Saki 咲希

[Fang Wolf]

Why has Oroku Saki a female name in his name?
Saki: 咲 (sa) "blossom" and 希 (ki) "hope".

[Leo656]

Probably for much the same reason a lot of the "Japanese" stuff in TMNT is a little bit askew. Kev and Pete simply didn't research it all that deeply and probably just went with something that "sounded good". That's what I figure.

[Powder]

Probably for much the same reason a lot of the "Japanese" stuff in TMNT is a little bit askew. Kev and Pete simply didn't research it all that deeply and probably just went with something that "sounded good". That's what I figure.

This. The anime tried to fix that a little by calling him Sawaki instead.

[Leo656]

Any chance at all they were just getting baked and cribbing stuff off of the menu from the local Noodle House? I kind of want to believe that. :P

[ssjup81]

Why has Oroku Saki a female name in his name?
Saki: 咲 (sa) "blossom" and 希 (ki) "hope".How do you know it was written that way? It could be written"さき" or "サキ"・:P

[Leo656]

Not to be racially insensitive, but I'm genuinely amazed that anyone can make heads or tails out of all those squiggly lines and interpret them as words. :lol:

Carry on.

[IndigoErth]

Maybe his parents wanted a girl. And then with his behavior ended up not at all the 'hope' his parents hoped for. lol No wonder he's so angry.

[tinlunlau]

The Cantonese dub had Oroku Saki translated as 小祿崎.

崎 being "saki".

[ssjup81]

Maybe his parents wanted a girl. And then with his behavior ended up not at all the 'hope' his parents hoped for. lol No wonder he's so angry.:lol: That would be something. Would explain a lot.

Too bad it doesn't work that way with the Kouseki system.Not to be racially insensitive, but I'm genuinely amazed that anyone can make heads or tails out of all those squiggly lines and interpret them as words. :lol:

Carry on.Well, the kanji (Chinese characters) is difficult. Each character has a meaning. For example, 手話. 手=hand 語=language. So hand language. In other words sign language. I got the meaning, but still misread it. I thought it was "tego". I knew to say hand was "te" and "go" was attached to the end of words for language...like eigo (English), for example. Anyway, it's read as Shuwa.

Another one...火山. 火 means fire. 山 means mountain. What do you think this is?

Usually, the characters look like something, so that helps. Some Japanese can't read Chinese, but they can understand the meaning because of the characters.

The other writing system is more simplified and completely easy to get mostly. Hiragana and katakana. Katakana is used for foreign or borrowed words mostly...like anime (アニメ) which is English and borrowed from the word animation. Hiragana is used for Japanese words and can help with Kanji reading when studying.

Anyway, each character for hiragana and katakana has its own sound...

a (ア)
ni (二)
me (メ)

Everything pretty much ends with a vowel, for the most part.

[jestermon]

Couldn't you name a boy pretty flower if you really wanted to?

[Leo656]

ssjup81: Uhhh... is it... no, no, wait, "answers must be in the form of a question", duh... ummm... "What is 'Volcano'?" Did I win?!

You know, I gotta admit, I learned something today, even though when I woke up, I swore to myself that I wouldn't. But thanks to you, taking the time to try and help me out, I learned a valuable lesson.

And that lesson is, I should never, EVER set foot into a Ribera Steak House without a translator, under any circumstances. :lol:

Actually, that's pretty neat. I could never keep all that stuff straight, nice work.

[snake]

Some people here know Japanese? That's pretty cool.

[Leo656]

Umm, I know "Ichiban", but thazzit. :lol: It got a big reaction from Balzac when I saw them open for The Misfits back in the day. That's as far as the conversation went, but still. They're so bad-ass. 8)

[CyberCubed]

TMNT was created when anime was relatively unknown in the U.S.

Imagine if Kevin/Peter grew up being anime fans? Good god.

[Leo656]

Yeah, there might actually be some authentic Japan-ness in it, instead of just a light veneer. Tragic.

[Prowler]

There's some gender-neutral given names in Japanese. Haruka, Makoto and Madoka being three of them, per example. I guess Saki is exclusively feminine.

Probably for much the same reason a lot of the "Japanese" stuff in TMNT is a little bit askew. Kev and Pete simply didn't research it all that deeply and probably just went with something that "sounded good". That's what I figure.
A lot of authors don't bother to do some proper research for their works, I'm afraid. This is common in Asian themed cartoons and movies. And even in ancient European ones, it happens. The Vikings are usually portrayed as blood thirsty warmongers, per example. Although this doesn't really bother me much in TMNT. Probably because I've been a fan of it ever since I remember and can't bring myself to dislike it after all these years. And besides, how could you make the Turtles assassins in cartoon adaptations for kids? :P

Not to be racially insensitive, but I'm genuinely amazed that anyone can make heads or tails out of all those squiggly lines and interpret them as words. :lol:

Carry on.
How is that being racially insensitive? :P

I don't speak Japanese, let alone read/write it, but its characters aren't that hard to tell apart. I find Hebrew and Arabic characters/phonemes much harder to tell apart, per example.

If you want an East Asian language with a simple alphabet try Korean. Although Japanese is, by far, the easiest of the major ones to pronounce.

