Japanese Honorifics: Difference between revisions

More and more often, they are [[Too Long; Didn't Dub|used without explanation]] in English translations.

 

 

See also [[Japanese Pronouns]], [[Keigo]], [[Korean Honorifics]].

 

;''-dono''

 

;''-kun''

* "''[[Sempai-Kohai|Sempai]]''" is frequently used without explanation in English dubs these days.

* ''[[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:

* As expected in a series revolving around the concept that words are spells, in ''[[Loveless]]'' honorifics are so important that the English translation of the manga simply decides to keep all of them.

** To start off, after expecting Ritsuka to know him, Soubi addresses Ritsuka as just 'Ritsuka' upon meeting him. Ritsuka in turn starts immediately addressing him as simply 'Soubi' without any honorifics.

** Mei calls Mimuro by just Mimuro, and complains when Mimuro doesn't address her as 'Mei-chan' or 'Mei' (he thinks it's creepy to use their real names), when even Neisei refers to her this way.

** Mimuro admits to being unable to deny Neisei any requests because when making them he addresses him directly, using "Senpai, please" to ask for favors.

* In ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'', Haruhi refers to Koizumi as "Koizumi-kun" but Kyon just as [[Hey, You|"Kyon"]], implying more familiarity with the later. The uber-polite Koizumi addresses all the girls as "-san" which translates as "miss" in the English dubs ("Suzumiya-san" becomes "Miss Suzumiya.") Kyon also addresses the girls as "-san" except Haruhi, with whom he is on [[First-Name Basis]], but doesn't use honorifics when speaking to [[Vitriolic Best Buds|Koizumi.]]

** 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."

*** Whenever Ranma ''does'' use ''-sempai'' he tends to either deliberately mispronounce Kuno's name so it sounds more like "no abilities" than "nine abilities", or (in the manga, naturally) use katakana to denote a mocking pronunciation of the term.

*** 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.

* During a [[Flash Back]] in one of the later episodes of ''[[Steel Angel Kurumi 2]]'', the English dub actually has a child using the ''-tan'' honorific without explanation.

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

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', within Team 7 alone, the kids use ''-sensei'' with Kakashi; this makes it into the English dub.

** Since Mikiri-chan is such a [[Cheerful Child]], she uses the "-chan" honorific with all people, regardless of the appropriateness.

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

** In the manga, however, he doesn't seem to mind Judai just calling him "Manjoume", or Sho calling in "Manjoume-kun".

** 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]].

** At one point, when trying to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I8IFIlzLpY lure Yomi into a "trap"], Tomo addresses her quite unusually as "Koyomi-kun". For some reason that does not alert her.

** 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."

* [[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha|Nanoha, Dr. Ishida and Shamal]] use "-chan" on Vita, who looks like a young girl, despite her being [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]]. Nanoha has Subaru and Teana call her "Nanoha-san" instead of her rank.

** 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.)

** Soi Fong refers to Yoruichi as "Yoruichi-sama". Yoruichi tried to make her drop it, to no avail.

** Rukia refers to Byakuya as "nii-sama", emphasizing her [[Big Brother Worship|respect]] for him and the [[Aloof Big Brother|distance between them]]. In contrast, Karin and Yuzu call Ichigo by much more affectionately terms: "Ichi-nii" and "Onii-chan", respectively.

** The Fullbringers are a rather curious case, as they tend to refer to each other and others in ''yubisute'' aka '''not''' using any pronouns. It's slightly more understandable with Jackie Tristan (foreigner) and Yukio Hans Voralberna ([[But Not Too Foreign|half-foreigner]], most likely with Scandinavian heritage).

* In ''[[Fruits Basket]]'', ultra-rude Kyo Sohma never uses honorifics (and more often than not, doesn't use names, relying on "you"), while ultra-polite Tohru Honda uses "-san" for ''everyone'' outside of four characters who get "-kun" and two who get "-chan". Also, she nearly always refers to people exclusively how she was first introduced to them, followed by "-san", resulting in Ritsu becoming "Ritchan-san", Mitsuru as "Mitchan-san", and Kazuma "Shishou-san."

