While the Japanese language may be hard to navigate, there are some common anime and manga related terms and names that you should be able to pronounce. Some fans, though, still butcher these terms on a regular basis. To assist these people, I’ve compiled a list of commonly slaughtered names, series and terms. Read, n00bs.
EDIT 2: Some people started hating on me for picking so many character names to include in this. Get over it; it’s my list and I’ll put whatever annoys me the most on it. Make your own list if you want, and link to it in a comment so I can read it. Mmkay? ^______^
1. manga (Japanese comics)
*raises hand* Guilty. Anyway, this term is frequently American-ized as ‘main-gah’ so it’s an easy term for new fans to get wrong. It’s okay to say ‘main-gah’ in normal conversation (ie with non-otakus) but you’d better get it right at an anime convention. Correct pronunciation: mahn-gah
2. Naoko Takeuchi (Sailor Moon creator)
I’ve heard it slaughtered by panel staff at anime conventions, and it’s a common mistake by average fans as well. Mispronunciations I’ve heard include ‘Nay-ohko Tay-koo-chee’ and ‘Nah-oo-koh Tay-kay-chee.’ If you’re familiar with the pronunciation of Japanese syllables, this one should actually be no problem. Correct pronunciation: Nah-oh-koh Tah-keh-oo-chi
3. Eureka Seven (manga and anime series)
Noooooooo, people, it is not pronounced ‘Yuh-ree-kah Seven.’ If you examine the original katakana, it says it’s pronounced ‘Eh-oo-reh-kah Seven.’ It even clearly states this in the manga (and in the anime, the main character’s name is pronounced this way as well.) Correct pronunciation: Eh-oo-reh-kah Seh-vehn
4. Code Geass (anime series)
Since this mecha series hasn’t been released in North America yet, I can sort of understand some occasional butchering of the title. But I heard it mispronounced multiple ways at Matsuricon alone! Things I heard include ‘Code Gay-ahss,’ ‘Code Gee-ayz’ and my personal favorite, ‘CODE GEESE!!’ Look, people, there are NO geese in Code Geass, unless you consider that Shirley has the brain of a goose. The Wikipedia article for the series has the correct breakdown of the katakana. Correct pronunciation: Cohd Gee-ahss
5. Evangelion (anime series)
>_> Look, people, if you’re going to publicly diss the grandfather of modern mecha series, at least get the frickin’ title right. ‘Ee-van-jellon’ doesn’t count. Correct pronunciation: Eh-vahn-gel-ee-on (hard g in the middle)
6. Lelouche (Code Geass character)
Now that we have covered the pronunciation of the series’ title, let’s look at the main character. People who haven’t seen the series or turn the audio off when watching subtitles have been heard pronouncing it as ‘Lee-lou-chee’ or ‘Lay-lou-chay.’ Once again, the original katakana can set things straight. Note that since his name seems to be French, the exact original pronunciation may be slightly different. Correct katakana pronunciation: Loo-loo-shoo. My best guess at the true name: Luh-loosh
6. C.C. (Code Geass character)
Wow, Code Geass sure is tricky. ^_^ Though it’s spelled like it’s a pair of initials, the female protagonist’s name is not pronounced ‘see-see.’ People who TURN THE AUDIO ON when reading their subtitles, please say it with me: ‘See-too,’ or in the katakana slaughterization, ‘Shee-tsoo.’ (So why isn’t her name just spelled C2???)
