Dragon Ball Manga Editions around the world.

[Son Sebbe]

Hi there, I'd like to ask which translation/edition (of dragonball) you got/have got in your country, how the translation is, which format it is in(Tankoubon, Kanzenben, Weekly jump, like netherlands half size books or other format.), Cencoring, other special things, (like viz version is called z after the a few chapters in tankoubon 17), who's puplishing it.
If you'd be able to post an international buying link and a shot of the cover too, it would be neat.


Ofcause if you have filled your location feld with a stupid joke (Which most have) please tell where you're from too.


If I should start, I'm danish.
Carlsen is puplishing them. The dansih Carlsen is the mother company of the german, sweedish and norwedigen Carlsen, but currently a lot smaller.
Carlsen has always been a comic puplisher, but right before Dragonball was puplished, they were slowly dieing, and had to do something first, and copyed their german sister companys succes, Dragonball, which saved them.

The translation is done by John Lysman, and is translated after the german edition.
(I can post exsaples if needed)

It's the the japanese tankoubon format, a bit bigger physical though. The covers are all black. Some cover images were swapped and replaced for the first danish editions, but today they're the same as on the japanese ones.


In the back of the book there's a Fan quostien section called "Dragonball Corner" and the quostiens were answered by the Car

[Timo]

Oh poor buddie. The German translation is a disaster, although they had the Japanese version.

[Bura]

Hm, alright here goes.

Considering I'm from the Netherlands we had Glénat as our publisher and we shared our releases with Belgium. The language was of course dutch, which was translated from the French release. This resulted in character names such as "Sangoku". One manga volume contained only half of a regular manga (90 pages instead of what a manga would normally have).
It ran for quite a while considering they released one volume per month (which would be one entire volume once per two months). The releases started in 2001 and ended in 2008!! The paper quality was quite awful and some of my older ones are loosing their pages.
They cost about € 2,95 each.



This year we received the Kanzenban, which was translated from Japanese instead of from the French manga. Goku was finally called Son Goku and more stuff was correctly translated. The paper quality also improved and so did the number of pages. All in all, it was the regular Kanzenban translated into dutch. This was also published by Glénat.



The price is € 11,95. A lot more expensive than the previous release (which is quite logical but okay).

[The Time Traveller]

In the UK, we pretty much have the American release.



It's released by Orion Books under their Gollancz Manga titles.

They'd release a new volume every first Monday of the Month, and call it Manga Monday, and I'd look forward to it every month.

The first titles to come from them were Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Fushigi Yugi and Conan the Detective, for £5 each, so I'd always get them, but stopped after a while since the price went up £1 and couldn't get anymore of Conan or Fushigi Yugi, and then I couldn't find Dragon Ball or Yu-Gi-Oh! anywhere.

It's mostly uncut, but then some other company started releasing it from Volume 17 and stayed the same as the Viz release.

[coinmanmat]

^Hmm that is intresting, I think the UK DB graphic novels are published by Viz since it has the Shonen Jump logo on the back and is simply distributed by Orion Books.

[SHINOBI-03]

In the UK, we pretty much have the American release.

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It's released by Orion Books under their Gollancz Manga titles.

They'd release a new volume every first Monday of the Month, and call it Manga Monday, and I'd look forward to it every month.

The first titles to come from them were Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Fushigi Yugi and Conan the Detective, for £5 each, so I'd always get them, but stopped after a while since the price went up £1 and couldn't get anymore of Conan or Fushigi Yugi, and then I couldn't find Dragon Ball or Yu-Gi-Oh! anywhere.

It's mostly uncut, but then some other company started releasing it from Volume 17 and stayed the same as the Viz release.

Gollancz mangas are what are usually available in Borders and Virgen Megastores here in the UAE along with DelRey's. Only at Kino's is where they have Viz's editions.

And if you are wandering, we don't have an Arabic edition of the whole manga

^Hmm that is intresting, I think the UK DB graphic novels are published by Viz since it has the Shonen Jump logo on the back and is simply distributed by Orion Books.

You can say it's the R2 releases of Viz, because they are the same with everything they have

[The Time Traveller]

DRAGON BALL © 1984 BIRD STUDIO
All rights reserves.
First published in Japan in 1984 by SHUEISHA Inc., Tokyo.
English publication rights in United Kingdom arranged by SHUEISHA Inc.
though VIZ Media, LLC, U.S.A and Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Japan and Ed Victor Ltd., UK.
This edition published in Great Britain in 2005 by Gollancz Manga,
am imprint of the Orion Publishing Group, Orion House, 5 Upper St Martin's Lane,
London, WC2H 9EA, and a licensee of VIZ Media LLC.