** There's also Shigure bargining with Haru to let Yuki live with him, what Shigure wants is for Haru to call him Sensei, he is a writer after all (but no one respects him enough to call him sensei he says). Hatori also gets referred to as sensei occasionally (normally not by the rest of the zodiac though). Kazuma too until Kyo decides he's shishou which is the honorific most people call him now, the older ones tend to use sensei or dono though.

*** Kazuma is also called 'Shihan' by his young martial arts charges (except Kyo). The translator's note says that Shihan = Shishou.

* In ''[[Nagasarete Airantou]]'', Kagami (a 27-year old woman with a very girly mind) insists the teenage Ikuto call her Kagami-chan, actually attacking him when he refers to her as Kagami-san. This is to contrast her with her far more mature eleven-year-old daughter.

** This is actually common in Japan with young women thanks to [[Kawaii|kawaii culture]] and the [[Not Allowed to Grow Up|pressure for women to act young and innocent]].

* [[Mahou Sensei Negima]] gives an example of using 'kun' on females with Takamichi referring to all his students in this manner. Asuna-kun, Konoe-kun etc.

** Many of Negi's students also refer to him consistantly using -bozu, creating both an expression of playful endearment and a [[Punny Name]], since the full name Negi-bozu can also be translated as 'Onion-head'. Negi himself refers to all of the girls as -san, since he's a [[Keigo]] user; the time he referred to a girl merely by her name ("Anya"), the girls actually were ''worried'' since it was obvious he felt close enough to her to drop honorifics.

* Because his Li persona is so seemingly harmless and [[Adorkable]], Black Shinigami Hei of ''[[Darker Than Black]]'' is generally addressed as "Li-kun" by [[Hero Antagonist]] Kirihara when interacting with him in that identity.

* In ''[[The Tatami Galaxy]]'', the nameless protagonist is always addressed as "sempai" by potential love-interest Akashi, since he's a bit older than her.

** When he gave Athena the childhood nickname of 'A-Tan', it was pointed out how the nickname made her name longer to write out.

* -me is dropped left and right in ''[[Digimon Xros Wars]]''. Even Akari, the resident [[Team Mom]], does not abstain.

** When Ritsu is about to give Megumi a gift<ref>a picture of Mio eating with a fork</ref> for bringing study guides, she calls her "-dono".

* Toward the end of [[Shuffle]], Asa makes Rin stop calling her "Asa-senpai" {{spoiler|after they get into a relationship}}, and he starts calling her "Asa-san" instead.

* In ''[[Hidamari Sketch]] X365", when Miyako calls Yuno "Yuno-chan", Yuno tells her she doesn't need to add the "-chan", so Miyako tries out her name with various honorifics and suffixes, of which only "-pi" (the "cutesy for small pets" one) is currently listed here. Then Yuno addresses Miyako, who responds "Nani, Yuno'''cchi'''?" This causes a light show which expresses approval of this honorific.

** When the main characters go to a bathhouse (in both the anime and the manga) they see "masa no yu" written in kanji on the chimney outside. But then they see it written on curtains in hiragana, intended to be read as columns of one letter each (right to left). Yuno and Miyako mistakenly read it as though it were intended to be read horizontally (left to right), i.e. "Yuno-'''sama'''" Yuno is shocked, and Miyako wonders why she's a VIP there.

** When Yuno and Miyako are looking for dried squid to bring Sae, Yuno finds a package calling the contents "Ika-kun". In the manga, Miyako says she doesn't think it's an honorific in this case; in the anime, she explains that it probably means "jerky".

** When the girls are watching the [[Show Within a Show]] ''Lovely Detective Chocolat'', the girls muse that Chocoyama is getting too old to be called "-kun".

** Tomoya gets upset whenever his father calls him "Tomoya-kun" instead of just "Tomoya", because it implies that he is no closer to his father than a friend.

** 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]].

* [[Keroro Gunsou|Keroro]] refers to everyone in the Hinata family by the respectful honorific ''-dono''. Yes, even Natsumi (who constantly abuses 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".

* Just ''count'' how many times [[Fullmetal Alchemist|Alphonse Elric]] says ''nii-san'' while watching ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist|Brotherhood]].''

