Part Four: Twenty Entries

     In the Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn anime, Eudial can perform her Fire Buster, Mimete can perform her Charm Buster, and Viluy can perform her Mosaic Buster.  Not only can they perform their respective powers, they also perform them at least once on screen.  In the manga, Cyprine performs her Ribbon Buster, and Tellu performs her Mandragora Buster.  Those two witches do not perform their respective powers on screen in the anime, so some fans think that the maneuvers cannot be performed in the anime.  However, according to the second Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn S Nakayoshi Anime Album, Cyprine and Tellu can perform their maneuvers in the anime, too.

     Several Web sites claim that Viluy can perform a maneuver named “Motaku Buster.”  However, “Motaku” should really be Mozaiku, which means Mosaic.  Some fans say that Cyprine can perform a maneuver named “Twin Buster,” but that name does not appear in the Japanese anime and manga sources.

     If we are dealing with two or more opposing viewpoints or theories, and there is no way to discredit them completely, we should conclude that they are equally reasonable because they have advantages and disadvantages, right?

     The reasonable answer is “not necessarily.”  Not all theories or viewpoints are created equal.  Some explain the facts better than others.  There are arguments for both the ether theory of light (which claims that light waves need to travel through something called the ether) and the special theory of relativity (which disregards the ether because it is not thought to be relevant), but one theory is dependent on something that has not been detected (the ether).  Someone may see apparent advantages and disadvantages for the notion that the Earth is round, but that does not mean that the notion that the Earth is flat is just as reasonable.

     A theory that has more terms (parts) than another is inferior, regardless of if it can explain the data equally well as another.  If theory A is just as accurate as theory B but requires more terms, then those extra terms have to be redundant.  Terms that are presented as unknowns are impossible to evaluate.  Such terms are useless because they do not explain anything.  Occam’s razor, or the principle of parsimony, is used to “shave off” those redundant terms.  Unfortunately, Occam’s razor is often abused; some people use it to mean that “the simplest theory wins.”  However, Occam’s razor also takes into consideration accuracy.  Two better ways of expressing Occam’s razor are “the simplest workable, accurate theory is more likely to be right” or “plurality should not be posited without necessity.”  The more leaps in logic a theory has, the less likely it is right.

     Suppose a certain katakana-character combination can approximate two different terms with different spellings.  If the context in which the katakana-character combination is used does not indicate that a modification was intended for a term, then the modification is unnecessary.  One of the two terms is a term with no unnecessary modifications, and the other term contains unnecessary modifications of the former term.  A term with unnecessary modifications is always more complicated than the term itself.  Furthermore, a term with unnecessary modifications is always more complicated than a term that does contain unnecessary modifications.  We shall briefly examine some katakana-character combinations of Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn that are associated with unnecessary modifications of words.

Serenity and Selenity: Serenity is a widely-recognized English term and it does not contain any unnecessary modifications of a term.  Selenity, a word that is not as widely-recognized as Serenity, was created by adding the ityto selen- (moon).  It could also be thought to be an alteration of the name Selene.  Modifying selen- or Selene is unnecessary.  It is not necessary to create a not-as-widely-recognized word (that has no widely-recognized definition) when you can use a widely-recognized one. (If the word has no widely-recognized definition, how can you be sure that its meaning is relevant?)

Amazones and Amazoness: Amazoness, when it refers to a person, can be thought of consising Amazon and -ess.  Some Japanese people use Amazoness that way.  However, since a person who is an Amazon is a female by definition, the -ess suffix is redundant.  Amazoness is an unnecessary modification of Amazon.  The Greek word Amazones refers to a group of Amazons.  It is not redundant and it is a wide-recognized word in Greek.

Helios and Elios: The name of the ancient Greek god Helios is usually transliterated with an H because the H represents the rough breathing mark that is seen in the classical Greek spelling of the name.  (That classical Greek spelling is the most commonly-cited ancient Greek spelling one.  Modern dictionaries of ancient Greek usually list that spelling first.)  Since can approximate both Helios and Elios, and the priest is associated with characters who have mythological names, there is not necessary to change Helios to Elios.  The H, even if it is not pronounced, has an orthographical purpose.

Al/En and Ail/Ann: Al (pronunciation: “ayl”) and En (pronunciation: “uhn”) have phonetic and orthographic combinations that are common to alien while and have phonetic and orthographic combinations that are common to .  Ail and Ann may have have phonetic combinations that are common to alien, but they do not have orthographic combinations that are common to alien.  If we do not know the intended Roman-letter spellings of and , then Ail and Ann are arbitrarily-chosen spellings.  Spellings that are arbitrarily-chosen are more likely to contain unnecessary modifications.