Viz media just licensed it to Gollancz with Shueisha, Orion do in fact publish it for the UK.

[Wojak]

I would like to add that even though the Swedish Dragonball manga is published by Carlsen comics, it has a good translation.
The translator for the Swedish version acually used the Japanese version a lot, and only used the German text as a sort of "frame".

But, there are a lot of typos and mistakes nevertheless, and show a stressful enviroment (the staff was pushed too hard, something that they would note sometimes in the "reader's sections).

[Adamant]

Oh poor buddie. The German translation is a disaster, although they had the Japanese version.

I've done comparisons, the Danish version is much closer to the Japanese original than the Viz translation is.
Also, it's not censored.

[Timo]

Oh poor buddie. The German translation is a disaster, although they had the Japanese version.

I've done comparisons, the Danish version is much closer to the Japanese original than the Viz translation is.
Also, it's not censored.

Interesting.
Well, the German version is also not censored, but the translation (from the Japanese version) is pretty bad. With things like:
- Son Goku and his Sons are ALWAYS called "Son-Goku", "Son-Gohan", "Son-Goten"
- Kintoun is called "Jindujun"
- Yam(u)cha is "Yamchu"
- Zarbon is female in the first issue he appeared

It's also pretty inconsistent in case of attack names and such things. Later (Freeza Saga and onwards) they added stupid gags and insults which totally destroyed most of the characters.

[Adamant]

Those names are in the Danish version, too (though Jindujun isn't really that wrong, given that "Kinto-Un" is just the Japanese reading of Jīndǒuyún), but it's not like Viz doesn't have their Chi Kung Blasts and Hercules either. Can't really remember any out-of-character gags, though - you have any examples I can check how were translated?

[Rod]

My release is pretty weird, there's like 80 something total volumes, but two different numbering schemes (One labeled Z-#) They've got a weird Mokuji intro and Japanese folklore at the end and all the individual chapters covers.

And they use the anime spelling (Saiyajin, Pikoro, etc)

[SHINOBI-03]

- Kintoun is called "Jindujun"

To be nitpecky, the Kinto'Un's original chinese name is "Jin Dou Yun"

So, it's not really a mistake or name change

[kenshiro87]

In France

first version :



Published in 1993, sense of reading left to right , very bad translation, cover changed.
It's the first french edition and glénat begun with mangas lol

second version:



New worked and retranslated French edition, published from 2003 to 2008.
The printing is bad in the first volumes but the " san ", "kun", " sama " are kept. The Japanese sound effects are kept and sub titled.

third version:



The anims comics with the same translation that the second version.

fourth version (and the best ^^):




The French kanzenban edition , Published in 2009 ,with a translation very closer of the japanese version, perfect printing, perfect paper,but there are not the "san","kun" or "sama".

We get the daizenshuu n°1 and 7 too

[Cold Skin]

In France

first version :



Published in 1993, sense of reading left to right , very bad translation, cover changed.
It's the first french edition and glénat begun with mangas lol

second version:



New worked and retranslated French edition, published from 2003 to 2008.
The printing is bad in the first volumes but the " san ", "kun", " sama " are kept. The Japanese sound effects are kept and sub titled.

third version:



The anims comics with the same translation that the second version.

fourth version (and the best ^^):




The French kanzenban edition , Published in 2009 ,with a translation very closer of the japanese version, perfect printing, perfect paper,but there are not the "san","kun" or "sama".

We get the daizenshuu n°1 and 7 too

You pretty much covered it all.

Just adding a few notes since Son Sebbe wants to know every particular thing. Unlike what I've noticed from the Viz translation (thanks to Jump's online release), the new translation doesn't adapt dialogues and texts, in French they prefer being faithful to the original Japanese and explaining with a note if needed (like Goku saying "Dosukoi" against Oolong and all...)
Also, lots of notes explain many references to the Japanese or international culture, names, etc... (there were some in the retranslated version, but there's even much more on the Kanzenban release). Apparently those notes don't exist in the Viz translation.

