#I’m excited for anime matsukaze…

[froqpi-art]

a lil matsukaze and ginro date

[shirasuwave]

Wave!! Naminori Boys - Analysis During Shop Duty -

Disclaimer: Admin Shirasu is not completely fluent in Japanese. There may be minor inaccuracies.

Characters:

Yuta Matsukaze (Y), Naoya Kido (N)

Timeline: Takes place before the anime

Yuta is currently manning the family shop.

Y: Good grief. 

Y: (According to my wave report, today is a pretty good day for waves...) 

Y: (It's a shame I'm on store duty.)

Y: (There's only little time left to choose a career for high school. Time is an issue during exams...)

Y: (Well, there is no use lamenting... Such is the fate born into the Matsukaze family.)

Naoya walks into the store.

N: ...........

Y: Welcome to our shop. 

Y: (He's the first customer of the day. I feel like I've seen his face somewhere before.)

Naoya pays no mind to Yuta. The boy is preoccupied with looking for something in the store.

Y: (Who in the world is he? He's looking around the store. From the looks of it, it's his first time here.)

N: There it is! 

N: The shell necklace that was at the front of the store.... 

N: I knew it! It looks just like the Aqualite Jewel from episode 7 of Miruru season 1! Today is my lucky day!

Y: (He doesn't look like a surfer nor a local, but I do feel like I've seen him somewhere.)

Y: (Would there be anyone in my database whose description matches him...)

Y: (Oh, right! He's Naoya Kido, the skillful surfer from Oita!)

Y: Excuse me... You're Naoya Kido-san, right?

N: Huh...? Yeah, that's me... What about it?

Y: Oita is pretty far away! Shouldn't you be on your way home?

N: How do you even know that?

Y: It's my life's work to collect data on surfing, 

Y: I’m also compiling a database of all the surfers who interest me.

Y: I've been watching you for about a year now.

N: ... So you're a stalker.

Y: I don't mean it like that!

--

N: So... You're just observant?

Y: That's what I meant. I'm glad we cleared that up.

N: ... Or you could be an observant stalker... Well, whatever. 

N: I came all the way here to Shonan and something in your store caught my eye... So, I'm taking a peek... 

N: Can I look around the store a bit more?

Y: Sure. Go ahead. 

Y: (I don't get surfer vibes from him... How do I ask him about that..?)

Y: (But, since he's here, I'd like to hear about the surfing situation in Oita.)

A surfboard catches Naoya’s attention.

N: Wow! This looks so cool.

Y: That's our original board. My dad is a shaper.

N: I think the Miruru colours (of the board) look good...

Y: Miruru...? It's a good board, a lot of people are drawn to it.

Y: The material is light and you'll feel like you're dancing once you ride it. It's perfect for a skillful surfer such as yourself, Naoya-san. 

Y: But, I don't think you'll be able to purchase it right away. It's rather pricey.

Y: By the way, there are going to be some really nice waves today. They should be peak in another hour or so.

Y: I heard that the waves in Oita are pretty good, but I hope you enjoy the ones here in Shonan, too.

N: .......!

Y: Is something wrong?

N: Nothing... It's just that... You talk a lot. Is everyone in Shonan like that?

Y: Oh, no. Not at all. I'm just excited to meet a surfer from so far away. 

Y: I'm sorry... I didn't mean to bother you.

N: I don't mind... It's a bit unexpected... 

N: I didn't mean it like it's a bad thing, either. You're just enthusiastic.

Y: Enthusiastic...? 

Y: (I was just supposed to guard the store, but before I knew it, I was...)

N: ???

Y: It's nothing. Anyway, Shonan is a nice place. Please drop by (the shop) whenever you decide to visit again. 

Y: (Working here alone might not be so bad after all.)

-End of Story-

[inazuma-eleven-translations]

Translator's Notes: I haven't finished translating everything on this page, but here's another chunk. I translated Aphrodi's part already here. 

Everyone Assemble! 

