By Any Other Name...

Wait a minute, what's her name again? Is it Marller, Marla, or Mara? Mara's name is currently written and translated no less than three different ways, between the manga and the Mini-Goddess anime. Hopefully this page will help clear up some of the confusion about Mara's name. I also use this page to explain why I stick with the name Mara on this website, instead of Marller or Marla or whatever.

Marller: The Technically Correct Name

1. It's the name that Kosuke Fujishima intended.

Written in the manga.
In the original Japanese manga, she is named Marller. You can see the name "Marller" written on illustrations like this one and this one, and in the Ah! My Goddess Collection guidebook.

Written in the Mini-Goddess anime.
It should also be noted that in the ending credits of some Mini-Goddess episodes, all of the credits are romanized, and the demon's name is written as Marller. However, the romanized credits only appear at the end of a few special episodes (like the 2-part episode "Chu Hard," in which Mara first appears).

Written in the television anime.
Also, in the 2005-2006 TV anime series, "Marller" is used as the correct name for this character. You can see "Marller" written on official images from the anime, such as images that I've ripped from the anime series homepage: here and here.

2. Phonetic evidence from Japanese.

In the original manga, Marller's name is not often written out in romanized letters. Her name is usually written with the katakana characters , which, transliterated, is Ma-ra-. However, one common convention of katakana is that the the r+following consonent combination in other languages is represented by a long proceeding vowel in katakana, making it look like the r is missing (but it's not). For example:

Therefore "Marller" is a perfectly legitimate extrapolation from Ma-ra-. Also, when you listen to other character in the Mini-Goddess or television anime pronounce Marller's name, you can hear the extra r in there: it sounds like they're saying "Ma-rla".

In conclusion: Her name is Marller.

As far as I've been able to find out, Marller is not a name shared by any gods or demons in Norse mythology, nor any other body of folklore or mythology, for that matter. I do wonder why Kosuke Fujishima chose to name her Marller. There's some speculation about this posted here.

Mara: A Name with a Legitimate Basis

Studio Proteus decided to translate this name as Mara in their English translations of the manga. It's easy to see how they got Mara from . At the time, Kosuke Fujishima had never written the name "Marller" anywhere, and the translators couldn't have possibly known about "Marller". Also, Mara is a name with mythological significance across many cultures, so it would only seem natural that, when the translators first had to make a guess about how to romanize , they would choose "Mara".

As previously noted, Mara is a name with much mythological significance. For more information about Mara, please read here.

Since Mara is the name used in the English translations, it follows that Mara is the name that most English-speaking fans are most familiar with, and the name most commonly used on English-language websites.

Marla: Catering to Bad Japanese Pronunciation

Throwing both consistency and common sense to the winds, Pioneer has translated this character's name as "Marla" in their bilingual editions of the Adventures of Mini-Goddess DVDs. As much as I think that Marla is actually a quite pretty name, it really is a random, arbitrary, and meaningless change. Also, it seems strange to see "Marla" written in the subtitles of certain episodes, when the name "Marller" clearly appears in the ending credits.

Okay, on second thought, I can see some justification for this change. Listening to the Japanese voices in the anime, it sounds like the other character are pronouncing her name as "Marla." Or at least, it does to an English speaker like me. Maybe Pioneer was just trying to spell her name the way that it's pronounced in Japanese. See the above section "Phonetic evidence from Japanese" for more information.

Conclusion: Why stick with Mara?

Personal preference.
I've read all of the Oh My Goddess! manga in Japanese, but I was first introduced to it by the English editions published by Dark Horse. So my first exposure was to "Mara," and first impressions are kinda hard to shake. So I'm used to thinking of this character as named Mara. I'm used to reading "Mara," and I'm used to writing "Mara."

Common practice.
Furthermore, like I said above, Mara is the name most commonly used on English-language websites, and Mara is the name that most English-speaking fans of the series are most familiar with.

Mythological basis.
It's been suggested that "Mara" really IS the true intended name for this character, and that "Marller" may have been a result of Kosuke Fujishima's "creative mispellings." It's kind of the same way that Kosuke Fujishima got Belldandy from Verthandi. Now am I going to sit here and say that "Verthandi" is a more correct spelling than "Belldandy"? No, because years of acceptability and fan opinion would be against me. Does that make me hypocritical for sticking with "Mara" over "Marller" for exactly that reason? Yes, I suppose that it does. ;) But like I said, it's just a matter of personal preference. Verthandi or Belldandy, Mara or Marller, whatever. We all know who you're talking about in the end.

