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The story
Actor Mackenyu Nitta (29) announced on October 31 via his Instagram Stories that he is changing his name to “Mackenyu Maeda.” His previous surname, “Nitta,” was reportedly just a stage name — his real surname is said to be “Maeda” — meaning the reading also shifts from “Nitta” to the actual “Maeda.” Commenters in the thread pointed out that the given name “Mackenyu” itself was apparently taken from a character he played in the drama “Chihayafuru.” Rather than focusing on the reasoning behind the change itself, discussion spread mainly around the oddity of his real name and its reading, along with his relationship to his father, Sonny Chiba, and his younger brother, Gordon Maeda.
Mackenyu Nitta Announces Name Change to “Mackenyu Maeda”: “Without Forgetting Where I Started, I’ll Keep Challenging Myself in My Own Way”
Actor Mackenyu Nitta (29) announced on the 31st, via his own Instagram Stories, that he is changing his name to “Mackenyu Maeda.”
In an “announcement” posted to his Instagram Stories, he wrote: “I have decided to change my name to ‘Mackenyu Maeda.’”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
I wonder which kanji is actually right, '前田' or '眞栄田'? (his brother uses the latter spelling for his own 'Maeda')
The stage name was taken from his character's name in Chihayafuru, but now that even Chihayafuru is fading from people's memory, explaining that backstory probably got old
Guess he's matching his brother, 'Maeda Gonzalez'? (riffing on his brother's nickname 'Gordon')
Same pattern as Saya Takagi, huh (the actress known for cycling through name changes)
It clears up both the weirdness of having a different surname from his brother, and the weirdness of writing it as 'Nitta' but reading it as 'Arata'
The older one hasn't quite broken through, so maybe that's why he's rebranding
Split the difference between what, exactly?
Don't people who keep changing their name over and over actually see their luck get worse?
Honda Minako. added a period to her name right before she got sick and passed away
Everyone involved is probably just thinking 'ugh, what a pain'
It's such a minor detail anyway
Honestly, just 'Mackenyu' and 'Gordon' would be enough on their own
People tend to mix this up, but 'Gordon' comes from another stage name Sonny Chiba used, which was itself based on an English name — whereas 'Mackenyu' was actually a name thought up in Japanese
Being able to pull off comedy too is a real strength
In Japan, maybe
Overseas, the older brother's still clearly bigger
Gordon's got a face a bit like Masayoshi Ozawa's — handsome in a way that blends into everyday life
His older brother's more of a doll-like pretty boy, so playing an ordinary person would probably be tough for him
Man, I wish I'd been born with a face like Gordon's
They've got that modern, soft kind of look, don't they
The dads were kind of intense, but
they had this charisma that
just pulled you along
What is it, I wonder
Maybe they just ate different food
Kind of like how Eita switched to the surname 'Nagayama' to match his brother
Except over there, the younger brother went off the rails before 'the Nagayama brothers' ever really caught on
With the Nagayama brothers, the one who seemed like he'd never do anything was the one who actually did something, while the one who seemed like trouble ended up being the one who got dragged into it, lol
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Mackenyu Nitta is the eldest son of actor Sonny Chiba, and his younger brother is Gordon Maeda (often just called “Gordon” in shows and elsewhere). In the thread, two pieces of information sat side by side: the explanation that the stage name “Mackenyu” came from a character he played in the drama “Chihayafuru,” and the fact that his real surname turns out to be “Maeda.” For readers unfamiliar with the backstory, that combination makes the name change itself look like it came out of nowhere, which is an easy point of confusion. In reality, this is more a matter of the reading shifting back from “Nitta Arata” toward “Maeda Mackenyu,” while the characters making up his stage name stay the same. The thread’s focus ended up drifting away from the reason for the change and toward comparing the two brothers as actors, with some arguing the younger brother is rated more highly domestically, and others countering that the older brother remains better known overseas. That brother comparison comes down to personal taste and is really a separate topic from the content of the name-change announcement itself, which is worth keeping in mind.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Mackenyu Nitta Announces Name Change to “Mackenyu Maeda”: “Without Forgetting Where I Started, I’ll Keep Challenging Myself in My Own Way”.”
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