Deeper meaning of Moro Arc name puns

[Omori]

Hello everyone,

I made a little thread about the name puns on Twitter like two years ago, but feel like it needs a proper post on Kanzenshuu, since it's not really known information (also hasn't been confirmed yet, just putting things together which make sense ).

So, in the December 2013 VJUMP issue we learned not only about Toyotarou's birthday, but also that he is from Tochigi Prefecture (about 2 hours by train from Tokyo).



Why is that important? Well, many name puns of Moro and his henchmen seemingly have a connection Toyotaro's local area Tochigi, which is very interesting, since the Galactic Patrol Prisoner arc was seemingly "Toyotaro's own arc" (with Toriyama in a more consulting position).



First, the most obvious:
Moro and Saganbo
Both "Moro" and "Saganbo" refer to shark meat in local Tochigi dialect. Maybe also worth to know that Tochigi has no connection to the sea, so they get the meat from the fishing in Miyagi.

Miza, Iwaza and Kikaza (the three girls who later fuse)
Their names refer to the "three wise monkeys" (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) - which originates from a carving in the famous Tosho-gu shrine in Nikko, which is a famous touristic place in Tochigi Prefecture.


Shimorekka (the one which looks a bit similar to Beelzebub from "Sandland")
Probably based on "Shimotsukare" (しもつかれ), which is a dish in the Northern Kanto area and mainly served in Tochigi. It's made of salmon head, vegetables, soybeans, abura-age (or deep fried tofu skins) and sake kasu (酒粕, literally rice pulp from fermented sake).

Yunba (the bear-looking one)
The name is likely based on "Yuba", which is a food made from the tofu skin that forms of soy milk when it gets heated.
Which is again, famous in Tochigi and seemingly especially in Nikko.

Zauyogi (the guy who fought with Yamcha)
Of course, on the first look, his name is just based on Gyoza, which you get all around Japan. However, if you ask Japanese people for famous Gyoza regions you often hear the city "Utsunomiya" in Tochigi Prefecture. There's even an annual Gyoza festival and a Gyoza street.

For the other characters, some have a slight, but seemingly a way lower connection to Tochigi:

Yuzun is based on Yuzu (a citrus fruit), probably to fit the name puns of Zarbon's race. There was also a character called Yuzu in the game Geikishin Freeza with the same pun source. Yuzu is also harvested in Tochigi, much like in many other regions of Japan, so I wouldn't go as far as calling it a Tochigi-based pun, but the connection is still there though.

Bikkura Quoitur comes from びっくらこいた, which is "I'm surprised" in Hokkaido dialect, but seemingly also used elsewhere in North East Japan. Maybe a stretch to connect this one for Tochigi as well. For Seven-Three, I don't really see anything though, maybe road number in Utsunomiya
Edit: more about Seven-Three in post below.


Anyway, I hope you found this interesting and I'm curious about your thoughts.
Maybe there are even more connections in the arc I haven't noticed yet, so feel free to share that as well as I find this an interesting topic.

Thanks for reading

[Cipher]

While I knew about the name sources, I didn’t know Toyotaro was from Tochigi! The specific regional theming makes a lot more sense now. Great thread!

There’s also the tie-in to the Galactic Patrol’s seafood-based names, with Moro, Saganbo and Shimorekka.

[Omori]

Thank you The connection to Tochigi with Moro and Saganbo was clear quite early on (I think you also posted about it), but for me it clicked when I found this old interview Checking other name puns with that info, gives it a different perspective.

I think it's a really nice connection he incorporated there, I mean if I was in a position of writing such a story, I would probably do something similar to reference things from my region. Be it name puns or even dialect.

And true, these three also work with the seafood theme, which also fits in a way with an arc about the Galactic Patrol.

[Magnificent Ponta]

Cool topic, thanks for the info!

Is it possible that Toyotarou sometimes also takes design influence from certain landmarks in Tochigi?

It's admittedly not a Moro arc connection, but I was thinking particularly of Zuno's mansion, which in the manga has a totally different design to what we see for his abode in the anime. Perhaps the shrine takes inspiration from some of the features of the shrines of Nikkō? The red bridge made me think of the famous one, Shinkyō, at Futasaran Shrine, and the main building maybe looks a bit like the Yōmeimon of Tōshōgū, albeit less ornate?

[Omori]

Very interesting point I can imagine him doing this, but still looks a bit different I'd say.
Seems hard to point that exactly to Nikko I think, but wouldn't rule it out.
Still, would be cool if there are some other hidden gems like this

[Magnificent Ponta]

For Seven-Three, I don't really see anything though, maybe road number in Utsunomiya

I realise this is a trifle late, but just resolving this little extra question, in a way that dovetails very nicely with all the foregoing from OP:

A couple of weeks ago Toyotarou made an Instagram Post talking about Strawberries; the variety in question is "Tochi-Aika", a variety of Strawberry from Tochigi. Apparently, they're delicious.

Tochigi is Japan's largest producer of Strawberries and has a dedicated "Strawberry Research Institute" that actually developed the "Tochi-Aika" variety. This variety first shipped in 2020. As Toyotarou goes on to note in his post, before it became known as "Tochi-Aika", the variety was designated "Tochigi i37号(gō)". So, he explains, by reading "i37 gō" backwards, Toyotarou got OG73-i. So, it's another (and quite obscure!) Tochigi-derived pun. In turn, this all but confirms that the name of his creator (and creator of the OG soldiers), Goichi, is in turn a pun on the Japanese for Strawberry (Ichigo).

So all the Moro Goon names have a particular connection to Tochigi, with the exception of the two noted by OP - both Yuzun and Bikkura Quoitur having pre-existing 'template' characters setting 'rules' to base their particular name puns off of (respectively, Zarbon, from 朱欒 zabon, the Pomelo fruit, and Otta Magetta, from おっ魂消る ottamageru, "to be very surprised").

[Omori]

Wow, didn't see that post, thank you
One more mystery solved, fantastic. And that's probably the first Moro pun officially confirmed by Toyotaro, nice^^