Sk8 Character and Name Analysis
I'm not fluent in Japanese and the analysis below is based on my opinion and may be biased, so if there's any mistakes, please do let me know. I'm just a nerd for character names and their meanings so I'm making this for the Sk8 cast. XD
With that out of the way, let's start off with none other than:
Kyan Reki 喜屋武 暦
Ki 喜 - joy, delight, rejoice
Ya 屋 - house, roof, shop, dealer, seller
N 武 - warrior, military, chivalry, martial (the kanji itself is more commonly read as ‘bu’ or ‘take’ (TA-KEH) in other contexts)
Kyan 喜屋武 - an Okinawan surname with origins in Old Ryukyuan language, referring to the tip of a cape or headland, particularly the southernmost tip of Okinawa (Reki is implied to be of indigenous Ryukyuan descent)
Reki 暦 - calendar, almanac
Analysis: Reki’s name in kanji (暦) uses the 日 radical, which has the meaning of “sun, day”. The sun theme fits in with his energetic personality, his constellation sign being Leo, his birthday (August 8) being in the summer, and his red hair and amber eyes. And it symbolises the way that Reki was Langa’s sun that pulled him out of depression by introducing him to skateboarding. (The 日 radical/kanji can also be seen in Reki’s siblings such as Koyomi 月日, Nanaka 七日 and Chihiro 千日.)
暦 also contains two 木 parts (meaning ‘wood’), which fits that one of Reki’s skills is woodworking when making skateboards. Double 木 parts can combine to form the kanji 林 meaning “forest”. (There’s also the 厂 part which is called the ‘cliff’ radical and it could be a nod to S taking place on a mountain/high place?)
A calendar lists the days in the year, and an almanac is a record of astronomical, agricultural or meteorological events, so it makes perfect sense for someone who is a nerd for all things skateboarding and also the narrator of the story. Since calendars and almanacs are important records used by the people, Reki’s name carries a connotation of “fate” or “destiny”, like meeting Langa for example. It also shows Reki’s intelligence, like the time he defeated Adam using the rain to his advantage. It is worth noting that 暦 is very similar to the kanji 歴 (also pronounced ‘reki’), which means “history”.
Reki’s surname, Kyan, when taken in a literal sense, translates to “joyous house warrior”. A house symbolically is where someone is most comfortable and at home with, and for Reki, skateboarding is undeniably his ‘house’ and passion. Reki sells skateboards as a part-time job, fitting into the meaning of “seller/dealer” for 屋. When taken as a whole, it’s indicative of his ideals that skateboarding should only be done for fun, and he is protective of those ideals and wouldn’t let someone like Adam contort or taint that meaning for him and others.
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Hasegawa Langa 馳河 ランガ
Hase 馳 - gallop, run
Gawa 河 - river, stream
Hasegawa 馳河 - galloping river
Langa ランガ - the katakana/hiragana has no meaning, but the name is confirmed to be taken from ‘valanga’, which means “avalanche” in Italian
Analysis: Langa is a force of nature to be reckoned with. His name depicting natural phenomena like a fast, coursing river and an avalanche reinforces this as his sheer talent and his experience as a snowboarder made him quickly become gifted at skateboarding and gain the attention of Adam at S, even noted once by Kojiro to be “even more of a monster than Adam”.
His S alias is ‘Snow’, he has blue hair and blue eyes, his birthday February 8 is in the winter, and his constellation sign is Aquarius (Latin for “Water-Bearer”). Despite the water-sounding name, Aquarius is actually associated with the element of air, which signifies the need for freedom, as expressed by Langa’s fast progress with skateboarding and him reaching for higher heights to chase that heart-pumping feeling in his heart. (FYI, the opposite sign of Aquarius is Leo, Reki’s constellation sign.) All of this is in line with the nature theme in Langa’s name, particularly water and snow.
