Herms' Huge Project (Viz translation review)--DB vol.5!

Saiyan-Professor · Post by **Saiyan-Professor** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:04 pm

VegettoEX wrote:
Saiyan-Professor wrote:I also have a question. It appears as if Viz used more than one translator overall thus the discrepancies in the English edition. Is this the case or the translator was just incompetent?
I'm tempted to say "a little bit of both", but the civil answer is that yes, they have gone through several editors and translators. It's clear that once Jason Thompson left, things severely went down-hill.

Thanks, as I was reading Herms analysis I noticed sometimes that the text would be in accordance with the Japanese or close enough yet remain palatable for English reader’s consumption then it goes in a very different direction.

ImmortalSandwich · Post by **ImmortalSandwich** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:08 pm

Thanks Herms, this is totally awesome.

Post by **Herms** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:15 pm

Saiyan-Professor wrote:I believe that things such as the above were done because Viz’s mangas are primarily marketed towards children and teens. While many of us here are “adults” and some have rigorously studied, Japanese culture and language, and others possess some familiarity with it but certain phrases and expressions will be unknown to the previously mentioned audience. Therefore, that has to be taken into consideration when translating. The English manga is done to entertain English speaking readers so naturally Viz would have to modify it for their readers.

Well, I didn't count them translating "Banzai" as a change or anthing (it's labled as [note]); in fact, what I thought was interesting was that they didn't translate it there, and then did in other places.

I also have a question. It appears as if Viz used more than one translator overall thus the discrepancies in the English edition. Is this the case or the translator was just incompetent?

I want to do a big thing explaining the Viz staff for DB/Z at some point. But in short, the final translation that gets into the Viz graphic novels is a result of the work of mainly three people (or rather, three jobs). First there is the actual translator. For all of DB, that was Mari Morimoto; Mari
Morimoto also did the first volume of DBZ, but then Lillian Olsen took over translating.

The translators do a direct, literal translation of the Japanese text, and then turn it over to the English adaptor, who's job is to make it sound as natural as possible in English. Gerard Jones was in charge of the English adaptation for all of DB/Z; he's a writer who has written both comic books and books about comic books, including one arguing that violent stories are in fact healthy for a child's psyche.

Then there's the editor, who gets final say on things and makes their own changes. The initial editor for DB/Z was Trish Ledoux, who is credited as being the one to give Piccolo the bizzare speaking style he has in early DBZ, though I haven't found any official confirmation of this. Jason Thompson took over after her. For awhile, Ledoux is credited as editing the monthly releases while Thompson is credited with editing the graphic novels (the "collected edition" as it says in the credit page), then Thompson simply becomes "senior editor". Thompson was also the senior editor for the first six issues of Viz's Shonen Jump, but left after that. He is however credited as senior editor right up until the end of Z, which I find curious since I thought he said he left Viz completely after he left Shonen Jump. I'll have to look into it more.

SHINOBI-03 · Post by **SHINOBI-03** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:21 pm

VegettoEX wrote:It's clear that once Jason Thompson left, things severely went down-hill.

An interview with him, for those who are interested to know something about him
http://manga.about.com/od/mangaartistsw ... ompson.htm

Post by **Herms** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 4:17 pm

Thanks for than interview. I've got a few things like that that I've found.

Here's an interview with Gerard Jones, where he mentions his work on manga. On rewriting, he says:

GJ: Barb asks a good question. My official title is "rewriter." But...I try to be more of an adapter. My ideal is to convey the original author's intent and style. I want to contribute that and get out of the way. But: there are times that I just couldn't do that without leaving the original incomprehensible. Or adding explanatory footnotes, which Viz very much tries to avoid. It depends more on the specific reference or gag in question.

Jason Thompson, on the favorite manga he's been editor for. DragonBall is #5.

From that, him on the process of rewriting:

Uzumaki was a manga I both edited and "rewrote." Going back to the dawn of Viz in 1987, most manga from Viz and other companies were looked over by three people -- an editor, a literal translator, and a "rewriter," who usually didn't know Japanese and who just spruced up the dialogue to make it more snappy. (Or messed up the dialogue, depending on who you ask, and depending on the rewriter.) This arrangement dated back to the early days of Viz, when the company was mostly staffed by non-native English speakers, who wanted to make sure that the manga read well in English. Today, the use of rewriters is less common, partially to cut costs, and partially because literal translations are now expected. But in the past, with no scanlations to compare to, and a far smaller audience of bilingual manga fans, translations were often looser. In this rewriter tradition, I got creative with a few lines. For an example, in the chapter where the woman gets a spiral mark on her forehead, the line "Is that... bone...?" was originally a more generic "What the..." utterance.

Here's another Thompson interview, where he talks a lot about the history of Viz. page 2 is particulary interesting for fans of DB and Shonen Jump. Thomspon, on leaving as the editor for Viz's Shonen Jump:

Yes. I basically told Viz that I wanted to work part time or I'd quit. It probably wasn't a really nice thing to do. Only about six issues of Shonen Jump had come out, and they were still in the throes of getting the magazine finalized. The first six issues that I worked on are, frankly, very primitive compared to what they ended up with. The design became a lot more smooth and streamlined, and the content of the magazine evolved a lot. At the same time, though, it's not all positive, from my perspective. The titles do end up being censored a lot more, and that was something I was becoming frustrated with.

And here's an interview with Lillian Olsen.

Saiyan-Professor · Post by **Saiyan-Professor** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 4:46 pm

Herms wrote:
Saiyan-Professor wrote:I believe that things such as the above were done because Viz’s mangas are primarily marketed towards children and teens. While many of us here are “adults” and some have rigorously studied, Japanese culture and language, and others possess some familiarity with it but certain phrases and expressions will be unknown to the previously mentioned audience. Therefore, that has to be taken into consideration when translating. The English manga is done to entertain English speaking readers so naturally Viz would have to modify it for their readers.
Well, I didn't count them translating "Banzai" as a change or anthing (it's labled as [note]); in fact, what I thought was interesting was that they didn't translate it there, and then did in other places...

I perfectly understand that but some may walk away with the idea that the English manga was totally ruined and it has no value at all because of some amendments or changes.

Post by **Herms** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:19 am

Here's chapter 4. I do, at some point before the end of the world, intend to go back and put up the rest of volume 2.

Chapter 37

[*]
In the original, the announcer introduces Yamcha with “Over here, Contestant Yamcha!”. In Viz, it’s “In the left corner, Yamcha!”, a boxing-type line, although Yamcha isn’t actually standing in the corner (though he is on the announcer’s left).

[**]
Audience member, on Jacky Chun
Tr: Heh~. Can that old man fight?
Viz: 13-year-olds…old geezers…what’s this tournament coming to…?

Chapter 38

[note]
Jacky Chun, on Namu
Tr: Wh-what? What’s with that serious, story manga-like gaze….He’s serious…I can feel a tremendous drive…but the Tenkaichi Budoukai is a half-carnival, so what in the…
Viz: What…? That gaze…powerful…implacable…straight out of a comic book! How can he be emanating such intensity of will…in a glorified circus like this?

Jacky says Namu’s gaze is like something from a story manga. “Story manga” (using the English word “story” there) is a Japanese term for more serious, story-based manga. It’s opposite is gag manga, manga based purely around gags, with generally no over-arching story and often Loony Toons-type logic. Like Loony Toon characters, gag manga characters are generally invincible. In Dr. Slump, the devil Chivil complains about how he’s unable to actually kill anyone, no matter how much he shoots at people or tosses grenades, because as Dr. Slump is a gag manga his weapons have no permanent effects. Similarly, in the DragonBall/Kochi-Kame crossover, Ryu-san is always unharmed by Freeza’s attacks because he is a gag manga character. After seeing Namu’s flashback, Jacky then comments that he understands why Namu can’t act like a gag manga character.

[*]
Viz adds a pun to Namu’s flashback
Tr: The well has finally dried up too…
Viz: It has dried up as well. The well, that is…

[lost]
Namu is generally uses the polite forms of “I”, watashi and watakushi, but as seen in the flashback, when he’s around his family he uses the more casual boku.

[note]
In Namu’s flashback, minami no miyako is translated as South City, while in an earlier chapter it was translated as Southern Metropolis.

