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His name? Detective Conan! 2009/10/14 03:44
Hello, I've been wanting to know the precise Romaji and Kanji for "His name? Detective Conan!" for a while now, but I don't know a single bit of Japanese, so can anyone help me?

This is what I've got so far:

Romaji - kare no namae meitantei konan
Kanji - 彼の名前を 名探偵コナン

That is what I've got so far from search engines; is that accurate? Also, this may be a stupid question to ask but do you use question marks, exclaimation points in romaji/kanji? Also, in Romaji, is it customary to capitilize nouns, etc?

Thanks for taking the time to; I appreciate any help!
by Manyfaces  

. 2009/10/14 13:27
The を (wo) looks kind of weird to me...I think it should be a は (wa) instead...

Anyway, I would translate something like:
'He is the famous detective Conan.' (The 'his name' sounds odd to me when he has a title)

In Romaji, I really don't know O_o I usually capitalize names but that's all. As for ! and ?...you can just use those (!/?). I see them all the time in games/manga so I guess that it is pretty well known what they mean.
by Firedraco rate this post as useful

In Japan 2009/10/14 16:52
Not sure if you know or not, but Detective Conan is big anime in Japan. I actually got "His name? Detective Conan" from the end of the introduction at the beginning of the opening song.

Here is a reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNXdWUxKx68

0:13-0:16 is what I want translated.

Okay, thanks for your help, but I still need a little more help.
by Manyfaces rate this post as useful

... 2009/10/14 17:20
"Sono na wa... Meitantei Conan!"
その名は・・・ 名探偵コナン!

...is what I hear.
"na" (名) is another word for "namae," name.

Yes, in Japanese we do use exclamation mark and question mark, particularly in colloquial/everyday writing, even though grammatically speaking there is short word ending ("ka") that is called "question marker," which indicates that a sentence is a question, and thus said with an upward intonation.
by AK rate this post as useful

Agree with AK 2009/10/14 19:01
I agree with AK. They also say "Sono namae wa... Meitantei Conan" in some seasons (I'm a huge Detective Conan fan and I remember this stuff...), so either is correct.
by MN (guest) rate this post as useful

. 2009/10/14 20:03
I was wondering why I couldn't actually hear "kare no namae" in the opening.

So, "Sono na wa" means "The name is..."? I was under the impression that when translated, it means "His name?".

(I'm actually using this as my signature at a forum)
Hmmm, I rather still use "His name? Detective Conan!". With that said, the Kanji/Romaji for that is:

Kare no namae? Meitantei Konan!
彼の名前は? 名探偵コナン!

If that is correct then I'll be on my way.

Sorry for all the trouble, I just want this to be perfect.
by Manyfaces rate this post as useful

... 2009/10/14 20:15
Yes, translated into English, I would say "his name is..." or "the name is..."

The reason why it is "sono na(mae) wa..." is because before the name is mentioned there is an introduction about what kind of person he (or "it," the character) is, right? (I have not listened to it carefully, though), so it goes like "someone with (charactereristics like this), someone who (does this and that), so what name does this person/person have? The name is..." and then it gets dramatically annouced.

"Kare no namae wa..." brings it down to a somewhat commonplace introduction, though of course in everyday life you would say "kare no...."

If you want to stick to the Conan introduction (the original), then using "sono..." would get more recognition among people who sees/hears it. If you want to use literal version of "his name is..." then you need to add "wa" in the romaji version:

Kare no namae *wa*? Meitantei Konan!
彼の名前は? 名探偵コナン!

I still don't think there is really a question mark there, though. The pause between "namae wa" and "Meitantei...." is for dramatic effect, and not really meant as a question, I'd say. But if you want it that way, I suppose that's ok :)
by AK rate this post as useful

. 2009/10/14 20:26
I usually watch alot of fan subtitles of Detective Conan which, apparently, arn't the best. I've seen "His name? Detective Conan!" alot, so now I just plain out like that.

Okay, thanks alot for all the help!

I need to learn Japanese. :P
by Manyfaces rate this post as useful

key 2009/10/14 20:36
Just to add, words like kare, kanojo or even anata, aren't used as much in the Japanese language, while words like he, she, they, you, his etc. are very often used in the English language.

"Sono na wa...Meitantei Konan!" is the key phrase that's supposed to start the show, and we don't want it to sound un-natural or un-cool by using words like "Kare no namae?". Meanwhile, "The name is...Detective Conan!" would sound un-cool in English, so apparently, the translation "His name? Detective Conan!" would suit better.
by Uco (guest) rate this post as useful

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