guess it would be fair to register an "agree" with you, too.
11 mins
  -> Thanks.
neutral  aira07: note: manga artists. manga is a comic, not animation. yes, the distinction between an artist and animators exists in every country that I know of =)
1 hr
  -> Thanks for note. I thought animators generally included manga artists, especially in the United States. Do people distinguish animators and manga artists in the United States as we do in Japan?
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
a play/pun on words between 軌跡 and 奇蹟


Explanation:
I totally agree with the other answers who list several possible meanings for 'kiseki', but considering the context I would quite strongly assume that it's a play on words between 奇蹟 (miracle) and 軌跡 (trace, path).

here's why:
- (as others have pointed out) it refers to a collection of works produced over 15 years by a group of female manga artists (who call themselves CLAMP), so the connotation of (historical) path seems right
- it probably also is a clin d'oeuil to the line one of the characters in their 「カードキャプターさくら(Cardcaptor Sakura)」says to herself all the time: きっとだいじょうぶ、きせきだっておこせる (everything is sure to be okay, I can even make miracles happen)」- this line apparently figures in the theme song as well and I've heard schoolgirls singing it
- also if we remember the fact that main audience of CLAMP comics are youngsters and school kids, then, although for instance, 貴石 (precious gems) or even 鬼籍 (devil's register - reference to death) might spring to the mind of us grown-ups, it is unlikely that this particular title here makes an allusion to these slightly more sophiesticated understandings.

hence my guess - hope this helps and clarifies the idea...

one last note - I think in fact there is not one right answer to this and all of the answers here (I think, myself included) are giving their best guess... and that's probably precisely the point of using hirakana rather than kanji, to give it a touch of playfulness of this kind.

tappi_k
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:45
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Yoshimine: Good point. CLAMPの奇跡 sounds weird to me. But why not. As you said, "YOU" can make miracles happen in manga.
3 hrs
  -> yes, the idea probably is that their achievemnt is so good that it's miraculous (at least for the fans), or something of that sort...
neutral  Can Altinbay: Maybe you missed by comment to humbird's suggestion, and to aira07's.
4 hrs
  -> thanks for your comment
agree  zenlee: agree, but does 輝石 fit in? (answer from aira07)
7 hrs
  -> in fact, 輝石 doesn't mean precious stone as cited in aira07's answer (precious gem is 貴石) but it refers to pyroxenes, which are some kind of rock-forming silicates (sorry i'm not the greatest mineralogist ever), so maybe not suitable here...
neutral  aira07: The main audience of CLAMP is not children in Japan (they are for young adults ex. Tokyo Babylon, X, Chobits), though it may be in the US. Also, "kiseki" is written in katakana, not hiragana, in the book title.
17 hrs
  -> my point being, the title plays with the phonetics of the word kiseki rather than a fixed meaning by not being writen in kanji. i worte hiragawa following the asker's mention but the same thing can still be said for katakana.
agree  Minoru Kuwahara: a lot of discussion going on here! i'm not familiar with this title, but as a japanese speaker, i guess it's not just translating words into another language. what matters seems to be rather cultural context. why not 奇蹟 or 軌跡? who knows? -
1 day 3 hrs
  -> yes, after all things like titles of books are production of creative thinking so it's not surprising we can't get to a simple and quick translation easily... cultral context, yes, plus imagination perhaps and we might be able to get somewhere close...
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