://name/

>> OFTEN TIMES THE NAME OF A CHARACTER will give hints as to their personality, which is a common literary technique. This is no different with Shoujo Kakumei Utena, as the below examples will delve into the anatomy of Anthy's name in several languages and its meaning/symbolism.

://name/japanese/himemiya/

>> THE NAME OF "HIMEMIYA ANTHY" is exceptionally unique, because it is a hybrid combination of two languages -- Japanese and Greek. It is pronounced hee•may•mee•yah ahn•shee. Notice that there is no stress on any of the syllables, as it is said in methodical beats.

>> HER SURNAME of "Himemiya" consists of the following kanji (Japanese characters):

"Hime" means "princess" and "miya" means either "shrine" or "imperial gate." Himemiya is actually a fairly common family name in Japan. Like any other Asian family name, it is stated in front of the familiar name.

>> THE SURNAME CONTAINING "PRINCESS" would be considered fitting for Anthy, since a fairytale-like idealization of princes and princesses is a common theme in SKU. Also her Victor throughout most of the series, Tenjou Utena, made it known in the first episode that she wished to be a Prince.

://name/greek/anthy/

>> HER FAMILIAR NAME, ANTHY, is derived from the Greek word, "anthizo" (above, written in Greek alphanumerics) which means "flower" or "bloom." Since it is Greek and not Japanese, it is written in Katakana which are Japanese characters that combine to spell out words in syllables.

>> ANOTHER INTERSTING POINT ABOUT "ANTHY" is that since her name is associated with flowers, she herself has been associated with them as well as she serves as the Rose Bride and tends to a garden herself. This feat of possessing a hybrid Japanese-European name is also shared with Utena. (Click here to see the analyzation)

>> THE ORIGIN OF "ANTHY" from "anthizo" also has religious and cultural importance, as the Greek goddess, Antheia, ruled roses and other flowers. To learn more about Antheia, please visit the Mythology section.

://name/japanese/anshii/

>> AS MENTIONED ABOVE, "ANTHY" is spelled out in Katakana. Because Katakana lacked a character to pronounce the "th" sound, it was substituted for "sh" to translate the original phonetic pronunciation to "Anshii." The characters in the original Japanese series would pronounce it "Anshii" as well. Below is a breakdown of the characters that make up "Anshii".

The last character is not actually a true character at all, but a modifier to lengthen the "shi" to a "shee" sound and change the "i" to a long vowel so that the proper spelling for the Romanization of Anthy would be "Anshi" with a line above the "i" or "Anshii."

>> THE REASON WHY "ANTHY" IS NOT "ANSHII" is a simple matter of the former spelling being used for official Japanese promotional products, such as books and posters. Also, it is this spelling which is used for the English dub. However, "ahn•shee" instead of "an•thee" would be the correct pronunciation. Here is a clip of Anthy introducing herself for example. ("Himemiya Anthy desu." 221KB).

://name/cantonese/

>> CURRENTLY IT IS KNOWN that the Shoujo Kakumei Utena manga is available in Hong Kong, translated into Cantonese (a Chinese dialect). It is unsure if the anime is dubbed there, however. In the Cantonese version of the manga, Anthy's name is translated from Himemiya Anshii to Geigong Ancy.

://name/cantonese/geigong/

>> THE KANJI CHARACTERS FOR THE SURNAME "Himemiya" have stayed the same. This is because the Japanese and Chinese languages share a great deal of vocabulary. But in Cantonese, the two characters are actually read "Geigong" (pronounced gay•goung) instead of "Himemiya."

"Gei" is translated into "concubine" and "gong" denotes "imperial court." This is not very far off from "princess" and "shrine" though "concubine" is an interesting interpretation of it, considering the relationship Anthy shares with her brother and, speculatively, her Victors.

://name/cantonese/ancy/

>> THE CHARACTERS FOR "ANTHY" are different, since the Chinese language does not include Katakana. Instead, it uses already existing characters that sound similar to the word to spell it out. "Anthy" in Cantonese would be:

This may also be where the alternate spelling of "Ancy" for Anthy comes from. ("Ancy" has appeared in the Chiho Saito Art Gallery CD-ROM as well as on several other products.) Ancy would be pronounced awn-see. "An" means "to attach" or "to put" and "cy" means "script" or "writing." Whether the translated meanings actually have any significance (ambiguous as it may be) is up for debate.

