Official Naruto licensing Q&A!

[ChaosK]

lol i never thought of that, what in the world could they make tayuya say? i mean the "worst" i've heard on cartoon network was "idiot" or "moron" but i dont think they're even allowed to say "damn"

[Aryu]

Hmm, I wish Cartoon Network in Sweden was more like in the US. At least you guys have alot of anime on tv. Geez, complaints complaints..

[ChaosK]

well cartoonnetwork kinda ruins all anime i've watched except the dragon ball series because i did not feel lik gettin 200+ ep of it wen it was alrdy done. (wen it came to US DBZ in japan was finished and was going to GT)

[Mite Gai]

Originally posted by: Chaoskiddo
lol i never thought of that, what in the world could they make tayuya say? i mean the "worst" i've heard on cartoon network was "idiot" or "moron" but i dont think they're even allowed to say "damn"

lol, Tayuya will probably kill the show by causing them to have to put it on Adult Swim for her special language, unless she just says idiot in every sentence at least twice.

[Y]

Does it really affect a show when you remove swearing? I'd say not.

[Captain Grammar]

Originally posted by: Y The Alien
Does it really affect a show when you remove swearing? I'd say not.

Well, it certainly doesn't affect the overall plot, but it can do some damage to the dramatics.

If my favorite character gets punched in the face by a villain, and says, "I'm going to kill you for that, you fuck!" in Japanese, but says, "I'm going to get you back for that, you big jerk," in English, I'd be disappointed.

[Mite Gai]

Originally posted by: Y The Alien
Does it really affect a show when you remove swearing? I'd say not.

I don't mean it like that, I meant the fact that it would be moved to Adult Swim which would make it less acessible and do worse.

[Y]

Originally posted by: Captain Grammar

Originally posted by: Y The Alien
Does it really affect a show when you remove swearing? I'd say not.

Well, it certainly doesn't affect the overall plot, but it can do some damage to the dramatics.

If my favorite character gets punched in the face by a villain, and says, "I'm going to kill you for that, you fuck!" in Japanese, but says, "I'm going to get you back for that, you big jerk," in English, I'd be disappointed.

There is no word for "fuck" in Japanese that conveys the meaning that that word does.

EDIT:

And all the "swears" are context sensitive. "Kuso" is the offensive equivalent of "crap", not "shit", in Naruto's context.

[Captain Grammar]

Well, ok, but you get my drift.

[ChaosK]

Originally posted by: Y The Alien

There is no word for "fuck" in Japanese that conveys the meaning that that word does.

EDIT:

And all the "swears" are context sensitive. "Kuso" is the offensive equivalent of "crap", not "shit", in Naruto's context.

thats true, what we read off the sub-titles might just be what the subbers put there to give us a more defined perception of it. Ovbiously tayuya seemed pretty pissed most of the time and her character is much more appealing when she says "fuck" in every sentance instead of "damn"

[Terracosmo]

Originally posted by: Aryu
Hmm, I wish Cartoon Network in Sweden was more like in the US. At least you guys have alot of anime on tv. Geez, complaints complaints..

OMG. Aryu. That's one guy I never thought I'd see again.
Dunno about you but I'd rather we don't have any anime on TV at all here than dubs in the Pokemon/Digimon league...

[stos289]

Big news regarding Naruto airing on Toonami this fall. I just saw the "Summer Preview Special" on Toonami and they showed a little preview of Naruto with a summary of what it is about. First thing I noticed is that there were no dubs put in yet (they didn't speak but I could tell by the why they yelled). Second thing (and probably one of the most dreadful) is how the announcer pronounced Naruto's name. Instead of the accent being on the "Na" (NA-ru-to), its on they "ru" (na-RU-to) so it sounds more "westernized" I guess and without the japanses accent (no rolling of r's and such). Third was that they didn't keep the japanese names for most things (which was to be expected). They call Konoha the Hidden Leaf Village (which is pretty much an exact translation) and they call Hokage the "Head Ninja." (ew...). This preview might not show what the final outcome is to be...but I'm not getting my hopes up for what is to come.

