Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
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Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
Hi guys. I rarely post year (long time reader), but today had an experience that I think deserves a thread. Because my mind was pretty much blown today.
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I work as a substitute teacher. Today, I went to teach a grade 5 class. I met a kid who I later found out was a) half-Japanese, b) spoke Japanese fluently, and c) Was raised there until grade 3. So, he seemed pretty legit.
When I commented that I had heard (for years) that Goku was supposed to sound like a "hick/hillbilly" in Japanese, he answered: "Not at all. He speaks Yakuza Japanese." "What?" "Yeah...like he talks like a gangster. That's what makes him so funny." He explained that, in Japanese, Goku pretty much talks completely in that type of slang ("Yo pops"). I told him that for years I've read (on forums) or heard from 1 friend who studied Japanese, that Goku's supposed to be a "hick". He was adamant. "Trust me. I'm Japanese. I know all the accents. Goku's appeal is that he talks like a Yakuza gangster around people...not even close to a "hillbilly"."
Can anyone confirm this for me? My entire lifetime's image of Goku completely changed when I heard that. Honestly, it made the character 50x times cooler for me. If this is true, then the English dub Goku isn't even close to the original one.
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I work as a substitute teacher. Today, I went to teach a grade 5 class. I met a kid who I later found out was a) half-Japanese, b) spoke Japanese fluently, and c) Was raised there until grade 3. So, he seemed pretty legit.
When I commented that I had heard (for years) that Goku was supposed to sound like a "hick/hillbilly" in Japanese, he answered: "Not at all. He speaks Yakuza Japanese." "What?" "Yeah...like he talks like a gangster. That's what makes him so funny." He explained that, in Japanese, Goku pretty much talks completely in that type of slang ("Yo pops"). I told him that for years I've read (on forums) or heard from 1 friend who studied Japanese, that Goku's supposed to be a "hick". He was adamant. "Trust me. I'm Japanese. I know all the accents. Goku's appeal is that he talks like a Yakuza gangster around people...not even close to a "hillbilly"."
Can anyone confirm this for me? My entire lifetime's image of Goku completely changed when I heard that. Honestly, it made the character 50x times cooler for me. If this is true, then the English dub Goku isn't even close to the original one.
Last edited by foxfang4 on Tue Apr 15, 2014 5:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
Maybe Vegeta, but Goku? Goku always sounded like he just lacked people skills. "Hey OLD guy!" Same could be said about Naruto or Luffy... they have that demeanor, for me anyway...
Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
I actually asked him about how Vegeta and Frieza speak. I said I assumed they spoke very correctly/high class. He confirmed that they did. I asked him about a few characters.DarkPrince_92 wrote:Maybe Vegeta, but Goku? Goku always sounded like he just lacked people skills. "Hey OLD guy!" Same could be said about Naruto or Luffy... they have that demeanor, for me anyway...
He told me Whisu (Battle of Gods) speaks like a "Butler". And...I think (can't remember fully)...he said Birisu sounded just like Goku. He said the scene when Birisu talks to King Kai is hilarious in Japanese if you understand his slang. He said there's no way we could get that side of the scene with just subtitles.
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
Interesting. I guess one won't truly know unless they more than just knew japanese but knew the different dialects as well.
Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
I think saying that Goku speaks like a hick is an attempt to translate his speaking style into english because of the differences in the languages and the two cultures. That's how Steve Simmon's translated him anyway. I would be interested in hearing a Japanese persons perspective on this though.
Kendamu wrote:This is an 80s/90s animated all-ages show that was popular amongst kids. It's not some potent super weapon that might fall into the wrong hands that we have to protect from evil.AjayLikesGaming wrote:If you put out untouched footage, someone like me is going to take it and turn it into a perfect release. Someone not like me is going to do the same and share it instead. You give pirates the opportunity to do better than companies and people will jump on that so fast.
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
Kei, care to share your opinions?qjz123 wrote:I think saying that Goku speaks like a hick is an attempt to translate his speaking style into english because of the differences in the languages and the two cultures. That's how Steve Simmon's translated him anyway. I would be interested in hearing a Japanese persons perspective on this though.
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
This is what Herms said about it in a thread from 2011
Herms wrote:In the manga Goku's speech is comparatively close to standard Japanese. The main characteristics of his speech are his use of improper/impolite first and second person pronouns, lots of contractions, and how he slurs ai or oi sounds into ee. None of these points are exclusively "hick" things (Kuririn, for instance, does the "ai/oi into ee" thing when flustered). Altogether it seems super-casual and uneducated, which I guess fits the "hick" stereotype, but it's not a style of speech specific to any region. In the anime though, Nozawa plays Goku up more as having a vague Tohoku accent. The Tohoku accent has a "country bumpkin" stigma around it, so the closest thing in US English would probably be a Southern accent.
Kendamu wrote:This is an 80s/90s animated all-ages show that was popular amongst kids. It's not some potent super weapon that might fall into the wrong hands that we have to protect from evil.AjayLikesGaming wrote:If you put out untouched footage, someone like me is going to take it and turn it into a perfect release. Someone not like me is going to do the same and share it instead. You give pirates the opportunity to do better than companies and people will jump on that so fast.
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
I could believe more of the hick route than a Yakuza/Gangster route. I think he might be blowing smoke.
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
I don't know Japanese except for a very few words I hear on Dragon Ball, but Goku a Yakuza? ...
