Japanese Honorifics: Difference between revisions

{{Useful Notes}}

{{Useful Notes}}

Honorifics are a feature of Japanese language that have been creeping into English dubs and which are frequently carried over intact and unannotated in subtitles. Honorifics are the Japanese equivalent of "Mister", "Mrs.", "Doctor" and the like, except that there are far more of them with far more nuances of meaning than there are in English. They are employed as suffixes to names ('-san') or in some cases (such as 'sensei') as substitutes for names.

 

 

;''-sama''

** In rare cases, ''-sama'' can also be used sarcastically to indicate extreme ''dis''respect. The pejorative [[Japanese Pronouns|second-person pronoun]] ''kisama'' is written with kanji that mean something like "honored sir," but today the real meaning of the term is more along the lines of "you bastard." (In military parlance, it keeps its old respectful sense, which is an endless source of jokes among civilians.) Men who want to express over-the-top arrogance can attach ''-sama'' to the macho and aggressive first person pronoun ''ore'' and refer to themselves as ''ore-sama'', something like "my magnificent self."

 

;''-dono''

 

;''-kun''

 

;''-sensei''

 

;''-shishou''

* ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' has power and hierarchy in relationships as a major theme, so it's no surprise that honorifics are used in all sorts of interesting ways to reveal this. (The dub tries its best to get the idea across, but can't always manage.) There's ''lots'' of examples, but one of the major ones is Anthy's habit of using ''-sama'' for the current winner of the duels. At the beginning of the show, she always addresses Saionji as Saionji-''sama'' (translated here as "Master Saionji"). Then, after Utena defeats him, Anthy emotionally devastates him with one sentence:

{{quote|'''Anthy:''' "Take it easy, Saionji." ([[beat]]) "''Sempai''."}}

** Upon meeting, Yuiko addresses herself with her own name, and insists that Ritsuka call her 'Yuiko' too, though she addresses him as 'Ritsuka-kun', (he simply continues addressing her as 'you'.) Later on when they agree to be friends, he begins calling her by 'Yuiko' alone, and only after he breaks her of the habit of referring to herself by her own name. When Ritsuka's friend Osamu shows up, calling him without an honorific, Ritsuka tells her she refer to him as just 'Ritsuka'. She tries this once before going back to referring to him as 'Ritsuka-kun' again.

** When Shinonome meets Soubi, whom she starts off calling 'Agatsuma-san', but resolves to start calling him 'Soubi-kun' after he says he doesn't like older women after she becomes flustered around him and generally is a jerkass towards her, which is important on her part because this is how she refers to her male students.

* In the dub for one of the sequels to ''[[El-Hazard: The Magnificent World]]'', Nanami runs around a castle calling for "Makoto-chan".

* Haruhi always uses -senpai when talking to Tamaki, who is in the year above her, in ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]''. When she does the same thing during summer vacation, he shouts at her "I'm not your senpai! I'm just an acquaintance."

* In ''[[Ranma ½]]'', teenagers Ranma and Ukyo have pet names for each other using the truncated name + ''-chan'' structure ("Ranchan" and "Ucchan", the latter doubling as a pun on her Kansai dialect). These date back to their initial friendship at age six. At least one background character, upon hearing their use, commented that this was "little kid stuff". These are carried over largely without explanation in the English dub, though Ukyo's habitual "Ran-chan" is often translated as "Ranma-honey" instead. Likewise, Soun and Genma always refer to each other as "Saotome-kun" and "Tendo-kun", reflecting their status as old friends and fellow students of Happousai. In their case it's supposed to sound more adolescent than juvenile.

** Ranma repeatedly refuses to acknowledge the ultra-rich buffoon Tatewaki Kuno's insistence that Ranma show him the respect due an upperclassman by addressing him as "[[Sempai-Kohai|sempai]]". The dub translates this mostly literally as demanding to be called "Upperclassman Kuno."

*** He also refers to Misao, as well as Toki and Shigure from [[The Movie]], as "-dono". Again, likely to show his respect to their thoughts and beliefs.

*** In Kenshin's case it's for the most part simply a normal way of old-school samurai speech. Kenshin as a rule speaks ''very'' politely and old-fashioned, so him using the "-dono" honorific is only to be expected, even if it hasn't yet fallen out of use even among the general population. Note that Kenshin technically isn't a samurai, but back in the Bakumatsu times anyone who can afford two swords ''was'' it...

** Washu (who is 20,000 years old and the galaxy's greatest scientific genius) [[Insistent Terminology|insists on being called "Washu-chan"]] ("Little Washu" in the dubbed version) by everyone (except Ryoko, who she insists should call her "Mom" instead), ''especially'' ultra-formal Ayeka. She generally refers to Tenchi as "Tenchi-dono", indicating her age.

** Ryoko, being extremely informal and not at all interested in other people's concepts of what's polite, doesn't use honorifics. Tenchi, on the other hand, uses standard honorifics for everyone ''except'' Ryoko, who he addresses by name only.

