Tokyo Debunker really cares about names and meanings. In fact, each house has a certain theme when it comes to names (e.g Hotarubi and the imperial regalia of Japan) of course it’s also related to their designs/appearance.
I decided to share this so you could speculate their roles and designs.
DISCLAIMER: I’m not a professional. I have knowledge but I welcome any corrections.
Dionysia
Theme: fantasy, magic and theater?
Elias Pratt
Elias is a form of Elijah used in several languages. This is also the form used in the Greek New Testament, as well as some English translations. It’s from the Hebrew name אֱלִיָּהוּ (ʾEliyyahu) meaning "my God is Yahweh". Elijah was a Hebrew prophet and miracle worker, as told in the two Books of Kings in the Old Testament.
Pratt is from Old English prætt meaning "trick, prank". This was a nickname for a trickster.
We’ve met him but he hasn’t gotten a proper introduction yet. He might be added later, who knows?
Shion Genkai
Shion (シオン) is just katakana for Zion, but Shion (紫苑) means "aster" (a purple flower that symbolizes memory, eternal love, and mourning). It can also come from (詩) meaning "poem" and (音) meaning "sound". Mermaids/sirens are known to have beautiful voices.
Genkai (幻海) is a Japanese boy’s name. 幻 (gen) means "illusion, phantom, vision" and 海 (kai) means "ocean, sea".
I’m really curious why Shion is in katakana… but there’s another character like this.
Mio Susuhara
Mio (未桜) is from Japanese 未 (mi) meaning "not yet, future" combined with 桜 (ō) meaning "cherry blossom". I’ve always seen 桜 used in names for characters associated with the sakura in design. “Not yet a cherry blossom” → “The cherry blossom that has not yet bloomed.”
Susuhara (煤原) 煤 (susu) means "soot, coal dust." 原 (hara) is a very common surname suffix meaning "origin, source, foundation." Maybe the full meaning is “Source of Ash” or “Soot Field.”
Jo Kongoza
Jo (丈) means "height", "length" or "man", used as a masculine suffix in given names for a strong or noble tone.
Kongoza (金剛座) 金剛 (Kongō) is literally "vajra" or "diamond/indestructible." In Buddhist context, it symbolizes strength and resilience. 座 (Za) can mean “seat,” “place,” or “theater troupe.” Often evokes an elevated or ceremonial position. So, 金剛座 literally means “The Diamond (Vajra) Seat”. The sacred spot of enlightenment, unshakable and pure, under the Bodhi tree where the Buddha attained enlightenment.
Clementia
This is pure speculation. I’m not sure if these characters are in Clementia, nothing is confirmed.
Theme: spirituality?
Shiki
Shiki is also written in katakana (シキ) which can be associated with multiple kanji and meanings depending on context.
四季 = four seasons
死鬼 = death spirit / demon
識 = knowledge / awareness
Writing entirely in katakana gives an edgy, modern, or ambiguous impression..
Yamato
Yamato (倭刀) is Literally “Japanese sword.” 倭 is an ancient name for Japan, 刀 is “sword, blade.” The name evokes strong, nationalistic, or heroic imagery. The reading Yamato for 倭 is classical, “刀” is often left unpronounced in a stylized name.
EP23 spoiler: Haku doesn’t use the honorific “-san” when referring to Yamato. It could mean he’s just younger than him (since Haku doesn’t use honorifics for the 1st and 2nd years) or they could be very close… or even related. Apparently they have the same home. Maybe brothers or cousins? Haku’s last name, Kusanagi, refers to the legendary sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.
Inamori
I have a speculation that this could be Yamato’s last name…
Inamori (稲荷社) is a little complicated. Usually it’s not pronounced Inamori. If read “いなりしゃ / Inari-sha” it literally means "Inari-shrine."
But names (personal or place names) in Japanese can use special “name-only” readings (nanori), and 稲荷社 can also be read “Inamori” in that context, even though the standard reading is “Inari-sha.”
Inari (稲荷) Refers to Inari, the Shintō kami (deity) of rice, agriculture, fertility, prosperity, and later commerce. Sha (社) means "shrine" or "shrine building." So, 稲荷社 = a shrine dedicated to the Inari deity.
Ina (稲) literally means "rice plant", na (荷) "cargo/load" (In the context of Inari, it is part of the compound “Inari” (稲荷) while for names, it can retain the na reading). Mori (社) still means "shrine" or "company". In surnames, 社 can sometimes be read mori, especially in combination with other kanji, following historical/nanori patterns.
This name carries a religious/cultural nuance, suggesting a family tied to an Inari shrine.
Inari is primarily associated with the fox spirits (kitsune) as messengers.
