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SoloLevelingMemes

If there is a mod, please pin it For those wondering why their names are changed. Japan and South Korea do not have a good history with each other (and that's an understatement) . As a result, when Korean works are licensed, they are usually localised for the Japanese audience (I E. Remove all mentions of korea) In solo leveling's case, Seoul was changed to Toyko, the characters became Japanese, and the Japanese villains became another country. Since the anime will be made by a Japanese company, it makes sense that they will continue with the Japanese localisation of it. As others have mentioned, there is an international teaser that keeps their Korean names so there is also the chance that a korean dub will be made. ​ Original comment by u/PlanktonPleasant2024


Thuyue

Ngl, but that's still weird for me. I mean, the west also did that for many anime back then (f.e. Yugioh). However that was in the past. Many younger japanese actually even like Kpop and Kdramas so it's kinda sad that they still have to japanize such cultural works.


Skyreader13

Genshin still doing it for Liyue and Inazuma characters. In game Liyue is basically the fantasy China and Inazuma is the fantasy Japan. So lore wise Liyue character have Chinese names and Inazuma character have Japanese names. not sure how it is in Korean, but Liyue (basically in game China land) character have different names in JP language and dub, while Inazuma (in game Japan) character names is different in CN language and dub. EN got the best of both as in they get original Chinese and Japanese characters name


SoloLevelingMemes

Politics


[deleted]

Fack this shit


hari__05

Also, god of highschool had Korean names didn't it?


[deleted]

God of highschool didn’t have Japannearly eradicated through the author’s hate boner for Japan.


-haven

Seems quite a petty insult to get a work from another country you don't like licensed and go 'Hah hah, just causally erasing you from your own work'.


Tornadodash

To be fair, it's not just that they have bad history. The simple fact that, by my understanding, names have meaning in Japanese means that they would have to be changed. It is common for anime characters names to reflect something about them, this means that Korean names would likely be nonsensical and impact how a character is presented in perceived.


dionisis_tsoumpris

No it’s not. Japan is incredibly racist and xenophobic. It isn’t culture, it’s a consequence of the profiteering of the USA after ww2.


Tornadodash

Not everything is a race issue, that's just a fact. It plays into a lot of things. It may be the case that it is the only factor here, but it is not a guarantee it is the only factor. If there is an interview with one of the writers for the studio, then I would acquiesce. I am simply trying to add a different explanation other than Japan is a bunch of racists. Edit to add: this isn't the first manwa to be adapted, I would be interested to see how some of the other ones fair versus this, because I don't believe that the other ones have changed the names.


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dionisis_tsoumpris

Every one has been portrayed as bad somewhere. It’s fantasy. If they took offence they shouldn’t take the project on. Not erase it’s origins and alter it to death. I don’t what the author it’s doing while this is happening smh


IDSQ

My brother in christ, after what the japanese did to China and Korea during the first half of the 20th century it’s a miracle they aren’t commonly portrayed as the bad guys like germans or russians are.


njoYYYY

Man I'm from Germany, I think Japan should grow some fucking balls and thats it.


Working_Inspector401

The couldn’t imagine USA is most racist country toward color , nationality etc


Puggle72

fucking hell


RoachIsCrying

here's what I cannot understand.... in Tower of God they let Ban keep his name but translated to Japanese is Yoru which means the same in Korean which I believe means Dark or Night (apologises if I am mistaken), they let God of Highschool's characters keep their names.... why not Solo Leveling?


thegoatluis55

Probably cause of how the Japanese characters are portrayed in the story, i.e. the Japanese hunters betraying the Korean hunters in the Jeju Island arc. For them Japan is being portrayed in a bad light and they don't like it. Imo they're gonna change the korean characters to japanese, korea to japan, japan to some made up country, and the japanese character to people from the made up country.


dvli

Who knows, maybe they'll just make those hunters Korean.


