Why can't foreign characters in anime have normal names? Why is it always stuff like
>Theodor von Richtenhoff
>Cadence Macbeth
>Putin Tsarovitch
Why can't we just have Tom, Sarah, Tobias Bauer?
We wouldn't name Japanese characters in our shows "Ronin Pikachu" or some dumb shit.
>We wouldn't name Japanese characters in our shows "Ronin Pikachu" or some dumb shit.
We would.
Most of the Japanese characters in shows with absurd foreign names have pretty ridiculous ass Japanese names too.
>posts no examples
They look for names with specific meanings that sound cool.
Remember, Japanese names are a lot like Native Americans'. "Hana" literally means flower. "Ryuu" literally means dragon. The interculture crossovers that happened in Europe produced so many names we don't know the meaning of off the top of our heads that it'd just sound silly to do that.
It's why so many Japanese characters have pants-on-head retarded names too. Or just ones that no one uses (-ko is pretty much never used in girls' names nowadays; -mi is where it's at.)
>Most of the Japanese characters in shows with absurd foreign names have pretty ridiculous ass Japanese names too.
Such as? Anything will do, you can cite the most ridiculous over the top satirical program that is obviously just using silly japanese names for comical effect.
...
A lot of western languages have that too. In German for example, a lot of old celtic/ germanic shit, not to forget all the latin. Yet we don't go around naming every main character Sigismund, Victor or Augustus
>Qwenthur Barbotage
That's all cool and all, yet that isn't news to anyone here, nor does it explain shit.
Most Germanic/Anglo names have meanings and the ones that don't are derived from names with meanings. There are exactly 0 reasons to choose archaic whacky names if all you want as director/author is a " western name with meaning"
Who's John Smith?
>not naming your european character Romulus Augustus
Except the word origins of the literally-named names aren't used in their original contexts anymore.
Which is a shame, since I think Felicity and Ruth would work well in our modern vernacular.
>Yet we don't go around naming every main character Sigismund, Victor or Augustus
>There are exactly 0 reasons to choose archaic whacky names if all you want as director/author is a " western name with meaning"
We westerners can also tell the tone those names evoke, but do you really think a nip is gonna hear "Octavius" and "Michael" and think the former is too old-timey while the latter is fine?
I would say pic related, but that's just cheating.
>so solly
errytime
What are you walking about user, Alicia Sloppyjoes, Stephanie Gorgeouspalace and Flag Eggnog are perfectly normal names
Fucking Captain Tsubasa, I swear to god.
>-ko is pretty much never used in girls' names nowadays; -mi is where it's at
But I like -ko.
>Easymode
-L Lawliet
-Backyard Bottomslash
Mako Mankanshoku is literally like "dressed up Mako"
Upper class and noble names using fancy kanji with meanings like god, ruler, light, dark, etc. or other cheesy descriptive names are massively over represented in typical anime content.
>But I like -ko.
Too bad, Dubsy. You gotta use -mi instead now.
>>We westerners can also tell the tone those names evoke, but do you really think a nip is gonna hear "Octavius" and "Michael" and think the former is too old-timey while the latter is fine?
The "problem" is more that it is nearly always the "old timey" names they go for. If they flipped a coin over it fine, but they don't, they nearly always go for the whacky option.
In cases like Rias Gremory it works fine, a whacky name, but it has a meaning related to who/what she/her family is, i.e. it isn't exoctic for the sake of being exotic.
It is when there is no meaning to the name that it gets silly, like Irisdina Bernhard from Shwarzesmarken.
Those aren't names given to japanese characters by westerners in western shows. You are posting more examples of what the OP is complaining about.
>thinking Irisdina Bernhard is a silly name
It isn't even like 1/4 of a Lunateresia von Witzleben
>von Witzleben
Literally who's. If you make a german aristocrat, why not take a prestigious line, like Baden or Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha - can't get more ridiculous than that.
Ok, we are misunderstanding each other, I meant that you name examples of western shows that contain japanese characters with weird names. Some shit like Inazumano Tenshi or some over the top dumb "jap name" appearing in a western show.
So far we have two examples, we have Quentin's Gogo Yubari and the comical Joe Jitsu.
Why would you put a foreign character in your story if you aren't going to give them an awesome name?
>Implying Max Fightmaster is a shit name
Oh well, look at Ninja Turtles
>Oroku Saki
>Hamato Yoshi
>Karai
>Theodor
>not a normal name
Is this the Kamachi thread?
>Beverly Seethrough
>Stephanie Gorgeouspalace
>Alicia Sloppyjoes
>Olay Blueshake
>Flag Eggnog
>Prizewell City Slicker
>Sladder Honeysuckle
>Putana Highball
>Seawax
>Meena Stinger
>Skuld Silent-Third
This basically. Why name a character something boring like "Mike Smith" when you could name them "Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre"
This
I'm an author, and I realize Miri von Friedhof is a pretty silly name in German. I don't care. She's a bloody necromancer, she gets the graveyard name.
