Hepburn romanization
Hepburn romanization is a system for the romanization of Japanese that uses the Latin alphabet to write the Japanese language. It is used by most foreigners learning to spell Japanese in the Latin alphabet and by the Japanese for romanizing personal names, geographical locations, other information such as train tables, road signs, official communications with foreign countries. Based on English writing conventions, consonants correspond to the English pronunciation and vowels approximate the Italian pronunciation; the Hepburn style was developed in the late 19th century by an international commission, formed to develop a unified system of romanization. The commission's romanization scheme was popularized by the wide dissemination of a Japanese–English dictionary by commission member and American missionary James Curtis Hepburn, published in 1886; the "modified Hepburn system" known as the "standard system", was published in 1908 with revisions by Kanō Jigorō and the Society for the Propagation of Romanization.
Although Kunrei romanization is favored by the Japanese government today, Hepburn romanization is still in use and remains the worldwide standard. The Hepburn style is regarded as the best way to render Japanese pronunciation for Westerners. Since it is based on English and Italian pronunciations, people who speak English or Romance languages will be more accurate in pronouncing unfamiliar Japanese words romanized in the Hepburn style compared to Nihon-shiki romanization and Kunrei-shiki romanization. Hepburn is based on English phonology and has competed with the alternative Nihon-shiki romanization, developed in Japan as a replacement of the Japanese script. In 1930 a Special Romanization Study Commission was appointed to compare the two; the Commission decided in favor of a slightly-modified version of Nihon-shiki, proclaimed to be Japan's official romanization for all purposes by a September 21, 1937, cabinet ordinance. The ordinance was temporarily overturned by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers during the Occupation of Japan, but it was reissued with slight revisions in 1954.
In 1972 a revised version of Hepburn was codified as ANSI standard Z39.11-1972. It was proposed in 1989 as a draft for ISO 3602 but rejected in favor of the Kunrei-shiki romanization; the ANSI Z39.11-1972 standard was deprecated on October 6, 1994. As of 1978 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, many other official organizations used Hepburn instead of Kunrei-shiki. In addition The Japan Times, the Japan Travel Bureau, many other private organizations used Hepburn instead of Kunrei-shiki; the National Diet Library used Kunrei-shiki. Although Hepburn is not a government standard, some government agencies mandate it. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires the use of Hepburn on passports, the Ministry of Land and Transport requires the use of Hepburn on transport signs, including road signs and railway station signs. In many other areas that it lacks de jure status, Hepburn remains the de facto standard. Signs and notices in city offices and police stations and at shrines and attractions use it.
English-language newspapers and media use the simplified form of Hepburn. Cities and prefectures use it in information for English-speaking residents and visitors, English-language publications by the Japanese Foreign Ministry use simplified Hepburn as well. Official tourism information put out by the government uses it, as do guidebooks, both local and foreign, on Japan. Many students of Japanese as a foreign language learn Hepburn. There are many variants of the Hepburn romanization; the two most common styles are as follows: The Traditional Hepburn, as defined in various editions of Hepburn's dictionary, with the third edition considered authoritative. It is characterized by the rendering of syllabic n as m before the consonants b, m and p: Shimbashi for 新橋. Modified Hepburn known as Revised Hepburn, in which the rendering of syllabic n as m before certain consonants is no longer used: Shinbashi for 新橋; the style was introduced in the third edition of Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English Dictionary, was adopted by the Library of Congress as one of its ALA-LC romanizations, is the most common version of the system today.
In Japan itself, there are some variants mandated for various uses: Railway Standard, which follows the Hyōjun-shiki Rōmaji. All Japan Rail and other major railways use it for station names. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism Standard, how to spell Roman letters of road signs, which follows the modified Hepburn style, it is used for road signs. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Passport Standard, a permissive standard, which explicitly allows the use of "non-Hepburn romaji" in personal names, notably for passports. In particular, it renders the syllabic n as m before b, m and p, romanizes long o as oh, oo or ou. Details of the variants can be found below; the romanizations set out in the first and second versions of Hepburn's dictionary are of historical interest. Notable differences from the third and versions include: エ and ヱ were written as ye: Yedo ズ and ヅ were written as dzu: kudzu, tsudzuku キャ, キョ, キュ were written as kiya, kiy
Wendee Lee
Wendee Lee is an American voice actress and director in the anime industry and video games. Her first anime voice role was in Robotech in the 1980s, she voiced Scorpina on the live-action Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Some of her major voice roles in anime include Kei in the Pioneer dub of Akira, Faye Valentine on Cowboy Bebop, Myōjin Yahiko in Rurouni Kenshin, Takeru "T. K." Takaishi on Digimon Adventure, Haruhi Suzumiya on The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Konata Izumi on Lucky Star. She has worked as an ADR director on Bleach, Love Hina and Outlaw Star and a casting director on The Night B4 Christmas. In 2014-2015, she voiced Queen Serenity in the Viz Media re-dub of the classic Sailor Moon series and the new Sailor Moon Crystal series. Lee grew up in the Los Angeles area, in San Francisco, she studied dance and theater and became a full-time dancer in her teens. According to her interview on the Magic Knight Rayearth DVDs, she started doing voices at school, got in trouble for it, her first anime voice role was in Harmony Gold production Robotech in the 1980s, where she voiced Vanessa Leeds, one of the operators aboard the SDF-1 Macross.
