Please note that reading these notes may spoil certain details of the musical for you.
1hr 9 min 2 sec - 1hr 9 min 20 sec
Tonkotsu ramen – a rich pork belly and bone broth soup with Chinese noodle
Nitamago – boiled egg, peeled and marinated in soy sauce. A common addition to ramen.
The adlib done by the Conductor and Humpty Dumpty is a rather odd joke. A fuller explanation is here https://twitter.com/takashionary/status/1489471604380028932 which has a number of examples.
"~だけに "because ~, you know?" Used when you make a (cheesy) pun. Usually used in inverted word order and put at the end of a sentence/remark.
このスープあっさりしてるね、アサリだけに
This soup tastes "assari" (light), because it's "asari" (clam) soup, you know? "
1hr 9 min 27 sec
The conductor is playing a children’s game called ‘Bodhidharma tripped and fell’ that is similar to the children games Statues or Red Light Green Light.
Daruma is the Japanese name for Bodhidharma. Also it’s the name for a round, red good luck doll of Bodhidharma.
1hr 16 min 54 sec
Episode 15 of Neon Genesis Evangelion is the origin of the word 'transistasis'. Akagi Ritsuko says it at the bar scene with Misato and Kaji.
1 hr 20 min 48 sec
The Dormouse is making a pun based off of ‘Yamane’ or 山鼠 which is the Japanese dormouse species. It happens to share a name with a character from Chibi-Maruko-chan.
Chibi-Maruko-chan is a shoujo manga series depicting the simple, everyday life of Momoko Sakura, nicknamed Maruko, and her family in suburban Japan in 1974. The series is long running and has spawned numerous games, films and merchandise. It has 2 TV series, one that ran from 1990 to 1992 and another running from 1997 to present.
Yamane is Maruko's classmate. He's a boy with a weak stomach that acts up whenever he feels any sort of stress. His father is a hotblooded man who puts him through harsh training to toughen him up, however all this does is make him more miserable.
1 hr 22 min 19 sec
Taisuu makes a reference to Neptuneman, a character in the superhuman wrestling comic 'Kinnikuman', in response to Nanao’s comment on being a ‘superman’. Originally a villain, he is the leader of the Perfect Choujins (supermen). His appearance and mannerisms are based on Hulk Hogan. Naturally, he stops being a villain after being defeated by the main character, Kinnikuman.
The manga series 'Kinnikuman' is a beloved 1980s manga and has a 2010s revival too. It's anime series is also extremely popular. The story revolves around Kinnikuman, a comical wrestling superhero who discovers he is the missing prince of the planet Kinniku. To prove himself worthy of the throne he must do battle in wrestling competitions and defeat evil Chojin.
1 hr 24 min 10 sec
Choro-Q is a line of pullback cars, known also as Penny Racers. They're small stylized toy cars with a pullback motor that makes them move. For the coil spring pullback motor to work you need to wind them by pulling them backward, then release them.
1 hr 25 min 4 sec
Japan Coma Scale (JCS) is being used rather than the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). It is used widely in Japan and, with its four grades, is simpler and quicker to use than the GCS.
https://www.nurse.fc2-rentalserver.com/isiki.html
https://cdn-links.lww.com/permalink/wnl/a/wnl_2018_01_26_iihara_1_sdc1.pdf
In the musical they state level 200 which represents that: "That patient cannot be aroused by any forceful mechanical stimuli and responds with slight movements, including decerebrate and decorticate posture."
1hr 28 min 29 sec
The Companion uses an interesting word 流転 = ruten. It has 2 meanings. 1 meaning that change is unavoidable and continuous. Another as a Buddhist word that represents the repetitive cycle of life and death, the transmigration or voyage of the soul through the six paths or realms of rebirth and four forms of birth
1 hr 29 min 50 sec
Shuu is using 'tatami' mats to describe the size of the apartment he lives in with his older brother. A single tatami mat is 3 feet by 6 feet in size. Therefore 6 of these mats would mean the apartment is 18 ft by 36 ft. However, if residing in a populous city like Tokyo, the tatami mats are slightly smaller. In any case, this is an indication of how small and poor the apartment must be for the two brothers.
