Okay, with the new episode I just gotta talk some Chinese philosophy again.
First of all: haha, I was right, Kyo was the former gold star. Which pretty much confirms that Murasamemon is very much a tiger, leaning into the entire "White Tiger of the Western Road" thing. And we know that the Five Stars are based in the Chinese Five Elements. Which also explains why Kaito is so much of a rival towards Kyo and was probably the one who injured him, leaving the scar.
Because the Wuxin elements have a destructive and a generative cycle. There is the nice Wikipedia entry.
Fire creates/feeds the Earth (ash)
Wood carves the Earth (roots)
Earth obstructs Water (dams)
Metal cuts down Wood (Axes are made of metal)
So Kaito having destroyed Kyo and now being in a rivalry with Kanada makes sense. And I would assume that the elements and their meaning in Chinese philosophy also is going to influence who the characters are. And we find it also in their names.
(Note: Ah, it is annoying me so much that the anime only gives us Katakana for the first names of the characters, because normally the name signs also say so much. But more about that a bit later)
So, in terms of characters we have this kind of scenario here for the current five stars.
Something that should be noted first and foremost. Kyo's name. His name in Japanese is written 沢城キョウ. And his last name is actually not really linked to metal (you will see that this makes him somewhat an outlier in the Five Stars). 沢 when read as "sawa" is usually valley, or at times also a river in the mountains (one coming down towards the valley). Older readings as "taku" also can refer to it as "blessing". 城 is a castle or a fortress. Kyo could be written as 巨 (rarely read as riches, which would work with the entire metal thing), 許 (home, could fit with his family theme), 許 (super rarely used for Kyo as a standalone name, but could be read as forgiveness, I think?).
You could read this all though as a sign that he was never meant to be a member of the five stars.
And while I am on it, also want to talk about the name of Asuka in relation to Kyo.
I already noted in another blog before, that the last name 天馬 has super strong Buddhist connotations in Japanese. But his first name is more interesting. Asuka. Obviously, again, canonically we have only the Katakana for the name. Funnily enough Asuka usually is a girl's name, but Japanese is not that stern about this. And I am gonna take a lot of bets that he is written 明霞. Being read as "Morning Glow". Which for one connects to the entire Glowing Dawn thing, and the song with "Breaking the Dawn" in the evo song, but also because of Kyo as the Gold Star.
Because the element gold is associated with decay and the evening dusk in the Wuxian. So Asuka being the morning to Kyo's evening makes a whole lot of sense. (And yeah, it makes the shipping with the two of them more likely.) It is also what brought on this fic. Because, yeah, that makes sense.
So, Kutsuna Kaito is written as 忽那カイト. The last name... well, that one is weird. 忽 is "a moment", and 那 is usually the kanji used for NANI ("what") though it should also be noted that 忽 is written with 勿 (not) 心 (heart), which I feel might be a play in this particular reading here, with him being an asshole and all. Otherwise also, obviously, fire being a spark and all that is probably relating to the "moment".
His first name Kaito is somewhat interesting, because almost all writings of the name I know contain Kanji associated with water or the ocean. I mean, there are a lot of different writings of this name (it is a popular name), so it could be a ton of different things. But my first association with the name is always the ocean.
In Chinese philosophy fire is associated with the day, with heat (duh), the color red, and the Vermillion Bird (so zhuqiao, often translated as phoenix). it also is associated with Sovereignity, or even nobility and virtue, but also spontaneity (there again we see the name with the "moment"). Fire is also associated with restlessness, which is something Kaito's description hints at. It can be warm and creative, but also destructive.
Honoka is obviously interesting because she is into Kaito. But she is his destructive element. So she will very likely become a burden to him or somehow hinder him.
Her name 沙海ホノカ is made out of 沙 (sand) and 海 (ocean), which kinda draws the association of beach. Which makes a nice name for an ocean character. Honoka is a fairly popular girl's name, obviously the "ho" part could be written as 帆, which is a sail, and would fit with the entire ocean thing. Though I also could see a writing of the name with 佳 (ka) as "beauty".
Water in the Chinese philosophy is associated with night, the north, winter and generally cold weather. It is usually assocaited with intelligence and wisdom, and obviously flexibility. But is also is associated with being unable to make decisions. The virtue of water is seen as determination though. Obviously, the animal associated with it is xuan wu/genbu or the Black Tortoise.
I find it still very interesting with her and Kaito...
Okay, with Rose Woodville I do not need to do anything with the name, given it is an English name. lol So, yeah. A rose. Wood. And ville, like in place/village/town. Woohoo. That was easy!
Wood in the Wuxing philosophy is associated with spring, the east, wind and the azure dragon (qinglong/seiryuu). It is usually also associated with flexibility, but also strength (to this day a lot of homes in Asia are built from wood). It is also associated with generosity and idealism. It usually is associated with people who mind their manners and such, but also with people who become easily frustrated. Wood always seeks a way to expant, and will break any confinement. So yeah, this generally fits with "rich woman from a good family" rather well.
Again a fairly easy time with the name. Klay obviously is a play on Clay (which comes from the earth). And Arslan is Turkish name that can be translated as lion. Obviously this character also is supposed to be a rich person, given his entire thing with wrist watches and disliking used clothing. (That is a weird dislike too.) It also should be noted that he is so far the oldest character we ever saw with a Digimon partner. And his scars kinda give off the vibes of a battleworn veteran. Also, my dude is a giant with 2m in height.
Earth is a bit weird in regards to the association with season and times of day, as it is assocaited with late summer/early autumn and the rainy season, and windy/rainy days. The associated animal is normally the Qilin or the yellow dragon. Earth is associated with the virtue of diligence, and usually stability. It is nurtering, but also stubborn. But if the chi is there in excess it might also leed to greed or gluttony. Given his design I would argue that the entire greed thing will be his noticable flaw. We will see.
Genjo Kanada is the least subtle name from the Five Stars. He is written 金田ゲンジョウ. 金 is obviously metal like in the element. 田 is the sign for rice paddy, which almost always is the sign in last names when the associated syllable is "da". I think I remember reading that this in names is associated to feudalism. With his first name, Genjo, we again do not know the writing, but I assume they would be 彦将 (young general), considering his position).
As spoken about, metal is associated with autumn, dawn, and such things. Also decay and rot and death. Which... botes well.
On the positive side it is associated with focus and integrity, but on the negative side also rigidity and egoism. Usually the kind of person who refuses to get help (something we obviosuly also see in Kyo). It is usually also someone who is a leader and who is very intelligent. Often also associated with someone who is from a good home, or who worked hard to become rich/well off. My gut feeling is that there is something going to go on with Genjo beng the purer version of those attributes, both in good and in bad parts. But we will see. In the Chinese zodiac it also is assocaited with Monkey and Rooster, which is there the connection to Gokuwmon, I would argue.