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 Nia » Tue May 22, 2018 2:59 am

Robo4900 wrote:
Nia wrote:From what I've heard of him?
So you've sampled some of his work on Ocean Kai, then? ;)
Ha, I wish.
No, it was just a few clips taken from a few other performances. I'm not super familiar with his work, mind you. I just meant that based on what I heard, he'll probably at least be pretty solid, even if it's unlikely he'll be Ayres good.

Would love even a tiny taste of Ocean Kai, tho'. :P

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

Post by TheBlackPaladin » Tue May 22, 2018 10:57 am

MistaL wrote:And it doesn't make much sense that a relatively small California-based voice actor would have much -- if any -- knowledge of an unaired Canadian dub.
Eh, that in and of itself is not enough to disqualify somebody as uninformed. I know it might seem that way, but here's the thing: the voice-over community, even on an international level, is actually a relatively small and tight-knit bunch (especially in comparison to the on-camera acting community, which is immeasurably enormous). That same principle applies to the other business facets of the acting industry--there are far fewer VO talent agencies compared to on-camera talent agencies, far fewer VO casting directors compared to on-camera casting directors, and so on and so forth. That's not to say there's only like one or two of them, but again, compared to the on-camera community, there's far, far less of them. So, in the VO community, word and gossip gets around.

The reason I know this is because I'm a California-based voice actor myself. I originally wrote "small California-based voice actor," but decided against that because to say that I am "small" would actually be an understatement. I am, by my own admission, a nobody in terms of public recognition, as my work consists mostly of commercials, promos, and non-broadcast narration. It's true that I have done a teeny bit of dubbing, but nothing significant by any means. Don't get me wrong, it was an absolute blast, but nobody would know my name or remember the small, one-episode characters that I played.

In spite of being a nobody, though, that hasn't stopped me from learning about a lot of things in the voice acting world before the secrets were let out. How did I learn? Sometimes it was through auditioning for certain things, sometimes it was through taking casting director workshops with people who cast, and sometimes it simply through what friends (and I'm friends with a lot of voice actors) told me. Even though I'm a nobody, here's just a small sample of what I was able to learn before it became public knowledge:

-The fact that a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series was coming.
-The fact that a Bakugan revival was coming (and I even know which Canadian talent agencies are getting the auditions).
-The character description sheets that Bang-Zoom provided for auditioning actors for their dub of Dragon Ball Super.
-That McDonald's was starting an "all-day" breakfast policy (because I auditioned for the commercials, along with many other voice actors).
-That Team Four Star was going to be dubbing the characters in Mr. Satan's "re-enactment video" of the Cell fight in FUNimation's dub of the Buu arc in Dragon Ball Kai. That one was especially tough, as I had to keep that a secret for years!

I must be clear, I don't write this as a way to make myself seem like some know-it-all, but rather, I write this to show that even a nobody like me, just by virtue of being in Los Angeles and knowing the right by people, is capable of learning about all this behind-the-scenes stuff. So, being a small, California-based voice actor wouldn't necessarily disqualify someone as being not being knowledgeable. This is a small business, so word just gets around.
A "rather haggard" translation of a line from Future Gohan in DBZ, provided to FUNimation by Toei:
"To think of fighting that is this fun...so, it was pleasant fight, as many as, therefore is a feeling which is good the fight where."

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

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Tue May 22, 2018 1:46 pm

MistaL wrote:I just wanna say that everyone should be taking what Niosi (Kirbopher) has said in the past with a grain of salt. From people I know who have worked with or interacted with him, he likes to act like he knows more than he actually does about pretty much everything. And it doesn't make much sense that a relatively small California-based voice actor would have much -- if any -- knowledge of an unaired Canadian dub. If you ask me he's just full of shit as usual.
I think this is important we keep Kirbopher's words in context.
Kirbopher wrote:Here's what else I've got to share, guys.

The fact is, NOBODY, that includes any of you guys, me, or any of the people involved with this production that either have spoken publicly or privately about it, know 100% for certain how or why these things happen. At most, we have educated guesses. I've weighed in once in a while on this thread over the years sharing what I've learned, combined with my knowledge of the industry. It is still 'technically' theoretically, but I'm inclined to believe my most recent source.