Jadeite and Jadeito: Jadeito appears on a Pretty Guardian SAILORMOON card, and it is an alteration of Jadeite.  (The card was scanned by the owner of Three-Lights.net.)  However, there is no indication that the alteration is necessary.  Jadeite is the more parsimonious spelling.

     There are at least two ways to write the name Rhett Butler in Japanese: Reddo Bator and Retto Bator.

     In episode 31, Luna mentions how the blue cat does not have the face of “ Reddo Bator” (according to Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn: Nakayoshi Media Book #7), which would be referring to the Gone With the Wind character (the little girl has the name Ohara, but it is written in kanji).  It is doubtful that the animators thought that the Gone With the Wind character's name is “Red Butler.”

     Since the katakana-character combination Reddo Bator represents the name Rhett Butler, we do not need to think that it represents anything other than the name Rhett Butler.  We do not have to come up with unusual spellings for that name: Red Battler, Rhedd Butler, et cetera.  Moreover, why would the cat be named Red Battler?  He may be a battler (or a fighter), but there are plenty of other fighters in the series.  Furthermore, he is blue, not red!

     The Toho motion picture company’s Web site had a Japanese-language Gone With the Wind section that shows Rhett Butler’s name in Japanese as Reddo Bator.

     Actually, the name Chibi Chibi Moon ( Chibi Chibi Mn) is also mentioned in the Materials Collection.  That means Ms. Takeuchi herself came up with the name.  The name does not appear in the manga story, however.

     Nobody uses the name Metal Knights ( Metaru Naitsu) in the Japanese anime and manga.  It is a fan-created name.  In the anime and manga, the characters are called the Sailor Anima-Mates ( Sr Anima-Meitsu).  In Sera Myu, the term Star Hunter ( Sut Hant) also appears.

     The name is really Space Sword Blaster ( Supsu Sdo Burasut).  Those words are even written in the Big List of Sailor Soldier Fatal Maneuvers section of the Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn SuperS Movie Memorial Album.  The book is primarily about the movie, but information in the Big List of Sailor Soldier Fatal Maneuvers section of the book pertains to the rest of the continuity up to the SuperS series.  (There was a time when I was referring to that section while making a point.  A certain interlocutor dismissed my point because he apparently thought that the book pertained only to the movie.)

     Many anime fans make such a claim, but the claim is particularly vague.  Do the “l” and “r” in the claim refer to the English r sound and the English l sound?  Do they refer to Japanese a Japanese r sound and a Japanese lsound?  Or do they refer to the Roman letter r and the Roman letter l?  We shall see why the claim is not necessarily true whether we wish to use any one of those three interpretations.

     If the “l” and “r” in the claim refer to the English r sound and the English l sound, then the claim is false.  The English r sound and the English l sound are not used in the Japanese language.  It does not make sense to pretend a particular language uses two different sounds and conclude that the two sounds are interchangeable.

     If the “l” and “r” in the claim refer to a Japanese r sound and a Japanese l sound, then the claim is also false.  The Japanese language does not use two distinct sounds interchangeably where one sound is usually approximated by the Roman letter r and the other sound is usually approximated by the Roman letter l.  That language uses a sound that we represent with the Roman letter r.  English words do not represent that sound with the letters r and l.  The linguists call that sound an “alveolar tap.”  It sounds like the r in the Spanish word pero (which means but).  The Japanese use a group of katakana characters that represent syllables that begin with that sound (/ ra, / ri, / ru, / re, and / ro).  The r in the transliterations of those katakana characters represents the Japanese sound.  That sound can be used to approximate both the English r sound and the English l sounds.

     If the “l” and “r” in the claim refer to the Roman letters r and the Roman letter l, then the claim is not necessarily true.  The Japanese scripts Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji do not use the Roman letters r and l, so they cannot be interchangeable in those Japanese scripts.  Sometimes the Japanese use Roman letters to write non-Japanese words from languages that use the Roman alphabet.  When they use a word from English, a language that makes a distinction between the letters r and l, the two letters are not necessarily interchangeable.  There is no known rule stating that when the Japanese write the word rolling in Roman letters, it is also just as correct to write lorring.  If rolling is misspelled as lorring, it is still a misspelling even if the Japanese write it.  Although the letter r or the letter l can approximate the “alveolar tap” that is used in the Japanese language, all three of the most common romanization systems (Hepburn, Kunrei, and Nippon) use the letter r to represent the “alveolar tap” of the Japanese language.  Some people transliterate the Japanese sound as l, but no known romanization system consistently transliterates the sound as just l or both r and l.  It is not necessarily true that the r and l are used interchangeably to transliterate the Japanese sound because there are transliterations systems that usually use the r instead of the l.

