Kanji - Level 21 - Kanji

Question 1

責

Answer 1

Blame
Radicals: 生 life + 貝 shellfish
The life of a shellfish is filled with blame. They take the blame for everything from food poisoning and allergies, to cutting people’s feet on beaches.
Reading: せき
When those poor shellfish aren’t having blame piled on them, they’re being eaten, because shellfish are thought to make for a very sexy (せき) meal.

Question 2

建

Answer 2

Build
Radicals: 廴 yoga + 聿 brush
Your magic yoga brush lets you build what’s in your mind’s eye.
Reading: けん
You build a bridge. Immediately after, someone is climbing up onto it. It’s Ken (けん) the samurai. He waves at you and says, “Did you build this? The craftsmanship is amazing.”

Question 3

条

Answer 3

Clause
Radicals: 夂 winter + 木 tree
A winter tree is only a winter tree due to a clause in its tree contract.
Reading: じょう
This clause was written into all trees’ contracts by Jourm (じょう), the large farmhand.

Question 4

済

Answer 4

Come to an end
Radicals: 氵tsunami + 斉 simultaneous
You see a tsunami that’s simultaneous (with another tsunami, I assume) and you know the world is about to come to an end.
Reading: さい
Just as the world is about to come to an end, your cyborg (さい) appears and blocks it with its cyborg body!

Question 5

委

Answer 5

Committee
Radicals: 禾 grain + 女 woman
Women who get together to talk about grains are a committee. They’re the Committee of Women for Grains (tm tm tm). What does this committee discuss, you wonder.
Reading: い
Well, grains need a committee because the eagles (い) have been eating them all. The women know this, so they’re meeting and trying to come up with a way to stop these pesky eagles from eating all the grains and leaving none for the humans.

Question 6

省

Answer 6

Conserve
Radicals: 少 few + 目 eye
You only have a few eyes so you need to conserve what’s left.
Readings: しょう, せい
You’re trying to conserve your eyes, when the Shougun (しょう) marches by. He stops, sees you, and demands you give him your remaining eyes! But sir, I’m conserving what little I have left!

Question 7

制

Answer 7

Control
Radicals: 牛 cow + 巾 towel +刂 knife
Cows, using nothing more than towels and knives, have taken control of the world. Their system of control is brutal—payback for how us humans have treated them I guess.
Reading: せい
It’s time to take control back from the cows! Pull out your saber (せい) and fight back!

Question 8

批

Answer 8

Criticism
Radicals: 扌fingers + 比 compare
If you use your fingers to point when you compare things you’re really just throwing around criticism. You should never need to point fingers when you’re just comparing things. If you’re pointing and picking and being mean, that’s criticism.
Reading: ひ
If you’re having trouble not giving out criticism, just think about how you would react if someone criticized you. You’d feel an embarrassed heat (ひ) rise throughout your body. That heat will cover your whole face.

Question 9

断

Answer 9

Cut off
Radicals: L lion + 米 rice + 斤 axe
A lion harvesting rice uses an axe to cut off the tops of the stalks. The lion is roaming the rice fields using his axe to harvest the rice. He does so by cutting off the part of the rice stalks he needs.
Reading: だん
The lion will cut off rice stalks until dawn (だん). But at the first light of dawn, it will run and hide in the shade of the trees, cut off from the rice.

Question 10

任

Answer 10

Duty
Radicals: ｲ leader + 王 king
Both a leader and a king have a duty to protect their people. A good leader always protects his followers, and a good king always protects his subjects. This is their duty.
Reading: にん
You’re the village nincompoop (にん), but the king and the leader still have a duty to protect you. Even a nincompoop is important to the kings and leaders of the world.

Question 11

素

Answer 11

Element
Radicals: 生 life + 糸 thread
The life thread is an element essential to all living things. This thread of life joins all things together, providing an essential relationship between all life. This element is all that holds this world together.
Readings: そ, す
You need to keep this element clean, so you make sure to wash it with soap (そ) every single day. This turns out to be pretty hard because the element is an invisible thread, but you do your best.