[*]
The announcer says of Ran Fan’s crying “This is unprecedented!!”, which isn’t in the original. So for all we know, people could cry at the Tenkaichi Budoukai all the time.

[lost]
The term Namu uses for Ran Fan is burikko (ぶりっ子), a term for a woman who acts overly cute or girlish, often in a sexy way. The same term is used for Akane’s mother in Dr. Slump, who never walks without shaking her butt.

[**]
Announcer, on Namu
Tr: His eyes are completely serious…!!
Viz: It looks like nothing can stop him now!!

[**]
Ran Fan, bringing out her…special move
Tr: So then, my trump card…How’s this? Mr. pure-hearted boy.
Viz: Golly, I guess I’m licked…Or maybe I just want to be.

And in response to Namu’s reaction
Tr: How’s this? You can’t look at me, can you!
Viz: Whatsa matter? Don’cha wanna hit me?

[lost]
Ran Fan talks in a very cutesy way when she’s acting cute (which fits well), but she talks almost masculine when she drops that act (for instance, in the line above). Viz does a good job of rendering her cutesy speech, but it has her talk in basically that sort of way all the time, even if it’s more pronounced when she’s trying to throw Namu off, lessening the distinction.

[**]
Announcer
Tr: Oh, there’s nothing behind him!! It’s a really enviable way to be attacked, but the pure-minded contestant Namu is helpless!! He’s in a big pinch!!
Viz: Namu’s reached the edge of the arena!! He’s got no choice but to strike--or lose!!

I love the announcer describing Namu’s predicament as “enviable”.

[*]
Namu says “Everyone in the village is waiting on me…!!” in the original, but he trails off without saying the “is waiting on me” part in Viz.

[*/lost]
Namu
Tr: That’s it!!! If I close my eyes, I won’t see her woman’s flesh!!!!
Viz: I must not see her!!!!

Namu uses an unusual word for “woman” here, onago, rather than the more common onna no ko or josei. I do love how in the original he’s like “I’ve got it! If I close my eyes, I can’t see her!!” Genius at work.

[**]
Tr: Uh~. Could you please not touch the contestant?
Viz: Doctor, what do you expect to learn there?

Why the heck would the announcer think Jacky’s a doctor? He knows who he is after all.

Chapter 39

[**/note]
Tr: Wh-what the? Isn’t he a total monster [kaijuu]?!!
Viz: Great, like there aren’t enough Japanese monsters.

As I’ve mentioned before, Giran’s described as a kaijuu, a term associated with giant Japanese movie monsters such as Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, etc. Viz’s “Japanese monsters” is their reference to that. Their rewording of the line is kinda off though, since the sarcastic line they give Oolong doesn’t match the “WTF?!?” expression on his face.

[lost]
Giran refers to himself as “ore-sama”, “ore” being a masculine form of I and “sama” being a Japanese honorific added onto the end of people in a higher position than you, in order to show respect. For Giran to use “sama” when referring to himself shows how stuck-up he is. This speech quirk is common among DragonBall villains, and manga villains in general. Which makes me wonder if there are any really humble villains. That’d be interesting.

[**]
Namu, to Kuririn, as they look for Goku
Tr: He’s not this way!
Viz: He was that way, fool!

So for some reason, instead of Namu helping out by saying Goku’s not over in this direction (presumably which he just checked), they’ve got him berating Kuririn. Weird.

[*]
Giran originally goes “He’s run away!! I win!!” when Goku doesn’t show up, while in Viz he sings “I win on a for~feit” a few times.

[*]
Ran Fan, finding Goku
Tr: Hey, here it is!!
Viz: Hey!! Take a gander at this!!

Ran Fan’s speech also seems vaguely Southern in Viz.

[**/lost]
Tr
Announcer: Contestant Son Goku was taking an afternoon nap…
Goku: Hello—I’m Son Goku!!

Viz
Announcer: C-contestant Goku was unavoidably…um…
Goku: Boy, that nap felt good!!

Goku’s greeting to the crowd is very polite. Extremely polite for Goku, actually. He goes “Kon’nichiwa! Ora Son Goku de—su!!”, which he’d normally say as “Ossu! Ora Goku!”.

[*]
In the original, after Giran decks Goku, the announcer says the match has been decided in one blow, prompting Giran to go “Gyhihi…I won!”, while in Viz he asks if this is another match to be finished in one blow, and Giran replies “Obviously…hee-hee!”.

[*]
When the announcer says Goku wasn’t hurt at all by Giran’s attack, Goku denies this, in the original saying “that hurt a little bit” and in Viz “my cheek got an owee!”

[**]
Flying Giran, to Goku
Tr: I can’t win by ring-out!!
Viz: Try throwin’ me outta bounds, eh?!!

[**]
Tr
Announcer: Huh? Like the phoenix, contestant Giran has come back to life!! At the point when he was surely going to fall out of bounds, deciding the match, he’s avoided losing in this way!!
Goku: Is that allowed?

Viz
Announcer: Those wings may not look like much—But they’re enough to bring Giran’s chances back to life!! Contestants are out of bounds only if their feet or body touch the ground outside the arena!!
Goku: But you’re so fat…

[name]
Giran’s gum technique is called Guru-Guru Gum in Japanese, “guru-guru” meaning “to spin round and round, which is what it does when he shoots it out of his mouth. For instance, when Goku later uses his tail as a helicopter blade to fly back to the ring during his match with Jacky, the announcer uses “guru-guru” to describe the motion of Goku’s tail. Viz calls the technique Lassoo-in Gum.

[***]
Closing narration
Tr: Goku is in an unexpected pinch!! What on Earth will happen to him now!?
Viz: Is this the end of Son Goku!? Then how do you explain DragonBall Z?!

This anachronistic reference to DBZ is fairly famous.

Chapter 40

[**/note]
Giran, on his gum
Tr: No matter how you struggle, it’s pointless! My Guru-Guru Gum will absolutely never come undone! Now you’re just like a doll!
Viz: Flail and flounder all you want, pipsqueak! My gum just gets stucker! This is gonna be like punchin’ punch! (you know, that puppet guy!)

“Punch” refers to Punch and Judy puppet shows, a famous, extremely long-lived and widespread type of puppet which in its basic form depicts Punch viciously murdering everyone and everything he comes across, usually starting with his wife Judy and ending with the devil himself (kids love it!). So if Giran did trying punching Punch, it probably wouldn’t end very well for him. Incidentally, in Cowboy Bebop, the two hosts of the TV show “Big Shot” are named after Punch and Judy.

[*]
Viz adds “Welcome back” to announcer’s speech right after the pointless page

[note]
As Goku’s flying out of the ring, you can see Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman, and the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz in the audience. The jack-o-lantern man near them may be Jack Pumpkinhead, a major character from the Oz books who isn’t as well known as the others because he wasn’t in the very first Oz book, and therefore isn’t in the famous movie.

[*]
Jacky (or Kuririn?)
Tr: No!!! It’s no use!!
Viz: No, no!! To end like this!!

[*]
Goku thanks Kinto-un in the original, which he doesn’t really do in Viz.

[**]
Jacky
Tr: But his pinch isn’t over yet!
Viz: Don’t count your turtles before they…

The Viz line is a joke on the saying “don’t count your chickens before they hatch”.

[**/note]
Tr
Giran: Gunununu…
Goku: I’m back!

Viz
Giran: I don’t believe it…
Goku O—kay!

Goku’s “I’m back” line is “tadaima”, a Japanese expression said when one arrives back home. It literally means “just now”, and so is essentially short for “I’ve just now gotten back” or the like.

[*]
The announcer calls Kinto-un a “mysterious cloud” in Japanese and a “magical cloud”.

[**]
Giran, on Goku not being allowed to use Kinto-un again
Tr: Serves you right!
Viz: It’s hard to be small!

[**]
Tr
Giran: This is the end!! I’ll give you my special-reserve punch!!
Goku: Ukukukukukukuh!!! I-it’s no use--!!
Giran: Fly away--!!!

Viz
Giran: You get a treat! A close-up view o’ my special punch!!
Goku: Not fair!! Not fair!! Eee-yagga—a!!
Giran Hasta la peewee!!!

[*]
Crowd member(s), on Goku’s tail
Tr: A…! Aaaa--!!
Viz: He’s horrible~!! Look~!!