** Interestingly, the admiral in episode 8 uses ''kun'' with KAJI, of all people. [[Even the Guys Want Him]]?

*** [[Flat What|What?]]

* In ''[[Saint Beast]]'', while the god Zeus is called Zeus-sama by most angels, some of the high-rank angels will use -dono for both Zeus and each other to convey (often sarcastic) respect without belittling their own station. When not making subtle digs at each other they almost always drop honorifics altogether, whether friends or enemies.

* In ''[[G Gundam]]'', Domon used to refer to Master Asia as Shishou since he was his mentor and martial arts teacher, but stopped doing so after Asia's [[Face Heel Turn]]. Since Domon has ''very'' rough speech patterns (he uses ''ore'' and ''omae'' to refer to himself and others, and almost never uses honorifics on people unless they're highly-ranked), he calls Master Asia by full name from then on, which is seen as Domon losing '''all''' of his respect for Asia. {{spoiler|When Domon calls him ''shishou'' again, it's when the old man is actually ''dying'', and Asia himself is very surprised at that fact. [[Tear Jerker|"After all I've done to you... do you still respect me and call me 'master'?]]"}})

* In ''[[Futari Ecchi]]'' the young [[Happily Married]] couple Makoto and Yura keep calling each other using the honorific "-san". (Oh, yes, even while having sex!) In one episode Makoto's colleagues at work laugh at this fact, considering it too old-fashioned and possibly a sign of Makoto's submissiveness towards Yura. This makes him try to behave towards Yura like a typical dominant macho Japanese husband, but comically fails at this.

* The Hitaachin twins often attach "-dono/tono" to [[White Prince|Tamaki's]] name, teasing his status as "King" of the [[Host Club]].

** Also, when Nagisa is pretending not to be afraid of Ika anymore, she calls her "-senpai".

* In ''[[GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class]]'', Miyabi calls even her friends "-dono".

* [[Captain Tsubasa]] gives rather interesting spins on the trope, depending heavily on who is talking. On one hand we have [[Nice Guy]] Tsubasa, male [[Yamato Nadeshiko]] Misaki and [[Princely Young Man]] Misugi, who are rather soft-spoken and refer to their fellow sport boys as "-kun". On the other side of the spectre there's low-class [[Self-Made Man]] Kojiro Hyuuga, who uses ''yobisute'' aka no pronouns with people his age. In the middle there's Genzo Wakabayashi, who also is a [[Princely Young Man]] but, unlike Misugi, tends to use ''yobisute'' with others.

* 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''.

** 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)

* In Durarara, Izaya refers to Shizuo as "Shizu-chan" (dubbed as Shizzy) while Shizuo refers to Izaya as "Izaya-kun."

**** Or Miyagi's just a polite, humble guy anyway. He refers to almost ''everyone'' as -san.

* "''Sempai''" and "''Kohai''" were sprinkled liberally throughout the movie of Michael Chrichton's ''[[Rising Sun]]'' by Sean Connery (the Sempai) and Wesley Snipes (the Kohai).

 

 

== Live Action TV ==

* Alex calls ''Nikita'' "''Sensei''" in the revamped version of the show starring Maggie Q as Nikita.

* In one of the [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] novels, Giles gets "Watcher-San" and "Giles-Sensei".

 

** One worthy of note: In ''3'', Junpei consistently calls Yukari "Yuka-tan". Aside from showing how little politeness he possesses, it's also a heck of a bad pun.

*** Actually, this one's a [[Woolseyism]]. In the original Japanese, Junpei addresses Yukari in yobisute, which is meant to be impolite but wouldn't mean anything to an English-speaker, so they had him call her -tan to get the message across to anyone with the basic understanding of Japanese culture that Persona assumes.

* The English version of ''[[Shenmue]]'' features the cast using honorifics.

** But everyone in Ryo's town always refers to him as "Baby-boy Ryo", much to his dismay.

* ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'': Cyan's way of speech in the Japanese version is peppered with the phrase "de gozaru", which is typically used by samurai (his class) in media. This became the basis for his use of medieval terminology like "thou" in the [[Woolseyism|Woolsey-penned script]].

* In ''[[Mega Man X|Mega Man X8]]'', Pallette, a newly-recruited [[Bridge Bunnies|Bridge Bunny]], addresses X with a truncated "Ekku-san".

 

== Others ==

 

{{reflist}}