A yakuza is a gangster and Goku just doesn't sound like he'd be one of them, if anything he tends to have that hicky simplistic voice without any professionalism. There's better chances Cell and Freeza are yakuzas than Goku.
Oh my I'd totally be up to watch "Cell: The Yakuza" that'd be awesome.
A yakuza is a gangster and Goku just doesn't sound like he'd be one of them, if anything he tends to have that hicky simplistic voice without any professionalism. There's better chances Cell and Freeza are yakuzas than Goku.
Oh my I'd totally be up to watch "Cell: The Yakuza" that'd be awesome.
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
Well, I suppose the next question to ask, then, would be: Is it a common stereotype for Yakuza members to speak with a Tohoku dialect?
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
Typical Yakuza stereotypes speak in a Kansai (Osaka/Kobe) or Chugoku (Hiroshima) dialect; when they do use Eastern Japanese, it's usually an extremely "rough" working-class Kanto dialect. This does bear some similarities to Goku's speech (chiefly in the monophthongization of vowel pairs), but is much more aggressive and vulgar (with things like trilled "r"s, colorful slang, and regular use of "temee" as a second-person pronoun). While I assume Tohoku yakuza exist, I'd have a hard time considering them threatening if they spoke with the dialect in fiction.Gaffer Tape wrote:Well, I suppose the next question to ask, then, would be: Is it a common stereotype for Yakuza members to speak with a Tohoku dialect?
Goku's speech, in contrast, is relatively neutral Kanto dialect in vocabulary and even pronunciation, with the main things setting his speech apart being his use of "ora" as a first-person pronoun, "omee" as a second-person pronoun (though he often uses "omae" as well towards the start of the manga), and "yatsu" meaning "thing", as well as his assimilation of trailing "r" into the next consonant ("Kekkon sukka?" comes to mind right away). These things are all marked (in contrast to Standard) as "rural" or "uneducated" speech, and "ora" in particular is a mark of people from the Tohoku region, which carries the "country bumpkin" stereotype.
By comparison, Chi-Chi and Gyumao speak in quite thick Tohoku dialect (or Toriyama's approximation thereof) in their first appearance; for Gyumao in particular, this has the effect of completely disarming him in the eyes of the reader, despite his considerable size and strength. When they reappear later on, however, their "Tohoku" speech has been whittled down to just a few key quirks (chiefly: monophthongized vowel pairs, use of particle "be", and use of "da" after verbs).
Regarding a question earlier in the thread, Beerus doesn't sound "just like Goku". His speech is unmarked Standard Japanese, with his defining traits being the use of "boku" (soft-masculine informal-polite) as a first-person pronoun, and "kimi" (soft/affectionate informal to equal or lesser status) as a second-person pronoun. He is also capable of using polite speech when required, though his default way of speaking is plain style (which, since he really does outrank everyone else in status, isn't really being rude).
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
Well if you had to give Goku a catchphrace it would be 'Yo!'
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
I'd personally go with 'Sup! Yo! sounds more like an urban informal greeting. Heya! Sounds too close to hey. Then again I'd usually adapt a Goku sentence kind of like:The Monkey King wrote:Well if you had to give Goku a catchphrace it would be 'Yo!'
'Sup! I'm Goku!
I ain't ever heard 'bout that Super Saiyan God thing.
What'cha talkin' 'bout?
Etc. at least if the translations have don't, I usually replace it with ain't and drop g's and switch going, wanting to, etc. to gonna, wanna. But still have a normal Midwestern Accent which would probably be the closest equivalent in US English to the Standard Kanto dialect in Japanese. I believe it would be do able in English, but an official dub would never want to take that risk. If adapting like to or for, I write it out ta or fer, for Goku to guide more like that pronunciation or ya in the case of you.
For a Yakuza type, I guess a New York thug stereotype accent in US English would be the equivalent to the Yakuza stereotype voice/tone/accent in Japanese.
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
When Goku enters a scene, there should be dueling banjos. Bardock and Gine were probably first cousins.
Goku doesn't want the gob'nit on his propatay, dagnabit. He's fixin' to cook up sum viddles. Whee doggies!
He wants to see the World King's birth certificate.
Goku doesn't want the gob'nit on his propatay, dagnabit. He's fixin' to cook up sum viddles. Whee doggies!
He wants to see the World King's birth certificate.
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
I can converse casually in Japanese (I left too young), but my ear for accents is not great. Luckily, I have 1-2 Japanese that can help.
"Goku speaks a mix of the Nagoya and Tohoku dialects. But at the same time its neither."
On the Yakuza Accent
Note form:
- Nozawa's tone is rough and may pronounce certain words like a Yakuza would (due to Goku's "beranmei" accent), but he's too innocent acting to really speak like one.
- He's just rough. Unrefined. (I get that impression just from listening to him).
"Goku speaks a mix of the Nagoya and Tohoku dialects. But at the same time its neither."
On the Yakuza Accent
Note form:
- Nozawa's tone is rough and may pronounce certain words like a Yakuza would (due to Goku's "beranmei" accent), but he's too innocent acting to really speak like one.
- He's just rough. Unrefined. (I get that impression just from listening to him).
Last edited by Aoi on Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:15 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: Goku speaks "Yakuza-Gangster" Japanese? What?
hahaha. Son Goku everyonepenguintruth wrote:When Goku enters a scene, there should be dueling banjos. Bardock and Gine were probably first cousins.
Goku doesn't want the gob'nit on his propatay, dagnabit. He's fixin' to cook up sum viddles. Whee doggies!
He wants to see the World King's birth certificate.