Why did FUNimation spell Freeza with an "i"?

[Sin]

I'm not sure if it was the same in the 1997 version, I'm assuming it would've been, but in DB Final Bout the dub spelling is used, but wasn't that released before the air date of the anime use of the spelling?

[Hellspawn28]

Is it possible that the translation they got wrote it as "Furiza"? I see some use that spelling, perhaps that's where they got they idea to use the "I".

Mmmm....possible, sure, but I don't think so. The only time I've ever seen Freeza referred to as "Furiza" is from ripped clips of VHS fansubs that I've seen on YouTube, or by a small sub-set of fans whose credibility is damaged by also insisting that Vegeta is in fact Beijita, that Trunks is in fact Tohrahnksu, and that Dragon Ball Z is in fact Doragon Boru Zetto.

I've heard of Bejita and Doragon Boru Zetto but Tohrahnksu?! That's a new one....

I seen Tohrahnksu before on old school DBZ fansites. Some people are big enough purist that they will say names untranslated. Vegeta is pretty much the official English spelling for the character. Saying Bejita would come off as odd and people will look at you as a weeaboo.

[Thouser]

I'm not sure if it was the same in the 1997 version, I'm assuming it would've been, but in DB Final Bout the dub spelling is used, but wasn't that released before the air date of the anime use of the spelling?

Slightly before, yes. Final Bout was released in the US in July of 1997, while the dub episode "The Ruthless Frieza" , which features the first on-screen appearance of that spelling in the dub in the epidode's title card, aired in October 1997 (according to the DB wiki)

I seen Tohrahnksu before on old school DBZ fansites. Some people are big enough purist that they will say names untranslated. Vegeta is pretty much the official English spelling for the character. Saying Bejita would come off as odd and people will look at you as a weeaboo.

Bejita? That's amateur hour. If they were truly hardcore they'd say "Bejiita"

[Hellspawn28]

I stick with official English translations since Freeza is pretty much the official English name. Even the Japanese toys has Freeza spell out as "Freeza".

[obiwan23s]

I've come to accept that this is just how adaptations of anime programs will be when they are brought to North America. Even though the Japanese language has katakana for making syllables out of foreign words, the English language will always muck things up because our vowels have long and short sounds. Using the spelling "Frieza" harms absolutely nothing when just watching the dub of Z or Kai, but it does aggravate more passionate fans because "it's not the way it's spelled in Japan". I got into Gundam after I spent a lot of time on Dragon Ball, and this U.S. versus Japan character name spelling issue comes up there as well. For example, just comb through Google for a while trying to find Japanese products with characters from Gundam SEED. Then go look at the Gundam SEED Wikipedia page and see how many of those names made it to the U.S. without getting altered somehow. In these cases, I lean toward the U.S. version being more correct because even though those spellings came from official products endorsed by the studio, Japanese people don't natively speak English. A lot of times it does seem like they tried their best to transform a katakana name into English using our alphabet, but failed. I mean, those old "Engrish" jokes were funny for a reason, guys.

Also, just to kind of prove my point here, pretty much everyone agrees that the main character in Dragon Ball is named "Son Goku". However, those same Super Battle Collection figured spelled his name "Son Gokou" through their entire run, even into the GT toys. Which seems to me the folks in Japan were on the right track about how our words portay that long "U" sound, except romanized their own language's Kanji incorrectly on that toy.

[dbzfan7]

How come in the Kai trailer, Freeza was spelled with an "I". Just like Funimations version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bayua3nPMZA

[Zenkai]

Frieza, Hercule, and Tien are all fine by me. I much prefer Hercule over the original name.

[TheBlackPaladin]

I think, when localizing and when dubbing, proper names and pronunciation should be absolutely be maintained. However, l must also confess, the issue of pronunciation, spelling, and proper names have never been a huge issue for me. It is an issue, yes, but not a huge one. It will never be as big an issue for me as the acting and the writing (if we're talking about localization and adaptation). Hypothetically, if I could choose between a dub that kept all the proper names and pronunciation but sucked in the writing/acting department, or a dub that scrapped the proper names and pronunciation but rocked in the writing/acting department (acknowledging that neither scenario is a good one), I'd still pick the latter any day.

[GarrettCRW]

I think, when localizing and when dubbing, proper names and pronunciation should be absolutely be maintained. However, l must also confess, the issue of pronunciation, spelling, and proper names have never been a huge issue for me. It is an issue, yes, but not a huge one. It will never be as big an issue for me as the acting and the writing (if we're talking about localization and adaptation). Hypothetically, if I could choose between a dub that kept all the proper names and pronunciation but sucked in the writing/acting department, or a dub that scrapped the proper names and pronunciation but rocked in the writing/acting department (acknowledging that neither scenario is a good one), I'd still pick the latter any day.

