What do you think Kamehameha is in real life?

[Gogeta]

I am asking this q, what do you guys think Kamehameha is in real life? I will post a poll, and I will tell you guys at the end of 2 weeks, and this is to brainstorm some ideas. Also, try not to use Google or any search engine, try to think what you think Kamehameha actually is!

[Meier Link]

Moving this out of ID and into animation corner and I will respond to it in the matter of what I think the most bad *** move in the world is after it is moved.

:edit: thread moved.

[Gogeta]

I will respond to it in the matter of what I think the most bad *** move in the world is after it is moved.

Interesting choice! I can't wait to see what other people will have to say!

[T.G. Oskar]

Kamehameha is, in real life (or rather, was) the first "king" of Hawai'i, having unified all isles under his command. He was best known for not only starting a monarchic rule under Hawai'i, but also because of establishing a law that protects the rights of non-combatants during battle.

But if you want to know the meaning behind Kame-Hame-Ha, it should mean "Turtle Devastation Wave". Kame in Japanese is the term for turtle; an example of that can be seen with FFV's Gilgame, or "Gil Turtle". Thing is, when you mix two words in Japanese, you may end up with a different name, but be warned that it's basically the same; hence, giru (romaji for Gil)+ kame (turtle)= girugame, or Gilgame (gil turtle, or money turtle). The latter are mostly kanji transliterations, which if turned from kanji to hiragana might have a different meaning (much like the kanji for "sword" is transliterated as ken, katana and tsurugi, with the first being the closest to the original Chinese translation of jian). So you might figure by reading the kanji that the name is actually Turtle Wave (or to be precise, its given name, "Turtle Devastation Wave").

But what I really believe Kamehameha is? Pretty overrated, if you ask me so.

[Xithor]

I'm going to put my response in a spoiler so not to ruin it for anyone else that wants to guess.

SPOILER!!:

Well I know that kame means "turtle" as T.G. Oskar said and being an avid fan of DB & DBZ I know that the Kamehameha Wave was taught to Goku and Krillin by Master Roshi also known as the Turtle Hermit. He introduces the beam attack to them as the Turtle Wave. So yea I'm almost positive that it is Turtle Wave.

[Victoria]

Oskar pretty much nailed it on the head. The translation of the move and who in RL the move is named after.

So really there's not much point to the thread anymore.. ;p

Interesting choice! I can't wait to see what other people will have to say!

...Meier didn't even make a choice yet, so... wtf? Lol.

[Gogeta]

If people still want to guess I will let you, but if you don't care heres what I was looking for!
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VV VV

Spoiler: Wow, it was first translated into The Lonely One in Hawai'ian, thats what I was implying, not the Japanese translation, seeing as how it is on Dragon Ball, haha. [Kamehameha: Pronounced “Kah-meh-ha-meh-hah.” Meaning “the lonely one.” ]Hawaii travel guide and vacation planner | To-Hawaii.com

[T.G. Oskar]

If people still want to guess I will let you, but if you don't care heres what I was looking for!
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VV VV

Spoiler: Wow, it was first translated into The Lonely One in Hawai'ian, thats what I was implying, not the Japanese translation, seeing as how it is on Dragon Ball, haha. [Kamehameha: Pronounced “Kah-meh-ha-meh-hah.” Meaning “the lonely one.” ]Hawaii travel guide and vacation planner | To-Hawaii.com

Here's the deal: have you seen Bleach? I bet you must, since usually people new to anime start with DBZ, then upgrade to Naruto and finally to Bleach (or something along those ways, IMO).

In any case: Bleach has LOTS of Gratuitous Spanish added in (Espada, for example). Generally, being a loanword, you'd write that in Katakana and do it phonetically: English speakers would say "es-PAH-dah", while a Japanese would transliterate it to "e-su-PA-da". However, when Kubo wrote the characters, it added a kanji meaning to the word, then wrote a guide to as its intended meaning; that guide is called "furigana", and it's generally hiragana (the typical ideographic alphabet used for native Japanese words) over the kanji to represent how it should be said. Thus, while a Japanese speaker would read the kanji as "Espada", it would mean something entirely different based on the real kanji meaning.

SPOILER!!:

Toriyama went one step further. He took a Hawai'ian word (actually a name) such as Kamehameha (which is indeed pronounced as "kah-meh-ha-MEH-ha") and altered its meaning to work in a different way. A Hawai'ian would see the word and indeed treat it as "the lonely one", but a Japanese speaker would read it "Turtle Devastation Wave" because Toriyama uses furigana to provide a different meaning. Notice that a Japanese would refer to the move as "Kameh-hameh-HA", not only indicating an entirely different pronunciation but an entirely different meaning. That is because he used the furigana to give a different pronunciation for hame and ha; otherwise, he would have used a different name.

