#and even then lots of japanese people use full keigo even on places like twitter…

[st5lker]

i find it soo intriguing to look at threads of japanese people learning english and discussing confusing grammatical rules because it really is the same thing as what english speakers learning japanese do and talk about. like for as many pages as i had to read to actually understand the difference between は and が i just read a thread in japanese where someone was so confused about why its “i ate some bread” and not “i ate a bread”. like its so interesting to think about things in english that feel so natural to me

[transhawks]

I thought you once said that you wanna know about Japanese MHA fandom meta discussion, so sorry for bad English beforehand. Regarding latest chapter, among some talk about Toga/Ochako fight and Hawks' battered stubborness condition, some portion of MHA japan fans talked about Pixie Bob and Tiger called each other by their real name instead of hero name. Those discussions (in twitter) pointed out that moment as emphasis of Ryuko and Yawara deep bond and portray how desperate and cornered they are in their situation. The "real name" talk also being pointed out more in Japanese MHA fandom, like when Jeanist called Edgeshot real name before he became Kacchan's heart. Maybe because Japan culture and perhaps Asian too is more reserved from using name instead of title (like to big bro, senior, fellow coworker, etc) than Western, so for us that moment is a big deal especially when it was used by adult heroes. This is a difference between 2 part of the same fandom that I found interesting. Also since for heroes in MHA real name is used at the most cornered and desperate moment, makes Hawks' situation that he abandoned his real name more horrible. Real name who is the sign of vulnerability and non professional bond is embarassing weakness for Hawks. Also when for other the real name was used when the caller feels the most concerned/cared toward the receiver, when Hawks was called by his real name in manga means something bad will happen to him, his wing got burned, his dad hit him, his mom ratted him out and use his name on goodby letter, Sad Man Parade came to Gunga and AFO called him Takami, I wish someday someone will call his real name with the feeling of utmost concern for him as person just like others.

お手を煩わせてすみません。あなたはいいなブログをお持ちで、私は大ファンです

This is really fascinating and thank you for this ask, as it gave me a lot of things to think on! Also please don't stress about your English; it means a lot to me you still sent an ask in! Like most English-readers, I absolutely glossed over the fact Pixie Bob and Tiger called each other their real names! It makes complete sense for this scene to have weight in Japan given the cultural context. Other cultures have similar things where full names are used only or names + patronymics. My mother has a story where she hung up on one of her mother's coworkers/friends because the friend, thinking it was my grandmother who picked up the phone, began the conversation with my grandmother's diminutive name (informal name) and with the informal "you" in our language (incredibly rude back in the 60s) and so my mom was so flustered she said the person got the wrong number and hung up. Directly addressing someone informally is fairly unusual in a lot of cultures, more so in Japanese. They used each other's first names, too, which is really familiar. You can tell the Pussycats have been childhood friends. I'm saving a lot of my thoughts on this for an essay on Toga and what I think she represents, but I was watching a series called "Cooking for the Makanai" and it really startled me how indirectly feelings were expressed even between two people who have a relationship, to the point where the cliche phrase of "The Moon is Beautiful", which was coined as a way to avoid saying "I like you", was still seen as incredibly strong. Graduation Day talks about this more, but I really find it fascinating that Japan places so much importance on directness and vulnerability in conversation. As an outsider, to me it seems like there's an effort made through the language to minimize risk and hurt feelings by "softening" and "not directing" the language.

Anyway, back to Hawks. Yes, and names are absolutely important to identity which is I think why Keigo's got so much trouble with this. His name is not his and also he doesn't associate it with good things in the first place. With regards to "Takami Keigo" Hawks is both fleeing the connections and memories that name comes with and also fleeing the vulnerability he'll have to accept by having a name and identity outside of Hawks. "Wing Hero Hawks" is a safety blanket at this point, a way to not take accountability for his own life and also question what in life he can and should change. I do wonder if we'll have him end the manga with accepting being called Keigo. Truthfully, I don't know. Part of me thinks he'll go look for his family after the war, but I don't know. If it happens, he'll definitely start using Keigo again. But to have someone call him Keigo and treat him like a person requires Keigo to believe he's worthy of that. At the moment he's not able to think like that.

Thank you for the ask again. I love hearing about what the Japanese fandom is discussing!