Haku has been associated with the tanuki..
Ultio
Theme: not sure yet…
Enzo
Enzo (淵造) en 淵 means “deep pool,” “abyss,” or “deep water.” Often connotes depth, mystery, or solemnity. 造 (zō) means “create,” “build,” or “craft.” Frequently used in male given names.
And that’s everything so far. If anyone can correct or help, I’d appreciate it. Have fun with theories.
Kitsune in Japanese folklore are known for their ability to shapeshift..
The chancellor refers to the fox as “he,” and I saw on Twitter that in the JP version, Lyca says this fox has a scent that’s a bit different from most beasts
That’s some really good observation. And since Yamato could be Inamori, is that “certain somebody” Haku?
Does Haku submit to the institute because they’re keeping Yamato hidden from him? Haku says he’s never been to Jabberwock, and shortly after this, Yamato is brought up, and how nobody has heard of him. Haku’s answer is a little suspicious, as if he knows Yamato has been found, but not where he exactly is.
The comparison to Dionysia ghouls is also interesting, Tohma mentioned Inamori in the same way.
The fox has too much significance to just be a simple anomaly, right? But hey, it’s just a theory.
Tokyo Debunker really cares about names and meanings. In fact, each house has a certain theme when it comes to names (e.g Hotarubi and the imperial regalia of Japan) of course it’s also related to their designs/appearance.
I decided to share this so you could speculate their roles and designs.
DISCLAIMER: I’m not a professional. I have knowledge but I welcome any corrections.
Dionysia
Theme: fantasy, magic and theater?
Elias Pratt
Elias is a form of Elijah used in several languages. This is also the form used in the Greek New Testament, as well as some English translations. It’s from the Hebrew name אֱלִיָּהוּ (ʾEliyyahu) meaning "my God is Yahweh". Elijah was a Hebrew prophet and miracle worker, as told in the two Books of Kings in the Old Testament.
Pratt is from Old English prætt meaning "trick, prank". This was a nickname for a trickster.
We’ve met him but he hasn’t gotten a proper introduction yet. He might be added later, who knows?
Shion Genkai
Shion (シオン) is just katakana for Zion, but Shion (紫苑) means "aster" (a purple flower that symbolizes memory, eternal love, and mourning). It can also come from (詩) meaning "poem" and (音) meaning "sound". Mermaids/sirens are known to have beautiful voices.
Genkai (幻海) is a Japanese boy’s name. 幻 (gen) means "illusion, phantom, vision" and 海 (kai) means "ocean, sea".
I’m really curious why Shion is in katakana… but there’s another character like this.
Mio Susuhara
Mio (未桜) is from Japanese 未 (mi) meaning "not yet, future" combined with 桜 (ō) meaning "cherry blossom". I’ve always seen 桜 used in names for characters associated with the sakura in design. “Not yet a cherry blossom” → “The cherry blossom that has not yet bloomed.”
Susuhara (煤原) 煤 (susu) means "soot, coal dust." 原 (hara) is a very common surname suffix meaning "origin, source, foundation." Maybe the full meaning is “Source of Ash” or “Soot Field.”
Jo Kongoza
Jo (丈) means "height", "length" or "man", used as a masculine suffix in given names for a strong or noble tone.
Kongoza (金剛座) 金剛 (Kongō) is literally "vajra" or "diamond/indestructible." In Buddhist context, it symbolizes strength and resilience. 座 (Za) can mean “seat,” “place,” or “theater troupe.” Often evokes an elevated or ceremonial position. So, 金剛座 literally means “The Diamond (Vajra) Seat”. The sacred spot of enlightenment, unshakable and pure, under the Bodhi tree where the Buddha attained enlightenment.
Clementia
This is pure speculation. I’m not sure if these characters are in Clementia, nothing is confirmed.
Theme: spirituality?
Shiki
Shiki is also written in katakana (シキ) which can be associated with multiple kanji and meanings depending on context.
四季 = four seasons
死鬼 = death spirit / demon
識 = knowledge / awareness
Writing entirely in katakana gives an edgy, modern, or ambiguous impression..
Yamato
Yamato (倭刀) is literally “Japanese sword.” 倭 is an ancient name for Japan, 刀 is “sword, blade.” The name evokes strong, nationalistic, or heroic imagery. The reading Yamato for 倭 is classical, “刀” is often left unpronounced in a stylized name.
EP23 spoiler: Haku doesn’t use the honorific “-san” when referring to Yamato. It could mean he’s just younger than him (since Haku doesn’t use honorifics for the 1st and 2nd years) or they could be very close… or even related. Apparently they have the same home. Maybe brothers or cousins? Haku’s last name, Kusanagi, refers to the legendary sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.
