Monday, April 18, 2011

The meaning of "Kattobingu!"

Hey, YuJaYu here! I am here to inform you of the meaning of the catchphrase of Yuma Tsukumo, the protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh ZEXAL, known as "Kattobingu". I have gotten a lot of questions about what does it mean. Well, I am going to tell you. Literally, it means 'Pop Flying', but it can mean other things as well, such as: "Bring it to 'em", "I won't Give Up!" and "Rise to the Sky". For the first time, in a Japanese-dubbed Yu-Gi-Oh series, we have a catchphrase. In the English-dubbed version, we have a few catchphrases, Yugi's being "It's Time to Duel!", Jaden's being "Get your Game On!" and Yusei's being "Rev it Up!". I just wish the "Kattobingu" wasn't used so much. It is so so so very annoying when they used it at least six times in the first episode. Not a good start for your catchphrase, Yuma. YuJaYu out!!!

19 comments:

  1. Thanks YuJaYu! I have a favour to ask: I'm italian, and I can't understand what "Bring it to 'em" could mean :D Is it the same as "bring it on"? O_o It would be great if you could explain it to me. Thanks again :)

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  2. Yes, it is basically the same as "Bring it on", as the word itself has no direct translation. In all respects, the basis of the word means "I'll take on any challenge and/or I'll never give up!". Thank you for your comment.

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  3. Thanks man, glad to have found your site :)

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  4. Juudai had the catchphrase "Gotcha!" that he said at the end of most of his duels.

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  5. "Gotcha!" wasn't really considered a catchphrase, as he only says it after a Duel, and in the latter half of Season 3 of GX and all of Season 4, he doesn't use the phrase anymore. So, it's not a frequent one like Yuma's.

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  6. You said kattobingu can translate to "pop flying", "bring it to 'em", "rise to the sky", among other things -- Do you have some kind of Japanese knowledge, or are you just listing all the different ways fans have translated it? Just curious, because I really want to know what it literally means.

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  7. To Darkrunner: I have a little bit of Japanese knowledge, not to brag or anything. I don't know enough to sub my own episodes (even if I knew how to make or sub videos) but I can follow along and translate some words. I know that "Kattobingu" has no direct meaning, and yes, it translates to the phrases mentioned. "Never give up/Take on any challenge" is the very, very basic meaning, but it also means the other sayings. Thank you for your comment.

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  8. Actually, "Kattobingu" means "Sky Fighting", not Pop Flying.

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  9. Um, no. Fighting has nothing to do with the phrase. I think you mean "Sky Flying". "Pop Flying" works just as well. Thank you for your comment.

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  10. Based on the "Never give up/Take on all challenges" Definition, Couldn't kattobingu be considered similar to Excelsior (onward and upward). In which case Yuma becomes 'Anime Stan Lee'. lol

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  11. To NuraMike: Yeah, that actually is really good. It could be the same thing, lol. Yuma is... ANIME STAN LEE!!! Lol!

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  12. actually in yugioh season 0 yami yugi has a catchphrase and the phrase is " It's Game Time"

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  13. Thanks for the info. KATTOBINGU!

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  14. I'm glad to finally know what kattobingu means. I was SO confused.
    However, I wish they wouldn't try to translate it in subs. It seems like one of those things that doesn't need a translation, like "yokai".
    Most people understand pretty quickly that yokai are basically demons, but some people insist on giving literal translations and it quite frankly is very annoying. It takes away from the story, but that's just my opinion.

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  15. I DO KATTOBINGU!

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  16. i can confirm kattobingu has no actual meaning in japanese as i have studied it and my name is japanese meaning middle of the rice field for all you who are wondering the situation is like in naruto where naruto says dattebayo which nobody was able to translate this isnt the intended meaning but kato means increase wisteria and is commonly used as a surname the meaning of bingu changes depending on the word in front of it

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  17. I knew wht it ment before but someones like i did a kattobingu on my biology test and i was like wha---?

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  18. According to episode 30, Astral observation #16, "kattobingu" means "to love tomatoes." this is the best show ever.

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  19. I looked it up here and it says it's thought to come from tobu and "-ing" from English: http://netyougo.com/an/2674.html

    I'm not trying to be mean, but "pop flying" doesn't really make much sense in English. "Katto" does seem to mean to act resolutely, but I think in this case it just really means "to go flying" sort of like with tobasu (to hurl) and buttobasu (to send flying).

    Then again, it's probably a kakekotoba, so the katto means more than one thing.

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No bad words or stuff like that. Other than that, comment away!