Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" Dub Turns 14; Still Unreleased

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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by NitroEX » Wed Sep 20, 2017 7:05 am

ButtfaceKalinski wrote: Depends on the nature of their NDA, if the actors are allowed to say they worked on it then I'm sure there's video and sound editors or whoever else out there. Just having a name for the producer would answer a lot of questions, and those are the kinds of questions that were never asked about the last Canadian Dragonball stuff prior to this.
Super Saiyan Prime wrote: The audio engineers and directors probably know more, but good luck getting them to talk. They're as private as Ken Morrison, Dennis Hrehoriac and Diana Gage.
After reading Azur Productions' Non-Disclosure Policy it has pretty much confirmed my suspicion that no one aside from actors will ever publicly speak about this production or give details about its customers. Azur might not have been where this dub was recorded (I'm fairly certain both Kirby Morrow & Brian Drummond have indirectly confirmed it was done at Ocean) but Azur is Vancouver based and have worked on the translations for many of Ocean's projects. Judging by the fact that Ocean is so secretive and the two have worked closely, it seems reasonable to assume that they would both share a similarly strict non-disclosure policy.

Whoever gave Kirbopher his information is likely a fellow voice actor that he has talked to. Being an actor in the U.S., I don't think he would realistically have access to information that confirms whether this dub is or isn't coming out, that type of info wouldn't be made known to actors even in Vancouver as far as I'm aware. I think there could be some truth to the theory of this dub being a write-off expense, and thus a product that can never be sold, but since the proprietor of this dub will never be disclosed that's still just a theory. We at least know it was approved by the CRTC so I'd imagine someone did have intentions to sell it (and may still do), I just don't think we'll ever know for sure what happened to it.

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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Robo4900 » Wed Sep 20, 2017 6:21 pm

IIRC, Ocean Kai finished recording about 4 years ago. I think they'd probably wait a little longer before writing it off. Sym-Bionic Titan was written off 5 years after its TV premier. This isn't Cartoon Network, and that's 5 years after the premier, so I don't think Ocean Kai would be written off for at least another year or two.
Kai hasn't aired in Canada yet, Dragon Ball is a very big property, I think they'd want to keep their options open for now.

And as you say, whether it was written off or not, no actor would know this, so Kirbopher's information is rather suspect. Kirbopher, care to weigh in? ;)
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Thu Sep 21, 2017 7:47 am

I still like the idea of (and I'm hoping this will be the case) of a Canadian broadcaster airing Funimation's dub of Super alongside Ocean Kai.

If the new WOW network is willing to invest in some anime programming Dragon Ball would be an ideal headliner, especially since it was once popular in Canada with different dubs airing and a separate dub airing on TV than what was on the home releases.

At the end of the day Kai will be the perfect supplement to newer fans who want to keep up with the new material but also need some background on the characters and story, and Funi Kai has been available on Blu-Ray for years in Canadian stores so if a broadcaster is interested in the brand why not air a different dub on TV when it didn't have a significant effect on the show's popularity in the past?

And hey, if it doesn't work out (which I doubt it won't) at least we will have some episodes of this dub out to watch and enjoy.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Robo4900 » Thu Sep 21, 2017 4:23 pm

I think it'd be fairly reasonable for them to just air Ocean Kai, then if it's successful, get Ocean to do Boo Kai while Kai 1.0 is running so they can have more episodes, and after that's done, get going with Super. Older viewers (Particularly those who haven't seen it in a long time, and didn't bother picking up the BDs) would be re-aquianted with Dragon Ball, new viewers would get a crash course, and then they can move onto the new stuff with Super and satisfy both with new content.

