Talk:Nakama

Nakama and the Fans
Listen. The word Nakama is not a special word in-and-of itself. If it were, you would see it left untranslated in other series' besides One Piece. One Piece is the only series in which the word is given special treatment, and the only source to give it special treatment is the fans. No official source has EVER said that "Nakama means a bond greater than family", not FUNimation, not Viz, not Toei, and most certainly, not Oda. there has never been an SBS where Oda has said "When Luffy says 'Nakama' he means a bond deeper than family". That's purely a Fan preference. The Literal meaning of the term is "Part of a Group". In a Pirate Manga, that's your Crew. So
 * A: The Dictionary Definition does not mention a "Bond greater than Family"
 * B: None of the official English translations have used this
 * C: Nobody on the Japanese side of production has EVER said That Nakama, as a word has any kind of deep meaning, either in the Story or in an interview, and that includes Oda.

Therefore, there is no citable source to this, The only possible source is Kaizoku Fansubs, and not only are they a FAN sub group, therefore making anything they say in notes count as Fan speculation which according to it's article is not encouraged here, but if you read their actual note on the subject, they present it in the EXACT Same way I'm trying to frame this article. They start by saying "this is the Dictionary Definition of Nakama" and then go on to say "we at K-F feel the word means..." etc. They're saying it's their opinion as fans, not a dictionary definition.

The way the article was originally written owned up to it being left untranslated as a "Fan-Term", so I'm just bringing the article back to where it originally was, while being sensitive to both viewpoints. Right now it says that the fans feel the word has a deeper meaning to the series as a whole, but the word by itself does not. I didn't have it say "This Word doesn't mean anything special at all and should always be translated" or anything like that. Right now the article is middle-ground and presents facts. That's how it should be, unbiased.DemonRin 21:40, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

I understand that you feel very passionately about this, but a wiki article shouldn't be treated like a soap box; it would be better served (and be more concise) with a simple definition and some canon examples. 76.119.104.126 19:49, October 18, 2011 (UTC)


 * And what do you mean, exactly? I don't see what's wrong with the article as it is.  Are you one of those who goes "It should just say 'Nakama means family, just look at all the times Luffy was a family to his nakama, like in Arlong Park, or for Robin.  The word should never be translated".  or what?  Right now it's perfectly middle-ground, even though it SHOULD just say "Nakama means Crewmate and should never be left untranslated because that's just ridiulous.  The word has no deeper meaning, that's just fans reading too much into it thanks to Kaizoku Fansubs lying to them to get out of having to actually put effort into their translation of the end of Arlong Park". 209.180.156.44 21:00, October 18, 2011 (UTC)

Luffy's Nakama
I heard somwhwere, can't remeber where, that Luffy said he wanted to have 10 Nakama. With Zolo, Nami, Ussop, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, and Vivi that makes nine. Questionably I wonder if he includes himself and Vivi in that number 10 considering he and the others swore that Vivi was there Nakama which would mean if Luffy included himself that he already has 10 Nakama. Unless he does not count himself or vivi meaning then he only has 8 or 9. Meanign they will aquire more in the New World. MrPlasmaCosmos 19:04, November 22, 2010 (UTC)
 * Jinbei has already accepted luffy's invitation. Also, Luffy has also accepted the mermaid princess's request to give her a ride above sea-level. At this point we can see that Nakama means different things at different times, but all of them have a "closer than family" feeling. --Ne0 06:20, January 19, 2012 (UTC)


 * Actually, no they don't. The word simply does not mean "Closer than family". It means "Crew/Crewmate". The "Closer than family" feel comes from the way Luffy treats his Crew. "Nakama", as a word, simply means "Members of your group" and is such a disposable word that Foxy trades and gambles his "Nakama" like pogs. Also, if Nakama means "Closer than family", why do the Whitebeard Pirates insist upon referring to each other as a "Family", calling their captain "Father"? It's a ridiculous myth that this word means anything beyond "Part of a group" and in a pirate manga, that's your crewmates.24.251.152.65 03:42, June 26, 2012 (UTC)

