84341
I have the first time of No game No life in Japanese. However, there are some
things that puzzled me quite a bit about the punctuation. As you can see in
the photo, I don't understand the reason why some words are in square brackets
(which I have circled in yellow). Also, I don't really see the usefulness of
the black dots that are to the right of kanji and kana (indicated by a red
arrow).[![No game No life, page 11,
prologue](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tchzS.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tchzS.jpg)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-24T18:54:30.103
84334
2021-02-25T02:39:33.830
2021-02-24T19:17:03.753
30454
41867
question
syntax punctuation emphasis
Questions about punctuation in a light novel
Both methods are for emphasizing something, but they are used a little
differently.

Brackets are used to emphasize important keywords and words with non-standard
meanings. Their role partly overlaps [scare
quotes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scare_quotes) in English, but Japanese
people tend to use them extensively just for highlighting words ([example
1](https://twitter.com/ozantinnippon/status/554800778188042240), [example
2](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/29341/5010)). In light novels, you'll
notice magic spells and skill names are commonly enclosed in them, too.
Various types of brackets are used according to the writer's preference (eg
`「」`, `『』`, `【】`, `《》`), and there is usually no significant difference.
They're used really often, so you'll get used to them soon. In this case, the
words 願望/噂 _may or may not_ have some special meaning in the story. You'll see
as you read on and understand his writing style.

On the other hand, those dots are technically called
[[圏点]{けんてん}](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/15270/5010), and they mark
something important in the story. Their role is pretty much the same as
italics or bolding (or sometimes all-caps) in English. Sometimes it works as a
foreshadowing, so you may want to read and think twice. Less commonly, they
are also used to highlight an uncommon kana word (e.g. dialect) to reduce
misreading.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-24T23:30:36.823
84341
2021-02-25T02:39:33.830
2021-02-25T02:39:33.830
5010
5010
84334
answer