# 恋する幹部になれるわよ?



## Riccardo91

Dear Japanese forum,

here I am again with my cartoon about yakuza who became idols from the other thread.

This time I'm in trouble with a song of our idol group. Its lyrics hint quite a lot to yakuza topics. Here they are:

あたしのために愛の懲役へいってらっしゃい
(Go to an imprisonment of love for me.)

早く行って来て愛の忠誠心を見せなよ
(Go there and come back quickly, and show me the loyalty of your love.)

キミの後はあたしの番? 
(After yours, will it be my turn?)

愛のツトメの果実はとても甘いよ~ 
(The fruits from love duties* are very sweet.)

恋する幹部になれるわよ?
(We'll be able to become executives who love?)

* ツトメ stands for the time spent in jail here, I guess.

My problem is with the last sentence. The original script has a question mark in it, but I have an English translation that takes it as an assertion ("You can become an executive in love"). And now I'm in doubt: can わよ be used for questions too?

Which one is the correct interpretation, in your opinion?

Thank you very much!


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## Flaminius

I'd say that question points after _-yo_, _-ga_,_ -kedo_ imply light hidden questions.  In this text, the question is probably, "You may be promoted in the mob and win my love (and won't you still go to gaol for me)?"

Having said that, I don't like this use of question points at all.  You might as well wait for analysis by someone less biased.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

"恋する幹部になれるわよ?"

I read it as:
あこがれのヤクザの幹部になれるかも？ (You're not entitled to promote, so there is a doubt.)
or
あこがれの（？）ヤクザの幹部になれるわよ。(I'm not sure whether you want to become the top of yakuza. That's the doubt.)
or
あこがれの（？）ヤクザの幹部になれるかも？(Both are doubtful.)

恋する＝恋い焦がれる＝あこがれの in this context, in my opinion.

However, the other interpretation is, of course, possible: _You may become the executive of yakuza and fall in love with me. (I'll be your girl. Or Will I be your girl?)_

This lyrics is figurative and has word plays. The wording is feminine and young-female-idols' one.
The intention is the word-play between a love song and a Yakuza's tradition to promote, in other words, going to prison for promotion.

恋する幹部 probably comes from 恋するフォーチュンクッキー (AKB48).
But I don't know its interpretation.


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## Riccardo91

So, I think everyone agrees that the sentence is a question. Now the problem is how to interpret it.

In my opinion, since the song is all about wordplays between yakuza and love, it's more likely that the last verse implies something about romantic love too.

If we take that なれる refers to both people (which I'm not sure about either), we could says that:
- The idol talks to his lover who is going to jail;
- She wonders if the same will happen to her too;
- She says that if their love will resist to prison it will become stronger (the fruits are very sweet);
- However, I think it's difficult to become a yakuza executive if you're in jail.

So, couldn't it be a way to ask if they will be able to reach both their targets (strengthening their love and making career in the yakuza)?

However, I wouldn't want to underrate the other interpratation. It it common to use 恋する to mean あこがれの or would it be a "poetic" use in this case?

Thank you!


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## SoLaTiDoberman

Riccardo91 said:


> - However, I think it's difficult to become a yakuza executive if you're in jail.



No. You're wrong about this.
The usual pattern is like this:
A yakuza boss murders a man.
A younger/lower-ranked yakuza surrenders himself and goes to jail instead of the boss.
And after, for example, 15 years, he comes back and becomes promoted.
This is the traditional way in the yakuza society.



Riccardo91 said:


> It it common to use 恋する to mean あこがれの or would it be a "poetic" use in this case?


No. it is not common.
If it means あこがれの, it would be a very special "poetic" use.

I now become doubtful of my interpretation of 恋する＝あこがれの.
It probably comes from a pun of 恋するフォーチュンクッキー（an AKB48's song).
It is definitely not あこがれのフォーチュンクッキー.
So 恋する幹部 should be an executive yakuza who is falling in love with the idol girl.


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## nrw nrw

'恋する乙女 (a girl in love)' is a very common phrase.
It sounds very romantic.
I guess '恋する幹部' is a pun of it.

"恋する幹部になれるわよ?"
You'll be able to become an executive in love. Why don't you (go to jail in order to get your promotion)?


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## Riccardo91

> No. You're wrong about this.


Thank you for pointing out this.
I think we can agree that なれる refers to the lover who's going to be imprisoned, now (it's difficult to be 100% sure, but it seems to work).



> You'll be able to become an executive in love. Why don't you (go to jail in order to get your promotion)?


So you think that the sentence is affirmative but implies a hidden question (to use Flaminius' words)?

In other words, should it be "You'll be able to become an executive in love! (So why don't you go to jail now?)" and not "Will you be able to become an executive in love?".

What do the others think?

Thank you very much to everyone. Dealing with songs is always difficult.


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## nrw nrw

Riccardo91 said:


> So you think that the sentence is affirmative but implies a hidden question (to use Flaminius' words)?
> 
> In other words, should it be "You'll be able to become an executive in love! (So why don't you go to jail now?)" and not "Will you be able to become an executive in love?".



Yes, I do.
Because '幹部になれる' takes '愛のツトメの果実はとても甘いよ'.
If that were a question, it would spoil a feeling of comedy.


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## Riccardo91

To be honest, I'm not perceiving a sense of comedy in this song...

Anyway, I trust your feeling of native speaker, so if no one else has some other reasonment to share I'll go with that interpretation.

Thank you!


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## Flaminius

There is no sense of comedy in the song itself.  It is in the fact that these mobsters/idols seriously thought they have written a love song.  Granted that they sprinkled a few terms of romantic love, the theme of the song is undoubtedly that of the mob loyalty.

Readers of this manga may also have a chance to savour the fret and worry of the manager figure who anticipates repercussions over his idols publicly praising the mob culture.  It is politically incorrect to mention them, let alone praising them, in the 21st century Japan.


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## nrw nrw

Flaminius said:


> There is no sense of comedy in the song itself. It is in the fact that these mobsters/idols seriously thought they have written a love song. Granted that they sprinkled a few terms of romantic love, the theme of the song is undoubtedly that of the mob loyalty.



Yes, I agree with you. Its theme is the loyalty.
But I mentioned the intention of the author in real life, not those characters in fiction.
I guess the author wrote it in order to make us laugh.


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## Riccardo91

Sorry, I didn't understand you were talking the author. Thank you for your additional explanation!


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