Consider, for example, "Knight". As you might suspect, being a foreign word, they'd use the Romaji transliteration, naito, which would be pronounced "naih-TOH" (exactly as you'd pronounce "knight", but since their phonetics are syllable-based and not phoneme-based, they'll pronounce the "oh" at the end. However, kanji-wise, you'd have 騎士; kishi, which loosely translates as "knight". Effectively, both versions are right, but while one deals with the foreign concept, the other is the closest interpretation. That is because 士; shi, often relates to "warrior" (because of how it is used for bushi and senshi, the Japanese terms for warrior and fighter), while the kanji 騎; ki relates to "horse"; hence, "horse warrior", which is a pretty darn good way to relate to a knight, which is traditionally known as a warrior on horseback. In the same way, Toriyama used the kanji for kame (being Master Roshi the Turtle Hermit; don't be surprised if you thus hear kame-sennin to refer to Master Roshi), and used one of the many ways to pronounce the kanji for "devastation" and "energy wave" to resemble the Hawai'ian king's name.

Thus, regardless of what you find, Kamehameha when used on Dragon Ball Z is translated as "Turtle (Hermit) Devastation Wave". In fact, while Toriyama could have easily used the kanji for "turtle", here's how he wrote the ability: かめはめ波. Basically, you have "kamehame" on Hiragana (meaning you should have looked for the Japanese translation on first place) and the kanji for "wave". However, if you see how 波 is really transliterated, you'd hear "nami" instead, because that's the way the kanji is meant to be pronounced. Hence, you see furigana and meaning alteration at work; instead of "nami" (which would have caused the wave to be called "Kamehamenami", he altered the kanji pronunciation to "ha" to resemble the Hawai'ian king's name. In fact, you may see the kanji written as 波^は, to indicate the reader "it's 'wave', but pronounce it ha".

So...pretty clear on how you reach that meaning? You're correct in that "Kamehameha" means "lonely one" because that's the original Hawai'ian name meaning, but that doesn't mean it WILL have that same use.

[Gogeta]

Here's the deal: have you seen Bleach? I bet you must, since usually people new to anime start with DBZ, then upgrade to Naruto and finally to Bleach (or something along those ways, IMO).

In any case: Bleach has LOTS of Gratuitous Spanish added in (Espada, for example). Generally, being a loanword, you'd write that in Katakana and do it phonetically: English speakers would say "es-PAH-dah", while a Japanese would transliterate it to "e-su-PA-da". However, when Kubo wrote the characters, it added a kanji meaning to the word, then wrote a guide to as its intended meaning; that guide is called "furigana", and it's generally hiragana (the typical ideographic alphabet used for native Japanese words) over the kanji to represent how it should be said. Thus, while a Japanese speaker would read the kanji as "Espada", it would mean something entirely different based on the real kanji meaning.

SPOILER!!:

Toriyama went one step further. He took a Hawai'ian word (actually a name) such as Kamehameha (which is indeed pronounced as "kah-meh-ha-MEH-ha") and altered its meaning to work in a different way. A Hawai'ian would see the word and indeed treat it as "the lonely one", but a Japanese speaker would read it "Turtle Devastation Wave" because Toriyama uses furigana to provide a different meaning. Notice that a Japanese would refer to the move as "Kameh-hameh-HA", not only indicating an entirely different pronunciation but an entirely different meaning. That is because he used the furigana to give a different pronunciation for hame and ha; otherwise, he would have used a different name.

Consider, for example, "Knight". As you might suspect, being a foreign word, they'd use the Romaji transliteration, naito, which would be pronounced "naih-TOH" (exactly as you'd pronounce "knight", but since their phonetics are syllable-based and not phoneme-based, they'll pronounce the "oh" at the end. However, kanji-wise, you'd have 騎士; kishi, which loosely translates as "knight". Effectively, both versions are right, but while one deals with the foreign concept, the other is the closest interpretation. That is because 士; shi, often relates to "warrior" (because of how it is used for bushi and senshi, the Japanese terms for warrior and fighter), while the kanji 騎; ki relates to "horse"; hence, "horse warrior", which is a pretty darn good way to relate to a knight, which is traditionally known as a warrior on horseback. In the same way, Toriyama used the kanji for kame (being Master Roshi the Turtle Hermit; don't be surprised if you thus hear kame-sennin to refer to Master Roshi), and used one of the many ways to pronounce the kanji for "devastation" and "energy wave" to resemble the Hawai'ian king's name.

