
In peer situations-like between two kids who are good friends-the use of san can come off as reverential, but that’s not usually the case. It means either that person wants to be treated casually, or it’s a sign that a friendship is becoming closer. When someone tells you to drop the “ san“-as happens in a handful of anime-it’s a big deal.

Hell, san is even for that awkward space where you’ve hung out with someone a couple times, but you’re not really sure if you’re friends yet. When she is introduced by Nelly Smith, Nelly incoherently mumbles her name, and it appears in the subtitles as ()-chan. In many situations, you may never drop the san. Unless you’re an adult introducing a child, whenever you meet someone for the first time, you use san. You can use it with bosses or a friend’s moms, but it doesn’t have to refer to someone older or higher in status, either.
Blackhole chan senpai series#
The closest word in English would be “Mr./Ms./Mrs.,” etc., except that san is gender-neutral and used in a much, much broader series of social contexts. San is essentially the default honorific, and it’s the most common. I can also tell you from personal experience it’s a source of intense social anxiety for me. Starting his new term at Tanenashi High School, an unmotivated freshman searches for a club that requires minimal participation to suit his needs. Dropping honorifics in Japanese is only reserved for the deepest relationships: we’re talking romantic partners and very close friends. Looking for information on the anime Tejina-senpai (Magical Sempai) Find out more with MyAnimeList, the worlds most active online anime and manga community and database. It’s an interesting linguistic nuance to key into-you can learn a lot about characters and their relationships due to the omission or inclusion of one word. In Neon Genesis Evangelion, for example, “ Shinji-kun” is ubiquitous, but the would-be parallel “ Asuka-chan” is not. One thing to keep in mind here, for both anime-watching and real-life, is that what honorific someone uses is very contextual, which means it can say a lot about how they think about the other person. The most common honorifics in Japanese are san, kun, chan, sama, sensei, and senpai. She is very good friends with Yoshi, Sakura, and especially Gamo-chan, who could be considered her best friend, despite their similar and often competitive personalities sometimes putting them at odds in a sort of friendly rivalry. Plus, they’re used in a much wider span of social situations. Within minutes of hitting the web, memes began to surface - from comparisons to the legendary Eye of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings, to the inevitable Trump association.

But honorifics in Japan work quite differently-they come in after someone’s name, and most of them are not tied to perceived gender (PHEW). The honorifics we have in English precede names, things like “Mr.,” “Ms.,” “Doctor,” etc. For native English speakers, the “honorifics” used at the end of Japanese names can be kind of confusing. If you’ve watched subbed anime, you’ve absolutely heard one character cry out to another with a long “saaaaaaan!” attached at the end.