7. Neko (Japanese for ‘cat’)
HYPER FORUMTARDS, I’M LOOKING AT YOU! It. Is. Not. ‘Nee-koh.’ Stop calling yourself a ‘Kay-wah-ee Nee-koh’ if you know what’s good for you. Correct pronunciation: Neh-koh
8. Hentai (anime porn)
Attention all porn addicts: no, it is not pronounced ‘Heen-tay.’ Do youself a favor and skip the next episode of Unconcious Virgin Catgirl to learn some proper pronunciation of Japanese syllables. Correct pronunciation: Hehn-ta-ee (Hehn-tie)
9. Cowboy Bebop (anime series)
As classic as this series is, it still seems to get occasionally mispronounced by non-fans. Maybe if ‘bebop’ was actually used in modern English, they wouldn’t call it ‘Bay-bop.’ Correct pronunciation: Bee-bawp
10. Pocky (snack food)
To be honest, this one hardly belongs on the list because almost everyone in America pronounces it ‘Paw-kee.’ But if you look at the katakana, of course, you get a different story. No one at an anime convention will flame you for it, though. Correct pronunciation: Poh-kee. (But does anyone really care?)
EDIT: To answer Jenni’s question, ‘ramen’ IS pronounced rah-men. Not ray-men as her classmates say. :P I didn’t know it was even possible to mispronounce that…
This is the first time I’ve seen pronunciations such as these..although I’ve heard of that “Kay-wah-ee Nee-koh” at one time or another.
Hi, here via manga-blog. I’m actually a bit conflicted about Eureka Seven; I’m pretty sure that the main character is named “Eureka” because of the way that she was discovered by scientists, and I’m tempted to write off the Japanese katakana-ized pronunciation as the standard mangling of a borrowed term. It wouldn’t be the first time that a katakana spelling in a manga, or Japanese voice acting in an anime, mangled a non-Japanese term. But, I dunno. This is all based on my theory that the name “Eureka” was chosen for a reason, and not just a string of pretty syllables that someone strung together to name the heroine with.
@Nenena: Excellent point; perhaps Eureka was named that because of what a discovery she was. However, perhaps the original author purposefully modified the name to make it prettier than ‘Yoo-ree-kah.’ We’ll probably never know, though, unless it gets explained in some future fanbook or something.
Okay, my chemistry class had a discussion about this: Is it pronounced rah-mehn or ray-mehn? ’cause I thought it had the softer “a” sound as in the first one, but half the class was being stubborn and saying “No, it’s ray-men!!” I’ve actually never heard controversy over this one (probably for a good reason, ha), but I’d appreciate an answer. Since you seem to know what you’re talking about and none of THEM are real big anime/ Japan fans. Or any kind of fans, for that matter.
I don’t care how the Japanese alphabet butchers the Greek word; I’ll still pronounce Eureka the way it’s supposed to be pronounced.
エヴァンゲリオン is “Eh-v(u)ahn-ge-li-on”. The way you wrote it makes it sound like there’s a “gel” sound in it. There’s no “v” sound in Japanese also; the ヴ is a shortened “u” sound; lips do not touch the teeth as in “v”.
thanks for the GREAT post! Very useful…
Fortunately, after being in a Japanese course or two at college, more of these words become easier to say. ^^
I nearly embarrassed myself tonight (but nobody paid attention luckily) when watching people play Rock Band. Someone chose the character Ike, and I totally read it out loud the Japanese way (ee-kay) rather than (eye’k) as my fellow English-speaking friends would expect.
Heh.
@Crisu: I do that all the time now~! XD I’ll do that with a video game character’s name, or I’ll find myself pronouncing my friends’ names with katakana, etc, etc, and it’s so nerdy… ^_^;;;;
xD nice pronunciation class.. tech us more!! ·_·
If I may add something? First of all, thanks for the help with Code Geass. It never occurred to me to look at the katakana… ;_;
Anyway, although anime falls under the same category as manga in this type of list, I do have to report a disturbing trend around where I live: more and more of my classmates are pronouncing it “uh-naim”. (Errrr… I’m sure that’s not how to spell out the pronunciation of the “dime” sound, (minus d of course) but you get me point right?)
Just thought I should bring it to your attention, especially as these are people studying to become doctors and scientists… I don’t have much faith in humanity.
Also there is no roo in Nar-u-To say it Nar-ew-toe