Hotaru-chan, not Hotaru-san

Jonathan · Post by **Jonathan** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:57 am

I was watching the S season again and I was wondering why they call Hotaru Hotaru-Chan, instead of Hotaru-San? She goes to the same school as Haruka and Michiru, so the three of them must be around the same age. They also dont call them Haruka-Chan or Michiru-Chan. So why cant Hotaru be Hotaru-San too?

The only reason I can think of is that maybe they dont respect her as much as Haruka and Michiru. But I really doubt that's the reason. Hmm I'm not sure, it's still puzzling to me.

Sylphiel · Post by **Sylphiel** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:09 am

If you mean the inners, maybe it's because she's younger than them? Also maybe it's because they are closer with her, Chibi-Usa befriends Hotaru but they aren't really close with Haruka and Michiru.

Post by **AnimeGuru0** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:10 am

o_o No.....no.........Hotaru is MUUUUCH younger than Haruka and Michiru. She's slightly older than Chibi-Usa (weird continuities aside, ie - she's 2000 years old, we're gonna assume she's like 7 or 8 ). I'm guessing Hotaru is around 10. Haruka and Michiru are like 16-17. Hotaru-tachi's school is a elementary - high school level school. Like K-12. That's why they go to school. It says Rei goes to a similar type school (where elementary, middle, and high school are all connected in one school).

Cardcaptor Takato · Post by **Cardcaptor Takato** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:14 am

Furthermore, if age had anything to do with closeness and respect, then Usagi and Chibi-usa should be calling Mamoru "Mamoru-san" instead of "Mamo-chan" because Mamoru is a lot older than any of the Sailor Soldiers.

jupiter23 · Post by **jupiter23** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:13 am

AnimeGuru0 wrote:o_o No.....no.........Hotaru is MUUUUCH younger than Haruka and Michiru. She's slightly older than Chibi-Usa (weird continuities aside, ie - she's 2000 years old, we're gonna assume she's like 7 or 8 ). I'm guessing Hotaru is around 10. Haruka and Michiru are like 16-17. Hotaru-tachi's school is a elementary - high school level school. Like K-12. That's why they go to school. It says Rei goes to a similar type school (where elementary, middle, and high school are all connected in one school).

I thought Hotaru was around 12 or 13 at that time. I believe she was at Junior High level.

#1SailorMoonFan · Post by **#1SailorMoonFan** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:40 am

Here is what Wiki says on the words:

Chan (ちゃん, Chan?) is the informal, intimate, diminutive equivalent of san, used to refer to female children, close friends (primarily female, but also male), and other persons with whom one is intimate. Chan may also used for adults as a title of affection. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger gained the nickname Shuwa chan in Japanese. Similar to kun, chan is not necessarily optional when referring to the female children of others, and it is traditionally avoided when referring to one's own daughter.

San (さん, San?) is the most common honorific title, used when addressing most social outsiders, for example, non-family members. San is used unless the addressee's status warrants one of the other terms mentioned below.

San is often translated as "Mr.", "Ms.", "Mrs.", and the like. San may also be used in combination with things other than the name of the person being addressed. For example, a bookseller might be addressed as honya-san "Mr. Bookseller", and a butcher as nikuya-san "Ms. Butcher".

San is also used when talking about entities such as companies. For example, the offices or shop of a company called Kojima Denki might be referred to as "Kojima Denki-san" by another nearby company. This may be seen on the small maps often used in phone books and business cards in Japan, where the names of surrounding companies are written using san.

San is also applied to some kinds of foods. For example, fish used for cooking are sometimes referred to as sakana-san. It is also sometimes applied to animals - a rabbit might be usagi-san.

Both san and its more formal equivalent, sama, imply a kind of familiarity. In formal speech, the title shi may be preferred.

Note: Han (はん, Han?) is the Kyoto and, more widely, Kansai dialect's equivalent of san.

Edit: Hotaru IS 12 years old. Proof: http://eternalsailormoon.org/characters ... index.html
For Haruka, it says she is 15 in S and is in the 10th grade.
http://eternalsailormoon.org/characters ... index.html
For Michiru, it says she is in 10 grade, too, but it doesn't give her an age.

Panda · Post by **Panda** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:29 pm

From my understanding Chibi-Usa is around 8 and Hotaru is around 12...

I was also led to believe that Haruka and Michiru were 16 in S, and 17 in Stars.

Even though Chibi-Usa is short (Height probably isn't the best way to go about this but whatever...

) most of her friends from her regular school are only a little bit taller than she is. Hotaru is at least 1.5/2 heads taller than Chibi-Usa in the anime. I don't think Hotaru is a tall girl considering how skinny she is.

Rin · Post by **Rin** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:17 pm

I always thought Hotaru was about 13 in S. and in stars she did age rapidly but not to her former age. So I guess in Stars she reached age 10 or 11?

Post by **AnimeGuru0** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 6:19 pm

Regardless, her being 12 and Haruka/Michiru being 15/16/17 gives more than enough reason as to why Hotaru is given the suffix "chan" rather than "san" from a cultural standpoint.

Jonathan · Post by **Jonathan** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 1:05 am

Well that explains alot. All this time I thought Hotaru was just as old as Haruka and Michiru. Now it makes perfect sense.

Panda · Post by **Panda** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 1:10 pm

Sorry, the only reason I emphasized Haruka/Michiru being 16/17 was because they're supposedly older than the inners.

Anyway, poor Hotaru... her life is so confusing.

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:32 pm

AnimeGuru0 wrote:Hotaru-tachi's school is a elementary - high school level school. Like K-12.

It actually goes through university. [/off-topic]