[Split] Tessa's history and nationality

[KashimArbalestAS]

I don't really know why they would be in England. Tessa grew up in the north eastern U.S. Her father was a [ecs]submarine captain of the U.S. Navy.[/ecs] Tessa in her official data at www.full-metal-panic.com she is Points of Mention: -Italian-American, with strong Swiss/Austrian ties. England does have a Portsmouth near the English Channel, but the Testarossa's don't have any known relation to England. I do not deny that it isn't a possiblity though because it seems that Gatoh never elaborated on where Portsmouth was, I stand by my guess.

Split, per sensible request. Taken after this post- J

[AEmer]

sj4iy has more sources than the rest of us. That's the benefit of being able to read japanese.
So, while your guess isn't bad, I wouldn't be surprised if they were indeed buried in southeastern England...

It's pretty funny how Gatoh is using a ton of real world locations. It works pretty well, all things considered, but I can't help but wonder if it isn't because he's a tourist at heart

But...tessa is part italian?, how does that work?...she just pale because she's in the sub all the time or? hmm...no, I suppose one of her parents must've originated from nothern italy, on the italian side of the alpes..

[Anysia]

But...tessa is part italian?, how does that work?...she just pale because she's in the sub all the time or? hmm...no, I suppose one of her parents must've originated from nothern italy, on the italian side of the alpes..

That'd be my guess. Half of my family is from northern Italy, and as a result we're all pretty damn pale (which leads to skepticism when people find out I'm part Italian...) with comparatively light hair and blue eyes.

How cold does it get in England in the winter, though? When my friends in the UK and I trade current temperatures in January, it's always invariably colder here in New Jersey than over there, so I'm curious about the "cold North Atlantic wind".

[OT - Hey, KashimArbalestAS, forget New England--have you ever been down the Jersey shore in winter? It's possible to stand outside for maybe five minutes without dying of frostbite. Ugh.]

[KashimArbalestAS]

sj4iy, I forgot you could read Japanese. Is it actually said that it's in Portsmouth, England?

Anysia, no I haven't. I go in the summer for fishing though in like Ocean City, Atlantic City, Sea Isle City, and other places. I've been to Ocean City in the fall once, and it is a lot colder with barely any people.

AEmer, I don't think by looking at people you can really tell their ethnicity...especially anime characters.

[Weltall Elite]

England? Italy? Did they ever actually SAY where's she's from? All I know is that in the manga, they said she was from America when she went to Sousuke's school?

[KiLlEr]

All that was said is;

1) that she's caucasian
2) a family name of 'Testarossa' (makes it obvious she's of italian descent)
3) she lived in Okinawa for a period of time
4) her father works for the UN.

the rest is conjecture

[JelliCelli]

I'm bombarded with geography all the time at my workplace and there are definitely a number of Portsmouth's laying around. However, ones located in the American Northeast (assuming that Tessa's 'rents are buried there), then they would either have to be in New Hamphire or Rhode Island. You decide

[Tulip Baroo]

Considering her father was in the navy he probably travelled around a lot and visited England (Portsmouth was the largest naval base in the world at one point)? Or perhaps he just retired there? (Do we have any information about her parents? All I know is he was in the navy )

Anysia- its really not very cold in England, its pretty famous for its boring weather, because we don't get proper summers and we don't get proper winters *sigh* how I long for a nice long hot summer and some serious winter snow!

[Wild Goose]

I'm of the opinion that it's Pourtsmouth in England, or New Hampshire. Either one works.

Besides.... does it really matter? They're dead and buried. Yesterday's for the dead. Today's for the living.

Let's follow them into hell.

[Weltall Elite]

I'm more interested in Tessa's nationality. Even if her name is Italian, I still think she's probably from the US since most American names come from somewhere else anyway.

[KashimArbalestAS]

Follow this link. http://www.full-metal-panic.com/roster/tessa.php
Then click on Data Sheet on the right of Tessa's name. You'll find her nationalities in Points of Mention.

