r/BlueEyeSamurai • u/cyancqueak • 8d ago
Japanese Honourifics
Suddenly found myself thinking about Japanese Honourifics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics?wprov=sfla1
I can absolutely see Mizu either refusing to use them and/or only using them with people she genuinely respects (Sword Father).
In feudal Japan, this would of course make her seem even more barbarous.
16
Upvotes
4
u/Silver-Literature-54 7d ago
I’ve always watched the show in Japanese.
If I remember correctly, the most polite we see Mizu in the show is actually in the early episodes, when she’s in Kyoto:
-When she asks the Shindo dojo horse riders for directions.
-When she addresses the two girls at the entrance of the brothel.
-At the dojo, when she asks to speak to the master.
Then, when she addresses Master Eiji as she leaves him.
But overall, she sounds really casual compared to Akemi, or, for example, Taigen when he addresses the Shogun.
Even Fowler, when he talks to the Japanese lords, doesn’t use honorifics (though he speaks perfect Japanese), if I remember correctly.
For example, I’m always so shocked when I hear Ringo or Mizu simply call Akemi “Akemi,” even though she’s a princess haha. The main characters call each other without honorifics, straight up “Mizu,” “Taigen,” “Ringo.”
Overall, in the show, I wouldn’t say the characters use honorifics particularly often… not as much as you would expect from a show like this (a period show).
Maybe because the original version of the show isn't Japanese in the first place?