#on the list of things I would have loved to see: ichigo and masaya’s time in England

[beans-and-shet]

Sometimes I think about how Ichigo and Masaya were alone together in England for a few months.

Here’s a cute little scene where they fell asleep watching tv in his room. Ichigo is absolutely having one of her crazy dreams.

[medea10]

My Review of Trigun

How did I get into this anime? Let’s just say this was one of those animes that used to air on Saturday nights back in the day that I would every now and then come across while waiting for either Full Metal Alchemist, InuYasha, or Cowboy Bebop to air. But I never did watch a full episode or know a damn thing about this anime. So I’m just jumping into this anime blindfolded. All I know is that this was Johnny Yong Bosch’s first anime role.

Who is Vash the Stampede?

A frequent question that comes up throughout the series! Rumor has it that he wears a long, red trench coat and sports a Mohawk hairstyle. Some say he’s a notorious lecher. Many recount him shooting up their villages to a pile of rubble just for the heck of it. He has quite the reputation as he has a $$60,000,000,000 bounty on his head and is often known as the “Humanoid Typhoon”.

In reality, Vash the Stampede is…a bit of a dingus. He just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and things kinda get out of hand. But that doesn’t stop two insurance agents (Milly Thompson and Meryl Stryfe) from following him around to confirm Vash’s identity and keep his actions to a minimum. At first, it’s hard to tell if he’s a stupid-genius or just flighty and gets lucky one too many times. But when shit goes down, don’t be surprised when you see this doofus get serious.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Okay, what sad company did this use to belong to, Geneon, Bandai, or ADV Films? Oh, Geneon! That means good voice actors from L.A. put in really shitty roles. On the contrary, this was a fairly decent English dub. And on a severely positive note, this was indeed Johnny Yong Bosch’s very first anime role (and a main role at that). This was like fresh off his time as a Power Ranger! And I gotta give props for giving this guy a chance at voice acting. This role was the launching point to what has been a very successful career for Bosch. As for the sub, let’s just say I’m happy any time I get to hear Hiromi Tsuru in something besides Dragon Ball. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Vash is played by Masaya Onosaka (known for Bill on Pokemon, Isaac on Baccano, Jadeite on Sailor Moon, Kero on Cardcaptor Sakura, Leeron on Gurren Lagann, France on Hetalia, and Spandam on One Piece)

*Meryl is played by Hiromi Tsuru (known for Bulma on DBZ, Ukyo on Ranma ½, Yubel on YGO GX, and Mika on Gravitation) [R.I.P.]

*Milly is played by Satsuki Yukino (known for Kagome on InuYasha, Mion/Shion on Higurashi, Tae on Gintama, Amakata on Free!, Hiiragi on Natsume Yuujinchou, Mutsumi on Love Hina, and Yoruichi on Bleach)

ENGLISH CAST: *Vash is played by Johnny Yong Bosch (known for Ichigo on Bleach, Lelouch on Code Geass, Makoto on Free!, Izaya on Durarara, Artemis on Sailor Moon redub, Koizumi on Haruhi Suzumiya, and Yukio on Blue Exorcist)

*Meryl is played by Dorothy Elias-Fahn (known for Kaoru on Rurouni Kenshin, Naru on Love Hina, Tomoe on Rozen Maiden, Hakuei on Magi, Houki on Fushigi Yugi, and Amane on Tenchi Muyo GXP)

*Milly is played by Lia Sargent (known for Dorothy on The Big O and Judy on Cowboy Bebop)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Milly! I don’t need a reason, it’s Milly!

SHIPPING: I didn’t really start thinking about shipping until more than halfway into this series. I thought there might be something between Vash and Meryl, but then again maybe not! Then I saw the backstory of Vash’s “younger days” and falling for the one woman who showed him compassion.

Yes, this is the same woman we consistently see in Vash’s flashbacks, Rem. Ooh boy, it’s one of those stories! So yeah, never mind my thinking with Vash x Meryl ever happening. I feel like Vash will mourn Rem’s death for a long time that I don’t think the whole thing with Meryl will ever work.

And as for Wolfwood x Milly…

FUUUUUUUCK! WHY DID YOU RUIN THIS CUTE COUPLE?!

MILLY WAS HEART-BROKEN!

…At least she got to have one night of passion with Wolfy-boy before the unthinkable happened.