This water/snow theme is evident in Langa’s calm personality, who seemed cold on the outside but slowly warmed up to Reki once he got to know him more, like snow melting under the sun. He’s also good at hiding his deep passion inside, burying it under layers of snow, then only letting out his competitive nature at S like a sudden snowfall in Okinawa. However, this also applies to Langa’s feelings and care for Reki, and after their falling-out, he lost his only outlet and reason for skating, burying back into the piling snow of his depression until he saw Reki and finally made up with him, melting the snow in his heart. In the end, Langa is the epitome of the saying, “still water runs deep”.
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CHINEN MIYA 知念 実也
Chi 知 - wisdom, to know, intelligence
Nen 念 - sense, idea, thought, feeling, wish, desire, attention
Chinen 知念 - to know feelings???, a common surname in Okinawa
Mi 実 - truth, fruit, nut, seed
Ya 也 - to be, also
Miya 実也 - truth to be (a unisex/gender-neutral name, but more commonly used for girls)
Analysis: According to this post, the name Miya was made to sound like a cat meowing, and true enough, Miya is a sly little kid who wears a cat-themed outfit and acts like a cat and has a way with animals, including cats, and his birthday February 22 is Japan’s National Cat Day.
Nonetheless, the meaning behind his name seems to have a theme around “feelings” and “knowledge”. It fits in with Miya’s self-proclaimed special ability of talking to animals, which requires listening and understanding their moods and wants. But if we look a little deeper, Miya is actually a thoughtful person despite his cocky personality who was hurt by his old friends abandoning him and hence puts up a snarky, arrogant air as a defence mechanism for his loneliness. His constellation sign, Pisces (Latin for “fishes”, a cat’s and also Miya’s favourite food), is considered one of the most emotionally-attuned, empathetic and sensitive symbols.
The “truth” meaning in his name 実 refers to when Reki’s acceptance of him as a friend opened his eyes and shattered his armour, reminding us that Miya’s just a normal kid and not some high-and-mighty national skating athlete who couldn’t lose to a ‘rookie’ like Langa. It also refers to Miya’s realisation that Adam had been using and grooming him into a potential Eve after Adam discarded him in favour of Langa and later proclaimed he “loves his skating partners”. The “fruit” meaning has the connotation of abundance and also enjoying the ‘fruits’ of your labour as it speaks to Miya treasuring Reki and Langa as friends, his work ethic as a national-level athlete and his growth from a childish boy to a young man. I think it’s worthy to note that his name sounds the same as ‘miya’ 宮 meaning “shrine” or “palace”, and a shrine is a sacred place that holds meaning and memory (for Miya it’s his newfound friends) that needs protection from others (just like how Reki defended Miya and stood up against Adam for him).
All in all, I feel that his parents must be very thoughtful when choosing the kanji for his name.
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HIGA HIROMI 比嘉 広海
Hi 比 - compare, match, ratio, proportion
Ga 嘉 - good, applaud, praise, esteem, auspicious
Higa 比嘉 - good comparison/applauding match, the most common surname in Okinawa
Hiro 広 - vast, wide, broad, spacious
Mi 海 - sea, ocean
Hiromi 広海 - vast sea (a unisex/gender-neutral name, but more commonly used for girls)
Analysis: Shadow’s, or rather Hiromi’s, name as a whole paints a picture of an intimidating and terrifying opponent, someone with a tall and wide stature known for his flashiness and violence. He was the one who set the bar for skating in S that Reki and eventually Langa needed to overcome in the first episode. This, of course, stands in contrast to his everyday job as a florist and his utterly different personality at work and in his daily life outside of S.
Higa being the most common surname in Okinawa and the meaning of Hiromi being “vast sea” both point to his upbringing in Okinawa (an island that’s surrounded by ocean), but also they ground Shadow as the everyman, since he acts as the straight man of the group and the main caretaker of the kids. His constellation sign, Virgo (Latin for “virgin”), is associated with the element of earth and a nod to his shy, delicate, feminine side.