 'Tenma is so ridiculously exited!' An Interview with Terasaki Yuka about Tenma's role in the Best Eleven

Matsukaze Tenma: Inazuma Best Eleven. 

MF. Shirt Number 8. Raimon Junior. 

Q First of all, a few words about your character being chosen for the Best Eleven. 

A Thank you so much for giving us your precious votes! There's so many characters in Inazuma that it's hard to rank them in order of favorites, but I'm happy that everyone could co operate to chose the most beloved characters like this. 

Q Please tell us your impression of this movie and your character. 

 A I was a little bit sad Inazuma is over, so I was really happy to be able to play Tenma again for the first time in a while, and that was really fun! Like the after-recording session! And more than anything getting to fight together with all of our strongest allies! I think Tenma was really happy too. Up until now, he's only ever played soccer with some kind of burden on his shoulder, but this time he could play soccer stress-free, like a normal middle school kid - it was really fun to play him like that with his 'Tenma-ness'. I think it was a reward to get to play Tenma like that. 

Q Please tell us about your favourite scene and dialogue. 

A My favorite scene was where Hakuryuu made a shoot and Endou praised the strength of his soot with a smile on his face. Showing respect like that even to enemies - you can tell he really is a soccer baka! I love him! My favorite scene wth Tenma is when he arrived even earlier in the morning than Endou-san! You're so ridiculously excited, huh Tenma? And I was really excited too! But the two of them came so early, they ended up falling asleep, haha! 

Q Tenma says ‘Next time I wanna play soccer with everyone!’ so if there’s another project like this, who would you like to play soccer with? 

A Raimon from the first season of GO and Raimon from the first season of the original series! 

Q What scenes would you like to highlight for people to rewatch in the DVDs? 

A I think that since everyone's favorite characters are different, please watch your favorite scenes over and over again! I'd be happy if you can understand everyone's strong feelings for soccer, and the joy at playing against strong enemies! When we finished making the movie, we were smiling so much we couldn't stop - everyone looked like they were having such a good time! To everyone who buys the DVD - I hope you'll smile like crazy too!! 

 An Interview with Saiga Mitsuki about Shindou's role in the Best Eleven 

Shindou Takuto: Inazuma Best Eleven. 

MF. Shirt Number 9. Raimon Junior. 

Q First of all, a few words about your character being chosen for the Best Eleven. 

 A I was really happy that there was so many people who were able to see that Shindou was doing his best to play the soccer that he loves. 

 Q Please tell us your impression of this series and your character. 

 A I get the impression that Shindou is a very serious and hard-working boy. And he has a very passionate heart. 

 Q Please tell us about your favourite scene and dialogue. 

 A I like too many scenes so I can't chose just one! 

 Q Tenma says ‘Next time I wanna play soccer with everyone!’ so if there’s another project like this, who would you like to play soccer with? 

 A I want him to have fun while playing soccer with Raimon again. 

 Q What scenes would you like to highlight for people to rewatch in the DVDs? 

 A The best part is being able to see everyone enjoy playing soccer. Definitely watch this more than once! 

 An Interview with Yoshino Hiroyuki about Kidou's role in the Best Eleven 

Kidou Yuuto: Inazuma Best Eleven. 

MF. Shirt Number 14. Raimon Junior. 

 Q First of all, a few words about your character being chosen for the Best Eleven. 

 A It's an honor to be chosen. 

 Q Please tell us your impression of this movie and your character. 

 A I was happy to meet Kidou again for the first time in a while. 

 Q Please tell us about your favourite scene and dialogue. 

 A In this movie everyone is the same age?? 

 Q Tenma says ‘Next time I wanna play soccer with everyone!’ so if there’s another project like this, who would you like to play soccer with? 

 A Endou and Gouenji. 

 Q What scenes would you like to highlight for people to rewatch in the DVDs? 

 A Please enjoy this Dream Match collaboration. 

