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In episode 5 - _Ami Kawashima_ , after Taiga's encounter with Ami after
school, Ryuji goes into Taiga's apartment later that evening to find out why
she hasn't come down to have tea. He finds Taiga curled up in her blankets
complaining about being short.

At one point she talks about [Sailor Mercury's
name](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGl3tBLewf0&t=18m27s) but I don't really
understand this. It could be because I grew up with the American English dub
of Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury's real name was Amy in that.

So I am wondering, what is Taiga talking about Sailor Mercury's and Ami's
names **and why is it a good thing they're similar?** (In comparison to her
other advantages mentioned, being taller and Kitamura's childhood friend.)


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sailor-moon toradora
What did the Sailor Moon reference mean?


In the Japanese version of sailor moon, Sailor Mercury's name was Ami Mizuno.
Sailor Mercury is reputed for being highly intelligent and outside of crime
fighting, she's very studious.

As to why Taiga is jealous of that - She's complaining about her own height
and "weird name" (It's not very common, and spurs her nickname of the "palmtop
tiger"), and envies Ami's tallness and name, which she shares with a well-
known and respected role model for many young girls.

I think this is mostly for comparisons sake, rather than Ami being a
particularly honourable name.


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Kawashima Ami, introduced in the 5th episode of _Toradora!_ , has the same
given name (first name) as Sailor Mercury's civilian form; not only is the
name the same pronunciation, but they share the same _kanji_ (Chinese
characters).

川嶋 亜美 (Kawashima Ami)

水野 亜美 (Mizuno Ami)

「川嶋」means "river" + "island," and「水野」means "water" + "field," so both have a
water theme and sound refreshing. 「亜美」is harder to translate, since「亜」is never
used alone (it can have a meaning of "sub-" but that is not the intended
meaning here). 「美」means beautiful, so it is a very well-liked _kanji_ for
girls' names and is highly-respected.

逢坂 大河 (Aisaka Taiga), in contrast, does not connote lovely images in the same
way.「逢」means "meeting" or "rendezvous" and 「坂」 means "slope" or "hill."
「大河」does have a water image, since it means "large river," but it also has
general associations in Japanse culture which do not conjure up the image of
refreshing water, such as [「大河ドラマ」](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiga_drama)(
_taiga dorama_ ), which are dramatic TV series set in a historical period, and
the phrase「大河小説」( _taiga shosetsu_ ), meaning a sequence of novels that carry
over a theme, a.k.a. [roman-
fleuve](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel_sequence). 「大」is not a terribly
common _kanji_ for girls' names since it means "big" or "large" (it does have
positive meanings, like in combinations for "great" or "serious"). Although
the main Japanese word for "tiger" is 「トラ」( _tora_ ),「タイガー」( _taigaa_ ) is
also possible (especially for names of sports teams such as the
[「阪神タイガース」](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanshin_Tigers) [ _Hanshin Taigaasu_
]), so her nickname may be a play on words.

Mizuno Ami and Sailor Mercury (ranked separately) have consistently [placed
high in character popularity
polls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_Mercury#Reception_and_influence).
She beat all other female anime characters for the #1 spot in _Animage_
magazine's May 1993 poll, so she is well-known for being intelligent (with a
[genius IQ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_Mercury#Profile)), enduringly
popular with male otaku, and generally well-liked. She is not considered tall
(among the original five sailor soldiers, Sailor Jupiter is known as being the
tall one, but she is later shorter comparatively to some of the outer solar
system soldiers and Starlights).


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