Author Topic: Names in No. 6  (Read 4201 times)

AoYokai

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Names in No. 6
« on: February 19, 2015, 03:13:04 pm »
I don't know how much this really counts as analysis, but I noticed that the topic of names repeats itself a lot in No. 6. There are three type of characters as far as I'm concerned:

1. Characters with names: that's a pretty common thing that I have nothing to say about. Notice that the only characters that have actual names are either from No. 6 or originally from around No. 6 (such as Rikiga). Also, Shion's name being a flower is mentioned quite a lot. I wondered for a while about Yoming's name, because (I might have already said it somewhere) it sounds more Chinese than Japanese to me (than again I don't speak Japanese and I barely speak Chinese so...) If anyone knows how Yoming's name was spelled in Japanese or in Chinese that could shed some light on the subject.

2. Characters with no names: there are several characters that are only referred too by their title, such as the man in the lab coat, Nezumi's grandma, Shion's father, Inukashi's mother.... I tend to think that these characters don't have names only because they only took part in the story in other people's thoughts, or in the man in the lab coat's case, because Safu simply didn't know and couldn't ask for his name. Shion's father can also be related to the next category, because he called himself 'Shion' in beyond.

3. Characters that go by nicknames: yes, that's right. Nezumi's turn. Of course, he isn't the only one. I have to admit that I have very little to say about Nezumi's name, mostly because I think he doesn't care about this sort of things. Also, Eve? Such as, the person who ruined paradise by gaining knowledge? I wonder why that sounds famili--oh wait the beginning of No. 6. More in the 'I don't have a name 'cause I don't give a ****' category, Inukashi. Nothing more to add about that. But then we have other characters with pretty interesting concepts.

-Fennec: of all animals Atuko Asano could choose, fennec? And for a pretty important and cruel person, he's taking this sort of offensive nickname kinda easily, don't you think?
-Rou: as I said before only people from No. 6 have actual names. Did he change it in order to get rid of his past? Also, was he really an Elder when he arrived to that place?
-Elyurias: my personal favorite, Elyurias doesn't have a name and in reality, is by itself a being that can't be defined. Pretty cool, in my opinion :)
-No.6: I realize this is not a character *but* why name your cities after numbers? Don't you have more creative things than that? Also, they chose to keep the name after they started rebuilding it, which is pretty strange.



After writing this I realized that Sasori does have a name and he's not from No. 6 but nah you get my point. (Sasori is my favorite underrated character tbh)

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Vox

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2015, 04:05:33 pm »
Oh, I'm pretty sure that listenforthelove did a kanji analysis of people's names. I think it's relevant to this topic, so I wanted to link it, but I can't bloody well find it. @listenforthelove, help ;A;

listenforthelove

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2015, 04:09:41 pm »
EDIT: I was just gonna post this when I saw @Vox's comment, haha. See below for the link!


Ahh, thanks for starting this topic, @Aoyokai! Names in No. 6 are very interesting~

I hope it's okay if I comment on some points you raised there, since I researched most names in No. 6 a while ago. (Here's the post in case you're interested; it's mostly about meanings.)


In Yoming's case: the spelling of his name is a translator's choice on 9th avenue's part. If you use the Hepburn system, you would spell his name as Yômin with a long O sound (this is also the writing the English manga adopts, though they shorten it to Yomin). His name uses kanji: 楊眠. Not entirely sure where that -ng choice came from, but there you go.

Sasori's name is most likely a nickname, since it means 'Scorpion' and that's definitely the air he gives off; his character model resembles a scorpion too (presumably Rou named him and he likes to name people after animals: case in point, Nezumi. Funnily enough, they left 'Sasori' in the English manga, though they translated Nezumi and Inukashi... hm, I wonder if they missed it or if they consciously tried to get away with it and succeeded. Apparently 'Rat' was demanded on Kodansha Japan's side).

Elyurias is, I'm pretty sure, just as nonsensical in Japanese as it is in English. Which makes sense since it's an invented name, but it's strange it doesn't seem to have a deeper meaning whatsoever. (Unless someone has an idea! It does sound very close to SOMEthing to me, but I can't figure out what.) But yeah, it's not her real name anyway - which is just as well. That which we call a rose, by any other name etc ;)

I think the idea of numbering the cities was to make them as equal as possible - though of course numbering already includes some kind of hierarchy, so there's that. I think it was stated they kept the name of No. 6 for now since that was easiest? But it's been a while since I reread Beyond, so please correct me if I'm wrong.

You're absolutely right, only the people in No. 6 have 'proper' names, or at least names with kanji (Karan and Riko in the West Block have their names spelled in katakana, which has no meaning other than pronunciation). And most names seem to relate to plants and nature somehow, it's very interesting.


I find it funny Asano picked a fennec fox of all animals with large ears, haha. They're so cute! Maybe it's a 'don't judge by appearance' kind of thing. I assume he has a long standing friendship with the man in the lab coat and that that's why he takes the nickname from him and no-one else. But it's still curious no-one seems to know the Mayor's name or that he doesn't have some kind of title other than Mayor.