I honestly think airing Kai and Super alongside each-other is pretty damn silly, and although I can understand why Toonami US are doing that, I think it's utterly stupid. Much better to just air all of Kai with an accelerated schedule(For Adult Swim: Boo Kai is 69 episodes. Air two per week, and you'll have it all out within half a year, then you can move onto Super).
For Canada, you'll have a total of 98 Ocean episodes already in existence, 69 more to dub for Kai, and then about 100+ of Super if they want to continue on after Kai. So, if you air one episode of Ocean Kai every week, that'll give Ocean 2 years to finish Boo Kai and get a start on Super. I think that's pretty achievable. It'll give the CRTC required Canadian content, and it'll give the viewers consistency of dubbing, and it'll all be in order.
Who knows, since Boo Kai is shorter than Kai 1.0, maybe they could even do 2 a week, and get into Boo Kai after 1 year, then that'll mean they'll get to Super just a year and a half after starting. A year and a half's startup time for the new material is pretty good for casual and old viewers who haven't seen it since it was airing way back, and for new viewers who are already vaguely aware of it through pop culture osmosis. Plus, 2 a week would mean they'd be able to slowly catch up to Funimation.

I dunno if they'll do it like this if they air Ocean Kai in Canada, but I hope they do in fact air it all in order. Airing Kai across from Super is silly and inconsistent, airing different dubs of those two alongside each-other is sillier and even more inconsistent, and it they just air Ocean Kai, then they'll have plenty of time for Ocean to get Boo Kai done, and get a start on Super, especially if they only air one a week, and this will still allow for plenty of time for them to decide whether it's successful enough during the first few arcs to justify Ocean doing more episodes.

Of course, even if it isn't successful enough to bring forth Ocean Boo Kai, they can still just air Ocean Kai 1.0. It's finished, and at this point, it might not be very expensive given it's a few years old now.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Super Sayian Prime » Mon Sep 25, 2017 5:07 pm

Some minor updates on the Wow! Unlimited channel:

- On September 13th, they finalized their agreement to purchase the channel from Bell. It's now up to the CRTC.

- This morning they appointed Marni Shulman as the head of the channel. She previously worked for Shomi, a now defunct Canada-only streaming service that wasn't exactly a top choice for anime fans.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Cure Dragon 255 » Mon Sep 25, 2017 6:33 pm

I hope the fact that they were involved with anime will at least let SOME ANIME air on WOW. I really do.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Robo4900 » Mon Sep 25, 2017 10:31 pm

Just remember guys; e-mail these guys and tell them what you think. Projecting your thoughts online here is useful for discussing things with fellow Dragon Ball fans, but these guys quite possibly won't even consider Ocean Kai, or any anime at all, if we don't ask for it.

So, write e-mails!!
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Tue Sep 26, 2017 5:29 am

Robo4900 wrote:Just remember guys; e-mail these guys and tell them what you think. Projecting your thoughts online here is useful for discussing things with fellow Dragon Ball fans, but these guys quite possibly won't even consider Ocean Kai, or any anime at all, if we don't ask for it.

So, write e-mails!!
I agree, obviously there's no guarantee but it can't hurt to write emails so they know the interest is there. Since they mightn't read them all I'd say title them 'Dragon Ball Z Kai Canadian Dub', 'Canadian produced version of Dragon Balk Z Kai', 'Dragon Ball Z Kai Ocean dub' or any other variation thereof. If they get a good few in their inbox they may not be able to read them all but at least they will know there's a lot of interest.

Also worth noting, Michael Hirsh is on Facebook so, likewise no guarantees, but it might be worth messaging him as well to enquire about and suggest this dub.
Last edited by Dragon Ball Ireland on Tue Sep 26, 2017 7:18 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Tue Sep 26, 2017 5:45 am

Can someone give me the e-mail address?
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Tue Sep 26, 2017 7:30 am

I also just messaged Lee Tockar again on Facebook to ask if he can confirm that he has definitely not been told anything from the higher ups about this dub being cancelled, so fingers crossed.
8000 Saiyan wrote:Can someone give me the e-mail address?
On their website pr@wowunlimited.co​ is the address. The channel will probably have one specific to it when launched, but this email should be the one for Wow in general.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by NitroEX » Tue Sep 26, 2017 9:25 am

