Kuririn Of Orin wrote:Well it just seems so nerdy and, very silly to leave them untranslated, even if they do sound cooler when left untranslated. It's like saying: "Ohio how are you going" or "Hmm, nani are you talking about". It just seems wrong to leave them untranslated, plus it's akward when you try to get a friend to read.... Just because it sounds better seems like an excuse to speak a bit of Japanese to me....
You do realize where it is on the Internet you're having this conversation, right...?
No-one here is saying that everyday words should be left untranslated. We're, for the most part, talking exclusively about proper nouns.
I don't "translate" my name into the local vernacular when I speak to someone in a totally different language, and I wouldn't do the same with the names of folks in DBZ (particularly "Son Goku", which is just the Japanese reading of "Sun Wukong" itself instead of translating it from Chinese, which itself has a perfectly valid meaning of "aware/awake to vacuity" as given to the character by his first real master).
Things like サイヤ人 are great examples for going either which way, leaning toward "translating" the aspects that are NOT a proper noun, and leaving as-is the aspects that are. In this case, "Saiya" is the name of the race (and is not a proper Japanese word; it's an invented term that happens to be a pun on a Japanese word), so it should probably be left as-is. The "jin" suffix is just the word/term/phrase for "person" or "people", and in English, we adapt that onto the names of races or nationalities usually by adding an "n" to the end (I live in "America" so I'm an "American"; I live in "New Jersey", so I'm a "New Jerseyan").
Is there an argument for ADAPTING the name "Saiya" instead of leaving it? Sure. You'd come up with something creative like "Veggians". Do you want to go that route, though? That's what Viz started doing in their manga adaptation, particularly toward the end of the series (changing entire names to what they felt suited the pun better, like "Pui-Pui" turning into "Pocus").
If you want to say that Mr. Aware to Vacuity, a member of the Veggians, used the Turtle Hame Wave against a car in his past before fighting another member of the Veggians, Veggie himself, and then he later fought a five-man team called the Melkian Troupe and there was concern about the two of them switching bodies with Melk himself... and onward from there... well, be my guest, but no-one's going to know what the Hell you're talking about.
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