     Unfortunately, sometimes it is not easy to know whether a non-Japanese term contains the Roman letter l or the Roman letter r when the term is approximated in the Japanese script.  Many fans did not know about the goddess Nehellenia because they decided to call the queen of the Dead Moon “Neherenia.”  They used “Neherenia” because the transliteration of the katakana-character combination that is used to approximate the name Nehellenia () is Neherenia.  Some fans have claimed that the name can be written as “Neherenia” or “Nehelenia” because “l and r are interchangeable in Japanese,” but they are confused.  Neherenia is the transliteration of , but Nehelenia is a variation of Nehellenia.

      raitsu can approximate the English words lights and rights.  Sometimes it is not possible to know which of the two English words is meant.  There are times when raitsu is meant to approximate specifically lights in a particular instance, but the Japanese end up writing rights.  The Three Lights singles show “Three Rights” instead of Three Lights.

     This argument does not take into account the fact that there are very specific rules for how Japanese names are written in the Japanese script.

     The “In Japanese, family name is put first” part does not specify whether a Japanese family name is put first in the Japanese script or in Roman letters.  The truth is that it is standard to put the kana or kanji that represent the family name before the kana or kanji that represent the personal name in the Japanese script.  Usagi’s full name appears in the Japanese script as , so we know that Tsukino is the family name (or surname) because (Tsukino) appears before (Usagi).  When the full name is rendered in Roman letters, it can appear as either Tsukino Usagi or Usagi Tsukino. Someone, even a Japanese person, may say “Tsukino Usagi” or “Usagi Tsukino.”  Nevertheless, the full Japanese name stays as in the Japanese script.

     The “idol” that is mentioned in the claim refers to an idol singer.  When Japanese idols, and all of the other Japanese, render their names in Roman letters, they are free to use the Western format: personal name first, surname last.  Ms. Takeuchi writes her name in Roman letters as “Naoko Takeuchi.”  The argument has failed to mention that when the Japanese names are written in the Japanese script, the kana or kanji that represent the family name do not appear after the kana or kanji that represent the personal name.  Usagi's full name would not be seen as .

     Seiya’s name appears in the Japanese script as , Taiki’s name appears in the Japanese script as , and Yaten’s name appears in the Japanese script as .  According to Japanese orthography, (K) is clearly their personal name.  There is no indication in any of the official sources that we should not follow Japanese orthography when we read their names. Someone may say “Seiya K,” “Taiki K,” and “Yaten K,” but he or she could also say “K Seiya,” “K Taiki,” and “K Yaten.”  No matter how a person says their names, and no matter how one writes their names in Roman letters, their names always appear as , , and in the Japanese script.

     Some people claim that K is the Three Lights’ surname even though K should be their personal name according to Japanese orthography.  I have never encountered any good arguments for the idea that K is the Three Lights’ surname.  The arguments for the surname idea that I have seen can be grouped into five categories:

1. General misunderstandings about the Japanese language.  (Example: “The Japanese write their surnames first.”  Actually, when the Japanese names are written in the Japanese script, the written characters that represent the surname appear first.)

2. Confusion about how Japanese names are written in the Japanese script and how Japanese names can be written in different writing systems.  (Example: “Usagi’s name should really be ‘Tsukino Usagi’ even in Roman letters.”  When the name is written in Roman letters, it can be either “Tsukino Usagi” or “Usagi Tsukino.”)

3. Unsupported assumptions about how the Japanese orthography rules do not apply to the names for whatever reason.  (Example: “They are idols, so their surnames may not be written before their personal names.”  However, if an idol has a Japanese name, and that name is written in the Japanese script, he or she will always write the characters that represent the surname first.  Another example: “They are aliens, so the rules of reading names might have been different on their home planet.”  We cannot test that hypothesis because not much of the planet Kinmoku is shown in the continuities.  Another example: “Their names are actually psuedonyms, so the orthography rules do not apply.”  Whether or not their names are psuedonyms does not render the rules invalid.)

4. Unsupported claim that Ms. Takeuchi said that K is the three characters’ surnames.  (Other people claim that Ms. Takeuchi said that K is the three characters’ personal names.  It is still not know exactly what Ms. Takeuchi said.)

5. Red herrings.  (Example: “Those names might not be their real names.”  We are not trying to determine whether the names are real or not.  We are trying to determine whether K is supposed to be seen as a surname or as a personal name.)