[Leo656]

I can "try" Korean Barbecue and that's as far as I can go. Sorry. :P

[Prowler]

I can "try" Korean Barbecue and that's as far as I can go. Sorry. :P
I have never learnt Korean either, so don't feel bad.

Can't say I've ever tried Korean food. I don't think there's even a single Korean place in my city while there's several Japanese ones and plenty of Chinese ones. My brother has tried Korean food and says that it's surprisingly spicy despite Korea having a temperate climate.

[Leo656]

For a guy who generally tries super hard to eat healthy, I'm a weak-kneed bitch for any kind'a Asian food. Can't even front. :lol: But yeah, I can't even remember the last time I had Korean food, but I'd be down. Frankly, I'll eat damn near anything, but Asian-style food is my Kryptonite. My greasy, sodium-laced Kryptonite. :lol:

[pennydreadful]

TMNT was created when anime was relatively unknown in the U.S.

Imagine if Kevin/Peter grew up being anime fans? Good god.

Just think of the fan-service we'd get. Can you say April pantie shots? ;)

I kid, I kid.

[Prowler]

For a guy who generally tries super hard to eat healthy, I'm a weak-kneed bitch for any kind'a Asian food. Can't even front. :lol: But yeah, I can't even remember the last time I had Korean food, but I'd be down. Frankly, I'll eat damn near anything, but Asian-style food is my Kryptonite. My greasy, sodium-laced Kryptonite. :lol:
Haven't eaten Asian food in a long time. I'd like to try Sushi and all the other trendy Japanese dishes but man, they're so expensive and their portions look so tiny.

Always been a fan of Chinese food. It's not unusual for people to celebrate their birthdays by taking their friends and family to a Chinese restaurant here. By "Chinese food" I'm talking about the usual stuff: peking duck, sweet pork, lots of rice, crêpes, etc.

[Leo656]

I could eat sushi e'rry day. Chinese is how me and the wife celebrate holidays and such, we got a great little buffet a few miles up the road from us. Since I generally get $40 in take-out all to myself when we order out, the $10 each for the buffet is a steal. :lol: I run through wontons like Rambo runs through foreign mercenaries of questionable allegiance.

I've gotten really neat at using chopsticks, so I got that going for me, which is nice. Sometimes I'll make a simple Asian chicken and fried rice dish at home. Good stuff.

[Prowler]

I could eat sushi e'rry day. Chinese is how me and the wife celebrate holidays and such, we got a great little buffet a few miles up the road from us. Since I generally get $40 in take-out all to myself when we order out, the $10 each for the buffet is a steal. :lol: I run through wontons like Rambo runs through foreign mercenaries of questionable allegiance.

I've gotten really neat at using chopsticks, so I got that going for me, which is nice. Sometimes I'll make a simple Asian chicken and fried rice dish at home. Good stuff.
I've tried using chopsticks once when I was a kid and wasn't able to do it right. I'm sure it's not complicated, although my brother says his Korean bosses were very impressed when they saw him eating with chopsticks, as if it was some sort of rocket science. :lol:

[Leo656]

Nah, man, it's easy. I messed it up when I was a kid, too, but I only re-learned a couple years ago and it took me five minutes. You just hold the bottom one kinda like a pencil and hook the top one under your pointer finger. Most of 'em come in a little red paper slipcase that flat-out show you how, it's awesome! :lol: That's actually how I learned, I swear. There's just the tiniest little bit of balance involved, but you just hold the bottom one still and make a pincer with the top one. Then you go for that General Tso's, and you squeeze that sh*t, then you eat that sh*t, but it's much more satisfying because you're not merely scooping it up with a fork or spoon like some kind of yuppie. You're doing it with little sticks. Like a boss. 8)

Sometimes eating rice is tricky because it's crumbly, but a little duck sauce makes it clumpy. And, not for nothin', but if you're passive-aggressive at all, it's a super-easy way to make your friends feel inadequate. I mean, even if your technique is clumsy, f*ck it, how're they gonna know? They're over there poking at their food with little rakes and shovels, afraid to even try The Stix, so what do they know? They'll be super-jealous. :P

Nah, but seriously, you got this, bro.

[Garfield]

I've suspected that Saki was a feminine name for a long time now. I've studied Japanese and know some of the language.

I like that he has a feminine name. Saki is a good name.

and if it means what the TC says it does (Blossom-hope). Its interesting that such a menacing character has such a peaceful name.



Saki The Shredder is a really badass moniker.

[Fang Wolf]

How do you know it was written that way? It could be written"さき" or "サキ"・:P

I find it here: http://www.behindthename.com/name/saki

[Candy Kappa]

Saki having a girl's name does come from lack of research, but it would be cool to have a female Saki in a future installation.

in the Japanese Fred Wolf dub/anime, not only did Shredder get a boy's name, but they also renamed Hamato Yoshi, to Yoshihama Takeshi.

[Prowler]

Anyway, I guess this explains why Shredder didn't like getting called "Saki" by Krang in the 87 series. The funny thing is, his mom called him "Oroku". It's quite odd how they never managed to get Shredder's name order right.

[Garfield]

A boy named Sue...A boy named Saki.

Maybe this is why he grew up to be the villains Ninja the he is. Got picked on for having a girls name.