 Director's Comment - Raimon's commanders - Kidou and Shindou 

 You might ask 'Why doesn't Shindou address Kidou as Kidou-san?' in the movie but since they're both second year middle school students he doesn't need to. This is a 'super dimensional dream match' after all, so they can be the same age and don't need to use terms of respect. Furthermore, since Kidou is a forceful leader, I feel like Shindou won't be submissive to him. I think that when it comes to strategies, Kidou would work together with Shindou. 

 An Interview with Sawashiro Miyuki about Shuu's role in the Best Eleven

Shuu: Inazuma Best Eleven. 

FW. Shirt Number 12. Ancient Dark. 

 Q First of all, a few words about your character being chosen for the Best Eleven. 

 A Since Shuu only appeared once in the TV series and in the movie, I was happy. 

 Q Please tell us your impression of this movie and your character. 

 A It was fun, but... Seeing him be so lively and animated while playing soccer was a little bit heart-breaking. 

Q Please tell us about your favourite scene and dialogue. 

A A God (Aphrodi) and a ghost (Shuu) unleashing a special move together, haha. 

Q Tenma says ‘Next time I wanna play soccer with everyone!’ so if there’s another project like this, who would you like to play soccer with? 

A How about the All Stars? Haha. 

Q What scenes would you like to highlight for people to rewatch in the DVDs? 

A If you strain your eyes, you can see one of Shuu's teammates standing beside him (An islander?) 

Director's Comment - Shuu and Aphrodi's unique two-person shot: 

Even though the Dream Match we based on the TV series and Shuu only appears in the movie, we felt we couldn't use his special moves from the movie. However, the writer of the original series, Level Five's Hino pointed out that since people went through the trouble of choosing Shuu as a forward, we might as well give him a special move to attack with. After discussing it for a while, we decided he would use The Birth with Aphrodi. 

Actually The Birth uses a lot of cut scenes. In spite of this, Hiroto and Fubuki only used it once, which was a waste. Of course, the character's uniforms are different so we had to spend time changing the animation, but if this shot wasn't already in the original series it would have been very different. 

Director's Comment - Gran makes a suitable rival for Endou 

 Gran was a character from when the previous director was in charge but I personally feel he appeared s one of the biggest rivals of the series. I thought he was the only one who could gather all of these diverse characters together, so I made him captain of the Battle Eleven. Furthermore, since he was rivals with Endou for quite a long time, he'd definitely be a good fit to challenge Best Eleven's captain, Endou. Though he and Hiroto are the same person, I felt that Gran was more intimidating.

[recentanimenews]

Shield Hero Fans Hail the Filolial Queen

  *SPOILERS BELOW*

  If you’re not completely caught up on The Rising of the Shield Hero, please shield your eyes.

    Oof! This week’s episode kicked off with Fitoria staying true to her word when she said she intended to kill all of the Heroes if they didn’t cooperate in order to summon new heroes. She took Melty hostage, threatened to kill Naofumi, and demanded Filo fight her in human form. She made sure Filo knew she was weak physically and resolve-wise. Filo found the strength to break through Fitoria’s barrier and eventually won by revealing she wanted to grow stronger in order to protect the entire party and everyone. Fitoria named her the next Filolial Queen!!

    The party celebrated the new queen until they slept next to their filolial friends. Naofumi and Fitoria spoke about the state of the heroes. Naofumi realized he never tried to clear his name because he felt no one would believe him. Naofumi said he’d try to talk it out but it turns out that if all four heroes don’t reconcile then Fitoria would kill them anyway. Fitoria also revealed that each Hero would have to make a choice of what they’re fighting for: the world or its people. It was revealed in a flashback that Fitoria was probably raised by a previous Shield Hero and they shared a sweet moment.

    Phew that was exciting to see Fitoria fight---WAIT! After the ending song, instead of the usual next episode title card, we got a whole scene! Bow Hero, Sword Hero, and their parties entered a cave that kept the Four Cardinal Weapons safe. However there were no weapons. Before they could investigate further, the cave was struck by a fire and lightning attack that seemingly obliterated it.

