In a message dated 98-01-14 00:50:45 EST, you write:

<< I have a question about Shampoo's speech. Does she ALWAYS refer to herself
 as Shampoo in the dubbed version? Or does she use the words 'I' or 'me' on
 occasion? In the Japanese version I heard her use 'watashi' sometimes but
 I'm not sure about the English version.
 
 Any other guidelines anyone can give me regarding writing dialogue for
 Shampoo would be appreciated. >>

I've been thinking about this matter myself, recently.  Ranma fanfic authors
have almost universally adopted the "Viz standard" for Shampoo's speech, which
typically involves inability to use pronouns and to conjugate verbs correctly.
>From what I understand of Shampoo's Japanese speech in the anime and manga, it
is not nearly so ungrammatical.  Rather, she adopt comical stereotypes of
Chinese attempting to speak Japanese, while for the most part conforming to
standard grammatical rules.  It should be noted that Japanese grammar
sometimes allows for speakers to refer to themselves in the third person (it
is apparently "kawaii" to do so, but the practice does not seem to be
restricted to cute characters) and to refer to second-person addressees in the
third person.

Now, it seems to me that an analogous portrayal of Shampoo is possible, using
comedy stereotypes of Chinese/Asians attempting to speak English, e.g.,
mixing up R's and L's, referring to everyone as "honorable," saying "Ah so"
all the time.  The question then arises, would use of these stereotypes in fan
fiction be offensive?  Probably.  But why doesn't the "baby-talk" imposed on
Shampoo by Viz and fanfic authors offend?  


Taleswapper

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