Summary
One thing that has happened a few times in this era of the anime adaptations of popular webcomics and manhwa is localization, where a story’s characters and various other elements are seen through the lens of the target audience. In the US, the 4Kidz versions of various anime titles saw a lot of strange, funny or downright unnecessary changes to elements to make them more palatable to the chosen audience. In the case ofTower of God, a manhwa title, the WEBTOON and Crunchyroll collaboration has been dubbed in various languages, but the primary language in which it is available on the streaming platform is Japanese.
As a result, the various names that readers of the manhwa have become familiar with have seen several changes, andthis guide will run through the names of charactersthat have been encountered inTower of Godthus far.
Characters Whose Names Have Changed
Korean Names Are Altered The Most
The most clear change is that of the series protagonist, Twenty-Fifth-Bam (or Baam), whose name in the Japanese version is “Yoru”, coming from the fact that “Bam” translates to “night”, with Yoru being a very common word for the night written like so 夜. However, it could have also been “Ban”, which is Japanese for “evening” or “nightfall”, depending on the context. For instance, “dinner” is written with the kanji for “evening” 晩 followed by “food”, giving rise to the word “banmeshi”, but the closest use of this particular word that lines up with his full name is “ban” as a counter for nights.
“Shibisu” is merely a Japanese pronunciation of the name Shib Yi Soo. Korean names generally follow the format of last name | given name to the effect of three syllables, and they obviously carry meaning; which is why it is interesting that some names can remain relatively unchanged, while others are given Japanese “equivalents”. Inthe anime adaptation ofSolo Levelingfor instance, there were two distinct versions of the Japanese dubbed version of the series, one in which the Korean names are used as-is, while there is the version that aired on Japanese television which featured Japanese names for the characters.
The main character of the second part ofTower of God, also subtitled “Return of the Prince”, Ja Wangnan’s name in Japanese is an attempt to reflect the same pun that went into his Korean name. “Ja Wangnan”, written in Korean 자 왕난, is a reversal of the phrase “Nan Wangja”, meaning “I am the Prince”; however, “О̄ji Naru” is a shortening of the phrase “О̄ji ni naru” – “I’ll become the Prince”.
Kang Horyang, the actual “Right Hand of the Devil” (there is a lot to his backstory that is yet to be unpacked). The namee he goes by, “Horyang” sounds like the Korean word for “tiger”, which is why he has the Japanese name “Torasuke”, combining “tora”,the Japanese word for tigerwith a masculinizing suffix.
Also transliterated as “Yeon Ehwa” on WEBTOON, Yeon Yihwa’s whole name is very interesting because it contains floral references, and as we learn inTower of Godseason 2, the Yeon family’s crest is the rare flower that grows on the back of the juvenile of aShinheuh(“divine sea creature”) called aZigena(or Zygaena). This creature has become the trademark of the Yeon family, which is why"Yeon" can be translated to lotus, and “Yihwa” is “flower”. In Japanese, she is called Ren Rika, written like so in Kanji 蓮梨花. The “Ren” becomes “lotus” when translated, while “Rika” combines the characters for “pear” and “flower” to become “pear blossom”, maintaining the floral overtones that connect Yihwa to her family. “Yihwa” or “Ehwa” is also the name of Ewha Womans University, located in Seoul.
The little girl and her bespectacled caretaker introduced in the first episode ofTower of Godseason 2, Miseng and Goseng are somehow related, as they share the last name “Yeo”, and their names follow the same motif. Miseng’s name is written 여미생 in Hangeul, while Goseng is 여고생. The “-seng” partcan be translated to “life”; however, in Goseng’s case, the name itself can mean “hardship”, but “Yeo Goseng” can also be “high school girl”. They became “Mana” and “Kana” to maintain the similarity and rhyming nature of their names.
The loan-shark and scheming gangster who made both Ja Wangnan and Nia’s lives a living hell. His name change seems to be the least based on the preservation of meaning. For one, the name “Lurker” is from his occupation as Assistant Manager of Lurker Cash, the business that gives Regulars loans on the 20th floor so that they can take the test. The company name and logo are a reference to a unit in the Starcraft games called the Zerg Lurker. In Japanese, the “Satо̄” is written 佐藤, with the first character translating to “help” or “assistant”, while the “-tо̄” part is “wisteria”; the flower, which might explain the flower adornment on Kim Lurker’s head.