A lot of action and information came out of this episode! Luckily Shield Hero himself provided a place for everyone to process their thoughts:

Filo is called upon to fight. The Rising of the Shield Hero Episode 17 – A Promise Made ???? Watch: https://t.co/A3Nf7gx1Tw Discuss this week's episode below. pic.twitter.com/7Bgw50Ux14

— The Rising of the Shield Hero (@ShieldHeroEN) May 1, 2019

    All hail the Filolial Queen!

  I would kill for her , she’s truly adorable queen pic.twitter.com/7w2cV6MRwX

— mammam (@seimamoru) May 1, 2019

  pic.twitter.com/svN1hFr23D

— ʝαу (@Enjukii) May 1, 2019

  Same energy pic.twitter.com/tnBW8hPyGI

— Angelo Van (@Angelo_Van_) May 1, 2019

  Fitoria is OP, she’ll be a good mentor for Filo and even Naofumi.

— AdmiralJames42: Jacob Elam (@Jacob_elam) May 1, 2019

  Fitoria just wanting to fulfill her own hero's promise is too sweet. She is definitely a good person worthy of headpats ☺ pic.twitter.com/yWw9xP51bR

— Chandler Ingram (@Chandler_Ingram) May 1, 2019

  Future Filolial Queen Filo! Look at our cute little badass bird-girl now. Look at how cool she is. I love her. ????#ShieldHero pic.twitter.com/sbwsUL9uqm

— Matsukaze Kuki (@MatsukazeKuki) May 1, 2019

  It was definitely the previous Shield Hero who raised Fitoria! (She's adorable ????) I mean which other hero would kindly take care Demi-humans asides the shield hero?#ShieldHero_anime #ShieldHero #TheRisingoftheShieldHero #isekai #TateNoYuushanoNariagari #anime pic.twitter.com/GehSzGDY1L

— MsB(Vitch)DaSecond (@MsVitchDa2nd) May 1, 2019

  Just watched episode 17 of #ShieldHero. Really good episode. Yay for more Filo development! Also, I don't care what Naofumi and Filo say about that cowlick... I'm with Melty in saying it's adorable!

— CascadeHope (@CascadeHope) May 1, 2019

  Damn she was so excited to take on Thanos. #ShieldHero pic.twitter.com/nsmuexEBec

— Victor Monjaras (@Journeyman15) May 1, 2019

  Filo got a cowlick. so cute.

— Alfa1220 (@AarionF) May 1, 2019

  How do you feel about episode 17? What was your favorite moment? Tweet a reply to The Rising of the Shield Hero page!

    Share your thoughts on the latest episode in the comments section below! 

    Ricky Soberano is a Features Editor, Script Writer, and Editorial Programming Coordinator for Crunchyroll. She’s the former Managing Editor of Brooklyn Magazine. You can follow her on Twitter @ramenslayricky.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens Review

I should’ve probably called this “Why You Should Watch It” because it’s a pretty strong show that went under my radar when it first aired.

TL;DR (Summary): If you like fun hitmen going after each other and most likely being gay in the process, you’ll like this show! It’s plenty of fun to watch especially towards the end. The art is simple, but the soundtrack has some jazz fun! The story is paced well enough to keep you interested from beginning to end. It has a major lack of good female characters.

If you like: Banana Fish, Durarara, Baccano, Hamatora, or Bungou Stray Dogs

Those are my recommended picks. I’ve only watched Durarara’s first and second season, and I haven’t watched Baccano or Hamatora (besides clips), so these are really just based on my views of the series.

If you want a quick rundown of the cast and why you should watch it, I recommend this post by @hypermoyashi​

Synopsis:

Although the city of Fukuoka might look relatively peaceful at first glance, in actuality it houses a thriving mixture of dangerous individuals. Zenji Banba, a laidback and observant detective who is investigating the work of other hitmen companies in the area. However, Banba might not be the only one with a bone to pick with these organizations, as Xianming Lin, a crossdressing male hitman in the employ of one such company begins getting fed up with his lack of jobs and pay. Frustrated, he is offered the job of taking out Banba, whom his organization believes has been interfering with their business. However, when Banba arrives at his home and finds the hitman inside, Lin surprisingly doesn't even attempt to kill him. Instead, he offers the detective another option: to join him and form a team. With the offer on the table, exactly how will Banba respond, and just what plans does Ling have in store for the underground world of Fukuoka?