[CyberCubed]

Does it matter that Saki is a girl's name? What is this, some anime otaku forum?

TMNT is not an anime. Peter and Kevin were American comic book artist fans, not anime otaku's who liked lolicons and magical girls. I don't get it.

[Prowler]

Does it matter that Saki is a girl's name? What is this, some anime otaku forum?

TMNT is not an anime. Peter and Kevin were American comic book artist fans, not anime otaku's who liked lolicons and magical girls. I don't get it.
Calm down. Do you see any of us complaining over it being a girl's name? We just find it amusing and that's it. If you watched a foreign show where an american male character is named, let's say, Kate, wouldn't you find it odd/amusing as well?

[CyberCubed]

Calm down. Do you see any of us complaining over it being a girl's name? We just find it amusing and that's it. If you watched a foreign show where an american male character is named, let's say, Kate, wouldn't you find it odd/amusing as well?

Well there are a lot of names I've seen used for both genders. Jessie can be male or female, so can Taylor, Jaime, etc.

Nobody ever brought up Saki being a girl's name in the 30 year history of TMNT before, so why is it brought up now? Because of anime?

[Prowler]

Well there are a lot of names I've seen used for both genders. Jessie can be male or female, so can Taylor, Jaime, etc.

Nobody ever brought up Saki being a girl's name in the 30 year history of TMNT before, so why is it brought up now? Because of anime?

But what if it isn't? I don't think Kate is a gender-neutral name. Just like Saki doesn't seem to be one either.

Probably the same reason why it's brought up nowadays that the TMNT aren't a very accurate depiction of ninjas, especially in the cartoons and movies. Do you also think anime's got anything to do with that? People tend to prefer things to be properly researched. Knowing a random fact about Japanese culture/society/history doesn't make someone an anime fan. Dunno what gave you that idea.

Anyway, Shredder's real name doesn't bother me. I find it quite cool sounding and simple.

[ssjup81]

Couldn't you name a boy pretty flower if you really wanted to?In Japan? I highly doubt it. I also doubt there are any combination of characters combined that would mean that for a boy. A girl, yeah. In Japan, there are certain rules regarding naming your kids and how you write the name. The Kanji chosen, and all that. It's governed by the Japanese Ministry. For foreigners, maybe it's not so much an issue.

I know a couple here who had a child. They named their child, "Nomidai". Originally they wanted to use "Nomihoudai" but felt it would be offensive to the child because of the "ho" part. I'm not sure how they wrote it...in hiragana (のみだい), katakana (ノミダイ), or used the actual kanji for "nomu" which means "to drink".

Anyway, Nomihoudai (飲み放題) = all you can drink, which is pretty common here. You can go to an izakaya (kind of like a bar) or a karaoke place or certain restaurants, but it is common to have an "all you can drink" deal. They sure do drink a lot here. It's like second-nature, but they also have a strict rule regarding drinking and driving and is very serious if you're caught. Your level has to be 0.0 in order to operate a vehicle, but they have services here where you can go drinking and call up a company that can drive your car while you ride along in another. It's called "daikou", or something like that in my area, but it's common in general here. Public intoxication also isn't an issue, like say back in the US. One time, I saw a Japanese guy that was terribly drunk. He was passed out on the ground and this other dude was nearby, holding up a sign. ￥100 to get a photo with the passed out guy.

Anyway, going back on topic...

The name is pretty weird and strange, imo. I think they enjoyed drinking parties, hence the name. Maybe as a "nickname" though, they'll just call her "Nomi" or something. I don't think it would allowed for them to use "飲" in any kind of name.ssjup81: Uhhh... is it... no, no, wait, "answers must be in the form of a question", duh... ummm... "What is 'Volcano'?" Did I win?!jYep! You won Final Jeopardy!! lol Let's try three more, but I'll only give you part of the meaning...:P

一人
二人
三人

人 means person.You know, I gotta admit, I learned something today, even though when I woke up, I swore to myself that I wouldn't. But thanks to you, taking the time to try and help me out, I learned a valuable lesson.

And that lesson is, I should never, EVER set foot into a Ribera Steak House without a translator, under any circumstances. :lol::lol: In all honesty, though, I didn't feel I explained it all that well. I never did give a hiragana example, only a katakana one. Oh yeah, sound effects are usually written in katakana too as well as some animal names or "fake" animals. Digimon and Pokemon come to mind. All of the monsters' names are written in katakana.Actually, that's pretty neat. I could never keep all that stuff straight, nice work.Well, katakana and hiragana is super easy to remember and recognize. There's also "furigana". It's tiny script written over top of kanji so you can understand how to read it. Furigana = small hiragana characters. For example...

人間. Let's say I see this, but don't know how to read it or anything. I don't know these characters, but with hiragana...

人 (にん/nin)
間 (げん/gen)

Ningen = human

Of course it would be written にんげん in small script over 人間. So maybe I wouldn't be able to read the kanji, but if furigana is used, I can read it and maybe look it up or something.

