The Ultimate - How is he called? thread.

[Taurec]

Sousuke has been called many things; Sosuke, Soosuke, Jim or Sausuke.
But in the end we do have a confirmed official name.


But what is it for Bel?

[AEmer]

Béranger Clouseau ?

After doing some research, that appears to be the most common french name that is pronounced similar to Clouseaus name...there is simply no common french name which starts with either b or v with an f in it in the spot it's in, in Clouseaus...

Of course, it may be that he has a traditional muslim first name(wasn't he muslim?), rather than a traditional french one.

For his last name, Clouseau is so common that it's what I wanna go with...

[sj4iy]

Heh, if only one could use the romaji (Berufangan Kuruuzoo)- that's the only certain spelling so far. Ultimately, it's going to be whatever someone at Funimation decides...if they want to spell it Krewzoh, that would be right just b/c they can :/
There's Clouseau, the name of the pink panther...there's also Clouzot, the name of a French film director...so god only knows.

Don't know why they didn't go with Jim for Sousuke's name, though

[Mecha]

He is Sousuke and it should be fine for everyone. I don't see reason why there should be dub names for him when orginal is always best.

[KiLlEr]

Sousuke is of Japanese descent, so there isn't an issue with the name as far as translation is concerned. ('cept for basterdization-by-dub)

But Bel? well.... A Japanese phonetization of a foriegn (non-english) name, romanized, then translated?

I say we should call him Pete Pumps.

[sj4iy]

Yeah, Japanese names *usually* aren't a problem...until you get the long vowel sounds (Sousuke's name can also be spelled Sosuke or Sohsuke and either would be technically correct).

As far as Clouzot's first name is concerned, I would at least think it starts with a "B" instead of a "V" because of Mao's nickname for him, "Ben"...possibly could be "Ven", but I doubt it. Just my guess, though.

[Pyrite]

The thing about Japanese is that, while a name may look reasonably accurate in katakana, their Romanisation is usually kinda lacking. Case in point: "Teletha" Testarossa, when the kana and logic would suggest the more common "Teresa", unless that name actually is in common use in Italy or wherever. ("la" from "ra" I can understand, but "tha" from "sa" is just a little strange - wait. "Aerith" vs "Aeris". Do "th" and "s" actually sound similar in Japanese, or do they all just have lithpth? )

[sj4iy]

Well, the thing is that foreign names written in Japanese usually don't look anything like their romanizations (b/c there are just no standards for names, anyway). Case in point: in japanese, my name was written booakaato- the name is spelled borchardt. Try getting that right from just the sound.
Also, there are no "th", "v", "tu", "si", or true "l" or "r" sounds (this makes words like auxiliary almost impossible for them to say). So you basically go by what's the closest sounding thing to the name as possible- it won't give you any clues to how it's really spelled, though.

[Taurec]

Try getting that right from just the sound.

That would knot their tongue and most likely they would suffocate according to my teacher.. <grin>

Guess we have to wait what funnymation makes of it.

[Pyrite]

Well, the thing is that foreign names written in Japanese usually don't look anything like their romanizations

True: but the reverse also applies: foreign names, when romanised, rarely look like their katakana. Admittedly, when it's a made-up name, it's largely due to the restrictions like you mentioned below: however, when it's an actual name in the context given, I attribute a bit of it to the producers not knowing/checking? what the expected name would look like when written in English. (But then again, don't we all do that?)

Also, there are no "th", "v", "tu", "si", or true "l" or "r" sounds (this makes words like auxiliary almost impossible for them to say).

Ah. Guess that explains "Aerith", "Athrun", "Teletha", "Arucard", and nearly everything else... except "Grouseaux". That, and possibly "Zengar Zombolt" - or, as the official art books have it, "Sanger Sonvold".

...

[sj4iy]

I can't explain the "Grouseaux" thing...that's the just fault of the subbers for not looking at the spelling in the credits - not they they were subbed very well to start with (some problems with calling Yan a captain, if I remember correctly...hardly).