Sarah:  doesnt she always refer to herself as Shampoo.  Shampoo not

love

you, Mousse.  You know what I mean?

Eric:  it could be a literary thing, sort of like she's gaining a sense
of her own identity.  Like in Anthem?

Well,  Shampoo refers to herself as "watashi" (I) in the Japanese
original.  The referring to herself as "Shampoo" seems to be a Viz thing.

That's right...it's strictly a translation deal. In the original version,
rather than the "Shampoo kill" etc etc bit...Shampoo has three speech
irregularities:

1. Consistent use of "watashi", which is generally incorrect...the Japanese
are not as pronoun-intensive as English speakers. In fact, generally the
*only* time a pronoun is used in conversation is when the subject/topic is
changed, or to put emphasis on a point. 

2. Broken speech. As far as I can tell, Shampoo hasn't mastered particles
or proper verb forms. 

3. Shampoo has been endowed with the stereotypical speech pattern of a
Chinese person speaking Japanese...namely, she consistently ends adjectives
with "-teki".

(Although, I've always wondered why Shampoo tends to retain that broken
speech when talking to Mousse or Cologne in private - they'd undoubtedly
be speaking in Chinese, and there's no evidence that Shampoo's Chinese is
that broken... )

This would be the same syndrome that affects any series set in a land that
speaks a different language. The language being spoken has to be one that
the audience will understand, and whatever accents/speech patterns have
been set for the spoken language in question, will be used consistently. In
other words, when they're in private, they're still speaking Japanese, so
that the audience doesn't have to hear Chinese and read Japanese subtitles.
(Not to mention that the voice actors won't have to learn as much Chinese
this way...)

This is done consistently in series on both sides of the ocean. Look at,
for instance, Gunsmith Cats, an anime set in Chicago where everyone speaks
Japanese. Also, Hercules, in which the characters speak English, which at
that time in history did not even exist.

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Zankoku na tenshi no TEEZE
Madobe kara yagate tobitatsu
Hotobashiru atsui PATOSU de
Omoide wo uragiru nara
Kono sora wo daite kagayaku
Shounen yo shinwa ni nare

The Eternal Lost Lurker
EternalLostLurker@worldnet.att.net

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