[Fudgeman]

i live in canada, the rules for dling are pretty screwed up. according to the news (i could be wrong dont trust me) it is legal to put stuffz up on the internet that are copywrited, but it is illegal to dl stuffz from the internet that are copywrited

im guessing its like u have a dvd, u bring it to ur friends house to watch it together, he likes it, he copys it. u commited no crime showing it to him, but he made an illegal copy

im confused...

[Jessper]

Originally posted by: stos289
Big news regarding Naruto airing on Toonami this fall. I just saw the "Summer Preview Special" on Toonami and they showed a little preview of Naruto with a summary of what it is about. First thing I noticed is that there were no dubs put in yet (they didn't speak but I could tell by the why they yelled). Second thing (and probably one of the most dreadful) is how the announcer pronounced Naruto's name. Instead of the accent being on the "Na" (NA-ru-to), its on they "ru" (na-RU-to) so it sounds more "westernized" I guess and without the japanses accent (no rolling of r's and such). Third was that they didn't keep the japanese names for most things (which was to be expected). They call Konoha the Hidden Leaf Village (which is pretty much an exact translation) and they call Hokage the "Head Ninja." (ew...). This preview might not show what the final outcome is to be...but I'm not getting my hopes up for what is to come.

How he said it I think is a product of how that announcer tries to over exagerate everything. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Also Hidden village of leaf is fine imo, don't freak out.

I will agree about the head ninja though, it doesn't command the same respect as Hokage, to me anyways =P

BTW is that the exact translation? lol

[stos289]

I didn't really intend to imply that I was "freaking out" but I guess that's just how it sounded when you read it. My reaction towards this preview was a little overzealous if you will, however I was not suprised by the fact that the events I described were going to occur. This is what usually happens when a series gets licensed. Don't get me wrong, I'm still not happy from what I have seen so far (and this is not what could really happen as I explained above) but I'm still satisfied that I got to see a taste of what might happen to the series.

By the way, the exact translation of "Hokage" is "Fire Shadow" (they emphisize shadow because ninjas are supposed to be "shadow-like" and it is fire because Konoha is located in the Fire Country).

[ChaosK]

hmm.....i used to also think hokage was flame shadow...HO then KAGE but, wat about kazekage? sand shadow? doesnt really make sense now does it...?

Kage in this term might mean head after all.

[mage]

kaze means wind, not sand. The hidden sand village is in the wind country, thus kazekage.

[ChaosK]

my bad, but that still doesnt explain the kage hokage kazekage

stos claimed the <u>kage</u> was for shadow thus that would mean like, wind-shadow???

[Rhanfahl]

Originally posted by: Chaoskiddo
hmm.....i used to also think hokage was flame shadow...HO then KAGE but, wat about kazekage? sand shadow? doesnt really make sense now does it...?

Kage in this term might mean head after all.

Huh? I don't really see why?
Ho= Fire (Leaf)
Mizu = Water (Mist, Falls, some other village too)
Kaze= Wind (Sand)
Kaminari/Inazuma= Lightning/Thunder (Rain...I think)
Chi(Daichi Jichiyou)/Do = Earth/Ground (Grass...and Rock?)
Koori/Hyo = Ice (um... Ice I guess, is there an Ice village? I thought there were Ice ninja in the Movie, but I only saw the preview)

Kage = shadow (as far as I know, Kage has no other meaning

I think in the sense of the Kage's the element is the stress rather than the village affinity, otherwise Hokage would be Hakage (Leaf shadow) and Sunakage (for Sand shadow)

No...I think its pretty safe for you to read Hokage and all the other ones as their element.

But more importantly let's not forget the unimportance American's put on the Japanese's honorary and other titles
San, sama, sempai, sensei, kun, chan, dono, etc.
But I guess when translated to English it would be kind of long to say "Third Great Master Fire Shadow" all the time....

Only time will tell as to how bad they'll fuck it up.


additions

"Kage" would be the most honorific title for a ninja I would think

[stos289]

In relation to the Kage discussion, I believe the word kage (ex: in hokage and kazekage) is not used by its direct translation which is indeed "shadow." I believe they use kage in the sense to describe the ninjas as being the best or the most "shadow-like" (as it is widely accepted that ninjas are to be stealthy and have qualities like that of a shadow). So, the direct translation would not really fit because of its awkwardness and that's why it should be kept in its japanese form (and just explain what it takes to be a kage).