The problem lies in what people see as "proper". Names like Krillin, Kakarot, and Bulma are perfectly logical and normal in my mind with my extremely basic understanding of the Japanese language, but you still see Kuririn, Kakarotto, and Buruma even though the uses of ku, ri, to, and ru aren't really consistent with how those sounds are used in our language. (And don't even get me started on the people who don't think that Lisa Hayes isn't a proper rendering of the Macross/Robotech character's name.....) Until the rules are agreed upon, there can be no completely common ground.

[Puto]

(And don't even get me started on the people who don't think that Lisa Hayes isn't a proper rendering of the Macross/Robotech character's name.....)

I absolutely don't see how you can get Lisa out of 未沙 or Hayes out of 早瀬. It's a pretty good 'closest English name', and probably the best pick for a localised dub such as Robotech, but it's absolutely not a valid transliteration of the Japanese kanji.

There are many name spellings in Robotech which are valid ways to render the Japanese kana for the Macross equivalent ('Breetai', 'Roy Fokker', 'Linn Minmei', 'Exedore'), but that is not one of them.

[linkdude20002001]

Also, just to kind of prove my point here, pretty much everyone agrees that the main character in Dragon Ball is named "Son Goku". However, those same Super Battle Collection figured spelled his name "Son Gokou" through their entire run, even into the GT toys. Which seems to me the folks in Japan were on the right track about how our words portay that long "U" sound, except romanized their own language's Kanji incorrectly on that toy.

Well, names don't HAVE to follow standard Japanese romanization methods. It's like how "hetchara" became "head-cha-la". Honestly, though, I prefer to use Toriyama's own spelling: "Gokuh". But it's not like "Gokou" is an "incorrect" spelling. If it were "Kugon" or something not pronounced the same, THEN it would be incorrect, but as you said, it's meant to be pronounced a-la many English words such as "you".

[ABED]

I still don't understand how Gokou or Gokuh = Goku.

I much prefer Hercule over the original name.

Blasphemy

[linkdude20002001]

So, to start, his name is 悟空. If you're to write that in kana, it's ごくう, which you can see is a three-morae name. The first kanji in his name, 悟, is the ご, which when written using the alphabet is go (in all forms of Japanese romanization). The second kanji, 空, is くう, which when written using the alphabet is kuu in traditional Hepburn, kū in modified Hepburn, kû in Nihon-shiki, and ku in Kunrei-shiki. There are more types of romanization as well. In some cases, an H is used to signify a long vowel ("long" as in a two-morae syllable), so you can also get a spelling like kuh. Now, going from くう to kou would, I guess, be an "English-ization" rather than a romanization. It's meant to be viewed as if it were English rather than Japanese, but it's still pronounced the same. It's based on the English words "you", "caribou", et cetera.

[ABED]

So, to start, his name is 悟空. If you're to write that in kana, it's ごくう, which you can see is a three-morae name. The first kanji in his name, 悟, is the ご, which when written using the alphabet is go (in all forms of Japanese romanization). The second kanji, 空, is くう, which when written using the alphabet is kuu in traditional Hepburn, kū in modified Hepburn, kû in Nihon-shiki, and ku in Kunrei-shiki. There are more types of romanization as well. In some cases, an H is used to signify a long vowel ("long" as in a two-morae syllable), so you can also get a spelling like kuh. Now, going from くう to kou would, I guess, be an "English-ization" rather than a romanization. It's meant to be viewed as if it were English rather than Japanese, but it's still pronounced the same. It's based on the English words "you", "caribou", et cetera.

Talk to me like I know nothing about Japanese. This comes off like you're trying to impress people with your knowledge instead of answering a question as concisely and clearly as possible.

[VegettoEX]

Talk to me like I know nothing about Japanese. This comes off like you're trying to impress people with your knowledge instead of answering a question as concisely and clearly as possible.

I don't see what the problem is. He answered the question very clearly and exhaustively. If you're not willing to put in the reading comprehension effort, then what's the point of asking questions to this community?

[ABED]

I didn't find it clear, and concise. It's clear to you because you know Japanese. I also fail to see how asking for 2 words instead of 5 is somehow me not being in the spirit of the community. I would prefer clear and concise to exhaustive to a simple inquiry. This isn't an opinion piece. I don't want it to sound like I'm upset, just it's not as clear or succinct as I think the question warrants. I've read it several times and there's nothing wrong with my reading comprehension.