She worked with Streamline on several anime productions including Dragon Ball She would continue dance, work part-time as a make-up artist and dance instruction. Jeng, Way. "Being a Brief Discussion of Anime Dubs: Ai Yori Aoshi: Enishi, Volume Two". Mania. Demand Media. Archived from the original on November 5, 2014. Martin, Theron. "Iczer-One DVD". Anime News Network. Wendee Lee interview on Anime Herald Wendee Lee interview on Gamasutra Wendee Lee interview Gamasutra Wendee Lee on Twitter Wendee Lee at Anime News Network's encyclopedia Wendee Lee at Crystal Acids Wendee Lee on IMDb
Christopher Sabat
Christopher Robin Sabat is an American voice actor, line producer and ADR director at Funimation. He provides voices for a number of English versions of Japanese anime series such as a variety of Dragon Ball characters, including Vegeta, Piccolo and others, his other major roles include Roronoa Zoro in the Funimation re-dub of One Piece, Kazuma Kuwabara in Yu Yu Hakusho, Alex Louis Armstrong in Fullmetal Alchemist, Tatsumi Saiga in Speed Grapher, Kurogane in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, All Might in My Hero Academia and Daisuke Jigen in Lupin the Third. In video games, he voices Garland in Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Rundas in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Alex D in Deus Ex: Invisible War as well as Captain Smiley and Star in Comic Jumper, he is the founder and director of OkraTron 5000, an audio production company that provides support for some of Funimation's dubbing titles. Chris is married to Tabitha Sabat, they have two daughters: Nova. Christopher Sabat on Twitter Chris Sabat convention appearances on AnimeCons.com Christopher Sabat at Anime News Network's encyclopedia Christopher R. Sabat at CrystalAcids the English Voice Actor & Production Staff Database Christopher Sabat on IMDb
Toei Animation
Toei Animation Co. Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Company. The studio was founded by animators Kenzō Masaoka and Zenjirō Yamamoto in 1948 as Japan Animated Films. In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was renamed Toei Doga Co. Ltd. doing business as Toei Animation Co. Ltd. outside Japan. In 1998, the Japanese name was renamed to Toei Animation, it has created a number of TV series and movies and adapted Japanese comics as animated series, many popular worldwide. Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Leiji Matsumoto and Yoichi Kotabe have worked with the company. Toei is a shareholder in the Japanese anime satellite television network Animax with other anime studios and production companies, such as Sunrise, TMS Entertainment and Nihon Ad Systems Inc; the company is headquartered in the Ohizumi Studio in Tokyo. Their mascot is the cat Pero, from the company's 1969 film adaptation of Puss in Boots. Toei Animation produced anime versions of works by manga artists, including Go Nagai, Eiichiro Oda, Shotaro Ishinomori, Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, Takehiko Inoue, Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Masami Kurumada, Akira Toriyama, Leiji Matsumoto, Naoko Takeuchi.
The studio helped propel the popularity of the Magical Super Robot genres of anime. Although the Toei Company allows Toei Animation to handle its animation, they hire other companies to provide animation. Toei Animation's anime which have won the Animage Anime Grand Prix award are Galaxy Express 999 in 1981, Saint Seiya in 1987 and Sailor Moon in 1992. In addition to producing anime for release in Japan, Toei Animation began providing animation for American films and television series during the 1960s and during the 1980s. TAVAC Toei's recording facility that specializes in Japanese audio and sound effects, Japanese dubbing. Toei Animation Music Publishing The company's music department that maintains links with the music publishers connected with TV stations, manufacturing corporations, productions. Toei Animation Phils. Inc; the company's division. Does licensing of its Toei-produced properties and dubbing for Filipino markets. Toei Animation Inc. and Toei Doga US Services, Inc. Toei's division located in Los Angeles, responsible for the program licensing of Toei-produced series to North America, Latin America, South Africa and New Zealand.
