Beam Me Up Scotty / Anime & Manga

• Nowhere in AKIRA, especially not the Streamline dub, does Kaneda ever tell Tetsuo, "No way! You're just a kid! Maybe when you're older!" The Streamline dub does come close in the scene most often associated with that line, and even then it's "Yeah, yeah! Don't make me laugh! Maybe when you've downed your first clown!" That said, Kaneda does treat Tetsuo rather condescendingly as a kid. The quote "No way! You're just a kid! Maybe when you're older!" is actually from a scene in Homestar Runner that parodies the English voice acting.
• Thanks to Leiji Matsumoto's movie Arcadia of My Youth, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe became the author of a new famous quote 150 years after his death. Never mind that you will never find anything remotely like the "His youth was Arcadia" line in original German, and most researchers agree that it is a textbook case of Matsumoto's taking an Artistic License with the source material, which was likely Goethe's Italian Journey, whose epigraph was the infamously ambiguous Latin phrase "Et in Arcadia ego".
• Attack on Titan: The first line of the first OP "Guren no Yumiya" has been misspelled in numerous ways due to Linked Horizon's inexact pronunciation of German and inconsistent fansubs, one common one being "Sie sind das Essen und wir sind die Jäger!" The official spelling is "Seid ihr das Essen? Nein, wir sind der Jäger!"^note It means "Are you the meal? No, we are the hunter!"
• Downplayed in Captain Tsubasa. Wakabayashi's lame excuse when Natureza score him outside of the penalty area, "The sun didn't let me see", was said in present simple "The sun doesn't let me see" when Natureza was about to shoot instead of in past simple when the ball was already in the goal.
• A popular screenshot shows Light's famous "Just as planned" line in Death Note getting translated into "Just according to keikaku" with a translator's note saying "Translator's note: Keikaku means plan." This isn't from any actual fansub of the series, although the screenshot's said popularity probably owes to the fact that it isn't far from the truth with a lot of fansubs.
• Dragon Ball:
  • In Dragon Ball, Oolong never wished for Bulma's panties. He wishes for panties from a hot babe.^note In the English dub, he wishes for the world's most comfortable underwear. This is no indication that they belonged to Bulma.
  • Despite what many fans think, Frieza never once uttered the phrase "This isn't even my final form!". The actual quote is "I still have two transformations left", which he says while fighting in his second form.
  • When Goku goes Ultra Instinct, he never says, "So this is the power of Ultra Instinct?" in any of its appearances. Of the dozen lines spoken by Goku while he's in Ultra Instinct, only two mention the form's name. The first is where he corrected Kefla on its name, and even then, "Ultra Instinct" were the sentence's only words. The second (and closer to the misquoted line) is when he says "I'm starting to get the hang of this Ultra Instinct."
• Shirou from Fate/stay night is notably popular for the quote, "People die if they are killed.", which was an overly-literal (and out-of-context) line from a fansub. The full line was "People die when they're killed. That's the way it should be." In context, he was saying how he didn't want the immortality that Avalon granted him, but fans ran with it and that line became memetically popular.
• One of the many, many often-quoted lines from the infamous English Dub of Garzey's Wing is "I must somehow make sense of our convoluted situation". The actual line is "I must somehow make sense of our convoluted situations", plural.
• A lot of anime and manga have used a visual gag where a character turns white with shock with Blank White Eyes, hand held in front of their mouth, and exclaims "Osoroshii ko!" ("What a frightening child!") This is commonly thought of as a reference to a specific panel in Glass Mask; actually, the pose and line come from two different parts of the manga, and have gotten mashed together via Memetic Mutation.
• Gundam:
  • During the infamous Bright Slap scene in the original Mobile Suit Gundam, most people would think that what Amuro truly said was "You hit me! Not even my father hit me!" The real scene, however, had Amuro say something between the two sentences, and getting slapped a second time:
    Amuro: You hit me...!
    Bright: So what if I hit you!? You can't be a man if you can't even take a hit!
    Amuro: Did you really think that I'm such a petty person!?
    Bright: (second slap)
    Amuro: That's twice...! Not even my father hit me!