Hiragana and katakana are easy to learn because each character = 1 sound, for the most part. There's no way of making a mistake with those and you don't have to worry about meaning. With Kanji, it's all about meaning and can have more than one.Umm, I know "Ichiban", but thazzit. :lol: It got a big reaction from Balzac when I saw them open for The Misfits back in the day. That's as far as the conversation went, but still. They're so bad-ass. 8)一番 (いちばん).
I
chi
ba
n Haven't eaten Asian food in a long time. I'd like to try Sushi and all the other trendy Japanese dishes but man, they're so expensive and their portions look so tiny.Japan has expensive sushi too, but they also have super cheap sushi. Think of it as "fast food". Sushi = fast food, but the portions are small, but at the same time filling. I go maybe once a week, especially on Thursday nights when I just don't feel like cooking after a day of dealing with kids. By the time work finishes at 9:00, I want something fast. lol Does it matter that Saki is a girl's name? What is this, some anime otaku forum?

TMNT is not an anime. Peter and Kevin were American comic book artist fans, not anime otaku's who liked lolicons and magical girls. I don't get it.If they wanted to go for some sort of authenticity, then they could have researched it. In Japan, given the meaning, Saki is a girl's name. I never thought much of it, actually. By "sound" it doesn't sound feminine to me. To Americans it really isn't, but to the Japanese it's strange sounding and I wonder if they'll change Saki and Yoshi's names for the Japanese dub of the Nick show now. "Otaku" have nothing to do with it. It's already unusual that the turtles aren't very "ninja-like" to begin with.

I'm sure most would think in Japan that "Saki" is gay or something if the name is that feminine.

[ssjup81]

Well there are a lot of names I've seen used for both genders. Jessie can be male or female, so can Taylor, Jaime, etc.Yes, that's true, but they also have different spellings too...well some.

Jessie/Jesse
Toni/Tony
Chris/Kris
Francis/Frances

etc....hm, Chris wasn't a good example at all. lolNobody ever brought up Saki being a girl's name in the 30 year history of TMNT before, so why is it brought up now? Because of anime?Um...no. No one's actually complaining. It's an interesting piece of information to share and fun to speculate on Shredder hating his now feminine name. :tlol:

[Prowler]

Your level has to be 0.0 in order to operate a vehicle,

That's not a bad thing at all. Here, the limit is 0.5, which I'm pretty sure it's one of the highest in Europe. It was 0.2 until a decade ago or so.

Japan has expensive sushi too, but they also have super cheap sushi. Think of it as "fast food". Sushi = fast food, but the portions are small, but at the same time filling. I go maybe once a week, especially on Thursday nights when I just don't feel like cooking after a day of dealing with kids. By the time work finishes at 9:00, I want something fast. lol
Well I suppose it's a fairly healthy "fast food".

Isn't the most popular cheap dish in Japan instant noodles? That one doesn't seem very healthy, though.

[ssjup81]

I find it here: http://www.behindthename.com/name/sakiI see, but what I meant was, is it officially written in kanji? As in our Oroku Saki. If Saki is written in katakana for example, maybe there is no meaning.

[ssjup81]

That's not a bad thing at all. Here, the limit is 0.5, which I'm pretty sure it's one of the highest in Europe. It was 0.2 until a decade ago or so.No, it really isn't, but it's a bother where those around you are drinking, and you can't even have a sip of something for a taste (if offered) because they know any type of alcohol + driving is bad. lol IMO, I think it's because some Japanese are bad with alcohol and can get wasted after like two or three beers. lolWell I suppose it's a fairly healthy "fast food".Well...it depends I tend to like pretty much anything with "toro" in the title. In other words, fatty tuna, fatty salmon, etc. There are many different types, though that don't use only finish. Like...at the place near me, they have smoked duck sushi, but it uses onion and mayo along with the duck. It's pretty good. I like the lemon tuna one, though, best. It's cheap, but good.Isn't the most popular cheap dish in Japan instant noodles? That one doesn't seem very healthy, though.Oh yeah, it is, but I was thinking along the lines of restaurant places. Going to an actual ramen shop is better, though. The instant stuff is loaded with sodium. Maybe it isn't too high in calories, though. Maybe fresh ramen is a bit better since you don't have to worry about additives and preservatives....but depending what kind of ramen you get, it can be high in sodium or fat. The base for most of the ramen dishes are shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), or miso. I prefer miso personally. As for the type, you could get one with chashuu (or pork....and we know pork isn't all that good for you). Of course veggie ramen or one with a lean meat is okay.

There's also soba and udon. Soba and udon are a bit better. You can pick that up in any convenient store. Like at a 7-11 or a supermarket...or just go to a restaurant. Some ramen shops are open late.

Oh, something else about sushi. Down in Kanto (or the Tokyo area), I'm pretty sure there are some 24hour sushi shops. I went to one once.

[pennydreadful]

Nobody ever brought up Saki being a girl's name in the 30 year history of TMNT before, so why is it brought up now? Because of anime?

Anime is the ruiner of all things good. Anime is the reason for the hole in the ozone layer. :lol: j/k

[tinlunlau]

Not to be racially insensitive, but I'm genuinely amazed that anyone can make heads or tails out of all those squiggly lines and interpret them as words. :lol:

Carry on.

In retrospect, the Chinese would call roman letters "chicken liver".

[Leo656]

Peter and Kevin were American comic book artist fans, not anime otaku's who liked lolicons and magical girls. I don't get it.