* ''Yobisute'' as a romantic turning point -- or not: In the ''[[Death Note]]'' anime, Misa Amane horrifies Light Yagami by beginning to refer to him ''yobisute'' only moments after their mutually manipulative relationship is established. He comments, but is forced to acquiesce when she proposes a ridiculous nickname as the alternative. The English-dub rendition became, "Light, darling?" followed by an incredulous, "Did you just call me 'darling'?" He later grits his teeth and addresses her as ''Misa-chan,'' eliciting a wheeze from Ryuk.

** The English translation of the manga initially includes honorifics, but they drop off in the second half of the manga.

** Naruto also calls the Fifth Hokage's ''"Tsunade-baachan"''; this is actually affectionate and not as insulting as the translation "Grandma Tsunade" conveys. Sakura, who is Tsunader's apprentice, refers to her as ''shishou'' instead, indicating how she views Tsunade as her master and teacher.

** Hinata and Lee uses it on virtually everyone.

** Itachi, Kabuto and Orochimaru at one point address Naruto with "-kun". Likely to mock him for being immature in their view.

* The western fandom of ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' tends to suffix the "-tan" to the [[Moe Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic incarnation of nations]] (as in "Country-tan"), partly as a way to accentuate the separation between the [[Real Life|real country]] and the representation of it, and partly to remark the extremely [[Moe]] nature of the series.

** Prussia's CD is called "Ore-sama no CD" (translated as "The CD of the Awesome Me"). It combines this with [[Japanese Pronouns]].

** [[Memetic Mutation|Hima-sensei-san-chan-nii-sama-papa-troll...]]

* ''[[Change 123]]'' offers three interesting examples of the use of honorifics:

** The [[Insufferable Genius|insufferable teen genius]] Kannami uses the "-kun" honorific with all the high-schoolers, even girls.

* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'', Manjyome always corrects anyone who doesn't give him any honorifics when saying his name with "san da" (essentially, "That's ''Mr.'' Manjyome, to you!). For some reason, every other character mistakes him as saying the Japanese pronunciation of the English "thunder", hence his now-longstanding nickname "Manjyome Thunder" (and variants).

* In ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'': Tomo calls her ''teacher'' "Yukari-chan" -- an informality so outrageous that the manga translates it at one point as "Yukari baby".

** Oddly enough, Chiyo uses "-chan" on Tomo despite addressing all her other classmates as "-san" (due to them being older); one possible explanation is this is due to Tomo's typical rudeness.

*** Sometimes Tomo even refers to ''herself'' as "Tomo-chan". This may either be a result of everybody else calling her "Tomo-chan" for her relative immaturity, or a demonstration of her [[Ted Baxter|self-attributed]] [[Kawaisa]].

** In the [[Azumanga Daioh|''Azumanga'']] dub, Chiyo is consistently referred to as "Chiyo-chan" by the other characters, although "Sakaki-san" is changed to "Miss Sakaki."

** Chiyo at one point becomes insecure about the idea that other students don't respect her because of her age (as she's a child prodigy who was promoted to high school at age 10), and insists to a rather bewildered underclassman that he should be addressing her as "Mihama-sempai" rather than "Chiyo-chan."

** Fate uses "-kaasan" as a suffix in order to clarify whether she's talking about her biological mother ({{spoiler|actually creator}}) Precia or her adoptive mother Lindy. ("Around Lindy-kaasan, it took a lot of time before I could call her 'mom' naturally").

* In ''[[One Piece]]'', Wapol's subordinates typically address him as "Wapol-sama," before and during his return to Drum Island. This causes a slight [[Dub Induced Plot Hole]] in the English manga, when they initially address him as "Captain Wapol" when he appears to be a mere pirate, but change to "King Wapol" after he is revealed as the former king, and when he makes landfall to reclaim his throne.

* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' uses -chan to address all the Inner girls, including Rei. Reh herself, on the other hand, uses ''-chan'' for Usagi once, then stops after Usagi angers her and from then on she refers to her as simply "Usagi". On the other hand, she refers to Mamoru as "Mamo-chan" as they become the [[Official Couple]], and calls the Outer Senshi "-san" since they're older than them.

* In ''[[Code Geass]]'', Zero refers to Jeremiah as "Orange-kun" in public to imply a preexisting relationship; the dub translates this as "Orange-boy." Eventually, he becomes just "Orange."

* In ''[[Karakuridouji Ultimo]]'' Kumegawa Hiroshi threatens to take out his doji because Shiina Machi not using an honorific when speaking to him, though this later turns out to be [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]

* In the ''[[Bleach]]'' pilot, Rukia demands that Ichigo address her as "Rukia-sama" before she returns him to his body. In the actual manga, she asks that Hanataro ''[[Don't Call Me "Sir"!|not]]'' call her that, and he instead calls her "Rukia-san."