  • In Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Jerid's actual reaction to Kamille's Gender-Blender Name was something along the lines of "Kamille? I thought I heard a girl's name, but that kid looks like a boy", but it's usually quoted as the more compact, exploitable and easy to remember "Kamille? Isn't that a girl's name?".
  • In Super Robot Wars and other games that feature Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, a common attack for Heero to use in Wing Zero is to hold out both sides of the Twin Buster Rifle and spin the mech around while firing them, creating a wide circle of destruction. Heero never actually did that move in the series or movie: It was done by Quatre, after he first built Wing Zero and went crazy.
  • Similarly, Domon Kasshu's God Slash Typhoon, a move where he spins around like a tornado while holding his twin beam swords, is always used as an offensive attack in Super Robot Wars when in the series it was merely a defensive technique to ward off George's Rose Bits. The God Gundam would otherwise barely have attack moves before going Super Mode, so it can be forgiven.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Athrun never said "NICOL WAS FIFTEEN, HE LOVED TO PLAY THE PIANO!" He actually said "Nicol was fifteen! He loved the piano!" (in the dubbed version) or "Nicol loved to play the piano. And he was only 15." (in the subtitled version).
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam 00, when Graham declared his love with Gundam, he didn't say the memetically popular "GUNDAM, I LOVE YOU!!!", but "This feeling...there's no mistaking it...it must be love!!". But since the first one explicitly declared just WHAT Graham is in love with, it became more popular and oft-used.
  • Not once in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing does Trowa refer to Quatre as "Little One," or anything even close to that, or any other pet name, for that matter. That was all the Yaoi Fangirls' doing.
  • An odd one concerning Gundam: Reconguista in G: Klim Nick does say “I am a genius!” And “Oh, no!” but they are from two different situations and never said together.
• The Haruhi Suzumiya character Tsuruya-san never says "nyoro~n". She says "nyoro", and not even very often. Her Memetic Mutation webcomic alternate self, Churuya, says "nyoro~n" at the end of every strip. Churuya and Tsuruya even met in the Churuya comic, saying their exact catchphrases.
• Hetalia: Axis Powers:
  • Contrary to what fanon says, the infamous "vital regions" memetic line was never used by either Prussia or Russia. Austria (in the "Maria Theresa" series) said Prussia had done it. Spain also used it (in Spain's Lazy Morning") and Lithuania (in Checkmating Poland).
  • Japan never said "Please leave, you second rate perverts." What he actually said was "Leave the 2-D to me," but the scanlators didn't understand the sentence.
  • Russia never referred to himself as Mother Russia. Hint: himself.
  • And Prussia's famous "five meters"? 100% pure Fanon.
  • There has never been a moment in the whole series when America has called England "Iggy".
  • Russia did not say, "He is my ex, after all" when speaking of Lithuania, this was a mistranslation. What he actually said was on the lines of Lithuania being a used item, possession or second-hand thing.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • Dio didn't say, "You expected [insert memetic thing here], but it was me, Dio." The line is, "You thought your first kiss would be JoJo, but it was I, Dio!"^note Which can also be translated as "it was me".
  • Throughout the series, the cry of a vampire is usually spelled "Ureeeeeyyyy!" or "Reeeeeee!" It's almost never spelled "Wryyyyyy!", but Memetic Mutation has made this the most common spelling. Additionally, that one flash video and M.U.G.E.N have made many people attribute the cry to DIO's "Road Roller" super attack from the Capcom fighting game. The sound bite is actually from Shadow DIO's "Charisma!" Super. That being said, it has been officially transcribed as "WRYYYY!" in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle — in English alphabet even!
  • DIO's memetic combo is often thought to be Barehanded Blade Block -> MUDADA -> ZA WARUDO -> Flechette Storm -> ROADROLLADA -> WRYYY. However, this really owes itself to the fan-made flash animation, not either the manga or the game. He does most of the individual moves in different parts of the manga, but not all in sequence.
  • DIO's Time Stands Still move is never called ZA WARUDO. It is merely named Time Stop, and the Stand's name is The World. It is never implied to be spelled in broken English too. Complicating this, Jotaro's Time Stop move is called "Star Platinum's The World." In the anime adaptation of Stone Ocean, Jotaro simply calls it "Time Stop" instead.