As an example, another show that a friend of mine worked on was for an entire season's worth of episodes; at least 26. They recorded the entire show's dub as the main character. The studio that dubbed it finished the whole season for whoever the client was that commissioned it, and then that client's next step was to try and get it on TV, alongside a toyline and probably other merchandise (a Beyblade/Cardfight-type of show, basically). This 26 episode season was recorded at least 2 full years ago; the finished mixes are sitting on a harddrive probably belonging to the client, who, in the end, never got a broadcasting deal for it. This is why other shows like this, such as Powerpuff Girls Z, Marvel Disk Wars and Inazuma Eleven, get weird random dubs from various unexpected places (depending) and then air in like an English-speaking territory out of nowhere and it never sees the light of day in North America. This other show my friend worked on, met the fate of just never seeing the light of day ANYWHERE. I think I (or someone else) even pointed out way back when Trevor Devall was still doing his podcast, that Inuyasha: The Final Act was recorded YEARS before it eventually, AGES later, aired on Neon Alley, THEN came out on DVD, and THEN finally aired on [as]. Basically, this type of stuff happens a lot more than you might expect, yes, even though a lot of money can be spend on an entire production like that.

The other thing is, and it aggravates me that the internet as a whole still doesn't seem to understand this: voice actors are the LAST people on the food chain when it comes to knowing the details of this stuff. It is often as black-and-white as, they come in, they do their lines, they go home. Even the ones who go the extra mile to ask about what's going on with it are never going to get the full story, because it's technically 'none of their business' to know that stuff in the first place. They do the work they're paid for, and that's it. That said, based on my own personal research and the people I've talked to about it, it sounds like after all this time, the final step of actually AIRING the show on TV anywhere in Canada never went through. So my THEORY, is that despite having the entire series ready to go, that since FUNimation's dub already aired in a lot of other non-US English-speaking territories already (Canada not included), whatever company that owns the broadcasting rights to it in Canada probably couldn't work out a deal with a network to air the show (which is probably far more complicated than anyone on this forum, myself included, can even grasp) and thus, it has no place to air, thus, it's not getting any sort of release.

Now, ALL of that said, I would absolutely 100% LOVE to be wrong. If the other actors who've talked about it "definitely coming out" have some other information they either can't or won't share, out of professionalism, then I seriously hope it comes to pass in the end. I really do want to see it. But call me a pessimist, I'm inclined to agree with the last couple folks I talked to, who seemed pretty sure it's staying in a vault never to be aired anywhere, and certainly not to be given a physical release.
We can infer from these comments that it's not something he's been told definitively or otherwise, it is a theory based on people he's spoken to who seemed convinced this dub will never see the light of day. Until we hear anything official (not an educated guess, but actual word from the powers that be) we don't know for certain this dub will not be released. None of us know what happened behind the scenes. The amount of time this dub has been missing in action suggests something did happen sure, but we don't know the details and how that could affect the dub's chance of ever being seen at all.

Granted there's no way the producers of an unannounced dub would announce it being permanently archived, but if we want to talk in scientific terms that would be the only way to determine beyond a shadow of a doubt nothing will ever happen. Unless that happens the theory about the Ocean dub of Kai being locked away in a vault, regardless of plausability is just that, a theory.

Also, while we can probably be sure the people in question Kirbopher referred to have their reasons to remain anonymous I doubt they would have any inside information about the state of distribution plans or lack thereof. We all know voice actors are never given that kind of information, so if he was speaking to fellow voice actors and word gets around, their guess is as good as ours. If he spoke to anyone else it would be a great opportunity to get answers to other unresolved mysteries.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by sangofe » Thu May 24, 2018 3:12 am

When can we expect to hear anything from Marnie again?

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

Post by Robo4900 » Thu May 24, 2018 5:09 am

sangofe wrote:When can we expect to hear anything from Marnie again?
I would guess any time from the 31st of May onwards.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by TheBlackPaladin » Thu May 24, 2018 3:56 pm

Robo4900 wrote:
sangofe wrote:When can we expect to hear anything from Marnie again?
I would guess any time from the 31st of May onwards.
Well, "expect" may be too strong a word. It's not like there's a rule saying that she has to give public updates. If anything, the process of licensing a show for dubbing and/or broadcast often involves very high levels of secrecy, so there's probably rules saying that she can't give public updates. Having said that, I agree that May 31st and onward is the appropriate time for us to start keeping an eye out for a possible update. I'm just saying, though, the keyword there is "possible." We may never get another update again.
A "rather haggard" translation of a line from Future Gohan in DBZ, provided to FUNimation by Toei:
"To think of fighting that is this fun...so, it was pleasant fight, as many as, therefore is a feeling which is good the fight where."