Because anyone who's into anything related to Japanese culture at all is automatically into alllllll that stuff, thus anything at all related to anything from Japan is either irrelevant or creepy. :roll: You're the absolute king of "WTF" generalizations, dude.

Say... you weren't that guy from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" who deduced that witches were made of wood, and wood doesn't sink, and since witches don't sink, and ducks don't sink, that if a woman weighed the same as a duck, she was a witch? Because that's totally the kind of logic I can see you using to connect anything to anything. :lol:

[Candy Kappa]

It's been so long since I studied Japanese, I've forgotten most of it. Is what happens when I don't have any to talk to...

[Prowler]

It's been so long since I studied Japanese, I've forgotten most of it. Is what happens when I don't have any to talk to...
Yea, that's the main reason why I've never bothered to learn Japanese, despite liking it. It'snot very useful due to its sphere of influence being pretty small. There are very low odds of you putting your Japanese knowledge into practice unless you move to Japan, something I have no interest in.

I have a bit of a problem improving my German due to lack of communication with native speakers as well. So you're not alone on that.

[CyberCubed]

Because anyone who's into anything related to Japanese culture at all is automatically into alllllll that stuff, thus anything at all related to anything from Japan is either irrelevant or creepy. :roll: You're the absolute king of "WTF" generalizations, dude.

90% of anime sexualizes its female characters, and the majority of it is underage female characters as young as 10-12.

The fact that Japan can get away with showing bare breasts of a 12 year old on TV is absolutely disturbing. I have no idea why there are no laws preventing this stuff. Its even worse because this stuff is brought over to America now and we have to see it.

[Leo656]

90% of all fiction sexualizes its female characters....

Went ahead and fixed that... ;)

I'm not saying that other stuff doesn't happen, although I don't seek it out so I don't know for sure, but I do know that 1. That's not all there is to it, and 2. Nobody's forcing you to see or pay attention to any of it. You're coming dangerously close to "Japan is full of creeps and everything they do is perverted", which we all know isn't true.

For instance, we know that they also make awesome giant monster movies and have made tremendous scientific advances in covering food with absolutely absurd amounts of oil and grease. Two positive things the world absolutely needs, that have nothing to do with naked cartoon characters of questionable age. Also, Sapporo Premium.

Ultimately, Japan gave the world Speed Racer, so frankly, I don't give a sh*t what they do elsewise. I'm openly biased.

[ssjup81]

90% of anime sexualizes its female characters, and the majority of it is underage female characters as young as 10-12.So, I'm assuming this means you've watched every single Japanese animated series ever to come to that conclusion, right? I must have missed these shows...then again, it's not like I watch much either.

That aside, that's a large percentage there. Also, not saying it doesn't exist, but you have to take the demographic and genre into consideration. You have some long-running shows here that don't have that type of stuff at all. Mostly shows aimed at young kids (Pokemon comes to mind) or family shows (like Sazae-san). I'm under the impression that series that obviously sexualizes women are aimed at an older audience and actually wouldn't be shown during the day here. It'd more than likely air at night.The fact that Japan can get away with showing bare breasts of a 12 year old on TV is absolutely disturbing. I have no idea why there are no laws preventing this stuff. Its even worse because this stuff is brought over to America now and we have to see it.Well, to be fair, in Japan "nudity" isn't always associated with sex, like how it is back in the US, for instance, where we're a bit prudish over nudity. Seems for most "nude" scenes like you're referring to deal with bathing. Bathing is a big part of the culture here and they do public baths here. It's no big deal. So nudity here doesn't = something bad or sexual. I also heard that for animated stuff, if they do have nudity, it isn't allowed to be detailed. So, like in Sailor Moon, the girls would transform, but you could see their body outlines or whatever.

Then again, like I said, I'm not sure what you're specifically referring to. If it's something aimed at adults or an older audience, the characters probably will be sexualized (or not....as genre does play a role too, I'd assume). Junk aimed at a younger audience, more than likely not.

Ironically, sex seems to be a somewhat "taboo" subject, despite the fact that the country does have all its hentai junk.

[CyberCubed]

I heard the age of consent is like 14 in Japan, is that true? If so no wonder they show 14 year olds naked in anime.

[ssjup81]

I heard the age of consent is like 14 in Japan, is that true? If so no wonder they show 14 year olds naked in anime.
Yes and no. On a federal level, yes...but on the prefectural level, it's about 17 or 18, and that trumps the old federal level. So, bottom line, if you're an adult dating a 14-year-old junior-high-school girl, expect some statutory rape charges.

[pennydreadful]

90% of anime sexualizes its female characters, and the majority of it is underage female characters as young as 10-12.

The fact that Japan can get away with showing bare breasts of a 12 year old on TV is absolutely disturbing. I have no idea why there are no laws preventing this stuff. Its even worse because this stuff is brought over to America now and we have to see it.

Tch, Cubed you've admitted that you've watched barely any anime, so you really aren't in any position to judge. And you don't have to see it - if you don't like it, change the channel.

Not to mention, take a look at how sexualized female characters are in Western entertainment. Potatoe, potahto.