Besides, I'm less bothered by the names than I am by the FBI going to japan to stop a murderer. What happened at the CIA building?
Wilhelm Jäger is an awesome name, it sounds more German than 90% of the usual German anime names and it is a name you could actually find in Germany.
Theo is, the full Theodor has fallen out of favor.
>Quattro Bajeena
Félicitation du Drakon
And she's supposed to be French. Also, her nickname "Shion" is actually really inappropriate if anyone had considered the French language - although I guess one could argue that it's only Japanese speaking people that use it anyway.
>but they don't, they nearly always go for the whacky option.
I think the issue is that due to a lack of familiarity, most writers seem to go after names for their sound or meaning, rather than delving much in its usage or feasibleness. That will generally result in goofy names that would never be used otherwise, since finding meanings of standard proper names usually would take a lot more work - you'd need to go after their etymological origin a lot of the time, rather than just relying on the names themselves.
For example, the girl I mentioned above easily could have been named "Felicia", keeping the meaning but using an actual name.
I guess there might be some cultural clash too though, with the Japanese language apparently being more open to exotic names.
Look no further than BACCANO
>Jacuzzi Splott
>Graham Specter
>Luck Gandor
The heck with those names?
Also, not a person but
>Flying Pussyfoot
Whi the heck names a train like that?
>a name you could actually find in Germany.
Maybe in my Grandfathers generation. Any child born in the last 30 years with that name would probably have been bullied into suicide
The Character names in Baccano were so fucking dumb holy shit
>Jacuzzi Splot
>Maiza Avaro
>Ladd Russo
>Czeslaw Meyer
>Luck Gandor
That one was fairly normal unlike Dallas Genoard
>Soun Soulszzcuaritter
>Forgetting Tick and Tack Jefferson
At that point I can only assume that it just goes back to "picking what sounds coolest".
It's like those OCs you made when you were thirteen whose were random syllables thrown together to sound vaguely japanese. Except with the languages reversed.
>Maria Cadenzavna Eve
Germans don't call their kids Wilhelm anymore?
If you are trying to tell a serious story, the characters should have proper names, not just ones that sound cool.
It sounds downright retarded to be honest.
"Von" basically means from.
Her name is Miri from Graveyard.
Just make up a cool sounding name that sounds like it's a place.
>Wilhelm Jäger
>a name you could actually find in Germany
>not naming your MC Max Power
>implying I didn't use Google Translate to name my character Dark Tombstone of the Apocalypse
Rarely. Sadly, because it is indeed a nice name
Japanese characters in anime don't have normal names too.
>Araragi
>Senjougahara
>Oshino
>Dekomori
>Makunouchi
>Suzumiya
>Saten
>Uiharu
>If you are trying to tell a serious story, the characters should have proper names, not just ones that sound cool.
I disagree.
How can you not love the name DAN EAGLEMAN?
Thanks a lot for ruining that name forever due to your incompetence.
>normal names like Tobias
Narita also wants a say in that regard.
>Ryuugamine Mikado
>yfw I just realized Ash "Ketchum" means "catch em"
The normal names tend to conjure up images of overweight Americans, no thanks.
Are you stupid? It's not like Adolf, it's just out of style. Maybe it will get fashionably again, who knows.
>Izaya
Yeah but why?
>implying
Coincidence.
That's just the Japanese word for Ketchup.
>Not being an animorph
Pleb. I bet you don't even have a hot black naturalist girlfriend who brushes your feathers. You jelly?
>Yeah but why?
Why do I disagree? Because their names being cool doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the story, obviously. I mean, if they had completely made up fantasy names I'd be fine with it, so I don't see why silly English ones should mess me up just because they aren't in a fantasy world.
Ya, put that isn't what OP was talking about. OP specifically talks about western names.
Also, the weird Japanese names you listed are either not THAT weird or intentionally so for comedic effect/puns.
Tobias is pretty normal, they just go by Toby. Or they're devout Christians.
As loathe as I am to link to tvtropes, it is a useful resource for this kind of thing: tvtropes.org
tvtropes.org
Skimming over the Japanese examples, it seems like the usual mistake in English-language media is to give Japanese characters nonsensical names ("Sulu" from Star Trek isn't a Japanese name, for example), rather than something over-the-top.
Not him, but are you telling me that you don't think Kamachi or Narita's Western names are supposed to be silly?
The black naturalist was Jake's love interest, not Tobias'. He had a thing with Rachel, the psycho blond chick
But the series you posted a pic of has a guy who's name is literally Edward and a girl named Sherry
>Yeah but why?
Not that user, but unless the name is something obscene, it's doesn't really make a difference.
