Another point of ambiguity in the DIC dub:
Is Darien's real name Darien?
In episode 34 (
The Sparkling Silver Crystal! The Moon Princess Appears!), Mamoru tells Usagi why he's interested in the Rainbow Crystals:
Mamoru: I just wanted to recall my past.
Usagi: Eh?
Mamoru: Because, in order to get my memories back, I have to collect the Rainbow Crystals, and get a hold of the Legendary Silver Crystal.
Usagi: (thinking) He even knows about the Silver Crystal.
Mamoru: My parents were killed in a car accident when I was six.
Doctor: I'm sorry, but it was too late for the couple. But their only son, Mamoru, has miraculously survived.
Young Mamoru: Who am I? I don't know. Who... am I?
In the dub version (
A Crystal Clear Destiny), the dialog is a bit different:
Darien: I want to know who I am.
Serena: Huh?
Darien: You see, my whole life, I've never known who I really am or where I come from. I mean, I'm not even sure my real name is Darien. I was orphaned in a terrible car crash when I was really young.
Doctor: Complete amnesia. No memory whatsoever. And he doesn't have any known relatives, so we'd better arrange for an orphanage.
Young Darien: Who am I? I don't remember. Darien? Darien... Is that my name?
In the original, Mamoru wants the Rainbow Crystals/Silver Crystal so he can get back his memories of his past (i.e. his childhood memories, but he probably also has a vague awareness of having other lost memories).
In the dub, however, he expresses more of a determination in resolving his identity crisis than in just regaining some nebulous memories. The dub emphasizes his total amnesia; he not only has
no memory of where he came from, he's not even sure Darien is his real name. In the Japanese, the doctors matter-of-factly call him Mamoru, so there's no question of that being his real name; that's not the case in the dub. In fact, in the dub, the doctors say nothing about his parents or the car accident, just that he has complete amnesia and no known relatives.
So... Is "Darien" his real name? Or did that name just flash through his head, a fleeting memory from his past life, that he then decided to use due to being a John Doe? Some fans have complained about the "coincidence" of Darien and Serena having the same names as they had in their past lives, but maybe in Darien's case at least, that's not what happened. Maybe he's just literally using (unaware) his past life name?
And what if Darien wasn't even an orphan? He says he doesn't know where he came from... Maybe he just came directly from the past, reborn as a little boy without any actual present life parents. (See: Hotaru, possibly Setsuna?) Maybe he was found wandering around without any memories, and after a search for family turned up nothing, he was sent to an orphanage. Maybe his memory of losing his parents in a car crash was just a false/implanted memory.