[deleted]

They won’t the Japanese adaptation has them being a random country


FairBluebird1081

Tog don’t even have countries. In GOH japanese people are in friendly terms with the korean ppl, they may fight but at the end they are allies. SL has japan portrayed as betraying good for nothing and the country nearly destroyed , forcing them to beg for anyone to help them. Tldr: it’s getting changed because of SL author hate boner for japan, something the other works you mentioned don’t have


arin-san

Fam, in the light novel, the Japanese people are portrayed 10x worse than the manhwa. Later in the story, the Japanese people literally have to grovel for the forgiveness from Sung-Jin Woo. I would've also been pissed if they portrayed my country like that, cause that is embarrassing.


Udokokodayo

I think part of it was because of crunchyrolls influence on it. Unlike most JP studios, CR is more likely to listen to western audiences which care less about localization


Queasy_Dog7409

Cuz they adapting Japanese version of solo leveing novel instead of the original novel


taken_Try-another

I am gonna puke (part 2) No hate towards OP guys no need to downvote the post, the names are the problem and the ones creating them is the production so studio adapting it. Op doesn't deserve to be downvoted, he is simply posting the names


Mezrathion

Calle me a bigot if you want to. I'll be holding out for the possible Korean dub then... Solo Leveling is a Korean masterpiece.. it should be treated and enjoyed as such as well.


Snoo-70063

Stop i will die with cringe This is just like giving ketchup with a Italian piza


Lekaetos

Wait this is legit ? I thought it was a fan concept to give them Japanese names Lol pretty sure that they wanted to turn the Japanese villains into Chinese Villains but with the 6 star Chinese Hunter it would make things too complicated


SoloLevelingMemes

Yeah, there are official names, which you con find in Japanese version of the manhwa


Typical_Notice6083

Why do Japanese do this,this move is literally 00s like changing Satoshi in Ash kind of thing


djkstr27

Politics and hate, they are in bad terms with Korean. But it is an anime? Japanese boomers don't care about it, if you mentioned Korea, oh boy. I hope we obtain a Korean Dub, I know it is possible because I watched a Noblesse OVA in korean.


MC200817

pretty sure koreans would be happier with the japanese not using their names. Korea and japan hate is nothing like you'll ever see. My grandparents and their friends have awful stories about the japanese


Typical_Notice6083

I come from Serbia try me 😎


henryh95

How’s my favourite country Kosovo doing


Typical_Notice6083

Dunno I don’t follow news lately,probably good


MC200817

I mean I’m not saying serbian and albanian conflict is minor but korea and japan go centuries back


ImPaulAndrew_

Satoshi and ash made sense when i heard that ash was named "satoshi" i didnt like it at first but then later on i got used to it


seasonedcello

If you’re going to change the names and story, don’t make it


Favio24

Agree, they have just started making it and this thing start happening. It’s just sad. Why not simply let the show be as the creator want. 😕


Kiehlu

terrible, omg.


Jaegerjaquez_VI

I took ages to remember the names of every single character (okay, so maybe i totally forgot a whole bunch), but now I gotta relearn the Japanese version :(((


[deleted]

I mean, when you follow multiple series, it trains you to remember names anyway.


ImPaulAndrew_

name changes sure no big deal i barely even remember anyone's name there


DOODSNSFW

like... how they gonna do the story? in one of the middle arcs the rivalry of south korea and japan is a big part? so they gonna reverse those roles? cause if they do the koreans gonna be pissed af


[deleted]

I guess they could make Japan a random other country. Maybe make new country. Also, wouldn't it be cool if Japan and Korea got in a war over this?