  • Also attributed to DIO is the line commonly transcribed as "toki wo tomare" (時を止まれ), usually translated as "Time stops!" This is grammatical nonsense that is perhaps more accurately translated to English as "To be able to stop time..." The actual line is "toki yo tomare" (時よ止まれ), which sets time as the "person" being addressed (like calling somebody's name), and commands it to stop — succinctly, "Time - stop!" The origin of this mix-up is likely a simple mishearing, reinforced by some (but incomplete) knowledge of Japanese grammar; the "wo" is a common particle, so a novice speaker might think that it makes more sense than the uncommon, somewhat archaic, and not-classroom-friendly "yo" (which, admittedly, is difficult to aurally distinguish in this case unless one is aware of the grammar behind it).
  • The series' reputation as being full of dramatic posing comes mainly from the Capcom game. While there's plenty of posing in the manga, it isn't as common or as elaborate as one might think. In fact, some of the most iconic "JoJo Poses," including DIO's pelvic thrust, were made up entirely for the game and don't happen in the manga.
  • Although the infamous "Duwang" scanlation of the Diamond is Unbreakable manga did produce countless funny lines, "I am the fucking strong!" is not one of them. That's actually from Tokyo Ghoul. This misconception comes from the fact that the line reminded people of the Duwang translation and edited a Diamond is Unbreakable panel to have Kira saying it as a joke, but the memes quickly grew from there and many aren't aware it wasn't from the original scans. In the corresponding panel in the actual Duwang scan, he simply says "you can't escape."
  • A phrase often associated with the series is "This must be the work of an enemy Stand!" This was never said in the series. The only thing close was in Chapter 321 (Chapter 56 of Diamond is Unbreakable), where Koichi says, "This has to be the work of an enemy Stand user" after realizing he lost weight after meeting with Rohan.
• Many people misquote a line in the second KiraKira★Pretty Cure à la Mode ending theme as "Boom boom, I love pretty girls!" when the actual line is "Boom boom, I love pretty girl".
• King Dedede in Kirby: Right Back at Ya! spawned a meme with his inexplicably heavy (dub-given) Southern accent, coming from the phrase "I need a monstah to clobbah dat dere Kirbeh," from the (dub-created) intro, and also the memetic joke spelling "Kirbeh" of the title character. However, in this intro, and most of the time in the show, Dedede actually pronounces "Kirby" correctly, though the person singing the theme song pronounces it "Kirbeh" once or twice.
• In Lyrical Nanoha fanfiction, Vita is attributed surprisingly often with coining Nanoha's nickname "White Devil". Firstly, what Vita did was call Nanoha a (not white) devil in a What the Hell Are You? moment, and secondly, Nanoha is not ever referred to as the White Devil in the series proper.
• Mazinger Z: In the Spanish dub, Kouji's infamous Rocket Punch line was translated as "¡Puños Fuera|" ("Fists Out!") instead of "Puño Cohete", and Sayaka's Oppai Missile attack was traslated like "¡Fuego de Pecho!" ("Breast Fire!"). However, a huge chuck of the Spanish-speaking fandom is downright convinced she said "¡Pechos Fuera!" ("Breasts Out!").
• Naruto:
  • Tobi did not himself say "Tobi is a good boy", that was something Zetsu (well, part of him) said about Tobi. To himself. It's complicated. It probably comes from web cartoon Fun With Akatsuki, which is on YouTube. Tobi says that a lot there, and it's been on for a few years. It could also be attributed to the manga chapter coming out a couple years before the anime clears up who actually said the line.
  • Sasuke is commonly attributed with telling Sakura: "You're weak/useless." But actually he never said that. This could be attributed to fans combining traits from two different scenes: one when she asks him if they can go work on their teamwork, "just the two of us." and he responds with, "I swear, you're just as bad as Naruto. Instead of flirting, why don't you practice your jutsu and make the team stronger? Let's face it, you're actually worse than Naruto.", and an earlier scene where he calls her annoying after she makes fun of Naruto for being an orphan (while talking to Sasuke, whose status as an orphan is a major part of his Dark and Troubled Past).