His surname Higa is a little ironic given his bad luck in romance and his inability to confess his crush to his flower shop manager, but it also demonstrates his desire to become stronger and improve himself for the woman he loves and pines for in the shadows (pun-intended). His birthday, September 14, is in autumn, fitting for his orange-coloured hair, and is the blooming season for several flowers such as asters, morning glories, chrysanthemums, and many others. According to the wiki page on Hanakotoba, asters have the meaning of “remembrance”, and morning glories have the meaning of “willful promises”, both relevant to Hiromi’s feelings towards his manager. Maybe he might have a better chance if his birthday had happened exactly 7 months earlier on Valentine’s Day (February 14) instead, hahaha.
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SAKURAYASHIKI KAORU 桜屋敷 薫
Sakura 桜 - cherry blossom, has the flower language of “impermanence” in Japan
Ya 屋 - house, roof, shop, dealer, seller
Shiki 敷 - spread, pave, sit, promulgate
Yashiki 屋敷 - mansion
Sakurayashiki 桜屋敷 - cherry blossom mansion
Kaoru 薫 - fragrance, a nice aroma (a unisex/gender-neutral name, used by both boys and girls)
Analysis: Getting the obvious out of the way, Cherry Blossom’s name alone tells us everything about his aesthetics as a character, from his pink-coloured long hair, his traditional sense of fashion, his job as a calligrapher, to his elegant and graceful appearance. As a distinctly unisex name, the name ‘Kaoru’ is used in popular culture to give a character an air of androgyny (based on wiki), which definitely fits Cherry. The definition of “mansion” for ‘Yashiki’ 屋敷 also tracks since Cherry is one of the richest and most well-off characters in the Sk8 cast outside of Adam. (Adam is the only one explicitly shown to live in a mansion.) It’s also worth noting that Kaoru and Reki contains the same kanji 屋 in their surnames, the two people who were arguably the most knowledgeable and attentive about skateboarding out of the main cast and built their own skateboards, Reki with his woodworking skills and Kaoru with his AI skateboard Carla.
The kanji for Kaoru 薫 can be broken down into three parts: the top grass radical 艹, the middle part 重 (a kanji meaning “heavy, important, respect”) and the bottom fire part 灬. A lot of Japanese and Chinese speakers would mistake 灬 as water instead of fire (me included), but it's used on a lot of kanji that's related to cooking since it requires “heat”. This maybe stretching from me, but the fire part can be related to Kaoru’s constellation sign, Aries, and its association to the element of fire.
Despite his given name meaning “fragrance”, Kaoru’s personality outside of work is a lot less pleasant than what his name suggests. Like a typical Aries, he acts snarkier, prickler and more hot-headed as he butts heads with Kojiro and slaps anyone who calls him by the wrong name at the wrong place. His insistence on separating his public life and S identity is in line with the dichotomy that existed within Kaoru’s character – his cold expressions and fiery passion, his femininity and masculinity, his traditional job and the modern technology he used, his rebellious teenage past and conforming adult self, his guidance and manipulation of Langa which he openly admitted to, his hostility and concern towards Kojiro and his hope and anger towards Adam. Like a perfume aroma that hides someone’s original smell, is it his good side that’s covering up the nasty parts of himself, or is it his harsh exterior that’s hiding an actually good-hearted nature?
Based on the wiki page on Hanakotoba, cherry blossoms have a meaning of kindness, gentleness and transience of life. They represent beauty, hope, renewal and new beginnings as their blossoming signifies the start of spring in Japan. (Kaoru’s birthday March 27 is Japan’s National Cherry Blossom Day.) More importantly, they symbolise impermanence, since they bloom and wither within the span of a few days, so cherry blossoms are considered an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life in Japanese culture. This actually fits Kaoru’s arc really well, as the event of Adam smacking Kaoru in the face with his skateboard shattered his hope of ever getting Adam back the way he used to be as teenagers, so he could let go of his grudge and be reborn as a new person, as seen with Kaoru letting himself laugh at Adam’s defeat in the rain and his subtle changing attitude towards Kojiro and others he cared about.
