American characters with Asian names.

[FreelancerAgent-Nebraska]

I have made a thread discussing something like this topic*.
I also have a few Asian characters in my stories**.

Of course, it's nothing to care about as long as the author has a reason to name them like this. Like, you know, maybe they're actually Asian.

If you have someone with white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes, and their name is Kaito Johnson: I have bad news for you. I don't care how cool the name is, if they only have a "cool sounding" Asian name for the hell of it, I'm calling it out.

I realize that parents and authors have a right to name their children/characters with some sort of culture in mind, but it doesn't work that well if they aren't from that culture.

Furthermore, randomly having a character scream something out in random Americanized (i.e. Bastardized) Japanese does not automatically make them cooler/more Japanese. Not everyone randomly yells "Kawaii!". Just like not everyone in America will randomly yell "Adorable!"

Anyway, I'm getting into a rant here. Much as I enjoy doing it, I digress. Point is, if they must be of Asian culture/influence, at least make them sensible. If they do happen to have pale skin and blue eyes, give them a good reason why.

---

*The topic was asking why it is a big deal to throw in characters of random ethnicities in a story for no reason than to be that ethnicity, not at all purely about Asian characters.

**One character is named Ayaka. I have no last name for her at the moment.

[The Girl With A Face]

I really have no problem with it. It's there avi, they can name whatever they want to.

[muselii]

I think the whole notion is ridiculous. Unless of course your asian and your book is about asians.

[FreelancerAgent-Nebraska]

muselii

I think the whole notion is ridiculous. Unless of course your asian and your book is about asians.

It's unrealistic to say this. If they're American it means they live in America, a melting pot (and it'sa boilin ova!) home to many cultures.
So, in short, basically if it's somewhere in the world it's not a crime to write about. If everyone wrote about only their own ethnicities then it would truly be a boring literary world. There wouldn't be any fantasy books or anything.

[Sugary Tiger]

_iiMAPROUDJOBROFAN_

I really have no problem with it. It's there avi, they can name whatever they want to.

Excuse me?
I'm not talking about an "avi."

[muselii]

FreelancerAgent-Nebraska

muselii

I think the whole notion is ridiculous. Unless of course your asian and your book is about asians.

It's unrealistic to say this. If they're American it means they live in America, a melting pot (and it'sa boilin ova!) home to many cultures.
So, in short, basically if it's somewhere in the world it's not a crime to write about. If everyone wrote about only their own ethnicities then it would truly be a boring literary world. There wouldn't be any fantasy books or anything.

What does fantasy have to do with anything? In fantasy you can create your own culture so there's no worry about whether or not it's convincing.

On that note, you can write about anything or any ethnic group you want. But it might be difficult for a middle aged korean woman in korea to write about a young black man in Compton.

[I am The Compendium]

Sugary Tiger

How do you feel about it?

Personally, it annoys me unless the author has a reason for doing this. If it's just an, "Oh, well I like this name." and the characters happens to be like, African or something...It'd be weird to meet a black chick with the name "Akemi."
Like I said, if the author has a reason for naming their character this, then I don't mind.

What do you think of it?

I think you mean 'Japanese,' not 'Asian.' So long as there's some reason for it (Japanese American, mom was still on painkillers, named after an adopted granma...) I'm fine.

I honestly have a lot of Japanese names in my stories, but there's always at least some reason (albeit sometimes the reason is stupidity) for such names.

[muselii]

I am The Compendium

Sugary Tiger

How do you feel about it?

Personally, it annoys me unless the author has a reason for doing this. If it's just an, "Oh, well I like this name." and the characters happens to be like, African or something...It'd be weird to meet a black chick with the name "Akemi."
Like I said, if the author has a reason for naming their character this, then I don't mind.

What do you think of it?

I think you mean 'Japanese,' not 'Asian.' So long as there's some reason for it (Japanese American, mom was still on painkillers, named after an adopted granma...) I'm fine.

I honestly have a lot of Japanese names in my stories, but there's always at least some reason (albeit sometimes the reason is stupidity) for such names.

Japan happens to be in Asia, so I think she's safe on this one.

[Sugary Tiger]

I am The Compendium

Sugary Tiger

How do you feel about it?

Personally, it annoys me unless the author has a reason for doing this. If it's just an, "Oh, well I like this name." and the characters happens to be like, African or something...It'd be weird to meet a black chick with the name "Akemi."
Like I said, if the author has a reason for naming their character this, then I don't mind.

What do you think of it?

I think you mean 'Japanese,' not 'Asian.'

No. By Asian, I mean Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, etc.