Question 12

敵

Answer 12

Enemy
Radicals: 啇 mohawk + 夂 winter
Seeing a mohawk in the winter means the enemy is nearby. You are from the dreadlock tribe and the mohawk tribe is your enemy. You’re deep in the heart of battle and winter has fallen. Now is the time to take out the enemy.
Reading: てき
You’re kind of a techie (てき), so you have an advantage over your enemy. You’re armed with night vision goggles and other cool tech gear as well. Being a techie certainly has its advantages.

Question 13

羨

Answer 13

Envy
Radicals: 羊 sheep + 次 next
Sheep are always looking at the next animal, full of envy and jealousy.
Reading: せん
The reason the sheep feels such envy and jealousy is that the next creature is a centaur (せん)! Who wouldn’t be jealous of a creature as noble as a centaur?

Question 14

設

Answer 14

Establish
Radicals: 言 say + 殳 weapon
If you say a new weapon idea out loud, then it will be established immediately.
Reading: せつ
Weapons have to be established in sets (せつ). So you have to make another one that goes with it. Make them cohesive please.

Question 15

検

Answer 15

Examine
Radicals: 木 tree + 㑒 squid
You see a tree with a squid on it, so you get closer to examine it.
Reading: けん
You’re sticking your face in really, really close to examine this little squid in the tree when Ken (けん) the samurai appears behind you. “There you are, squid! Thank you citizen, I’ve been looking all over for my little chum.”

Question 16

岡

Answer 16

Hill
Radicals: 冂 head + 丷 horns + 一 ground + 山 mountain
You have a scene going on inside your head. It is of a pair of horns on the ground atop a mountain. No. It is not just one pair of horns. It is many. So many that they create a giant hill atop the mountain, which is already pretty high.
Reading: おか
How was standing atop this hill of horns on top of a mountain to touch the sky? Eh. It was okay (おか), but that’s about it.

Question 17

増

Answer 17

Increase
Radicals: 土 dirt + 曽 mask
The dirt mask is a mask which, when put on, will greatly increase the amount of dirt.
Reading: ぞう
Use the dirt mask to increase the dirt around you. The zombies (ぞう) are trying to escape, so you just keep increasing the dirt on top of them so they can’t get out.

Question 18

査

Answer 18

Inspect
Radicals: 木 tree + 且 top hat
If a tree is growing out of a top hat you need to inspect it to find out why and how this happened. You should probably investigate the area too. I mean, how could a tree grow out of a top hat anyway? Seems suspicious.
Reading: さ
While inspecting, you realize you need to saw (さ) the tree open to come to a good conclusion. This seems a bit unnecessary, but no! No! For the sake of this investigation you must saw the tree in half!

Question 19

判

Answer 19

Judge
Radicals: 半 half +刂 knife
Mnemonic
“I’ll cut that baby in half with a knife if you don’t figure out custody,” says the judge. Ah, the oldest judge trick in the book.
Readings: はん, ばん
This judge is Han (はん) Solo, so you know he’s not going to back down.

Question 20

件

Answer 20

Matter
Radicals: ｲ leader + 牛 cow
The leader of the cow tribe is too important to deal with small matters and trivial affairs.
Reading: けん
All of his affairs are taken care of by Ken (けん) the samurai, who he hired as his underling.

Question 21

際

Answer 21

Occasion
Radicals: 阝building + 祭 festival
Buildings hold festivals on special occasions.
Reading: さい
The occasion this time is to celebrate your wonderful cyborg (さい). It’s about time you did something nice for it.

Question 22

企

Answer 22

Plan
Radicals: 𠆢 hat + 止 stop
The hat comes to a stop, thinking of a plan. The hat had been pacing around for a while, trying to think of how to get off the head he’s resting upon and back into the house where it’s nice and cozy, and came to the sudden realization of a plan. This caused the hat to stop.
Reading: き
The plan that made this hat stop right in its tracks was very simple. First, obtain the key (き) to the house. Then, use the key to get in the front door. How simple!

Question 23

祈

Answer 23

Pray
Radicals: ネ spirit + 斤 axe
If you see a spirit with an axe, you better pray for your life. Spirits only hold axes if they’re thinking about murder, so pray as hard as you can to try and get it to spare you.
Reading: き
You pray and pray and pray and nothing happens. You stop praying and dare to open your eyes. There is a key (き) in front of you. Grab the key and hold it before you and pray for the spirit to take it. Moments later, both the key and the spirit are gone.

