Ask John: What do “Hachan” and Echan” Mean?

Question:
Why does Excel call Hyatt “Hachan?” It seems to be some sort of nickname but at one point Excel refers to herself as “Echan.”

Answer:
As you’ve guessed, Excel’s “Hachan” is a pet name for Hyatt. Part of the confusion over these names lies in AD Vision’s subtitles, which arguably aren’t quite as clear as they could have been. At least some viewers would probably have found the spellings “Ha-chan” and “E-chan” a bit more revealing. Excel is simply adding the Japanese linguistic honorific “-chan” to the end of Hyatt’s name then abbreviating Hyatt’s name (Japanese love to shorten and condense words whenever possible) to just “Ha.” In effect, “Hachan” is short for “Hyatt-chan” and “Echan” is short for “Excel-chan.”

The honorific “-chan” is added to the names of young children. It implies characteristics of cute, small, and innocent. In normal circumstances, Hyatt is too old to be appropriately addressed with the honorific “-chan.” People generally seem to grow out of “-chan” around the early teen years, at which time “-chan” is substituted with a more intermediate or adult appropriate honorific like “-kun” or “-san.” Excel uses “-chan” to refer to Hyatt to express close familiarity and to imply that Hyatt, in certain respects, is like a baby that needs to be watched over and cared for. In proper Japanese, honorifics are never added to one’s own name, but Excel likewise adds a “-chan” to her own name to express herself as harmless and adorable.

For a more extensive analysis of Japanese honorifics, read this Ask John article.