Artist's commentary
Blushing Maki-chan
2015/8/23 14:43 Photoshop, CLIP STUDIO PAINT
Maki-chan's cute KA-KI-KU-KE-KO!
For this picture, I referenced the scene in the Ponytail to Shushu music video with TomoTomo.
Translation Notes
"Maki-chan's cute KA-KI-KU-KE-KO" (真姫ちゃんかわいいかきくけこ) is a meme.
The origin of this phrase starts with the live drama "Lesson Start!" (レッスン開始). In one part, Maki tells Hanayo that she sings too softly and offers to help her with some voice training. The voice training consists of Maki saying phrases quickly and Hanayo repeating after her.
The lines are a take on Gojuuon no Uta (五十音の歌, Japanese Alphabet Song), a poem by Kitahara Hakushuu (北原白秋). It is often used to practice pronunciation.
真姫「あめんぼ赤いなあいうえお」
花陽「あめんぼ赤いなあいうえお」
真姫「感激しちゃうなかきくけこ」
花陽「感激しちゃうなかきくけこ」
真姫「真姫ちゃんすごいなさしすせそ」
花陽「真姫ちゃんすごいなさしすせそ」
真姫「真姫ちゃんとびきりたちつてと」
花陽「真姫ちゃんとびきりたちつてと」
真姫「真姫ちゃん人気が」
絵里「はいはいストップストップストーップ！」
Maki「A pond skater's afloat A-I-U-E-O」 (Lit. A pond skater's red)
Hanayo「A pond skater's afloat A-I-U-E-O」
Maki「感激しちゃうな KA-KI-KU-KE-KO」 (Lit. I'm so moved)
Hanayo「感激しちゃうな KA-KI-KU-KE-KO」
Maki「Maki-chan's super SA-SHI-SU-SE-SO」
Hanayo「Maki-chan's super SA-SHI-SU-SE-SO」
Maki「Maki-chan's tops TA-CHI-TSU-TE-TO」
Hanayo「Maki-chan's tops TA-CHI-TSU-TE-TO」
Maki「Maki-chan's known everywhere-」(Lit. Maki-chan's popular)
Eri「All right! Stop, stop, sto~p!」
As you can see above, the phrase "Maki-chan kawaii KA-KI-KU-KE-KO!" does not actually appear in the drama. However, it was an obvious derivative that fans began using.
As the Pixipedia entry [1] notes, fans originally exposed to the anime may be surprised that Maki's personality was originally more narcissistic.
Links:
- NicoNico video of レッスン開始. The scene starts at 4:07 and the voice training begins at 5:10.
- A fan-made music video of the scene - NicoNico, YouTube
- [1] Pixipedia entry 真姫ちゃんかわいいかきくけこ.
TomoTomo refers to AKB48 members Kasai Tomomi and Itano Tomomi. The TomoTomo scenes minyon is referring to are likely at 3:31 and 5:57