://name/english/

>> SHOUJO KAKUMEI UTENA HAS BEEN TRANSLATED into English as Revolutionary Girl Utena in both anime and manga. Himemiya Anshii becomes Anthy Himemiya, as it is custom to state the familiar name first in the Western world. With the new sequence comes a new pronunciation. Anthy is pronounced an•thee (with the "a" as in "apple") and Himemiya is pronounced him•em•MEE•yah'. Although it is not true to the original Japanese phonetics, dub distributors would tend to prefer "Western-izing" the pronunciations to make it more fitting to their target audience.

://name/miscellaneous/honorifics/

>> IN JAPAN, A MODIFIER or an "honorific" is added to the end of a person's name to show their respect or exactly how close they are to that person. Anime fans would probably notice this as the customary -san or -chan. Also, there are different forms of the word "you" (anata, kimi, omae, etc.) which serves this just purpose. In Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Anthy is called a variety of things by different people.

>> FOR EXAMPLE, Nanami calls her "Himemiya-sempai" which signifies that Anthy is in a higher academic class than her. Miki calls her "Himemiya-san" and Wakaba uses either that or "Anthy-san" which is an all-purpose sign of respect. The reason Miki calls her -san instead of -sempai since he is noticeably younger than her is because he is in a higher class than her--even taking college courses while Anthy is in 8th grade. Utena uses simply "Himemiya" and Touga, Saionji, and Akio call her "Anthy." When there is no honorific at the end of a person's name, it either means that there is great deal of intimacy or lack of either familiarity or respect. Another thing to note however, is that Utena uses the informal "kimi" to refer to Anthy. "Kimi" is often a form of "you" that men use to speak with their girlfriends or other people on a more diminutive level than them.

>> IT IS OFTEN WONDERED why others call Anthy by her surname of "Himemiya" rather than Anthy. They do call her "Anthy"; Just not that often. Himemiya-san or Himemiya-sempai can be interpreted as "Miss Himemiya" as the aforementioned sign of respect. Some also think that the Japanese wholly refer to people by their family names. This is not completely true, however. They do still call Utena "Utena" and Miki "Miki" etc, etc.. One case is an exception, though. Saionji Kyouichi is referred to as "Saionji" because it is customary to call those who practice the art of Kendo by their family names. The American equivalent would be something like a sports team coach calling a player by their last name. However, this obviously does not apply to Himemiya Anthy.

://name/miscellaneous/signature/

Japanese anime Japanese manga Cantonese manga

>> THESE ARE SAMPLES OF ANTHY'S SIGNATURE taken from the actual anime series and manga. Notice that her Japanese signatures are visibly more choppy and unrefined, indicating a possibly similar inner personality according to handwriting analyzation.

://name/miscellaneous/geography/

>> AS MENTIONED ABOVE, ANTHY is derived from Greek. However, it also has roots in yet another European source. Anthy is also the name of a small city in Eastern France, near the Swiss border. Its latitude and longitudal measurements are 46º 21' North, 6º 24' East, and it is located near Lake Geneva. Little is known about this city, since it is so small. It is midway between two large Swiss cities-- to the Northeast of Geneva and to the Southwest of Lausanne. To the right is a map of the area. This would be a fitting point, since Shoujo Kakumei Utena itself has a distinctive French theme. (You may click the thumbnail for the whole map)

://name/miscellaneous/utena/

>> THE KETTO NO SHOURISHA, UTENA, also has a unique hybrid European-Japanese name like Anthy's. "Utena" is not Japanese, but Lithuanian for "calyx." A calyx is actually made up of the small green leaves which surround and protect an unbloomed rose before it flowers. Opposite of Utena's calyx would be Anthy's flower. Utena made direct reference to their calyx-flower, protective relationship in volume 5 of the Shoujo Kakumei Utena manga.

>> IN ADDITION TO THE FLORAL SIMILARITIES, Utena also shares the geographical similarity with Anthy -- the Lithuanian city and region of Utena also being a location Europe, as Anthy is a city in France.