karen ♥ kallen ♥ カレン
Categories: anime, code geass
Tagged: code geass, code geass:kallen
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One of the parts of Code Geass that confused me (besides the overall direction of the series, Pizza Hut, how C.C. can live with Lulu and not be found out, how many sisters does Lulu have, etc.) is Karen’s name.
Apparently, she is born Karen Kouzuki (紅月カレン) but to be more accepted in Britannian society, she uses Kallen Stadtfeld to be Britannianish, hence her family and school chums will call her “Kallen” whereas the resistance will call her “Karen.” Of course, this is odd since “Karen” is much more of an American name than “Kallen.” If you do a name machine war between “Karen” and “Kallen,” “Karen” wins by a mile, peaking in the 1950’s. (Just for kicks, “Jason” seemed to have peaked around 1970-80. “Lulu” peaked back in 1880… as a girl’s name. Goddamn, The Name Machine is addicting.) Back on my original point, it’s hard to tell the difference since the Engrish factor makes “Karen” and “Kallen” troublesome to differentiate. Maybe to make things more clear, she should have changed her first name to something like “Cinnamon,” “Destiny,” or “Lacy.”
(BTW, wonder what was the most popular Japanese boy’s name after WWII? Yep, that’s right: “Makoto.” Fall 2006: Legendary trap season.)
Karen seemed to have changed her name (or it was changed for her, according to Wikipedia) because Japan got overrun– yet– we know that her father is Britannian. So this means that he must have been living in Japan prior to the war (to be able to knock up Karen’s meido mother) and that at first didn’t accept Karen (hence Kouzuki as the last name) but accepted her afterwards and made her change her name presumably after her (half?) brother died? I think I just confused myself silly.
Nevertheless, AoMM will continue to refer to Code Geass‘ non-pizza-eating, magenta-haired fanservice machine as “Karen.”
(And I still don’t like her resistance outfit very much. Makes her look like an extra from Naruto.)
29 Responses to “karen ♥ kallen ♥ カレン”
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Yeah well, assuming Karen is a jap name, it becomes Kallen when english-ified (the language) just like how for Raito becomes Light.
This girl’s fanservice is making me download all so-far-9 episodes of Code Geass…
You’ll love this week’s episode just for the next episode preview. Nothing says Sunrise like spoiling major plot occurances weeks in advance. And if you really want fun, check out the title to episode 14. :-p
Karen or Kallen, we all call her hot. And while school Kallen is very nice indeed, I have to say resistance Karen wins far more. Mechs > School. Also I have to disagree about the resistance uniform.
http://i16.tinypic.com/2drdq2c.jpg
It lifts and accentuates her melonpan, while highlighting her belly (which gets me every time). Not to mention the short shorts.
What’s not to like?
Though I am waiting for Lulu, who knows both names, to one day screw them up. Humour and trainwreck ensues.
Karen is today a japanese name, that was imported in the past, like Maria, Kira, Erika, Anna, Karin, Naomi, Risa, Rina or Rena maybe as well (from Lisa, Lina and Lena) – so well, it’s really a weird choice as a name that has to be changed.
But from a japanese point of view Kallen sounds much more foreign than Karen, and they don’t think about the fact that actually for a foreigner Karen doesn’t really look like a japanese name to begin with ^^
Kallen sounds idiotic to me so I prefer the simpler, more natural sounding Karen.
All this talk of Karens sends me scurrying off to see if yFANTgirl has released another chapter yet.
Sorry to say but your fan service machine doesn’t hold a candle to the busty, blushing and blood-gushing vampirette and her loli grandmother.
If Geass isn’t a pun on the fat asses of the female protagonists, I’ll change my name to Kurisu.
Karen/Kallen, yummy with a spoon, but that picture doesn’t do her any justice.
>>(BTW, wonder what was the most popular Japanese boy’s name after WWII? Yep, that’s right: “Makoto.†Fall 2006: Legendary trap season.)
