Goku Quotes in Japanese (Dragon Ball), with Romaji and Grammar

Son Goku has been greeting fans with the same cheerful line for almost forty years, and his voice is one of the most recognisable in anime. It is also one of the strangest voices to learn Japanese from: Goku grew up alone in the mountains, and he talks like it. I teach Japanese, and below are ten of the best-known Goku quotes in Japanese from Dragon Ball, in the original Japanese, with rōmaji, a translation, and the grammar underneath — plus an honest note on which lines a real person could say, and which only work if you are a Saiyan.

Can-you-use-it legend: ◎ = safe in real conversation · △ = fine in anime, odd in life · ✗ = don’t say this to a person.

Goku quotes in Japanese

Japanese	Rōmaji	English	Use it?
オッス！オラ悟空！	Ossu! Ora Gokū!	Hey! I’m Goku!	◎ Swap オラ for 僕 or 私
おら、ワクワクすっぞ！	Ora, wakuwaku suzzo!	I’m getting so excited!	◎ As ワクワクする！
いっちょやってみっか！	Itcho yatte mikka!	Let’s give it a shot!	◎ Casual, with friends
でぇじょうぶだ	Dējōbu da	It’s all right	△ Say 大丈夫だよ
それによ……落ちこぼれだって必死に努力すりゃエリートを超えることがあるかもよ	Sore ni yo… ochikobore datte hisshi ni doryoku surya erīto o koeru koto ga aru kamo yo	Besides… even a failure might surpass an elite if he works desperately hard	◎ Great message
オラのすべてを　この拳にかける！！	Ora no subete o kono kobushi ni kakeru!!	I’m putting everything I have into this fist!!	△ Battle line
オラは地球育ちのサイヤ人だ…！	Ora wa chikyū sodachi no Saiyajin da…!	I’m a Saiyan raised on Earth…!	△ Pattern is useful
クリリンのことかーっ！	Kuririn no koto ka—!	Are you talking about Krillin?!	△ Pure rage
オレはおこったぞー！！！！！	Ore wa okotta zo—!!!!!	Now I’m angry!!!!!	✗ Shouted at an enemy
またな！	Mata na!	See you!	◎ Everyday goodbye

The grammar underneath each line

オッス！オラ悟空！ — what オラ actually is

Here is a surprise for many fans: Goku never says オッス！オラ悟空！ in the main story. The line comes from the anime’s next-episode previews, and his voice actor, Masako Nozawa, has explained that the countryside way of speaking was her own idea. Goku was raised alone in the mountains by his grandfather, so she reasoned he would talk in his own rhythm, with his own words — and Akira Toriyama agreed.

オラ (ora) is a first-person pronoun — a word for “I” — from the dialects of rural eastern Japan. To a Japanese ear it sounds like a farm boy from the hills: warm, simple and a little old-fashioned. Japanese has many words for “I,” and choosing one is like choosing a costume:

Word	Rōmaji	How it sounds
私	watashi	polite and neutral — safe for everyone, everywhere
僕	boku	a gentle boy’s “I” — fine at school
オレ / 俺	ore	casual and confident — among friends only
オラ	ora	rural dialect — in practice, the sound of Goku

オッス (ossu) is a short, punchy “hey!” used by boys, sports teams and martial-arts clubs. So the real-life version of Goku’s greeting is easy: こんにちは、僕は〇〇です (“Hello, I’m …”). Say オッス to a teammate and you sound sporty; say it to a teacher and you will get a look.

おら、ワクワクすっぞ！ — sound words and rural contractions

ワクワク (wakuwaku) is a mimetic word: it doesn’t imitate a sound, it imitates a feeling — the fizzing excitement before something fun. Add する and it becomes a verb: ワクワクする, “to be excited.” Japanese is full of these: ドキドキする (heart pounding), ニコニコする (smiling). Learn them in pairs with する and you double your vocabulary for free.

The ending すっぞ is Goku’s version of するぞ: the る squeezes into a small っ. Almost all of Goku’s dialogue in Japanese works like this — standard words, worn down at the edges. Once you can see the pattern, his lines stop looking like a different language:

Goku says	Standard Japanese	Meaning
すっぞ	するぞ	I’ll do it / I’m doing it
みっか	みるか	shall I try?
でぇじょうぶ	大丈夫	all right, OK
すりゃ	すれば	if (you) do
おめえ	お前	you (rough)

Teacher’s note: the vowel pair “ai” often melts into a long “ee” in rough or rural speech. That is how 大丈夫 (daijōbu) becomes でぇじょうぶ, and how ない becomes ねえ. If you can hear it, you will understand a lot of anime tough guys. If you want to say it, use the standard form: 大丈夫だよ is kind and natural.

いっちょやってみっか！ — the 〜てみる “try it and see” pattern

Strip off the accent and this is 一丁やってみるか: いっちょ (“one go”), やって (the te-form of やる, “do”), みる (“see”), and か (a question to yourself). The core is 〜てみる, which means “do something and see what happens.” It is one of the most useful patterns a beginner can learn: 食べてみる (try eating it), 着てみる (try it on), 日本語で話してみる (try speaking in Japanese).

This is the Goku line that real Japanese people genuinely borrow. Before a test, a match or a new recipe, やってみよう！ (“let’s give it a go!”) is perfectly normal, and a friend who adds a little Goku accent will usually get a laugh.