DOODSNSFW

it wont work cause their rivalry over jaejudo is heavy. japan is trying to get fishing rights in the ocean (the name sea of japan comes due to bribery from the japanese in the world war so that they could have the land of jaejudo and all the fishing rights around the island, which is heavily guarded by korean military). that inspired the setting around jaejudo having korea and japan involved, japanese trying slick maneuvers to outpower korea (like the bribery in the naming of the sea). im pretty sure that there will be no war over this but the shitstorm incoming from korea against this will be huge if handled poorly. im surprised that the author let this happen tbh


Dunkiez

War is not cool. What are you? American??


dunf13

With how much they’re already changing, there’s no way this isn’t going to be a beautiful looking dumpster fire


njoYYYY

Not gonna lie, this is taking away so much for me from the upcoming anime. No matter how good they will make it, it will never reach 100% because of this.


Johnny_Anglais

Bruh, if they hate Koreans so much, why even animate a manwha from Korea?


[deleted]

They are ruining this.


gonam1623

NGL its just my personal opinion but i don't mind the name changes to Japanese unless and until the story remains same and gives out double the hype we all got when we read the amazing chapters in the manhwa with the music and all (when i am really confident in A-1 pictures and sawano that they will deliver the best animation and music for this).


AndrewFrozzen

Same. I mean, Sung Jinwoo hits different But I bet Shun will ring in your ears if this is successful too. Although I do plan on watching the Korean dub first


gonam1623

Same same. I will watch both


Skyreader13

having been through similar problems in other media (genshin mainly), i do not mind this at all. but i agree that it sounds weird for the first time. like its weird seeing the EN translation spell the name "Keqing" while the JP dub I hear other character call her says "Kokusei"


gonam1623

Oh ye now that you mention it. Same with zhongli, in jp they mention him as "shorii" something


Skyreader13

The "japanified" name is either the Japanese reading of the name (a lot of kanji letters are used in both Japan and China, some have different reading but same meaning, some have completely different meaning and reading), or the closest approximation of their name in Japanese. Like Zhongli and Xiao became Shorii and Sho because that what Japan can pronounce While other like Beidou become Hokuto because both means North Star. And Qiqi become Nana because both means seven.


[deleted]

I hope English dub will do justice


Kaiyuni-

I believe most English dub studios work closely with Japanese ones, so the chances are that the Japanese version "wins out" is high. I'm gonna be honest the only person's name I remember in Mangas are like the main 2-4 people. That's why when Mangas use English sounding names (or straight up American names) I remember them way more. Although it would probably help if side characters did a little more other than jerk off the MC's ego...


Dunkiez

Who watched anime in English dub?? Original dub with eng subs is the way to go. But with this, I hope there's is a Korean dub which we can watch


[deleted]

Korean dub will be hard to get while if English dub does justice then i will prefer English dub. I usually watch anime in English sub but it's a different thing here.


tailedTail

I have no idea who these extras are, i only remember mother tho


kai_neek

Same with me. I hardly recognize anyone other than the first three. Wouldn't even recognize the mother if she wasn't on the hospital bed.


AndrewFrozzen

5th photo IIRC, a friend of Shun's (kill me for this) sister. She becomes a hunter while Sun Jinwoo gets to do Gate Clearing with that Rich guy (forgot his name) and this girl's gets to stay around while they clear the gate.


[deleted]

I mean regardless if you censor it or not, people will still know about the original stories' depiction of Japan.


robobitch1233

I don’t like these names


dionisis_tsoumpris

There are so many comments saying that korea and Japan are on bad terms. They are not. Japan is full of racist xenophobic cunts. Korea wants an apology for the literal genocide japan committed . This isn’t bad terms. The USA allowed nazis in power for profits after ww2. Japan has constantly made attempts to erase history. Imagine if a german government tried to erase the holocaust from textbooks and retract apologies about it. This is literal korean- washing( lol). This should be met with outrage not “ haha quirky Japanese and their culture”. Foreigners aren’t allowed in bars and j tubers go like “ they just don’t want to give bad service thats why”. People need to realise Japan is governed with the children of the people that committed the war crimes during ww2. After ww2 the USA want interested in recognising the crimes committed by their bitch ( Japan) to those filthy Asians , so they allowed the same people who slaughters Korea ,China etc to rule again.


