Surnames

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

I've noticed that hardly anyone has any surnames, especially in the Japanese version. While this doesn't seem a problem with the younger characters, it's pecular with the older ones (prompting Oak to refer to Hanako not by her given name, but as "Satoshi's mother" even when addressing her).

My question--do surnames simply not exist in wide practice in that world, or is it a convience of the writers and we are to assume that the characters *do* have them?

 

[TruthLoveAndTheStarsAbove]

Yeah... that's a tough one.
I've been to many sites around and I've seen that some people have added them in. I dunno if they just made them up or what though.

I wish they did though, because I think it gives a more fuller picture of the character in your head.
So, in answer to your question, I think the writers think that we would just, assume characters have them.

 

[Barb]

I think it makes sense to assume that surnames are used in the Pokémon world.

 

[Kthleen]

I think it's like some shows in the U.S. (you know, "go, Dexter's family, go"...) where though they may really have and use them, the writers prefer not to use them. Why? Eh... I don't know. Perhaps humor. I can't see how inconvenient it would be to give them even a random surname compared to the alternative, i.e. awkward things such as Ookido-hakase referring to Satoshi's mother as... "Satoshi's mother."

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

That one in particular baffles me. If Team leaders can be addressed by their given names, why can't Oak summon the cohones to call the woman up the street by her given name?

 

[Barb]

That is strange. But doesn't he occasionally call her 'Delia' as well?

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

In English. In Japanese he never calls her Hanako, only "Satoshi no Mama-san"

 

[Thomas-san]

Brock and Mistys last names:

Brock Henry
Misty Wildflower-Williams

 

[Roses Ablaze]

Where did you get those? I've never heard them before.

 

[Thomas-san]

Tv.com Pokemon Chronicles Cast....

It says the voice actor then the person they play...and that is what it said.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

That site is notoriously unreliable, you know. They've posted fanfics as episodes before.

 

[seatrooper]

IMDB shows them as Misty Williams and Brock Harrison, but that site is also not to be trusted.

 

[Zhen Lin]

No one seems to have any family names - except for Ōkido really. It is also known that Sapphire is Odamaki Sapphire, and Yellow is Yellow de TokiwaGrove (which is more a toponym than a family name...)

 

[Kasumi]

It's crearly that there are surnames in the Pokémon World as stated with Ookido, Odamaki and the other Professors. I think the writters in the anime and mangas thought surnames weren't that important to the rest of characters.

 

[Murgatroyd]

I suspect that in matters of surnames, the Pokemon world bears some resemblance (though not perfect) to premodern Japan. The vast majority of families do not have surnames, and people who do not are referred to by their hometowns (e.g. Satoshi of Masara Town).

 

[Barb]

That sounds reasonable, but what if there is more than one Satoshi from Masara Town? How would you differentiate people with the same first name who come from larger cities?

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Wasn't that done with occupation and parents' names? So he may be "Hanako's son Satoshi, from Masara". And if there's more than one Hanako there with a son named Satoshi, he may be "Satoshi, from Masara, the son of Hanako the gardener"

 

[GrnMarvl14]

I think they just left them out of the anime because it's easier to remember one name rather than two. They obviously have them, but in a show geared towards children, how often do you have characters with more than one name? Maybe it's more common in Japan, but just off the top of my head, I can't think of that many animes who have characters with more than one name. And certainly not the ones geared towards younger viewers. But maybe I'm just blocking stuff out.

 

[MondoTR]

Yu-Gi-Oh characters have last names.

 

[Roses Ablaze]

Heh...I think Pocket Monster's target audience is slightly younger than Yu-gi-oh's.