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どうでしょうか 職業柄器用だとは思っていますが

In the very first panel, upon reading a report, the character comments that the guy has no particular ability.

To which the character replies

どうでしょうか 職業柄器用なほうだとは思っていますが

My reading for is akin to 職業柄器用だとは思っていますが "I think that due to the nature of my job (職業柄), I'm more on the skilled/dexterous (器用) side very literally.

However how is どうでしょうか used here? My reading initially seemed to be more akin to "How about this?"

Kawase_K
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  • Where did you get this thing about the guy having no particular ability? – aguijonazo Dec 01 '23 at 22:11
  • Provide more context. どうでしょうか is nothing more than "What do you think?" referring to anything that is the topic of this conversation. If it doesn't make sense, it's probably because you have misread something not in this quote. 特殊な能力をお持ちだ does not mean "the guy has no particular ability", so your question is confusing from the beginning. – naruto Dec 01 '23 at 23:04
  • I added the whole two pages

    But I think I likely took なんでも特殊な能力をお持ちだ wrong yes. Re-reading it seems to be "As I'm told you possess a personal ability". However, what kind of personal ability is not really explained yet.

    I supposed he's saying his personality ability is more on 器用 side (He's a dentist) due to his work.

     – Kawase_K Dec 02 '23 at 07:41
  • Okay, so this どうでしょうか does not mean "What do you think". Interpreting sentences like this often requires seeing facial expressions and the flow of conversation, so please always provide sufficient context. – naruto Dec 02 '23 at 12:56
  • Kimono guy is basically the detective of the story, other guy is basically his Watson. – Kawase_K Dec 04 '23 at 17:52

2 Answers2

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Depending on the context, どうでしょうか can have two completely different meanings:

  1. "I'm not so sure", "I doubt it", "I wonder about that"
  2. "What do you think?", "Any thoughts?"

In this context, it's used in the first sense.

何でも[特殊な能力]{・・・・・}をお持ちだとか。
From what I heard, you own some "special ability"?

どうでしょうか。職業柄器用な方だとは思っていますが。
Not sure about that. Given my profession, I do believe I'm rather dexterous, though.

naruto
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  • Oh Shiragiku is the guy who wrote the report. It's not a report about Shiragiku, it's a report Shiragiku made (Of this I'm 100% sure) about him. He's definitely talking about himself (Hanamori) because the glasses guy wanted him out (while Shiragiku is useful and their main agent). Hanamori just joined recently and he's a civilian so glasses wanted him out. – Kawase_K Dec 02 '23 at 18:38
  • @Kawase_K Okay, fixed my answer. Either way, どうでしょうか means "I'm not sure". So the guy in kimono is a supervisor or something? – naruto Dec 03 '23 at 00:03
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It's hard to translate without proper context, but given what you provided...

The first image, with Character A's line, does not have an affirmative tone as you suggested. Instead of accusing Character B of not having skills, it is rather a question that ends with the とか listing particle (並立助詞).

The question is:

"何でも特殊な能力を持ちだとか"

It could be translated to:

"Do you have any special abilities?"

Character B replies with "どうでしょうか、職業柄器用なほうだと思っていますが". The usage of the volitional form here (verb stem + よう or おう) implies a level of uncertainty and an inquiry directed at the listener.

It could be understood as: "What do you think?" "How about that?" "What's your opinion about that?"

That paired with the が conjunction at the end implies a continuation with contrast. This conjunction is often used to soften the tone of a question or request in Japanese. In this context, I would guess that Character B is insecure about his own image and due to the bad impression that the report gives, so he wants to provide a counterpoint to that.

It could also be that he is completely confident in his handiness and dexterity and socially oblivious when it comes to his report.

I would translate it as such:

"What do you say? I consider myself dexterous because of my profession."

It could be seen as a provocative rhetorical question, or it could be a genuine inquiry depending on who is involved in the conversation. As I said, without knowing the full context, the interpretation is ambiguous.

Sheklon
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