Hang on, I just took a comment that you made seriously... EEEK! :o

[Leo656]

:lol: You didn't know? That's his entire M.O. "I have no personal basis for this blanket statement, BUT, it's what I heard."

It must be exhausting to base one's entire stable of opinions on conjecture and hearsay. :lol:

[CyberCubed]

The difference is you will never see a cartoon in the U.S. show a bare chested woman. Not even adult comedies like Simpsons or Family Guy can get away with this.

And Japan does it with underage girls, some as young as 12-14. Even anime aimed at kids like Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon has moments where characters breasts are almost exposed or tons of sexual innuendo.

Anyone remember Goku pulling off Bulma's panties while she was sleeping in the second episode of the original Dragonball? Would you ever see that in a U.S. cartoon? Never. But the Japanese think stuff like that is OK for kids.

[Leo656]

Are they bugging you? They're not *touching* yoooooou...

Seriously, there's countries where they snip off chick's clits as a general rule. Go yell at them. I think that sh*t's a lot more deleterious to society than cartoon jailbait and the like. The world's got much bigger and more damaging problems than what kind of hanky-panky cartoon characters half a world away are up to. Yeesh.

[ssjup81]

The difference is you will never see a cartoon in the U.S. show a bare chested woman. Not even adult comedies like Simpsons or Family Guy can get away with this.Nope. Instead we get side boob.And Japan does it with underage girls, some as young as 12-14. Even anime aimed at kids like Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon has moments where characters breasts are almost exposed or tons of sexual innuendo.Sailor Moon, no. Stop taking it out of context. Transforming isn't sexualizing them. Their clothes are changing. There's no detail and more so body silhouettes. What about the Starlights? They're male in their transformation sequence.

As I said before, look at the context its being used in and the genre. SM was aimed at a female audience.

As for Dragonball, yeah that was perverted, but the perverted characters always got what they deserved. Usually a physical punishment.Anyone remember Goku pulling off Bulma's panties while she was sleeping in the second episode of the original Dragonball? Yup and I found the scene funny, personally because of how innocent Goku was. The gag was that he thought everyone was the same. He was trying to figure out why when sleeping on her there was no cushioning and thought something was wrong with her. The gag was that Goku couldn't tell the difference between males and females unless he patted their crotch but learned later on (after usually get hit for it) that it wasn't socially acceptable to do that. He thought Bulma had a butt on her chest.

The main thing I did find bad was that Bulma used her sex appeal at times to try and get her way.Would you ever see that in a U.S. cartoon? Never. But the Japanese think stuff like that is OK for kids.Nope, but maybe you should use a recent example as opposed to series that are 20 - 30 years old. Times have changed since then and most things are tamer now given Japanese government interference.

As I was saying earlier, nudity is viewed differently here. It's no big deal because it's not always associated with sex.

I bet practically every kid here has seen bare breasts before given that breast feeding is the norm or the fact that some do shared family baths. Some kids bathe with their mothers up until like 6 or 7 years old. So it's no big deal.

That reminds me if a time I was visiting my friend and her family. Her son was about 10 at the time. He had just finished taking a bath with his father and my friend's son walked out, completely nude despite my being there and his mother, like it was second nature. He grabbed his undies and PJs and dressed right there.

Anyway, for anime, boys are allowed to be nude too, but much younger, I heard. It's no big deal because at a young age, kids learn the difference. At kindergartens, the kids change in front of one another and share the bathrooms.

[Leo656]

And yet, the amount of rape, sexual assault, and real-life "improper" behavior in general over there is practically nonexistent compared to over here. Shocking, no?

I think a LOT has to do with the very thick line they draw between real life and entertainment. I never been there, but yeah, I can admit, some of their entertainment is a little far out. BUT, it seems like they have an unspoken rule of, "Whatever a person views for entertainment is one thing, but act like that in real life and you're gonna get smacked, hard." I could be wrong, but it makes sense to me.

[ssjup81]

And yet, the amount of rape, sexual assault, and real-life "improper" behavior in general over there is practically nonexistent compared to over here. Shocking, no?It's a mixed bag. Men in power may act in such a way, but that's not limited to Japan, of course. I heard that rape and sexual assault cases are underreported, but I don't have anything to back that up.

TBH, in some ways, Japan is socially backwards when it comes to women, imo. The current prime minister is trying to work on things to help women more, like work opportunities after starting families, that kind of thing.I think a LOT has to do with the very thick line they draw between real life and entertainment. I never been there, but yeah, I can admit, some of their entertainment is a little far out. BUT, it seems like they have an unspoken rule of, "Whatever a person views for entertainment is one thing, but act like that in real life and you're gonna get smacked, hard." I could be wrong, but it makes sense to me.Yeah, for the most part I get that impression too, unless there's some type of mental issue going on with said person.

That aside, I find the music group AKB48 more bothersome than some anime character taking a bath. The members are being catered to young girls, but also older men. Seems men like them a lot, so the image for them has to remain pure and innocent. It's good for the girls who may idolize them, but find it bad that the older members can't have real adult lives. They aren't allowed to date...must keep that pure, innocent schoolgirl persona to cater to the creepy old men who buy all of their merch.