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NANJO KOJIRO 南城 虎次郎
Nan 南 - south
Jo 城 - castle (also can be read as ‘shiro’ or ‘ki’/‘gi’)
Nanjo 南城 - southern castle, a city in Okinawa
Ko 虎 - tiger (also can be read as ‘taro’)
Ji 次 - next
Ro 郎 - son
Jiro 次郎 - next son, a common name ending for the second son/child in the family (could Kojiro have an older brother/sibling?)
Kojiro 虎次郎 - tiger next son
Analysis: Out of the main cast, Joe has one of the most masculine-sounding names. It gives the impression of a strong, muscular man who’s as strong as a tiger, so maybe that’s why a lot of women flock to him for a sense of protection. His surname Nanjo meaning “southern castle” designates him as the protector of the group, as he’s the oldest of the main-six cast and said to be the most responsible, but it’s best shown with him carrying Kaoru’s unconscious body to the hospital after his race with Adam.
Tigers in Japanese and broader East Asian culture often represent strength, courage, confidence and protection against evil, all traits that Kojiro embodied. Tigers are frequently paired with dragons, representing the balance between terrestrial physical power (tiger) and celestial spiritual power (dragon), like yin and yang. However, the tiger stands for yin due to its association with earth and its reverence as the ‘king of beasts’, while the dragon stands for yang as it’s a mythical creature that dominates the heavens above. For oversimplification’s sake, yin stands for dark, passive, female, and negative forces whereas yang stands for light, active, male, and positive forces. In order to be in balance, yin has a little yang/white inside it and yang has a little yin/black inside it, circling each other.
For Kojiro, being the tiger and therefore yin, it sheds new light on the meaning and purpose of his masculine traits. The ‘yin’ part of his character is exemplified in his laid-back, going-with-the flow personality, his deep care towards others, as well as his soft side towards Kaoru particularly. The downside, however, is that he could be overtly reckless when skating and lack initiative at key moments (see “I’m not adulting today” line from the beach episode), which could be explained away with his upbringing as a middle child. Nevertheless, his selfless nature shines through as his constellation sign, Cancer, is widely considered to be the “mother of the zodiac” which values home, family and emotional security the most. This was shown through Kojiro cooking meals for everyone and giving advice to Reki and Langa and helping them through their fallout. His birthday, July 7, falls on Tanabata, a festival which originated from the Chinese Qixi legend of two crossed lovers separated by the Milky Way finally reuniting once a year for a single day. Regardless of what might happen between Joe and Cherry, Kojiro’s love for Kaoru will always be present and persist on.
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SHINDO AINOSUKE 神道 愛之介
Shin 神 - god, deity, spirit, psyche
Do 道 - path, way, road, street
Shindo 神道 - path of god
Ai 愛 - love, affection
No 之 - of, this
Suke 介 - mediate, concern oneself with
Ainosuke 愛之介 - concern oneself with love
Analysis: Ainosuke’s name is full of themes of love and religion as one would expect, speaking to his obsessive personality and single-minded pursuit to reach his own idea of love through skating. His constellation sign Taurus (Latin for “bull”), is ruled by the planet Venus (named after the Roman goddess of love) and a nod to him being the Matador of Love. He is obviously named after his father Aiichiro 愛一郎, which directly translates to “love first son”. They share the first kanji “Ai” 愛, and by naming him that way, Ainosuke was already expected to follow in his father’s footsteps ever since he was born, to “mediate” and lift up his father’s reputation as his only son. (I guess it’s a relief that his birthday falls on May 1, which is International Labour Day.)
His S name, Adam, is written in kanji as 愛抱夢 which translates to “love”, “hug”, “dream”, a nod to his signature move, the Love Hug. But more importantly, it refers to the biblical first man in Christianity, who’s created by God in His perfect image before Adam sinned and was banished from the Garden of Eden.
