The All-Purpose "Translation Request" Thread

[NeoKING]

Why does Viz make things so archaic? "Boo the Djin," "Babidi the Warlock," making Piccolo speak as if he's in a Shakespeare play..

[Galan007]

Okay, so does Freeza actually say this in the Japanese dub?:

Is that so surprising? In my estimation, if I train hard for 4 months then…I should acquire a battle power of 1.30 million…

[Herms]

Okay, so does Freeza actually say this in the Japanese dub?:

Is that so surprising? In my estimation, if I train hard for 4 months then…I should acquire a battle power of 1.30 million…

That is indeed what's said in the original Japanese version of the film, yes.

[RandomGuy96]

Thank you, Herms! I can see why they changed it. I don't think someone would just come to the series on the second to last volume.

[Taskmaster]

Why does Viz make things so archaic? "Boo the Djin," "Babidi the Warlock," making Piccolo speak as if he's in a Shakespeare play..

I actually like those titles.

[Sayo-chan]

How accurate is the Viz translation of this introductory page for volume 25? Specifically the story section.

Since when is Mr. Satan a wrestler...?

[EmmaWinters]

Since when is Mr. Satan a wrestler...?

My understanding is that 格闘技/kakutōgi is hand-to-hand one-on-one martial arts.
Wrestling is a fair translation, but not one I'd use. Herms likes the term grappling.

I guess I'll use this post to ask a question of my own. How does 格闘技 differ from 武道? According to videl, the Tenka'ichi Budōkai is held to choose the kakutōgi champion; are they interchangeable? Does 武道 refer to the more spiritual aspects of martial arts?

[Herms]

Since when is Mr. Satan a wrestler...?

When he first appears, Viz threw in a line about him having formally been a wrestler. In fact, I think they said "Mr. Satan" was his ring name during his wrestling days and that he went by "Her'cule" now, as kind of a way of justifying their going with "Her'cule" or something. Anyway, he's not specifically referred to as a "wrestler" in Japanese as far as I can recall, though his whole image seems rather pro wrestler-ish.

My understanding is that 格闘技/kakutōgi is hand-to-hand one-on-one martial arts.
Wrestling is a fair translation, but not one I'd use. Herms likes the term grappling.

That's a good point; that might be where they got it from. But then, like you said the entire Tenkaichi Budokai is referred to as a kakutou tournament, so if Satan counts as a "wrestler" under that criteria, so does Goku.

I guess I'll use this post to ask a question of my own. How does 格闘技 differ from 武道? According to videl, the Tenka'ichi Budōkai is held to choose the kakutōgi champion; are they interchangeable? Does 武道 refer to the more spiritual aspects of martial arts?

From what I've seen, 武道 is sometimes used more for Asian martial arts, but in general they seem about interchangeable. I've also occasionally seen 格闘技 used in anime/manga/etc to refer specifically to hand-to-hand, physical fighting moves in contrast to ki attacks or other more fantasy-type fighting styles.

[Galan007]

From DBS Episode 5:

Spoiler:

Is the translation/dialogue from that scene accurate?

Also: after being defeated, Goku mentions that fusion between he and Vegeta still wouldn't be enough contend with Beerus. Is it possible to get that exact translation as well?

[RandomGuy96]

Didn't he already do this one?
https://mobile.twitter.com/Herms98/stat ... 4614498309

This time, Beerus is even harsher on base Goku: "it seems impossible for you to have defeated Freeza" (same line as before, but now with 到底)

[Galan007]

I don't have twitter, nor do I keep up with it, but thanks!

[Herms]

Posting this in the Super ep.5 thread too, but whatever. Having re-watched the episode:

--Beerus' comment on base Goku is basically the same as in BoG, but with 到底 ("cannot possibly", "no matter how") thrown in for extra emphasis.

--Beerus' comment on Super Saiyan Goku matches the Dragon Team's translation, which goes:

"I can understand how you defeated Freeza. But if this is all you've got, defeating Freeza would probably be the best you're capable of."

--After Goku becomes Super Saiyan 2, Beerus goes "oh, so you've powered up this much" (phrased in a way that implies he's powered up a lot).

--Beerus describes Super Saiyan 3 as "several levels" stronger than regular Super Saiyan or Super Saiyan 2. Even Whis, who earlier doubted if the fight would last long enough for him to eat his lunch, now thinks he'll have enough time.

--Beerus calls Goku a fighting prodigy because he somehow could tell Beerus was about to attack (an attack Beerus says would "definitely" have felled Goku), despite Goku being unable to sense Beerus' ki.

So much for Goku. As for Beerus:

--Kaio describes Beerus as in "another dimension" than the foes Goku has previously fought. That's the same phrase that's been kicked around throughout the main series, describing the likes of Freeza/Super Saiyan Goku/the mighty Kaioshin/revived Freeza, and also Saitama (probably the only person who actually lives up to such hyperbole).

--Kaio then immediately goes on to say that Beerus is powerful enough to blow Goku to the ends of the universe with just a snort from his nose. The joke is that in Japanese this phrase involves stringing together many words that all begin with "ha".

--After getting defeated, Goku says it doesn't look like he and Vegeta could defeat Beerus even if they merged together. This is no different from what he says in the BoG extended edition.

Enough fighting. Some timeline stuff:

--Whis says Beerus last came to North Kaio's planet 327 years ago. If Super is set in Age 775, then Beerus' previous visit (and the destruction of Kaio's original planet) was in Age 448.