[FreelancerAgent-Nebraska]

muselii

FreelancerAgent-Nebraska

muselii

I think the whole notion is ridiculous. Unless of course your asian and your book is about asians.

It's unrealistic to say this. If they're American it means they live in America, a melting pot (and it'sa boilin ova!) home to many cultures.
So, in short, basically if it's somewhere in the world it's not a crime to write about. If everyone wrote about only their own ethnicities then it would truly be a boring literary world. There wouldn't be any fantasy books or anything.

What does fantasy have to do with anything? In fantasy you can create your own culture so there's no worry about whether or not it's convincing.

On that note, you can write about anything or any ethnic group you want. But it might be difficult for a middle aged korean woman in korea to write about a young black man in Compton.

I'm simply saying if we all only wrote about our own ethnicities it would be boring. Taking that into consideration I deemed that fantasy would not be possible if we only wrote about people of our own culture. Duh.

Also, why would a middle aged woman in Korea want to write about a black man in Compton? She might have little or no knowledge of...
Oh wait nevermind. I get it.
You're indeed a witty person.

[I am The Compendium]

Sugary Tiger

I am The Compendium

Sugary Tiger

How do you feel about it?

Personally, it annoys me unless the author has a reason for doing this. If it's just an, "Oh, well I like this name." and the characters happens to be like, African or something...It'd be weird to meet a black chick with the name "Akemi."
Like I said, if the author has a reason for naming their character this, then I don't mind.

What do you think of it?

I think you mean 'Japanese,' not 'Asian.'

No. By Asian, I mean Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, etc.

I thought you were talking about anime stuff.

What the hell's wrong with Asian names? Asian-American = American.

Isn't Tiger woods mostly Asian? But people call him black because certain phenotypes are more prominent. What if his name was Hai Sho or Tetsuo or Gautama? How would any of that be significant?

Wait, is this one of those 'Go back to Russia!' sort of things?

[Sugary Tiger]

I am The Compendium

Sugary Tiger

I am The Compendium

Sugary Tiger

How do you feel about it?

Personally, it annoys me unless the author has a reason for doing this. If it's just an, "Oh, well I like this name." and the characters happens to be like, African or something...It'd be weird to meet a black chick with the name "Akemi."
Like I said, if the author has a reason for naming their character this, then I don't mind.

What do you think of it?

I think you mean 'Japanese,' not 'Asian.'

No. By Asian, I mean Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, etc.

I thought you were talking about anime stuff.

What the hell's wrong with Asian names? Asian-American = American.

Isn't Tiger woods mostly Asian? But people call him black because certain phenotypes are more prominent. What if his name was Hai Sho or Tetsuo or Gautama? How would any of that be significant?

Wait, is this one of those 'Go back to Russia!' sort of things?

I said in my first post that I only like it if they have a reason for giving them the name.
Like if a white person were to be named Kimiko for no reason, it wouldn't make sense. THAT is what I meant.

[I am The Compendium]

Sugary Tiger

I am The Compendium

Sugary Tiger

I am The Compendium

Sugary Tiger

How do you feel about it?

Personally, it annoys me unless the author has a reason for doing this. If it's just an, "Oh, well I like this name." and the characters happens to be like, African or something...It'd be weird to meet a black chick with the name "Akemi."
Like I said, if the author has a reason for naming their character this, then I don't mind.

What do you think of it?

I think you mean 'Japanese,' not 'Asian.'

No. By Asian, I mean Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, etc.

I thought you were talking about anime stuff.

What the hell's wrong with Asian names? Asian-American = American.

Isn't Tiger woods mostly Asian? But people call him black because certain phenotypes are more prominent. What if his name was Hai Sho or Tetsuo or Gautama? How would any of that be significant?

Wait, is this one of those 'Go back to Russia!' sort of things?

I said in my first post that I only like it if they have a reason for giving them the name.
Like if a white person were to be named Kimiko for no reason, it wouldn't make sense. THAT is what I meant.

Her's the reason: stupidity and/or drugs. There are, in fact, lots of people named 'La Treen' or 'Chanda Leir' because the doctor thought it be funny to screw with a woman who'd just undergone the worst physical pain short of being run over by a train and surviving.

There's also the retardism of 'I wanna be culturally special' whihc shows up mostly in poor Blacks, the result of which is names like 'Amyunik' (pronounced 'I'm unique') and 'Starkisha.'

Oh, and while the hype was going on, lots of kids have been named after Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Star Wars. I kid you not.

Kimiko is a lot better than 'Anakin' in my opinion.

[Rains On Friday]

What I find funny is that most Asians (in real life) don't even have Asian names.

[muselii]

Rains On Friday

What I find funny is that most Asians (in real life) don't even have Asian names.

Uh huh... riiiight....