THAT DARN CAT: If you watched this series, you might have noticed a little black cat spotted in nearly every episode. It’s there in the opening theme. It’s there in random places throughout the series. It’s there in the ending theme. What’s up with this cat? Well, there are a lot of theories surrounding this particular cat (or Kuroneko). Some say it’s really Rem inside that cat since you see it in literally every episode around Vash. Others say it’s because the creator of Trigun wanted to just mess with your minds with the kitty walking around in random places and towns. Seriously, it will always appear in every new town Vash and the gang comes across! As an avid cat enthusiast, I’m fine with whatever the result. Just as long as no harm comes to the little Kuroneko.

HALFWAY POINT: Halfway into the series we notice something more when it comes to Mr. Vash the Stampede. First of all, those horrifying scars all over his body! Second, that mysterious girl he often thinks about. I mean, we see flashes of her in the opening sequence. And third, the reason why he never kills. Vash has the ability of causing so much damage when pushed to a breaking point. One of the many reasons why he’s known as the “humanoid typhoon”! And that was perfectly shown when Vash chases the residents out of a town (so there would be no casualties), totally demolished the town during a fight, and made an indent on the moon!

But the story takes a sharp-left turn into WTF territory when we learn about WHAT exactly Vash is. Vash is a plant. Vash also has a brother named Knives. And while Vash has a mentality that all beings have a right to live, Knives has a “kill them all and let God sort them out” point of view. Now the existence of Vash and Knives came with a lot of controversy, especially in the ship that they were on. But that girl who Vash cares for, Rem cared for them regardless of what they were. Rem had high hopes for a peaceful world with coexistence. Too bad Knives had other motives and killed her.

ENDING TO TV SERIES: Vash has tried so hard to keep Milly, Meryl, and Wolfwood out of harm’s way. He knows there are some pretty bad people after him, including his polar-opposite brother, Knives. Vash hates death and wants to save as many people as humanly possible. He doesn’t want to see any more needless death. Probably from his flashbacks and losing Rem! Unfortunately, this doesn’t go so well.

I can see how iconic this death was now after witnessing it. Wolfwood, the priest who would hook up with Vash every now and then when they’re up against some ruffians, now finds himself in a crucial decision. He gets orders that he must eliminate Vash. And Wolfwood ends up dying instead in a very dramatic death scene. God-damn! And just that scene where Milly is sobbing freakin’ eats you up inside.

At least she had one night of passion before the unfortunate happened!

Vash hates the thought of having to kill anyone. But he might not have a choice if Knives is coming after him and even hires a powerful foe from a previous episode and the guy that killed Wolfwood to take you out. Once Vash met up with Knives, he winds up having some pretty sick flashbacks of Knives. But our homeboy was able to take out Knives, the desert area gets water, and…

I’m gonna have to read the fucking manga for more, right?

Tap dancing fuck!

BADLANDS RUMBLE: 12 years after the series ended, Japan decides to release a side-story in the form of a movie, bringing back our favorite characters like Vash, Wolfwood, Milly, and Meryl. And yes, reuniting the cast…in Japan.

By 2010, Geneon was as good as dead and FUNimation licensed Trigun. In short, they managed to get Johnny Young Bosch to reprise his role as Vash the Stampede. But everyone else was replaced. And surprisingly, the people they got to do Wolfwood and Milly were pretty freakin’ close to their original voices. Meryl’s voice, come on I know Luci Christian any-damn-where! Vash helps a young lady take out a big-bad guy (who turns out to be his father). And it has the feel of the original series where it’s set in a western town with lots of booze and shoot-em-ups! It’s an interesting side-story to the Trigun trilogy.

Trigun was a pretty good anime. I mean, not one of my favorites, but I can definitely see a lot of people sticking by this classic. Maybe you can chalk up my blah attitude to the fact that I’m not fond of westerns and I kinda took it out on Trigun. Or the fact that there was so much more that the anime could have covered before the end and the ending kinda felt off to me! Like I thought I was expecting more. But I suppose that’s what mangas are for. To be honest, the stories that really grabbed my attention were the back-stories with Vash and Knives and Wolfwood’s final episode.

*sniffles* At least Milly got one night of passion before he died!

If you would like to check out Trigun, all the episodes are available through FUNimation and Hulu (in both Japanese and English). And if you really like the anime, why not purchase the hard copies? Both the series and movie are available for home video.

Okay, that took me a while, but I’m glad to finish Trigun. What’s next on the FUNimation list?

EEHHHHHEEEHHHE

Fuck is that supposed to mean? What is that? Is that even in English?