What matters is the writing, which should at LEAST be good enough to make me forget how silly the name is.
>Elmer C. Albatross
Because they can't pronounce Grzegorz
Cadence McBeth sounds pretty normal
why are these names not normal?
Getting a naming sense for a language that's not your own is really hard. So much of it depends on cultural context and phonetics. And like points out, it can change quickly over time.
Plus, Japanes is a language where there's an inherent meaning to the characters that make up a person's name, and writers love to make use of that. English doesn't have that exactly, so it's probably harder for Japanese writers to get a handle on what exactly makes a name "sound right".
pretty normal here in Germany
You'd basically never find an actual Japanese person with those names, for a variety of reasons. Senjougahara is the name of a battlefield, for example, not a surname that you'd actually see on a real person..
>That feel when can't think up a single german name that isn't hans
It's laways hans ans ms. hans to me
Characters have weird names in fiction. It has nothing to do with being japanese or western.
Actually, there are a lot of people irl with weird names, so I don't what is the problem.
It doesn't ruin the enjoyment of a show but there is certainly something wrong when a supposedly normal German person in the modern world is called "Friedrich von Königsberg" or something like that.
It doesn't really bother me but I can't take take it as serious afterwards. It just seems like it's trying so hard to be cool, while it's really silly for anyone who knows the language/culture.
The name is silly regardless of the writing.
It's not really a big issue though.
Native English speakers always get mad over Engrish in anime, isn't that kind of the same? Japanese will tell you they don't care because it sounds cool.
You mean like Patricia Martin?
My name is Wilhelm Verburg (Dutch father) I am 23 and I have never been bullied in my life. I also like my name, a lot.
I want to hear you scream.
Often other characters will point out that the name is weird though.
Dammit, you're right. It's been a while since I read that series.
I need to redread it. I remember the aliens being really well thought out for a childrens book.
>Native English speakers always get mad over Engrish in anime, isn't that kind of the same?
I only dislike Engrish when it's really bad - not just bad pronunciation, but shit like the "yer kidding" where its delivery/tone is completely different from the Japanese and doesn't fit the scene.
underrated post.
Would you prefer something modern and progressive such as Jamal Brown or Faith McLain?
this, holy shit.
>Native English speakers always get mad over Engrish in anime
Only if said anime straight-up says LOL THIS IS PERFECT ENGLISH LOOK AT HOW AWESOME WE ARE or something to that extent.
Otherwise it's just hilarious ("Why me sad?" comes to mind).
What cracks me up about the name jamal, is that we now use it to indicate that we are talking about the most monkey of monkey people, but it doesn't change the fact that some poor schmuck (or several rather) goes through life with that name.
>Jugemu Jugemu Unko Nageki Ototoi no Shin-chan no Pantsu Shinpachi no Jinsei Balmunk Fezarion Isaac Schneider San Bun no Ichi no Junjou na Kanjou no Nokotta San Bun no Ni wa Sakamuke ga Kininaru Kanjou Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru you de Shiranai no wo Boku wa Shitteiru Rusu Surume Medaka Kazunoko Koedame Medaka... Kono Medaka wa Sakki to Chigau Yatsu Dakara Ikeno Medaka no Hou Dakara Raa-yuu Yuuteimiyaouki Mukou Pepepepepepepepepepepepe Oato ga Yoroshii you de Kore Nite Oshimai Bichiguso Maru
What's worse.
Weird foreign names or names that Tomino made up?
the only time I've heard engrish that was actually them speaking English that wasn't random lines was like squid girl, and I gotta admit they spoke it well enough
anyone have weird fucking names irl?
>tfw jewish first name chinese last name as a catholic in SEA
Celtic names are great, they sound great have meaning too.
The nips should use them more.
Example: Aislinn Wishart.
Aisling means "dream" or "vision"
>Kenji Bushido
You mean it's not a widely used name in Japan?
Because you're fucking retarded and comparing boring ass American names to European/Russian names.
Vladimir Putin is literally the name of the president of Russia.
His daughter's name is Yekaterina. You're basically asking for everyone to be named John fucking Smith.
Free did pretty when they were in Straya (though they hired gaijin for that part so it's cheating).
I love those goofy ass western names in Jap shit.
>Jacuzzi Splot
Jojo is pretty good with Western names when the characters aren't being named after bands.
>Jonathan Joestar
>Joseph Joestar
>William Anthonio Zeppeli
>Robert E. O. Speedwagon
>Mark
>Elizabeth Joestar
>Johnny Joestar
>Diego Brando
Yes, you are completely right, Vladimir Putin is comparable to something like Stephanie Gorgeouspalace.
You also realize the irony of using the example "john smith" when Vladamir is very common Russian name comparable to John, Thomas etc. in anglo countries.
TL;DR you are an idiot.
