What's the correct spelling of Dodonpachi?

[Oniros]

Is it Dodonpachi? DoDonPachi? Or Do-Don-Pachi? I swear I've seen all three on 360 releases or merchandise but I've never known for sure which one is the appropiate one.

[matrigs]

http://translate.google.pl/#pl/ja/dodonpachi

click the speaker

[Captain]

DODODODODODODODODONPACHI

[AntiFritz]

Is it Dodonpachi? DoDonPachi? Or Do-Don-Pachi? I swear I've seen all three on 360 releases or merchandise but I've never known for sure which one is the appropiate one.

I don't think it really matters when it's so inconsistent.

[shmuppyLove]

DODODODODODODODODONPACHI

[Thjodbjorn]

怒首領蜂 is the correct spelling. Romanization isn't always super consistent, and you could also go with Dodonpati under one system. Just listen to your heart, bro.

[KAI]

I call it Dodonpanty

[gs68]

Dough Dawn Patchy.

[KAI]

Tha Yo Geo

[trap15]

Merchandise says:

• DonPachi
• DODONPACHI
• dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU
• DO-DON-PACHI DAI-FUKKATSU

My official shirt does not have SDOJ on it, so I can't give the 'official' romanization of that.

[EmperorIng]

"So ya got Dawn Patch, which sets up the formula for Do Dawn Patch..."

[AntiFritz]

Merchandise says:

• DonPachi
• DODONPACHI
• dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU
• DO-DON-PACHI DAI-FUKKATSU

My official shirt does not have SDOJ on it, so I can't give the 'official' romanization of that.

Is this the shirt listing all the arcade boards and is full of spelling mistakes?

[Despatche]

this case is very interesting. basically starting from doj cave tried to change the spelling with every single game, and they're usually consistent about it for the games vs their merchandise; it's likely these were specifically trademarked and cave is simply adhering to that. dp and ddp are the exception to all of this.

per trap15, it's supposed to go something like the following, which is what the games themselves use:

DonPachi (generally written in all caps now)
DODONPACHI (iirc it implies "DoDonPachi" or that is written somewhere on old material, also flyer suggests "DO DONPACHI" though that seems to be a mistake... this game has like two different logos btw)
DO DONPACHI II or BEE STORM (of course it being a mistake doesn't stop igs from using it anyway hue)
dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU [Black Label] (note that "Black Label" is not actually written in the game, which causes a lot more problems than one would think)
DO-DON-PACHI DAI-FUKKATSU [BLACK LABEL] (note that only "Black Label" is actually written in that version, and this use of the phrase might be an exception to the "alternative" rule)
DODONPACHI MAXIMUM
DODONPACHI SAIDAIOUJOU
<not sure how donstarpacchintilde works>

on top of this you have to remember that these are all alternatives at least for the games themselves (disregarding the exceptions), and that (iirc anyway) the "donpachi" reading is actually completely fabricated by cave.

as a sidenote, ketsui is read similarly since it's a sort of "other half" to doj: "KE-TSU-I kizunajigokutachi", and is also an alternative to the main kanji title.

what's in a name, again?

edit: by the way, while we're on the subject... it's "RAY FORCE", which was changed to "RAYFORCE" going forward. huhuhuhuhuhu etc.

[shmuppyLove]

My understanding was that the name "donpachi" was one of those strange Japanese 'sound' words, I guess in English something like "boom" (the sound of a cannon?), although I believe usually those type of words are written in katakana as they are just sounds and don't have any real meaning (like ニャー for the sound a cat makes)

DonPachi appears written in kanji, which to me implies there is an actual meaning behind it, as kanji are derived from pictograms?



Now we're veering off into Japanese language discussion

Although you're probably just referring to the romanized version? Some quick looking around shows it in all-caps pretty much everywhere I can see, box art, title screens, etc.

But on the main title screen for the arcade version, it does kind of looks like mixed-case, but all the letters are upper-case, just some seem a bit smaller, probably more for style than anything else.



Any help?

[EmperorIng]

I thought DonPachi meant "Leader Bee." Since you are part of the [titular?] Leader Bee corps.

[Eno]

My understanding was that the name "donpachi" was one of those strange Japanese 'sound' words, I guess in English something like "boom" (the sound of a cannon?), although I believe usually those type of words are written in katakana as they are just sounds and don't have any real meaning (like ニャー for the sound a cat makes)

DonPachi appears written in kanji, which to me implies there is an actual meaning behind it, as kanji are derived from pictograms?



Now we're veering off into Japanese language discussion

Although you're probably just referring to the romanized version? Some quick looking around shows it in all-caps pretty much everywhere I can see, box art, title screens, etc.

But on the main title screen for the arcade version, it does kind of looks like mixed-case, but all the letters are upper-case, just some seem a bit smaller, probably more for style than anything else.



Any help?

The 蜂 definitely means bee, it's usually read "hachi", but it's not uncommon for "ha" to morph into "ba" or "pa" when used in compound words.
Now the 首領 part is tricky. It does mean boss, aparently, but that is read as "shuryou". And I don't see "do" and "don" listed as readings for either kanji, so I'll leave that bit for someone more experienced with the language.
And I think I do remember reading it being intended as an onomatopoeia somewhere, but I might be imagining stuff.

But yeah, I think OP is asking for the correct way to write the romanization.

[Captain]

Dodonpachi = Angry Leader Bee

[trap15]

Is this the shirt listing all the arcade boards and is full of spelling mistakes?

No, it just has pictures of all the ships and lists the titles of the DDP series games. I've posted a picture of it in the Awesome Things You Just Got thread, too lazy to find it myself.

[glitch]

Now the 首領 part is tricky. It does mean boss, aparently, but that is read as "shuryou". And I don't see "do" and "don" listed as readings for either kanji, so I'll leave that bit for someone more experienced with the language.
And I think I do remember reading it being intended as an onomatopoeia somewhere, but I might be imagining stuff.

interestingly (maybe), the word 首領 can be translated as "don" in some contexts (don = mafia leader).
so maybe they went with a spanish "reading" for that kanji-compound?

[glitch]

lol found it: http://zokugo-dict.com/20to/donpachi.htm
quick translation:

the onomatopoeia "donpachi" imitates the sound of gunfight ("pew pew"), and the word is used to mean "yakuza duking it out with guns", though by extension it can also be used for gun-less yakuza quarrels and even for just people, groups and couples that just quarrel a lot. as onomatopoeia it can also be used to mean the rattling sound of fireworks.

the article also mentions the game, that it has people read 首領蜂 as "donpachi", and notes that reading 首領 as don references the fact that yakuza leaders are often referred to as "don" in yakuza movies. (with 蜂 meaning bee of course)

all in all it's a pretty good pun, really.
take my word for it. i'm laughing.
better than 弾爵.

[Captain]

It's ESP Ra De all over again.

[shmuppyLove]

It's ESP Ra De all over again.

You mean ESP RA.DE. ?

[SuperSoaker360]

Onomatopoeic?

Pewpewpachi