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	By Any Other Name... Wait a minute, what's her name again? Is it Marller, Marla, or Mara? Mara's name is currently written and translated no less than three different ways, between the manga and the Mini-Goddess anime. Hopefully this page will help clear up some of the confusion about Mara's name. I also use this page to explain why I stick with the name Mara on this website, instead of Marller or Marla or whatever. Marller: The Technically Correct Name 1. It's the name that Kosuke Fujishima intended. Written in the manga. In the original Japanese manga, she is named Marller. You can see the name "Marller" written on illustrations like this one and this one, and in the Ah! My Goddess Collection guidebook. *Written in the Mini-Goddess* anime.** It should also be noted that in the ending credits of some Mini-Goddess episodes, all of the credits are romanized, and the demon's name is written as Marller. However, the romanized credits only appear at the end of a few special episodes (like the 2-part episode "Chu Hard," in which Mara first appears). Written in the television anime. Also, in the 2005-2006 TV anime series, "Marller" is used as the correct name for this character. You can see "Marller" written on official images from the anime, such as images that I've ripped from the anime series homepage: here and here. 2. Phonetic evidence from Japanese. In the original manga, Marller's name is not often written out in romanized letters. Her name is usually written with the katakana characters , which, transliterated, is Ma-ra-. However, one common convention of katakana is that the the r+following consonent combination in other languages is represented by a long proceeding vowel in katakana, making it look like the r is missing (but it's not). For example: Therefore "Marller" is a perfectly legitimate extrapolation from Ma-ra-. Also, when you listen to other character in the Mini-Goddess or television anime pronounce Marller's name, you can hear the extra r in there: it sounds like they're saying "Ma-rla". In conclusion: Her name is Marller. As far as I've been able to find out, Marller is not a name shared by any gods or demons in Norse mythology, nor any other body of folklore or mythology, for that matter. I do wonder why Kosuke Fujishima chose to name her Marller. There's some speculation about this posted here. Mara: A Name with a Legitimate Basis Studio Proteus decided to translate this name as Mara in their English translations of the manga. It's easy to see how they got Mara from . At the time, Kosuke Fujishima had never written the name "Marller" anywhere, and the translators couldn't have possibly known about "Marller". Also, Mara is a name with mythological significance across many cultures, so it would only seem natural that, when the translators first had to make a guess about how to romanize , they would choose "Mara". As previously noted, Mara is a name with much mythological significance. For more information about Mara, please read here. Since Mara is the name used in the English translations, it follows that Mara is the name that most English-speaking fans are most familiar with, and the name most commonly used on English-language websites. Marla: Catering to Bad Japanese Pronunciation Throwing both consistency and common sense to the winds, Pioneer has translated this character's name as "Marla" in their bilingual editions of the Adventures of Mini-Goddess DVDs. As much as I think that Marla is actually a quite pretty name, it really is a random, arbitrary, and meaningless change. Also, it seems strange to see "Marla" written in the subtitles of certain episodes, when the name "Marller" clearly appears in the ending credits. Okay, on second thought, I can see some justification for this change. Listening to the Japanese voices in the anime, it sounds like the other character are pronouncing her name as "Marla." Or at least, it does to an English speaker like me. Maybe Pioneer was just trying to spell her name the way that it's pronounced in Japanese. See the above section "Phonetic evidence from Japanese" for more information. Conclusion: Why stick with Mara? Personal preference. I've read all of the Oh My Goddess! manga in Japanese, but I was first introduced to it by the English editions published by Dark Horse. So my first exposure was to "Mara," and first impressions are kinda hard to shake. So I'm used to thinking of this character as named Mara. I'm used to reading "Mara," and I'm used to writing "Mara." Common practice. Furthermore, like I said above, Mara is the name most commonly used on English-language websites, and Mara is the name that most English-speaking fans of the series are most familiar with. Mythological basis. It's been suggested that "Mara" really IS the true intended name for this character, and that "Marller" may have been a result of Kosuke Fujishima's "creative mispellings." It's kind of the same way that Kosuke Fujishima got Belldandy from Verthandi. Now am I going to sit here and say that "Verthandi" is a more correct spelling than "Belldandy"? No, because years of acceptability and fan opinion would be against me. Does that make me hypocritical for sticking with "Mara" over "Marller" for exactly that reason? Yes, I suppose that it does. ;) But like I said, it's just a matter of personal preference. Verthandi or Belldandy, Mara or Marller, whatever. We all know who you're talking about in the end. << Home