Nanami calls him Kyoichi in the first episode of the Akio arc.

^Yeah! You would think Touga would be the one to call him by his first name since they are "best friends" but no. Its Nanami who does. Not even Anthy calls him by his first name when she was engaged to him. Thats just strange and kinda sad. ._.;

Last edited by moo92 (12-10-2012 01:43:34 AM)

It's traditional to call kendo practitioners by their family name. Saionji is both a kendo practitioner and pretty traditional, so I don't find it odd at all that Touga calls him "Saionji" - in other anime I've seen the girlfriends of kendouka refer to them by their family names. I don't know if it's weird or not that Nanami uses his given name; it doesn't come across as odd to me, just ... like she's being familiar with him. Talking to him as a person, rather than just another council member. I don't know enough about Japanese culture to tell if she's being too familiar given the context, though.

Short answer: who cares, boy's a DV wanker.

Slightly longer answer: I think it's a case where good manners is used to cover up a serious social lack of respect. Saionji is the type to think that good manners- using polite forms of address- is the same as being held in good regard. He'd insist on it without realising that the very people who should be closest to him are using the formal address because they don't care enough for him as a friend, as opposed to them feeling comfortable enough to address him by his first name. He'd be so puffed up on his own hot air ego to insist on being called -san and -sama, and completely miss the eye rolls and the slow migration towards the exit. He reminds me very much of a high school 'friend' of mine, who'd start a fight over how offensive and disrespectful you were being when you disagreed with her about the weather. (And she wondered why no one was game to talk to her...) Basically, a terribly fragile ego and an utter lack of social skills and respect for others, throwing tantrums when someone bowed two centimetres too shallow.

I have noticed this before and I'd always put it down to this. I suspect that this is something a native Japanese speaker would be able to notice very quickly.