Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2025
- Messages
- 952
Yeah - that's the closest analogous term/phrase usage I've come up with that feels like it sorta works. It's very much a "there's no way I will truly know because I didn't grow up in Japan", and there's an intrinsic feel the their language that cannot be acquired by someone who didn't, no matter how many years one studies or spends time there in adulthood.One thing that can help understand the feeling is like seeing a man call his partner "my woman", "my girl" or a similar loving pet name like "sweetie, my love" etc. It has that similar vibe of staking your claim towards the other person in this context.
You'd never see a guy thats just friends call his female friend his woman. Its weird and inappropriate, yet here you can see the "ice princess" be visibly happy to get called that.
You wouldn't bat an eye to see an old married couple do that, but seeing your bro suddenly call a girl like that when last time he didn't; it gives that same "woah, when did you get so close!?" type of feeling.
Ofc its not the same since one is literally saying she is yours vs the Japanese just using their name. From a western point of view thats about as close as we get to having that similar feeling.
Ultimately it's just something that I lament as a minor wish, because there is a very specific aspect to manga that I will just never "get" as a result. But I can certainly still appreciate the sentiment and implications in the abstract, and I have enough imagination to at least get close to the true feeling and meaning to fully enjoy the stories being told.