I think last year, one of the members (mid-20s) was caught going to a guy's place at night and that was a "scandal". >_>. She gave a public apology while crying and shaved her head to show how ashamed she was. Geez...

[DarthEmpress]

I'm surprised no one brought up how similar sounding "Saki" is to "Sake," which would be an ironic beverage of choice for Saki :D

Whenever I read Japanese translations of TMNT, they never use kanji for spelling Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi, usually hiragana, which is not uncommon.

[ssjup81]

I'm surprised no one brought up how similar sounding "Saki" is to "Sake," which would be an ironic beverage of choice for Saki :DYeah. That would be pretty ironic.Whenever I read Japanese translations of TMNT, they never use kanji for spelling Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi, usually hiragana, which is not uncommon.Well, that answers my question. I was curious how the names were written out in Japanese. So, no kanji, no real meaning.

[pennydreadful]

The difference is you will never see a cartoon in the U.S. show a bare chested woman. Not even adult comedies like Simpsons or Family Guy can get away with this.

And Japan does it with underage girls, some as young as 12-14. Even anime aimed at kids like Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon has moments where characters breasts are almost exposed or tons of sexual innuendo.

Anyone remember Goku pulling off Bulma's panties while she was sleeping in the second episode of the original Dragonball? Would you ever see that in a U.S. cartoon? Never. But the Japanese think stuff like that is OK for kids.

Uh Cubed, I can name several Western cartoons which have female nudity right off the top of my head - Spawn, Metalocalypse, Drawn Together, Ugly Americans, the Beavis & Butthead movie, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, Fritz the Cat and...

Heavy Metal. Which you reeeeally should've known. :lol:

http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/2014-01/enhanced/webdr03/7/9/anigif_enhanced-buzz-6724-1389105061-15.gif

Don't mess with the bull, young man - you'll get the horns. :P

[Prowler]

I remember being 10 and watching Heavy Metal on cable tv. Well... that was certainly something new to me back then.

[Leo656]

Drawn Together really is wonderful.

[ssjup81]

Uh Cubed, I can name several Western cartoons which have female nudity right off the top of my head - Spawn, Metalocalypse, Drawn Together, Ugly Americans, the Beavis & Butthead movie, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, Fritz the Cat and...

Heavy Metal. Which you reeeeally should've known. :lol:

http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/2014-01/enhanced/webdr03/7/9/anigif_enhanced-buzz-6724-1389105061-15.gif

Don't mess with the bull, young man - you'll get the horns. :PYeah, but these are all adult oriented series. It's aimed at older audiences, not kids. I also only know about Heavy Metal because of South Park. lol

I'm waiting for Cubed to give an example of an anime series (recent) aimed at kids that is sexualizing the female characters because I personally don't know of any.Drawn Together really is wonderful.
I had kind of a love/hate thing for Drawn Together. :lol:

[pennydreadful]

I remember being 10 and watching Heavy Metal on cable tv. Well... that was certainly something new to me back then.

I think I was a little older when I saw it, but it was love at first sight - I mean, heavy metal and boobs - two of my favorite things! It was meant to be. :D

[Prowler]

I think I was a little older when I saw it, but it was love at first sight - I mean, heavy metal and boobs - two of my favorite things! It was meant to be. :D
Too bad I didn't care much for either at the time.

[pennydreadful]

Yeah, but these are all adult oriented series. It's aimed at older audiences, not kids.

Doesn't really matter given that Cubed's argument was:

The difference is you will never see a cartoon in the U.S. show a bare chested woman. Not even adult comedies like Simpsons or Family Guy can get away with this.

Eh, not that I'm hoping to convince him anyway. ;)

[Leo656]

I had kind of a love/hate thing for Drawn Together. :lol:

Pure love for me. It's the single most offensive show I think I've ever seen, and, I gotta tell ya... I get off on that. :lol:

No message, no pretense, just nothing socially redeeming whatsoever. Nothing but "Let's see how many people we can piss off within 24 minutes." Just a simple acknowledgement that yes, offensive humor is the absolute best kind of humor. Pure bliss. It should have run forever.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

You know, I DO watch quite a bit of anime, and I gotta say that most of the ones I've watched either deal with older women (and they are hardly sexualized in the traditional Western sense, unless by that you mean having curvaceous bodies) or if they DO have younger girls and/or nudity, it is in a mostly non-sexual context. Negima comes to mind, with the young protagonist being constantly surrounded by teen-age girls AND getting himself into what would be VERY awkward and socially inappropriate situations- yet he is TOO YOUNG to have any sort of clue that there's a problem in the first place! He's a 11-year-old wizard who has spent his entire life studying magic, being forced to teach normal school subjects to a bunch of older girls. He's not even in puberty yet, so he barely even has any understanding of what the girls get so worked up over when something "pervy" happens by accident. Like being in a public bath and suddenly having half his class descend on the same bath he's in, and having no recourse but to hide because he can't get out without being embarrassed.... Cause he DOES at least know the differences between the two- just doesn't know why there should be a big deal about it. (Not "interested" in girls yet, is my guess.)

[alpaca witch]

Besides Saki being a strange choice for a male villian's name, there's plenty of other equally strange things in the same vein. For example, one of the wall scrolls in the OT turtle's lair literally just says "anime" in straight up katakana for no reason. Though that seems more like an obscure easter egg more than anything. Most of the other references to Asian culture are overly stereo-typical too but that's a conversation for an another day.

