Do the names of shows have meaning? (Gokaiger, etc)

[PsychoGokaiger]

I've wondered, do the various names of tokusatsu shows and anime mean something?

Now, I know the prefix part of the title means something, like Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger means Pirate Task Force (or battle team) Gokaiger. And Shinkon Gattai Godannar means God Soul Combination Godannar.

But does Gokaiger or Godannar have any meaning? I know they're made up names, but maybe the individual syllables mean something? And the titles often have Go, Gao, Gai, often ending with er or ar, etc, any significance to that? And for an example of Kamen Rider shows, does Kiva or Den-O mean something?

Anybody have info on this stuff? Thanks.

 

[Real Action]

Kiva is Japanese for fang. So Kamen Rider Kiva is Masked Rider Fang translated.

Gokaiger is simple, too. Go = Five. Kai = Sea. -ger comes from ranger.

Five Sea Ranger. Pirates. Makes sense, right?

Kind of like Shinkenger. -ger still comes from ranger, and Shinken means seriousness or earnestness, which are traits of the samurai.

Den-O I believe is Train King. Den is from Densha, which is train, and O is king.

Goseiger, I believe, is Five Star Ranger. Gosei is Five-Star, which was also used in Gosei Sentai Dairanger.

Every show name has a meaning. I just can't think of a lot of them right now.

 

[musashi03]

I've wondered, do the various names of tokusatsu shows and anime mean something?

Now, I know the prefix part of the title means something, like Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger means Pirate Task Force (or battle team) Gokaiger. And Shinkon Gattai Godannar means God Soul Combination Godannar.

But does Gokaiger or Godannar have any meaning? I know they're made up names, but maybe the individual syllables mean something? And the titles often have Go, Gao, Gai, often ending with er or ar, etc, any significance to that? And for an example of Kamen Rider shows, does Kiva or Den-O mean something?

Anybody have info on this stuff? Thanks.

Wikipedia is your friend.

 

[PsychoGokaiger]

Every show name has a meaning. I just can't think of a lot of them right now.

Thanks for all the info in the post there, good to know. :thumbs:

Wikipedia is your friend.

To be fair, I'm not seeing that info on most wikipedia pages. The Kiva page doesn't mention it means Fang for example, and the Gokaiger page doesn't mention the "five" or "sea" thing.

 

[KingRanger]

Kiva is Japanese for fang. So Kamen Rider Kiva is Masked Rider Fang translated.

Kiba is fang. Kiva is a combination/pun of the words kiba and vampire. Kiva.

 

[musashi03]

Taka - Hawk, Tora - Tiger, Batta - Grasshopper.

 

[Real Action]

Kiba is fang. Kiva is a combination/pun of the words kiba and vampire. Kiva.

That's what I get for replying on no sleep. Thanks, haha.

 

[RossoEagleBurst]

I heard that word "Gokai" in Gokaiger means "heroic."

 

[Real Action]

I heard that word "Gokai" in Gokaiger means "heroic."

Yup. There's also that pun.

While Go + Kai literally means Five Seas, Gokai itself can mean hearty or heroic.

 

[Dami-chan]

The Japanese do love their puns and double meanings ... I believe Den-O could also be "Electric King"; which is why all his attacks are... well, electric.

Also Go or more specifically Gou is the sound of an engine in Japan. (Gou Gou Sentai Boukenger, Go-Onger)