When it comes to YST/RW fanfiction nowaydays I honestly don’t care if the author mixes or matches information between the Japanese and North American versions. It’s up to the author what they want to do with their stories and characters. I just won’t read fics that constantly jumble terminology. I also won’t read YST/RW fanfics that misuse the Japanese language by smashing words like “nani” or “kawaii” into English sentences because I think it’s just sloppy. You either have the characters speak Japanese or English... But this is another rant all together and yes, I’m aware I do the same in my own fanfiction but I’m eventually going to fix them. Honest!

What bothers me the most about the mixing and matching of YST/RW information is when people do this while attempting to write up biographies concerning the characters. For instance, in Ronin Warriors, since when is Rowen’s last name Hashiba? Or since when are his parents divorced? In Samurai Troopers, it is stated by Sunrise (the creators of YST) that Touma’s family name is indeed Hashiba and that his parents are divorced. When it comes to the North American dub, we don’t know the characters’ backgrounds. You’d be wrong to claim that Seiji’s North American counterpart, Sage, is 14 years old and comes from a very traditional Japanese household. The backs of the Ronin Warriors action figures are the closest things to come as “official” information concerning the RW cast. If you look on the back of Sage of the Halo’s box, it’ll state that he is 16 years old; and we don’t know anything about Sage’s family background.

Until those who’ve bought the rights to Ronin Warriors come out with actual statements about the characters and their backgrounds, then it wouldn’t be correct to put YST information with RW. While they are the same series, they are in two different languages where the characters have different personalities. In fanfiction, hey, you do whatever you want. Doujinshi ranges from sticking to the original anime plot to having the Troopers fall in love with each other, travel to outer space, become samurai warriors during the ancient Japanese period, or whatever. But when it comes to official information, don’t mash YST and RW together unless you plan on writing on BOTH the Japanese and North American versions of a particular character.