After skimming Episode 4 she says that she found her life in Japan 'Boring' and jumped at the chance to come to America. Came to Jasper and was actually briefly considering going back to Japan because Jasper was also boring: "Piano lessons were starting to sound pretty good to me..." but then she met the TFs and decided to stay.

So really, it's just chance.

But I am pretty sure they will use it to their advantage someday in the story.

 

I'm pretty sure Raf is hispanic. In the first episode when he recieves a call from his mother, he calls her 'mama', as opposed to saying 'mom' (latter of which is favored by most 'white American' kids - such as Jack). Moreover, his full name is Rafael Esquivel, which has a decidedly 'hispanic' ring to it. This is all speculation based on stereotype though - it's equally plausible that Raf is white as paper, and just so happens to have assumed a 'hispanic' surname -- but the whole 'Miko isn't acting Japanese' is also based on stereotype, so . . .

Also, 'Ding Dong' isn't very 'Japanese' -- in katakana, it would either be written as 'Din Don' or Dingu Dongu', due to the nature of their writing system. Japanese words end either in 'n' or a vowel, due to the nature of the language and the writing system, so 'Ding Dong' is . . . an odd choice for a pet's name, if the writers' had been aiming to assign them traditional Japanese names.

a;lsdfj

 

okay people, seriously? we were flat out told at comic con in 2010 that the concept for miko was she was basically A REVERSE OTAKU! she was japanese who really loved the american culture, like rock and roll and all

it is flat out obvious she is basically a reverse otaku, i can't believe people didn't realize that

nothing racist about her at all sheesh

 

Basically Miko is the complete reverse of a generic Deviantart user.

Except she still draws like shit!

 

Ding Dong is Japanese for, essentially, dick. I think Chi Chi means chest or something.

THIS!!!

 

Growing up in south eastern USA (Mississippi in particular) mama is normal to call our mothers. I and my sister still call our mother mama on occasion.

I have noticed the further north (I've lived in Virginia as well) you go the more Mom is used instead of mama - I'm not sure about west however.

 

I just want to note that I'm not sure on the Mama thing but I also got the impression Raf was Hispanic.

 

Well, not all of us go to Comicons or even know what's said during them. I get that she's a reverse otaku, though.

 

Those names don't really bother me. In China, lots of people have strange "English names" ranging from "No-no" to "Frog." I don't think they have names quite as...odd, as that, but I don't think the writers were really worried about giving the cats authentic names. Ding Dong and Chi Chi seem fine to me. Just like Rex or Killer.

 

in the 90's it was latinas. nowadays its asian fever. get used to it. who knows what the white peeps' media are cooking up in another decade.

 

I have the feeling you are a bit too sensitive in America when it comes to racism. Or you just put too much thought in everything.

 

^

probably a dude from white suburbia. afraid to even call a black dude a black dude. probably thinks way too pc when it comes to the colour of other skin. i've met peeps like that. they need to chill a bit.

maybe i'm wrong. maybe he's a brown man like me.

 

I find her spanish accent to be rather distracting considering she's supposed to be japanese.

 

It sounded more like a Filipino accent to me.

 

^

you can tell if they're flip with the Fs and Ps and Vs and Bs.

ie. four become Por or Five becomes Pibe. that's the heavy one though. lol

i didn't get any flip accent from Miko though.

this explains the accent being close to a flip accent but that doesn't mean anything at all.

anyway, media and their ways = boring.

 

Oddly the Hispanic accent is pretty close to the Japanese one at least linguistically, especially in a native speaker trying to sound less "Japanese".

Oh and Chi Chi means tits in Mexican Spanish, not really sure about Ding Dong though.

 

Miko's fluency in English could be explained by her good education. She mentioned in the DR eps. that she "went to the best schools" when she was talking about her background in Japan. She could have gone to some kind of international school that taught in English.

And now that some of you bring it up, there might well be a reason for the fact that she's an exchange student as opposed to, say, just being from a Japanese family living in America. Looks like for some reason, the creators wanted to emphasise her as a foreigner and keep a closer connection to Japan in her from that fact. Fingers crossed that there'll be a future ep. set in Japan! I wonder tho', what happens when Miko eventually needs to return home to Japan?

 

what if she's from japan, but she's not, "japanese" race wise?

ever thought of that?

there are people living IN japan, who are not japanese i mean.

 

albinos!!!

 

I have to wonder though what's the use of Miko's character being Japanese if she doesn't bring anything new to the table; she doesn't show an Asian or Japanese point of view and doesn't even give a glimpse to their culture.

The same goes for Raf, from where did his family come from any way? I think his family name is Esquivel or some thing like that. It sounds Spanish or mexican. But he doesn't seem to add anything about his family's culture in the show.

Its not a deal breaker, but its a shame that they aren't making use of the distinct cultures of the humans.

I mean, would it be so bad if Miko introduces the autobots, particularly Bulkhead to anime, samurai, sushi and other things of Japanese origins.

Or would it be so bad if Raf introduced the autobots, particularly Bee to Spanish culture such as Spanish dances, love for soccer etc. Maybe he can teach Bee to play the guitar.