General discussion about Usagi Yojimbo, the comics, the stories, the characters, collectibles, TV appearances, Stan Sakai, Space Usagi, Nilson & Hermy, and all other related topics.
I'm new on this forum, so let me introduce myself. I'm Cosmo, I'm from France and I'm aged... well, I don't like to say it. Want a clue ? Just look at a standard goban, you'll find out if you're so smart.
I've made a table listing all the Usagi stories hitherto published in French by Éditions Paquet. It features the original and French titles, the main protagonist, a short summary and some cultural notes. With the help of my compatriot Fanfan - hello Fanfan, glad to see you here ! - I'll try to improve this table and make it comprehensive.
I've done a little bit of original research on Japanese culture and history so that the French readers have complete and interesting informations on UY in their own language. I decided to translate it in English, as not everyone understands French - and not everyone visits Fanfan's forum, alas !
I hope you'll enjoy it and I'm eagerly waiting for your remarks or suggestions. Well, did I forget to say something... ?
Oh, yes, anecdotally : I've discovered Usagi six months ago. And I like it.
Here's the first article I wrote on Fanfan's forum.
Some Onomastics (nothing to do with DIY)
1. The order given in the table is surname-given name : this is the Occidental order. This is the reverse of the Japanese order : thus, the characters present themselves as "Miyamoto Usagi" or "Murakami Gennosuke".
2. You may have remarked some orthographical changes between the names in my table and the names as they're printed in the French series (and in the original series too, I guess). That's because Stan Sakai uses a simplified transcription of Japanese names, which doesn't reflect all the delightful subtleties (:lol:) of Japanese writing.
For instance :
Jotaro is written Jôtarô. In Japanese, this given name has two long o's. This is a standard given name in Japan, and you may find the following transcriptions too : Jōtarō, Johtaroh, Zyoutarou, Joutarou.
This last one faithfully reflects the Japanese spelling : じょうたろう (jo-u-ta-ro-u).
Kenichi is written Ken'ichi. This to reflect the original writing of the name : けんいち (ke-n-i-chi) et non けにち(ke-ni-chi). Same thing for names like Shun'ichi (Shunji's brother) or Jun'ichirô.
3. Male and female given names
Given names ending with -e (Tomoe, Akane) or -ko (Mariko, Fujiko, Atsuko) are generally female names.
Given names ending with -nosuke (Gennosuke), -hiko or -rô (Jôtarô, Ichirô) are male, the rô 郎 kanji (Japanese-Chinese character) meaning "son".
4. Japanese titles.
They're used as suffixes, mostly after surnames.
-san さん is the basic title in Japanese, roughly corresponding to "Mr." and "Mrs.". E.g. : 兎さん, Usagi-san.
-sama さま is more formal, used when speaking to a superior or a respected person.
-sensei 先生 (or せんせい) means "master, teacher", literally "one who lived before". Usagi and Shunji may refer to Katsuichi as "Katsuichi-sensei".
-dono どの (tono との, when not used as a suffix) is used for a daimyô, or feudal lord. Noriyuki may be called "Noriyuki-dono", or simply "tono".
There are other titles, but I haven't seen them yet in UY.
5. Some characters' names in Japanese
I wrote them phonetically in hiragana (syllabic letters), except when there was no doubt - or only a few - about the Japanese spelling.
宮本 兎
Miyamoto Usagi.
(Miyamoto is quite a common surname in Japan, meaning "coming from the shrine" or "the base of the shrine". I used the most widespread spelling. Usagi stands of course for "rabbit")
むらかみ げんのすけ
Murakami Gennosuke.
(Two common names, but many spellings exist)
雨 ともえ
Ame Tomoe.
("ame" means "rain")
克一
Katsuichi.
("the one who wins", according to Mr. Sakai himself)
まりこ
Mariko.
じょうたろう, maybe 城太郎
Jôtarô. The kanji spelling is not certain, but writer Eiji Yoshikawa uses that one in its famous epic novel Musashi.
Steve, french invasion is coming, we are... euh.... 2
and not everyone visits Fanfan's forum, alas !
it is still new, but i will launch publicity campaign at comics convention, we will see (in fact there is huge frequentation, but few inscritptions...). Anyway thanks to be such an active and interesting member ! i am sure you will enjoy here as i did and do !
It will be a pleasure to read your posts here as well as on the French Dojo forum.
As far as there only being two French Usagi Dojo members here, with your great web-site promoting both Usagi Yojimbo and the UY Dojo, Fanfan, I am sure that number will soon grow.
