Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero is a story notable for several reasons, one of them being its portrayal of a semi-theocratic society. We are shown hints of the setting’s god-tree religion affecting the education system and government, and obviously religious undertones would make into the everyday lives of ordinary households and leave a mark on the naming patterns of children. In fact, every character in the show bears some mark of this religious influence.
Starting from the Washio generation:
Tougou Mimori’s name means simply "beautiful forest".
Minowa Gin’s name means "silver", which is formed with the "metal" and "root" radicals. The "root" reference probably doubles as an indication of Gin’s role in the group as the one keeping the other two safe.
Nogi Sonoko’s name refers to a "garden", which is most understandable if you imagine Japan’s extensive shrine and temple gardens. As a sacred space, the gardens create a small world to house the Japanese gods. On the one hand, this represents the inner sanctum that the Nogi family, as one of the most influential Taisha families, is responsible for. On the other hand, the Shikoku barrier can be seen as a miniature garden – a place of purity cut away from the impurity (death and destruction) of the world outside. In this sense, Sonoko’s name represents all the beauty left in the world as well as humanity’s hope.
During her time spent with the Washio family Mimori’s name was changed to Sumi. It is a special name insofar as it makes sense for it to be given with a clear cut purpose in mind. If you ignore the kanji and just look at the reading, the name refers to "purity", hinting at Mimori’s role as a miko/shrine maiden to the god-tree. As regards the kanji, the "su" part once more refers to Mimori’s "duty", while the "mi" part signifying beauty is borrowed from her original name.
For the younger generation.
Inubouzaki Itsuki’s name is the "great tree" straight out of the god-tree compound.
Miyoshi Karin has the "two-branch tree" radical slipped into the second kanji of her name, "rin", meaning "elegant, of stern or highly composed demeanor". Interestingly, that is the older variant of the kanji, with the newer one having a "shrine" radical in place of the "two-branch tree".
Yuuki Yuuna’s name seems to have no trees in it at first glance, but that is because the upper part of the "na" kanji was simplified along the way. With the kanji originally composed of a "tree" over a "shrine", the original meaning was that of a "fruit offered to the gods". The fruit in question was offered when seeking guidance from the heavens, so the kanji also meant *what should be done?". With the two "yuu" kanji in her name referring to "bringing people together" and "friendship" respectively, Yuuna seems to ask the question and provide the answer all in one.
Inubouzaki Fuu is a mystery to me. If you dig far enough back, the kanji for "fuu" seems to have originated from the same inscription as the 鳳 kanji referring to the divine bird (phoenix), which was considered a messenger from the gods. The contemporary form of the kanji replaces the "bird" radical inside for what is now most often known as the "bug" radical, which in this case represents reptiles; as beliefs changed, people came to believe it were dragons, rather than birds, that lived in the skies and controlled the winds.
But a "fuu" name could have contained a god or tree reference much more easily just by sticking a "tree" radical to the "wind" kanji discussed above to get the "maple" kanji 楓 – the reading can stay as-is. Whether this was intentionally avoided (to point to Fuu as the one least loyal to Taisha, especially towards the end of the story?), or whether there was some other reasoning for this particular name/writing, I cannot be sure.
The last names in Yuyuyu also matter, especially with the Washio generation. Other than the Nogi last name meaning “of the tree”, making them the obvious big-shots in this world, there are many significant real-world references packed in there:
- Mimori likes being called by her last name, Tougou, because it tickles her history-otaku and nationalist fancy. She happens to share her last name with the famous Japanese admiral Tougou Heihachirou.
- Sonoko shares her last name with Nogi Maresuke, a famous Japanese general
- The above two lived in the same times, known as the “Nogi of the land and Tougou of the sea”, and were acquainted with each other… whether the two got along is a different matter
- When general Nogi died, he was deified as a god of war (and education and marital affairs) and a shrine was built for him… partly for the purposes of the Japanese army’s propaganda
- The above happened when Tougou was still alive, and Tougou was appalled to hear that the navy planned to do the same to him to regain the balance of power between the land forces and the navy. He strongly expressed his objection to the idea… but was deified anyway after his death (there are three shrines bearing his name)
Readers can probably see how the above parallels the story of Yuyuyu with Mimori learning that Sonoko was turned into a god for the Taisha’s benefit, only to be set on the same track against her will. Yuyuyu questions whether in creating heroes, we are not taking advantage of people for our own benefit.
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Additional Notes:
Minowa Gin’s short, one kanji name gives off a somewhat boyish image.
I particularly like the usage of the “ko” ending in Sonoko’s name. In contemporary usage, the “ko” ending for female names ended up being so popular that around 1960, almost all women had names ending that way. That in itself became so clichéd that now parents often actively avoid adding “ko” to names. For this reason, the “ko” ending in anime is perfect to create “average Jane” background characters.
However, historically, the “ko” ending was reserved only for females of the highest social class, holding offices at court and in administration. The later popularity of the name came exactly because the “commoners” envied the image of sophistication and prosperity the ending carried.
With Yuyuyu bringing back social elements of Japan’s past, Sonoko’s name carries with it the elegance and dignity of the well-bred part of society.
Reblogged this on The Yuri Nation and commented:
For YuYuYu fans such as I who are curious to the deeper meaning behind the symbolism, religion and names used on the show.
Really great post here 🙂
I’m not sure where exactly I should post this; I nominated you for the Liebster Award: http://otakuacademia.com/2015/07/27/lynlynsays-nominated-me-for-the-liebster-award/
Regardless of whether you want to participate with this or not, it’s a great blog. I look forward to more of your content.
