Talk:Komi Can't Communicate

Could someone explain to me how the names work?

I know enough Japanese to know they put last names first and that people will often address each other by their last name. But in an effort to localize for an English-speaking audience, the anime subtitles (and I expect, Manga translation) often switch them around again, making it hard to figure out.

Many people refer to Komi as Shoko, including family members, implying it is her actual given name. (If I could read Kanji I would just get it off the blackboard, but I can't.) However, Najimi asks Tadano to stop calling her Osana, implying that's the more formal option and thus her surname, which would make it weird for the rest of the group to call each other by their last nnames, implying then that Komi is her given name. And I'm just very confused. 109.97.124.11 (talk) 14:59, 9 December 2021 (UTC)

Shoko is her given name, and Komi is her family name. You may use this very article as a reference for the names, where they are given in the "Western name order" - that is, the family names are written last. It is common for Japanese people to refer to each other by family names only unless they are close - but on the other hand, if you are close friends it may feel distant or weird to do so. This is the kind of cultural thing that is intuitive and obvious for the original intended audience, and because of that is not explained much within the series.--Alexandra^IDV 15:20, 9 December 2021 (UTC)

Yeah. I read the article. I found it confusing. I'm neurodivergent, sue me. Episode nine just came out on Netflix and sorted it out but I still think it makes very little sense. Thanks anyway— Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.97.124.11 (talk) 18:04, 16 December 2021 (UTC)

I'm sorry if I came across as condescending, I didn't mean to, and am ND, too.--Alexandra^IDV 18:08, 16 December 2021 (UTC)

It's very simple. In Japan you call people by (what we refer to as) their "last name". So you and everyone on earth would call me Smith. It's that simple. Once you become lovers, or VERY close friends, you use their (what we refer to as) their "first name". So I would then be John (only to lovers or VERY close friends.) That's all there is to it. 24.96.9.19 (talk) 16:09, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Note that Komi's a "princess" type, the exact opposite of bishojo

While editing, someone wrote a superb intro but used in passing the adjective "bishojo" for Komi. This is quite wrong! :) She's literally an anti-bishojo type female, Komi's the elegant, gracious, princess type - indeed the classmates constantly refer to her as the "God-type". "bishojo" is the cute, bubbly, big-breasted, lolicon-style female that you see as a cliché in anime/games. To make real-world examples, Audrey Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Giselle Bundchen and such "princess types" are the opposite of bishojo -exactly the idea of Komi. Cheers! 24.42.191.195 (talk) 17:09, 30 December 2021 (UTC)

Where did you get "lolicon-style female"? Most bishojo girls are not lolis in any capacity, and there is no "lolicon-style" that doesn't also make the girls look like lolis. RPI2026F1 (talk) 20:48, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

'Big breasted' and 'lolicon-style' are pretty much opposites too. Eumetazoa (talk) 21:56, 20 January 2022 (UTC)

Komi Shoko or Komi Shouko?

Which spelling is correct? I see both used interchangeably. RPI2026F1 (talk) 20:47, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

RPI2026F1, Viz Media has been using Shoko Komi for their manga translation [1] and the volume 1 chapter 1 preview shows that's what she wrote on the chalkboard. In the anime, the English captions read Shoko Komi as well as the English credits. We'd have to check other manga chapters where she is mentioned by given name. That said, the macrons Komi Shōko imply that it could be spelled with Shouko, but we are going with the common English name as presented in the official translations. Note this is different from List of Fairy Tail characters and other series where the manga and anime have different spellings for character names. AngusW🐶🐶F (bark • sniff) 21:01, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

So the rule is always follow the official English translations if they both agree on the same names? RPI2026F1 (talk) 21:07, 12 October 2022 (UTC)