1 hr 30 min 1 sec
Nayuta is making a Dragon Quest reference. ‘Hagure Metaru’ (Stray Metal in Japan) is a monster who appears in the Dragon Quest series. It is a monster with low HP but high evade, immune to most magic and extremely prone to flight but defeating it yields a large amount of experience points.
1 hr 30 mins 7 sec
Shuu says Sakura saku = Cheery blossoms will bloom. This is Japanese euphemism for passing the university entrance exam. The opposite, to fail the entrance exam, is Sakura chiru = Cherry blossoms fall.
1 hr 30 min 23 sec
Kazuha asks Shuu about his ‘suberi dome’ Literally non-skid/anti-slip but is a euphemism for someone’s back-up option or contingency option regarding university enrollment. 'Suberi' is also another euphemism for failing the entrance exam.
1 hr 30 min 34 sec
Nayuta notes that Shuu will be their ‘kouhai’ or ‘junior’ as he enters university 1 year later from them. In Japanese hierarchy, it means he is to defer to Nayuta and Kazuha in respect. Thus setting up the next joke from Kazuha…
1 hr 30 min 38 sec
Cram schools or rather more specifically 'yobikou' are privately-run schools marketed to students who are taking university examinations held each year in Japan. Students attending these schools generally graduated from high school but failed the entrance exam of their university of choice.
Shuu failed his exams, thus must retake the entrance exam to join Nayuta and Kazuha at their university.
Yobikou are similar to juku, another type of cram school but aimed at younger students not yet out of high school.
1 hr 30 min 58 sec
Kazuha is making a joke as a result of the upcoming sempai/kouhai relationship between her and Shuuji. It is also referencing dialogue from the anime movie 'Akira'. Where the psychic Tetsuo and laser gun wielding Kaneda confront each other in battle,
“That’s Mister Kaneda to you, punk!” = さんをつけろよデコ助野郎
1 hr 33 min 3 sec
Kazuha uses ‘circle’ to refer to the Theatre Club. There is a difference in Japanese University between ‘Clubs’ and ‘Circles’. Clubs are financially backed by universities and often times much more serious, while ‘circles’ don’t get aid from the universities, have wider variety of activities and concentrate more on fun and friendship.
1hr 54 min 55 sec
Jonathan's is another Japanese family restaurant that mostly operates in Tokyo and the surrounding areas. In general, family restaurants are extremely popular with students due to cheapness. Though noted as being a Western-style diner, you can't actually make to order your preferred style of eggs as scrambled, easy over, etc as it is actually a family restaurant.
https://www.skylark.co.jp/en/jonathan/
[Act 2, scene 7 The Milky Way (alt trans: Galaxy) in the 2nd train car of the Fuchiyama Line.]
2 hrs 12 min 2 sec
The title is a reference to the Amagasaki Derailment which occurred on April 25, 2005 Monday.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amagasaki_derailment
Over 700 passengers estimated were aboard the train at the time the accident. 106 passengers, in addition to the driver, were killed and 562 others injured.
This was the most serious train accident in Japan since 1963.
The speed of the train, the sudden braking, and the curve of the rail caused the first car to jump the tracks and crash into an apartment building. The 2nd car also jumped the rails and was thrown into the corner of the building.
For an English report of the accident
https://www.mlit.go.jp/jtsb/eng-rail_report/RA2007-3-1en.pdf
I would like readers to bear particular attention to page 110 of the report. The second car had about 132 passengers, 57 died and 75 injured.
From personal reading of the accident, the last two survivors were rescued on Tuesday, about 22 hours after the accident. Newspaper articles named one of them as a college student Hiroki Hayashi who had been pinned down by metal and bodies. Remarkably, he was conscious the entire time though in severe pain from having his leg pinned during those 22 hours. There is no mention in the newspapers of who the other survivor was or when they were freed.
The musical is naturally different in the details of the real accident.
2hr 19 min 28 sec
The credits for the musical appears to have a very unusual error for the role of Komoto Kanata. I had put in Attending Physician as per the script but in reality, the DVD has her listed as '三十三間堂飛鳥' = Sanjuusan Gendo Hichou which means 33 Span Hall Flying Bird. Either this is a genuine mistake or some sort of in joke. Her role according to the script is '主治医' = Shuuji which means Attending Physician.