Jerome Mazandarani of Manga UK has mentioned on Twitter earlier this month that he was waiting to talk to Toei and Funimation regarding a Rock The Dragon UK release, I suppose there's always a small chance he could be persuaded to ask Toei for a release of this dub too. I'm personally very doubtful any good will actually come of it as Manga UK don't seem the type of company to take that kind of initiative but I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask him or at least make your voice heard in case he hasn't met with them yet.

https://twitter.com/AskJeromeMaz/status ... 6155281408

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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Tue Sep 26, 2017 12:41 pm

I'm waiting to see how well a UK version of Rock the Dragon sells, but if it does well I don't think it would hurt to ask Manga if they can get Ocean Kai out there.

The Kai sets they put out didn't do as well as they hoped (Jerome said Blu-Ray sold ok, but DVD sold terribly) but unlike this dub it was a copy and paste of a widely available Funimation release (that wasn't region locked) so if we let them know how much we, the voice actors, and many people in English-speaking countries (including the US) who first saw the first 2 seasons of DBZ with the Ocean cast would like to see this dub we may be able to persuade them.

It would be a costly endeavour, which will require them to acquire more footage from Funi (ideally the edited Nicktoons cut as that would most likely sync with this dub) as well as the audio from the company that commissioned this dub and get TOEI's approval, but it would be a Dragon Ball release they can be proud of because no one else has done it.

Unlikely granted, but they are about to put out the first ever Blu-Ray release of the original Pokemon series so time will tell.

For now I'd say if they release Rock the Dragon (which I am cautiously optimistic for now) we support it to give them more incentive for releasing Dragon Ball content with that cast (or some of it, McNeil, Drummond, Henderson, etc).
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by simtek34 » Tue Sep 26, 2017 6:12 pm

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote:I'm waiting to see how well a UK version of Rock the Dragon sells, but if it does well I don't think it would hurt to ask Manga if they can get Ocean Kai out there.

The Kai sets they put out didn't do as well as they hoped (Jerome said Blu-Ray sold ok, but DVD sold terribly) but unlike this dub it was a copy and paste of a widely available Funimation release (that wasn't region locked) so if we let them know how much we, the voice actors, and many people in English-speaking countries (including the US) who first saw the first 2 seasons of DBZ with the Ocean cast would like to see this dub we may be able to persuade them.

It would be a costly endeavour, which will require them to acquire more footage from Funi (ideally the edited Nicktoons cut as that would most likely sync with this dub) as well as the audio from the company that commissioned this dub and get TOEI's approval, but it would be a Dragon Ball release they can be proud of because no one else has done it.

Unlikely granted, but they are about to put out the first ever Blu-Ray release of the original Pokemon series so time will tell.

For now I'd say if they release Rock the Dragon (which I am cautiously optimistic for now) we support it to give them more incentive for releasing Dragon Ball content with that cast (or some of it, McNeil, Drummond, Henderson, etc).
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Scsigs » Tue Sep 26, 2017 9:30 pm

simtek34 wrote:
Dragon Ball Ireland wrote:Unlikely granted, but they are about to put out the first ever Blu-Ray release of the original Pokemon series so time will tell.
A little Off-Topic, but there did you find this out? A Quick Google search yielded crap for me.
It has a listing on Barnes & Noble & Herotaku has an article about it.
http://herotaku.com/pokemon-indigo-leag ... -announced
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by 90sDBZ » Wed Sep 27, 2017 9:07 am

Regarding Manga UK, they still haven't even confirmed The Final Chapters for release yet despite many people asking for it, so I think it's very unlikely they'd even consider Ocean Kai until they've finished releasing Funimation/Japanese Kai. Aside from that people are still wanting Super and the old movies/specials over here too, so I can't imagine Ocean Kai being their biggest priority at the moment.

