#joie

Joie (ジョア)

Joie's name is often spelled 'Joa' in fan-translations. Because it's actually pronounced joe-ah in the anime (that Katakana is "jyo + a"). So why spell it Joie?

Well, jyoa is the Japanese pronunciation of what it should be. It's meant to be pronounced /ʒwa/, because 'Joie' is the French word for 'joy'. (Thank Acacia for the Canadian education system)

Now, it's easy to chalk it all up to 'he looks like a jester' or possibly that he's a mockery of the joy that should've been felt when Froese was 'revived'. But it goes deeper than that when we take a look at Froese herself...

Froese (フローゼ)

This struck me as really, really weird because Froese is an actual surname... but the origin is actually German. But hey, if Shimabukuro was willing to whack out the French dictionary for Joie, why not?

I can't find a reputable source on this, but it seems that the origin of the surname Froese (in the real world) is commonly believed to be from Old German meaning 'joyful' or 'cheerful'.

Wait, go back. Joyful.

Joyful. Joy. Joie.

Teppei (鉄平)

This is... an actual Japanese name. The first Kanji in his name means 'iron', like the element.

The second Kanji in his name... well... this is a little odd. If you look it up, the definition will come up as 'flattened', which is true. But it can also mean something mediocre/common, or a person of a low-rank (novice, freshman, etc).