His surname in kanji 神道 could also be read as ‘Shinto’, as in the Shinto religion from Japan, adding onto the religious theme of his name. His surname’s meaning, “path of god”, puts into perspective Adam’s search for his Eve, “as God intended” so that Adam wouldn’t be alone (skating in this case), and everyone’s worship and reverence of him as the best skater at S and the youngest Diet member in Japan. (Here's a post that extrapolates further the origins of the Shindo surname and possible connection to chrysanthemums and Tadashi.)
Now, the original sin of Adam (the first human) was eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which God forbid him to do. If Ainosuke is Adam before he sinned, it means that he was unable to differentiate between right and wrong and therefore unaware that he was hurting plenty of other skaters in order to find his Eve. But if he’s Adam after he sinned, then he would have to become aware of what he’s done and stop denying his own actions and his deep-seated emptiness and lack of love. It shows that this whole “Adam and Eve” narrative is a fantasy Ainosuke has built for himself in order to feel godlike, to always feel at the top, always above others and above his own emotions.
That’s why Tadashi’s appearance in S, by going by the name ‘Snake’, is forcing Ainosuke to acknowledge his deeds and that Tadashi is equal or even better than him at skating. (There’s also the hidden meaning that Eve was never meant to be Adam’s equal but always subservient to him, but I’ll leave you this post that excellently explains the whole thing.)
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KIKUCHI TADASHI 菊池 忠
Kiku 菊 - chrysanthemum, has the flower language of “broken love” in Japan
Chi 池 - pond, pool
Kikuchi 菊池 - chrysanthemum pool
Tadashi 忠 - loyal, devoted, fidelity, faithfulness
Analysis: Tadashi is one of two characters in the main cast who explicitly has a flower in their name (the other being Kaoru). Chrysanthemums have a wide variety of meanings depending on the colour, but yellow chrysanthemums in particular is special because it’s a symbol of the Emperor of Japan in addition to being used as lapel pins by two other professions: Diet members and lawyers. (Ref post here.) In pre-modern times, the Emperor is considered to be the head of the Shinto religion and a direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, therefore making him divine. With all of that in mind, and Tadashi 忠 meaning “loyal, devoted”, everything points to Tadashi’s position and servitude to Shindo Ainosuke (as Ainosuke is a Diet member, his surname literally means “path of god” and he is the ruler of S).
Other than its symbolic use in Japanese politics, yellow chrysanthemums have the meaning of “broken love” or “neglected love” in Hanakotoba. It refers to his broken past with Ainosuke that resulted in Tadashi feeling guilty for teaching his master skateboarding and turning Ainosuke into the person he is now, causing Ainosuke to neglect him emotionally and hence Tadashi needing to take up the name “Snake” in order to take skating away from Adam. Interestingly, the kanji for Tadashi 忠 has the top part 中 (“inside, middle, centre”) very close to piercing through the bottom part 心 (“heart”). But like a dog, he would always stay loyal to his master and never leave Ainosuke’s side. His birthday, November 22, is Good Spouses Day, which celebrates married couples in Japan, as shown with Tadashi’s faithfulness to Adam. (Apparently, November 22 is also Thanks Pets Day in Japan, I got this info from this post on Sk8 birthdays; all 8 of the main cast’s birthdays have some connection/relation to the number 8 as a nod to the series title.)
As November 22 is known as a “cusp” date, it can be regarded as either the final day of Scorpio or the first day of Sagittarius. Tadashi’s English fan wiki says his sign is Sagittarius, but some sources (here and here) say he’s a Scorpio. Either way, with Scorpio being Latin for, well, “scorpion” and Sagittarius being Latin for “archer”, it could point to Tadashi as the one who “poisoned” and “hurt” Ainosuke, indicative of the power he holds in his and Adam’s master-servant dynamic.
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Anyway, that's all from me. The bottom image is how I feel rambling and explaining my own thoughts. @kudouusagi's blog has been such a great and helpful resource when I make this analysis so please do check out their Sk8 masterposts, I highly recommend it. The English fan wikis were also useful but there are some mistakes/inconsistencies I've found. The rest were searched through the internet and important details have their links attached. Hope you still enjoy my assessment of these characters. They have been my hyperfixation for a long while now :D