[Source: MAL / edited by me]

Characters

The characters are one of the most charming things about this story. While story hijinks are fun, but this cast is full of interesting personalities. For the sake of simplicity, I’m only going to mention the Japanese cast. You can search the English cast on your own.

Banba Zenji [played by Ono Daisuke]

Lin Xianming [played by Kaji Yuuki]

Enokida [played by Ono Kensho]

Jirou [played by Namikawa Daisuke]

Martinez “Maru-chan” Jose [played by Maeno Tomoaki]

Misaki [played by Yuuki Aoi]

Saruwatari “Sarucchi” Shunsuke [played by Nakamura Yuuichi]

Nitta Naoya [played by Matsukaze Masaya]

Feilang [played by Shimazaki Nobunaga]

Saito [played by Kobayashi Yuusuke]

[Left to Right: Enokida, Saito, Benba, Lin, Jirou, Misaki, Saruwatari]

Each of these characters has their own unique design and their own sense of uniqueness. 

If you want more information about these characters, read this post. It’s the same as the one I referred to above, but it’s just so accurate.

I like the fact that this anime doesn’t make fun of its cross-dressing character for the sake of comedy. They allow him to still be badass while allowing him to dress the way he wants, and I like that. The gay characters also don’t get any bad rap for being gay. 

The gay man even adopted his own child... at least, I think that’s how he got the kid... I think. 

Story:

In terms of story, this is a whole lot of fun. It’s fast-paced enough to keep your interest, and in my opinion, the story gets even better with time. Towards the end, I started to actually feel excited. I wanted to know what was gonna happen. I don’t want to reveal too much besides that. If you’ve watched Durarara, I think you know that revealing anything (especially since this series is 12 episodes) will be detrimental. 

Art:

The art is simple, but it works. It’s really nothing special, and the fight scenes are better in other shows. This was done by studio Satelight, and they have worked with other studios to create awesome anime like Fairy Tail and Hellsing Ultimate, but alone, they aren’t as good. Nonetheless, they really held it together and created some okay art. The direction was good, but I think a collaboration could’ve made it even better.

Sound

This part is a whole lot of fun. Artistically, this is where it shined. The score composer is experienced. He wrote for Code Geass, Gosick, Inu x Boku, and so many other shows. They have some jazz tracks that will really make it like Durarara, and it has so much spunk. I would’ve gotten more attached to the OST if it wasn’t constricted to 12 episodes.

I wish they went even wilder with the ED. It felt a bit too structured. When I listen to jazz tracks like that, I want the musicians to go wild and to improvise. It doesn’t need to sound clean. As a classical musician who has tried jazz, I really like trying out random things when given a chart. When the trumpet or saxophone blares that top note then trills or pulls off difficult runs, now that... that is more satisfying than any slime video will ever be. They had it in the full version, but they cut it out on the TV version. I think that’s a huge loss. When the improv fits and goes well, that’s just pure gold. I wish the ED had a moment like that, and when they talk during the credits about the next episode, follow with a slightly muted drum solo. That would be really cool too. I think these comments go towards the sound director, but I just wanted to make these suggestions.

Have a listen here: 

The OP was not original. I felt like it blended in. In fact, let’s just switch the two. Let’s pull a Cowboy Bebop and have a jazz instrumental theme song. That would be SO GOOD.

Voice acting was great. They cast pretty much all well-known people who have already gotten at least one good role under them. These performances are no exception. But I would have chosen different voice actors for this cast a lot differently if I was in the director’s position. I questioned some of the choices at first, but they all won me over eventually. I think it’s because I’ve heard Ono Daisuke play too many of these kinds of smooth-talkers, Kaji Yuuki has played so many deep-voiced protagonists (although this one was different), and Namikawa Daisuke has played so many characters with that kind of voice and personality. I would’ve liked to see some new people. Especially for roles like Saito, I know that Kobayashi Yuusuke is relatively new, but I would’ve liked to see someone who’s even newer. Kaji Yuuki has voiced a lot of protagonists. I would’ve liked to see someone semi-new. Same with the other roles. Seasonal anime is the time to let your fresh crops flourish. 

