Where the hell does her real name being "Vladilena" come from? Is it in the anime or something? I'm seeing it all over the English web and I cannot find a source for this thing, especially when her real name (which is decidedly different from Vladigoddamnlena) is explicitly stated in the light novel. Seriously, it's [citation needed] here.
Just something that's been bothering me on and off for months.
P.S. Baccano chapter incoming tonight. Probably.
edit: Thanks. Vladilena N. Vasilinov, eh? Okay, that's even dumber than I first surmised, because dropping your real name in front of the authorities after engaging in a completely avoidable firefight which you initiated, just to get out of a minor pinch, would defeat the whole purpose of having a code name in the first place. Balalaika is not that stupid. God damn.
I think it's the name she used to escape the Japanese Police in the manga, the one she is referred to by the Russian Embassy's staff? (I Think)
ReplyDeleteTv Tropes lists Balalaika's incident with Japanese law enforcement as a "Gaijin Smash", which sort of works. I think most people assumed that she used her own name in a blazing display of audacity, which is why it popped up in so many English-speaking sites. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, misinformation flourished.
ReplyDeleteI am really happy that it isn't Vladilena, though. I had picked Katya for her in my fic because she seemed to need a cutie-pie name to match the pig-tailed girl that she once was and to contrast the valkyrie that she has become.
Thanks for setting the record straight.
Vladilena is contraction of a Vladimir Ilych Lenin -that's the name which was coined in his honor as he was one of greatest men in Soviet history.
ReplyDeleteAs for Balalaika - it's sometimes used by Russian army personnel as a "nickname" for SVD sniper rifle. Vladilena used it in Afghan to mow down Taliban and was extremely good at it, which is also not a surprise because she was training marksmanship for olympics. That's why she's called Balalaika as somewhat it's her nom de guerre.