Translation in the manga

[falconsedge]

Hey everyone. I know that FUNimation took some liberties with the translations for the anime but I'm not as familiar with any manga for DBZ other than the Viz versions. Just curious whether or not the translation is more or less accurate there. Thanks.

[Taku128]

The Viz manga is generally accurate, with a few odd line changes and some censorship recently. Overall it's a pretty respectable translation, IMO.

[MajinVejitaXV]

Hey everyone. I know that FUNimation took some liberties with the translations for the anime but I'm not as familiar with any manga for DBZ other than the Viz versions. Just curious whether or not the translation is more or less accurate there. Thanks.

They took a decent amount of liberty with the translation. If you look on this board, Herms is doing a comparison I believe. It would be worth reading if you're interested.

-Corey

[Bussani]

While the lines are often written different, they almost always get the meaning and facts across correctly. That's what matters the most to me.

[B]

For the most part it is, but Viz likes to shove "Americanization" in their manga, so there's lots of hit-or-miss sarcasm and "urban" talk/broken English in an attempt to display accents. In all the ones I've read, Goku is made out to sound like a hick, which makes sense, but it is a bit of a pain to read "ta" instead of "to" all the time and such and such.

[Bussani]

For the most part it is, but Viz likes to shove "Americanization" in their manga, so there's lots of hit-or-miss sarcasm and "urban" talk/broken English in an attempt to display accents. In all the ones I've read, Goku is made out to sound like a hick, which makes sense, but it is a bit of a pain to read "ta" instead of "to" all the time and such and such.

I know what you mean. That might have only been in the old large editions by Viz, I have volume 2 in the smaller edition and it's no where near as bad.

[MajinVejitaXV]

In all the ones I've read, Goku is made out to sound like a hick, which makes sense, but is a it of a pain to read "ta" instead of "to" all the time and such and such.

That's actually accurate, since Goku speaks in a Tohoku dialect variant. Therefore, you're reading an approximation of what the original Japanese depicted his speech as. Another reason learning Japanese via anime/manga isn't always the best approach ;p

-Corey

[Yi Xing Long]

In all the ones I've read, Goku is made out to sound like a hick, which makes sense, but is a it of a pain to read "ta" instead of "to" all the time and such and such.

That's actually accurate, since Goku speaks in a Tohoku dialect variant. Therefore, you're reading an approximation of what the original Japanese depicted his speech as. Another reason learning Japanese via anime/manga isn't always the best approach ;p

-Corey

That doesn't matter. You just need to choose your source material well. Obviously if you are reading Dragon Ball in Japanese in order to get reading practice you should ignore Goku's/Chichi's speech in terms of learning from it.

[MajinVejitaXV]

That doesn't matter. You just need to choose your source material well. Obviously if you are reading Dragon Ball in Japanese in order to get reading practice you should ignore Goku's/Chichi's speech in terms of learning from it.

Perhaps, but it's really confusing if you're new to the language. The dialects, plus certain things like Goku's blatant disregard for proper speaking etiquette, don't detract from the enjoyment but make it a poor source material for learning the language in general. I'm not saying don't read it, I'm just saying don't use it as your sole source of reinforcement in the language ;p

-Corey

[Rocketman]

There's two points where they explicitly change the dialogue.

When Vegeta becomes Oozaru, they have Goku say "You killed my grandpa!" and Vegeta laughs "Now THAT is a good one!" as a jab against the line change in the Ocean dub.

Also, they change Super Saiyan Goku's early line to "IT'S OVER, FREEZA!" when it was "I am most concerned by the untoward nature of your demeanor, Freeza, and am determined to set forth and expound to you the virtues of a civilized manner."

[NeptuneKai]

when it was "I am most concerned by the untoward nature of your demeanor, Freeza, and am determined to set forth and expound to you the virtues of a civilized manner."

I dunno Rocketman that sounds more like the Funi dub to me.

[Bussani]

I think B knows that the speech patterns are trying to represent the way he speaks in Japanese, and it does make sense. But I found it a bit difficult to read in English that way, like I had to go over each sentence twice to make sure I got it right.

[falconsedge]

There's two points where they explicitly change the dialogue.

When Vegeta becomes Oozaru, they have Goku say "You killed my grandpa!" and Vegeta laughs "Now THAT is a good one!" as a jab against the line change in the Ocean dub.

Also, they change Super Saiyan Goku's early line to "IT'S OVER, FREEZA!" when it was "I am most concerned by the untoward nature of your demeanor, Freeza, and am determined to set forth and expound to you the virtues of a civilized manner."

Wow...that second line is a mouthful...

[B]

Wow, I just popped open Volume 15(Dragon Ball) and realized I've never actually read it before, but I've had it forever.

They've got Chi-Chi doing it as well, but Oolong brings up that she in fact does speak like a hick. So while I personally find it annoying, the dialect is an acurate portrayal.

... I'm gonna do what I should've done years ago and read this thing now, haha. Marriage is food.

[Bussani]

They've got Chi-Chi doing it as well, but Oolong brings up that she in fact does speak like a hick. So while I personally find it annoying, the dialect is an acurate portrayal.

Yeah, that's how I feel. It's good that it's an accurate portrayal, but I'm happy that they write it more normally in other issues so I can read it all quickly.

[Yi Xing Long]

They've got Chi-Chi doing it as well, but Oolong brings up that she in fact does speak like a hick. So while I personally find it annoying, the dialect is an acurate portrayal.

Yeah, that's how I feel. It's good that it's an accurate portrayal, but I'm happy that they write it more normally in other issues so I can read it all quickly.

I am used to reading convoluted representations of dialectal accents such as in the Redwall series of fantasy novels. It really grows on you and becomes fun to read after a while. Compared to Redwall (and the English localization of the Dragon Quest IV DS remake) the accent here is nothing.

[Rocketman]

when it was "I am most concerned by the untoward nature of your demeanor, Freeza, and am determined to set forth and expound to you the virtues of a civilized manner."

I dunno Rocketman that sounds more like the Funi dub to me.

Oh, my mistake.

Goku: "You can't just have your characters announce how they feel! THAT MAKES ME FEEL ANGRY!"

[Bussani]

They've got Chi-Chi doing it as well, but Oolong brings up that she in fact does speak like a hick. So while I personally find it annoying, the dialect is an acurate portrayal.

Yeah, that's how I feel. It's good that it's an accurate portrayal, but I'm happy that they write it more normally in other issues so I can read it all quickly.

I am used to reading convoluted representations of dialectal accents such as in the Redwall series of fantasy novels. It really grows on you and becomes fun to read after a while. Compared to Redwall (and the English localization of the Dragon Quest IV DS remake) the accent here is nothing.

Yeah, I'm not against the accurate portrayals or anything, I just mean I personally found it easier reading it in more normal English.

[B]

The irony here is that the Dragon Ball anime was dubbed in Texas, which is filled with hicks that could've attempted to pull off Goku's speech pattern.

[MajinVejitaXV]

Oh, my mistake.

Goku: "You can't just have your characters announce how they feel! THAT MAKES ME FEEL ANGRY!"

No, it just makes it sound like Anthony Stewart Head should be playing Goku. Points if you get the reference

-Corey