What's up DemonRin? SeaTerror 03:44, June 26, 2012 (UTC)


 * Not much, lots of real life problems and what have you24.251.152.65 04:00, June 26, 2012 (UTC)

Needed?
Is this page really needed? We're basically describing an element of the story but this element also happens to be a common word. I know the two main elements of this series seem to be "adventure" and "friendship", both of which are common words. This doesn't seem needed at all, as you're basically explaining friendship. If this exists, why not an "adventure" page? And on top of that, we have the name in Japanese. This isn't the name of an organization, or a person, or a song, it's a  common   word. This page is just explaining "friendship". Might as well call it that. Even if you consider it a "different meaning", this entire page is only explaining friendship and how it's used in the series. The page being in Japanese is also going against our policy of being an English Wiki. I say kill the Nakama, because a common word doesn't need a whole article. 02:48, November 7, 2012 (UTC)

Since this word is used a lot, most people probably don't know what it means. Like you said, this is a very central theme to the story, but unlike adventure, not everyone knows exactly what that means. 02:56, November 7, 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, it's needed. It's a good article.

I think we need to have the article. But only to define a word that is commonly used by the fanbase. All that stuff about the word being "special" should be removed. It's really too common of a word to be as special as the article makes it sound. 17:43, November 7, 2012 (UTC)

I originally tried really hard to fix this article and make it right, but any attempts were immediately reverted by the people who bought into the "Closer than family" stuff, so I eventually settled on a middle ground that mentions the "Closer than Family" bull but goes out of its way to specify that this is a thing the fans think and isn's supported by any official source. I think now this page should be set up with two sections, one section that defines it, and one section that debunks the "Cloer than family" meaning. Since that meaning is so permeated in the fanbase, it should be addressed if only to debunk it. DemonRin (talk) 20:23, February 10, 2013 (UTC)

Sounds good. 20:30, February 10, 2013 (UTC)

It only says closer than family in relation to One Piece. No need to change the article. Its fine how it is right now. SeaTerror (talk) 20:32, February 10, 2013 (UTC)

We need to figure out what we're going to do about this page. There are still issues. Attempts to keep the page neutral are being reverted. Saying "A Majority" or "Most" fans think X gives undue weight to claims without any numbers or polls to back them up. I attempted to fix this by saying "Some fans thing" only to be told "Some" Isn't neutral when... the dictionary definition of "Some" is "being an unknown, undetermined, or unspecified unit or thing"... So "Neutral" is actually the LITERAL definition of "Some"...

Seriously, we need to take a poll and do some concensus on what to do with the article. The options are:

1: Use the article as it is right now (just make sure it's 100% Neutral)

2: Reword the article to debunk the fake special meaning, but own up to it being loved by some fans.

3: Define the term by its dictionary definition and nothing else.

Now that we've reached a turning point in the translation of the term on the Wikia overall, we need to address the elephant in the room that is this page now.DemonRin (talk) 21:08, March 2, 2013 (UTC)

I'm curious if the majority of visits this page gets is because new fans are wondering what "nakama" means. That could be this page's only purpose. 23:22, March 2, 2013 (UTC)

Yeah, YEARS of misinformation have rendered it so that the word DOES have a presence in the fanbase. I'm happy to say modern fansubbers and scanners have mostly stopped the silliness and stopped perpetuating the falsehood, (Shout out to Yibis, those is good guys) but that doesn't change the fact that years of old fansubs still exist with that word left untranslated. That'd be the only reason I could see for keeping this page up. Making sure people are aware of what the word means for when they come across it.DemonRin (talk) 23:27, March 2, 2013 (UTC)

Keep it how it was. I also find it funny you think Yibis is good when they just localize. SeaTerror (talk) 23:47, March 2, 2013 (UTC)