Tezuka In English Discussion Forums

I have a tendancy to call him Atom as well. For me though, that comes from getting a lot of Tezuka stuff in Korea. Koreans call him Atom (or sometimes Atom Boy!).

I think I like Atom a bit better, but mainly 'cause I think it works better as a name. I dislike the idea that his English name is a descriptive noun. It sounds unnatural (although his name is often just shortened to "Astro"). Maybe it's because he doesn't have a "Clark Kent" identity and is "Superboy" 24/7.

On the flip side though, I think I like Kimba better than Leo. There is something 'cool' about "Jungle Emperor Leo", but I think "Jungle Emperor Kimba" is just as cool. Leo is just too easy a name to fall back on for a lion character. I just don't think it's as inspired as Tezuka normally is.

What about "Princess Knight"? A literal translation of the title is "Ribbon Princess", right? Again, Princess Knight works well as a title - but it leads to some akward moments (at least in the bilingual kodansha editions). When Sapphire rescues Tink from Lord Nylon's clutches in the forest, she rides up wearing a mask and everyone says "oh, no! it's the Princess Knight", but from the dialogue it seems to indicate that they are unaware they're facing off against a woman (girl?).

Any other name transformations?

I also dislike the idea that "Astroboy" is Astro's full name. I've always regarded it as his "superhero name" and "Astro" as his given name. The characters that interact with him in the English dub seem to interchange the name they use based on the formality of the situation and that seems fair enough to me. I just wish he'd been given a proper surname? Especially since he has a family, now that I think about it.

I agree with you about Kimba/Leo. It seems very uncreative to me. But I think that's as much because we are native English speakers as anything else. "Leo" is probably a really cool and unusual name if you are a native Japanese speaker back in the day. I thought calling that human/moopie mayor "Sodom" in Phoenix:Nostalgia was super heavy handed but to someone who hasn't grown up in a largely Christian country that's a pretty cool and obscure reference... Tezuka's core work ages/globalises well, but some of the aesthetic bits and pieces are a bit awkward, huh.

Shunsaku/Mustachio... What'd they call him in the 2003 Astroboy? I can't recall off the top of my head. Anyway, he's had a myriad of different names. I've never understood to Uran to Zoran name change in the same series. Anyone have an explanation for that?

I have to argue with you about O'Shay.

O'Shay was definitely shorter, but Ocha does sound quite a bit like O'Shay (so yes it is changed but it isn't changed -- much), and I also believe Kennedy wasn't that much of a deviation.

So I request that you add an extra list:

Completely Changed
Atomu--------------------------->Astro (3/2) syllables
Shibugaki----------------------->Abercrombie (4/4)
Tamao--------------------------->Alejo (3/3)
Hamegg u------------------------>Grummitt (3/2) not sure about the trailing vowel.
Higeoyaji-(Ban Shunsaku)----->Wally Kisagari (5/4/6) how often did they use only 1 name?
Lamp (Rampu)------------------->Drake (1/2/1)

Very Similar but Changed.
[Kenichi]-------------------------->Kennedy (3/3)
[Ocha]nomizu Hakasan-----------> Doctor O