Toei Animation Europe S. A. S. Toei's French division based in Paris, France, it engages in the production and licensing of animation products in Europe. Toei Animation Enterprises Limited Established in Hong Kong as a joint venture with Animation International Limited in 1997, it is a wholly owned subsidiary since 2009. Toei Animation Co. Animated productions by foreign studios dubbed in Japanese by Toei are The Mystery of the Third Planet. Toei has been commissioned to provide animation by Japanese and American studios such as Sunbow, Hanna-Barbera, DiC, Rankin/Bass and World Event Productions. Topcraft/Studio Ghibli, SynergySP, Studio Junio & Hal Film Maker/Yumeta Company, animation studios founded by former Toei animators Mushi Production, an animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka and former Toei animators Shin-Ei Animation, formally A Production, an animation studio founded by former Toei animator Daikichirō Kusube Yamamura Animation, an animation studio founded by former Toei animator Kōji Yamamura Doga Kobo, an animation studio formed by former Toei animator, Hideo Furusawa Official website Toei Animation Inc.
Official website Toei Animation Europe Official website Toei Animation at Anime News Network's encyclopedia Toei Animation at IMDb
Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball, sometimes styled as Dragonball, is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The initial manga and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters collected into 42 tankōbon volumes by its publisher Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West, as well as Hong Kong martial arts films; the series follows the adventures of the protagonist, Son Goku, from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several friends and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom seek the Dragon Balls. Toriyama's manga was adapted and divided into two anime series produced by Toei Animation: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, which together were broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1996. Additionally, the studio has developed 20 animated feature films and three television specials, as well as two anime sequel series titled Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super.
From 2009 to 2015, a revised version of Dragon Ball Z aired in Japan under the title Dragon Ball Kai, as a recut that follows the manga's story more faithfully by removing most of the material featured in the anime. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising based on the series leading to a large media franchise that includes films, both animated and live-action, collectible trading card games, numerous action figures, along with several collections of soundtracks and a large number of video games. Dragon Ball is one of the top twenty highest-grossing media franchises of all time, having generated more than $20 billion in total franchise revenue as of 2018. Since its release, Dragon Ball has become one of the most successful manga and anime series of all time, with the manga sold in over 40 countries and the anime broadcast in more than 80 countries; the manga's 42 collected tankōbon volumes have sold over 160 million copies in Japan, are estimated to have sold more 250–300 million copies worldwide, making it the second best-selling manga series in history.
Reviewers have praised the art and humour of the story. It is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential manga series made, with many manga artists citing Dragon Ball as a source of inspiration for their own now popular works; the anime Dragon Ball Z, is highly popular across the world and is considered one of the most influential in boosting the popularity of Japanese animation in Western culture. It has had a considerable impact on global popular culture, referenced by and inspiring numerous artists, celebrities, filmmakers and writers across the world. Akira Toriyama loosely modeled Dragon Ball on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, he has said that the fighting was influenced from movies by famous martial arts actor Jackie Chan, Hong Kong martial arts films such as Enter the Dragon and Drunken Master, as he wanted to create a story with the basic theme of Journey to the West, but with "a little kung fu."Since it was serialized in a shōnen magazine, he added the idea of the Dragon Balls to give it a game-like activity of gathering something, without thinking of what the characters would wish for.
With Goku being Sun Wukong, Bulma as Tang Sanzang, Oolong as Zhu Bajie and Yamcha being Sha Wujing, he thought it would last about a year or end once the Dragon Balls were collected. Toriyama stated that although the stories are purposefully easy to understand, he aimed Dragon Ball at readers older than those of his previous serial Dr. Slump, he wanted to break from the Western influences common in Dr. Slump, deliberately going for Chinese scenery, referencing Chinese buildings and photographs of China his wife had bought. Toriyama wanted to set Dragon Ball in a fictional world based on Asia, taking inspiration from several Asian cultures including Japanese, South Asian, Central Asian and Arabic cultures; the island where the Tenkaichi Budōkai is held is modeled after Bali, which he, his wife and assistant visited in mid-1985, for the area around Bobbidi's spaceship he consulted photos of Africa. During the early chapters of the manga Toriyama's editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, commented that Goku looked rather plain, so to combat this he added several characters like Kame-Sen'nin and Kuririn, created the Tenkaichi Budōkai martial arts tournament to focus the storyline on fighting.
