>>55154558>three are arguably not 1:1 direct English matches but still make sense if you're not an absolute sperg and understand that Japan doesn't use linnaean classificationsIt's not even a language barrier issue. Cyndaquil can be debatably called a rodent but Fennekin is very definitively a fox, not a dog, and foxes and dogs have very distinct cultural associations not only in the west but also Japan and also most importantly China, where the Zodiac comes from. If anything the taxonomic argument would be the one to support Fennekin's inclusion because foxes and dogs are somewhat closely related despite human culture treating them very differently differently, but then that contradicts Cyndaquil who is included only because of folk tradition lumping any small mammal into "rodent" despite echidnas and mice being taxonomically very distant.
In other words you have to use a different standard for each. Cyndaquil may be close to a mouse culturally but it isn't scientifically, and Fennekin may be close to a dog scientifically but it isn't culturally.
