Yeah, I know this is an old thread.
and if thats the case then Yaten and Taiki are the last names of the other starlights. . . so they share a first name and not a last name?
Okay, there are some things that should be cleared up.
When the Japanese write their Japanese names
in the Japanese script, the
Japanese characters representing the surnames ("last" names or family names) come before the
Japanese characters representing the personal names ("first" names or givin names).
Usagi's name appears as 月野うさぎ.
月野 (
Tsukino) is her
surname, but
うさぎ (
Usagi) is her
personal name. Notice that
月野 appears before
うさぎ. Ayumi Hamasaki writes her name, in the Japanese script, as "
浜崎あゆみ." Naoko Takeuchi writes her name, in the Japanese script, as "
武内直子."
When Japanese people transliterate their Japanese names into Roman letters, they can write their surnames before their personal names (the Eastern format) or they can write their surnames after their personal names (Western format). The Western format is not restricted to idols. Ms. Takeuchi herself writes her name, in Roman letters, as "Naoko Takeuchi." Moreover, Japanese people may introduce themselves in the Western format or in the Eastern format.
However, Ms. Takeuchi
does not write her name, in the Japanese script, as "
直子武内," and Ayumi Hamasaki
does not write her name, in the Japanese script, as "
あゆみ浜崎." In other words, they can switch the order when they write their names in Roman letters, but they don't switch the order when they write their names in Japanese. If you really want to know which part of a Japanese name is the surname and which part is the personal name,
then the best way to find out is to look at how the name is written in the Japanese script.
The Three Lights' names appear on the official sources as 星野光 (Seiya Kō), 大気光 (Taiki Kō), 夜天光 (Yaten Kō), but their names never appear as 光星野 (Kō Seiya), 光大気 (Kō Taiki), 光夜天 (Kō Yaten). They can write their names as "Seiya Kō," "Taiki Kō," and "Yaten Kō," or they can write their names as "Kō Seiya," "Kō Taiki," "Kō Yaten." They can be introduced in the Eastern format or in the Western format. According to the rules of reading Japanese names in the Japanese script, the 光 (Kō) in the names 星野光 (Seiya Kō), 大気光 (Taiki Kō), 夜天光 (Yaten Kō) are their personal names.
I've heard lots of strange arguments against that, though:
It would be more accurate to say that they often write their names the Western way when they write their names in Roman letters. When write their names the Eastern way when they write their names in the Japanese script.
Ayumi Hamasaki writes her name as "Ayumi Hamasaki," but her name always appears as
浜崎あゆみ, not
あゆみ浜崎.
That itself doesn't show that 光 (Kō) is supposed to be their personal name or their surname.
Regardless of whether the names are The Three Lights' real names, those names are presented as Japanese names. They appear side by side with other Japanese names (such as Ami's full name).
Their being aliens doesn't show that a Japanese name shouldn't be read as a Japanese name.
Katakana characters are often used for non-Japanese words and names, but native Japanese names and terms can be written with them. Moreover, the furigana characters in question represent Japanese readings of the kanji. Sure, those readings many be
derived from Chinese, but they're not actually Chinese. They're now Japanese. (Even if they were Chinese names, they would still be read the Eastern way.)
Well, again, regardless of whether the names are The Three Lights' real names, those names are presented as Japanese names. They appear side by side with other Japanese names (such as Ami's full name). If a stage name or pseudonym follows the Japanese style of names in the Japanese script, then it should do exactly that. You need to provide good evidence for the claim that the name does not follow the Eastern format.
That doesn't explain whether the "Seiya," "Taiki," and "Yaten" names are their personal names or their surnames.
The names are presented as Japanese names. They appear side by side with other Japanese names (such as Ami's full name). It's unnecessary to think that they're titles instead of names.
It is true that Usagi does not usually refer to each of the Three Lights as "Kō," but Usagi does refer to several other people her age by their surnames. Usagi and the other characters refer to Umino by his surname, Umino, not by his personal name, Gurio. In the anime, Usagi and the others refer to Urawa by his surname, Urawa, not by his personal name, Ryō.
Well, I've heard it both ways.
Another person claims that she said that Kō is the personal name. According to what is known about how the names are written in Japanese, Ms. Takeuchi most likely meant that Kō is the characters' personal name. If she meant them to be their surname, that would go against how we should read a Japanese name in the Japanese script.
It doesn't seem so strange when we consider that they are
The Three Lights, and 光 (Kō) means "light."
Listen to what he actually says. He clearly says "Seiya Kō."
As I mentioned above, a Japanese name can be introduced in the Eastern format or in the Western format, but it follows the Eastern format when written in the Japanese script.
Oh, really? Which ones?
IDOLS IN JAPAN OFTEN WESTERNIZE THE ORDER OF THEIR NAMES!!!
But they still write their names in the Eastern format when they write their names in the Japanese script.
Princess Kakyuu raised all three of them since when they were little... so you could call them brothers/sisters. But they are not related by blood.
Did you get that from that "REAL history of the Sailor Starlights" site? That site is full of stuff that was made up.
www.eternalsailormoon.org/rumors/starlights.htmlmembers.tripod.com/~SailorMoonWorstOfWeb/archive/WinNov98.htmlNaoko HAS said in several interviews that only females can be Sailor Soldiers. Tukedo Kamen IS NOT a Senshi.
Ms. Takeuchi said that only females (or "women") can be
sailor soldiers. A
senshi is a warrior, soldier, or fighter. Tuxedo Mask is a
senshi by definition. One could say that he's a
senshi but not a
Senshi, but that is an arbitrary distinction because the Japanese script doesn't make such a distinction.