YOU WILL BE HORRIBLY MUTILATED: The Isekai

Do you mean Re:Zero? That’s great…but that review’s not ready yet. And it probably won’t be until after April 2021! So let’s cast caution to the wind and pick another FUNimation licensed anime.

You’re watching Sarazanmai next. It’s best if you don’t ask questions.

Sarazanmai? The fuck does that even mean?!

OH. MY. GOD.

[ribbonstrawberrysurprise]

Ribbon vs. Reborn

This is one of those big TMM translation arguments.

I guess I’ve already taken a side due to my url...

Putting that aside for now, why is there a debate over the first word of the Mew Mew’s attack names? And does one option have more evidence?

The Mew Mew’s attacks all* begin with リボーン (ribōn/riboon/riboun). 

*except sometimes Pudding in the manga

Japanese syllables (except for “n”) cannot end in a consonant, so foreign words written in katakana try to sound sort of like the original pronunciation without violating that rule. Sounds like “or” and “ar” in English usually become an “o” or “a” sound held for twice the normal length (sort of like the British pronunciation).  For example, “star” would be broken down into su-ta-a, and written as スター, with “ー” meaning to hold the vowel longer.

This means that the typical translation for リボーン is reborn.

“Ribbon" would more typically be written as  リボン (ribon).

However, the “ ー ” in katakana just means that the vowel at the end of a syllable is held longer, not why it is held longer. So,  リボーン could be reborn, said normally, or ribbon, with the “bon” part held for a dramatically long time (i.e., Ribboooooooon, Strawberry Check!).

Like it is in the anime.

So, which was intended?

Unfortunately, as far as I know the attack names have never been written in English on any official Japanese merchandise or publication, and there’s no word from Mia Ikumi or Reiko Yoshida.

So what about the official English?

Both official English translations (Tokyopop and Kodansha) used Ribbon for the attack names. However, the Tokyopop translation is known to have seriously mistranslated lots of katakana and been incredibly inconsistent with attack and weapon names.

Kodansha is definitely better, but they still couldn’t get Quiche until a la Mode.

So, both versions of the English manga think it’s ribbon, but neither is infallible when it comes to translating names in katakana.

What about the anime?

Well, Mew Mew Power used entirely different attack names, so it and any dubs based on it won’t be helpful. Of the dubs listed on the TMM wiki, 5 were based on the original Japanese: Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, and Italian. Of these, the Cantonese cuts out Ribbon/Reborn entirely, and the Korean and Thai transliterate ri-bo-o-n into Hangul and Thai script, respectively.

The Mandarin dub definitely uses ribbon because that part of the attack is written in English.

...but there are obviously some other issues. I can honestly see how サプライズ (sapuraizu) was misunderstood as スプライセス (supuraisesu) and ラッシュ (rasshu) as ズラッシュ (zurasshu), but you’d think someone would check the meaning of the English words...

The Italian dub actually uses Italian for the attacks rather than transliterating the original Japanized English. The wiki lists Ichigo’s Italian attack as “Ribbon of Light,” but this is misleading. Mew Berry’s attack in Mew Mew Amiche Vincenti is “Fiocco di Luce,” which would more accurately translate to Bow of Light. Her weapon is “Fiocco del Cuore,” (Bow of the Heart/The Heart’s Bow). Mew Mina uses “Cuore di Mina” (Mina’s Heart), and her attack is “Fiocco d'Azione” (Bow of Action). The other Mews’ are along the same lines as Mina. This isn’t really a use of ribbon, but it definitely suggests that the translators interpreted the original attacks as using “Ribbon” when coming up with the Italian ones.

So, the dubs and English manga seem to generally like “Ribbon”. Why then, is there a debate?

Aside from the fact that リボーン is translated as “reborn” in every other context, “Ribbon” is a totally random word that doesn’t seem related to any of the attacks or even the Mews in general. Admittedly, “Check” also seems totally random, but the other words at least seem vaguely suggestive of the attack or the Mew’s attitude. “Ribbon” is a random cute word, whereas “Reborn” is thematic.

There’s a lot of rebirth/resurrection in TMM, usually due to Mew Aqua.

Deep Blue is reborn as Masaya, a bird is reborn to show off the power of the Mew Aqua, everyone in Tokyo (the world?) except Ichigo is reborn due to the final Mew Aqua, then Masaya and Ichigo revive each other due to love (and possibly residual Mew Aqua).

