IcePheonixAsh wrote concerning gender among pokemon, especially Mew. As nothing can really be discerned about Mew, conversation turned to Mewtwo, and we began to talk about gender-related self reference in the Japanese language. This expanded to an analysis of "hidden" language aspects found in the CD Drama. Here's what I had to say on the subject:
On Gender...
BOM chapter III "koko wa doko? Boku wa dare? Doushite boku wa? Koko ni iru no?"
BOM chapter IV "Koko wa Doko da? Watashi wa dare da?"
As a child in the CD drama, Mewtwo uses "boku", and as an adult, "watashi". Watashi is somewhat formal, which imakes sense because Mewtwo speaks in a very formal manner. Watashi is an appropriate term for self in women of any age, but where a man uses "Watashi", a woman might use "Atakushi". Boku is generally a male title, though girls can and do use it (it conotes lesbianism or tomboyishness, though).
While the gender issue is a bit of a moot-point (what woman have you met you sounds like that?), only the Radio Drama could be confusing, with the baby-voices it employs. That may be the reason "boku" is the word of choice; Ai wouldn't use it ( "Watashi wa anata wa ne soba niiru no. Sugu soba."). In fact, when they converse, she says she is human "watashi wa ningen", and Mewtwo respondes "boku wa ningen ka!" (I must be human, too!), so that clearly illustrates their gender difference early on.
On relationships...
Mewtwo and Ai refer to each other by their given names, attaching no prefix to the name. In English, this is unremarkable. In Japanese, however, this lack of a suffix shows that their relationship is exceptionally close. Observe the following list of common suffixes:
Also, specific to the story, English titles are used for certain people. Sakaki is "Rocketto Dan no Bossu", or "The Rocket gang's Boss", "Boss of the Rocket Gang". Miyamoto refers to Madame Boss (Onna Boss, literally, Woman Boss) as "Bossu", which may be an indication of their friendship, or simply the title that Madame Boss has requested. Dr. Fuji introduces himself in both English and Japanese. "Doctor Fuji. Fuji Hakase". This may have relevance, or might just imply that he is learned enough to have some command of English. His daughter later counts in both languages.
Were Ai and Mewtwo simply friends, they might refer to one another as "Ai-chan" and "Myutsuu-kun". That they forgo these titles implies that they are either siblings or very close companions (Satoshi, Takeshi and Kasumi use no suffixes when pseaking to one another, because they are friends ). In the film, Joi refers to Mewtwo as "Mewtwo-Sama", meaning that he is her superior, and that she has great respect for him. Whether this is simply Joi's natural way of referring to a superior or if Mewtwo has chosen to refer to himself this way through her we don't know. In the English version, Joy simple calls him "master".
Parental relationships are also interesting to examine. Ai calls her father "Papa", meaning they are extremely close and loving, having discarded any form of formality. Upon waking, Mewtwo asks about his parents, calling them "Haha" and "Chichi" , meaning he expects their relationship to be close and informal. Haha and Chichi are the Japanese equivalent of "Mom" and "Dad". This is interesting, as Mewtwo speaks in a very formal manner regarding most things. It would have made more sense for him to refer to his perceived parents as "Okaasan" and "Otoosan", which is closer in meaning to "Mother" and "Father". Sakaki also refers to his mother as "Haha".
On Miyamoto...
English fans of the radio drama tend to interpret Miyamoto as a tragic figure. Until hearing the CD, I was guilty of the same thing. It turns out, oddly enough, that Miyamoto is nothing but a comedic foil!
