The Naruto Dub

[JaySee]

"Jutsu" is a Japanese word, dipshit. It's spelled in Romaji (Japanese sounds written in the English alphabet), and pronounced exactly as it's transliterated.

You're either not a native English speaker, or very very confused. If you're saying JUT-SOO, you're dead wrong. Listen to how they say the word in Japanese.

WOW! You're an idiot. It's quite obvious I know the word is Japanese. Take some reading comprehension classes as you obviously don't have a grasp of the English language.

[XanBcoo]

It's quite obvious I know the word is Japanese.

Obviously not.

It's not the English language's fault. It's the lazy idiot Americans who don't know how to read and pronounce their own language.

I'll say this for the record, since there's obviously some miscommunication going on here. "Jutsu" is pronounced JOOT-SOO (albeit with shorter, less dipthonged vowels, as I already explained). It is not pronounced JUT-SOO. English pronounciation rules have nothing to do with how this Japanese word is pronounced.

Your beef seems to be with how it is transliterated into Romaji (You're saying it should be Jootsu instead of Jutsu, right??). If that's the case, then I don't care. Take it up with the Hepburn Dictionary if you want. The dub uses the closest sounding pronounciation to the correct one, and that's good enough. Whether or not you think I'm an idiot, you still seem to think "Jutsu" is pronounced JUT-SOO...which is wrong. Like I said, listen to how they say it in Japanese.

[Yukimura]

Who cares how you spell jutsu in english, it's a translation, and it's 'wrong' by definition. They should have just translated it to technique anyway, then it would sound to English speakers the way it sounds to Japanese when it's heard there. They hear the words 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu' as we would hear 'Shadow Clone Technique'.
I'm guessing they didn't translate it because they thought jutsu sounded 'cooler' you must remember the market in America is all about the hip cool thing, not the right thing. My point is why bother arguing about the wrongness of something that was wrong to attempt in the first place. Would you argue that an athlete who used steroids used the wrong steroids?

[XanBcoo]

I'm guessing they didn't translate it because they thought jutsu sounded 'cooler' you must remember the market in America is all about the hip cool thing, not the right thing.

That's pretty much what it is. Viz is seriously catering to the fans with this dub. Take that any way you want to.

My point is why bother arguing about the wrongness of something that was wrong to attempt in the first place. Would you argue that an athlete who used steroids used the wrong steroids?

While you're right that it's useless to argue about this, I'm just trying to make the point that at least they're pronouncing the Japanese terms (like Jutsu, Sharingan, Byakugan, etc) correctly. There are some dubs that can't even do that right.

[JaySee]

1. Yes, I know I made your head hurt. Sorry it's so hard for you to comprehend English, but you eventually you got pretty close.
2. jut-soo or even jit-soo is a much closer pronounciation to the original Japanese pronounciation than JOOT-soo in the English language. So my problem is not the transliteration, but the incorrect pronounciation of the transliteration, NOT the original Japanese pronounciation. I know you have trouble comprehending, so I thought I'd spell that out for you.

Anyways, I don't think the use of Japanese technique names is fan service. I agree that it's to make it "cool" since they are Ninjas, thus in/around Japan.

Would it be cool if Ryu said fireball and dragon punch in Street Fighter than using the Japanese words? What if Goku yells ARTHUR! instead of Kamehameha in British airings of Dragon Ball? It was strange but fitting though that he pronounced Kamehameha properly in the dub unlike the Japanese because the VA sounded like a surfer.

[mage]

The japanese voice actor mispronounced kamehameha while the english got it correct? Lol, right. Anyway, the only reason they left "jutsu" in the dub is so that they would have little kids running around on the playground screaming "FIREBALL JUTSU!!"

[JaySee]

The japanese voice actor mispronounced kamehameha while the english got it correct? Lol, right.

Yes, the Japanese VA's mispronounce Kamehameha. The English VA's pronounce it correctly. It is the name of a Hawaiian king, not a Japanese word.

No. It's not. The word for "technique" or "skill" (Jutsu) in Japanese uses the rounded vowel similar to the oo sound in English (like in moon or food) in both syllables. Again, it's similar, not the same. Any other vowel (like the u in put or foot, the u in butt, or the i in hit) is wrong.

That's a matter of opinion. I care about the word sounding similar to the original vs matching vowels. Jutsu or jitsu more closely matches the Japanese pronounciation than jootsu in my opinion.

Following the rules of Romaji, the letter U is pronounced (and always pronounced) as "oo". Therefore, to pronounce "jutsu" (spelled in Romaji) you use the "oo" sound in place of the letter U's. The very fact that you use "SOO" as a replacement for "-su" at the end of the word shows that you understand this. Why, then, do you think that the first sound "jut" doesn't follow the same principle?? They're the same sound. I never said you had a problem with the Japanese pronounciation. You just seem to think "jutsu" is pronounced JUHT-SOO or even JIT-SOO, and you're wrong.

Again you show that you do not understand how to read or comprehend the English language. A vowel followed by two consonants is not pronounced in long form. In order to have a long oo sound it would need to be spelled jootsu or jutesu.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepburn...ion#Variations
There are variations in Hepburn. Even with your obsession with the "rounded vowel" you can convert the word to Jötsu.

