What do you eat to come up with Pikachu?
Do you watch anime or manga?
I don't think there's anyone who hasn't seen them, right?
I mean, someone who has never heard of them, never seen a manga or anime.
In stories like those, naturally,
there are characters, starting with the protagonist.
For example,Slam Dunk.
Hanamichi Sakuragi, Kaede Rukawa, Hisashi Mitsui, Ryota Miyagi, Takenori Akagi, Kiminobu Kogure, Akira Sendoh, Kenji Fujima, Shinichi Maki, Eiji Sawakita, and then Ayako-san.
Hey, this naming sense is abnormal, isn't it?
Give me a break.
Everyone sounds like they'd be incredibly athletic, don't they?
Why, why did you make the protagonist's name
Hanamichi Sakuragi?
I'll give you Sakuragi, that's understandable.
I get Sakuragi.
But,Hanamichiis unforgivable.
How on earth did you come up with that sequence of characters for Hanamichi?
Or,One Piece.
Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Nico Robin, Tony Tony Chopper, Brook, Franky, Jinbe.
That's enough. It's too hard to look at.
What is that, Tony Tony Chopper?
You definitely thought of that while drinking, didn't you?
Chopper
"My name is 'Tony Tony Chopper'!
It's the name given to me by the greatest doctor in the world!"
Seriously.
What could you possibly have done to come up with
Tony Tony?
Hit anime and manga, of course, require story structure, appealing characters, and above all, artistic skill, but thisnamingis also an important element.
Because, if the protagonist of Slam Dunk wasn't Hanamichi Sakuragi, but Hidekichi Wakatake, that just wouldn't work, would it?
If Tony Tony Chopper's name was Tanukichi, that wouldn't work, would it? Though Tanukichi doesn't sound too bad either.
I'll repeat myself, but what I'm trying to say is that in a story, naming the characters is important.
Naming.
Naming sense.
Slam Dunk, One Piece, whatever it may be, they all demonstrate truly wonderful naming sense, but if you ask me which work has a "naming sense that is just abnormal," it would be
Pokémon.
And specifically the early Pokémon. Because I don't know about the recent ones.
Just think about it.
An electric-type mouse character.
Yellow, with red cheeks.
Hmm, what should I name it?
That's it, let's go with Pikachu!
Would it float? Pikachu.
And if it evolves further, Raichu.
No, no.
What would make Pikachu float?
Abra -> Kadabra -> Alakazam is also crazy. It has a magician vibe, an esper vibe. The origins are a hassle, so look them up yourself.
Jynx is also pretty amazing, right?
Wait, isn't Pidgey -> Pidgeotto -> Pidgeot also wild? It's just a pigeon. It really feels like it evolves and gets stronger.
Anyway, I'm just going to write down some original Pokémon at random without any explanation. I just want you to feel the naming sense.
Caterpie -> Metapod -> Butterfree
Weedle -> Kakuna -> Beedrill
Spearow -> Fearow
Ekans -> Arbok
*The origin of the name Arbok is too stylish, so look it up
Poliwag → Poliwhirl → Poliwrath
Machop → Machoke → Machamp
Ponyta → Rapidash
Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan
Enough already.
Who on earth came up with these?
What kind of brief did they even get?
Client:
There's this project called Pocket Monsters, and there are 151 characters called Pokemon in total. Please come up with names for all 151 of them.
Creator:
Oh, sure, got it~
That's just weird.
Naming sense really is
incredibly important, isn't it?
<Afterword>
This article came to mind when I was writing the 'Electricity' article the other day. When I associated electricity with Elec Man, I remembered there was a Pokemon called Electabuzz, and I thought it was an exquisite name. Pokemon naming, especially in the early days, is amazing, and I remember looking them all up at some point. I'm glad I was able to write this article. Thank you again for today.
■ Speaking of naming, it has to be Akira Toriyama! Article
[Announcement] Mr. Hasegawa will be on the April 8th Onagusame Radio!