Inamori
I have a speculation that this could be Yamato’s last name…
Inamori (稲荷社) is a little complicated. Usually it’s not pronounced Inamori. If read “いなりしゃ / Inari-sha” it literally means "Inari-shrine."
But names (personal or place names) in Japanese can use special “name-only” readings (nanori), and 稲荷社 can also be read “Inamori” in that context, even though the standard reading is “Inari-sha.”
Inari (稲荷) Refers to Inari, the Shintō kami (deity) of rice, agriculture, fertility, prosperity, and later commerce. Sha (社) means "shrine" or "shrine building." So, 稲荷社 = a shrine dedicated to the Inari deity.
Ina (稲) literally means "rice plant", na (荷) "cargo/load" (In the context of Inari, it is part of the compound “Inari” (稲荷) while for names, it can retain the na reading). Mori (社) still means "shrine" or "company". In surnames, 社 can sometimes be read mori, especially in combination with other kanji, following historical/nanori patterns.
This name carries a religious/cultural nuance, suggesting a family tied to an Inari shrine.
Inari is primarily associated with the fox spirits (kitsune) as messengers.
Haku has been associated with the tanuki..
Ultio
Theme: not sure yet…
Enzo Natori
Enzo (淵造) en 淵 means “deep pool,” “abyss,” or “deep water.” Often connotes depth, mystery, or solemnity. 造 (zō) means “create,” “build,” or “craft.” Frequently used in male given names. Natori (鳴執) na 鳴 is “sound, resonance, voice, something that calls out” and tori 執 means “to grasp, hold fast, act with commitment.”
And that’s everything so far. If anyone can correct or help, I’d appreciate it. Have fun with theories.
Maybe im being too bitter in your stead, but i think its really funny that so many people were being so rude to you and even calling you slurs for pointing out that its possible that Jiro hated Zenji and now in episode 22 were given more information that points towards you being right
It’s funny for sure, I laughed out loud cuz I didn’t expect it to be kinda confirmed so loudly (from Zenji’s side at least) LOL
dw you’re not being “too bitter”… the backlash made me avoid being active in the fandom for a while haha, even though I’ve had more people that were kind and accepting (some even agreed with the theory and helped prove it) than those who harassed. I appreciate it a lot
Anyways, I’d still love to know what Jiro truly thinks, and why he feels that way…
If anyone has any thoughts, please don’t hesitate to share. I enjoy reading and discussing Kirisaki theories!
Follow up to ur explanation (thanks so much about that actually, since I rlly didn’t understand at first) but for haku calling jiro “otouto kun” even if haku didn’t know about Zenji/taro, shouldn’t exactly come off as haku being close or aware about taros existence. Since It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out Jiro has an older brother.
I mean this is probably obvious but jiros name (次郎) basically means “next child” (often used for the second child) and taros name (太郎) is for the first sons (ik in Japanese that kanji means fat lol, but since it was derived from Chinese, it probably meant greatest son). There’s a whole name system thingy from 1st son to 10th actually. Saburo (三郎) means third son. You prolly know this lol but I’m js mentioning it for the record. But honestly I’d freak out too if my name was that lolol
Anyways I’ve seen the messages harassing you :( I hope you’re doing okay now. Honestly I didn’t think people would get so worked up over that!! I mean what you said made sense and is very interesting to think about!
Jiro being a younger brother is obvious for sure. At the early days of the game I used to wonder why would he be named Jiro without an Ichiro (or a Taro) around. But in that conversation Jiro immediately assumed Haku was referring to Taro instead of poking at his name.
Honestly that entire scene was ? Strange?? Like Haku has always been careful about Zenji’s existence. In the first Hotarubi episode he explains to MC that he’s recording an anomalous biwa, and around other characters makes it look like he’s just chilling with the doll.
I can’t help but think he alerted Jiro on purpose (hopefully this isn’t also controversial lol) because not only he called him Otouto-kun, but kept responding to Zenji out loud when no one else was talking to him. Didn’t stop until Zenji dragged him away. Why would he do that? Maybe he wants the brothers to resolve their unfinished conflict.
I’m doing perfectly fine, thank you for your concern :) the Kirisaki brothers are my favorite subplot in the story and I’d love to discuss different opinions about them as long we remain friendly!
I did like your post, people need to calm down frr, u cool and it was a good and diferent take of the brothers. Sent u hugs
Most of the time i see it more like Jiro being uncomfy and a notice that he dont have an angry sprite like other characters, when he frown his eyebrown seem it is a displeasure sprite. What is sure is that he remember something bad relate to Zenji, maybe is the trauma of losing him or bad feeling that didn't get solve like u say
Jiro usually wears the same default expression. His “frown” isn’t as angry as the rest of characters, but I thought it’s because he’s not as emotional. So when he frowns or expresses something other than his default face, I’m always surprised.