One of the things I like most about the newer incarnations of the turtles is how the writers actually know their stuff when it comes to Japanese culture and all that. I finally got around to watching the 2007 film recently and I was surprised at how well done Splinter was, what with him being voiced by Mako and actually speaking Japanese beyond "arigatou" type entry level stuff. I distinctly remember him singing to himself in Japanese and saying "chotto matte" at one point. I don't even need to mention how perfect 2012 Splinter is, as I'm sure anyone who's watched the show knows. It's just really pleasing to see a TMNT series actually handle Japanese culture/themes competently, from little things like the anime they watch to big things like the occasional Japanese dialogue.

[arkangel]

I love the "let's pull some words off the menu" analogy. :lol:
Kind of reminds me when I met a woman from one of the pretty nordic countries. She laughed her ass off that I though IKEA used real sweedish words for their products.
As for shredder, I think the feminine name makes him sound even more mean and scary. Like Alice Cooper. You don't mess a dude that has a female name. You just don't.

[arkangel]

My heartfelt thanks to whomever initiated the topic of sexuality in anime too.
I've been holding back out of fear of sounding ignorant, insensitive or prejudice. I guess it's safe to simply say that the cultural taboos vary greatly from country to country. I'm just amazed at just how relaxed it is with anime. Don't get me wrong. I don't want anyone taking away western culture side boob anytime soon. I guess I'm still recovering from the shock of taking the filters off of my deviantart account as I wasn't mentally prepared for it. "Wow, that's not the Wilma Flintstone and Mrs Jetson I remember."

[pennydreadful]

:lol: Deviantart can be a scary place once you take the filters off!

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Or fascinating and incredible, depending on how you look at it! Some of the best TMNT art I've seen has been with the filters off. But that's another topic.

I like the idea that Saki's name might have something to do with how he ended up as a person. Maybe his mom wanted a girl? You know, maybe it's like Norman Bates' situation, where his mother warped him from a young age, or Hemmingway, whose mother dressed and treated him as a girl until he was five because she was so disappointed that he was a boy? Who knows what goes on in his head- which is why I really like the rare moments when we get a glimpse of his background.

[DarkFell]

And here I was wondering why Shredder hated his real name.
Since Saki is also the name for rice wine, I thought that it would have been interesting to be named after an alcoholic beverage.
But that is just what I would think.
Maybe Shred's mother was drinking sake' when she named him. :tlol:

Turns out that the name Saki was also a pen name for Hector Hugh Munro.
Maybe that is what got Laird & Eastman interested to give Shredder that first name.

I find it here: http://www.behindthename.com/name/saki

Thanks for posting that link. The site was quite informative about my actual name and my chosen nickname. =}


*edit 09/14/14 @ 3:52pm: I thought Saki was sake for some reason.

[Candy Kappa]

¨Do you mean Sake?
That's the word for rice wine.

[DarkFell]

¨Do you mean Sake?
That's the word for rice wine.

Yes I did and thanks for the correction.

[Candy Kappa]

I kinda like the Japanese dub renaming Saki to Sawaki, it's a proper male name. And Saki could just be a nickname of sorts.

[DarkFell]

I kinda like the Japanese dub renaming Saki to Sawaki, it's a proper male name. And Saki could just be a nickname of sorts.

I always thought it was funny to hear Shredder get p**ssed off every time Krang called him Sawaki-chan in the older toy line cartoon series. ^_^

[Enscripture]

To Americans it really isn't, but to the Japanese it's strange sounding and I wonder if they'll change Saki and Yoshi's names for the Japanese dub of the Nick show now.

So far it's "Yoshi Hamato" and everytime they say "Oroku Saki" in the English version, the japanese dub simply calls him Shredder

[Fang Wolf]

I always thought it was funny to hear Shredder get p**ssed off every time Krang called him Sawaki-chan in the older toy line cartoon series. ^_^

So he prefers to call a female name "Saki" instead of Sawaki-chan. :tsmile:
Oroku Saki maybe was a tomboy? :tlol:

[neatoman]

Why has Oroku Saki a female name in his name?
Saki: 咲 (sa) "blossom" and 希 (ki) "hope".

Ok so from what I understand, it seems that Japanese names are not divided into masculine and feminine as they would be western cultures. There are norms as to what a boy is named and what a girl is named but the names themselves are not a restriction in Japan. The distinction comes in how you spell it, you most commonly use different kanji based on the gender of the person.

[DarkFell]

So he prefers to call a female name "Saki" instead of Sawaki-chan. :tsmile:
Oroku Saki maybe was a tomboy? :tlol:

Maybe Mother Oroku was being mean by naming him Saki instead of Sawaki.

[ssjup81]

Ok so from what I understand, it seems that Japanese names are not divided into masculine and feminine as they would be western cultures. There are norms as to what a boy is named and what a girl is named but the names themselves are not a restriction in Japan. The distinction comes in how you spell it, you most commonly use different kanji based on the gender of the person.Yeah, pretty much, aside from names like Yamato, for example. I have a student named Haruka and was surprised to see that it was a boy.