Which names to go with?

[Herms]

Funnily enough, "djinni" sounds like "genie"

That's not a coincidence. The word "genie" was coined as a translation of djinni, out of the Latin word for "spirit". And it actually originated in French and entered English that way, or something like that, it's somewhat complicated. But the short of it is that "genie" sounds like "djinni" because the word was created specifically for that reason.

Couldn't they have just read the databook or watched the anime before translating?!

What does that have to do with anything?

[SylentEcho]

That way we wouldn't have words like djinn and Vegerot.

[VegettoEX]

That way we wouldn't have words like djinn and Vegerot.

While I loathe them and don't think they should have been used in this context for this series... there's a fair argument that they're perfectly valid adaptations of the words/names used in Japanese.

[SylentEcho]

While I loathe them and don't think they should have been used in this context for this series... there's a fair argument that they're perfectly valid adaptations of the words/names used in Japanese.

Have they done anything like this between the Saiyan arc and the Boo arc? I only have Vizbigs of those two arcs and plan to get more to complete the collection.

Should I get vizbigs or the smaller versions?

[Herms]

That way we wouldn't have words like djinn and Vegerot.

That's nonsensical though. Viz pretty clearly and consciously chose to go a different route than the Funi dub (save for with Mister Satan) and it's not like the guidebooks have instructions saying that "majin" should never ever be translated. It's true that the guidebooks and other Japanese merchandise use "Majin-Boo" as the alphabet spelling for the character's name, but then they also have alphabet spellings like "Klilyn" and leave stuff like "shougun" or "Gaikotsu Robo" untranslated, and in those cases English-speaking fans don't have a problem with Viz doing things differently. And "Vegerot" came about precisely because Viz actually understood the reasoning behind the name and wished to make an English equivalent. Their problem isn't a lack of knowledge.

Should I get vizbigs or the smaller versions?

You should get VizBig. None of the translational quirks or censorship originate in them, and they have much better print quality and some of the color pages.

[SylentEcho]

You should get VizBig. None of the translational quirks or censorship originate in them, and they have much better print quality and some of the color pages.

Thanks Herms! I wanted to hear that because personally, I liked the Vizbigs better.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

I'm sorry if this topic or a similar one has been posted before, or if this is the wrong place to put this, if so just let me know.

Anyway, I'm really confused over the topic of names for the characters. Is there a source/list for the most accurate/widely accepted names for the characters? I know the Funi dub is pretty inaccurate with the names, is the Viz Manga acceptable? I just want to be able to get the names right.

Sorry if the question isn't very clear, I don't really know how to word it.

The FUNimation dub has seen an improvement with the release of Kai, but there are still some inaccuracies. The Viz Manga is generally acceptable, though Mr. Satan is called by his PC name, which I'm sure you know. There are also a few oddities in various places. If you do a search, you'll find a thread or two about them.


Sadly, there is no consensus among fans. The FUNimation names are the most commonly used by English speakers, much to the scoff of subbies. From my experience, it really doesn't matter what convention you use. However, make sure it's not some ultra-obscure one. You don't want to sound pretentious as I probably have before.


Try to find a balance between understandability and accuracy.

It's "Gokū". "û" is just a common placeholder for ū that you see a lot in digital text due to font issues and people not knowing how to write the ū.

It's the same with all other uses of circumflexes in place of macrons in romanized Japanese - it's wholly a "we all know it's wrong, and we all know what I meant to write, and since it's a lot easier to write it like this, let's just not be too picky" kind of deal.
It makes your writing looks sloppy, though, so don't take this as a suggestion to do it.

I was under the impression that it was simply a stylistic choice. Both diacritics indicate long vowels.

[VegettoEX]

The FUNimation names are the most commonly used by English speakers, much to the scoff of subbies.

Quotes like this don't really help anyone's case.

What about people who just read the manga? Are they "subbies"...? They're enjoying the series "in English" and still have to deal with name changes when talking with someone "in English" exclusively familiar with the English dub.

[Saiga]

I'm a dubbie, and I'm still looking for the most accurate way to write the names.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Funnily enough, "djinni" sounds like "genie"

That's not a coincidence. The word "genie" was coined as a translation of djinni, out of the Latin word for "spirit". And it actually originated in French and entered English that way, or something like that, it's somewhat complicated. But the short of it is that "genie" sounds like "djinni" because the word was created specifically for that reason.

Huh. That's pretty interesting.

