(Note: the kanji for zodiac figures
differs from the typical animal names.)
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Inō (いのう・異能) means superpower.
Shishi (しし・肉) means meat or flesh [of wild game such as boar].
Inoshishi (いのしし・猪) means wild boar.
Her name means “boar with superpowers” with an added suggestion that she dwells on matters of the flesh.
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Do (ど・怒) represents anger.
Doku (毒) means poison.
Tsuku (つく・突く) means to prick or to stab (or perhaps, to bite with a sharp fang); to strike; to attack at a weakness or by surprise.
Doggu (どっぐ) is how the English word “dog” is transliterated into Japanese.
His name means “mad dog that makes cunning use of his sharp fangs.”
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Niwa (にわ・庭) represents a partitioned space, most usually a garden or courtyard, but also a field or area of action: 家庭 for a household or 戦いの庭 for a battlefield.
Tori (とり・取り) means taking/claiming.
Tori (とり・鳥) means bird.
Niwatori (にわとり・鶏) means chicken.
The reference to gardens also ties into her favored weapon, a spading fork she calls Cockscomb.
Her name means, “chicken who claims the field.”
In Japanese, the character 酉 is gender-neutral.
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Sha (しゃ・砂) is a variant reading for sand.
Ryū (りゅう・粒) represents grains of a substance.
The combination sounds quite similar to saru (さる・猿), the word for monkey.
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Hitsu (ひつ・必) means certainty.
Jii (じい・爺) means old man.
Hitsuji (ひつじ・羊) means sheep.
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U (う・迂) represents a roundabout way or detour, as well as carelessness and ignorance.
The second character (々) is a shorthand representation for a repeated character, and is sometimes referred to as noma (のま), which is a homonym with a word for pasture-kept horse.
Ma (ま・真) represents truth, genuineness, and sincerity.
Uma (馬) means horse.
His name means “horse that is careless and naïve but earnest.”
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Tatsu (たつ・断つ) means to sever.
Tsumi (つみ・罪) means crime, wrongdoing; or punishment.
When combined they can be read as danzai (だんざい・断罪), which means judgment or conviction of a crime; or beheading.
Tatsu (たつ・辰) is also the word for the Dragon in the zodiac, while mi (み・巳) is the word for Snake in the zodiac; the two combined can be read as Dragon and Snake.
Tatsumi is also their family name Tsumita written in reverse.
Otōto (おとうと・弟) means younger brother.
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Same as above, but ani (あに・兄) means elder brother.
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Usa (うさ・憂さ) means gloom, melancholy, or lingering sadness.
Ki (き・城) means a walled-in fortress or keep. (When used in a compound the ki sound can become voiced: gi.)
Usagi (うさぎ・兔) means rabbit.
His name means “lonesome rabbit.”
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To (と・妬) represents envy or jealousy.
Ra (ら・良) represents good (in quality or nature), skilled, or kind.
Tora (とら・虎) means tiger.
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Ushinau (うしなう・失う) means to lose something (tangible or intangible) or someone; to fail.
I (い・井) means a well or waterhole.
Ushi (うし・牛) means cow, ox, or bull.
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Ne (ね・寝) means sleep.
Sumi (すみ・住み) means to reside or dwell in. (When used in a compound the su sound can become voiced: zu.)
Nezumi (ねずみ・鼠) means rat.
His name means “a rat that occupies the state of sleep.”