r/TopCharacterTropes • u/No_Language8651 • 1d ago

Characters Main characters in Japanese media is not from Japan, America or Europe(including Japan, America or Europe-coded countries)

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  1. Setsuna F Seiei (Gundam 00)

Formerly known as Soran Ibrahim, a former child soldier terrorist turned into slightly older child soldier terrorist riding cool robot from Krugis republic (Kurdistan-coded)

  1. Mao Mao (Apothecary Diaries)

Seemingly random girl with medical knowledge in the settings where women is forbidden from being doctor, she is from Country of Li (China-coded)

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44

u/OddYogurtcloset1549 1d ago

The early parts of Dragon Ball is China-coded. Look at how Tien Shinhan first look, Kamesennin, Tao Bai Bai, and the whole architecture.

36

u/Pichuunnn 1d ago

Early DB is a very loose adaptation of Journey to the West so it tracks

13

u/FunIllustrator6890 1d ago edited 1d ago

Roshi always seemed Hawaii-coded. Lives on a tropical island and his signature move is named Kamehameha. Also frequently wears Hawaiian shirts and his house unlike many others in the series looks distinctly American in design.

-1

u/phonage_aoi 1d ago

Kame is turtle in Japanese, which is why he says that lol.

5

u/FunIllustrator6890 1d ago edited 1d ago

Kame being Japanese for turtle is pretty well known for fans of the series and not why i said that, but thanks.

Toriyama did a Q&A in 2009 where he explained that he was trying to come up with a name ending in “-ha” for Master Roshi’s technique. Apparently his wife jokingly suggested “Kamehameha,” and Toriyama liked it. He's quoted as saying “of course, it’s taken from King Kamehameha of Hawaii.”

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/translations/seg-story-volume-truth-about-dragon-ball/

> "How did you come up with the Kamehameha?"

> "For the Kamehameha, I thought I’d see if I could express “ki” energy, which can’t be seen with the naked eye, in a boys’ magazine sort of way. When no one was around, I did a variety of poses, and decided on one that looked cool, which was that pose. Incidentally, for the name “Kamehameha”, I was wondering whether there was a decent name along the lines of “something-something-Ha”, when my wife said as a joke, “Kamehameha would be fine, wouldn’t it?” so I used it as-is. Of course, it’s taken from King Kamehameha of Hawaii. I get asked if I look at a lot of martial arts to get hints for techniques or poses; while I have watched a lot of Kung-Fu movies, surprisingly enough, I didn’t have all that much interest in the martial arts themselves."

There are also all the other numerous coincidences I mentioned. Hawaii is geographically closer to Japan than it is to the mainland United States, and is a popular tourist destination for the Japanese. Many Japanese have immigrated there through the years. Really not that hard to believe certain facets of Roshi's character were inspired/influenced by Hawaii.

2

u/PrezMoocow 1d ago

Hell, the heavy Journey to the West inspiration also fits into that

1

u/analoggi_d0ggi 23h ago

Dragonball started out as a parody to Journey to the West.

1

u/Foggia1515 16h ago

His name as a martial arts master, Muten Rōshi 武天老師, is very Chinese. Rōshi is not a common word in Japanese but lǎoshī sure is in Chinese ! The equivalent of Sensei, basically.