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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Wed Sep 27, 2017 10:55 pm

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote:I still like the idea of (and I'm hoping this will be the case) of a Canadian broadcaster airing Funimation's dub of Super alongside Ocean Kai.

If the new WOW network is willing to invest in some anime programming Dragon Ball would be an ideal headliner, especially since it was once popular in Canada with different dubs airing and a separate dub airing on TV than what was on the home releases.

At the end of the day Kai will be the perfect supplement to newer fans who want to keep up with the new material but also need some background on the characters and story, and Funi Kai has been available on Blu-Ray for years in Canadian stores so if a broadcaster is interested in the brand why not air a different dub on TV when it didn't have a significant effect on the show's popularity in the past?

And hey, if it doesn't work out (which I doubt it won't) at least we will have some episodes of this dub out to watch and enjoy.
It's not really necessary for Funimation's Super dub to air alongside Ocean Kai. They could just air the latter dub.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by DBSinUK=£££££ » Thu Sep 28, 2017 4:14 pm

90sDBZ wrote:Aside from that people are still wanting Super and the old movies/specials over here too, so I can't imagine Ocean Kai being their biggest priority at the moment.

Manga UK just confirmed Super and the DBZ films/specials!

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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Thu Sep 28, 2017 5:05 pm

DBSinUK=£££££ wrote:
90sDBZ wrote:Aside from that people are still wanting Super and the old movies/specials over here too, so I can't imagine Ocean Kai being their biggest priority at the moment.

Manga UK just confirmed Super and the DBZ films/specials!
They did indeed.

I'm really hoping if these releases do well (which they probably will due to demand) we will hear more about this UK edition of Rock the Dragon. If that does well and Manga starts doing more original releases (like the upcoming Pokemon Blu-Ray) I'd like to at least see a renewed interest in Ocean dubbed Dragon Ball on home video.

May still be an unrealistic dream, but who knows, maybe someone could put Manga and Mediawan in a room together to discuss what will ever happen with those old dusty Canadian dub masters (assuming they still exist).
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Robo4900 » Fri Sep 29, 2017 6:47 pm

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote:(assuming they still exist)
There's no way they'd throw them out.

But yeah, if an agreement can be reached to get the Canadian dubs released on home video, I'd be all for it. Screw all the Funimation releases, I'd buy the Canadian dubs and that'd be my primary way of watching Dragon Ball.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by NitroEX » Fri Sep 29, 2017 9:49 pm

If no one's bothering to demand the Canadian dubs then I don't see Manga UK releasing them. Enough people demanded the movies and now they're getting those although the problem is Manga lacks attention to detail and isn't bothered about dubs that aren't offered to them by Funi or Madman. I severely doubt Manga's first three film releases will contain anything other than Funi or Japanese audio despite the uncut Pioneer/Ocean dubs being a thing, they've likely omitted them due to negligence. The only other possibility is if they're planning on saving that audio for a future UK RTD release but even that is doubtful considering the U.S. RTD only contained edited versions of those films. Sad to say but I think after this BD release the book will officially be closed on those uncut Pioneer dubs having any sort of release in the UK, that is unless significant alterations/additions are made to a future RTD set, which won't happen unless people make their voices heard.

As for the Westwood dub, again, you need to demand it rather than having faith in Manga because they simply don't give a damn, Jerome has already (rather callously) said "No" to the idea of Ocean dub releases before and if the existence of the RTD hadn't been mentioned to him (and if Funi weren't the owners of it) he wouldn't have even considered releasing that. The Westwood dubs will not be given to them in whatever deal they have with Toei and Funimation either, they would need to presumably make separate negotiations with AB Groupe or Mediawan in order to get those episodes and then create new box sets for them. Even if the RTD sells well that's no guarantee that they will actually do any of this, especially if no one demands it.

I think it could end up being a similar situation for the Ocean Kai dub, to be honest, but I could also see Toei just as easily shooting that down or Manga could just preemptively rule against it for fear that it might rub Funimation the wrong way.

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