So again, PLEASE take a reading and comprehension course before trying to argue English pronounciations of written words.

This statement is so amazingly strange that I just couldn't leave it alone.
1) They aren't using the japanese technique names, they're using the japanese word for technique.

2) Fan service generally implies the creators doing something unessecary for anything other than entertaining the fans, ie not needed for the overall plot but because they think the viewers will see it as cool or appealing...

Note: Point 2 is based on my understanding of the meaning of fanservice, thus if you see fanservice differently I would like to know what your definition is, as my arguments would be weakened and your statement might make more sense to me.

3) The only examples I've ever heard of a dub tring to effectively keep true to it's Japanese roots is the addition of honorifics like Mr. or Lord in place of -san or -sama. Tenjou Tenge even did one better and actaully kept Aya's san's and sama's in verbatim.

4) Naruto doesn't take place in our world...so there is no Japan. It's merely a world imagined by a Japanese person, thus stronly influenced by the Japanese culture. While there are ninja's in that world, they only speak Japanese because that's the language the audience speaks.

EDIT: 5) Since when has coolness been linked to authenticity anyway? This dub isn't for people who watch subs, it's for all the common viewers, both sub viewers and regular folk, and there are a lot more of them than of us.

So to tally up, we have an erroneous statement, a contradiction, a redundant explanation for the underlying cause for the contradiction, and an unreasonable conclusion .


If I remember correctly Kamehameha roughly translates to Turtle Blast Wave...just out of curiousity where did ARTHUR! come from?

I might be mistaken on the dubbing. I was under the impression they say the full japanese technique names, not just jutsu at the end. I only watch the occasional airing on CN and don't watch very intently.

My idea of fanservice is wanting to please established fans of Naruto who have watched the original or subs, not the new fans they're making from the dubs.

As for Kamehameha, I understand the Turtle Blast Wave translation seeing as he learned it from Kame-sama, but the series is known for it's puns and Kamehameha IS a Hawaiian King's name.

[XanBcoo]

2. jut-soo or even jit-soo is a much closer pronounciation to the original Japanese pronounciation than JOOT-soo in the English language.

No. It's not. The word for "technique" or "skill" (Jutsu) in Japanese uses the rounded vowel similar to the oo sound in English (like in moon or food) in both syllables. Again, it's similar, not the same. Any other vowel (like the u in put or foot, the u in butt, or the i in hit) is wrong.

So my problem is not the transliteration, but the incorrect pronounciation of the transliteration, NOT the original Japanese pronounciation. I know you have trouble comprehending, so I thought I'd spell that out for you.

Following the rules of Romaji, the letter U is pronounced (and always pronounced) as "oo". Therefore, to pronounce "jutsu" (spelled in Romaji) you use the "oo" sound in place of the letter U's. The very fact that you use "SOO" as a replacement for "-su" at the end of the word shows that you understand this. Why, then, do you think that the first sound "jut" doesn't follow the same principle?? They're the same sound. I never said you had a problem with the Japanese pronounciation. You just seem to think "jutsu" is pronounced JUHT-SOO or even JIT-SOO, and you're wrong.

Hell, I'm not even saying JOOT-SOO is totally correct! But it's the most similar vowel sound to the one the Japanese word uses.

[DarthEnderX]

Anyways, I don't think the use of Japanese technique names is fan service.

Well your wrong. Suck a dick.

[Yukimura]

Anyways, I don't think the use of Japanese technique names is fan service. I agree that it's to make it "cool" since they are Ninjas, thus in/around Japan.

This statement is so amazingly strange that I just couldn't leave it alone.
1) They aren't using the japanese technique names, they're using the japanese word for technique.

2) Fan service generally implies the creators doing something unessecary for anything other than entertaining the fans, ie not needed for the overall plot but because they think the viewers will see it as cool or appealing...

Note: Point 2 is based on my understanding of the meaning of fanservice, thus if you see fanservice differently I would like to know what your definition is, as my arguments would be weakened and your statement might make more sense to me.

3) The only examples I've ever heard of a dub tring to effectively keep true to it's Japanese roots is the addition of honorifics like Mr. or Lord in place of -san or -sama. Tenjou Tenge even did one better and actaully kept Aya's san's and sama's in verbatim.

4) Naruto doesn't take place in our world...so there is no Japan. It's merely a world imagined by a Japanese person, thus stronly influenced by the Japanese culture. While there are ninja's in that world, they only speak Japanese because that's the language the audience speaks.

EDIT: 5) Since when has coolness been linked to authenticity anyway? This dub isn't for people who watch subs, it's for all the common viewers, both sub viewers and regular folk, and there are a lot more of them than of us.

So to tally up, we have an erroneous statement, a contradiction, a redundant explanation for the underlying cause for the contradiction, and an unreasonable conclusion .

What if Goku yells ARTHUR! instead of Kamehameha in British airings of Dragon Ball?

If I remember correctly Kamehameha roughly translates to Turtle Blast Wave...just out of curiousity where did ARTHUR! come from?