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed reading – no better reward for me.
You might have noted the leisurely pace of this blog – it might take me some time to put up an award post, but I’m happy you found the content interesting!
Like the “-ko” ending for girls’ names, indicating high class and sophistication of the bearer of such names in the past, does the “O-” name prefix have any meaning? I commonly see them in commoner girls in anime.
Sorry for the late response.
In the case of an “o” prefix, I think we need to ask two questions to make the answer meaningful:
1) Is the prefix an integral part of the name itself, or part of a form of address?
In older times, adding the “o” prefix to a female’s name (not used for males) was one of the ways to create an affectionate form of address. In this sense, you might see it used more often between commoners, as such small symbols of affection would be much easier to use between commoners without being seen as improper. The social elites always had a more nuanced, and stricter, approach to what form of address you are allowed to use towards another person, and a lot of the time a woman’s name was avoided altogether as too intimate.
2) If it’s part of the name, how is it written?
With the “ko” ending being linked almost exclusively to the “子” kanji, it is easier to talk about the meaning it represents. With “o”, there are many possible ways to write it. You can write it with the kanji for “small” 「小」, for example, and small implies cute in Japanese aesthetics. But there are many more ways and you can’t ignore the kanji here.
On a side note, there is a part of Japanese polite speech patterns (both contemporary and old) where you add the “o” prefix to nouns which require respect or might cause displeasure to your conversation partner if touched upon carelessly: money, health etc. This is common in polite speech/formal situations, but overwhelmingly more common in female speech “onnakotoba/女言葉” than with males. As such, there is an image of politeness and elegance, as well as femininity, to the “o” prefix, some of which might rub off on names using the prefix.
Hope this helps!
That was a very detailed response and it’s just what I need. Thanks a lot!
Heya! I am seeking for Anime bloggers and found your blog. I could not find your email here, can you please send me an email: alysonburston[at]live.com — It is regarding writing about Manga & Anime type of offer. This isn’t spam btw. Thanks.
Finally found this article after what feels like years of having searched for it. An excellent and insightful write-up. I was particularly intrigued by Togo and Sonoko’s namesakes, given their position in Japanese history.
I was wondering if you were up to date on NoWaYu, and could tell me about the significance of the first generation Heroes’ naming conventions, specifically Wakaba’s. I want to know if there are more connections between her and Count Nogi than there are between him and her descendant.
Anyway, considering that its been over a year and a half since this article’s comment feed has been active, I can’t say I really expect an answer back but its the thought that counts.
I’m glad you enjoyed reading the post and thank you for leaving a comment. Sorry for the late response.
I’m not exactly up to date with Yuyuyu spin-off information, as I’d prefer to avoid excessive spoilers. But, regarding Wakaba’s name, it refers to “young leaves”, or those that sprout in early summer and are still soft.
Part of it refers to the strong relation to trees (the god-tree in particular) which the Nogi family boasts as the high-breeds of their society. If you view leaves as children of trees, it can basically be read as a claim of divine pedigree (common in Japanese culture – with the emperor most famously claiming direct relation to gods.)
On a story level, I’d see the emphasis on young leaves as pointing to Wakaba’s role as predecessor to the generations of magical girls coming after NoWaYu. There might be a hint of innocence/naivety intended, too, as we’re talking about the young and still-frail form of leaves. As mentioned, I’m not up to date on the details, so I won’t go too far with the speculation.
Regarding Count Nogi – I was surprised enough at the amount of historical references in YuYuYu as it is, considering how the Japanese are wont to avoid anything related to the totalitarian tendencies of the their historical military (and thus to the event of WWII). So I don’t expect anymore specific references, but who knows.
Thanks again for the comments!
Nope, even not having read NoWaYu (you really should though tbh, but you could probably wait until it ends at this point I suppose), you’re spot on with that analysis.
Not to delve too deeply for your sake, but yeah, Wakaba’s story focuses on her actions being driven by vengeance against the Vertexes and why its those ambitions driven by revenge that make her an incompetent leader and reckless fighter that leads to discord between her and her teammates. That all got patched up rather quickly, but we’re now at the point in the story where given everything she’s experienced, her ability as a leader and her mental state will be severely tested now that she will be forced to question what she’s really fighting for and why. I won’t disclose the details on that, but let’s just say, the Hero Club had a picnic in comparison.
She is also very prone to naivety, the novel and the drama CDs/radio shows have a running joke about her clueless behavior around her friends. And is extremely dense when it comes to her girlfriend, Hinata.
It’s come down to fans calling her “Bakaba”, people joking that she’s Tsubasa from Symphogear with a lower IQ and even in universe everyone calling her the “wife” even though her ikemen/princely appearance and disposition would designate her the husband if the story went by traditional gender norms.
As for why I brought up Count Nogi, its because I had a headcanon I wanted to share, but considering that you’ve not read the novel/manga I can’t discuss it, so I’ll hold off on that for now.
Thank you for replying! 🙂
Reblogged this on haveyouexperiencedshitsurakuen and commented:
Finally found this article after what feels like years of having searched for it. An excellent and insightful write-up. I was particularly intrigued by Togo and Sonoko’s namesakes, given their position in Japanese history.
I was wondering if you were up to date on NoWaYu, and could tell me about the significance of the first generation Heroes’ naming conventions, specifically Wakaba’s. I want to know if there are more connections between her and Count Nogi than there are between him and her descendant.
Anyway, considering that its been over a year and a half since this article’s comment feed has been active, I can’t say I really expect an answer back but its the thought that counts.