高石岳: The ambiguous
(also posted in writing journal)
I have never understood why Takeru's name has two written forms, both katakana and kanji. Why, pray tell? So I went to the Japanese Wikipedia entry on Digimon Adventure 2 characters to find out.
I once noted in my regular journal that Hiroaki and Natsuko's two sons being named Yamato and Takeru can't be a coincidence - it's too much like the Yamatotakeru, or this guy. But the kanji Takeru uses is 岳 which is different than the kanji in Yamatotakeru. (Not that it really matters; Yamato doesn't use kanji at all. And katakana names are very trendy these days.)
This kanji, 岳, is written on the board in Adventure 02 episode 1 when Takeru is introduced to his new class. SO. I would *assume* his name is supposed to be written in kanji. However, in every Digimon publication I've ever seen (aside from that episode), his name has always been written only in katakana: タケル. I came up with a couple theories about this:
1.) 岳 is a difficult kanji. It's a jouyou kanji, but it's listed as secondary-school level, and Digimon is a show geared at elementary schoolers (the main cast in each series, excluding Savers, features primarily 5th graders). Possibly the kanji was given to Takeru, but the producers of the show decided to write his name mostly in katakana so that younger kids wouldn't be confused. However, this doesn't make much sense to me because the kids would hear his name on TV and then learn the new kanji when they saw it. Also, going back and forth between kanji and katakana is kind of strange, isn't it?
2.) This one is a longshot. It could be that the American dub was written over the Chinese version. I've seen 岳 listed as the Chinese for Takeru's name - but I've also seen it listed as 武, which I think it more likely (due to some sites citing 阿武 as his nickname or something?). But if it is 岳, there's still no reason to think the American dub used footage from the Chinese dub rather than the Japanese. Along with that, I see 岳 marked as Takeru's kanji often on Japanese sites, including Wikipedia, and Chinese sites seem to deviate between three characters (岳、武、猛). The fact that 岳 is used so often on Japanese sites makes me think it must be unrelated to the Chinese version.
Obviously both of these theories have big holes in them. Let's look at the Japanese Wikipedia entry and see if we can find a better one.
I found this excerpt in the description of Takaishi Natsuko, Yamato and Takeru's mother:
高石奈津子:ヤマトとタケルの母親。別れた夫との関係も多少緩和し、02ではお台場に引っ越した。ただし大人になったタケルが、『高石岳』の名で本を出版していることから再婚までには至らなかったようだ（『高石岳』はペンネームとも考えられるが）。
I am by no means fluent in Japanese, but I think I've translated it correctly. If someone comes along with a better translation, I will certainly be glad to have it. Here is my tentative translation:
"Takaishi Natsuko: Yamato and Takeru's[Katakana] mother. Her relationship with the husband she separated from more or less (become relieved? as in calmed down I think?), and in 02 she moved to Odaiba. But when Takeru became an adult, he used the name 'Takaishi Takeru[Kanji]' when he published his book, so it seems like Natsuko had not remarried by then. (But 'Takaishi Takeru[Kanji]' may be a pen name)."
Breaking it down: The excerpt assumes that Natsuko would have remarried by the time Takeru is an adult. However, the fact that Takeru still uses the name Takaishi seems to suggest she doesn't. It doesn't seem to allow for her remarrying and Takeru just not taking on his stepfather's name, but I don't know how remarriage works in Japan - maybe children from previous marriages automatically take on their stepfather's family name? Takeru's situation is weird anyway because while his brother lives with their father and has their father's last name, Ishida, Takeru lives only with his mother and has her name, Takaishi. This shows up in manga and anime all the time. Is it that common a practice in Japan, for the parents to split up the children? Seems odd.
But I digress. The real issue here is that "Takeru" in that excerpt is written in katakana before it talks about Takeru as an adult. "Takeru became an adult" also uses katakana. However, when referring to the name Takeru used on the spine of his books, "Takeru" is written in kanji as 岳. The excerpt then goes on to say that Takeru may use the surname "Takaishi" as a penname (suggesting Natsuko could have remarried). This suggests to me that he also may be using the kanji 岳 as part of his surname. This is the best theory I have seen so far.
HOWEVER.
If 岳 is only his penname, and his real name only uses katakana, then WHY was it used in the first episode of season 2!?!?
THE MYSTERY REMAINS, PEOPLE. THE QUEST CONTINUES.
Of course, if anyone has any info or theories to add, please do leave me a note. Takeru, Takeru, why are you so ambiguous?
UPDATE 6/15!: I was just reading this site and found the section about Takeru. The author writes 「名前は漢字で「岳」と書く（第１話の黒板に書いてあった）」, meaning "His name in kanji is written 岳 (In the first episode this was written on the blackboard)". What I infer from this is that Takeru's name is written in kanji, but he himself chooses to write it mainly in katakana. Again, maybe for simplicity's sake? I have no idea if it's common for kids in Japan to deviate between spellings of their names, if it's trendy or something, but maybe that is what's taking place here.