I thought Tessa's father was in the U.S. Navy as a submarine captain? He was in the UN? Also, that would mean that Tessa's father has placed his loyalty and services to the U.S., meaning he's from the U.S., which would mean that his family is also of the United States.

It's also said that Tessa was from the United States, north east on the east coast.

Well, there is no mention of England related to Tessa, so if Mr. Testarossa did retire and went to England, there's a big chance he would have brought his whole family over. It would make sense then that they were buried in England. But their home town was somewhere in the north eastern U.S. We know that [ecs]the "Duke" saved Tessa's father, who were both captains of a submarine, and also when the "Duke" got his hat, in the Barents Sea.[/ecs] Do submarines get their positions relocated frequently by orders? I think the reason why Tessa was in Okinawa for a time was because of her father was positioned there for the time being. I know that families of a military member move around.

I'm not sure that her father would retire that soon. If he retired, that means he would have retired before he died, which was when Tessa was about 10 or 11. That would have meant that he was about 40, more of less. I don't know when submarine captains retire, but I think that's a little early.

Also, [ecs]Admiral Jerome Borda, the head of the Operations Department, Tessa's uncle, says that Tessa's as stubborn as her father, and that he also caused him problems. Admiral Borda was in the U.S. Navy for more than 30 years, he's 60. He climbed the ranks from sailor to Admiral, which is the highest Navy rank. Would he say that her father also caused her problems because they were brothers? Or was it because Tessa's father was under Admiral Borda's command, and that he was stubborn enough to cause Admiral Borda problems?[/ecs]

[AEmer]

Likely, Tessas father was also a member of Mithril, and that's when he caused problems, and that's also where he was killed. Isn't it possible that the burial grounds in portsmouth are of military origin, and that Tessas parrents were therefore buried there because they died in the line of duty?

It would make sense, considering Portsmouth England is home to a large military facility, right?
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"
AEmer, I don't think by looking at people you can really tell their ethnicity...especially anime characters.
"
Actually, in anime you can particularly tell it. Sousuke, Kaname, and almost every other Japanese person has ethnic stripes round their eyes, to indicate that they're asian. Kurtz, Tessa and Mardukas don't have them, for instances. It's subtle, but it's definately there...and well, if you look at the people as they're drawn in the sicily episode, you can also tell that they don't exactly look like Tessa

In real life, it's harder to tell, and you obviously can't ever be sure, but there are definately stereotypical indicators.

[KashimArbalestAS]

Ah, yes, stereotypical indicators...

[Weltall Elite]

Gotta go with Kashim on this one. Saying where anyone in the show is from based on how they look is nothing more than guesswork. Besides, silver hair isn't something you commonly see on teenagers in ANY country. Blue hair either. At least not naturally.

[AEmer]

"
Saying where anyone in the show is from based on how they look is nothing more than guesswork
"

It's definately more than guesswork. I said that there _are_ indicators, named one, you haven't disproven it, so that means it's _definately_ more than guesswork, nomatter how you look at it.

Furthermore, the hair colour in anime is often symbolic as well. Tessas hair, in spite of being part silver, part pale-purple, is in fact ash-blonde. It's depicted the way it's depicted partly to simplify things for the people who animate the characters (depicting that kurtz and tessa have different hair colour would be much harder, otherwise), partly because it adds far more colour to the scenes and makes things look better in the eyes of the producers. If you want to know what information it conveys, you need simply to find the symbolism.

Of course, it's not very accurate - Mao doesn't have her cheekbone stripes in the second raid anymore, for some reason (I'm not entirely positive they were on her in season one, but nearly), to name an example.

But that being said, the original art for the various characters, made by shikidouji, was most likely created based upon the etniticity of the various characters. It would therefore seem very odd if Tessa was supposed to be from sicily...not impossible, just very odd...just think of how you would draw a character that looks like she's from sicily. I bet you're not thinking tessas characteristics.