The following program
is a general program
and is suitable for all ages
Hey Guys!
Welcome back to the channel
Since the inception of BL, there's been many memorable lines
but perhaps none more iconic than
RAIKANTOPENI
it's so iconic that there's even merch being made of it
fanclubs named after it
and there's even a podcast
today I bring you a video that no one really asked for
and that's
my guide to Raigantopaini
for the casual BL fan
I'll be explaining what 'Raigantopaini' is
what it means
and also how to say it like a pro
it's the thing that appears before every BL show
but what is it?
it's the TV Show classification
it tells you that this TV show is suitable for what audience
and altogether there are six different types
but for those who watch BL you're probably most familiar with these three
the first one is this cute green one with a house symbol
this means that it's suitable for all ages
the next one is for people aged thirteen and above
and the last one is for people aged eighteen and above
you may have noticed that the 13 and above and 18 above icons look similar
how do you tell the difference?
underneath the Thai letter that looks like an 'N'
there are two symbols and a '+' sign
these two symbols are actually Thai numbers
much like other countries around the world especially in Asia
Thailand actually has its own way to write numbers
just in case you were worried about seeing these when coming to Thailand
there's no need to worry
because 95% of the time they use Hindu-Arabic numbers
Thai numbers are generally used for official documents,
official announcements
or sometimes when you go to a tourist attraction in Thailand
for example when you go to temple or a zoo
they actually write the prices in Thai numerals
this is because they have a price for Thai people
and another price for tourists
and they don't want you to know the difference between the prices
which is not the coolest thing
but... welcome to Thailand
so on this one these are the Thai numerals for '1' and '3'
and on this one is the Thai numerals for '1' and '8'
while doing some research for this video
I came across an intereseting myth on how to tell the difference between
the '13+' and '18+' versions of Raigantopaini
it said that if it's women's voice then it's for 13+
and if it's a man's voice then it's the 18+ version
unfortunately
that's not true
but there might be a reason to why this misunderstanding occured
there's not one set of Raigantopaini
production companies/tv stations record their own ones
so it's up to them whether they get a woman or man to read it
so if you've only watched BL from one particular tv station/production company
it probably would've been the same person's voice for that particular age range
now let's talk about what it means and how to pronounce it
the word 'raigan' means program
and 'topaini' means after this
or following
so 'raigantopaini' means the following program
although it's usually spelt with a 'k'
I'm spelling it with a 'g'
because it's a 'g' sound not a 'k' sound
now let's start with raigan
the word 'raigan' I think is quite easy to say
it's a neutral tone
the tricky part could be the 'r' sound at the beginning
this letter is like a rolled 'r'
but you don't need to roll it too much
it's a soft roll like this
if you roll it too much it sounds formal
like someone reading the news
but if you're having trouble with the rolled 'r'
you can replace it with an 'L'
actually right now in Thai society
especially when speaking fast
this rolled 'r' has begun to be replaced with an 'L' sound
so you can swap it with an 'L' and say it like this
which is also fine
the next word is 'topaini'
let's break it down into 3 smaller parts
the first part is 'to'
'to' might also be a bit tricky to pronounce
to make this sound you need to put your tongue against the area behind your front teeth
where the gummy section is
if I do just the sound by itself it sounds like this
it's not a 'D' sound
it's not a 'Th' sound
it's right in between
so you've got to try and find that sweet spot
and this is a low dropping sound
the next part is 'pai'
'pai' is really easy
it's a neutral tone
the last part is 'ni'
which is a rising tone
now let's put these 3 parts together and say 'topaini'
the way I like to remember Thai words with a lot of different tones is
I like to picture lines
for 'topaini' it would be
and when you can put them together and say it faster it becomes
now let's combine 'raigan' with 'topaini'
and let's use the lines to help us out
just keep practicing it
and I'm sure you'll be able to say it as fast as the announcer before your favourite BL show
that's the end of today's video
it was a bit a shorter and meme-ier video
I hope you guys enjoyed it
if there's anything you'd like to know about Thai or BL culture
let me know down in the comment section below
and I'll be happy to make a video about it in the future
thanks for watching and see you in the next one