FUNimation Announces "Kai" License ("DBZ Kai")

[penguintruth]

I honestly like her work as Freeza and I think that if she was given a proper script she'd be an excellent Freeza. Honesty I can't think of any English voice actor that could really replace her.

Anyone could. Chris Sabat could. I could.

If awful was a person, it would describe awful things as "Linda Young's Freeza".

"Jeez, I have a feeling the last season of Lost is going to be Linda Young's Freeza."

[disturbed001]

Can we start some petition or e-mail campaign or something. I'm fairly certain that 99% of Dragon Ball fans absolutely hate Linda Young's Freeza.

...Wow. I almost feel bad for her. She could be the nicest person in the world and yet she gets ripped apart by a bunch of random people on a forum. That can't be good for her self esteem, it's actually sad to think about.

I honestly like her work as Freeza and I think that if she was given a proper script she'd be an excellent Freeza. Honesty I can't think of any English voice actor that could really replace her.

I personally love her Freeza take. I think it fits well. Don't get me wrong, I love the Japanese voice actor, but I think Linda is just as good, just in a different way. Oh well...

[.:PoetikaL:.]

Well, I either saw this coming, or I'm too dumbfounded to think it... I'm glad we're getting the release over here, and hopefully in the Blu-Ray format. YAY!!! ANOTHER THING KEEPING ME AWAY FROM BUYING DRAGONBALL...

Joking aside, here's hoping to a more faithful dub, and maybe... JUST MAYBE some new VA's to take over some parts. -crosses fingers for Freeza-

[DemonRin]

Linda Young is a great actress when she's allowed to do roles she fits. Her Genkai is nothing short of perfect.
Just, a woman who excels at Little Old Lady voices has no place playing a male intergalactic tyrant.

The whole cast has shown they have tons of talent. Just look at the Fullmetal Alchemist and FUNimation One Piece Dubs.

The problem is, they started those dubs AFTER they had a voice actor pool to really pull from, so you don't have Chris Sabat playing every other character, and you have voice selections that fit the characters.
Like Chris Sabat's Zoro, I think it fits phenomenally well.

I want to see them recast the show with their current VA Pool, they need to take into account that the Japanese have already recast the show, so if they do it too it's fine.

[Taku128]

Huh. In the chat last night I mentioned that I figured Toei wouldn't be licensing Kai to FUNimation for a looooong time because of how easy it would be to reverse import Blu-rays. Guess I was wrong. I hope they fix name changes in the new dub, like that character with three eyes whose dub name I can't write anymore because EX fixed the filter work around so I had to write this really long run-on statement instead, so they'll stop popping up in Dragon Ball video games. Aside from that I couldn't care less about the new dub. Too little too late as far as I'm concerned.

[penguintruth]

The whole cast has shown they have tons of talent. Just look at the Fullmetal Alchemist and FUNimation One Piece Dubs.

I never really liked the FMA dub, either (though obviously it's better than DBZ's). Too inconsistent, and they screwed a little with the script there, too.

I'm still waiting for Sean Schemmel to show me he has "tons of talent".

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

Linda Young is a great actress when she's allowed to do roles she fits. Her Genkai is nothing short of perfect.
Just, a woman who excels at Little Old Lady voices has no place playing a male intergalactic tyrant.

The whole cast has shown they have tons of talent. Just look at the Fullmetal Alchemist and FUNimation One Piece Dubs.

The problem is, they started those dubs AFTER they had a voice actor pool to really pull from, so you don't have Chris Sabat playing every other character, and you have voice selections that fit the characters.
Like Chris Sabat's Zoro, I think it fits phenomenally well.

I want to see them recast the show with their current VA Pool, they need to take into account that the Japanese have already recast the show, so if they do it too it's fine.

See I don't see the need for a full recast because like you said they have really grown into talented actors. As far as recasting could go for me, I'd like to see some of Chris' roles passed to someone else so he can focus on just Vegeta and Piccolo but that would be the extent of my recasting wants. I think Linda Yong could become a better Freeza if given the proper script and direction. Her performance in Burst Limit was Great(hell everyone's was) so if she could pull off another performance like that I'd be satisfied with Kai's re-dubbing.

[DemonRin]

I don't remember ANY Major script discrepancies in FMA... it all seemed pretty much just right... I don't know what you're talking about... And Inconsistent?...

[Mountain]

The whole cast has shown they have tons of talent. Just look at the Fullmetal Alchemist and FUNimation One Piece Dubs.

I never really liked the FMA dub, either (though obviously it's better than DBZ's). Too inconsistent, and they screwed a little with the script there, too.

I'm still waiting for Sean Schemmel to show me he has "tons of talent".

Though I'd rather see a complete recast, I'm happy as long as he doesn't voice Kaio-sama again. I really despise that voice. I hope Sabat has toned down his Vegeta. I'd love to see a new kid Gohan. Also, in the later episodes, I hope they change fat Buu's voice. Talk about a headache!

[Hujio]

I do find it funny how people are freaking out about the Z.
It's called Brand Awareness people.

