The origin of the name Char Aznable: a wee theory

[CHORN%POMONA....@vtvm1.cc.vt.edu]

There has been a plethora of gripping debate recently over whether the Red
Comet/B.D. Banzai love doll/cartoon fascist from the underexposed Gundam
series' moniker should be spelled "Shaa" or "Char." But on a side note, I've
got a theory as to why this name was chosen in the first place. Someone
recently commented on the fact that this character was supposed to have spent
part of his youth in France, and may have picked up the nom de guerre "Char"
as a diminutive of "Charlemagne." That comment led me to think about another
French name...There's no reason why anyone under 35 (the majority of anime
fans, I would imagine) would know this, but there was once, in the 1960s, an
internationally famous French singer/actor named Charles Aznavour. Now, if you
consider the lack of emphasis on the second syllable of "Charles" in French,
and the fine line that of occurs between "v" and "b" and "r" and "l" in
Japanese, you could see how "Charles Aznavour" could become "Char Aznable."
By the way, I understand that the name of the faction/family which was
originally transliterated as "Zion" has been changed in the Schodt novels. This
is a shame, as we could have then speculated on their ethnic identity: Jewish
or Rastafarian? I suppose he didn't want to risk offending anybody...

--Charlemagne, Carolus Magnus, Karl der Grosse...
whatever way you say it, it's Carl "The Great" Horn!

[Faisal Nameer Jawdat]

>By the way, I understand that the name of
>the faction/family which was originally
>transliterated as "Zion" has been changed
>in the Schodt novels. This is a shame, as we
>could have then speculated on their ethnic
>identity: Jewish or Rastafarian?

Actually, this has been transliterated both as Zion, and Jion by many
different publications.

It seems to be pronounced "Jion"
The problem, again, stems from the difference between how Japanese
characters are written and pronounced, and their English equivalents.

Schodt's novels tend to spell things more phonetically overall, than
most publications, which I think explains why he would have it as Jion.

-Fiz
I could say something original here, but it would look to quaint.

[Matthew Clark]

In article <CDAB208A...@POMONA.CLAREMONT.EDU>,

First of all, that was a very interesting article you posted, I had
never even thought of something like that.

Second on the "Zion/Jion" issue, its literally a matter of how you want
to romanize it. Hepburn opts for "Jion" while newer methods opt for
"Zion." In any event, the Jion was carried, IMHO, simply to avoid
unneccessary trouble.

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