落ちこぼれだって必死に努力すりゃ — だって, すりゃ and かも

Goku says this to Vegeta, the proud Saiyan prince, and it may be the most quoted line of the series in Japan. 落ちこぼれ (ochikobore) literally means “something that fell and spilled” — a student who fell behind. エリート is the borrowed English word “elite.” Three small pieces carry the grammar:

だって after a noun means “even”: 子どもだってできる, “even a child can do it.” すりゃ is the spoken squash of すれば, “if (you) do.” And かも (short for かもしれない) means “maybe”: 明日は雨かも, “it might rain tomorrow.” Put back into school Japanese, the whole idea becomes 一生懸命努力すれば、できるようになるかもしれない — a sentence any teacher would be glad to hear.

オラのすべてを　この拳にかける！！ — を and に with かける

In his fight with King Piccolo, Goku has one working arm left, and he stakes everything on a single punch. かける here means “to bet, to stake.” The thing you bet is marked with を (オラのすべてを, “all of me”), and the place you put the bet is marked with に (この拳に, “on this fist”). The same frame appears in calm, everyday Japanese: 夢に人生をかける, “to stake your life on a dream.”

拳 (kobushi) is a clenched fist. In daily life people usually just say グー for a fist (it is also “rock” in rock-paper-scissors), but 拳 turns up again and again in fighting anime, so it is worth recognising.

オラは地球育ちのサイヤ人だ — the 〜育ち pattern

育ち (sodachi) comes from 育つ, “to grow up.” Attached to a place, it means “raised in”: 地球育ち, “Earth-raised.” This is a wonderful pattern for children growing up in two countries, because it lets them describe themselves exactly: 日本生まれのアメリカ育ち (“born in Japan, raised in America”), シンガポール育ちの日本人 (“a Japanese kid raised in Singapore”). Goku, a Saiyan raised on Earth, is in a way the most famous “third-culture kid” in anime.

オレはおこったぞー！！！！！ — why Goku suddenly says オレ

Look closely at the pronoun. After Frieza takes Krillin from him, Goku turns Super Saiyan and the gentle オラ becomes a hard オレ. The writers changed his costume to show that something in him had changed. It is the clearest lesson in the series that a pronoun is not just grammar — it is personality.

おこった is the past form of 怒る (okoru, “to get angry”), yet it means “I’m angry now.” Japanese often uses the past form for a change of state that has just happened: お腹すいた (“I’m hungry”), 疲れた (“I’m tired”). Those two are worth learning today; the shouted Super Saiyan version is not one to aim at a person.

Is Goku good for learning Japanese?

For listening, yes — Goku is cheerful, simple and kind, and his lines are full of everyday patterns like 〜てみる and ワクワクする. For speaking, be careful. Goku’s Japanese is rural, rough and very casual: オラ for “I,” おめえ for “you,” and contractions on almost every word. A child who copies him exactly will sound charming to some people and odd to most, a little like a learner of English who speaks only in cowboy slang.

The useful habit is to keep the pattern and change the clothes: オラ becomes 僕 or 私, すっぞ becomes する, でぇじょうぶ becomes 大丈夫, and またな becomes またね if you want it softer. The fastest way to learn which version fits which person is to try them on people your own age — a real friend’s face tells you in one second what a quote list never will.

Keep going with the same method: our Dragon Ball quotes in Japanese guide covers Vegeta, Piccolo and the rest of the heroes, and Saitama quotes in Japanese shows another strongest-hero voice — flat and bored instead of bright and excited. Goku’s オラ is compared with 俺, 僕 and 私 in Ore vs Boku vs Watashi. If you are starting from zero, our guide to learning Japanese with anime sets out a weekly routine, and our tuition page explains how live classes with Japanese friends work.

FAQ

What is Goku’s most famous quote in Japanese?

Two lines compete. オッス！オラ悟空！ (Ossu! Ora Gokū!, “Hey! I’m Goku!”) is the greeting from the anime’s next-episode previews, and おら、ワクワクすっぞ！ (“I’m getting so excited!”) is his reaction to a strong opponent. Both grew out of Masako Nozawa’s performance rather than the manga text, which is why the exact wording appears in the anime, not in Toriyama’s pages.

What does “ora” mean in Japanese?

オラ (ora) means “I” or “me.” It is a first-person pronoun from rural dialects of eastern Japan, and it makes Goku sound like an innocent boy from the countryside. It is not used in standard Japanese, so learners should say 僕 or 私 instead.

What does “wakuwaku” mean?

ワクワク describes the bubbly excitement you feel before something you are looking forward to. With する it becomes a verb: 明日の遠足、ワクワクする！ (“I’m so excited about tomorrow’s school trip!”). It is completely natural and safe to use anywhere.

Can I learn Japanese just by watching Dragon Ball?

You can pick up vocabulary, rhythm and useful patterns, especially with Japanese subtitles on. But Goku’s accent is not a model for everyday speech, and anime can’t give you feedback. Speaking skills come from saying sentences to real people and noticing how they react.

My child loves Dragon Ball. How do they practise with real Japanese speakers?

Tomodachi Japan is an online Japanese school for children living outside Japan, taught by Japanese school teachers in small classes of eight, with classmates their own age in Japan. Parents don’t need to speak Japanese — we guide you in English. The free school guide below has the timetable, tuition and scholarship details.