Re: Japanese name-suffixes (was Re: Moi, le Kou)

Yoon Ha Lee wrote:
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DOUGLAS KOLLER <LAOKOU@...>
>
> >From: "Yoon Ha Lee"
> >
>
> >American." "Thank you??"). Since maids would address the young master of > >an
> >upper class household with -chan, in an auntie-clueless bachelor
> >relationship, that's what I got. I didn't hear -dono used a lot while in
> >Japan. My dictionary says it's a bit more polite than the generic -san
> >or -sama.
>
> Kenshin is set in the Meiji Restoration, and it's only used when
> addressing
> the female characters, but that may be coincidence.
We've caught the -dono being used in "Tenchi Muyo!", by a character who
has a *very* long lifespan, and so who could easily be using terms which
are considered archaic by others.

> >
> >No, you're not a boku. Boku is guys. Ore is too butch to be believed -- I
> >couldn't use that with a straight face unless I was mimicking a yakuza or
> >something. Boku can fit into that latter-day Prince Andrew persona I
> >described above.
"Boku" is apparently coming into more common usage for girls as well. As
far as I've seen, "ore" is exclusively used by males, and generally by
the tougher-sounding ones.

>
> <G>  There's an anime called _Utena_, I think, that features a pink-haired
> girl at some bizarre private school who goes around in boys' clothes and
> uses "boku" for herself.  (The series, from what I've seen of it, is
> incredibly bizarre.)  Kenshin in _Rurouni Kenshin_ only uses "ore" in his
> hitokiri battousai mode...<pealing into laughter at the thought of
> Kenshin-the-yakuza with his sakaba-to>
>
I love "Utena" (full titles: "Shoujo Kakumei Utena" and "Revolutionary
Girl Utena"), and have both the full anime television series and all the
volumes of the manga. Utena herself definitely uses the "boku" term for
herself. And yes, it's a bizarre story. Maybe that's why I like it.

Laurie
milo@winternet.com
http://www.winternet.com/~milo <-- check the Gallery page. What, do I
like "Utena"? Naaah.
--
"Being bright does not grant an immunity to doing idiotic
things; more like, it just enlarges the possible scope."
     -- Lois McMaster Bujold