Learn Japanese with Anime - Fear Of Death Is Worse Than Death Itself (Detective Conan)

Analysis

死(し) is a noun meaning “death”.

の is the particle used between nouns when the preceding noun modifies the following noun.

And the following noun is 恐(きょう)怖(ふ) meaning “fear” so 死(し)の恐(きょう)怖(ふ) means “fear of death”.

The は particle indicates the preceding noun is the topic, i.e. what is being talked about, and the following is the comment, i.e. what is being said about the topic.

So 死(し)の恐(きょう)怖(ふ) meaning “fear of death” is the topic and 死(し)そ(そ)の(の)も(も)の(の)よ(よ)り(り)人(ひと)を悩(なや)ま(ま)す(す) is the comment about “fear of death”. Now let’s break down the comment part.

死(し)そ(そ)の(の)も(も)の(の) means “death itself”. そ(そ)の(の)も(も)の(の) directly means “that (そ(そ)の(の)) thing (も(も)の(の))” used to emphasise the preceding noun when it’s a thing or idea. So 死(し)そ(そ)の(の)も(も)の(の) expresses “only death and nothing else”.

よ(よ)り(り) is the particle meaning “than”, so 死(し)そ(そ)の(の)も(も)の(の)よ(よ)り(り) means “than death itself”

人(ひと) means “people”.

NOTE

人(ひと) can be singular and plural.

あ(あ)の(の)人(ひと)はす(す)ご(ご)く(く)変(か)わ(わ)っ(っ)た(た)。(singular) – That person has changed a lot.
人(ひと)は簡(かん)単(たん)に変(か)わ(わ)ら(ら)な(な)い(い)。(plural) – People don’t change easily.

The を particle indicates the direct object of the following verb.

And the following verb is 悩(なや)ま(ま)す(す) which is a transitive verb meaning “to bother, worry or trouble someone”. It’s used when something makes someone think very hard as it’s difficult, complicated, confusing, tricky or troublesome. So 人(ひと)を悩(なや)ま(ま)す(す) means “to bother people”.

So 死(し)の恐(きょう)怖(ふ)は死(し)そ(そ)の(の)も(も)の(の)よ(よ)り(り)人(ひと)を悩(なや)ま(ま)す(す) means “fear of death bothers people more than death itself”, and he says 臆(おく)す(す)る(る)なよ which means “Do not fear” or “Do not hesitate”. These words are for his workmate who is going to be sent on a difficult mission where he might die. So he is advising him to overcome fear of death because if he gets caught up in fear of death it might lead him to fail the mission.