Gotta agree with Soul. "Z" carries a lot of weight here in the United States. It's the same reason VIZ changed the name of the manga.

I must say, I don't think anyone is exactly "freaking out" about the "Z". Most of us that don't like it, just don't like it. Period. Trust me, I've been around the block a couple times and I know exactly why they changed the name. But just because I know why they did it doesn't mean I have to like it, or approve of it. If someone not liking it is considered "freaking out", then so be it. I'm freaking out!

[B]

Wow, what the fuck? News.

Z Kai. It sounds fucking stupid. Am I the only one who feels like an idiot saying "Dragon Ball Z Kai" out loud? Way to go, North American fanbase. This is your fault.

The pessimist inside me is a tad stronger than the Dragon Ball fan, so I'm not seeing any significant recasting, unfortunately. As for scripting, well, why wouldn't they just translate it? I'll be utterly disappointed if we get NEW lame jokes.

No one can replace my cat who loves food.

Oh, and FMA's dub is like a Viz manga release. Maybe that will put it into perspective for some.

[Greenman]

I honestly like her work as Freeza and I think that if she was given a proper script she'd be an excellent Freeza. Honesty I can't think of any English voice actor that could really replace her.

Anyone could. Chris Sabat could. I could.

If awful was a person, it would describe awful things as "Linda Young's Freeza".

"Jeez, I have a feeling the last season of Lost is going to be Linda Young's Freeza."

That's just horrible. But correct. And a bit funny.

[penguintruth]

I don't remember ANY Major script discrepancies in FMA... it all seemed pretty much just right... I don't know what you're talking about... And Inconsistent?...

Funimation adding their little "quips" like Greed calling the Elric brothers "the Smellric brothers" or Sloth saying, "Come give your mother a hug, my Prince of Cool" made me wince.

I was less than impressed with a few peformances and casting in the FMA dub. I'm not saying it's an awful dub, there were some good performances too, but I was disappointed with it overall, especially considering how strong the Japanese cast was.

But that's another conversation.

[DemonRin]

Ok fine then, One Piece. One Piece is the Model. I want the DBK Dub to be like their job on One Piece.

[penguintruth]

Well, look, even if the DB Kai dub is as good as FMA's, I'll be fine with it. It would still be a huge improvement.

The question is if you can get high quality performances out of the current cast.

[Tsukento]

I think it sounds odd to say Dragon Ball Z Kai because we're so used to saying just Dragon Ball Kai or DBK. It sounds as weird as when people refer to Dragon Ball GT as "Dragon Ball Z GT."

But eventually we get passed it.

Honestly, I only want recasting for a majority of Mr. Sabat's roles and Linda Young. We really don't need Mr. Sabat voicing almost all of Freeza's henchmen, Ginyu Special Corps. included. As for Freeza, well, I already explained that one.


As for FMA, a few small quips aside, their dub was done VERY well. I saw the series when it first aired, watched the entire dub broadcast airing and even watched the series a third time on DVD. FUNi's dub is downright entertaining and nearly spot-on.

[penguintruth]

I'd get rid of Schemmel, Young, a lot of Sabat's roles (especially Piccolo), Vollmer, and a lot of others. And get a completely new director.

(I realize I'm probably in the minority about the FMA dub, it was a poor example. But it really just never made it for me.)

[Budogenkai]

Well, if their just going to use the same cast then i'll probably just stick with the Dragon Boxes.

Personally, it's a little to late to use the same cast and just stay more faithful to the script. I would personally love a new voice actor for Freeza, Son Goku, Piccolo, and Master Roshi.

[Tsukento]

It's funny. Schemmel's Goku in Dragon Ball was actually nearly identical to how he should have been. However, DBZ's Goku has him trying to be an idiot superhero with a sense of justice.

If he can stick to DB Goku through Kai, it might actually not be so bad. As long as he also tones down on the excessive grunting as well. Yeesh.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

Wow, what the fuck? News.

Z Kai. It sounds fucking stupid. Am I the only one who feels like an idiot saying "Dragon Ball Z Kai" out loud? Way to go, North American fanbase. This is your fault.

The pessimist inside me is a tad stronger than the Dragon Ball fan, so I'm not seeing any significant recasting, unfortunately. As for scripting, well, why wouldn't they just translate it? I'll be utterly disappointed if we get NEW lame jokes.

No one can replace my cat who loves food.

Oh, and FMA's dub is like a Viz manga release. Maybe that will put it into perspective for some.

You don't have to call it Dragonball Z Kai. Though that is the name, I still call it Kai or Dragonball Kai. Like mentioned before it's just a branding stunt to avoid confusion or misinformation. The name is fitting as the series only covers Z anyway but all this has been said before and I sound like a broken record. I really don't think Funimation is doing any recasting, if they were they would have done it by now(considering the massive amount of video games that have appeared between 2002 and the present). As for a script, I'd imagine Funimation staying more loyal to the original. It's been over 10 years since Dragonball had it's first debut in America, and the way Funimation handles anime these day's is way different from how they did in the past so I have no doubt that Funimation will treat this series right.