It was when the first Tenkaichi Budōkai began that Dragon Ball became popular, having recalled the races and tournaments in Dr. Slump. Anticipating that readers would expect Goku to win the tournaments, Toriyama had him lose the first two while planning an eventual victory, he said that Muscle Tower in the Red Ribbon Army storyline was inspired by the video game Spartan X, in which enemies tended to appear fast. He created Piccolo Daimao as a evil villain, as a result called that arc the most interesting to draw. Once Goku and company had become the strongest on Earth, they turned to extraterrestrial opponents including the Saiyans. Freeza, who forcibly took over planets to resell them, was created around the time of the Japanese economic bubble and was inspired by real estate speculators, whom Toriyama called the "worst kind of people." Finding the escalating enemies diffic
Arale Norimaki
Arale Norimaki is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Dr. Slump manga series, created by Akira Toriyama, she is a robot built by Senbei Norimaki. She is known for her naïveté, energetic personality, lack of common sense, amazing strength. Senbei tries to convince the other citizens of Penguin Village that she is just a normal human girl, it seems to work, despite her superhuman athletic ability. Among her strengths, she can use abilities that range from the terrain splitting Chikyūwari to the beam-like N'chahō. However, she needs to wear glasses. Toriyama claimed that when he told his editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, that he wanted to make a manga about a doctor, Torishima told him to add a robot. Toriyama wanted a large robot, but as it would not fit in the panels, he instead made it small; when his editor rejected that idea, he made the robot a girl knowing Torishima would find her "cute." He stated that Senbei was supposed to be the main character, but his editor told him to make it Arale instead, which Toriyama agrees turned out better.
Torishima elaborated on this, saying that Arale was only a guest character for one chapter. However, because he liked Toriyama's girl characters the editor wanted her to be the main character; the artist felt differently. The two made a bet. Torishima won. Toriyama purposefully gives his protagonists plain appearances, he believes that having weak-looking characters turn out to be strong is more interesting. Like the names of many other characters, Arale is a pun on the name for a bite-sized rice cracker, with the family name it refers to a sort of arare wrapped with nori seaweed, her glasses were just a gag, with Toriyama wanting to remove them as they made her more difficult to draw. However, they became a trademark of Arale's and readers who had to wear glasses wrote him saying that by Arale having them it made them feel better about themselves, so he ended up keeping them. Arale is shown with purple hair, although it is dark brown in the 1997 anime. Arale poses depending on who Senbei is talking to.
The Norimaki family only grows from there when Arale and Senbei discover an egg when traveling to the past. The egg hatches into a small winged creature. Senbei marries the girl of his dreams and they have a son named Turbo; as if the house was not full enough, Gatchan inexplicably splits into two separate entities. The Dr. Slump series is a self-proclaimed gag manga with no ongoing plot; the entire series is about Arale's humorous exploration of the dynamics of life and the adventures Senbei and his inventions send them on. Arale has unique phrases she uses, such as "N'cha", "Bye'cha", "Hoyoyo" to express bewilderment, yelling "Kiiin" when she runs with her hands out. Arale appears in Toriyama's Dragon Ball when Son Goku chases General Blue all the way to Penguin Village, she defeats Blue with one kick and one headbutt after he paralyzes Goku, she is able to ride on the Kinto'un, which indicates her as being pure of heart. In the anime adaptations, Arale is first seen in a picture on the wall of the capsule house Bulma creates in Dragon Ball episode 2, again on the television that Kame-Sennin is watching in episode 16, on a poster in Son Gohan's bedroom in Dragon Ball Z.
She appears in The Great Mystical Adventure film, her face was shown in the eighth Dragon Ball Z movie. Arale has appeared twice in Dragon Ball Super, first making a brief cameo appearance in episode 43 and playing a key role in episode 69. Arale is a playable character in the crossover video games Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars, both for the Nintendo DS, J-Stars Victory Vs for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, she is playable in several Dragon Ball video games, including Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Meteor, Dragon Ball: World's Greatest Adventure and Dragon Ball DS 2: Charge! Red Ribbon Army. In 2014, two commercials featuring Dr. Slump were created by Toei Animation for Suzuki; the commercials advertise the car manufacturer's Kei SUV Hustler and include new acting from Mami Koyama as Arale and Kumiko Nishihara as Gatchan. In 2016, Ayami Nakajo portrayed Arale in a commercial for G.u. clothing. It shows Akane Kimidori and Peasuke Soramame bewildered when Arale trades in her trademark overalls for a pleaded skirt.