There’s several instances where originally the crowd just makes generic noises, while Viz gives specific lines to them. The idea conveyed is the same though.

[**]
Goku
Tr: Just as I thought, I’m better off with my tail!!
Viz: An’ I’ve got a tail!! Looka me!!

[*]
Goku, after smashing wall
Tr: Yes!! Tip-top shape, tip-top shape!!
Viz: Oo!! Yeah!! Lots better!!

[*]
Giran
Tr: I…I give up…!
Viz: Don’t hurt me…!

Chapter 41

[*]
Announcer, on the crowd laughing at Goku’s ignorance
Tr: Looks like that gag just now went over very well.
Viz: They’re warriors and they’re comedians!

[***]
Bulma, on Goku’s true age
Tr: 12? I thought he was too small for his age! He didn’t even have any hair…! He really is an idiot!
Viz: I knew it!! No way he could be 14!! He never noticed what an awesome babe I am!!

So, uh…by “he didn’t even have any hair”, I’m pretty sure Bulma means how Goku did have any pubic hair back when she bathed him (and he still doesn’t have any). So obviously we’ve seen young Goku’s penis quote a few times in the series, though this stops once he grows up. The Jump code for what’s allowable (during DB’s run at least) seems to be that penises are OK, but pubic hair is not.

[note]
Announcer, on Goku and Kuririn’s interview
Tr: Y-you two wouldn’t happen to be purposefully doing a manzai routine would you?…
Viz: I swear, if you guys planned this…

Manzai is a type of Japanese comedy routine involving a conversation between a straight man and a funny man. The funny man constantly misunderstands things, which the irritable straight man then corrects, often hitting the funny man for good measure. Goku’s misunderstanding of the announcer holding the microphone out to him (“are you giving this to me?”) and Kuririn’s exasperated explanation of the device’s purpose is manzai-like.

[*]
Yamcha, to Jacky
Tr: No, you’re definitely Muten Roshi!! If you look closely, your techniques, your perverseness, and even your face are identical!! That’s a wig on your head, isn’t it!!
Viz: You’ve got to be him!! Your face!! Your moves!! Your incredibly embarrassing way of slobbering over women!!

[note]
So Jacky’s song…Well, songs are basically impossible to literally translate and retain any sort of meter, and Jacky’s son is especially odd, so I think Viz did a good job here (note that they’re version rhymes, like the original). I really don’t want to bother writing them both out in their entirety, so I’ll just take this bit by bit. First, the opening:

Tr: Hi~i!! I’m Chun-chan!!
Viz: My name is Jacky!! Welcome to my show!!

When Jacky counts, he does it in English in both versions. Then in the original he makes random sounds, while in Viz he asks “is everybody having a good time?!” And then:

Tr: That cute girls is a woman, hehehhei!! Hehehhei!! She’s got boobs but no dick
Viz: You’re a lookin’ mighty fine there, honey…oh, fox~y laaaa-dy…

In the original Jacky talks about taking his girl (the listener) to a village festival, while in Viz he asks for her to come farm with him. In the original he asks her to ride his tractor, while in Viz it’s “I’ve got a tractor that you’ve got to see” (nice double entendre, either way).

In the song, Jacky uses “oira”, another hick form of “ore”, the masculine “I”. It’s not uncommon for singers to use different personal pronouns when singing, since they essentially take on different characters with each song. It’s even not uncommon for women to speak as if they were men in a song, and vice-versa. Anyway, this hickish way of saying “I” matches the country theme of Jacky’s song.

For the last bit, he mentions a bon’odori dance set to the rhythm of drums, a reference to the traditional Japanese dance during the Bon festivals. In Viz he says “City boys call me a country hick! They may got oney but they ain’t got…yow!!”

Chapter 42

[*]
Originally, in response to Jacky’s super fast movement, the crowd just goes “Zawa zawa zawa”, the Japanese sound effect for people talking. Viz turns this into a conversation involving some wordplay.
Person 1: You see that?
Person 2: I can’t believe it!
Person 1: I mean, you see that?!

[*]
When telling Kuririn he ought to be able to follow Jacky’s movements, Goku says “You trained, right?”, which drops out in Viz.

[*]
Jacky, to Kuririn
Tr: You did well to see through that!
Viz: Very impressive!

Same idea in Viz, just vaguer.

[note]
Even in Japanese, all the announcer’s counting is in English (“wan…tsu…suri…”).

[**]
Jacky, during the reenactment
Tr: …Oooo…
Viz: Hurry, boy, hurry…

[note]
Viz uses the term “roshambo” to refer to Jacky and Kuririn’s game of janken (the Japanese version of rock-paper-scissors). “Roshambo” is an alternate name of rock-paper-scissors, but it shares its name with another game, where boys kick each other in the balls to see who will pass out first. The form of roshambo was featured on South Park.

[**]
Kuririn, on the results of the rock-paper-scissors
Tr: I was an idiot to be unintentionally lured into actually looking over there
Viz: (I got so mad at him I actually outsmarted myself!)

[***]
The label on the panties Kuririn produces
Tr: Gal’s panties
Viz: If found, return to Bulma

How the hell would Kuririn have gotten Bulma’s panties, if they just met at the tournament? Of course, I don’t want to know where he got some nameless girl’s panties, labeled like a specimen to boot.

[*]
Jacky originally just says “Ooh!!” while in Viz he goes “Ooo!! Panties!!”

[**]
Jacky, flying out of the ring
Tr: Da-dammit!!!!
Viz: Eee—Yow—w!!!!

Chapter 43

[**]
Opening narration
Tr: After being completely taken in by Kuririn’s skillful panty strategy, Jacky Chun was hit with a kick and has been sent flying out of bounds!!!!

Viz: He’s not the first great warrior (or the last) to be brought low by a girl’s panties…but Jacky Chin is the one flying out of bounds at the moment!!!!

In keeping with the idea Viz puts in that this sort of panty trick has a venerable tradition, they have Jacky bemoan how he was taken in by “the old panty ploy” (originally he simply called it a “panty ploy”).

[**]
Jacky, after landing back in the arena
Tr: I’m back [tadaima]
Viz: At your service

See my note above on “tadaima”.

[**]
Tr
Announcer: This is the first time I’ve seen a Kamehameha!!! It’s a truly incredible technique!! What a surprise!!!
Yamcha: What are you talking about? That’s Muten Roshi himself!! He really was Muten Roshi after all!!

Viz
Announcer: In all my years of watching tournaments, I have never seen the Kamehameha!!! And I never thought I would!! But thanks to this amazing stranger!!
Yamcha: “Stranger”?! Ha!! That’s Muten Roshi himself!! Just like I thought!!

[note]
The announcer uses the very polite and formal form of “I”, watakushi.

[*]
Originally Jacky says he will give his autograph “if you’re a lady” (that is, he’ll sign for women), while in Viz he’s less particular, saying he’ll give autographs “ladies first”.

[*]
Viz has the announcer say of Jacky “How do I deserve to be blessed with his presence?!!” Geez, get a room (wow, I wish I hadn’t just given myself that mental image).

[*]
When Yamcha suggests Kame-sennin and Jacky are the same person, Kuririn originally says that they do resemble each other, and even sound alike, while in Viz he only says they sound alike.

Chapter 44

[*]
In Viz, Yamcha calls the afterimage attack Jacky’s “ultimate move” (originally he just called it Jacky’s move). This is odd because Jacky’s already displayed the Kamehameha.

[**]
Announcer
Tr: A-a-amazing!!! It’s a stupendous offensive and defensive battle!!! Neither side is giving an inch!!!
Viz: Goku is showing moves we’ve never seen before!!! But Namu doesn’t give an inch!!!

[*]
Goku, after doing that tornado thing
Tr: I’m di-di-dizzy…
Viz: M-m-make the world stop…spinning…

[name]
Namu’s special attack is the Tenkuu Peke Jiken (天空X字拳), the “Heavenly X-Mark Attack”. “Peke” is the Japanese pronunciation of X specifically in the context of putting an X over a wrong answer, or X-ing out something which is no good or a no-go. One of Toriyama’s post-DB manga one-shots is “Alien Peke”, the main character of which gets his name from this (his home planet, in contrast, is named after “hanamaru”, “flower circle”, the Japanese equivalent of a gold star received for getting 100% on a test). Making the X-mark with your hands like Namu does in this attack is also a common signal in Japan for “that’s a no-no”.