[Gaffer Tape]

I agree that linkdude20002001's post was exhaustive and informative and certainly not trying to simply impress with the knowledge he knows, but I'll give it a shot to clarify because there are a few points where I can see that someone lacking a frame of reference might get lost. The point is, the name "Goku" is rather misleading in the fact that the last "u" sound is elongated. In English, we really don't have any consistent indication as to how long a vowel sound is supposed to be stressed and really only use double vowels to change the sound altogether ("bet" as opposed to "beet"). While Japanese phonetics work somewhat differently, the fact of the matter is, when you see a romanization with a double vowel like that, it's not the sound that's changing. It simply means it's being elongated. And Goku is technically written with that double "uu" at the end.

What linkdude20002001 is trying to get across is that different writing systems use different methods to illustrate the presence of that elongated vowel, either by writing out both "u"s, putting a mark over the "u", or replacing it with the English sound "ou" as it is said in words like "you". So in that instance, you're not looking at it as if it's a Japanese word using the Japanese phonetics (as such a pairing of vowels would be pronounced like "oh"). It's more like taking the Anglicized Vegeta and realizing the middle syllable is supposed to be pronounced "jee" and not "gay".

[ABED]

I agree that linkdude20002001's post was exhaustive and informative and certainly not trying to simply impress with the knowledge he knows, but I'll give it a shot to clarify because there are a few points where I can see that someone lacking a frame of reference might get lost. The point is, the name "Goku" is rather misleading in the fact that the last "u" sound is elongated. In English, we really don't have any consistent indication as to how long a vowel sound is supposed to be stressed and really only use double vowels to change the sound altogether ("bet" as opposed to "beet"). While Japanese phonetics work somewhat differently, the fact of the matter is, when you see a romanization with a double vowel like that, it's not the sound that's changing. It simply means it's being elongated. And Goku is technically written with that double "uu" at the end.

What linkdude20002001 is trying to get across is that different writing systems use different methods to illustrate the presence of that elongated vowel, either by writing out both "u"s, putting a mark over the "u", or replacing it with the English sound "ou" as it is said in words like "you". So in that instance, you're not looking at it as if it's a Japanese word using the Japanese phonetics (as such a pairing of vowels would be pronounced like "oh"). It's more like taking the Anglicized Vegeta and realizing the middle syllable is supposed to be pronounced "jee" and not "gay".

Thank you, I found this much clearer. By this logic, could Videl be spelled Veedel?

[linkdude20002001]

Talk to me like I know nothing about Japanese. This comes off like you're trying to impress people with your knowledge instead of answering a question as concisely and clearly as possible.

I didn't find it clear, and concise. It's clear to you because you know Japanese. I also fail to see how asking for 2 words instead of 5 is somehow me not being in the spirit of the community. I would prefer clear and concise to exhaustive to a simple inquiry. This isn't an opinion piece. I don't want it to sound like I'm upset, just it's not as clear or succinct as I think the question warrants. I've read it several times and there's nothing wrong with my reading comprehension.

I'm sorry for coming off as flaunting my knowledge on the matter, but I was unsure of to what extent you were familiar of the subject. I didn't want to go into TOO much detail (mostly 'cause I started getting lazier as I wrote that), but also, I didn't want to have to explain myself several times over because I wasn't thorough enough the first time around. Based on your response, I'm not really sure if you DID understand or if you DIDN'T... If you didn't understand something, I'd gladly expand upon that part. Though, perhaps what Gaffer Tape said helped patch in the holes.

EDIT: And to answer your last post, yes, it could. In fact, if it wasn't for it being an anagram of the word "devil", then it probably would've been written "Veedel" by most people.

[ABED]

Talk to me like I know nothing about Japanese. This comes off like you're trying to impress people with your knowledge instead of answering a question as concisely and clearly as possible.

I didn't find it clear, and concise. It's clear to you because you know Japanese. I also fail to see how asking for 2 words instead of 5 is somehow me not being in the spirit of the community. I would prefer clear and concise to exhaustive to a simple inquiry. This isn't an opinion piece. I don't want it to sound like I'm upset, just it's not as clear or succinct as I think the question warrants. I've read it several times and there's nothing wrong with my reading comprehension.

I'm sorry for coming off as flaunting my knowledge on the matter, but I was unsure of to what extent you were familiar of the subject. I didn't want to go into TOO much detail (mostly 'cause I started getting lazier as I wrote that), but also, I didn't want to have to explain myself several times over because I wasn't thorough enough the first time around. Based on your response, I'm not really sure if you DID understand or if you DIDN'T... If you didn't understand something, I'd gladly expand upon that part. Though, perhaps what Gaffer Tape said helped patch in the holes.

EDIT: And to answer your last post, yes, it could. In fact, if it wasn't for it being an anagram of the word "devil", then it probably would've been written "Veedel" by most people.

No problem, hopefully I didn't come off as an arse.