Wonder how many girls will be named “Makoto” and taught to say “Auuu”. Imagine if one or two of them went to Japan…”How come you have a boy’s name?”
And then there’s the grief that boys named “Mizuho” will go through.
AC Says: And if you really want fun, check out the title to episode 14. :-p
Oh you bish, I just had to look. Damit!
Btw, Destiny is a stripper’s name? Is she a famous underground stripper or something?
That explains why there are still so many Jasons around. In about 30 years to come that Jason world domination thing will be nothing.
>> Btw, Destiny is a stripper’s name?
Destiny, Cinnamon, and Lacy are all very popular stripper names.
>> Karen is today a japanese name
Nah, “Karen” (and other Western names) are American-Japanese names introduced by the US after WWII. Of course, this would make sense _except_ Britannia’s history assumes that America is still part of the British Empire and WWII apparently didn’t unfold. Basically, for “Karen” to be a Japanese name, America must have won WWII, except there’s no America and probably no WWII in this timeline.
Sunrise scenario writers must either crank this out at the last minute or are very drunk or enjoy pot brownies a bit too much.
>> It lifts and accentuates her melonpan, while highlighting her belly (which gets me every time). Not to mention the short shorts.
What’s not to like?
Yep, these are my readers.
>>Sunrise scenario writers must either crank this out at the last minute or are very drunk or enjoy pot brownies a bit too much.
Bah it eaten my replay.
Short version of it.
Karen is danish in origin, the only person I seem named Kallen is a american soprano with Stadtfeld being VERY german.
Long rant as no way in hell would england allow european nations survive and being able to take over european american colonies, how england pretty much controled China and japanese involvement in china and finaly on how the hell did china became socialist when the root of socialism is on england.
@Drakron
How many American TV shows do you know where the writers have no problem properly capturing the history and socioeconomic structure of Asian countries? Why should it be any different for Japanese TV writers and European countries?
That said, whether it’s popular as a Japanese name or not, Karen is definitely a northern European name, and would certainly not sound out of place in either Britain or the US (whatever the official Britannian history ends up being), so if anything, it should be the other way around, and Kallen should be the resistance name. Sounds like a really bad drunken Engrification of “Karen,” anyway.
And Chris (soon to be Kurisu), you better not be complaining about the asses of the Girls of Geass (tell me that’s not a Playboy spread title waiting to happen). Not enough fat female asses in anime, if you ask me. It’s alright if the lolis have the asses of 8-year-olds, but I want a little meat on my more mature women. Yet another reason Aki Hinata owns all.
but then again Kallen doesn’t exist in japanese at all – so, they really chose the wrong name for this =)
I much prefer Karen and despite being a Stadfeld she’s about as German as foie gras. Just once I want to hear a Achtung, or have a lunch of sauerkraut and bratwurst, sadly I haven’t seen a serious attempt at Prussian, German, or foreigners in anime since LOGH. She hasn’t displayed that famous German penchant for calculation or over engineering, then again it might be a title given by the Brittainian Emperors that descended from the House of Hanover.
It’s still possible that Britannia did occupy Japan at one point since in every war up until WWII the British emphasized Sea Power and for a long time the British army lagged behind the likes of Napoleon, the Boers, and Germans. This remained true despite her vast colonial empire since there were never enough Britons around that could have allowed for direct control. Even if The US remained a British posession it would have likely evoloved as Canada did, since there would not have been the wave of immigration that allowed for the concentration of industrial output. Most likely the Ameica in Geass is more like Canada, and what ever man power that could be gained would have probabaly been misused in a Gallipoli or Dieppe.