I believe he does have an “uncomfy” sprite (the same one used for his sickness) which he expressed at the sight of Zenji’s birthday date. Being reminded of losing Zenji definitely brings up bad memories and trauma, regardless of the nature of their relationship before the incident. They had a rough childhood.
I’m very slow… why do you think jiro doesn’t like Zenji ?
Spoilers for the recent EP
I’ve always had my doubts, but the Haku & Jiro interaction basically confirmed it. Jiro always seems angry or disturbed at anything related to his brother (other than his fear of corpses, I assume. But Jiro finds fear amusing anyways)
In the Halloween episode from last year when MC repeats something Zenji told her, Jiro is surprised and furrows his brows, “Where did you hear that from?” then brushes it off like he wants to forget about it. Then in the Waves of Love episode, he destroys the 6/19 date balloons (which happens to be Zenji’s birthday) because “They were in the way”
In this episode when Haku calls Jiro “Otouto-kun” meaning Little Brother in Japanese (Kirisaki Jr in the localization) Jiro clearly gets angry. He starts questioning Haku that he is NOT supposed to be aware of an older Kirisaki. Even the way he referred to him seemed antagonistic to me, “Then you’re not supposed to know about him.” He doesn’t say my brother, or his name, just him. He’s not sad or grieving he just looked pissed off at the mere mention of Zenji.
Zenji probably doesn’t want Jiro to know that he’s still here because he knows Jiro wouldn’t appreciate that.
see i'm almost wondering if it's more of a guilt thing. jiro seems to have very little memories of last year (when he wasn't in a coma) and he's admitted to that. i got the impression it was more confusion that HOW would haku possibly know who zenji is than anger.
if jiro really was involved in the clash ("sending people to darkwick general left and right" or whatever they said earlier) then it's possible he was involved in other accidents and serious things around campus. zenji said he died in an accident involving a mission, and jiro cant remember most of last year.
personally it feels more like guilt and confusion to me, like he doesnt know if he was involved in zenji's death. then again, they've both made references that their childhood was a little odd, so maybe it was strained circumstances that led to tension.
idk there's so many different ways it could go right now, we have so little info on them and probably won't go into it until we look at the clash more (hopefully next season)
I appreciate you saying this instead of simply insulting my intelligance right away LOL
It could be guilt, but always making the “angry” expression when a Zenji reference comes up is still strange to me🤔 I guess he doesn’t know how to deal with guilt.
I’m really interested in their story and the possibilities are endless. My full theory is that Zenji’s overprotectiveness bothered Jiro and he tried his best to counter it. Zenji is still overprotective, as you can see he follows him literally everywhere, even when he’s going to the botanical garden for like 15 minutes.
Also, this…
Maybe Jiro rebelled against Zenji and started acting harsh around him. That would mean Jiro is still in his rebellious phase though
Guys, please relax. No need to call me slurs and get all that angry. You can disagree and discuss with me why you believe otherwise. I don’t think Jiro necessarily hates Zenji, but maybe they got into a fight and he couldn’t forgive him even after he died, who knows?
I shared my theory because I’d love to see what other people think, it’s my first time saying anything of the sort here. I really try my best to stay away from controversy, even in the memes I post. If you didn’t like what I said, and don’t wish to explain why, just scroll or block me. Let’s stay away from drama and keep this fandom peaceful.
I’m very slow… why do you think jiro doesn’t like Zenji ?
Spoilers for the recent EP
I’ve always had my doubts, but the Haku & Jiro interaction basically confirmed it. Jiro always seems angry or disturbed at anything related to his brother (other than his fear of corpses, I assume. But Jiro finds fear amusing anyways)
In the Halloween episode from last year when MC repeats something Zenji told her, Jiro is surprised and furrows his brows, “Where did you hear that from?” then brushes it off like he wants to forget about it. Then in the Waves of Love episode, he destroys the 6/19 date balloons (which happens to be Zenji’s birthday) because “They were in the way”
In this episode when Haku calls Jiro “Otouto-kun” meaning Little Brother in Japanese (Kirisaki Jr in the localization) Jiro clearly gets angry. He starts questioning Haku that he is NOT supposed to be aware of an older Kirisaki. Even the way he referred to him seemed antagonistic to me, “Then you’re not supposed to know about him.” He doesn’t say my brother, or his name, just him. He’s not sad or grieving he just looked pissed off at the mere mention of Zenji.
Zenji probably doesn’t want Jiro to know that he’s still here because he knows Jiro wouldn’t appreciate that.
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