Hello r/japanese
I had a post from another reddit, but thought this would be a good place for it too (and probably the better place).
I just recently started watching My Hero Academia. Ive never really been into Anime (Nothing against it, just never got into it). I started researching it to be able to get a good gift for a friend who is really into it.
I do have a question. This is probably more based in Japanese culture and my ignorance of it, but I wanted to see if anyone here could ask.
Is there a reason their names seem inter-changeable?? Take Izuku Midoriya. Most of the time they call him Midoriya, even thou it is positioned like a last name or Sur name, but then he has a sign on his bedroom door with “Izuku”. Then there is Katsuki Bakugo, and he is consistently called both. Midoriya always calls him Katsuki (Or Katchka? something like that) but then everyone else calls him Bakugo.
My assumption was that it has something to do with familiarity with people (IE the closer you are or better you know someone you use the first name and otherwise use the last name) but I would assume then that Allmight would call him Izuku as they have grown pretty close. So I just wanted to know if there was a reason.
Sorry if this is way off point/topic for this sub.
2 comments
Calling someone by their family name is default (unless they are a little kid, like elementary school or less).
Calling someone by their given name or nickname depends on a lot of factors. It could be familiarity, it could be that the person prefers their given name or nickname, it also could be the speaker’s preference.
Also, there are other factors that determine which name someone is called, such as status, hierarchical relationship to the speaker, how old they were when you met them, personality of the person, formality of the situation, etc.
Think of your Japanese “last name” as your clan. I guess that’s the best explanation I can give you.
“First names” are informal and personal. My Japanese grandmother would call me by my first name, not my clan name. Someone outside my family could refer to me as my clan name, my first name if we were good friends.