In this regard Europe was probably able to counter Britannia’s attempts for so long because they once had empires of their own, but since losing them they empahsized Land and Air Forces. With German military know how, Stasi and Comintern like information network, Russian and former SSR numbers and resources, Nordic welfare state govenrment, Polish decyphering, Sicilian syndicates, Swiss banking, French defensive works, and other things the EEU could be very formidable indeed. The USSR largely evoloved seperately from Western influences and its likely that Brittania faced the same situation in the wake of the Second World War Germany was no push over and the USSR became a juggernaut. The KGB was able to infiltrate as far as MI6 and negate nearly all their counter opeations, and victory after such a conlfict would have been long in coming.
In this light Britannia was perhaps not dominant on land and could not remain in captured territory as occupiers indefinitely. The fact that Cornelia was still fighting in Area 18 (Middle East, more specifically El Alamein Egypt) which was largely a British mandate probabaly means that Britannaia’s army could only operate more freely now that it did have someone accross a border to leer at like the fall of the USSR for one. The Japanese weapons prior to the war with Britannnia definitely show a western influence other wise naval architecture would have probabaly retained the pagoda and they’d be using tankettes and bayonet charges. Besides there’s no way the IJN would have declined that quickly, prior to WWII the Japanese build a sizeable strike force of carriers that ran wild for six months before Midway. Yet for some inexplicable reason they had no Kido Butai to field. If there was no occupation then this much western influence is not likely since after 1919 Japanese military doctrine diverged significantly from the rest of the world.
It’s also possible that the Britannian Empire evolved some what recently (in historical terms) from the Commonwealth since crushing the British House of Commons and Parliament would have taken some time since the English have thrown out monarchs before. Maybe there was free travel and a cultural exchange before the war broke out.
Still when it comes to anything dealing remotely with history or ethos Sunrise is still lacking. Especailly in the matters of violent conflict. At lwst there is still the possibility for non-traditional relationships of the yuri variety.
Sorry but no.
The Napolenic Wars left England as the european superpower, in effect england controled Spain, Portugal and France after Napoleon was beaten, the rest of europe was … well not much.
So unless Napoleon never existed … but if he did not then the loss of the european colonies would never happened, Spain, France and Portugal would be in very much control over … not to say that the Ottoman Empire would be in control over Egypt.
As for the glorious Soviet Union … well its a product of WW I and I dont belive I need to point out how that started and who was on it.
As for Japan being under English control … no, the English have a hard time to let things go, India is a proof of that and if they had control over Japan at one time how the heck would they lose it with then being a mega power that controls over half of the globe?
Sorry, historicaly this show makes no sense.
Drakron Says:
Sorry, historicaly this show makes no sense.
Actually, it makes quite a bit of sense, as long as you don’t know a lot about history or warfare, which I’m willing to bet most of the target audience has little experience with. This isn’t Masterpiece Theatre, or the History Channel. They haven’t even officially stated anything about the history of the world, other than however many years ago Brittania, which at least includes the area where the US is in our world, invaded and took over Japan. That’s all they need for the premise, and if the plot requires more, we’ll probably see it. Just sit back, turn off your brain, and enjoy the fanservice, cheesy dialogue, and product placements.
But on a note actually more in response to your comment, what exactly does the first E in EEU stand for? If EEU stands for Eastern European Union, which is probably most likely given the context we have been given, then the Iberian Peninsula probably does, in fact, reside in Brittanian hands, Napoleon or no Napoleon. While Germany is likely part of Brittania as well (otherwise, how would someone with the name Stadtfeld rise to any kind of power in such a state), there are any number of ways an alliance made up of eastern European countries could keep themselves afloat for a time. We have no idea when, exactly, their history diverged from our own. We have no real idea when their present is, in fact. It’s all assumption until there’s something official put forth…
>>Drakon: The Napolenic Wars left England as the european superpower, in effect england controled Spain, Portugal and France after Napoleon was beaten, the rest of europe was … well not much.
