25191
I'm reading the manga "Fruits Basket". On page 89 of the first volume, Shigure
informs Yuki during supper that Kyo will start going to the same high school
as himself and Tohru. Yuki responds with fury. He stands up, the background of
the frame becomes stormy, and he lashes out at Shigure: "食べるな。近寄るな。出て行け…っ".

Above his head appears the description: **絶対零度の怒り**

I looked for this phrase in Google and it seems to be relatively common. That
is, not an invention of this particular mangaka. But of course I couldn't find
a proper definition/explanation in any of the common dictionaries.

Now, of course this is a description of his anger, but I'm not sure whether it
refers to the _type_ of fury or the _degree_ of fury. That is, does it mean
"absolute, extreme anger" or indicates a specific anger that is not the usual
kind of anger?

If it refers to the degree of anger, does this mean that in Japanese culture
anger is perceived as cold? In my own native language as well as English, I
think anger and fury are usually perceived as "hot" except particular types
("burning rage" vs. "cold fury"), so I'm interested to know if there is a
cultural difference here.
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2015-06-20T08:15:30.190
25175
2015-06-21T05:43:43.073
7446
question
meaning culture manga
What is the meaning of 絶対零度の怒り?
In general, fury is usually associated with fire/flame in Japanese, too. There
are many figurative set phrases like "怒りの炎", "怒りに燃え上がる", or "怒りで爆発する", and so
on.

Now, 絶対零度の怒り is _not_ an established idiom, and I think its interpretation
should depend on the context. This phrase would at least mean 'extreme/strong
anger' because it sounds stronger than simple 冷たい怒り. It may also mean 'cold
fury' at the same time, but this could be optional.

It seems that Yuki is normally a calm and collected person, and the author
probably wanted to express some kind of "coolness" in his anger, even though
Yuki was not trying to his anger this time.

Anyway, this is not the phrase you have to memorize, and I think you have
already "felt" the vibe of 絶対零度の怒り already reasonably.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-21T05:43:43.073
25191
2015-06-21T05:43:43.073
5010
25175
answer