Arale is voiced by Mami Koyama in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Super. She is voiced by Taeko Kawata in the second Dr. Slump anime and by Yuko Hara, keyboardist of the popular rock band Southern All Stars, in the radio drama. In Harmony Gold's English-language dub pilot episode for the first anime, she is voiced by Julie Maddalena. During her appearance in Dragon Ball, Linda Young voices Arale for Funimation's English dub, she is voiced by Brina Palencia in the English version of Dragon Ball video games and Dragon Ball Super. In 1982, Arale came in 12th place in Animage's fourth annual Anime Grand Prix for Favorite Character. Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network wrote, her role in Dragon Ball Super was praised by
Bulma
Bulma is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. She debuted in the first chapter Bulma and Son Goku, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on June 19, 1984, meeting Goku and recruiting him as her bodyguard to travel and find the wish-granting Dragon Balls. Bulma is the daughter of Dr. Briefs, the founder of the Capsule Corporation, a company that creates special small capsules that shrink and hold objects of various sizes for easy storage. Being the daughter of a brilliant scientist, Bulma is a scientific genius, as well as an inventor and engineer. Along with creating the Dragon Radar, a device that detects the energy signal emitted by a Dragon Ball, Bulma's role as an inventor becomes important at several points in the series. Bulma is loosely based on the character Tang Sanzang from the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West. Bulma and Goku were the first pair of characters which were introduced in the manga and Toriyama stated that he subsequently introduced other characters in pairs because "that way, I’m able to explain the characters and their relationship to each other through their interactions.
In my case, I feel. I suppose Goku and Bulma are representative of that." He further added that "as a child, Goku doesn’t know anything, so without Bulma, he’d be a character who didn’t say anything." The author claimed that when the series started, his editor at the time, Kazuhiko Torishima, wanted Bulma and Goku to form a romantic relationship. Bulma's appearance in the series is not as consistent as the other characters as she quite changes her hair style and clothing being fashion-conscious, her hair is depicted in a shade of fuchsia, although in the first chapter and the anime her hair is turquoise. When asked about the first time Bulma's hair style changed, Toriyama said it was to show that three years had passed and because he liked girls with short hair, she sometimes wears clothing with either the Capsule Corporation logo. Her name "Buruma" is the Japanese pronunciation of "bloomer", a type of gym shorts worn by Japanese girls at school; as with most characters in the Dragon Ball series, Bulma's name is consistent with those of the rest of her family.
All of Bulma's family members are named after underclothing of some sort. Her father's name is Dr. Briefs, while her daughter are named Trunks and Bra respectively, her mother is never named in the series, being referred to only as "Bulma's Mother". However, when asked in 2004 what name he would choose if he were to name her mother, Toriyama suggested Panchi, a pun on panties. Toriyama stated in an interview that Bulma's family has a "laissez-faire attitude, but Bulma has complete control over things." Bulma is the second character to be introduced in the Dragon Ball series. In the early part of the story, she is a teenager and the inventor of the Dragon Radar, a device used to detect the Dragon Balls that she is searching for. Bulma was hoping to use the Dragon Balls to wish for the perfect boyfriend. While searching for a nearby Dragon Ball, she runs into Goku, she finds out. Because of Goku's love for the ball and his belief that his Grandpa's spirit lives in the ball, Goku is not willing to give it up.
Bulma asks him to loan it for her in exchange of taking him in her travels. At that point, they team up to find the remainder of the balls and the adventure begins; as the search progresses and Goku meet Kame-Sen'nin after finding his pet turtle. After five years of peace, an evil menace comes to the Earth, it is an extraterrestrial Saiyan, named Raditz. After Goku and Piccolo kill him, Bulma takes the Scouter from Raditz, fixes it to find the power levels of people in human numbers. During the subsequent battle against Vegeta and Nappa, Tenshinhan and Piccolo are killed and because Piccolo dies, the Dragon Balls are rendered useless. After Goku defeats the Saiyans, Bulma volunteers to travel to Piccolo's home planet Namek and use the Namekian Dragon Balls to restore Yamcha and the others back to life. In need of a spaceship, Mr. Popo reveals one to Bulma, the ship Kami had used to travel to Earth when he was a boy. Bulma repairs the ship with the help of her father, flies off to Namek with Kuririn and Son Gohan.
After Goku defeats the tyrant Freeza and the others who were killed are revived by the Namekian Dragon Balls and Vegeta returns to Earth, staying with Bulma and her family. Several years before the arrival of the Androids, Bulma ends her relationship with Yamcha and begins a relationship with Vegeta that leads to the birth of their son, Trunks. Many years she gives birth to her and Vegeta's daughter, Bra. In the alternate future time-line, Bulma survives the Androids' onslaught. Bulma lives at the former site of Capsule Corp, attempting to build a time machine. She's protective of Trunks and hates the idea of him fighting, but allows him to take the time machine to the past to stop the Androids and deliver Goku an antidote for a heart virus that claimed his life in the alternate timeline, she spends most of her life devoted to building a time machine so that Trunks could go back in time and pr