Viz calls the technique Tenkuu Jiken, rather oddly leaving out the X/peke part (Tenkuu Jiken on its own means “Heavenly Letter Attack”). They translate this as “Heavenly Cross”.

[*]
Viz has Oolong call Goku a ”lazy pig”, presumably for the irony of Oolong calling somebody that.

[***]
As Namu descends upon Goku, in the original he cries out “Namu Amida Butsu!!!”, the Buddhist invocation from which Namu gets his name (the character Amidamaru from Shaman King also gets his name from this). Viz has this as “In the name of the Buddha!!!!”, which is pretty good, such the phrase is an invocation to the buddha.

[**]
The text next to Namu originally read “To be continued!”, while Viz has it ask “Is it over?!”

Chapter 45

[**]
As the chapter opens, Namu repeats his Buddhist invocation from last time, but Viz changes it:

Tr: Namu Amida Butsu
Viz: Forgive mee—e!!!

[***]
Namu, after hitting Goku with the attack
Tr: I am also one who believes in the Buddha… I do no take life…
Viz: I am a peaceful man. I would not kill…

Namu explicitly identifies himself as a Buddhist, and what’s more, that he is “also” one, implying that those around him are Buddhists as well.

[**]
Goku, upon waking up
Tr: That hurt~~!! (literally “that affected me”
Viz: Y’know…you coulda hurt me!

[**]
Jacky, on Goku not being done in by the attack
Tr: What a guy…!
Viz: It’s got to be his lack of a brain…!

[*]
Viz has the announcers “Amazing! Amazing!! Amazing!!! Amazing!!!! Amazing!!!!!” as “Waa! Waa!! Waa!!! Waa!!!! Waa!!!!!”.

[**]
Originally, Namu says he must have missed the mark, while in Viz he says he must have missed the pressure point.

[name]
Viz calls the Chou Tenkuu Peke-ji Ken (Super Heavenly X-Mark Attack) the “Heavenly Super Cross”.

[**]
Namu, on Goku
Tr: What a guy!!
Viz: He can’t be human!!

While there’s quite a few times throughout early DragonBall where people suggest Goku isn’t human, or is flat-out an alien, this one wasn’t in the original.

[*]
More extra puns from Viz. Goku, while falling with Namu
Tr: I’ve caught up with you!!
Viz: Mind if I drop in?!

[**]
Namu, to Goku
Tr: C-crap!!!
Viz: Get back here!!!

[*]
As Namu and Goku fight in the air, Viz adds in a pun abut the “Strongest Under the Heavens” becoming “The Strongest in the Heavens” to the announcer’s narration.

[*]
Viz has the announcer call Goku and Namu’s fight “the most brilliant match in history”. Now surely that’s an exaggeration.

Chapter 46

[***]
Announcer, as Namu gets back up
Tr: At this bitter defeat, even [the usually stoic] Namu looks upset!! Still, he showed us a truly splendid match!!
Viz: But what’s this?! The defeated Namu is climbing back into the ring!! He looks angry…and he’s heading for Son Goku…!!

[**]
Viz changes the ending of the announcer’s hype for the finals:
Tr: Who will be the best under heaven? Contestant Son?!! Or Contestant Jacky?!!
Viz: Now’s the time to buy those souvenir sports bottles!!

I want a Tenkaichi Budoukai souvenir sports bottle…

[*]
Viz increases Jacky/Kame-sennin’s plans for Goku and Kuririn:
Tr: I want to turn them into far, far, more amazing martial artists!
Viz: I could turn them both into the greatest fighters ever!

[lost]
After Jacky helps him out, Namu calls him “Jacky-dono”. “Dono” is a Japanese honorific; it’s fairly archaic, and generally somewhere between “san” and “sama” in terms of politeness.

[**]
Announcer, on the start of the finals
Tr: Will the best under heaven be Contestant Son, or Contestant Jacky?!! Will the child win, or the old man?!! We’re finally heading into the climax!!!
Viz: It’s a classic showdown of age vs. youth!! Experience vs. strength!! Normal size vs. teeny-weeny-ness!! Who will win?!!

[**]
In response to Jacky saying he can’t go easy on him, Goku says “me too” (ora datte), while in Viz the line is “you said it”. “Me too” could be taken to mean that Goku was holding back against his earlier opponents.

Chapter 47

[**]
After it looks like he’s won, Jacky does the V-sign with both hands and says “peace, peace”. Viz as this as “you may applaud”. Jacky also says “peace, peace” while making the V-sign with both hands before his match with Yamcha.

[**]
Goku, after the Kamehameha battle
Tr: A Return-Kamehameha
Viz: Hey!! We’re even!!

“Return-Kamehameha” (Kamehameha-gaeshi) is the name Daizenshuu 7 gives to Goku’s technique of countering Jacky’s Kamehameha with his own, and it’s taken from this line.

Chapter 48

[note]
After Jacky uses the afterimage attack again, Goku calls him “One-pattern” (ワンパターン), an English-derived Japanese phrase for being repetitive. During the Cinderella musical chapter of Dr. Slump, Akane and Taro call Toriyama himself this when he uses yet another poop joke.

[name]
Jacky’s afterimage technique is called the Nijuu Zanzouken (Two-Fold Afterimage Attack). Viz uses the Japanese name, and gives a footnote translating it as “Double Shadow Attack”, which is odd, because zanzou means afterimage and not shadow. When Goku uses his three-fold variant, he calls it the Sanjuu Zanzouken (Three-Fold Afterimage Attack) in the original and “Triple Shadow” in Viz.

[**]
Jacky, after kicking Goku
Tr: He’d have to really be something to get up again after taking my kick.
Viz: If he gets up after that, I’ll wat my shorts!

And when Goku gets up
Tr: He seems com…completely fine…
Viz: Oh, I hope nobody heard me about my shorts…

[note]
As it happens, Japanese as an expression pretty much exactly the same as “monkey-see-monkey-do”: saru-mane (猿真似), literally “monkey-imitation”. This is what Jacky calls Goku in this chapter.

[**]
Jacky, on calling himself Goku’s master
Tr: I-I made a mistake…! Aha…ahahaha! But this is no time to be laughing!! You’re prettu capable, boy! So how about this?!!
Viz: Y-you must’ve hit me harder’n I thought…A-ha…a-ha-haha! But enough wacky understandings!! You’ve got a great master, boy…So let’s see if you can handle this!!

[*]
Announcer
Tr: He’s suddenly become drunk!! Has some sake from yesterday suddenly taken effect!?
Viz: Was some-one nipping a little sake at ringside before the fight?!

[*]
Goku, to “drunk” Jacky
Tr:Ar…are you alright…
Viz: You’d better lie down before…

[note]
Jacky’s attack is called the Suiken (醉拳), literally “Drunken Fist”, which is the original name of the Jacky Chan movie Drunken Master (or rather, “Suiken” is the Japanese pronunciation of the original Chinese name for the movie). Toriyama has said in an interview to have watched that movie dozens of times. Viz keeps the Japanese name, but also gives the translation “Phony Drunk Attack”.

[**]
Goku, on the Suiken
Tr: That was my dead grandpa’s special technique…! That’s dirty, to do it all of a sudden!
Viz: My grandpa used to do that a lot! But he never tricked me with it!

[**]
Jacky, to Goku
Tr: What?! Are you running away? That’s rare for you!
Viz: You’re not gonna win the final by running away!

[lost]
The joke behind Goku’s counterattack to the Suiken is that he attacks like a mad dog (狂犬/kyouken) and calls it his “Mad Attack (狂拳, also read as “kyouken”). Jacky corrects him:

Tr: Y-you’ve got the letters wrong!! That right now was a mad dog!!
Viz: You’ve got your martial arts words wrong!! Kyou-ken means “mad dog”, idiot!!

This writing system-based joke was left out of the anime.

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 11:35 am

I was always wondering why Piccolo would talk like that in early DBZ chapters. He would say stuff like "What say you?!" and other weird shit. Now I have a confirmation why. Thanks.