Question 24

挙

Answer 24

Raise
Radicals: ⺍ grass + 一 ground + ハ fins + 手 hand
If there’s grass on the ground and fins in your hand, you need to raise that hand up to the sky. You’re in the middle of a fisherman’s ritual, which can only be performed on grassy ground. You take fish fins from the previous year, and raise them up to the sky in order to ensure a good fishing harvest.
Reading: きょ
This ritual only works in one part of the world however. It absolutely must be performed in Little Kyoto (きょ). The way Little Kyoto lines up with the sun and the sky and all that astrological junk makes it the best place for you to raise fish fins up in the air.

Question 25

認

Answer 25

Recognize
Radicals: 言 say + 刃 blade + 心 heart
Whatever people say to you will be carved by a blade into your heart. Sounds cruel, but it’s a way to make you recognize their power.
Reading: にん
Having their words carved into your heart makes you recognize the authority of many people. But the only one you could ever truly acknowledge, is Nintendo (にん).

Question 26

資

Answer 26

Resources
Radicals: 次 next + 貝 shellfish
The next shellfish will be yours, but this shellfish will be mine. These are the resources we have to share and distribute.
Reading: し
You save up all of your resources so you can buy a sheep (し). You bring a big sack of your shellfish resources to the market and finally get to pick out that sheep you’ve had your eyes on for months.

Question 27

権

Answer 27

Rights
Radicals: 木 tree + 矢 arrow + 隹 turkey
Under the tree lies a turkey with a broken arrow in it. It doesn’t have rights like humans, so people can just shoot turkeys with arrows and no one is punished.
Reading: けん
“You have rights, so I won’t shoot you like this turkey,” says the voice of Ken (けん) the samurai, from above you in the tree.

Question 27

義

Answer 27

Righteousness
Radicals: 義 righteousness
The kanji and the radical are exactly the same. That means they share meanings as well.
Reading: ぎ
Such righteousness! Well, at least according to the king who thinks he’s being righteous. His version of righteousness is to send anyone who disagrees with him to the guillotine (ぎ).

Question 27

派

Answer 27

Sect
Radicals: 氵tsunami + 厂 cliff + 𠂢 (without the cliff radical) tofu
A tsunami is coming for the cliff made of tofu, but there is a special sect that protects tofu cliff.
Reading: は
All of the members of the sect are standing on the cliff, their hands raised, and right as the tsunami is about to collide with them, they shout, “Ha (は)!” and it’s repelled! The tsunami sinks and rolls back out to sea, the tofu cliff is safe!

Question 28

務

Answer 28

Task
Radicals: 矛 spear + 夂 winter + 力 power
You use a special spear in winter to give yourself the power to do all of your tasks.
Reading: む
Your task is to spear this cow. “Moo (む)!” it yells at you and runs away. You need to make dinner though… that’s your task, so you better catch up to that cow and put an end to its mooing.

Question 29

税

Answer 29

Tax
Radicals: 禾 grain + 兑 guard
A guard is at your door and wants some of your grains. This is the tax you pay for living in this town. Back in the day, grains were used like currency, so it makes sense that there was a grain tax in the olden days.
Reading: ぜい
You have to pay this tax, because if you don’t the guard will cut you down with his special German saber, a zeiber (ぜい). “Don’t you hear vat I zei? Pay ze tax or I vill zlei you!” he shouts.

Question 30

解

Answer 30

Untie
Radicals: 角 angle + 刀 sword + 牛 cow
Angle your sword correctly at a cow to untie it without hurting it. This is actually a pretty tough angle to get your sword, so in order to solve this cow puzzle you have to be really smart and careful.
Reading: かい
You’re trying to untie this cow from the kayak (かい) you’re both currently in. Some jerk tied the cow to this kayak and sent it toward a waterfall. If you don’t solve this riddle fast, you’ll both go with the kayak over the falls!

Question 31

総

Answer 31

Whole
Radicals: 糸 thread + 公 public + 心 heart
Taking out your thread, you sew together the public’s hearts to make them whole again.
Reading: そう
Once their hearts are whole, the public’s soul (そう) becomes one!