Detective Conan Wiki talk:Manual of Style

Opinion on the manual of style

I think this is a good setup. Chekhov MacGuffin ^talk 21:16, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Naming convention

The rationale behind the convention can be summarized as follows:

Pros:

• Following the standard and precedence set in Wikipedia regarding the anime and manga universes (or even in a more generic way), names are displayed in the order: First_Name Last_Name. Example: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Ichigo Kurosaki, etc...
• This is an English international wiki which aims at being as accessible as possible to a very broad audience and one of the main way of achieving this is by decreasing the possible levels of confusions that may arise. Following the first name/last name order makes it easier to understand for almost everyone (even to a Japanese audience). This may be one of the reasons Wikipedia also follows the same naming scheme.
• Most people, fans and readers know every or most characters on a first name basis and sometimes don't even know their last names. Giving priority to the first name in the name order makes it more reader-friendly.
• Since the creation of this wiki, 99% of names have been written this way (most often inspired by Wikipedia), setting a rule of "precedence".

Cons:

• In Japan, one's family name normally precedes one's first name and, depending on the context, one's last name is used to call him/her instead of his/her first name.

Difference between Plot Overview and Background

• Plot Overview should be written in Present Tense, Background in Past Tense, in order to differenciate them.

Categorizing Images

I think we have reached a critical point where we have enough pictures that categorizing them by type, episode/chapter, characters, etc. would be useful. I did a quick categorizing for five pictures shown below. Any input on the category names, what we should sort by, feasibility, etc?

• File:TV_Episode_226-227.jpg
• File:TV_Episode_225.jpg
• File:Mrsmorita.jpg
• File:Volume_4_File_039.jpg
• File:Volume_4_File_036.jpg
• File:Jirokichi never wins.png

In terms of priorities, I think stray images (not main episode image, not the people square images, not the crime infobox images, not character profiles) on pages would be the most important to categorize first because they are the most difficult to "find". Chekhov MacGuffin ^talk 02:44, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

Looking for a Consensus on Standard Romanization Procedure

Right, so I've noticed that we have very inconsistent romanization rules in use on the wiki as a whole, mostly stemming from names or words that use long vowel sounds. I'd like for all of us to reach a standard format of romanization to use throughout if at all possible.

Romanization that seems to have been established

• Use of katakana is not capitalized. It is written out in full. i.e. コナン is written "Konan" (in Japanese romanization sections only, such as in episode titles).
• If katakana usage is a foreign loan word, the katakana is written out in full; not translated. i.e. An Idol's Locked Room Murder Case's romanized title is written as "Aidoru Misshitsu Satsujin Jiken" instead of "Idol Misshitsu Satsujin Jiken".

Current problems/What still needs to be established

• Macron usage/lack of macron usage. Macrons are now being used for romanized Japanese titles but not currently within many other titles or Japanese lyrics sections.
• Inconsistent naming procedures. We typically write out Kaitō Kid as "Kaitou Kid" to establish the name difference between Kid and Kaito Kuroba and because this is usually the way we see written throughout the English language fandom. We have followed suit for many other names, but even these are inconsistent. We currently write "Mouri" and "Hondou" but not "Satou" which we currently have written as "Sato" and "Kudou" which we currently have written as "Kudo". All of these names in modified Hepburn romanization would use the ō macron in place of the "ou", but we've previously established disregarding macron usage in names (see Kaitou Kid example above). Do we write out the long vowels in names and correct pages accordingly, or do we change "ou" to simply "o" minus the macron? (i.e. "Mouri" would become "Mori", "Hondou" would become "Hondo".)

Examples of characters the contain long vowels in their names but are not currently listed that way:

Shinichi Kudo --> Shinichi Kudou

Yukiko Kudo --> Yukiko Kudou

Yusaku Kudo --> Yuusaku Kudou

Kazuha Toyama --> Kazuha Tooyama

Juzo Megure --> Juuzou Megure

Miwako Sato --> Miwako Satou

Ninzaburo Shiratori --> Ninzaburou Shiratori

Shintaro Chaki --> Shintarou Chaki

Heizo Hattori --> Heizou Hattori

Ginshiro Toyama --> Ginshirou Tooyama

There are many more than those I have just listed.

Opinions

skyechan's opinion:

Macron usage - Stick to adding macrons in Japanese romanization of titles and lyrics. Standard exception being the use of long i ("ii") which should continue to be written as "ii".

Naming procedures - With the exception of "Kaitou Kid" for reasons I explained earlier establishing the difference between Kid and Kaito Kuroba, I think we should make it a standard now to simply drop the extra long vowels. As you can see from the partial listing above, we have far more characters where we do not write out the long vowels than those we currently do. Our German counterparts currently use this method of romanization on their character pages. This in mind, we'd only need to change just a few names to match this standard (as opposed to writing out the long vowels and changing virtually everybody).

Ocianne's opinion:

Naming procedures - Isn't the short 'o', without either a macron or the following 'u', misleading? It changes the pronunciation of the name, which is part of why the 'u' is included in Kaitou Kid in the first place. If it's important enough to use with Kid, why not maintain it throughout the wiki? I would think consistency and accuracy should typically have a heavier weight than tradition.

Chekhov's opinion (copied from forum page of same issue):

Macron usage - Don't use macrons for anything that will be typed often, like names (i.e. Kudo, not Kudō). Macrons are annoying to type, so no one would ever use them. They are probably not worth it because it would force the very few users who patrol edits to constantly fix everyone else. Places where macrons should be used are lyrics (where correct pronunciation is really important to someone using the lyrics for say karaoke), and "proper spellings" which won't get retyped a lot.

Naming procedures - I don't there is a good solution to this. Standardization is forever going to battle habituated fan spelling. "Fan spelling" has the advantage of making names easier for outside users to search for. "Fan spelling" also cuts down on the amount of correcting necessary by patrollers. Out of deference of the sheer mass of current usage, it makes sense to drop the extra long vowels, except in a few cases. (See below)

Specifics - There are several cases where I think the drop extra long vowel rule is less beneficial

• Skyechan's aforementioned ii (as in Jii) to avoid the English short i sound, and Kaitou vs. Kaito
• Common usage outside DC: 1) Nee-chan, 2) Tohto (best) or Touto instead of Toto (Old term for Tokyo often used as a copyright avoidance euphemism - the h form seems most common last I looked)
• Mouri - A Gosho-acknowledged homage to Maurice LeBlanc, keeping the "u" reinforces the connection. It's also going to be the hardest name to get people on board with doing differently IMO, so this would save the trouble.

While I am here I would like to fish for an opinion on Jodie's aliasChekhov MacGuffin ^talk 22:37, 13 August 2012 (UTC)