SHINOBI-03 · Post by **SHINOBI-03** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:06 pm

Yamcha, to Jacky
Tr: No, you’re definitely Jacky Chun!! If you look closely, your techniques, your perverseness, and even your face are identical!! That’s a wig on your head, isn’t it!!

Are you sure he said "you’re definitely Jacky Chun"?

A question: in Viz, the Anouncer said during Goku and Namu fight in the air: "This is unprecedented!! Unbelieveable!! Unimaginable!! But most of all, Uncomfortable for my poor neck!!" Was it the same as the Japanese version?

The label on the panties Kuririn produces
Tr: Gal’s panties
Viz: If found, return to Bulma

Damn strange.

NeptuneKai · Post by **NeptuneKai** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:11 pm

Man these Viz created jokes are really hit or miss.

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 1:06 pm

[**]
Goku, on the Suiken
Tr: That was my dead grandpa’s special technique…! That’s dirty, to do it all of a sudden!
Viz: My grandpa used to do that a lot! But he never tricked me with it!

Is this to imply Gohan was actually drunk once in a while or that he pretended to be?

Post by **Herms** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:03 pm

SHINOBI-03 wrote:Are you sure he said "you’re definitely Jacky Chun"?

D'oh! That should be "Muten Roshi", not "Jacky Chun". Thanks for pointed that out.

A question: in Viz, the Anouncer said during Goku and Namu fight in the air: "This is unprecedented!! Unbelieveable!! Unimaginable!! But most of all, Uncomfortable for my poor neck!!" Was it the same as the Japanese version?

Well, kinda: "I can’t see too clearly, but this unprecedented method of fighting leaves even me at a loss!! What’s more, my neck is tired--!!" I thought about noting this line, but at the time I was kind of wanting to move on, and I thought the Viz line was close enough.

Chuquita wrote:
[**]
Goku, on the Suiken
Tr: That was my dead grandpa’s special technique…! That’s dirty, to do it all of a sudden!
Viz: My grandpa used to do that a lot! But he never tricked me with it!
Is this to imply Gohan was actually drunk once in a while or that he pretended to be? :?:

The Viz line or the original?

Dr. Casey · Post by **Dr. Casey** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:23 pm

She means the original, Herms-san. She's more interested in Toriyama's word than Viz's.

jda95 · Post by **jda95** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:24 pm

Dr. Casey wrote:She means the original, Herms-sama. She's more interested in Toriyama's word than Viz's.

Fixed.

Post by **Herms** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:29 pm

Well, the original is just Goku saying that Grandpa Gohan had the Suiken as his speciality technique ("speciality technique" being, now that I think about it, a better translation of tokui waza).

OK, here's a bunch of responses to old posts that I never got around to answering (sorry!):

Sprite Satan wrote:This is awesome. Big thanks, Herms. Although I'm wondering if it would be bothersome at all to also post some of the original Japanese for further context.

Well...that’s something I'd like to do, for now it'd be way too much extra effort, since I can't type Japanese on my laptop (when I want to put some Japanese in, I have to copy and paste it from Jim Breen's dictionary or somewhere). Maybe I'll put that in for when this goes up on Kanzentai.

JulieYBM wrote:So it just occured: didn't you original say you were going to include the page numbers of the English/Japanese volume or am I haluscinating?

I think you’re hallucinating :p (…I hope you are, anyway…).

Acid_Reign wrote:Hey, awesome work!

Any chance you could list the page numbers—and, if it isn’t too much extra work: panel numbers? Not cumulatively, but just relative to their respective pages, e.g.:

Page 1
Panel 1: [Dialogue]
Panel 2: [Dialogue]

…

Page 2
Panel 1: [Dialogue]
Panel 2: [Dialogue], etc.

I ask because it would incorporate nicely into my own project. Thanks!

I don't know...that seems like a lot of extra work. Maybe not too much for every individual line, but it'd really add up. Right now it's taking more than enough time for me to just jot down the lines.

Hmm...anyone want to look up all the page numbers for me?

Bussani wrote:This one's interesting. Is sarcasm used commonly in Japan? Now that I think about it, it seems more common to outright state something in Japanese, or is that just my imagination?

Sarcasm doesn't really even exist in Japanese (though I guess it depends on how you define "sarcasm").

SHINOBI-03 wrote:Currently I'm doings something sorta similar to yours, but for Bakuman.

Good luck with that.

SHINOBI-03 wrote:Have you checked your volume 9 yet about this matter?
Herms wrote:
DB vol. 09 - Count Dracula - Dracula-Man
Are you sure about that? I could of sworn they kept it as "Dracule-man". Perhaps this is another change between different editions of the Viz manga?

I checked and he really is "Count Dracula" in my old large printing of Viz's DB vol.8. So I guess I just had a brain-fart there.

Adamant · Post by **Adamant** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:11 pm

Herms wrote:[note]
Jacky Chun, on Namu
Tr: Wh-what? What’s with that serious, story manga-like gaze….He’s serious…I can feel a tremendous drive…but the Tenkaichi Budoukai is a half-carnival, so what in the…
Viz: What…? That gaze…powerful…implacable…straight out of a comic book! How can he be emanating such intensity of will…in a glorified circus like this?

Remember, kids, "Manga" and "comic books" are two completely different things.
...yeah, that one was bad.
The Danish translation was something along the lines of "Why is his face so stern? This is supposed to be a funny comic."

Herms wrote:[lost]
The joke behind Goku’s counterattack to the Suiken is that he attacks like a mad dog (狂犬/kyouken) and calls it his “Mad Attack (狂拳, also read as “kyouken”). Jacky corrects him:

Tr: Y-you’ve got the letters wrong!! That right now was a mad dog!!
Viz: You’ve got your martial arts words wrong!! Kyou-ken means “mad dog”, idiot!!

This one became "Mad dog? That technique doesn't exist!", which doesn't work very well with Kame Sennin's "Design your own moves" speech from last volume. Bleh.

Most everything else was translated relatively straight, with the exeption of Bulma's reference to pubic hair, which was nowhere to be found.

And, going over the names used here, the Budoukai entrants are named as follows:
Son-Goku, Kuririn, Yamchu, Jackie Chun, Bakterian, Nam, Lanfan and "Gila Monster", the latter which is pretty far from his original name.
I don't remember the name of Namu's attack, but Guruguru Gum became "Gila Spit", Zanzouken the "Phantom Image Technique", Suiken the "Drunk Trick", and as mentioned, Kyouken the "Mad Dog", most of which are decent translations.

Post by **Herms** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 11:59 pm

And here's the rest of volume 2, finally.

Chapter 17

[*]
Bulma and Oolong
Tr
Bulma: They’ve all hidden
Oolong: I…I’ve got a feeling about this…

Viz
Bulma: They’re all…gone…?
Oolong: Help me think of a reason that isn’t terrifying…

[*]
The short fat Rabbit Gang member calls the tall thing one “big buddy” in Viz. Kind of quant for a gang member.

[**]
Rabbit Gang, to Bulma and co.
Tr: It’s the end for you! I hope you get turned into a carrot and eaten…!!
Viz: Your asses are grasses…Nah, they’re carrots! An about to get nibbled! Ha!

…“Your assess are grasses”?...

[**]
Originally, Oolong suggests they run away because it seems dangerous. In Viz he says “I don’t want to be a carrot”, which throws things off a little, since in Viz the Rabbit Gang members don’t explicitly say they’ll be turned into carrots.

[name]
The boss of the Rabbit Gang is called Toninjinka (兎人参化) in Japanese, which basically means “Rabbit who turns people into carrots” (兎/to=”rabbit”, 人参/ninjin=”carrot”, 化/ka=”change”). Viz calls him “the Carrot Master”. Incidentally, the kanji on his shirt is 兎/rabbit.

[***/lost]
In the original, Toninjinka talks politely, sometimes in a sort of passive aggressive way. He actually talks rather similar to Freeza, though not quite as polite. In Viz, there’s a 1930s gangster theme to his speech, so that he says “iced” when in the original he just says “killed”, “dame” where he had just said “girl”, “put the kibosh on ya” for “beat up”, calls people “pally”, tells his underlings to “shut off the water works girlies”, etc. Some other lines:

Tr: Let’s shake hands
Viz: Press the flesh, cutie

In the original he’s very polite, while in Viz he’s…weird. Do gangsters say “press the flesh”?