[inazuma-eleven-translations]

Inazuma GO - Character Names

As every Inazuma fan knows, many characters in the series are given names that specifically relate to their personality or physical appearance. I’d like to talk about my interpretation of some of the most prominent GO characters. I’m going to order them from easiest to most difficult to write based on stroke count (if same number of strokes, I’ll order them based on difficulty of kanji), and also include how common their last names are in Japan in real life using their specific kanji. Names will be written in the order: family name, given name.

Ichino Nanasuke

一乃七助

Stroke Count: 12

Usage: 0 Households* BUT 市野 ichino is 1964 households

His name has the lowest stroke count, so is relatively simple to write. However, the kanji he uses to write his name is unique, so it’s traditionally written the way I gave above.

一 (ichi) means one, 乃 is the kanji for the possessive particle (の no), 七 (nana) means seven and 助く (tasuku) means to help/save.

My guess is that his family name using the kanji for one may have some relevance to him being Captain of Raimon’s second team. I think no is just a suffix, no meaning. Since his sebango (number on a player’s back) is 9, I’m not sure where the 7 comes from.

Sangoku Taichi

三国太一

Stroke Count: 16

Usage: 1943 Households

Stroke count is low, and the kanji are elementary level so personally I find Sangoku has the easiest name to write.

三 (san) means three, 国 (koku/kuni) means country, 太 (dai) means grand or magnificent, and 一 (ichi) means one. Sangoku translates as The Three Kingdoms, which was a period of Korean or Chinese history that seems to be greatly romanticized by Japan for some reason. I lean towards Korea as a) Gaya is a Korean confederacy (Fence of Gaia) and b) he’s changed to Korean in the dub. Taichi is just a popular boy’s name meaning great or powerful.

Amagi Daichi

天城大地

Stroke Count: 22

Usage: 166 Households

天 ama means heaven, 城 ki means fortress, 大 dai means big, and 地 chi means earth.

Kurumada Gouichi

車田 剛一

Stroke Count: 23

Usage: 681 Households

車 kuruma means car, 田 ta means ricefield, 剛 gou means strong/manly, and  一 ichi means one.

His parents own a car shop and he’s associated with vehicles eg. dash train.

Aoyama Shunsuke

青山俊介

Stroke Count: 24

Usage: 24374 Households

青い aoi means blue/green, 山 yama means mountain, 俊 shun means excellent/genius, and 介 suke is a suffix. Referring to him being very logical, according to the games. Aoyama is such a common name I don’t think there’s any particular meaning.

Kariya Masaki

狩屋マサキ

Stroke Count: 26

Usage: 67 Households

マサキ is written in katakana*

*Katakana is the second Japanese alphabet that’s used to write foreign names, onomatopoeia, scientific names of animals or to make words stand out.

I don’t the exact reason Masaki writes his name in katakana when most characters use kanji, but my guess is that it may possibly have something to do with the Sun Garden as Tatsuya/Hiroto and Ryuuji are some of the few characters who use katakana to write their first names. MAYBE. Or it could simply be because Kariya thinks it looks cool. hes an awkward fucker i wouldnt put it past him

狩 kari means hunting and 屋 ya denotes a certain personality type (eg. tereYA is a shy person). So Kariya’s a hunter it seems.

Matsukaze Tenma

松風天馬

Stroke Count: 31

Usage: 122 Households

松 matsu means pine tree, 風 kaze means wind, 天 ten means heaven, and 馬 uma means horse. Personally I don’t think matsu has a particular meaning, but kaze obviously refers to his wind element. Tenma is the Japanese for heaven horse - pegasus.

