User blog comment:Martialmaniac/Should we make pages for these three characters?/@comment-31525652-20180110222441/@comment-31525652-20180118020911

This may be late. But I was busy with college when we discussed it. So I apologize for that in advance. I believe that neither the secretary or the manager belong the to IEA. Both should belong to the permit agency (IPA or RVA whichever name we settle for, that's another issue for another day.) In fact I'm 100% certain the manager is the IPA director. As it was literally stated by one of the deputy secretary's cabinmates in the ship. The kanji used was  国際渡航許可庁 (International Permit Agency) with  長官  (Director) attached to it. This brings another question: shouldn't we rename the page to "IPA/RVA Director" instead of "IEA Manager"?

Being the meticulous person I am, I went ahead and searched for all instances where these two guys's ranks were mentioned and looked it up in the japanese raws.

342: "Manager": Ha ha ha, you’re just like me! You’ll be a great manager.

359: "Deputy Secretary": You guys should at least read the chapter on the labyrinthine city. If I die, one of you will be deputy secretary, you know.

359: Cabinmate #1: The Hunter Association is protecting us. We’ll be fine. Not to mention the current International Permit Agency director is one of the unofficial “sole survivors."

359: Cabinmate #2: The director said the same thing. It’s a free ride straight to promotion. Don’t worry. Remember us on your way up.

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342: 管理人 (Kanri-nin) = Manager || Viz = Manager || MS = Manager

359: 首席管理次官 (Shuseki kanri jikan) = Vice Chief Administrator?/Vice Manager? (not sure) || Viz = Deputy Secretary || MS = Head Under-Secretary

359: 長官 (Choukan) = Secretary, Director, Chief || Viz = Director || MS = Head

359:  長官 ( Choukan ) = Secretary, Director, Chief || Viz = Director || MS = Director

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First of all, Togashi might enjoy using different words for the same thing. Mainly to show how the character talk and interact with each other etc... However, the fact that the two cabinmates used the same word ( 長官,  Choukan) and that they're lower in rank (so they should be respectful), makes me believe that's the correct term we should go by. Now is the director also the manager in the context of my first example? What I mean is did he mean  you'll be my replacement  when he said "Y ou’re just like me! You’ll be a great manager ." Or does the deputy secretary work in a different place/agency and it's just that the director thinks he'll do great there. (The reason I'm being meticulous is to know whether they work in the same agency or not, thus rename their pages accordingly)

 A good hint may be in the first 2 examples. "Kanrin" & "Shuseki kanri jikan" both contain the word Kanri. While I'm not expert at Japanese, this may imply that the deputy secretary's job is different from the director? However, the director said this (1st example) in a humurous tone, so I'm not sure if we should fully trust the wording.

 Now these two are weirdly close to each other. Even after the V5 summit, they still managed to meet and talk. Could this mean that the deputy secretary is working under the director. Note that another translation for  ( 長官,  Choukan, Director ) is Secretary. This is why I believe both belong to the IPA not the IEA. Also the way the cabinmates are mentioning the director and glasses guy's promotion on the same breath might imply they are working together?

 There are other variables at play that still makes me unsure. Variables like...

<p style="font-weight:400;"> 1) The fact the director asked the deputy secretary if he signed the contract in Ch. 341 (first line). How could the glasses guy rise so fast in the rank? And become his deputy?

<p style="font-weight:400;"> This could be explained by

<p style="font-weight:400;"> 2) "The special unit he was assigned to" is relatively small. But would that mean he doesn't belong to neither the IPA nor the IEA? Or maybe the special unit works for the IPA?

<p style="font-weight:400;">I'll be digging for more and will reply here again if I find anything of value. Mainly about the linguistic connection between Kanri-nin and Shuseki kanri jikan, and whether RVA and IPA are the same thing. But as of right now I believe "IPA Director" and "IPA Deputy Secretary" is the most likely correct choice. Even if it includes a bit of speculation on my part.