OLD Fandom Terminology/Romanizations

[Thouser]

I've seen some pretty cool/interesting/bizarre translations of character names and other things while looking at old fansub clips, old fansites, and stuff on Takarajima's very cool site. Stuff like Kuririn being called "Killyin" and Genki Dama being translated as "Lifeforce Sphere". Even weird stuff like "Kami" becoming "Kame" and "deity" in the same translation.

I've become interested in what kinds of translations were used in the earlier days of the fandom. What are some examples of older translations and romanizations we don't see very often today? What were some popular ones? Weird ones you only saw once? Were there "intense debates" over how to translate or romanize something in particular (like the whole Tullece/Tales/Turles/Taurus thing)?

[Gaffer Tape]

Not exactly a romanization, but "Kushami" used to spread through the fandom as the name for Lunch's evil half. This is due to Curtis Hoffmann, who had summarized most of the volumes of the DB manga for the English-speaking community, long before we'd ever gotten an official release, calling her that in his texts. Kushami is actually the word for sneeze, so he apparently used it as more of a linguistic shorthand to distinguish between the two (incidentally, he referred to the good half as "Ranchi"). Of course, the Rumor Guide on the site dealt with this one long ago, but since the summaries was how I was introduced to much of DB that FUNimation hadn't gotten to yet, that was ingrained in me early on as well.

[Herms]

Stuff like Kuririn being called "Killyin"

"Klilyn" was (and still is, I think) the standard alphabet spelling used on Japanese merchandise.

"Doubler" for "Dabra" used to be pretty common.

Besides "Super Boo", I remember it used to be pretty standard for people to call Gotenks-absorbed Boo "Super Boo 2" and Gohan-absorbed Boo "Super Boo 3", but I haven't seen those in ages.

[atm5508]

I'm not sure if this fits your criteria, but does anyone else remember the "Mystic Gohan" terminology? I never really understood where that was from. Was it due to translation or just purely a creation of the fans?

[Chuquita]

Oh wow, I'd forgotten all about "Doubler". I first saw that spelling back on Planet Namek.

I think it's actually kind of surprising that "Blooma" never appeared way back when. At least not that I recall.
"Vejita" or even "Bejita" are spellings you never see anymore but I remember from fanfiction.net long ago.
The variations on Goku's name, replacing the "u" with "ou", "uu", "uh", or "û" have kind of disappeared too.
"Chichi" as a single word without the - .
"Mirai Trunks".

EDIT: Some more to add that I'd forgotten about earlier.
"C-17" and "C-18".
Referring to DB Earth as "Chikyuu".

[fps_anth]

Chibi Boo!

[Jackal puFF]

I remember Broly being called Broli or Brolli or Brolly.

[VegettoEX]

I remember Broly being called Broli or Brolli or Brolly.

"Broli" (to bring out the "i" from "broccoli") is our spelling of choice here at Kanzenshuu, and has been around for a long, long time. FUNimation went with "Broly" for their English version. Neither "Broli" nor "Broly" (or its double-"L" variant) are particularly "old" or "modern", I'd say, since they span the entire fandom's time.

"Brawley" is one of those spellings that North American fans pretty quickly shoved aside from the olden days (comparatively speaking, anyway) I'd say. "Ginew" (the spelling from Japanese merchandise and video games) is in the same vein.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Well, there were the weird renders of certain characters’ names in the English version of Ultimate Battle 22 (e.g. “Likum” (Recoom), “Genious” (Ginyuu), “Super Bou”), and the (in)famous “Son Gokou”.

[Herms]

I'm not sure if this fits your criteria, but does anyone else remember the "Mystic Gohan" terminology? I never really understood where that was from. Was it due to translation or just purely a creation of the fans?

I'm pretty sure it was originally a straight-up fan creation, but it did end up getting used on some US action figures and whatnot (although there it just seemed to be used to refer to Gohan in his Kaioshin outfit).

[TheDevilsCorpse]

I'm pretty sure it was originally a straight-up fan creation, but it did end up getting used on some US action figures and whatnot (although there it just seemed to be used to refer to Gohan in his Kaioshin outfit).

[VegettoEX]

Holy crap, I forgot all about that "Maijin" typo on that line of figures. Niiiiiiiiiiiice.

[Herms]

I know somewhere on the forums I saw a picture of a figure labeled "Super Saiyan Mystic Gohan", which was Super Saiyan Gohan in his Kaioshin outfit. Good to know they also used the term "properly", such as it is.

Edit:Well, there's no images, but in this thread they mention the use of "Super Saiyan Mystic Gohan" on US merchandise.

[atm5508]

Interesting. I had no idea that the term was used on any official merchandise.

[Xyex]

Besides "Super Boo", I remember it used to be pretty standard for people to call Gotenks-absorbed Boo "Super Boo 2" and Gohan-absorbed Boo "Super Boo 3", but I haven't seen those in ages.

I still use them. It's so much faster than "Super Buu with Gotenks absorbed," or "Super Buu with Gohan absorbed" and it takes up a lot less space on the side of the screen/page when making a PL list.

I'm not sure if this fits your criteria, but does anyone else remember the "Mystic Gohan" terminology? I never really understood where that was from. Was it due to translation or just purely a creation of the fans?

Purely a fan thing. I think it came from the idea that the power he'd gained was from a 'mystical' origin, being from the Elder's ritual and all.

[Ketchup_Revenge]

I'm not sure if this fits your criteria, but does anyone else remember the "Mystic Gohan" terminology? I never really understood where that was from. Was it due to translation or just purely a creation of the fans?

I'm pretty sure it was originally a straight-up fan creation, but it did end up getting used on some US action figures and whatnot (although there it just seemed to be used to refer to Gohan in his Kaioshin outfit).

They also used "Mystic Gohan" in the booklet for the Season 9 Orange Brick. I don't normally talk like this, but I seriously LOL'd when I saw that.

[Kingdom Heartless]

I remember Mystic Gohan was also on the Tazo-style collection way back in the day.

[TripleRach]

The variations on Goku's name, replacing the "u" with "ou", "uu", "uh", or "û" have kind of disappeared too.
"Chichi" as a single word without the - .

I've been using "Gokuu" forever, and I know I've seen at least a few other people who currently use it, too. I guess I'm not completely neutral, but if anything, I'd say that one is actually modern, since "Goku" and "Gokou" (Bandai's favorite spelling) are what I remember being most common in the old days.

As for "Chichi," I thought that one was still fairly common, too. There's no real logic for a hyphen to even be there, beyond "That's what FUNimation did." I'm fairly certain "Chichi" is what's used in the official subtitles, too.

[Adamant]

"C-17" and "C-18".

That's dub terminology, from France I believe, not fandom names.