Miyamoto refers to herself with the Japanese equivalent of The Royal We. "Miyamoto-chan desu!" she cries, meaning, basically "Miyamoto-dear is here!". "Chan" is a prefix reserved usually for young females, denoting cuteness and closeness. To use it for oneself demonstrates either insufferable ignorance of the language, or a huge ego. When Miyamoto uses it, recording her trip, she is playing the part of a radio star, complete with silly exaggerated voice and unshakable optimism. As soon as she turns the mic off she begins to speak normally again, and to voice doubts. When speaking to herself, she uses "Watashi", just as Mewtwo does later. So, we can tell whether Miyamoto is to be taken seriously or not by the way she speaks, taking both infliction, and language choice into account
Miyamoto also plays with her voice when addressing her boss, acting first formally, and then, when the boss greets her like a schoolfriend ("Ah! Miyamoto-chan!") responding with equal friendliness. It suggests that both she and the boss are aware that the secrecy and formality are all a game. when she relates the legend of Mew, she uses her "radio voice" and opens the story with "Mukashi mukashi", meaning something like "Once upon a time".
It is also interesting to note that Mew only appears to Miyamoto when she is being genuine. She sees the phantom when she thinks of her daughter, marvels at the sunrise and thinks of how she wants to help her child. Mew abandons Miyamoto when her thoughts turn back to profit. Miyamoto's exile in the mountains is never actually enforced. It seems more likely that she is simply too stubborn to go home until she completes her mission, much like the fool's errand her daughter is on in the televison series, attempting through a good eight seasons to capture Satoshi's Pikachuu.
Timelines
Miyamoto talks about her desire to see Musashi through nursery school and kindergarten in the first chapter of BOM, meaning Musashi must be between four and five years old. In chapter two, Miyamoto says that her child is in grade school, and in chapter three she states that Musashi will begin exams soon. The exams she refers to could be the Junior High exams, which determine what level of high school a student will attend, or they could be high school exams. It makes more sense that they would be high school exams, because Sakaki has already stated that it has been eighteen years since Miyamoto's disappearance.
By chapter four of the drama, Miyamoto is talking about Musashi's wedding, meaning that her daughter is between twenty-one and twenty-four, the average marriageable age in Japan. At the very end of chapter five, she comments that the daughter she left behind is almost a hag. This sounds very harsh, but it is simply a case of one language having a concept another lacks. Miyamoto fears that Musashi is an "oban", an unmarried woman over twenty-four. This would suggest that Musashi was four years old when her mother left, and is now, at the time of Mewtwo's counterattack, twenty four. (Does anyone else remember when the Official Pokemon Website maintained that Jessie and James were both twelve?)
Musashi's age allows us to figure out the timeline of Myutsuu no Tanjou. Sakaki states that, from the current time, it has been twenty years since Mew was discovered. Miyamoto vanishes, and eighteen years pass before the Mew fossil is uncovered once more. That fossil is taken to Dr. Fuji, who is able to create Mewtwo in only one month. We know from Sakaki's account of the drama's events that Mewtwo trained under him for exactly one year. The remaining year, between the fossil's discovery, and Sakaki's training, is flexible. If the fossil was taken immediately to Fuji, Mewtwo spent a year with Ai and in a drugged sleep. If not, then that year is divided between Mewtwo's childhood and simply scientific messing around. At the end of Myutsuu no Gyakushuu, Mewtwo is two years old, disregarding time spent in the "womb".
...On Cultural In-Jokes
There are some aspects of the CD Drama that simply don't make sense without outside knowledge. The puns made by Dr. Fuji and Sakaki, for example, Or Miyamoto's references to where she buys her electronics. In its native country, the Pocket Monsters series is funny not noly for its self-contained humour, but it's wider jokesa bout Japanese culture, and popular media.
When Miyamoto mentioned purchasing high sensitivity microphones in Akibahara, she is refering to a famous district of Tokyo, populated with shops that specialize in electronics and routinely have excellent sales. Miyamoto makes a series in-joke, also, when she tells the boss "If one asks this and that...". This is the first line of the Rocket-Gang motto. basically, Miyamoto has told the boss to "Prepare for Trouble".
In chapter two of the Drama, Dr. Fuji and Sakaki sing a strange little song about cloning pokemon. Like the famous Lucky Lucky, this song is filled with puns that are very hard to translate. However...