[Zep]

There's also the changing the names of Bardock's team-mates, which I don't really get.

Toma into Tora
Celipa/Cerypa/Selypa (her name is almost an anagram of "parsely" or something, isn't it) into Fasha
Totepo into Borgos
Panboukin into Shugesh

The name changes completely remove the vegetable (well, fruit in Toma's case considering tomatoes technically being fruit, but nevermind) puns for whatever reason, probably because they were a little obscure compared to Kakarotto, Raditz and the like. Same problem with Tullece/Turles/Turlis/Taurus/whatever they decide to call him.

I can sort of understand changing Toma to Tora, since to my ear Tora sounds like a cooler name, but Borgos, Shugesh and Fasha seem to be created completely out of thin air.

[B]

I try to get as close to an English translation as I can, but that gets tricky because, as has been stated throughout the thread, names and their puns come from all over the place. Characters with title for names I try to use translations("Turtle Sage" as opposed to "Kame Sennin"), but then things like "Daikaioushin" get wordy, and considering I'll most likely never refer to that character away from this community where everyone knows what that means/who that is, translating it serves no real purpose beyond waving my e-peen around and letting everyone know I've checked Herms's translations. So... Yeah, tricky.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Quotes like this don't really help anyone's case.

I don't understand what you mean by "case".


My comment was not meant to be derisive or spiteful in any way. I think my choice of words ("scoff"' etc.) was fairly jocular. I am a "subbie" myself.

What about people who just read the manga?

I have not come across one such person.

Are they "subbies"...? They're enjoying the series "in English" and still have to deal with name changes when talking with someone "in English" exclusively familiar with the English dub.

I don't think it would be unreasonable to say that most English speaking fans are at least aware of the name changes FUNimation made.

[VegettoEX]

My comment was not meant to be derisive or spiteful in any way.

Any time you write "scoff", you're walking that fine line.

What about people who just read the manga?

I have not come across one such person.

Rocketman and Kendamu are manga fanboys through-and-through, and both are moderately-contributive (that's a word, right?) members here. Also see Saiga above. The entirety of the Pojo board swears by the manga exclusively (though that makes sense considering most of the discussions there revolve around strength comparisons, so they want to source the original material as much as possible).

Are they "subbies"...? They're enjoying the series "in English" and still have to deal with name changes when talking with someone "in English" exclusively familiar with the English dub.

I don't think it would be unreasonable to say that most English speaking fans are at least aware of the changes FUNimations to the names of some characters.

Well, yeah, but that's not the point here. I also think we're losing each other's point here .

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Any time you write "scoff", you're walking that fine line.

That word may have different connotations in our dialects.

Rocketman and Kendamu are manga fanboys through-and-through, and both are moderately-contributive (that's a word, right?) members here. Also see Saiga above. The entirety of the Pojo board swears by the manga exclusively (though that makes sense considering most of the discussions there revolve around strength comparisons, so they want to source the original material as much as possible).

I believe Rocketman watches Kai as it's closer to the Manga, but I was not aware of the situation at Pojo. Point taken.

[Super Sonic]

There's also the changing the names of Bardock's team-mates, which I don't really get.

Toma into Tora
Celipa/Cerypa/Selypa (her name is almost an anagram of "parsely" or something, isn't it) into Fasha
Totepo into Borgos
Panboukin into Shugesh

The name changes completely remove the vegetable (well, fruit in Toma's case considering tomatoes technically being fruit, but nevermind) puns for whatever reason, probably because they were a little obscure compared to Kakarotto, Raditz and the like. Same problem with Tullece/Turles/Turlis/Taurus/whatever they decide to call him.

I can sort of understand changing Toma to Tora, since to my ear Tora sounds like a cooler name, but Borgos, Shugesh and Fasha seem to be created completely out of thin air.

I think with Bardock's crew, they might not have cared as they would die so soon.

Aside from them, have to admit, most character name changes are so small, not so many guys complain about them.

[Piccolo Daimao]

What about people who just read the manga?

I have not come across one such person.

Rocketman and Kendamu are manga fanboys through-and-through, and both are moderately-contributive (that's a word, right?) members here. Also see Saiga above. The entirety of the Pojo board swears by the manga exclusively (though that makes sense considering most of the discussions there revolve around strength comparisons, so they want to source the original material as much as possible).

Don't know whether it's worth mentioning, but I only read the manga too. I've never seen a DVD of the Dragon Ball anime in any of the shops where I live, and I don't have the money to order online yet.