Tr: You touched me…
Viz: Too late, chickie. We touched.

In the original he trails off, leaving the threatening part implied rather than said, which is rather Freeza-like, while in Viz it’s the first thing he says.

Tr: Aren’t you concerned with what’ll happen to this carrot!? I’ll eat it!!
Viz: One more step an’ I nibble this carrot!!

Since they were going with a mobster theme for him, I think they ought to have done this line as “Nice carrot I have here! A shame if anything should happen to it…” or something like that.

[*]
To Toninjinka’s handshake proposal, Bulma originally asks who’d do such a thing, while in Viz she says “As if a babe like me would shake hands with a rodent!”.

[**]
Goku, to Toninjinka
Tr: You bastard--!!
Viz: Change her back, you!!!

[*]
Oolong, before telling Goku to use the Nyoibo
Tr: I’ve got it! Goku!!
Viz: Wait!! Don’t!!

The main thing here is that this is the first time Oolong calls Goku by name in the Japanese, which drops out in Viz.

[**]
Yamcha originally calls Goku by name (“Son”) when he comes to the rescue, but in Viz he simply calls him “boy”.

[*]
Toninjinka originally just stutters when Goku is about to hit him with the Nyoibo (“a…awawawa…”), while in Viz he stutters the Nyoibo’s name (“Nyoi…nyoi…nyoi…nyoi”).

[*]
Bulma, after becoming a human again
Tr: W…what happened to me?...
Viz: Why do I feel so…orange…?

[lost]
As seen earlier, Bulma is very polite when talking about Yamcha. When she learns Yamcha came to help them, she refers to him as “okata”, a very polite form of “person” sort of equivalent to calling someone a “gentleman”; Viz has it as “hunk”.

[**]
In the original Yamcha says he’ll faint if he gets to close to a girl, while in Viz he just trembles at the thought of having been close to Bulma.

[lost]
Goku dumping the Rabbit Gang on the moon is a reference to the Japanese tradition of a rabbit making mochi on the moon, the Japanese equivalent of the man on the moon. Mochi is a Japanese food made from rice paste. You can see the Rabbit Gang pounding rice paste to make mochi in the last panel of the chapter. Since American readers wouldn’t be familiar with this story, Viz changed the dialogue to explain it a bit.

Goku, on returning from the moon
Tr: The rabbit’s the moon!!
Viz: Don’t you remember the old story?

Closing narration
Tr: Next time dragonballs will be stolen!! How will Goku and co face their greatest pinch!?
Viz: Ah yes, “the rabbit in the moon”, beloved by every Japanese schoolchild…but what happens next is an even better story!!

Chapter 18

[note]
Viz alternates between using the Japanese (or rather, Chinese, sorta) names for the dragonballs and translating them out, like the do here when they use “One-star ball”.

[**]
After Bulma reveals her wish is to find a boyfriend

Tr
Oolong: What!? A boyfriend!? We’ve been risking our lives to help such a worthless wish?!!
Bulma: What’s “worthless” about it?! Hmph, little brats can’t understand!!

Viz
Oolong: Waita-minnit! Y’mean I’ve been risking my neck…To help a chick find a boyfriend?!
Bulma: Not just a “chick”…me! You should be proud to contribute to such a worthy cause!

[lost]
Mai says that Bulma and co. are at “Point 10-Ho” (ほの十地点), ほ/ho being a hiragana letter. Viz has this as “Area H-10”.

[*]
Mai, to Pilaf over the radio
Tr: Roger
Viz: Yes, m’lord

[**]
Shuu (Soba), on finding Bulma and co.
Tr: Yeah, I’ve spotted it!
Viz: So ba, so good!

Oh boy…this is the first of a large number of food puns that Viz adds to Pilaf and co.’s speech. Now, the original Japanese version of DragonBall has lots of puns, food based or otherwise, but they’re generally restricted to character names. Whenever anyone uses a pun in their speech, the other characters will stop and stare at the offending character like they’re an idiot (like with Yamcha in the next chapter). It’s almost like Toriyama is apologizing for the awful pun. With all the puns Viz adds though, they can’t have the characters do that where they didn’t originally, so all these extra puns pass by uncommented on, which subtly changes the tone of the story. Well, I think so anyway.

[*]
Oolong originally asks Bulma to change her wish to a cooler one, while in Viz he wants her to change it to something more worthwhile.

[sound]
TESE: “Bakooo…m”. “Bakoom!” is one of Toriyama’s favorite English sound effects, and it appears often throughout the series. From now on I won’t note where it appears, since it pops up so often.

[*]
Goku, on Shuu’s robot
Tr: What a weirdo…
Viz: What’s he dressed up for?

[*]
Bulma originally says that Pilaf and co. probably already have the “dragon’s wish”, while in Viz they probably already have “all seven”.
[lost]
Bulma calls Yamcha “Yamcha-sama” when he shows up, in keeping with how polite she’s been towards him.

[**]
Shuu and Mai, on stealing the dragonballs

Tr
Mai: That went well.
Shuu: Now Pilaf-sama will be able to rule the whole world!!

Viz
Mai: Wa-ha! They are cooked!
Shuu: Now Lord Pilaf will have the world on his plate!!

[**]
Shuu, on missing the 4-star ball
Tr: I thought for sure they were all there
Viz: I guess I didn’t use my noodle

[**]
Pilaf, on gathering the dragonballs
Tr: Soon the world will be mine!!
Viz: A no-fuss recipe for world domin…

[lost]
Pilaf talks like an old man in Japanese, similar to Kame-sennin, using “washi”, the old man’s form of “I”, and says “da” (“is” in Japanese) as “ja”.

[lost]
The kanji on Pilaf’s shirt is炒饭, the simplified Chinese for 炒飯, “fried rice”. In Japan, rice pilaf and fried rice are often grouped together.

[**]
Pilaf, on Bulma and co. arriving
Tr: That’s fast…It seems they really do have a radar after all…
Viz: Already?! They must be those new “instant enemies”…

[**]
Pilaf and Mai, on Bulma and co.’s capture

Tr
Mai: Th…they’re already captured…
Pilaf: …Impressive for them to fall for such an idiotic trap…

Viz
Mai: Well…that was easy…
Pilaf: …I never believed there were people that stupid…

Chapter 19

[name]
In Japanese, Pilaf and co are called “Pilaf ichimi” (ピラフ一味), “Pilaf and gang”, which can variously translated as “Pilaf and crew” “Pilaf and his clan”, etc. In the English section headings for Daizenshuu 4, “ichimi” is translated as “and his men”, so the “Freeza ichimi” is “Freeza and his men”. Viz has the phrase as “Reich Pilaf”, a pun on “rice pilaf” and “reich”, a German word for empire, strongly associated now with the Nazis, who called themselves the Third Reich, as they saw themselves the heir to the Holy Roman Empire and the 1871-1918 German monarchy.

[**]
Pilaf
Tr: The moment when I will become king of the world finally draws near!
Viz: Soon, no leader on Earth will act without an order of Pilaf!!

I think Pilaf hardly opens his mouth in Viz without there being some sort of food pun. It makes his speech really awkward at times.

[***]
Viz changes Pilaf and Mai’s “no Dr. Slump references!” speech around quite a bit, presumably because an English audience wouldn’t be very familiar at the time, at least not then, before Viz started putting the series out in English. The original conversation also mentions Shonen Jump, which didn’t exist in English either at that point.

Tr
Pilaf: Shouldn't you know that I hate indecent jokes?
Mai: I'm very sorry.
Pilaf: This is what I'm talking about!!
Mai: Ahh!!
Pilaf: Don't you understand that the author wants at least this work to be high-class?! [implying that the author's other works weren't high-class, obviously referring to Dr. Slump]
Mai: I...I didn't mean to...
Pilaf: Right now, Shounen Jump has an amazingly large number of copies in print, so it seems a lot of people are reading...So do your best to avoid any deplorable conduct...alright?
Mai: Y-yes!!
Shuu: Ki~in [“ki~in” is the sound Arale makes when she runs, so this is another Dr. Slump reference. Shuu is even holding out his arms like Arale does.]

