Ashy-kun's Name Translations & Transliterations

[Shoryuken]

You could transliterate Buu to Boo since both words have identical kana (ブウ) writings and it's in keeping with the pun.
Likewise the Danish version of Dragon Ball had him named Bøh which roughly translates to the same.

Yum-Cha/Yǐnchá (Yamucha/Yamcha) - I spell it like this because this is the more Chinese spelling, which does work in that he appears at the very start, when the manga has more of a Chinese feel (Journey to the West and all).

Interestingly if we go by the Cantonese reading of the hanzi, 飲茶, we get yam2 chaa4 akin to the American dub's spelling of his name.
BTW does anyone know whether or not the furigana for Tenshihan's name is in katakana, denoting that it should be pronounced as a foreign word i.e. Chinese in this case, or hiragana?

[VegettoEX]

BTW does anyone know whether or not the furigana for Tenshihan's name is in katakana, denoting that it should be pronounced as a foreign word i.e. Chinese in this case, or hiragana?

Don't write in small text... we can't read it or answer it properly if we miss it.

It's written in katakana in Son Goku Densetsu, it's written in hiragana in the second daizenshuu, and then in kanzenban 25 (random spot-check when he's firing the Shin-Kikoho), it's katakana, again. I realize that's kinda working backward in chronology, but whatever .

[TripleRach]

BTW does anyone know whether or not the furigana for Tenshihan's name is in katakana, denoting that it should be pronounced as a foreign word i.e. Chinese in this case, or hiragana?

It was written in hiragana when he first appeared in the manga, but by the end of the 22nd Budoukai it switched to katakana.

But I don't buy that as validation his name is meant to be read in Mandarin, mostly because てんしんはん Tenshinhan is exactly how those characters are read in Japanese. If Toriyama really intended his name to be read with the Mandarin pronunciation, he would (or at least should) have used something like ティエンジンファン Tienjinfan. And the actual tenshinhan dish is pseudo-Chinese food that was invented in Japan; people in Tianjin have never heard of it. My theory is that Toriyama might have switched to katakana as a way of saying "Kind of foreign, but not really."

[Ashy-kun]

You could transliterate Buu to Boo since both words have identical kana (ブウ) writings and it's in keeping with the pun.
Likewise the Danish version of Dragon Ball had him named Bøh which roughly translates to the same.

I already do. I call him Magical Being Boo.

[Herms]

BTW does anyone know whether or not the furigana for Tenshihan's name is in katakana, denoting that it should be pronounced as a foreign word i.e. Chinese in this case, or hiragana?

It was written in hiragana when he first appeared in the manga, but by the end of the 22nd Budoukai it switched to katakana.

Are you sure about that? As near as I can tell, his name is first mentioned by the tournament announcer when everyone draws lots for the main tournament, and the furigana is written with katakana then. That's in the kanzenban anyway; maybe they changed it to make it consistent from the beginning.

[TripleRach]

BTW does anyone know whether or not the furigana for Tenshihan's name is in katakana, denoting that it should be pronounced as a foreign word i.e. Chinese in this case, or hiragana?

It was written in hiragana when he first appeared in the manga, but by the end of the 22nd Budoukai it switched to katakana.

Are you sure about that? As near as I can tell, his name is first mentioned by the tournament announcer when everyone draws lots for the main tournament, and the furigana is written with katakana then. That's in the kanzenban anyway; maybe they changed it to make it consistent from the beginning.

In the tankoubon, it definitely starts out as hiragana. Here's an old scan I made of one page with it.

[Herms]

In the tankoubon, it definitely starts out as hiragana. Here's an old scan I made of one page with it.

Huh, that's interesting. That's a kanzenban change I never knew about.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

That's interesting, I wonder if there are other small changes that have yet to be discovered?