Thus, regardless of what you find, Kamehameha when used on Dragon Ball Z is translated as "Turtle (Hermit) Devastation Wave". In fact, while Toriyama could have easily used the kanji for "turtle", here's how he wrote the ability: かめはめ波. Basically, you have "kamehame" on Hiragana (meaning you should have looked for the Japanese translation on first place) and the kanji for "wave". However, if you see how 波 is really transliterated, you'd hear "nami" instead, because that's the way the kanji is meant to be pronounced. Hence, you see furigana and meaning alteration at work; instead of "nami" (which would have caused the wave to be called "Kamehamenami", he altered the kanji pronunciation to "ha" to resemble the Hawai'ian king's name. In fact, you may see the kanji written as 波^は, to indicate the reader "it's 'wave', but pronounce it ha".

So...pretty clear on how you reach that meaning? You're correct in that "Kamehameha" means "lonely one" because that's the original Hawai'ian name meaning, but that doesn't mean it WILL have that same use.

I have seen Bleach, it was the FIRST anime I've ever seen, oh and Aizen died, I know, I've seen all the episodes so far, and Naruto is gay, I hate it, just sucks, not to dis any of its fans but I just dont like it, I went from Bleach -> Some smaller animes like Claymore, Rosario + Vampire, and Hellsing -> Dragon Ball -> Z And I will be moving on from Z -> GT shortly, then I am going to watch One Piece, then whatever I feel like watching after that. And yes, they do use a lot of spanish in Bleach, the Espadas all use spanish for their transformations. And I knew that the word Kamehameha is used one way in the Hawai'ian language doesn't mean it would be for the Japanese meaning for it (Well duh!) and of course it wouldn't be used the same way because different people (IE Japanese and native Hawai'ian speakers) will see it differently and use it how they think it is used, but I wasn't looking for how the Japanese used it, I was looking for the original Hawai'ian translation, just to let you know.

[Victoria]

You didn't specify that though. All you said was what we think it is in real life. >_>;

Also, be careful of spoilers, please. Not everyone watches subs on crunchyroll.

[Gogeta]

I didn't make it specific because I wanted it to be a trick question. Call me a d**k or whatever, but thats the truth. I also just wanted to see what some people would think about this, that is why I had originally put it in the ID section.

[Victoria]

ID isn't for "what do you think about this" type deals. It's meant for serious discussions.

There's not really much depth to be had with this kind of topic, as there's really only one answer that Oskar already gave.

There's not even really a "trick question" about it either. =\ Because that implies that there's no actual answer, when there is three answers.

[Gogeta]

Haha, what would of been the third answer? There is the "Turtle Wave" or "The Lonely One", I was going to let this play out for itself for 2 weeks, Also, I put up 4 options at the top in the poll, the first 2 are only partial meanings to it, and using the King Kamehameha wasn't a selection, so there is only 2 answers, but I only put the Turtle Wave because it was the only one that wasn't even partial for one of the Hawai'ian translations, and I knew everyone (Like literally) would of picked that, seeing as how everyone so far except for me has selected it, even though it probably wasn't the smartest idea, I just put in "What does the Kamehameha mean in real life?" and in Japanese it was primarily used for a show to show something fake, instead of labeling someone that was real like it was in Hawaii, also it was the name of the King, but that's not why I put it in here, not to show that this guy's name was Kamehameha, but to show that it was used as showing that someone or something was/is the lonely one. (Probably used it in a wrong context but oh well!)

[T.G. Oskar]

I have seen Bleach, it was the FIRST anime I've ever seen, oh and Aizen died, I know, I've seen all the episodes so far, and Naruto is gay, I hate it, just sucks, not to dis any of its fans but I just dont like it, I went from Bleach -> Some smaller animes like Claymore, Rosario + Vampire, and Hellsing -> Dragon Ball -> Z And I will be moving on from Z -> GT shortly, then I am going to watch One Piece, then whatever I feel like watching after that. And yes, they do use a lot of spanish in Bleach, the Espadas all use spanish for their transformations. And I knew that the word Kamehameha is used one way in the Hawai'ian language doesn't mean it would be for the Japanese meaning for it (Well duh!) and of course it wouldn't be used the same way because different people (IE Japanese and native Hawai'ian speakers) will see it differently and use it how they think it is used, but I wasn't looking for how the Japanese used it, I was looking for the original Hawai'ian translation, just to let you know.

But I did gave an answer!

But what I really believe Kamehameha is? Pretty overrated, if you ask me so.

I just went with three points: a) what it really means (it's the name of a Hawai'ian king); b) what it's really meant to mean (Turtle Devastation Wave) and c) personal opinion (it's overrated).

And the original post wanted what was on my mind; that was exactly what I thought. I just supported that with evidence. No biggie.