Viz
Pilaf: We do not appreciate vulgar humor here…
Mai: My apologies.
Pilaf: Especially Dr. Slump references!!
Mai: Ak!!
Pilaf: After all, some manga creators strive to make their work dignified and refined!!
Mai: S-Sir, I…
Pilaf: If you think we’ll pander to our audience’s shameful love of pee-pee humor simply to boost the sales of the DragonBall comic…Then you are sadly mistaken.
Mai: Yes, my lord!!
Shuu: Budda-bing!

[lost]
Yamcha’s pun in their jail cell is “Hanakuso no himitsu wo sotto hanakusou”, “softly tell me the secret of buggers”. The joke here is that the second part of the sentence sounds like the first, but means something different, and together they make a semi-coherent sentence (a similar thing in English might be saying “the gnu knew the new nu” or the like) . Hilarious, ain’t it? Well, humor doesn’t really translate, and even then this is intended as a lame joke. Viz’s English pun is “He nose we’re scared…but’s let snot run”, keeping the nose theme of the original pun.

[name]
Pilaf calls himself “Pilaf Daiou” (ピラフ大王), literally “Great King Pilaf”. 大王/daiou is used in Japanese to refer to Alexander the Great (アレクサンダー大王), which is probably why Viz has Pilaf call himself “Pilaf the Great”. In DragonBall, 大王/daiou is also used in King Cold’s name (コルド大王/Cold Daiou). Despite this, I don’t think any English translation translates Pilaf and Cold’s shared title the same way for the both of them. Cold is almost always “King Cold”, probably because the alliteration sounds good, while Pilaf is often called “Emperor Pilaf”.

[**]
More food puns that Viz puts in. Pilaf originally tells Bulma to hand over the remaining dragonball or “you’ll regret it”. In Viz he tells her to hand it over and “remain on the side of Pilaf”. Bulma says “like I’d give anything to you”, which in Viz is “I’ll take a side of udon…as in U don get nothing!”

[edit]
Bulma gives Pilaf the finger. In the first Viz editions this was uncensored, but in later editions it’s edited so that she’s extended her index finger, as if in a “now let me tell you” gesture.

[***/lost]
Bulma, in response to Pilaf's "perverse" attack

Tr: Wh—at. I thought you were going to get me nude and do a “hero-hero” on me, or a “pafu-pafu” or a “kyoi-kyoi” or an “inguri-monguri”!

Viz (old): The way things are going, I figured you were gonna strip me nude and do a “slurp-slurp” or a “puff-puff” or a “pat-pat” or even a “grope-grope”!

The Viz translation above is pretty faithful, but it's only found in older editions of the Viz manga. In newer editions, all the "dirty" words (slurp-slurp, puff-puff, etc.) are covered up with "CENSORED".

Taking a look at these terms:

Hero-hero (should be pronounced to rhyme with “hello”, and not like the English word “hero”): All I can find on

herohero is “completely exhausted; dog-tired; dreadfully weary; terribly frustrated; limp; weak; flimsy”, which isn't terribly helpful. Viz has (well, had) it as “slurp-slurp”.

Pafu-pafu: The Japanese for “puff-puff”, which we see with Oolong.

Kyoi-kyoi: Search me. Viz has it as “pat-pat”, like with Goku’s habit of feeling people up to tell if they are male of female, but the Japanese sound effect for that is “pan-pan”.

Inguri-monguri: Got me again. Viz has it as “grope-grope”.

[*]
While Pilaf originally says that Bulma is very hardy for not even his “perverted” attack to get her to talk, Viz really plays this up, with him saying “I fear we’re up against something far more terrible than we’ve ever imagined”.

[**]
Pilaf, after Mai suggests the gas Bulma and co. to sleep
Tr: Hey, that’s right! We’ve got that method!! OK!! Put them to sleep right away!!
Viz: Precisely what I was about to order!! I’m glad you’re learning from me, now get to it!

More food puns. The “I’m glad you’re learning from me” addition is kind of weird.

[*]
In Viz, when Pilaf is coming out from the effects of his own sleeping gas, in Viz he says he is
“still feeling…a little boiled…”, where originally he just says he’s still lightheaded.

[**]
In Viz, Pilaf calls Shuu and Mai his “kernals”, then corrects this to “colonels”. He doesn’t call them any rank in the original, just “you” (omae-tachi).

[**]
With all the dragonballs now gathered, where in the original Pilaf says that the world will be placed under his rule, Viz has him say there will be “no power on Earth over Pilaf!!”, another food pun.

[**]
The original narration asks if the world will end up belonging to Pilaf. Viz’s narration asks if the entire world will become Pilaf’s oyster, another food pun.

Chapter 20

[lost]
In this chapter, when characters refer to Shenlong as simply “the dragon”, in Japanese this is written 龍/ryuu, the kanji for dragon, but with furigana above it indicating it should be pronounced as the English word “dragon”.

[**]
Shenlong’s first line
Tr: Now, speak your wish
Viz: Reflect upon your desires, mortals.

Also, Shenlong talks in a unique font in Viz.

[**]
Yamcha, as Pilaf summons Shenlong
Tr: Crap [kuso]
Viz: Eee-yaargh

[*]
Oolong and Puar have this conversation in Viz: “Something tells me now would be a good time to disappear” “It’s telling me the same thing”. In the original they say the same thing, it’s just not set up with the “something telling me/it’s telling me too” joke.

[lost]
All Pilaf manages to say of his wish before Oolong cuts him off is “sekai wo”, which is just “world” and the particle indicating a verb is following, presumably of course he was about to ask to rule the world. That’s the thing about Japanese sentence structure: the verbs come after the objects they act on, while in English it’s the opposite (so in English you say “rule the world”, while in Japanese it’d be “world wo rule”; with “wo” a particle added to clarify that the two words have an object-verb relationship). This makes translating sentence fragments from Japanese into English difficult. Viz has Pilaf’s interrupted wish as “I wish to rule”, so it’s basically the half of the sentence that was left out in Japanese, with the only part that was included in Japanese being left out.

This may seem, well, backward, but there’s no good way around it since the sentence structures in the two languages are opposite in this regard. Here it’s no real problem, since we already know what Pilaf’s wish will be, but in other cases, were the missing half of the sentence in Japanese is ambiguous or intentionally mysterious, this can cause real trouble in translations.

Oolong’s interruption is “Give me a gal’s panties” (with the English word “gal”). Viz has this as “the panties off a hot babe”. He doesn’t say the “give me part” in Viz, so it seems like he’s trying to complete Pilaf’s wish (“I wish to rule…the panties off a hot babe!”; which doesn’t quite make sense).

[lost]
Shenlong’s parting words are always “Dewa, sarabada” (ではさらばだ), “so then, farewell”. I want to say this is archaic, but I can’t find anything spelling this out. Anyway, it’s not very commonly used, and in DragonBall seems to be used by older characters. Viz has it as “Fare you well”. Incidentally, putting さらばだ into google gets me two DB sites on the first day.

[**]
Bulma, on Oolong becoming the first DB character to save the world
Tr: Oolong’s lechery came in handy!
Viz: ‘Course, I planned on this all along!

[*]
In Viz Pilaf refers to Puar as a “cat”. Originally he’s vaguer, calling him a “cat-looking thing”.

[*]
Pilaf orders Shuu and Mai to execute Oolong and Puar; in Viz this is “off with their heads”

[NON-change]
Oolong says that he and Puar couldn’t help being captured, as Shuu and Mai had beam guns (光線銃/kousenjuu); Viz has this as “laser blasters”. Many people assumed “laser blasters” was just Viz’s euphemism of what were simply guns in the original, but it’s not so. The fact that in the later volumes Viz edits guns to look like laser blasters probably made people think this.

[**]
Oolong, on the dragonballs being dormant for a year
Tr: What’s going to happen to this manga’s title?
Viz: This is going to be one dull comic book…

[*]
Pilaf, to Bulma and co.
Tr: I’ll execute you all!!!
Viz: You have all sealed your doom!!!

[**]
More Viz-added Pilaf food pun fun: the opening narration calls Pilaf and co.’s plan a “recipe for absolute power”.

Pilaf, to Bulma and co.
Tr: How dare you interfere with my world domination!!
Viz: How dare you dampen my dreams on conquest when they were about to boil?!