The German version, even the Kanzenban, is likely still based on the French version, as it was before (the fact that "Sangoku" was corrected into "Son Goku" was first set for the French edition). From what I know, both obey the same set of rules than in France, such as ways to replace the "kun", "sama" and all by marks of their own language, so that the casual reader does feel like reading natural ways to speak he could hear on the streets of his very own nation. Apparently, French editor Glénat and the French translator make decisions and Germans have to stick with it, just like in the past, except that now instead of suffering from it, they will enjoy great quality from it.

The French Kanzenban are directly supervised by the Japanese editor, which sets up an obligation of faithfulness. For example, the French editor originally wanted to change the bright green color of the list of chapters at the beginning of each volume, but was strictly forbidden to change even just that by the Japanese editor. They have to make a perfect rendition of the Japanese version in French in every single detail, and quality will be closely checked.

In France, there were also mini-editions of the original badly-translated and the re-translated manga which were half the regular size of a single volume. Those can be found in... you know, that place where you buy magazines and newspaper and all (wouldn't know how you guys call it). Not too many people are interested by those anyway, they'd rather buy the normal size in bigger stores.

Overall, the French translation seems closer to the original than the Viz translation (at least for the first chapters which have been released online anyway, for the rest I can't judge...), maybe partly because of those numerous notes I've mentionned.

[Timo]

- Kintoun is called "Jindujun"

To be nitpecky, the Kinto'Un's original chinese name is "Jin Dou Yun"

So, it's not really a mistake or name change

I'm aware of that, but in my opinion it is a mistake. DragonBall is a Japanese product, they translated it from Japanese etc. you get the idea.

@Adamant:
Spontaneous issue 42 comes to my mind. Page 31 in the German version. Chapter 504. Vegetto makes his "Sabre" thing like attack and says: "What now? Demon on a spit? Should I make Döner from you?"

Oh yeah and all characters yell "Shit!" and "Asshole!" pretty often (even Goku).

[SHINOBI-03]

Oh yeah and all characters yell "Shit!" and "Asshole!" pretty often (even Goku).

Reminds me of the old scanlations that tought me every single English curses and insults...!!

[Herms]

Also, lots of notes explain many references to the Japanese or international culture, names, etc... (there were some in the retranslated version, but there's even much more on the Kanzenban release). Apparently those notes don't exist in the Viz translation.

There are a few notes like that in the Viz translation. For instance, when Kame-sennin mentions that he received Kinto-un from God/Kami-sama, there's a note explaining how the Japanese meaning of kami-sama differs from typical American conceptions of God. However, there aren't too many of these notes. Gerard Jones, the man in charge of localizing the translated dialogue in the Viz translation, said in an interview that he would have liked there to have been more notes, but that the higher-ups at Viz didn't like the idea of including notes in the translation, so he had to cut down the number of them.

One of these days, before the inevitable end of the world, I'm really going to have to get around to finishing my evaluation of the Viz translation. I've got all the stuff in shorthand form, I've just got to type it up into coherent sentences.

[SHINOBI-03]

There are a few notes like that in the Viz translation. For instance, when Kame-sennin mentions that he received Kinto-un from God/Kami-sama, there's a note explaining how the Japanese meaning of kami-sama differs from typical American conceptions of God. However, there aren't too many of these notes. Gerard Jones, the man in charge of localizing the translated dialogue in the Viz translation, said in an interview that he would have liked there to have been more notes, but that the higher-ups at Viz didn't like the idea of including notes in the translation, so he had to cut down the number of them.

One of the main reasons of why I like DelRey over Viz.

[Adamant]

@Adamant:
Spontaneous issue 42 comes to my mind. Page 31 in the German version. Chapter 504. Vegetto makes his "Sabre" thing like attack and says: "What now? Demon on a spit? Should I make Döner from you?"

Yeah, that's in there (I had indeed forgotte that line). It's "Now what? Demon on a spit! Just need a slow fire, now!" here.

Oh yeah and all characters yell "Shit!" and "Asshole!" pretty often (even Goku).

Yeah, but this isn't America, so these aren't overly taboo words, and work well as translations for all the shimattas, chikushous and kisamas you find all over the place in the original.


Whee.

And, since I happened to be looking through vol 42, here's a fun piece of dialouge from Vegetto's SSJ transformation:

Vegetto: "Now I'm Super-Vejitto!"
Buu: "I don't... ...GIVE A SHIT!!!!"

Good stuff.

EDIT: As for footnotes, the only one I can remember was one explaining the entire "rabbit on the moon" thing in vol 2. Dragonball isn't exactly seeping with Japanese culture references.