Forum - View topicCalling parents by their first name?
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HMMcKamikaze
 Posts: 189 |
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I was watching Ponyo on a Cliff recently, and I noticed that Sousuke was on a first name basis with his mother and father, and later, Ponyo called her father by his first name also. I've never seen or heard of people doing this in Japan, especially considering it's even a little awkward here in the U.S., so why are they doing it in this anime?
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Jih2
 Posts: 403 Location: East coast |
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Perhaps it's to emphasize a friendship rather than a kinship or to show a divide between the child and his parents. I'm not very knowledgeable in Japanese so I probably can't provide the exact answer but those would be my guesses. Sounds interesting though.
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Perhaps there is a reason since it's in this particular anime that you have mentioned, but I have very, very rarely seen it done at all. This comes from a person who spent nine years in Japan, befriending Japanese friends and everything. None of my friends whose parents I met never referred to their parents by their first names. I think though, there is a case of another anime. If you know of the series Grappler Baki, Baki spoiler[is constantly trying to be better than his father Yuujiro, through rigorous training and fights. When Yuujiro kills one of Baki's best friends, Baki in a fit of rage yells out Yuujiro's names several times, while Yuujiro is just grinning. ]That's the only case that I would know of.
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the Rancorous
 Posts: 2248 Location: Sac, Ca USA |
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From what I've seen here in America, kids who call their parents by their first names do it out of a sort of resentment for them; not even acknowledging the fact that their the parent: "yeah, I'm not even going to call you 'mom' or 'dad,'" they're 'just another person' to them. Seeing as how the Japanese seem to be big on honorifics and name usage (first name basis with anybody seems to be limited to close friendship or lack of respect), I can only guess that its somewhat the same deal there. But, I have no knowledge whatsoever of the series you're referring to, so it could very well be something entirely different.
Sorry if this doesn't help much... |
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Kimiko_0
 Posts: 1797 Location: Leiden, NL, EU |
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Yes, I found that curious too. Perhaps Lisa and Kouichi are 'modern' parents who want to treat their child as an equal? At least that's the explanation I've heard from families who do that here.
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JacobC
ANN Past Staff
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Yeah. In the case of most anime I've seen, though, if the character really disrespects their parent and doesn't want to acknowledge them, they don't refer to them by their real names even then. I usually hear "ano hito" or "that person" in referring to someone they prefer not to regard. In person, if they refer to them in first person at all, it's usually "kii-sama" an ironically respectful sounding term that is anything but. It's a very unkind way of saying "you," and if they REALLY don't like 'em, maybe even "teme!" I think Edward Elric does this, while Alphonse sticks with "tou-san." (Forgive my spelling if it's off, I'm just sounding the words out.) I think Ponyo is just doing something different. It would be interesting to find out why he refers to his parents by name. 
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HMMcKamikaze
Posts: 189 |
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Considering this is a Miyazaki film, it's pretty obvious that the kids are not referring to their parents that way over a lack of love, though no other explanation readily presents itself. I guess it could quite possibly be "modern parenting."
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9903 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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I think it's just the opposite: Hayao and Goro are never in good terms, and that fact is not a secret. |
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_Earthwyrm_
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Speaking as someone who refers to their father by name and their mother by 'Mum', but who harbours no resentment for either - I don't think it's wise to jump to the conclusion of resentment in such cases. Sometimes the reasoning can be entirely arbritary; even as a very young infant, I always called my father by name. Of course, real world reasoning is kind of tangential to this discussion, since there's usually a meaningful reason for such things in fiction... but I just thought I'd point out that in real life, sometimes such distinctions are meaningless. |
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abynormal
 Posts: 427 Location: Louisiana |
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For a country with as rigid a social structure as Japan's, calling someone by their first name either indicates close familiarity or disrespect. Calling a parent by their first name in Japan is a clear sign of having no respect at all for them. Another example is Toradora!, where the main character always refers to his mom by her first name and doesn't even bother with an honorific. Doing so may be more permissible in other societies, but I don't think it would fly in Japan.
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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This is all quite true, and I would subscribe to the "lack of respect" interpretation, too -- but please take care not to confuse "lack of respect" with "lack of love". Taking the example from Toradora, the relationship between the main character and his mother is more akin to that of two people from the same age group. His mother is young and scatterbrained, and it's not easy to respect that. She's more like a ditzy sister than a mother. But there is clearly love in their relationship. - abunai |
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7585 Location: Wales |
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The only other example that coems to mind at the moment is Stellvia, where Shima calls her mother "Chi-chan", I think mostly because they were not on good terms or possibly because she thought of her own mother as rather childish
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Kimiko_0
Posts: 1797 Location: Leiden, NL, EU |
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Stellvia's Shima calling her mother by first name is a good example of a child resenting their parent I think. At least at the beginning of the series they're on very bad terms.
That doesn't work for Ponyo however, because Sousuke clearly loves both of his parents, and they love him. And despite Hayao Miyazaki having had some trouble with his own son (regarding his directing Tales From Earthsea), I wouldn't expect to find lasting resentment between children and parents in his movies. I wonder if this will or has come up in interviews with Miyazaki. |
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