Rabi-Ribi character names: What's the "correct" pronunciation?

What's the "correct" pronunciation of the Rabi-Ribi character names? I mean, what's the pronunciation that the developers intended? Here's the guess.

About the game Rabi-Ribi

Rabi-Ribi is a metroidvania game. See the official site for more. Except for its CGs, it's an excellent action game.

TL;DR: Conclusion first

English alternative
spelling
suggested
pronunciation
Japanese Romanized
Japanese
= Rōmaji
Traditional
Chinese
Erina   eh-ree-nah エリナ Erina 艾莉娜
Ribbon   (natural) リボン Ribon 莉波
(Ribi)   ree-bee リビ Ribi 哩比
Cocoa   (natural) ココア Kokoa 可可亞
Ashuri   ah-shoo-ree アシュリ Ashuri 艾希莉
Rita   ree-tah リタ Rita 麗塔
Kotri Kotori koh-toh-ree コトリ Kotori 可塔莉
Vanilla   (natural) バニラ Banira 香草
Chocolate   (natural) チョコレート Chokorēto 巧克力
Pandora   (natural) パンドラ Pandora 潘朵拉
Cicini   see-see-nee シシニ Shishini 茜茜莉
Syaro Sharo shah-roh シャロ Sharo 紗蘿
Nieve   nyeh-beh † ニエベ Niebe 拉涅
Nixie   (natural) ニクシー Nikushī 尼絲
Seana Shiina see-nah † シーナ Shīna 絲娜
Saya   sah-yah サヤ Saya 沙耶
Lilith   (natural) リリス Ririsu 莉莉絲
Aruraune   ah-roo-rah-oo-neh † アルルーナ Arurūna 曼陀蘿莉
Keke Bunny   keh-keh bunny ケケバニー Kekebanī 科科兔
Miru   mee-roo ミル Miru 咪露
Noah   (natural) ノア Noa 諾鴉
Miriam   (natural) ミリアム Miriamu 米莉亜姆
Rumi   roo-mee ルミ Rumi 露咪
Irisu   ee-ree-soo イリス Irisu 伊莉斯
Lilli   lee-lee リリ Riri 莉莉
Pixie   (natural) ピクシー Pikusī 比希
Skullo   N/A † クロちゃん Kuro-chan 骷蘿
Tako   tah-koh タコ Tako 小紫

Here "natural" means "same as the same spelling common / proper noun."

The rest names are pronounced like Rōmaji (Romanized Japanese), Italian or Spainish, with some exceptions. See below.

What to consider

Rabi-Ribi has unique, complicating features:

  • It was mostly developed by GemaYue, a Taiwanese.
  • This game shows a big love to Japanese culture.
  • Some characters' names have changed several times during its development.

Why Japanese matters?

You may wonder why the Japanese langauge comes in higher priority. But it's simple: the game title and the protagonists names are shown in Japanese! "ラビ・リビ" for Rabi-Ribi, and in the status screen, Erina and Ribbon's names are spelled "えりな" and "りぼん-ちゃん". ("ちゃん" is something like an honorific, but for children or younger people, showing affection.)

Also the currency is "en", obviously referring to Japanese Yen.

Chinese aspects

Since GemaYue is Taiwanese, you should respect the names in Chinese. Well, life is always complex.

"The" Chinese language has many dialects and historical complication is there, even when limited to the situation in Taiwan. In Rabi-Ribi, the traditional Chinese is in Taiwanese Mandarin. Accepting Mandarin pronunciation, the above pronunciations I suggest roughly agree with the Chinese names.

However, there's some discrepancy unique to the names in Chinese. For example 拉涅 = Nieve is pronounced lāniè.

"Natural" names

Vanilla and Pandora, for example, are words that exist independent of Rabi-Ribi. The Chinese spelling 潘朵拉 means Pandora in Greek mythology. 香草 means vanilla. (But its pronunciation is completely Chinese, xiāngcǎo.)

Per character notes

  • Nieve means "snow" in Spanish (related to the word Nevada), and pronounced like NYEH-beh in Spanish. This is unnatural for English, though.
  • Seana reads naturally "shaw-nah", but the spelling "Shiina", together with the Japanese and Chinese names suggest "see-nah".
  • Aruraune derives from the German word Alraune for mandrake.
    For some unknown reason, the Japanese name is Arurūna (アルルーナ), which comes from Alruna, a word cognate to Alraune.
    To nitpick, her Chinese name 曼陀蘿莉 is pronounced mandaluoli, but 曼陀羅 means Datura, a poisonous, yet unrelated plant, in the modern nomenclature.

Miscellaneous notes:

  • Skullo's name differs completely from the Japanese form, Kuro-chan.
  • Tako means octopus in Japanese. I don't know why it's 小紫 (small purple) in Chinese.