--When Goku asks for a fight, Beerus says he's never heard such a thing even though he's lived for hundreds of millions of years. During the equivalent part of BoG, he merely says he's never heard such a thing in all his "long life".

[Sayo-chan]

--Beerus describes Super Saiyan 3 as "several levels" stronger than regular Super Saiyan or Super Saiyan 3. Even Whis, who earlier doubted if the fight would last long enough for him to eat his lunch, now thinks he'll have enough time.

I'm assuming several levels stronger than SSJ or SSJ2.

[xmysticgohanx]

Herms this isn't dragon ball related but I was wondering if you can translate this as literal as possible: この世における最強生物
Some people are saying World's Strongest Creature isn't what's said at all

[Taskmaster]

So, Herms are you ok with translating Buu saga pages?

[Truhan]

Mr. Herms, can I ask you something? Do Japanese use short scale numbers as symbols for the real value they want to communicate (long scale of a billion, for example) to Western countries, instead of representing them in their true scale? It would be as if 2.5 billion was used as 2.500.000.000 to comunicate 2.500.000.000.000 instead. It's just a weird notion that I wanted to clear, based on Gogeta's promotional info.

[Herms]

Herms this isn't dragon ball related but I was wondering if you can translate this as literal as possible: この世における最強生物
Some people are saying World's Strongest Creature isn't what's said at all

Hm, well this probably goes against forum "on topic" rules, but I guess I'll go with it...

この世 (kono-yo): literally "this world", sometimes in contrast to the afterlife.
における (ni okeru): depending on context can mean in/at/on/in regards to.
最強 (saikyou): "strongest"; 最/sai="most", 強/kyou="strong".
生物 (seibutsu): "creature, living thing"; 生/sei="living", 物/butsu="thing"

So..."the strongest creature in this world". There are various ways of phrasing that, but they all amount to the same thing. What's the context of this, and what do the people who say "that isn't what's said at all" say it's saying?

Just to try and tie this in with DB, compare this with DBZ movie 2's title, この世で一番強いヤツ (kono-yo de ichiban tsuyoi yatsu), "The World's Strongest Guy". Both use kono-yo for "world", but for "strongest" the movie title uses 一番強い (ichiban tsuyoi), literally meaning "#1 strong". And of course "guy" (ヤツ/yatsu) instead of "creature".

--Beerus describes Super Saiyan 3 as "several levels" stronger than regular Super Saiyan or Super Saiyan 3. Even Whis, who earlier doubted if the fight would last long enough for him to eat his lunch, now thinks he'll have enough time.

I'm assuming several levels stronger than SSJ or SSJ2.

Thanks, fixed now.

So, Herms are you ok with translating Buu saga pages?

Well, I have already translated many Boo manga stuff, pretty much all of which can be found in the Strength Checker. Apart from that, well, you're free to request whatever you want, but I reserve the right to not bother translating anything that doesn't take my fancy. Of course, other people who know Japanese are free to step in and translate it too.

Mr. Herms, can I ask you something? Do Japanese use short scale numbers as symbols for the real value they want to communicate (long scale of a billion, for example) to Western countries, instead of representing them in their true scale? It would be as if 2.5 billion was used as 2.500.000.000 to comunicate 2.500.000.000.000 instead. It's just a weird notion that I wanted to clear, based on Gogeta's promotional info.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean, but in Japanese they use both Arabic numerals and kanji to write numbers. So for instance, Ginyu's BP can potentially be written as 120,000, or 12万, or 十二万, all of which a Japanese person would pronounce as juu-ni man. The Japanese use ten thousand as a unit for higher numbers, so 120,000 is literally "12 ten-thousands" (juu-ni=12, while 万/man=10,000). Then once you hit 100 million (10,000 x 10,000), that likewise becomes the unit for higher numbers. So Freeza's BP can potentially be written as 120,000,000, or 1億2000万, or 一億二千万, all of which would be pronounced as ichi-oku nisen-man, with 億/oku being the word for "one hundred million. You could even write it as 1.2億, or 120000000, since the Japanese don't always include commas in Arabic numerals.

On that note, Gogeta's BP from V-Jump is written 2500000000. This is simply 2.5 billion, straightforwardly enough (nijuu-go oku in Japanese).

[jcogginsa]

Herms this isn't dragon ball related but I was wondering if you can translate this as literal as possible: この世における最強生物
Some people are saying World's Strongest Creature isn't what's said at all

Hm, well this probably goes against forum "on topic" rules, but I guess I'll go with it...

この世 (kono-yo): literally "this world", sometimes in contrast to the afterlife.
における (ni okeru): depending on context can mean in/at/on/in regards to.
最強 (saikyou): "strongest"; 最/sai="most", 強/kyou="strong".
生物 (seibutsu): "creature, living thing"; 生/sei="living", 物/butsu="thing"

So..."the strongest creature in this world". There are various ways of phrasing that, but they all amount to the same thing. What's the context of this, and what do the people who say "that isn't what's said at all" say it's saying?

I believe it's refering to Kaidou from One Piece. He's been refered to in universe as that, and a previous character, Whitebeard, was called "The World's Strongest Man" before he died. I dunno the Japanese text for Whitebeard's title.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

In episode 1 of Super, does Goten say to Goku "Sometimes, I think mom is the strongest in the universe instead of you"?

[soulnova]

Can someone please help me translate this?

Spoiler:

https://twitter.com/miicooochan/status/ ... 9709178880