Japanese First Person Pronouns
Japanese first-person pronouns, also known as jindaimeishi (人代名詞) or ninshoudaimeishi (人称代名詞) in Japanese, are a way for people in the real world to express themselves, as well as serving as an easy way to give insight into a fictional character's personality. The characters in Starfy use a wide variety of personal pronouns that relate to their personalities, mannerisms, and are also very hard to translate. As they are all equivalents of "I", it is very hard to translate the nuances of each one. This page serves as an explanation of these pronouns as well as an (incomplete) list of the characters that use them, by order of the game they debuted in.
Watashi (私/わたし/ワタシ)
Watashi is one of the most common personal pronouns, and is closest to the English meaning of "I". It has no gendered connotations, but is considered more formal in many contexts. Characters who use watashi don't usually have any particular quirks, and are often nicer than most. The characters that use watashi are:
Starfy 1: Mermaid, Ruby, Seahorse Mama, Moon, Lumi the Mirror, Wozart, Dolfy, Dolchina and Dolshe, Miguana, Lalako, Aqua
Exceptions
In Starfy 1, Hirao and Hirarin use Watashi-tachi (Watashi + we), instead of Boku-tachi, the pronoun that Hirao usually goes by.
Boku (僕/ぼく/ボク)
Boku is a very common personal pronoun heavily associated with younger, or very polite, boys. It also carries somewhat tomboyish, but still cute, connotations when used by girls. Starfy is very often portrayed both in game and in other mediums using this pronoun. The characters who use boku are:
Starfy 1: Starfy, Herman, Slick, The Jellato Sisters (specifically Jellato), Hirao, Ookids, Blanko, Torito, Horun, Doughdough, Moe's Family
Starfy 3: Mayor Hippo
Other forms
- Bokuchin (ぼくちん): Chikurin uses the pronoun "boku-chin" when he speaks. This carries very young, almost infantile connotations that may mean that they are very young themselves.
Exceptions
- Moe: Moe commonly uses boku when he's around Ruby, his siblings, or someone he is scared of. It is meant to contrast his normally pompous behavior with a passive or respectful one. He also tends to speak more formally in these situations.
- The Jellato Sisters: While as a group, they usually use boku-tachi (boku + we), after they had a fight and split up in Starfy 2, Jellato was the only one to use boku.
Ore (俺/おれ/オレ)
Ore is another very common personal pronoun heavily associated with boys, but with more "wild" or impolite ones. It also carries HEAVY tomboyish connotations when used by girls. Ore is also very notable for being used by delinquents to make them sound tougher. Some characters that use ore are:
Starfy 1: Chutah, Antibuddies, Boerun, Mogel, Brushley, Jojiro, Doppel,
Other forms
- Ore-sama (俺様/おれさま/オレさま): Ore-sama holds much of the same connotations are ore does, but the "sama" adds a lot (and I mean a LOT) more arrogance and self importance into the mix. Moe very commonly uses ore-sama due to his pride and tends to see himself above others in the earlier installments of the series. This is somewhat conveyed by him calling himself "The Great and Powerful Moe" in the English version of The Legendary Starfy. Some other characters who also use ore-sama are:
Starfy 1: Moe, Fork, Bankiross,
Starfy 2: Puchi Ogura #6,
Starfy 3: Wario
- Oira (おいら/オイラ): Oira holds much of the same connotations, but is usually more playful or even sometimes used for "country bumpkin" type characters (though not so much anymore). Some characters that use oira are:
Starfy 1: Konk, Shorosuke, Fluffy
Starfy 2: Shurikit
- Oidon (おいどん): This is a pronoun exclusively used by Fat Cat which plays both into his Japanese name (Namazudon), as well as his tendency to refer to others by the honorific of "don". In real life, however, it is an archaic pronoun indicative of the Kagoshima dialect. While most people don't actually refer to themselves with oidon, it is used to add a sort of "local flavor" to the city.
Exceptions
- After you beat the game, Chutah uses Ore-sama as he talks about how he heard you beat Ogura with a Star Spin and says that he's glad to be your teacher.
- When fighting Boerun again during the post game, he uses Ore-sama instead of Ore.
Washi (儂/わし/ワシ)
Washi, while a form of watashi, is more commonly associated with older people, specifically older men. Most characters who use this pronoun commonly have the honorific of Jiisan (爺さん/じいさん) or Jii(爺/じい) such as Old Man Lobber (Robu-jiisan) or Old Man Drasil (Yggdra-jii). There are characters who do not fit this pattern however, such as Papa Star or Ogura. The characters who use washi are:
Starfy 1: Papa Star, Old Man Lobber, Old Man Mechani, Crawdaddy, Jiilacanth, One pair of Konbi, Ogura, Big Barrel Squid (Starfy 1 Only), Gekojii, Blantern, Boctopus,
Starfy 2: Old Man Grizzly, Master Croak
Starfy 3: Old Man Drasil
Atashi (あたし/アタシ)
Atashi is a more casual form of watashi that carries feminine connotations. It also has connotations of feminine or stereotypical LGBT+ men (something that this series surprisingly plays into). Some characters that use atashi are:
Starfy 1: Lovely, Lovelove, Hirarin
Other forms
- Atai (あたい/アタイ): Atai is a more casual way of saying atashi while still carrying its connotations. On a scale of most to least casual (with feminine pronouns), it's watashi, then atashi, and finally, atai. The characters that use this are:
Starfy 1: Loverin (Starfy 1 Only),
Uchi (うち/ウチ)
- Uchi is another feminine pronoun, but unlike Atashi and Atai, Uchi is usually used by those who speak with a Kansai accent. While it's normal for all ages in said accent, in standard Japanese, it gives off more of an middle aged woman vibe. The characters who use Uchi are:
Non-applicable Characters
While it doesn't mean that these characters don't actually use them in other mediums, these characters do not use personal pronouns in-game (or at least, what I've found while writing all this while I'm tired lol). The characters that fit this description are:
