What's so bad about 'Bulla?'

[VegettoEX]

I didnt know people made a big deal out of this

C'mon y'all, can we please at least give the last few responses a read before dropping some thoughts in? I understand that you might not be willing to read an entire three or four pages worth of material, but at least just the last page?

I don't know how many times it's worth saying "No-one is getting worked up" or, worse yet, re-explaining the entire premise all over again.

[precita]

Why was Karin changed to Korin in the dub? My only guess is Karin sounds too feminine (similar to the name Karen for a girl in real life), but Korin is more masculine, or something.

[SansrivaaL]

I didnt know people made a big deal out of this

C'mon y'all, can we please at least give the last few responses a read before dropping some thoughts in? I understand that you might not be willing to read an entire three or four pages worth of material, but at least just the last page?

I don't know how many times it's worth saying "No-one is getting worked up" or, worse yet, re-explaining the entire premise all over again.

My apologies, I usually comment on something that I read in the OP and what comes after, I read someone say its somewhat "obnoxious" that they change the names and it reached 3 pages so I thought people made a big deal out of this, I did have some thoughts that I too do the same mistake and that Bra and Bulla in terms of DB the same character should come to mind other than just spouting out the one liner "people made a big deal out of this?"

[Bajosexto]

The main problem I have with Bulla is that it is yet another FUNi dub change that divides the fandom. You have sub vs dub, Kikuchi vs Faulconer, and recently thanks to Toei's dbs subs, Bra vs Bulla. The name it self isn't that bad. Could of been worst. She could have been called Lena or something.

FUNi should have keep her as Bra on the home release and Bulla on the TV version. But even if they had done this, I'm sure some fans would still called her Bulla. Just like there's still fans who call Mr. Satan, "Hercule". That still wouldn't have solve the problem entirely.

[Puto]

I feel I need to bring this up...

FUNimation didn't invent the name Bulla.

The Portuguese dub of GT, done way back in 1998, used Bulla (and in one instance even mispronounced it as Bulula). This leads me to suspect this name spelling came from a Toei provided English script and FUNi just didn't question it.

While this is interesting, and I'd love to know whether that's the case, I'm not sure it changes the conversation much. By 2003, FUNimation had been working with Steve Simmons for years, and would have been well aware, through the series' internet presence, of accepted character names, terminology, etc. I'm not horribly inclined to believe the name "Bra" escaped them. They were much less reliant on Toei's international materials than they would have been in, say, 1996.

The impetus for the Bra/Bulla thing might be worth asking Chris Sabat about the next time he's at a panel. I'm not sure he was the one in a position to call shots on it at the time, but he's deeply involved in the process now and is generally forthcoming with answers.

A couple episode titles and name adaptations make me think that they WERE relying on Toei translations even as late as GT, despite Simmons doing translations for the DVDs. A specific example is this episode title:

Simmons translation: Valor!! Baby and Goku's Double-KO!!
Toei-provided "translation" (as seen on Polish TV on-screen text): Old Kaioh's last and choicest resort!
FUNimation dub title: Old Kai's Last Stand

[Sailor Haumea]

Why was Karin changed to Korin in the dub? My only guess is Karin sounds too feminine (similar to the name Karen for a girl in real life), but Korin is more masculine, or something.

I think in this case it may have been to preserve the pun (Korin sounds like corn, while Karin doesn't).

[VegettoEX]

Why was Karin changed to Korin in the dub? My only guess is Karin sounds too feminine (similar to the name Karen for a girl in real life), but Korin is more masculine, or something.

I think in this case it may have been to preserve the pun (Korin sounds like corn, while Karin doesn't).

But that's not the pun. His name comes from karintō (花林糖), a snack food. The full pun gets used on カリン塔 Karin-tō, or "Karin Tower".

I don't believe the "made up a new pun on corn" for him, the same way I don't believe the "made up a new pun on turnip" for "Turles".

[Sailor Haumea]

Why was Karin changed to Korin in the dub? My only guess is Karin sounds too feminine (similar to the name Karen for a girl in real life), but Korin is more masculine, or something.

I think in this case it may have been to preserve the pun (Korin sounds like corn, while Karin doesn't).

But that's not the pun. His name comes from karintō (花林糖), a snack food. The full pun gets used on カリン塔 Karin-tō, or "Karin Tower".

I don't believe the "made up a new pun on corn" for him, the same way I don't believe the "made up a new pun on turnip" for "Turles".

Okay, this was an actual mistake on my part. I didn't even know karintō was a thing.

[precita]

So why does nobody make a big deal out of Korin then? I've never seen people harp on it like they did with Hercule or Tien, or now with Bulla.