The anime underplays this by specifying that the bird in ep. 21 was only injured, but it’s more explicit about the main characters’ deaths in the last few episodes. 

Either way, “Reborn” makes sense thematically because the Mews’ power seems somehow tied to Mew Aqua (e.g., it reacts when they’re close).

So, “Reborn” is thematic, but “Ribbon” is a cuter word (always a concern for girls shows) that’s probably more familiar to the target audience. After all, the loanword ribon is a term used day-to-day to refer to stuff like hair ribbons, whereas riboun is not very common*. Official translations favor “Ribbon,” but none of them are flawless translations, and all of them are influenced by previous translation choices (e.g., the Tokyopop translation influenced fansubbers, who influenced the fandom, who influenced the Kodansha re-translation). 

* It’s become more well-known due to the Reborn! manga/anime, but those came out after 2002, when the TMM anime takes place.

Choosing between them seems like more of a matter of personal preference, but I think choosing just one is unnecessary. 

(EVERYTHING PAST THIS IS HEADCANON)

How did the Mew weapons, etc. get named? (In universe, so Ikumi/Yoshida is the wrong answer.) 

Presumably either Keiichiro or Ryou designed and named everything themselves. We know that they at least created the Mewberry Rod because Ryou gives it to Ichigo in episode 15, and it can’t be that different from the other weapons because Ichigo summons it by default from then on.

Ryou is intelligent but has no people skills.

His idea of a fun nickname is “biological weapon”.

Ryou cannot have named the weapons or attacks because they aren’t something like “Chimera Disintegration Beam”. Keiichiro, who is used to smoothing things over when Ryou offends someone and is at the very least capable of designing cakes, is a much better candidate for the designer/namer of the weapons, outfits, cafe, etc.

It’s also possible they outsourced it since we know they don’t work entirely alone. I don’t want to go through the whole series right now, but I’m pretty sure the anime mentions them getting results from a lab a few times, and Mary McGuire at least seems to know Ichigo’s secret identity. (Also, why else were they hosting a party if not to gather/recruit members of the project?)

Regardless, I think Ryou pushed for something too scientific or unappealing and person B compromised with something that the average Japanese elementary or middle school student wouldn’t hate. Thus “Reborn” to get him to agree, but secretly “Ribbon”.

To explain/justify that, let’s consider the name of the Mew Project. 

ミュウ (myū/myuu) is a slightly irregular spelling of  ミュー , which can refer to the cat sound “mew” but also to the Greek letter “Μ” or “μ” (mu) which is pronounced the same way. The symbol μ is used to represent the mutation rate of a gene in genetics research, and the Mew Project is sometimes written as the μ-Project in the anime.

Greek letters also show up in a manga illustration.

(In case you’re wondering, horizontally is an attempt at “Ichigo Momomiya” and vertically is an attempt at “Tokyo Mew Mew”)

There’s no way that no one noticed that μ is both scientifically appropriate and a cat pun. Similarly, there’s no way no one noticed that “Reborn” sounds like “Ribbon”. Considering all of the weapon names are already puns, it should come as no surprise that the names of other things are puns as well.

I think that whoever named them (probably Keiichiro) always intended them to be both at once. So, both μ-Ichigo and Mew Ichigo, both Reborn and Ribbon. Ryou would approve of the first and either not notice the second until too late or grudgingly agree that it makes an okay cover for a cafe name

Out of the Mews, only Zakuro might know the Greek alphabet and possibly be aware of its use in genetics. Theoretically all of them might have the English knowledge from school to get both “ribbon” and “reborn,” but Ichigo “I am a Ichigo” Momomiya is not great at English. She definitely knows the word for hair ribbons though, because she uses it in episode 1 (about 3 min. in, “Arrhh! The ribbon snapped!”). Ichigo is also one who officially names the team “Tokyo Mew Mew” to the press, and even Ryou ends up using that name eventually, despite reacting negatively when he first hears it. Since that name gets accepted as official both in and out of universe, I feel like Ichigo’s interpretations of all the names should be the “official” ones unless specifically talking about Ryou and Keiichiro’s research. 

So, both options are correct depending on the circumstance (e.g. Ichigo talking vs. Ryou talking, official Project report vs. news broadcast), but Mew and Ribbon should be the default.

tl;dr, 

Ryou tells μ-Ichigo about her attack, Reborn Strawberry Check.

Mew Ichigo tells the media about her attack, Ribbon Strawberry Check.

Keiichiro has once again saved the day using people skills and puns.