Sorry but this is absolute rubbish Great Britian was not the great big super power at the end of the Napleonic Wars. Wellington only succeeded at Waterloo because the Imperial Guard took a left turn and attacked British strong points rather than the weakened squares that were being pummeled by French Artillery. Only a very brave or deluded man like Blucher would have disregarded conventional military wisdom and retreat away from his lines of communication. Even after Waterloo Wellington was not in good shape either. Great Britian being the undisputed master at the end of the Napoleonic wars is about as true as that fairy tale of Wellington telling Blucher that he would lose at Ligny. In fact Wellington’s Expeditionary Force was dispersed when Napoleon routed the Prussians on ground the Prussians chose and fortified.
If Britain was the super power as you suggest then why not have Wellington crush the Prussians, Austrians, and Russians? The reason is simple not enough soldiers. Great Britian was a power that much was true, but England never could amass the overwheming Sea Power and Land Forces required for a European conquest. Post Napoleonic commanders of the British army were not tactical or strategic geniuses. Afterall the Boer War was horribly mismanaged, the Crimean War had the Charge of the Light Brigade, WWI Gallipoli, and the Blackest Day on the Somme. You had guys like Douglas Haig who snubbed the machine gun and ordered hundreds of thousands to take machine gun nests with bayonets and elan. The British had to contend with disgruntled Irish and Indians in her colonial empire. So what if they hold the thrid of the world that does not mean every one there is happy about having their Britannian overlords. Imperial Japan held 1/4 of the globe in 1942, but they lost that and more in three years. The size of an empire matters little if unity is not there and dissent is rife, just ask the Mongols and the Holy Roman Empire.
The only reason why Britannian seems all powerful is because Sunrise makes them so and the Japanese Insurgency is garbage, no resistance movement ever succeded with such idiot tactics.
Just because Stadfelt sounds German does not mean that Britannia controls Germany, heck gifted leaders like Otto von Bismark were not a dime a dozen. Despite the Royal House of Great Britian being the Windsors it was a name change from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha which in turn was essentially a continuation of the House of Hanover. In short the British Monarchs are Germans by descent, the loss of a few German Principalities would leave a number of disposessed German nobles who would gladly lend their aid to their fellow German nobles once the Prussians expelled them.
England controlling France is pure myth the only reason why the English and French copperated in the latter part of the 19th century was because Germany had already broken French land forces and were challenging England for naval supremacy or at least parity.
In any case Karen Stadfeld’s name makes limited sense. If She acted more German I would buy it but no Der Stechschritt, or sauerkraut means her Germanic identity is pitifully weak.
Orange-kun singing the Code Geass OP
Cheers. ;)
“Germanic” has as much to do with Germans as native Americans are related to US Americans. One problem with the term “German” is that it refers to a single tribe that existed thousands of years ago. “Stechschritt” isn’t even a German idea. You’ll find much more exaggerated variants in other armies all over the world. The most extreme variants are to be found in Russia and the surrounding ex-Soviet countries. Sauerkraut is in fact typical for Bavaria and most Germans find it annoying to be confused with Bavarians. In France they call it “Allemagne” but that’s just another ancient tribe. It’s very nice that Japanese refer to Germans as Doitsu (Deutsche). After all you don’t call Italians Romans, do you?
“Not enough fat female asses in anime, if you ask me. It’s alright if the lolis have the asses of 8-year-olds, but I want a little meat on my more mature women.”
Well, in anime and manga even many lolipops have more meat than the average cow. Don’t assume I’m a lolipedofin just because fully environmental tits or asses annoy me. I’ve seen *a lot* of great drawings that are completely wasted by ridiculous proportions of the drawn character. I don’t mind it all the time, big tits or asses certainly suit some characters but if you cannot tell ass and tits apart even though the girl/woman is actually quite skinny that’s not really hawt. In other words, I don’t like it if artists resort to the saabisu bat. On the other hand, it might be a bit pointless complaining about people who are used to girls with eyes as large as apples.
Sorry Crusader … but no.
I dont understand your fixation with Germany since I dont really understand if you talking about the Holy Roman Empire, the German Confederation or the German Empire … the German Confederation only come because of Napoleon that beaten the prussians, if England had taken over western europe they would move on to the easy pickings that was the broken German Confederation.
