GokoU

[Goku100xKamehameha]

Why almost every Japanese franchise that featuring Goku, written "GokoU" instead of "Goku"?
The forum filtered the name!

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Because it's an incorrect name. His name is written with an long "u", not a long "o". The Japanese toy producers screwed up his name. "GOKOU" in Japanese, would be pronounced "Gokoh".

[Savage68]

But as with any other "official" romanization that makes little sense, fans tend to use it more often than not, even though they know it's incorrect and moreover - awkward.

[Herms]

Because it's an incorrect name. His name is written with an long "u", not a long "o". The Japanese toy producers screwed up his name. "GOKOU" in Japanese, would be pronounced "Gokoh".

But the name's not written in Japanese characters, it's written in alphabet letters. And you can in fact pronounce KOU as you would くう/kuu rather than こう/kou, just as you would pronounce...well, "you" and "would" like yuu and wuud and not "yoh" and "woad". So there's nothing really incorrect about spelling the name GOKOU and pronouncing it like ごくう/gokuu.

[linkdude20002001]

Yes! Thank you, Herms! I was about to release my nerd rage upon reading such an annoying statement. I've probably explained why that spelling works about a thousand time. Lol.

[Chuquita]

So you CAN use it with the extra "o" after all? That's good to know. It's my favorite spelling of Goku, even though I rarely ever use it (because it's just easier to use the four-letter version).

[Hujio]

I think the confusions lies in the fact that most people know his name is pronounced "gokuu", but when they see Gokou, it just doesn't compute. This happens to me a lot of times, mostly because I'm so used to reading Japanese that has been romanized that I just naturally say "goko" when I see it. There are other words that contradict the "you" argument, but almost every word that starts with "kou" is pronounced "koo", at least that's what Dictionary.com tells me. So I do agree that it's a proper transliteration of the characters name. Nevertheless, it's really annoying for me because I read it wrong everytime I see it. It's just one of those things that has always stuck in Japan once they started writing it with roman alphabet letters.

So you CAN use it with the extra "o" after all? That's good to know. It's my favorite spelling of Goku, even though I rarely ever use it (because it's just easier to use the four-letter version).

You can, but I'd still recommend using Goku like you do. It's less confusing.

[Chuquita]

Language is so interesting. :3

But yeah, I am going to stick with spelling it with the four lettered "Goku".

Stylistically, I like how the "ou" version looks, and may use it in artwork, but not when I'm posting here.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

So I do agree that it's a proper transliteration of the characters name.

Forgive me if what I'm saying is wrong, but I don't think you can transliterate names that are of Japanese or Chinese origin. They're not of foreign origin, so wouldn't you just use romanizations instead? For example, you wouldn't write the family name "Satou" (左藤) as "Satuu".

[The Time Traveller]

Well I see it I think "Goh-Koh-uu" not Goku or Goko...

[fearstreetbookfan]

Here's Gokuh:

[SaiyamanMS]

For example, you wouldn't write the family name "Satou" (左藤) as "Satuu".

Well, yeah... But there's no way to get an "oh" sound from "uu". It is however, possible to get an "uu" sound from "ou" in English. Not a fan of Gokou myself as by standard romanisation of Japanese, it would be pronounced differently, but I can kinda see the logic. These are the same people that came up with "Klilyn" after all.

Also, that actually happens to be my surname. People are always asking me if it's Italian when they first see "Sato", as I really don't look even vaguely Japanese at all.

[Hujio]

So I do agree that it's a proper transliteration of the characters name.

Forgive me if what I'm saying is wrong, but I don't think you can transliterate names that are of Japanese or Chinese origin. They're not of foreign origin, so wouldn't you just use romanizations instead? For example, you wouldn't write the family name "Satou" (左藤) as "Satuu".

Sure you can. You can transliterate just about anything, but it doesn't mean that you should. In fact, in my opinion, you shouldn't. It's why you see Goku transliterated as Gokou and Gokuh. It's also why we note in the "Cast Guide" on Kanzentai that we use the fully romanized spellings, and cite the example "Touru instead of Tohru". You just have to make sure that your transliteration sounds the same as the original, unlike the example you cited above. I think this will be the 5th or 6th time I've told you, but "ou" and "uu" are not pronounced the same! The first is pronounced like an elongated "o" and the latter is pronounced like an elongated "u".

[Puto]

Imo, using "Gokоu" makes about as much sense as rendering Vegeta's voice actor's name as "Lyo Holikawa". Sure, it's a valid transliteration, but come on!

[Adamant]

Imo, using "Gokоu" makes about as much sense as rendering Vegeta's voice actor's name as "Lyo Holikawa". Sure, it's a valid transliteration, but come on!

Or 士郎 as Shirow, for that matter... and that's Masamune Shirow's preferred romaji spelling of his name.

[Herms]

Not to mention the famous manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, who prefers to spell his name that way in alphabet letters rather than as "Reiji Matsumoto". There's also Osamu Tezuka's son Makoto Tezuka, who prefers to spell his name "Macoto Tezka".

[OutlawTorn]

Here's Gokuh:

But there's also "Red Ribon" (unless that's the real name and I'm just used to seeing "Red Ribbon" all over the place) so, it's best to take it with a grain of salt.

Romanizations of names is a bit of a tricky subject, particularly with Krillin/Kuririn as I seem to recall seeing "Kulilin" and "Klylyn" actually written out within the show. I think at least one of them also came from the manga (perhaps both? my DB manga is trapped in storage hell at the moment) so does that make it any less "correct" than Kuririn?

[TripleRach]

But there's also "Red Ribon" (unless that's the real name and I'm just used to seeing "Red Ribbon" all over the place) so, it's best to take it with a grain of salt.

Well, "RED RIBON" is used pretty consistently throughout the manga, on all their vehicles and stuff, but Toei changed every instance of it to "RED RIBBON" in the anime. I've always perceived it as Toei considering it an error and choosing to correct it, but I guess one could also make an argument for "Ribon" apparently being Toriyama's preferred spelling.

As for "Gokuh," that's the only time I recall Toriyama using that spelling, and he also used "Goku" at least once.

[Gaffer Tape]

Didn't the artwork of Goku in Capsule Corp. spacewear by Toriyama have the Gokuh spelling on the patch (which, in turn, inspired the filler scene of Goku in the spacesuit)?

[SaiyamanMS]

I've noticed at least half a dozen instances of "Gokuh" in Daizenshuu 1, along with a single "Goku".