Weisel

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2015, 04:12:12 pm »
I think no one could agree on a new name for the city in Beyond, so they just stuck with No.6 for the time being.

Vox

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2015, 04:13:58 pm »
This is somewhat off track, but I really liked The Sun In Jericho's renaming of No. 6 to Jericho. That was just a really good fic. And I think Asano Atsuko would appreciate the Biblical reference.

One time I tried to start a Nezumi/Inukashi naming contest, but no one was interested. What a tragedy.

Weisel

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2015, 04:33:24 pm »
@Vox Nezumi's real name is Jessica. End of story.

Ahiku

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2015, 04:52:10 pm »
Quote
@Vox Nezumi's real name is Jessica. End of story.

Oh god o.o

Ah...I've read a fanfiction (I think it's called "hands of time" or something like that) where the author called Nezumi "Niyol".
Somehow I liked that. X'D I guess it would be something like that... Something melodic and uncommon and elegant.

As for No. 6's name... I guess they had better things to do than renaming it. I mean, what's in a name? Nezumi taught Shion that names are not important... just like Nezumi is Nezumi.
And No. 6 is No. 6... it's not the name that sucked and made it evil, it were the people.
In the end, changing the name doesn't change the city at all. You have to work hard to accomplish that. (And it would also suck when people in other cities want to sent packages and letters to people in No. 6 X'D)

Edit: Btw... "Yoming" is "Yomin" in the German version. ^^ I was also confused about his name in the 9th avenue translation, since ming sounds Chinsese indeed.

listenforthelove

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2015, 04:59:09 pm »
Edit: Btw... "Yoming" is "Yomin" in the German version. ^^ I was also confused about his name in the 9th avenue translation, since ming sounds Chinsese indeed.

Yeah, so did the English manga... I'm still not sure why 9th avenue decided to go with Yoming. It kinda does sound Chinese, maybe they wanted to emphasize that? Oh well.

-checks post above- oh hang on, I'm just repeating myself here, oops.

But yeah, I suppose no-one really dares to name Nezumi XD Niyol sounds pretty cool though, and I guess it sounds close enough to Nezumi not to sound too jarringly different?
(I am severely disappointed Nezumi didn't quote 'a rose by any other name' to Shion when he asked for his real name, by the way. Come on Nezumi, Shakespeare! Oh well I'll just stuff it in my fic then. Your loss, Nezumi.)

Weisel

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2015, 05:00:20 pm »
I had to look it up, but what a perfect name. Niyol means "wind." Of course.

Ahiku

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #9 on: February 20, 2015, 05:35:48 am »
Oh...so it's really fitting! o.o I come to like it more and more. X'D
And it doesn't sound awkward. XD

Hmm...and for Inukashi.
Somehow I'd choose an African name, since Inukashi is tanned. And I think that their ancestors probably came from another city state in the south.
There are some names you can use for males and females.
I like the name Imani... it also sounds a bit Japanese and you can write it in Katakana easily.
It's for f & m  and means "faith" in Swahili and  it's of Arabic origin. 





Vox

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #10 on: February 20, 2015, 09:45:56 am »
Oh, Imani is a great name! I love it!
I think Niyol is okay, but I'm not sure how to pronounce it. Nezumi Jessica is just really hard to name.


Ahiku

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #11 on: February 20, 2015, 10:44:41 am »
Hmm...this webpage says:
† approx English pronunciation for Niyol: N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)" ; Y as in "you (Y.UW)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)"

AoYokai

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2015, 12:04:12 pm »
I'm kinda reading this secretly in the middle of class so I'll read everything properly again in a few hours and answer it, but I really wanted to comment on @Vox's reference to Jericho. It's kinda of a weird name to choose, don't you think? Been a while since I studied the Hebrew Bible, but if I remember correctly, after being completely destroyed it was cursed so that whoever rebuilds it will have his eldest die at the beginning of the building process, and his youngest at the end of it. It did happen to someone in the end, btw. Not the most fun city in the Bible.... Wouldn't want to name my city after Jericho ^^

Vox

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2015, 03:33:25 pm »
@AoYokai actually, that's why I'm interested in it. I want to know why the author of the fic chose it. Like, is there some reference going on that I don't understand? And it sounds nice. I mean, it's a nice word. welp, it's good that shion and nezumi can't make kids anyway

Ahiku

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Re: Names in No. 6
« Reply #14 on: February 21, 2015, 04:59:25 am »
Quote
welp, it's good that shion and nezumi can't make kids anyway

WHUS? (;_;) Why do you say something so horrible?



Just kiddin'! I know the joke gets old... but well... I like Mao. XD I should draw another Mao doujin...but I don't have any ideas... I'm just so exhausted. >,<

Ah... concerning Jericho... did you try and ask the author? ^^ I mean there should be a possibility to contact them when the story is still online.