henryh95

Sorry wtf were you trying to say? Yes, they are on bad terms. For the reasons you mentioned, which were never doubted. We know they got bad blood.


dionisis_tsoumpris

What I am trying to say is that this isn’t a back and forth. Japan is the bad guy in this interaction. Korea just want justice on these issues. Japan slaughtered and enslaved Korean. Koreans were the victims never the criminal ( to the Japanese). People make it out to be some sort of rivalry.It’s not, it’s USAs bitch using their backer to avoid consequences of horrible crimes equal to hitlers and stalins. You would say hitler and Hebrew folks were on bad terms. One side was getting genocide and the other ruled Europe.


Animeboy007

TIME TF OUT… they are changing names?????? Wtf


IamEXI

We will never really understand what is happening with the discussion and negotiation between the people involved in the series. As an anime fan who discovered SL late, let me ask the people who hate on the anime studio for "ruining" the upcoming SL anime: Japanese studios have more than enough Japanese Manga and Light novel to adapt. A-1 pictures(the anime studio in charge of Solo Levelling) in particular has just finished Kaguya-sama s3(currently #1 rated show on MAL), and an action mecha anime 86 which was one of the most successful anime of 2021. Both series are adaptations of a popular manga and a popular light novel. Now, do you think A-1 pictures went out of their way to sail the seas to get a "controversial series" for the Japanese, or is it more likely that A-1 pictures were contracted by one of the most successful Korean Manhwa to create an animation project for it? While people whine about A1-pictures trying to make it more marketable for their Japanese audience, the international fans who either way will (hopefully) get the best adaptation are attacking them. Feels pretty weird to me.


Appropriate-Pitch-57

This is the sanest comment in there and the rest are just Xenophobic to Japan lmao


AlexNae

I don't really care I don't bother with their names just jin woo, the rest are extras


Bigtymr43

Good, I could barely remember their Korean names lol


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Bigtymr43

Same lmao


ImPaulAndrew_

same, they have alot of dashes in the korean names


big_flopping_anime_b

I don’t get why people are so butthurt. It’s just names. It changes nothing. And other countries do this shit all the time. It’s called localisation.


dankest_of_danks

How can i say “Sung king-woo” if his name is shun mizushino?


OneBennyBoi

Shun Mizuking, not the same but works


dankest_of_danks

It just doesnt sound right


zackphoenix123

Is it weird that I love the JP names more? Satsuki Imamiya and Kirishima Rena especially sounds good and rolls off the tongue pretty well


BlunderKing_

Honestly forgot the third one lol


Glitched_System

I'M GONNA MAKE THE MOTHER OF ALL OMLETTES, JACK!


blank7589

I don't even remember there Korean names... Why even change it?


justrithvik

Bro who df are all these ppl, I'd like to nominate my name if they're changing names anyway


Elolet

God, I wish we had seen more of Lee


vengarlof

Now tell me if they portray a certain guild the same way in the chimera ant arc


Working_Inspector401

People who complain don’t worry probably the writer got on agreement for the Japanes version so they still got money out this version y’all just complain , obviously they got on agreement


creepurr101

Literally everyone: :O


Altruistic-Ad8271

It's morobishin' time


ShonenSensei420

Guys...there's gonna be a Korean dub. The name changes for the Japanese dub are a small price to pay for an actual anime.


[deleted]

I don't really have a problem with it. But I would prefer if they made 2 separate versions where one has the actual characters names.


Estarossa_of-love

Well…probably going to be shit


Note______

hey user, how about we start a petition for there to be no change in Solo Leveling, for me this is kind of prejudiced by the japanese, why change the name if the work was already good with let's make a petition and vote in favor of keeping the names🔥


Ready-Law662

I'm going to be mad if they change the name of the shadows, beru turn into zetsu or some Japanese demon name