[Cipher]

A couple episode titles and name adaptations make me think that they WERE relying on Toei translations even as late as GT, despite Simmons doing translations for the DVDs. A specific example is this episode title:

Simmons translation: Valor!! Baby and Goku's Double-KO!!
Toei-provided "translation" (as seen on Polish TV on-screen text): Old Kaioh's last and choicest resort!
FUNimation dub title: Old Kai's Last Stand

Damn. You're dropping so many interesting, compelling nuggets of information this week.

You might be right.

[VegettoEX]

So why does nobody make a big deal out of Korin then? I've never seen people harp on it like they did with Hercule or Tien, or now with Bulla.

Plenty of us did/have when appropriate. But, like with Bra, he so rarely shows up and is so rarely mentioned by the "I never watched Dragon Ball" crowd, that we pretty much just live in our own little world of calling him Karin and never have to think twice about it.

[Cipher]

So why does nobody make a big deal out of Korin then? I've never seen people harp on it like they did with Hercule or Tien, or now with Bulla.

Korin is without a doubt a dumb, baffling change, but I feel like you may have missed the conversation just one page back about the unfortunate implications of the possible "censorship" surrounding "Bulla," and really the larger gender dynamics behind that, which isn't present in the "Karin" to "Korin" alteration.

That is, unless Puto is on the right track with it being a thoughtless change drawing from Toei's international materials. I think the real answer lies somewhere in between.

Anyway, seeing "Bulla" show up again in subtitles this week was just a chance to revisit all of that.

[Chuquita]

Why was Tenshinhan called Tien in the Funi dub? Did they think his real name was too long?

[Sailor Haumea]

Why was Tenshinhan called Tien in the Funi dub? Did they think his real name was too long?

They call him "Tien Shinhan", so...fuck if I know.

[Chuquita]

I don't remember when they went from Tien to Tien shin han. Kai? The ultimate uncuts? Their dub of the original series? It was strange because it was some halfway spot in between his dub and real name.

[huzaifa_ahmed]

I don't remember when they went from Tien to Tien shin han. Kai? The ultimate uncuts? Their dub of the original series? It was strange because it was some halfway spot in between his dub and real name.

It was always Tien Shinhan. Just shortened to "Tien" because it's easier for lip-sync.

[Zephyr]

That is, unless Puto is on the right track with it being a thoughtless change drawing from Toei's international materials. I think the real answer lies somewhere in between.

I think it definitely is. Censorship had to have something to do with it, even if not everything to do with it, if this interview is anything to go by:

What’s up with Bulma and Vegeta’s daughter’s name?

As a pun Toriyama created, every member of Bulma’s family is named after some kind of underwear. The family name is Briefs5, after all, and Bulma means “bloomers” in Japanese. Her son Trunks…well, duh. In the original Japanese, their daughter’s name is actually Bra! “Bulla is what we call her,” says director Bevins. “For a family show, we decided that we should probably just call her something different that’s close to Bulma, but not quite.”

[Cipher]

What’s up with Bulma and Vegeta’s daughter’s name?

As a pun Toriyama created, every member of Bulma’s family is named after some kind of underwear. The family name is Briefs5, after all, and Bulma means “bloomers” in Japanese. Her son Trunks…well, duh. In the original Japanese, their daughter’s name is actually Bra! “Bulla is what we call her,” says director Bevins. “For a family show, we decided that we should probably just call her something different that’s close to Bulma, but not quite.”

Oh. Fuck that.

[Trickster]

But he wears clothing that says "Kuririn" during the 23rd Budoukai. The point is: don't trust inconsistent Engrish from Japanese creators.

But Krillin/Kuririn is not an english word, is it?

[Gaffer Tape]

I don't remember when they went from Tien to Tien shin han. Kai? The ultimate uncuts? Their dub of the original series? It was strange because it was some halfway spot in between his dub and real name.

Tien Shinhan was first used in the late Saiyan Arc, when Blooma picks up a picture of the group and laments the happier times that are now gone. It blew everyone's mind because it was the only time such a name was used for him. He'd been exclusively referred to as Tien in all instances prior to that and for years after that.

Unless I'm mistaken, it doesn't come up again until they dubbed the 22nd Budoukai arc in Dragon Ball. So... yeah, there was about six years in between those instances.

But he wears clothing that says "Kuririn" during the 23rd Budoukai. The point is: don't trust inconsistent Engrish from Japanese creators.

But Krillin/Kuririn is not an english word, is it?

No, but that wasn't your point, was it? I thought you were convinced that the way it's written on people's clothes had to be the end-all, be-all way of spelling their names. So I say, what happens when that's not even consistent? Toriyama is not a native English-speaker/writer. There are various ways to represent certain Japanese sounds in English. Therefore, you can't expect him to be able to properly or consistently represent his characters' names in English. A couple of other fun Toriyama examples are "Red Ribon" with one b and "Yajirove."