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

Post by MistaL » Fri May 25, 2018 9:42 pm

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote:
MistaL wrote:I just wanna say that everyone should be taking what Niosi (Kirbopher) has said in the past with a grain of salt. From people I know who have worked with or interacted with him, he likes to act like he knows more than he actually does about pretty much everything. And it doesn't make much sense that a relatively small California-based voice actor would have much -- if any -- knowledge of an unaired Canadian dub. If you ask me he's just full of shit as usual.
I think this is important we keep Kirbopher's words in context.
Ah, okay. I had only seen portions of what Kirbopher has said through others quoting it, and a lot of people seemed to take it as undeniable fact, which gave the impression to me that that was how he presented it. I take back what I said then.

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

Post by mikezilla2 » Sun May 27, 2018 8:51 am

isn't this Thing Dead ?

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

Post by SX10 » Sun May 27, 2018 9:25 am

mikezilla2 wrote:isn't this Thing Dead ?
Nope.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by TheBlackPaladin » Sun May 27, 2018 12:49 pm

SX10 wrote:
mikezilla2 wrote:isn't this Thing Dead ?
Nope.
I think the fairest answer is that it's likely dead, but not quite. It's in a coma, on life-support. Most of the well-wishers have quietly accepted that we won't hear more from it, but there remain a few vigilant, ever-hopeful Kanzenshuu family members who still visit the thread on a daily basis in the hopes that there might be some sort of sign of life, refusing to give up until all hope is lost.
A "rather haggard" translation of a line from Future Gohan in DBZ, provided to FUNimation by Toei:
"To think of fighting that is this fun...so, it was pleasant fight, as many as, therefore is a feeling which is good the fight where."

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

Post by WittyUsername » Mon May 28, 2018 5:07 pm

TheBlackPaladin wrote:
SX10 wrote:
mikezilla2 wrote:isn't this Thing Dead ?
Nope.
I think the fairest answer is that it's likely dead, but not quite. It's in a coma, on life-support. Most of the well-wishers have quietly accepted that we won't hear more from it, but there remain a few vigilant, ever-hopeful Kanzenshuu family members who still visit the thread on a daily basis in the hopes that there might be some sort of sign of life, refusing to give up until all hope is lost.
I’m going to be honest, while I’m not a huge fan of the Ocean voice cast, it’s pretty disappointing that this dub apparently won’t ever see the light of day. I was genuinely interested in seeing how things would turn out, especially in regards to Lee Tockar’s Freeza.

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

Post by Robo4900 » Tue May 29, 2018 1:35 pm

WittyUsername wrote:
TheBlackPaladin wrote:
SX10 wrote:
Nope.
I think the fairest answer is that it's likely dead, but not quite. It's in a coma, on life-support. Most of the well-wishers have quietly accepted that we won't hear more from it, but there remain a few vigilant, ever-hopeful Kanzenshuu family members who still visit the thread on a daily basis in the hopes that there might be some sort of sign of life, refusing to give up until all hope is lost.
I’m going to be honest, while I’m not a huge fan of the Ocean voice cast, it’s pretty disappointing that this dub apparently won’t ever see the light of day. I was genuinely interested in seeing how things would turn out, especially in regards to Lee Tockar’s Freeza.
I would argue BlackPaladin is being pessimistic. The head of a channel that's about to open in Canada has confirmed she'll be attempting to acquire it, she's said she's had the phone calls and such to get things moving on it, and has kept quiet since then, despite saying she'd keep us posted. Given the way TV deals work, it's pretty fair to assume the deal is happening, but she can't talk about it for now.

So... "Likely dead" takes thinks a bit far. It's decidedly uncertain, though I'd go a bit further and say uncertain but optimistic.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Super Sayian Prime » Wed May 30, 2018 3:24 pm

Matthew Erickson (Trunks in Blue Water GT) confirmed he's not involved with this dub.
"I like the money it brings in, but Dragon Ball Heroes is the worst. That's actually the real reason I decided to start working on new material. I was afraid Bandai would make something irredeemably stupid like Super Saiyan 4 Broly." - Akira Toriyama, made up interview, 2013.