I have never understood why Takeru's name has two written forms, both katakana and kanji. Why, pray tell? So I went to the Japanese Wikipedia entry on Digimon Adventure 2 characters to find out.
I once noted in my regular journal that Hiroaki and Natsuko's two sons being named Yamato and Takeru can't be a coincidence - it's too much like the Yamatotakeru, or this guy. But the kanji Takeru uses is 岳 which is different than the kanji in Yamatotakeru. (Not that it really matters; Yamato doesn't use kanji at all. And katakana names are very trendy these days.)
This kanji, 岳, is written on the board in Adventure 02 episode 1 when Takeru is introduced to his new class. SO. I would *assume* his name is supposed to be written in kanji. However, in every Digimon publication I've ever seen (aside from that episode), his name has always been written only in katakana: タケル. I came up with a couple theories about this:
1.) 岳 is a difficult kanji. It's a jouyou kanji, but it's listed as secondary-school level, and Digimon is a show geared at elementary schoolers (the main cast in each series, excluding Savers, features primarily 5th graders). Possibly the kanji was given to Takeru, but the producers of the show decided to write his name mostly in katakana so that younger kids wouldn't be confused. However, this doesn't make much sense to me because the kids would hear his name on TV and then learn the new kanji when they saw it. Also, going back and forth between kanji and katakana is kind of strange, isn't it?
2.) This one is a longshot. It could be that the American dub was written over the Chinese version. I've seen 岳 listed as the Chinese for Takeru's name - but I've also seen it listed as 武, which I think it more likely (due to some sites citing 阿武 as his nickname or something?). But if it is 岳, there's still no reason to think the American dub used footage from the Chinese dub rather than the Japanese. Along with that, I see 岳 marked as Takeru's kanji often on Japanese sites, including Wikipedia, and Chinese sites seem to deviate between three characters (岳、武、猛). The fact that 岳 is used so often on Japanese sites makes me think it must be unrelated to the Chinese version.
Obviously both of these theories have big holes in them. Let's look at the Japanese Wikipedia entry and see if we can find a better one.
I found this excerpt in the description of Takaishi Natsuko, Yamato and Takeru's mother:
高石奈津子:ヤマトとタケルの母親。別れた夫との関係も多少緩和し、02ではお台場に引っ越した。ただし大人になったタケルが、『高石岳』の名で本を出版していることから再婚までには至らなかったようだ（『高石岳』はペンネームとも考えられるが）。
I am by no means fluent in Japanese, but I think I've translated it correctly. If someone comes along with a better translation, I will certainly be glad to have it. Here is my tentative translation:
"Takaishi Natsuko: Yamato and Takeru's[Katakana] mother. Her relationship with the husband she separated from more or less (become relieved? as in calmed down I think?), and in 02 she moved to Odaiba. But when Takeru became an adult, he used the name 'Takaishi Takeru[Kanji]' when he published his book, so it seems like Natsuko had not remarried by then. (But 'Takaishi Takeru[Kanji]' may be a pen name)."
Breaking it down: The excerpt assumes that Natsuko would have remarried by the time Takeru is an adult. However, the fact that Takeru still uses the name Takaishi seems to suggest she doesn't. It doesn't seem to allow for her remarrying and Takeru just not taking on his stepfather's name, but I don't know how remarriage works in Japan - maybe children from previous marriages automatically take on their stepfather's family name? Takeru's situation is weird anyway because while his brother lives with their father and has their father's last name, Ishida, Takeru lives only with his mother and has her name, Takaishi. This shows up in manga and anime all the time. Is it that common a practice in Japan, for the parents to split up the children? Seems odd.
But I digress. The real issue here is that "Takeru" in that excerpt is written in katakana before it talks about Takeru as an adult. "Takeru became an adult" also uses katakana. However, when referring to the name Takeru used on the spine of his books, "Takeru" is written in kanji as 岳. The excerpt then goes on to say that Takeru may use the surname "Takaishi" as a penname (suggesting Natsuko could have remarried). This suggests to me that he also may be using the kanji 岳 as part of his surname. This is the best theory I have seen so far.
HOWEVER.
If 岳 is only his penname, and his real name only uses katakana, then WHY was it used in the first episode of season 2!?!?
THE MYSTERY REMAINS, PEOPLE. THE QUEST CONTINUES.
Of course, if anyone has any info or theories to add, please do leave me a note. Takeru, Takeru, why are you so ambiguous?
UPDATE 6/15!: I was just reading this site and found the section about Takeru. The author writes 「名前は漢字で「岳」と書く（第１話の黒板に書いてあった）」, meaning "His name in kanji is written 岳 (In the first episode this was written on the blackboard)". What I infer from this is that Takeru's name is written in kanji, but he himself chooses to write it mainly in katakana. Again, maybe for simplicity's sake? I have no idea if it's common for kids in Japan to deviate between spellings of their names, if it's trendy or something, but maybe that is what's taking place here.