** Momo refers to Hitsugaya as "Hitsugaya-kun", which doesn't exactly please him either but isn't as upsetting as her calling him by the childhood nickname "Shiro-chan". On the other hand, she's more often than not referred to as "Hinamori" by him, Renji and Kira (her closest friends among the Shinigami), while others call her "Hinamori-kun" {{spoiler|like Aizen}}.

** Ichigo and Chad refer to Orihime as "Inoue" (a rather rough way to refer to a girl), while Rukia and Ishida use the more polite "Inoue-san" and Tatsuki calls her "Orihime" to remark on their close friendship. In return, Orihime calls the boys "(insert name)-kun", Rukia is "Kuchiki-san", and Tatsuki is "Tatsuki-chan". (Similarly, Riruka is "Riruka-chan" for her.)

** Kotomi insists on being called "Kotomi-chan", and literally does not respond to anything else. This very familiar form of address is pretty awkward for most people meeting her for the first time, which may be one reason why she doesn't have any friends. This goes along with her childish nature in general. {{spoiler|This is also a plot point when it's Tomoya who she asks to call her "Kotomi-chan", as it turns out that Kotomi was his childhood friend.}}

** Sanae generally refers to her husband as "Akio-san", and Akio himself lampshades this at one point. However, this probably indicates more playfulness than coldness in their relationship, as they are quite [[Happily Married]].

* ''[[Samurai 7]]'' has a very frequent use of -dono, which is preserved in the English dub. One clearly deliberate use of it is that Heihachi will add that to the name of the peasant-born Kikuchiyo when he wants to flatter him.

* During [[Gundam Seed]] [[Ace Pilot]] Mwu La Flaga addresses newbie Kira Yamato as "Bozu" in the Japanese dub. Kira refers to him as "-sempai".

* Yuri Tokikago of ''[[Mawaru Penguindrum]]'' refers to her own fiancé as "Tabuki-kun" rather than his first name, even when no one else is around. It might at first seem like an extension of her [[Ojou]] persona, but late in the series {{spoiler|it turns out to have been foreshadowing of the fact that their relationship is fake, and Tabuki is [[The Beard]] to her}}. She also refers to Ringo as "Ringo-chan", likely due to Ringo's extreme youth {{spoiler|and because she sees her as a borderline [[Replacement Goldfish]] for Momoka, Ringo's dead sister and Yuri's first love [[The Mourning After|whom she's still mourning for]].}}

** Ringo refers to the Takakura boys by name and attaching "-kun", since they're on the same age bracket; she also calls their sister "Himari-chan", since Himari is younger than her. On the other hand, Shouma and Kanba call her "Oginome-san" (likely to be polite {{spoiler|and to keep some distance from her, like they do with almost everyone else}}) and Himari refers to her as "Ringo-chan".

* Hanamichi Sakuragi from [[Slam Dunk]] uses honorifics (more exactly, "-san") almost exclusively towards women -- complete with rather polite speech pattern, indicating his [[Gentle Giant]] side. In regards to his gangster friends, Sakuragi resorts to ''yobisute'' aka referring to them without any pronouns, which exemplifies their [[True Companions]] bond. And towards all other dudes... well, he's [[The Nicknamer]], but some of these nicknames ''do'' include honorifics (male [[Yamato Nadeshiko]] Kogure is "Megane-kun" and [[Heterosexual Life Partners|heterosexual life partner]] Miyagi is "Ryou-chin", both ''very'' affectionate by Sakuragi's standards, while OTOH [[Deadpan Snarker]] ex-[[Delinquent]] Mitsui is "Micchin" specifically to piss Mitsui off.) And if Sakuragi ''absolutely'' has to use the dude's real name, he'll go for ''yobisute''.

* Satoko Houjou from [[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]] frequently uses the nickname "nii-nii" (derived from O-niisan) when referring to her older brother, {{spoiler|or Keiichii in some arcs}}. This carries over to the English dub without any explanation other than it's extremely cute and endearing.

** She also uses "nee-nee" (derived from O-neesan) when referring to {{spoiler|Shion}} at least once in Kai. (It wasn't dubbed, just noteworthy)

 

 

== Film ==

** Same goes for "''-san''", especially ever since [[The Karate Kid|Miyagi-sensei]] started calling Daniel Larusso "Daniel-san".

*** [[Fridge Logic|Even though 'Daniel-kun' would have been more appropriate, given the differences in their age and social standing.]]

== Video Games ==

* In [[Disgaea]], Laharl start to use yobisute on Flonne after a particular event in the story.

* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', Maeko Matsuo, the chief of security for the corporate stronghold on Noveria, freely uses honorifics in her otherwise straight English speech. She even uses -sama to refer to the Salarian director of the place, as well as {{spoiler|Matriarch Benezia after the geth start springing their attacks.}} Since ''Mass Effect'' is an American-made game, this is either an example of [[Shown Their Work]] or just an indication of otaku on the dev team.

** Given the presence of universal translators, probably the latter.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Useful Notes/Japanese Language]]

[[Category:Useful Notes/Japan]]

[[Category:Japanese Honorifics]]