"If we make ourselves a copy of a pokemon with it's genes, then Poke-Poke-Mon-Mon, we have got two Pokemon." Poke-Poke-Mon-Mon would mean "Pokemon squared", which is indeed two.
Sakaki comments that two Zenigame (Squirtle) would make money. This is a pun on the word "Zeni", which can, in certian context, mean "money".
Sakaki also states that even a seedless watermelon can flower now and then. He says this just after Fushigidane (Bulbasaur) is mentioned. Fushigidane means "a mysterious seed".
When Pikachu is mentioned, Fuji brings up "mouse mathematics". Mice breed quickly, therefore, they increase at a fast mathematical rate. The "sparkling, sparkling treasure chest" Sakaki sings about is a pun on "Pika", which is a word for sparkling. Pikachu's name roughly means "Sparkling and squeak".
The moon will shine when Nyasu is cloned refers to the series in-joke that Nyasu loves the moon.
Dr. Fuji also refers to his daughter as being like Halley's comet. Halley's comet passes the earth every eighty or so years. It vanishes, but returns predictably. As Ai dies, she whispers that she is going to become a star in Heaven. Fuji tells her that she can be a star, so long as she returns to him, like Halley's comet.
Mr. Fuji is the name of a character in the early versions of the pokemon gameboy games, as well as in the card game and manga. In the cardgame, Mr. Fuji is a trainer card from the fossil set that allows you to return a benched pokemon and its related cards to your deck, and depicts a balding old man cuddling a Pikachu. In the games, he is an elderly man who runs a "pokemon fan club", and you must rescue from pokemon tower, where he is mourning his Doduo. Upon completing this quest, Mr. Fuji will give you the Poke-flute item as a reward. In the Fire-Red and Leaf-Green game versions, other characters will give you information about Fuji, such as "I hear Mr. Fuji's not from these parts originally, either" and "the shy Mr. Fuji turned down our interview requests". In Blaine's gym on Cinnabar island, where the game-version of the pokemon lab is, there is a photo on the wall of Blaine and Fuji together, grinning. In the game-related manga, "Pokemon Special" (Pokemon Adventure in English) he seems to be a separate character, out of continuity with previous incarnations.
Culture Point: The Modern Boy Robot
Both the CD drama and film refer heavily to Osama Tezuka's perrenial classic, Tetsuwan Atomu, known in western circles as Astro Boy. Dr Tenma creates a little boy robot to replace his son, Tobio, Who has been killed in an automobile accident. Sadly, when Tenma realizes that his robot son will never grow up, he sells the little fellow to a horrific pinocchio-esque circus. "Atomu" is later rescued and cultured by the comedic Professor Ochanomizu.
Both the CD drama and the film refrence Tetsuwan Atomu in a variety of ways. Dr. Fuji is designed to look like an elderly, modern Tenma might. Before Mewtwo's backstory was made canon, the savvy viewer would see these visual indicators and immediately expect Mewtwo to be abandoned by his "father" (a relationship and expectation examined more poignantly in Toshihiro Ono's manga adaptation). So there's an added punch when Mewtwo goes berserk upon his creators, rather than playing the victim. The Movie also pays homage to the circus aspect ironically, by having Mewtwo's would-be rescuer turn out to be the not-at-all kindly Sakaki and the "circus" a pokemon gym. In this case, the modern "Boy Robot" cannot be guided by altruistic adults, as, for him, there are none. He can only become the villain.
The Origin of Mewtwo/ Myutsuu to Ai film clip was added to the movie in it's video release as part of the introductory sequence, and accompanied the film in it's first TV airing. The CD drama and soundtrack set were released together while the film was in theaters. We see even greater parallels to Tezuka's Mighty Atom when these pieces are available to us. Dr. Fuji also has a young child he has lost and seeks to restore: not a son, but a daughter. Not a robot, but a clone. The doctor does not succeed in the way Tenma did, but he does enact, to an extent, the emotional abandonment of his child. Fuji has reduced Ai to an obsession and a DNA bank by the time of Mewtwo's birth.
