Saturday, September 29, 2018

verbs - Meaning of 欲ばっから and help with the following sentence


Context: Riku, the protagonist boxer of this manga, is fighting against an evasive opponent that is really good at dodging punches and who always tries to win on points rather than KOs. Riku tries to punch him without success, while his opponent manage to hit him with punches that are not so powerful but let him gain points. Riku's trainer tells him:




欲ばっからつけいられるんだよ!!狙うのはもっと…一番小っせーのだ。最小のカウンタに力を集約させろ!



What is the meaning of 欲ばっから? Is it 欲【よく】ばる+から? Or has it something to do with ばっかり? In any case, could you please explain the word formation?


Another thing I don't understand is the させろ at the end. Why wasn't しろ used instead? Is he ordering Riku to do something or to make to opponent do something? Anyway, here's my translation attempt:



He is taking advantage of your greed!! You should focus on the least powerful punch. Concentrate your strength against the least powerful counterpunch!



Here you can see the whole page and the one after it for more context. Thank you for your help!



Answer





  • Yes, this 欲ばっから is 欲張るから ("because you're greedy"). In this context, this 欲張る refers to Riku's attitude of throwing too many ineffective punches whenever possible. What's going on here is that Riku's careless attacks are giving the opponent many chances to counterattack. What the second is saying at this point is that Riku should be more careful and wait for a good chance for 最小のカウンター.

  • 最小のカウンター is a bit confusing, but seems to mean "a (small) counter-punch thrown right after his smallest punch" here. Riku should not wait for a "big chance" because the opponent is very good at defending. Instead, he should find a way to counterattack after the opponent's small jabs.

  • 集約する can be used both intransitively and transitively. In this causative sentence, it's used as an intransitive verb, and 力 is the "causee". 最小のカウンターに力を集約させろ literally means "make your power gather to 最小のカウンター", which simply means "Focus on 最小のカウンター!". See also this question: Causative, causative-passive and particles. After this advise, Riku starts to observe the opponent more carefully and try to find a small chance of counterattack.


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