Ponyo:Why Does Sōsuke Call His Mother “Lisa”?

“Ponyo(Official Studio Ghibli)” is a 2008 animated feature film directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

I remember not having much of an impression the first time I saw it, but one fact I couldn’t ignore was that Sōsuke calls his mother by her name. And not just any name, but “Lisa,” without any honorifics.

This time, I want to explore the question, “Why does Sōsuke call his mother by her name?”

However, as a preliminary step, I think it’s necessary to clear up a misconception about Lisa. It seems there’s a tendency, influenced by the shocking situation of Lisa having her son call her by her name, to view her as a not-so-good, flawed parent. First, I want to establish the fact that Lisa is not that kind of parent; rather, she is an admirable parent and adult. Then, on that basis, I will consider the act of “calling a parent by their name.”

*This article is an English translation of the original Japanese article, “【崖の上のポニョ】宗介は何故母親をリサと呼び捨てにするのか？“

The Reason Sōsuke Calls His Mother Lisa by Name in “Ponyo”.

Lisa’s Admirable Actions in the Film

First, the simplest and most important point is that Lisa is essentially a single parent, with her husband rarely home, and on top of that, she also manages her job at the Himawari House.

At this point, any inclination to criticize Lisa’s situation vanishes; it’s clear she is quite admirable. But Lisa shows us even more wonderful sides of herself.

We see this clearly in the scenes after the typhoon caused by Ponyo’s return, when she temporarily goes home with Sōsuke from the Himawari House. Here’s a list of her actions:

Her decision to get back in the car, saying “Sōsuke, let’s go!” after getting out to look for Ponyo, is also cool (her situational judgment is accurate and quick). In any case, as a parent and an adult, Lisa naturally protects the children and tries to fulfill her professional responsibilities. If her husband, Kōichi, were there, things might have been different, but it’s a common theme in Miyazaki’s films that men are generally not very helpful.

However, there might be counterarguments. For example, the scene at the beginning of the story where Sōsuke puts Ponyo in a bucket full of tap water.

Some people criticize this, saying that since Sōsuke found Ponyo at the coast, a properly disciplined child would have put seawater in the bucket, not tap water.

But those who offer such criticism are either troublesome parents who believe they have taught their children everything, or fools who are not yet parents and believe they *could* teach everything.

Parents cannot teach everything, and children learn through various experiences the things that their parents couldn’t fully teach them.

In the scene where he puts Ponyo in tap water, he would have normally learned something from seeing a fish die from such an action (my apologies to the lost life).

There might also be dissatisfaction with her final decision.

In the end, Lisa made the decision to entrust the fate of the world to her own son. We don’t know what Granmamare said to her, but some might think it was too harsh.

However, this too was a difficult decision made precisely because Lisa is a responsible person.

Of course, Sōsuke is the most important thing to Lisa, and she probably tried to refuse Granmamare’s offer. But to protect Sōsuke, she must also protect the world he lives in. Moreover, tracing the cause of the world’s transformation leads back to Sōsuke himself bringing Ponyo into the human world.

If she could have, Lisa would have wanted to take that responsibility herself, but that’s not possible when only Sōsuke has the power to change the situation.

In such circumstances, wasn’t her decision to “live with the burden of making Sōsuke take responsibility”?

This is not something a bad parent who runs away from “responsibility” could do. It must have been a decision she could make because she is an admirable person.

This concludes the preparation regarding Lisa. Of course, there may be differing opinions, but I hope you can see that she is generally an admirable and cool person.

Sōsuke, the Cool Kid Who Calls His Mother Lisa

Finally, let’s talk about Sōsuke. To consider the fact that “Sōsuke calls his mother Lisa without honorifics,” one approach is to think about what it would mean if he didn’t.

In other words, let’s consider what it would imply if Sōsuke called Lisa “Mom” or “Mama.”

Of course, it would be “normal,” but being “normal” means a situation where a child is heavily dependent on the adults nearby, especially their mother in this case. For a five-year-old boy, that’s perfectly fine… but such a child could not protect Ponyo.

Conversely, it is precisely because he is a boy who calls his parents Lisa and Kōichi that he can protect Ponyo and set out in a boat to find Lisa after the great flood.

Family circumstances may also be a factor.

In this film, Sōsuke’s father, Kōichi, was completely absent. This might be because Kōichi is running away from his family, but it can also be seen as unavoidable due to his job as a sailor.

