The Straw Hat crew from One Piece now consists of a considerable number of members. But one name is causing fans headaches – especially since it was written differently twice within a few seconds in the anime.
Who is it about? A viewer noticed that Fishman Jinbe – or Jimbei? – was written in two different ways within a few seconds in episode 1086 (via reddit.com). Above his bounty, he is referred to as Jinbe, and in the Japanese version, it is pronounced that way too, but in the subtitles, he is referred to as Jimbei.
The fan is puzzled about which is the correct spelling. He even jokes that he has been watching One Piece for 20 years but still doesn’t know the name of this Fishman. He even accuses the animators of not knowing the name themselves.
The Fishman is the newest member of the Straw Hat crew. Their adventures now lead them to Egghead Island:
Jinbe or Jimbei? Fans answer the question
What is his real name now? A user clarifies that the Fishman is spelled differently depending on the country. In the Japanese original, he is Jinbe, in English, he is Jimbei. The English team responsible for localization did not have the time to correct the name on the wanted poster. By the way, in Germany, he is also called Jimbei.
The same phenomenon occurs with other characters from the crew:
- Lysop’s real name is actually Usopp. His actual name is used in both Japanese and English. Only in Germany did he receive the name change.
- Even the main character Luffy isn’t actually called that. In Japanese and English, his name is Luffy.
What is the reason for this? The corresponding Katakana character is pronounced differently in Japanese depending on the situation. Sometimes it sounds more like an N, sometimes more like an M. The same applies to the letters L and R.
The -ei at the end of Jimbei is not fully pronounced, but rather like a long E. Therefore, Jimbei is actually written Jinbei in Japanese Katakana. Although the wanted poster states Jinbe.
According to user Below_Left, the English translators chose the name variant that sounded the smoothest to them. So if you want to use the German name, you call him Jimbei. If you prefer to stick with the original, his name is Jinbe (with a long E).
Where does the name actually come from? Jimbei comes from the Japanese Jinbeizame. This translates to “whale shark,” from whose appearance creator Eiichiro Oda was inspired.
To completely confuse you: The whale was named in Japanese after the traditional Jimbei clothing, which was originally worn at home as comfortable clothing. The spelling of the whale shark and the clothing is the same, but the pronunciation is different for both due to the N/M debacle.
How Jimbei would fare in a fight against the other Straw Hats, you can read in the following MeinMMO ranking:
One Piece: The members of the Straw Hat crew ranked – How Ruffy, Franky, and the others perform
