Why Does the Japanese Version of Dragon Ball Sound So Awkward?

[NeoKING]

This isn't in reference to the voices, so we can all leave our flame shields at home.

I'm referring to the dialog itself. It sounds awkward or dated, kind of like how an American Saturday morning cartoon would sound, but an anime equivalent. For instance, look at some dialog taken from the recent screenshots of Herms episode reviews on Twitter (huge fan, btw):

Goku: "Have you even thought once that Kaioshin, who all else should be an incredible guy, was impressive?"

Gohan: "Kaioshin-sama, isn't Majin Boo still something like a child? If we defeat Babidi there, would he perhaps not do such maniacal things?"

Kaioshin: "I am helplessly chagrined at myself that there is nothing I can do."

One can say it's the way it's being translated by Steve Simmons, but I've definitely known Herms translations to have a similar sense of "overtly-descriptive" tone to them.

[Bansho64]

It probably is the translations. Simmons' old ones were made when he wasn't as experienced and worded awkwardly at times. His current ones for the movies and Kai are much more natural and certain idioms that fit in Japanese are traded for ones that sound natural to us. Herms might sound overly literal because he's specifically trying to make sure every piece of info is included. That is at the cost of sounding awkward at times but it's personally never bothered me and they're usually more for giving info like I said above. Hope this helps.

[Cipher]

It's just a very literal translation approach. Dragon Ball's dialogue isn't overly rigid -- far from it. Simmons seems to have taken that approach voluntarily, and while it's not the one every translator would use, and might be the result of inexperience, it's a viable enough one for a subtitle track when backed by the performances.

Herms' translations are usually aimed specifically at clarifying or providing information, so a hyper-literal, complete approach makes sense there as well.

EDIT -- Had this queued up as the post above came in.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

That can be chalked up to the very nature of the language. The only way to attain a natural flow is to understand the language itself.

[Deathbringer]

Whenever you translate any language into any other language you always lose a certain something

[B]

Considering the dub plays so fast and loose with the translation, it could probably be argued that overly literal subs counterbalance that. This also ties into Herms' work, which by large exists to explain something the dub left out or sloppily localized. Remove yourself from misinformation as much as you can and all that jazz.

[z_cherub]

Unless you take a few liberties, any language translated close to 1:1 will sound awkward in the second language. Take it with a grain of salt and understand that no two languages can have a word for word translation and sound totally fluid.

The real benchmark for whether it sounds awkward or not is does it sound bad to a native japanese speaker (I can't answer that).

[NeoKING]

Unless you take a few liberties, any language translated close to 1:1 will sound awkward in the second language. Take it with a grain of salt and understand that no two languages can have a word for word translation and sound totally fluid.

The real benchmark for whether it sounds awkward or not is does it sound bad to a native japanese speaker (I can't answer that).

But that's kind of what I'm asking. Is this way of speaking also noticeable in the Japanese version as well to Japanese speakers? It's like watching a Saturday morning superhero cartoon where you have all sorts of dialog that would more than likely never be used in the real world other than for humor purposes, compared to watching a live-action movie of said superhero cartoon where the dialog is a lot more realistic. Does the Japanese version of DB purposely employ the former?

[Cipher]

But that's kind of what I'm asking. Is this way of speaking also noticeable in the Japanese version as well to Japanese speakers? It's like watching a Saturday morning superhero cartoon where you have all sorts of dialog that would more than likely never be used in the real world other than for humor purposes, compared to watching a live-action movie of said superhero cartoon where the dialog is a lot more realistic. Does the Japanese version of DB purposely employ the former?

I can't speak to it the extent any of the fluent members can, but having started to work my way through the Japanese manga (where I can spend a lot more time on each line), it's nowhere near as stilted as, say, a U.S. superhero comic pre-'70s would be, or the kind of dialogue those translations imply. In fact, I was rather impressed Toriyama managed to work so much characterization into small throwaway lines.

It might not be strictly realistic -- by way of exaggeration rather than formality -- but it's quite casual and voicey.

Also, I think this is well known, but almost no characters use strictly proper grammar, and pretty much anyone not from a city speaks with a folksy dialect. Kind of cartoonish, but not in the way you're asking about.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

Unless you take a few liberties, any language translated close to 1:1 will sound awkward in the second language. Take it with a grain of salt and understand that no two languages can have a word for word translation and sound totally fluid.

The real benchmark for whether it sounds awkward or not is does it sound bad to a native japanese speaker (I can't answer that).

But that's kind of what I'm asking. Is this way of speaking also noticeable in the Japanese version as well to Japanese speakers? It's like watching a Saturday morning superhero cartoon where you have all sorts of dialog that would more than likely never be used in the real world other than for humor purposes, compared to watching a live-action movie of said superhero cartoon where the dialog is a lot more realistic. Does the Japanese version of DB purposely employ the former?

I'm not quite sure if you're asking if the dialogue isn't fluid enough, or if it's not realistic enough.

[z_cherub]

I think I see what you mean - if you're asking if the dialogue in DB in Japanese sounds as goofy as Superfriends sounds in English, then I would say no based on comparing to other non-Shonen anime (again, not a native speaker, but that's my impression).

[Cure Dragon 255]

I hate to come across as nitpicky, but shouldnt the title of the thread be "Why Does the Japanese Version of Dragon Ball Reads So Awkward"

That said, Funi Kai and the Latin American version are heavily based on the original Japanese version and read just fine.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I hate to come across as nitpicky, but shouldnt the title of the thread be "Why Does the Japanese Version of Dragon Ball Reads So Awkward"

That said, Funi Kai and the Latin American version are heavily based on the original Japanese version and read just fine.

[Super Sonic]

It's one of those things were something sounds different in another language, but weird when translated into another. For example, the stock anime phrase, "This is unforgivable/I won't forgive you!" sounds awesome in Japanese, but kinda corny in English. Another example is Vegeta's "My heart is pure, pure evil!" sounds badass in Japanese. In English, it sounds like he's part of the Japanese branch of the Legion of Doom.

[Marco Polo]

Why do they curse so fucking much, shit

[Bansho64]

Why do they curse so fucking much, shit

Well played.

[MCDaveG]

Why do they curse so fucking much, shit

I've just remembered Anime Labs' ''try to catch me, you flying shit'' in GT TV Special.

[Cure Dragon 255]

Why do they curse so fucking much, shit

I REALLY stuggle to see where this came from. There is almost no cursing on Simmon's subs or even any of the dubs. This literally came out of nowhere. Nobody even brought up Anime Labs before this post was made.

[z_cherub]

Why do they curse so fucking much, shit

I've just remembered Anime Labs' ''try to catch me, you flying shit'' in GT TV Special.

Vegeta to the hiding Dr. GERO: "COME OUT YOU CANDY ASS FAGOT!!!"

classic Anime Labs... So bad you have to laugh.

[NeoKING]

I hate to come across as nitpicky, but shouldnt the title of the thread be "Why Does the Japanese Version of Dragon Ball Reads So Awkward"

That said, Funi Kai and the Latin American version are heavily based on the original Japanese version and read just fine.

You know, the same point I'm making about the Japanese version of DB is something I've actually heard about the original version of Yu Yu Hakusho. I once looked into it and heard that there was a dub of YYH, I think the Portuguese one, that actually conveyed the same "awkward-ness" and "TV-style of speaking" into their dub.