In a situation where it’s almost certain that mother and son will spend most of the year alone, the policy for raising Sōsuke is extremely important. I believe that what they prioritized most was Sōsuke’s independence.

And their wish has come to fruition beautifully; he has developed more than enough independence for a five-year-old boy and is growing into a fine young man who wisely tries to protect what is important to him.

Several times during the film, Sōsuke shows an extremely intelligent and dignified gaze. It is a beautiful gaze born from the wise upbringing by Lisa and Kōichi, and it seems to speak eloquently of the correctness of their educational policy.

Well, I think it’s a gaze that Lisa essentially nurtured.

This is basically everything I want to say in this article, but finally, I’d like to change the perspective a little and consider the reason Sōsuke calls his mother by her name.

An Indication of a Good Marital Relationship After All

Now, how do couples refer to each other before having children? Sometimes it’s by their names, and other times by unique nicknames.

However, as soon as a child is born, they often start calling each other “Dad, Mom” or “Papa, Mama.”

There are probably several reasons for this phenomenon, but a major one is to have the child recognize their father and mother as “Dad, Mom” or “Papa, Mama” and call them that.

Since a baby can’t speak yet, the person who speaks to the father most often in the family is the mother, and the person who speaks to the mother most often is the father (at least in a nuclear family).

If the parents call each other by their names or nicknames, the baby might recognize that as the correct term for that person.

But since the parents want to be called “Dad, Mom” or “Papa, Mama,” they avoid calling each other by names or nicknames, at least in front of the child, to prevent any strange discrepancies.

Furthermore, even after the child has grown to a certain extent, calling each other “Dad, Mom” or “Papa, Mama” can clarify their roles within the family and make things easier.

However, thinking about it the other way around, it would mean that Lisa and Kōichi have been calling each other by their names ever since Sōsuke was born. In the film, Lisa even uses the name “Kōichi” in front of Sōsuke.

This means they had a very good relationship, and they still do.

In the film, she expresses dissatisfaction with Kōichi for being absorbed in his work and not coming home, but that is also the flip side of her affection.

It is precisely because Sōsuke grew up healthily, receiving the love of such a close couple, that he could be the protagonist of this story.

Appendix: “Crayon Shin-chan” and “My Neighbor Totoro”

Can’t Help but Think of “Crayon Shin-chan”

When faced with the fact of “calling a parent by their first name without honorifics,” one can’t help but be reminded of “Crayon Shin-chan.”

Shinnosuke calls his mother “Misae” and his father “Hiroshi” (which, as mentioned above, also indicates that the couple has a good relationship).

So, is Shinnosuke a bad person? Not at all. He is a bundle of excellent independence and responsibility, trying to protect his little sister. As a result, the story of “Crayon Shin-chan” has become a work that serves as an antithesis to the negative connotations of the term “nuclear family” (regardless of the original author’s intent). In other words, it affirms the “nuclear family.”

From this perspective, isn’t it possible to see “Ponyo” as a counterpoint to “Crayon Shin-chan” (as a matter of outcome, of course)?

Sōsuke isn’t as goofy or playful as Shinnosuke. But he has the same level of independence.

It might seem like a strange way of looking at it, but I think the Sōsuke depicted in “Ponyo” can be seen, in effect, as a “Miyazaki version of Shinnosuke.”

“My Neighbor Totoro” and “Ponyo”

Another film that comes to mind when watching “Ponyo” is “My Neighbor Totoro.”

Both films strongly convey the enthusiasm of “wanting to show this to children,” and there’s even a scene in Ponyo where Lisa sings a line from the Totoro theme, “Watashi wa genki” (I’m fine).

But beyond that, these two works share the following common points.

Regarding the “dangerous situation,” Mei goes missing in “My Neighbor Totoro,” and Sōsuke is swept away by the waves in “Ponyo.” But what I want to say here is not that Ponyo is a rehash of Totoro, but that there is a common underlying theme in both works. Namely:

Children have very mysterious and important experiences when adults aren’t looking, but there is always danger involved.

That is the theme.

I myself have memories of playing dangerous games as a child, and perhaps being adjacent to danger is the essence of childhood. Unfortunately, I never got to meet Totoro or Ponyo. If I was going to face the same dangers, I would have liked to have a more mysterious experience.

Have any of you ever encountered a mysterious being?

The images used in this article are from the “Studio Ghibli Still Images” collection.