Shindou Takuto

神童拓人

Stroke Count: 31

Usage: 146 Households

神 shin/kami means God, 童 warabe means child, 拓く hiraku means to open, and 人 hito means person.

I’m gonna interpret Shindou as Child of God, but that could be wrong. I heard takuto means a conductor’s baton, so his name is like his special move kami no takuto - God’s baton. I think takuto was chosen based on its sound and the kanji meaning is not important.

EDIT: Shindou is a name given to a child prodigy, like a nickname.

Tsurugi Kyousuke

剣城京介

Stroke Count: 31*

DID YOU NOTICE THIS? Tenma, Shindou and Tsurugi all have exactly 31 strokes in their name! It’s kind of sad how excited I am by this.

Usage: 0 Households* BUT 剣 (ken) is 59 households

剣 ken/tsurugi means sword, 城 gi means fortress, 京 kyou means capital (as in the former capital of Japan Kyoto) and 介 suke is a suffix. Tsurugi translates as a double-edged Japanese sword, and I think 城 was added just to make the sound. I don’t think Kyousuke has a particular meaning, but maybe the use of kyou is significant. By the way, Tsurugi doesn’t exist as a person’s name at all, not even the sound.

Hamano Kaiji

浜野海士

Stroke Count: 32

Usage: 10140 Households

浜 hama means beach, 野 no means field, 海 umi means sea and 士 shi is the radicle for warrior. There’s a pun in there somewhere.

Kurama Norihito

倉間典人

Stroke Count: 34

Usage: 150 Households

To be honest I’m disappointed by his lack of an interesting name. Personally I don’t have a clue why he was named this way. If anyone has any suggestions for the background to his name, please let me know! 倉 kura means warehouse/storehouse, 間 ma means space/time, 典 nori means rule/law, and 人 hito means person.

HOWEVER, If you shorten Minamisawa’s Atsushi’s first name to Sushi and Kurama’s first name to Nori, they become sushi and nori which is delicious.

Kageyama Hikaru

影山 輝

Stroke Count: 34

Usage: 6029 Households

影 kage means shadow, 山 yama means mountain, and 輝 hikaru means to shine. I love how his first name contradicts his family name - to show he’s not like his uncle I guess. Shining Shadow Mountain.

Nishizono Shinsuke

西園信助

Stroke Count: 35

Usage: 974 Households

西 nishi means west, 園 sono means man-made garden, 信じる shinjiru means believe, and 助く tasuku means help.

Hayami Tsurumasa

速水 鶴正

Stroke Count: 40

Usage: 2591 Households

速い hayai means fast, 水mizu means water, 鶴 tsuru means crane and 正 masa means exact/precise. I guess hayai refers to his speed, and I like to think mizu refers to his friendship with Hamano, but this is wrong.

Kirino Ranmaru

霧野蘭丸

Stroke Count: 52

Usage: 0* BUT 桐野 (kirino) is 761 households

I’m not surprised at all his name has the highest number of strokes. It’s ridiculously complicated. Just as young children have difficulty spelling long names, Japanese children write their names in hiragana until they learn the kanji for their name, so I bet until he learned the kanji for his name, Kirino wrote his name like this (plz excuse my mouse-writing):

The spelling of Kirino’s name seems to have been invented specifically for this character, as it doesn’t exist in real life.

霧 kiri means mist, 野 no means field, 蘭 ran means orchid, and 丸 maru is a suffix generally associated with names from the samurai era. But since 野 is pronounced like NO, the Japanese possessive particle, his name can be read as kiri no ran(maru) or orchid of the mist.

However, I also read somewhere once that he was named after Ranmaru Mori, who was a very loyal companion to Nobunaga, and according to wikipedia was “recognized for his talent, loyalty, and unusual beauty…” Sound familiar? In this case, I think he was given the name Ranmaru as he shows incredible loyalty to Shindou.

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Well, that’s my personal interpretation of everyone’s name. Next time I might search for what Japanese fans think of the name meanings and summarize my results. I’ll try this for other characters too. If you have idea/ your own interpretations, I’d love to hear them!