• Some of the most famous memes in the Neon Genesis Evangelion fandom never show up at all in the entire franchise:
  • Gendo never said "Get in the fucking robot, Shinji!". Gendo simply points out to his son the reasons for why he should pilot the Eva 01, and even then he doesn't insist or gets violent on him about it; he tells him that if he won't do it, then he should leave. Another reason why he wouldn't utter the phrase is that, well, the Evas are not really robots.
  • The memetic phrase "Pilot the Eva, Shinji, or Rei will have to do it again" and its snowballing parodies through a lot of franchises, from The Simpsons to El Chavo del ocho, was never said by any character. In fact, no character uttered a single word when Rei showed up all in bandages, as it was a very serious dramatic scene, with a music crescendo, while Shinji watched the girl (who he really didn't even knew at the moment).
  • Rei never says, "If you have something to say, then just spit it out already" during her argument with Asuka in the elevator in episode 22. The phrase actually stems from a short fandub video of the scene posted by voice-acting-focused YouTube channel SleepySouls, which spawned a brief Memetic Mutation using random out-of-context sound clips for Asuka's response. The actual dialogue Rei says to instigate the argument after the long Uncomfortable Elevator Moment varies between dubs, but boils down to telling Asuka that her failure to sync with her Eva is due to not building an open relationship with it.
• A recurring joke in several manga and anime is quoting "Our fight has just begun!" to reference abruptly cancelled action serials. While the '80s had many such infamously cancelled titles like Otokozaka, the actual source of the line does not appear to exist.
• Pokémon: The Series: Ash never said, "Aim for the Horn!". He actually said, "Pikachu! The horn!"
• In the dub of Princess Mononoke, Eboshi says, "Now watch closely, everyone. I'm going to show you how to kill a god." This has been misquoted as, "Now I will show you how to kill a god."
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica:
  • Kyubey's "Make a contract with me!" manages to appear in official merchandise, but he never says this as one sentence; it's always something like "Just make a contract with me, and become a magical girl!". A more blatant one is "Anything is possible if you make a contract with me!", a fan-fabricated combination of his other misquote and his assertion that he can grant any wish.
  • This applies to (almost) any quote that includes the phrase "Puella Magi", Gratuitous Latin for "Magical Girl." The only time any character says this, regardless of dub language, is in Rebellion, when all five protagonists transform together and declare themselves the "Puella Magi Holy Quintet" as a Mythology Gag. Because "Puella Magi" is in the title, people often forget that they're called "Magical Girls" in-universe.
• Tuxedo Mask never told Sailor Moon "My work here is done," and she never pointed out "But you didn't do anything." That was actually a Tumblr meme parodying the series, and the quotes themselves would more likely have originated from The Simpsons, where there was in fact a similar exchange between Leonard Nimoy and Barney. Tuxedo Mask actually says "Well done, Sailor Moon. I won't soon forget what happened here tonight." and Sailor Moon doesn't say anything.
• In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, most people quote Kamina as saying, "Believe in the me that believes in you!" Not only was this not the exact quote (in the English dub anyway, he says, "Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me! Believe in the Kamina who believes in you!"), in actuality, the quote that ultimately inspires Simon is the amended reprisal "Believe in yourself. Not in the Simon who believes in me. Not the Kamina who believes in you. Believe in the you who believes in yourself."
• Many people have misquoted one line from the opening theme to Tokyo Mew Mew New as "It's showtime again!" when it's actually sung as "Showtime again". The confusion likely comes from the opening to the original anime adaptation of the manga, which did use the phrase "It's showtime!".
• Yu-Gi-Oh!:
  • At no point in the (second) anime^note As opposed to the previous one by Toei. does Joey Wheeler say "Brooklyn rage". Not in the 4Kids dub, and certainly not in the Japanese version. The line was made up for Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series.^note Wayne Grayson, Joey's English voice actor, was quoted as saying that he wished he could have actually said it.
  • Kaiba never says, "You're a third-rate duelist with a fourth-rate deck" in the series proper, but the line is popularly associated with him because of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links (where he does say it).
• Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: Grace Tyler, despite being dubbed as a Valley Girl, never actually says "Spunk yes!" The line came from her sister Gloria, and is not a standalone exclamation but rather part of a full dialogue, more specifically Grace noting that one of their opponents has spunk and Gloria replying "Spunk, yes, but the intellect is clearly lacking."

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