When saying he won’t directly kill them
Tr: I don’t like savagery…
Viz: Pilaf is a mild and tender master…

[*]
Pilaf says Bulma and co.’s prison gets hot as an oven toaster in the original, and hot as a rice cooker in Viz. Interesting that they’d change it to a more Japanese object.

[*]
Oolong originally says he doesn’t want to be Char Sui, which is “pork roast”.

Chapter 21

[*]
Pilaf originally describes Goku and co.’s prison walls as being “300 millimeters thick”. Viz has it as several feet thick.

[*]
Viz-added Pilaf and co. food pun #8738537402384: As Pilaf says all those who interfere with his plans for world domination must die, in Viz he says all those who cannot “swallow the orders of Pilaf” must die.

[lost]
Puar refers to the moon as Otsuki-san (お月さん), “Mister Moon”.

[**]
Bulma, about Goku’s story about the full moon monster
Tr: If you’ve got time to say stupid things like that, think of ways to escape from here!
Viz: What’re we, telling campfire stories?

[**]
Bulma, right after telling Goku not to look at the moon

Tr
Bulma: Alright?!
Goku: Eh?

Viz
Bulma: Just don’t look there, Okay?!
Goku: Where?

So she comes out looking dumber in Viz (though even in the original she’s still pointing right at the moon).

[*]
Shuu, hearing Goku’s rampage
Tr: They’re so noisy. I can’t sleep.
Viz: The nerve o’ them…

[*]
As Goku transforms into an Oozaru, the closing narration originally concludes with “I didn’t know about this!”, which drops out in Viz, which is a same because it sums up Toriyama’s writing style pretty well.

[note]
The term used at this point for Goku’s monster form is “kaibutsu zaru” (怪物猿), “monster monkey”. “Oozaru” isn’t used until later.

Chapter 22

[sound]
One of Viz’s English sound effects as Oozaru Goku rampages is “kong!” (originally “bakou!”). I bet that’s an intentional reference to King Kong.

[*]
When Yamcha’s telling Puar to cut off Goku’s tail, he says that “maybe he’ll lose consciousness!!”, which drops out in Viz.

[*]
Viz puts another tale/tail pun in the closing narration.

Chapter 23

[**]
In Viz the opening narration is just a rush of various key words from the previous chapters (ending with “that should cover it”. Originally it was just a normal recap of the last chapter’s events.

[note]
Oolong really does wonder if Goku is an alien in the original. However, Toriyama has said in his Daizenshuu 4 interview and elsewhere that he didn’t plan on Goku being an alien from the beginning, so Oolong’s line is just an interesting coincidence and not Toriyama dropping any hints.

[*]
Bulma, on Goku being unable to become a monster again
Tr: Ye~~ah
Viz: Thank goodness

In the original she seems a bit reluctant, perhaps because she’s unsure that Goku will really be unable to become a monster ever again.

[*]
Yamcha to Goku, on Goku falling down
Tr: Your balance has changed without your tail
Viz: Funny what happens…when you don’t have a tail!

[note]
Bulma to Goku, on him not minding being suddenly tailless
Tr: You really have an easy-going personality…
Viz: You don’t let much worry you, do you…?

While Goku has repeatedly been told this throughout the story up until now, this is the first time that Viz didn’t change the line to something different.

[**]
Oolong originally calls Yamcha and Bulma’s lovey-dovey stuff “idiotic”, while in Viz it’s “disgusting”.

[**]
Goku, on Yamcha and Bulma in love
Tr: Weirdos…
Viz: What game is that..?

[*]
When Goku turns down her offer to go to the city, Bulma goes simply “too bad” in the original, but in Viz she specifically says “too bad for you”.

[*]
As he flies off, Goku originally says there are various people in the world (as in various kinds of people), while in Viz he says there are lots of nice people. He then says that it is fun (面白い, which could also mean interesting), which in Viz it’s “this is gonna fun”.

[note]
While Viz’s closing narration is very faithful (the narration gets a lot more faithful after the end of the first DB search), it does add in “we’re going to keep going and going and going”, where originally there was simply one “going”. Viz probably did this because they, writing years after the series ended, knew just how long the series would go on, while poor Toriyama didn’t.

Chapter 24

[**]
Goku shouts “hey, old timer!” in Kame-sennin’s ear in the original, and “hey, hermit!” in Viz.

[lost]
Everyone the exercise instructor on TV says is written entirely in katakana. This is because it’s not really a woman speaking, but rather a TV, and the speech of machines is often written in katakana. This is probably because katakana is a lot sharper than hiragana, which is more curved, so it seems more robotic. It’s similar to how in English comics, machines, robots, etc are often shown speaking in special, more rigid font. While I’m on the subject, the exercise instructor on TV is counting in English.

[*]
Goku’s a bit more demanding with Kame-sennin in Viz
Tr: I came to train like in the promise
Viz: Like I said…train me!!

[*]
In Viz, Goku says that he wants to be more powerful than Kame-sennin, to which Kame-sennin replies “more powerful than me, eh?”. In the original, Goku instead matter of fact-ly states that he will become stronger than Kame-sennin, to which Kame-sennin replies “so you want to become stronger than me?”. So Viz kind of switches it. Anyway, I love Goku simply going “I will become stronger than you”, it seems like him.

[lost]
Kame-sennin’s request is for Goku to bring back a “pichi-pichi gal” (note that they use the English word “gal” even in Japanese). “Pichi-pichi” can mean a few different things, often in the sense of “sexy” (it can also mean “exuberant” or “spunky”). So a “pichi-pichi dress” is a tight and/or scanty dress, while a pichi-pichi gal would basically be a sexy woman. Viz translates it as “little hotty”. In response to this request, Goku asks what a “bichi-bichi gag” is, which Viz replaces with “what do you want with another potty?” to make the joke work in English.

[*]
Kame-sennin, explaining the concept of a pichi-pichi gal
Tr: It’s a cute, lively girl!!
Viz: A girl!! A chick!! A babe!!

[lost]
Normally “gal” is written in katakana, since it’s a foreign word, but it’s written in hiragana when Goku repeats it, showing that he’s no familiar with the word.

[lost]
In Japanese, Kame-sennin answers Goku with an English “YES!!” when Goku asks if Kame-sennin will train him if he brings back a woman.

[**]
A few things from Kame-sennin and Goku’s conversation on what kind of woman to bring back. First, as part of his description of what a gal is (“the ones with no wee-wee”) he describes them as “lively”, which in Viz becomes “always worrying about how they look”. In response, Kame-sennin says of the kind of woman he’s looking for that they “can’t just be healthy”, which in Viz is “But even those wonderful features aren’t everything, you know”. Kame-sennin continues, saying the woman “can’t be too much of a brat or a hag”, which Viz has as “she’s got to have spunk and charm".

SHINOBI-03 · Post by **SHINOBI-03** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:45 am

[NON-change]
Oolong says that he and Puar couldn’t help being captured, as Shuu and Mai had beam guns (光線銃/kousenjuu); Viz has this as “laser blasters”. Many people assumed “laser blasters” was just Viz’s euphemism of what were simply guns in the original, but it’s not so. The fact that in the later volumes Viz edits guns to look like laser blasters probably made people think this.

and all this time...

[sound]
TESE: “Bakooo…m”. “Bakoom!” is one of Toriyama’s favorite English sound effects, and it appears often throughout the series. From now on I won’t note where it appears, since it pops up so often.

My favorite too

[edit]
Bulma gives Pilaf the finger. In the first Viz editions this was uncensored, but in later editions it’s edited so that she’s extended her index finger, as if in a “now let me tell you” gesture.

Gollancz Manga kept the middle finger intact

food pun #8738537402384

no comment

Thanos6 · Post by **Thanos6** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:31 am

What's the Japanese version of Bulma's "I thought you were going to CENSORED or CENSORED or even CENSORED" gag?

Yi Xing Long · Post by **Yi Xing Long** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:34 am

Thanos6 wrote:What's the Japanese version of Bulma's "I thought you were going to CENSORED or CENSORED or even CENSORED" gag?

There was an uncensored version originally. I know the monthly releases were uncensored, but not sure about the first printing of the volumes. She mentions puff-puffs and other such things.