6. Personal opinions.  (Example: “But it seems a little odd that all their first names are the same.”  However, their having the same personal name is not enough to conclude that we should reject the rules of reading Japanese names in the Japanese script since the rules allow three people to have the same personal name.)

     If fans out there have any new arguments in favor of the surname idea, I would be more than happy to listen to them.  Those arguments should not fall into any of the categories that I listed above.  Personally, I am tired of seeing the same arguments.

     For more information about the names of the Three Lights, please read the lengthy section about their names in the Names, Puns, and Fallacies article.

     Both “Sailor Moon Classic” and “Sailormoon Classic” are fan-created terms.  There is no “Classic” added to the name of the series in the original Japanese version.  I can see where fans came up with the word, though.  Someone decided to put the “Classic” there probably because there was a need to make a distinction between the section that comprises the first 46 episodes of the entire continuity and the entire continuity itself.

     The sections do not have those names in the original Japanese manga.  However, at least one manga source does refer to the last section as Sailor Stars.  The Original Picture Collection V book represents the Sailor Stars Series, according to Kodansha.

     In the original Japanese manga, the five major sections are called the Dark Kingdom Series, the Black Moon Series, the Death Busters Series, the Dead Moon Series, and the Sailor Stars Series.  (No, you will not be seeing me using the term “arc” to refer to the different sections.  Why use an unusual definition of a term when you can use the usual definitions of different terms?)

     The phrase in written in Japanese as tsuki no hikari wa ai no messji.  There is nothing in the Japanese phrase that implicitly or explicitly means carries.  This is a better translation: moonlight is the message of love.

     According to several of the Japanese Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn sources, the second term in the name is not supposed to be clarion.  The katakana characters kurarion are used to approximate clarion.

     The official Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn Web site (when that section was still up) showed the name of the item as Kurisutaru Kariyon.  There is a toy version of the bell-shaped item.  Its package shows the katakana characters Kurisutaru Kariyon.  The katakana characters Kurisutaru represent Crystal, and the katakana characters Kariyon represent the French word Carillon.  Carillon means bells or chimes.

     Therefore, the name of the item is really Crystal Carillon.  Also, notice that carillon has only one i.  Many people tend to write “carillion.”

     In the story, we can see a human version of that cat.  Although Kousagi describes the human version’s head as pink ( pinku no atama, which means head of pink), we do not know the name of the cat or her human form.

     According to the Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn S Nakayoshi Anime Album II,  Hotaru is 12 years old and in elementary school.  According to the manga, she is in sixth grade.  According to the Materials Collection, she is in junior high school.  Her school has a kindergarten class, an elementary class, a junior high class, a high school class, a college, and a graduate class.

     That name apparently shows up in the subtitles of a fan sub, but it is not the name of the maneuver.  Sailor Venus’ maneuver is named Venus Love-Me Chain.  The Japanese write the name as Vinsu Rabu-M Chn.  Also, the Latin letters “Venus Love-Me Chain” appear in the Big List of Sailor Soldier Fatal Maneuvers section of the Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn SuperS Movie Memorial Album.

     That is another name that appears in the subtitles in one of the fan subs.  Sailor Jupiter’s maneuver is really named Sparkling Wide Pressure, and the Japanese write the name with the katakana characters Spkuringu Waido Puressh.  The Latin letters “Sparkling Wide Pressure” also appear in the Big List of Sailor Soldier Fatal Maneuvers section of the Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn SuperS Movie Memorial Album.

     She lives in England only in the anime.  In Japanese episode 42, Minako tells us happened when she was in England.  She met a man named Alan and a woman named Katarina there.

     In the Kdonmu wa Sr V manga, she always lives in Japan.  Incidentally, she goes to Greece (volume seven) and China (volume fifteen) in that manga.

     Mazeran is the romanization of the katakana characters , which approximate the name Magellan.  Therefore, the name of the castle is Magellan Castle.  Its name comes from the name of the spacecraft that radar-mapped the surface of the planet Venus.  The spacecraft was named after Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese navigator.  One of his completed the first circumnavigation of the globe.

     The Japanese term tankbon (or tankoubon) means volume (an individual book in a series of books).  Some fans somehow change the second o into an a.  Some people write tankubon, which is also wrong.

     The monster’s name is Germatoid, and the Japanese write his name in the Japanese script as Gerumatoido.  “Gerumatou,” “Germatou,” “Germatos” and “the Daimon Master” are all misnomers.

© 2002-2008 Ian Andreas Miller. All rights reserved. Those statements refer to all of the original content on these Web pages. All of the other works that are mentioned on these pages are the properties of their authors.