In "One Piece" is the swordsman's name Zolo or Zoro?

Question

Now, I've had people swear that the name is "Zoro" and given several explanations "The Jap. can't pronounce 'r' very well at times" and "Some times translations get messed up when converting manga to English."

However, listening to the Jap. say the name, it is always said as "Zolo" and I can't see any validation in the inability to pronouce the 'r' because there are several characters with notable r's in their name. (Not to mention numerious other animie in which the 'r' is pronounced fairly easily by the Jap. voice actors.)

So... Which is it... "Zolo"(which is how it is in each manga at least up to 10) or "Zoro" (which is what most Aericans claim...)?

(words shortened due to lack of spelling skill. Sorry)

To make it clear, I do NOT watch the english version of One Piece. I watch it with subtitles but listen to how words are pronounced. And most of the manga I have are the first prints. (I checked.) There is no 'slip up' in the manga to make it "Zoro" and its very rare that it sounds like they are calling him Zoro in the Animie. (Again I do NOT watch the butchered English version. They can't pronounce names right to save their life most of the time anyway.)

Answer 1

Shonen Jump Manga Quote"
"Now, VIZ Media, LLC. has brought SHONEN JUMP to the U.S., featuring the most popular comics from the original Japanese edition. Each issue of SHONEN JUMP contains over 300 pages of manga, plus artist interviews, card games, video games, toys and anime information for just $4.99. Plus, the comics in SHONEN JUMP are printed in the right-to-left Japanese-reading format to preserve the original artwork — but with English sound effects to make them as easy to read in America as they were in Japan. Produced with the cooperation of the original artists and editors, SHONEN JUMP is the new language of manga."


One Piece (OK, Let's Stand Up!) Volume 10:
*published by Shonen Jump Manga*

"Roronoa Zolo" (note they put the last names first, it is actually Zolo Roronoa)
A former bounty hunter and master of the "three-sword" fighting style. He plans to become the world's greatest swordsman.

Note this is book 10 of the series. There are no breaks in the name "Zolo" anywhere. (As in they don't 'screw up' and call him Zoro.) If his name were not Zolo, I am sure that Eiichiro Oda (creator of One Piece and the artist) would have done something about it by now. The translations are pretty acurate in the Shonen Jump publications (I have four other different manga series published by the same group and there are no name flaws. Yu-Gi-Oh, Bleach, Black Cat, and Ranma 1/2.)

One thing to keep in mind is this: American versions of animie are most often horribly voiced and more often than not the names are never pronounced right. They call him Zoro most often in the American version (Yes I have watched both American and the original versions of the animie. I can't stand to watch the English anymore.) And yes they do edit the english versions beyond enjoyment.

Also to WolfieChick, apparently you don't watch enough Animie because Conan named himself after the aurthor of Sherlock Homles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. And his name was not changed in the American version, just pronounced incorrectly (which is sad because it is an english name.) There was no copywrite issue because Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had the name before Conan the Barbarian.
((dumb fact:
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian, from the name of his homeland, Cimmeria) is a fictional barbarian created by Robert E. Howard in a series of fantasy pulp stories published in Weird Tales in the 1930s.

(sir) Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland))

Also if they pronounce L's as R's than it is rightfully "Zolo" even if they seem to say "Zoro" by your logic. Besides the logic fails seeing as they can pronouce Rurouni Kenshin with out problems or Luffy's name never sounding like "Ruffy" Also you need to take into account that they have accents in their language just as english AND american have different accents.

/rant off.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

All right all you TV Otaku . . . Learn somethin' why don't you. The swordsman in One Piece's name is ZORO, when they pronounce it in Japanese it can sound kinda like "Zolo". In the Shounen Jump's brought to the United States he was called Zoro until they brought out the anime to American television. Then the American producers or who ever make these decisions changed his name to Zolo in both the anime and the manga, to avoid confusion and possible copyright issues with the hispanic swordman vigilante by the same name. Same reason they changed the name of Detective Conan to Cased Closed, because of Conan the Barbarian . . . ~_~;;;

A note to the sweetie who actually asked the question. I answered this way because of all the ones who do watch it in the States and seemily are convinced it has to be "Zolo". There's a reason why the way Japanese often pronounce English is humorously refered to as "Engrish", R's and L's often sound the same, TH's comes out as an S sound, etc. But trust me, his name is Zoro (and I watch the subbed only too . . . except when I'm watching with my nephews, they can't read yet but love pirates)

Answer 4

One Piece Swordsman

Answer 5

How about Violet(vi-o-let) Mistique Adora Emilea Elise Boys: Nathanael Cedric Viridian Golthidz Celedean

Answer 6

It's Zoro but America calls him Zolo yeah I know they r stupid

Answer 7

Zolo

Answer 8

Zolo

Answer 9

It's Zolo

Answer 10

Zoro not zolo