Well I guess she’s KALLEN you out…
HAH..ah.. yeah, Ok I’m going to go now.
Chris: I used Germanic in the context of modern Germany, giving a list of all the former princpalities and kingdoms of what is today Germany would have been cumbersome to say the least. Sorry I grouped you with the Bravarians the only people from that region happen to be Bavarian and am not terribly particular about what comes from where. Der Stechschritt orginated in Prussia which consequently fonded what is today Germany, since the Prussians formed the nucleus of the officer corps for the German military the Purssian influence on the German Military is significant. While Der Stechschritt also became part of the plethora of former and still communist states the Prussians predated them and the Czarist armies developed their version after the Prussians. The problem with using Deustche in the US is that it got bastardaized here as Dutch hence Pennsylvania Dutch. While I am aware of the use of Deustchland it is not common knowledge the only common use of it in my experience is when referring to Großdeutschland, which is translated a Greater Germany.
Drakon: The fixation with Germany, Prussia in particular, is simple they had to be and were the dominant land power in Europe since they sat between a vengeful France and Russia. The point I was trying to make was that Great Britain could not have hoped to conquer Western Europe after Napoleon’s defeat. If you look at the entire Waterloo campaign you will see that it was the Prussians who really bore the brunt of it. If Napoleon had defeated Wellington the Austrians probabaly would have quit since one of their armies was beaten in Italy around the same time. Given their previous experineces they would ahve sued for peace. The Russians, though dedicated, were still marching across the continent at Russian speed. Wellington got off in better shape at Warterloo because Blucher reinforced his left allowing him to strengthen the British Center which as I said was being pummeled by French artillery. At Wavre Grouchy was delayed by the Prussians, which prevented his 33,000 men from taking a part at Waterloo. Wellington’s expeditionary force was the only major British Force in Europe had it been defeated Great Britain could not spare any more armies since it had to maintian garrison over colonial posessions and the Royal Navy. Napoleon’s goal at the Waterloo Campaign was to defeat the indvidual armies of the Allies before they could link up and crush him in detail. Napoleon had to move quickly because his return coincided with the Congress in Vienna where all his foes were gathered and agreed on plans to fight him.
The Prussians’ influence on the outcome demonstrates that England alone did not have the means to crush Napoleon. If anything the Prussian tecnacity after the rout at Ligny is not the mark of some weakened army on the verge of collapse. The defeated German principalities would have been easy pickings, but neither Prussia, Russia, or Austria would have allowed it. Since Napoleon had trouble against the combined forces of three powers major land powers what were England’s chances with a smaller army with no one comparable to Napoleon in inspiring his men? Pretty small if non-existent IMHO.
Even if Great Britian had tried, the core of French man power had not been moblized. Napoleon’s army at Waterloo was man for man arguably the best he ever had in troop quality since he could not call upon conscription. Instead his loyal veterans and volunteers chose to serve him once more. This troop quality was demostrated a Ligny where the Prussians were routed on ground they chose and fortified, however they had to keep an eye on troops from other prinicplaities which at one time allied with Napoleon. There was even a muitiny by troops from one principality, the Prussians killed all their officers and put them under thier direct command. Needless tos say these muitineers were not the most dedicated troops of the Allied cause. Even if Wellington had effected a retreat the Dutch and Belgian troops he commanded were more partial to Napoleon than Wellington. Thus Napoleon would have recovered his losses with the Belgians and Dutch when they defected, furhtter weakening the BEF. Since the French conscripts were not in play it is doubtful that the Iberians, and French would have gone along with England taking over. If the collective will of the European monarchs could not crush the tide of nationalism what makes you think that Great Britain could have done so on her own in the 19th century?
It’s probably Karen since she’s supposed to be british and Karen is a more common name
@Skane
LOL on Orange singing the opening theme. that was disturbing, and funny at the same time ^_^