I didn't make it specific because I wanted it to be a trick question. Call me a d**k or whatever, but thats the truth. I also just wanted to see what some people would think about this, that is why I had originally put it in the ID section.

ID isn't for "what do you think about this" type deals. It's meant for serious discussions.

There's not really much depth to be had with this kind of topic, as there's really only one answer that Oskar already gave.

There's not even really a "trick question" about it either. =\ Because that implies that there's no actual answer, when there is three answers.

I have to agree with Vicky on this one: you could have placed this on General Chat, but it was best fit on the Animation Corner. ID is, as mentioned, for serious discussions; it should be less stringent than it is, but you generally don't go there unarmed. I went with a full armory to answer, just as you'd see on ID.

And again, there's no trick question or multiple-choice answer; if what you wanted was the Hawai'ian meaning, then you could have searched Wikipedia. If what you wanted was personal opinion, which is what you want here, that would be hard because most people know the term "Kamehameha" from DBZ, not from Hawai'ian history; so, you'd figure most people would think about that, go look somewhere, and tell you the answer no matter what it's meant to be. And even when looking at Kamehameha as per DBZ (probably on the DB Wiki), you'd learn the true origin of the word, and the given meaning. It's part personal opinion and part elaborate answer, just as you'd get on ID.

That reminds me: Meier, which is the most manly move in the world, since you moved the thread to the "right" place?

[Gogeta]

Alright then, I declare defeat, I had ill reasoning to post anything else other than the question its self. Sorry for this non-sense crap that I had established.

[Treize]

This cannot be! Bleach will be forever ruined!

Also, both are correct translations, I guess. I think the Japanese translation is probably preferred, though, because you are talking about it in the context of a Japanese show. You can't just say "real life" and expect people to give you a random translation in a language that doesn't even really relate to what you are talking about.

For example, I could ask you what the word pan means. Because we are speaking English you would probably tell me that it is a cooking utensil, but if I was actually talking about the Spanish definition of pan, bread, you would be wrong. Based on context, anyone would assume I'm talking about the English meaning, though.

EDIT: People post too fast... You don't have to declare defeat. I think it was an interesting idea for a thread, but it played out wrong. It might have worked out better if you phrased your question better.

[Gogeta]

EDIT: People post too fast... You don't have to declare defeat. I think it was an interesting idea for a thread, but it played out wrong. It might have worked out better if you phrased your question better.

I think I needed to, I was getting to cocky so I decided to stop before my arrogance blinded me, I am known to not give up, but I need to learn to stop that, and thus I have declared defeat, knowing if I continued any farther I would lose and make myself looks retarded.

*Edit, I typed that too fast, lots of errors, haha

[che]

OP means "what does it mean in REAL LIFE". Not in english, guys. And move this back to ID.

[Treize]

I think I needed to, I was getting to cocky so I decided to stop before my arrogance blinded me, I am known to not give up, but I need to learn to stop that, and thus I have declared defeat, knowing if I continued any farther I would lose wand make myself looks retarded.

Both translations are correct... It depends what language you are translating it from, like I said. Yours is just more obscure. You shouldn't take it so hard when people say what they think and back it up. I'm sure you were expecting what people said, anyway.

Meier, I think it might be too late for you to respond now.

EDIT: Ah, yes. In real life, I believe it is a person, since turtle devastation waves don't really exist, or do they?

[Gogeta]

Both translations are correct... It depends what language you are translating it from, like I said. Yours is just more obscure. You shouldn't take it so hard when people say what they think and back it up. I'm sure you were expecting what people said, anyway.

Meier, I think it might be too late for you to respond now.

EDIT: Ah, yes. In real life, I believe it is a person, since turtle devastation waves don't really exist, or do they?

Yea, well, I knew exactly that people would think of it was the Dragon Ball term, and as far as we know it doesn't exist, well, I hope not or else we would be kinda screwed, haha, lets see, a wave that could easily destroy the Earth? Hmm, not cool, haha.

[T.G. Oskar]

Yea, well, I knew exactly that people would think of it was the Dragon Ball term, and as far as we know it doesn't exist, well, I hope not or else we would be kinda screwed, haha, lets see, a wave that could easily destroy the Earth? Hmm, not cool, haha.

Note: it says "Turtle Devastation Wave", not "Earth-Rending Wave". So the only poor victims would be the turtles, not the stone that has existed for about 7 million years or countless millions of years (depending on whom you're asking; conform with hearing "it's older than you and pretty much all of your ancestors").

Though, turtles have existed for several years and are known for having long life, so...maybe something that devastates turtles CAN devastate the Earth. I dunno...

Now, if we were to look for a true "Turtle Devastation Wave"...maybe one spawning from a meteor a la Deep Impact?