this post was submitted on 25 May 2026
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Yeah, it comes down to what they determined to be basic sounds. In english, we have letters that make basic sounds. In Japanese, they have a bunch of compound sounds. Other than "n", all consonant sounds are followed by a vowel sound, and "u" (pronounced "oo") is the one that may or may not get vocalized (english usually uses "e" for this). So "pantsu" can be pronounced as it looks (pantsoo) or like english (pants). If you like Naruto, his friend/rival's name is spelled "Sasuke" but pronounced more like "Saskay".
The other big part comes from some sounds used in english just missing entirely from the japanese language. R/L are both missing, though japanese has a sound that is a mix between the two (which makes their "L" sound more like an "R" and vice versa, again if you're a Naruto fan, listen to how Sasuke pronounces "Naruto" or "Sakura", most of the english VAs just use the western pronounciation but he uses the japanese pronunciation for names). They also don't have "V" or "Th".
Another Naruto bit, they just use the japanese words for the various ninja techniques. They sound mysterious and cool in english but boring in japanese. Byakugon translates to white eyes. Rasenga is something like spiral ball. It's just funny to me how unknown word can seem like there's more to it but in their original language they come off more like one of Saitama's moves (like Normal Punch or Serious Punch).