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

Post by TheBlackPaladin » Wed May 30, 2018 9:54 pm

Robo4900 wrote:
WittyUsername wrote:
TheBlackPaladin wrote:
I think the fairest answer is that it's likely dead, but not quite. It's in a coma, on life-support. Most of the well-wishers have quietly accepted that we won't hear more from it, but there remain a few vigilant, ever-hopeful Kanzenshuu family members who still visit the thread on a daily basis in the hopes that there might be some sort of sign of life, refusing to give up until all hope is lost.
I’m going to be honest, while I’m not a huge fan of the Ocean voice cast, it’s pretty disappointing that this dub apparently won’t ever see the light of day. I was genuinely interested in seeing how things would turn out, especially in regards to Lee Tockar’s Freeza.
I would argue BlackPaladin is being pessimistic. The head of a channel that's about to open in Canada has confirmed she'll be attempting to acquire it, she's said she's had the phone calls and such to get things moving on it, and has kept quiet since then, despite saying she'd keep us posted. Given the way TV deals work, it's pretty fair to assume the deal is happening, but she can't talk about it for now.

So... "Likely dead" takes thinks a bit far. It's decidedly uncertain, though I'd go a bit further and say uncertain but optimistic.
Well, I wish I shared your optimism. Believe me, I want to be wrong here, and would be ecstatic to learn that I was wrong. Thing is, I've been both a close and distant witness to how unpredictable show biz is, in both good and bad ways. So I don't know if it's pessimism, a familiarity with how things can go wrong in show biz, or--most likely--a combination of both. Nevertheless, there's a long, long history of shows/movies/games/plays/casting decisions that were thisclose to happening, only for everything to fall apart at the last second.

So, one of the things I have since learned about show biz is...until something is happening, it isn't happening. As it applies to the Ocean dub of Kai, I'm waiting to celebrate until the show actually airs. Not even a trailer would be enough to get me to celebrate (though it would make me giddy with excitement, if we're gonna be totally honest :lol: ). For that matter, I wouldn't even put it beyond the realm of possibility that the Ocean dub of Kai, even if it airs, could stop airing before all of the episodes are seen.

Here's to hoping that I am completely and utterly wrong!
A "rather haggard" translation of a line from Future Gohan in DBZ, provided to FUNimation by Toei:
"To think of fighting that is this fun...so, it was pleasant fight, as many as, therefore is a feeling which is good the fight where."

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

Post by Robo4900 » Thu May 31, 2018 1:03 pm

TheBlackPaladin wrote:Well, I wish I shared your optimism. Believe me, I want to be wrong here, and would be ecstatic to learn that I was wrong. Thing is, I've been both a close and distant witness to how unpredictable show biz is, in both good and bad ways. So I don't know if it's pessimism, a familiarity with how things can go wrong in show biz, or--most likely--a combination of both. Nevertheless, there's a long, long history of shows/movies/games/plays/casting decisions that were thisclose to happening, only for everything to fall apart at the last second.

So, one of the things I have since learned about show biz is...until something is happening, it isn't happening. As it applies to the Ocean dub of Kai, I'm waiting to celebrate until the show actually airs. Not even a trailer would be enough to get me to celebrate (though it would make me giddy with excitement, if we're gonna be totally honest :lol: ). For that matter, I wouldn't even put it beyond the realm of possibility that the Ocean dub of Kai, even if it airs, could stop airing before all of the episodes are seen.

Here's to hoping that I am completely and utterly wrong!
Fair, but right now, we're on track for it to be happening. So, we might aswell go along with that.

In the interest of that, it's now the 31st of May. I wonder what came of the Wow Unlimited hearing.
Super Saiyan Prime wrote:Matthew Erickson (Trunks in Blue Water GT) confirmed he's not involved with this dub.
Interesting.
So, I suppose we've either got Alistair Abell, or a new guy.

Also worth noting: I recently saw a panel on YouTube from 2010 where Scott McNeil mentioned doing Kai. Just thought it was quite interesting that McNeil was talking about it that early.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Super Sayian Prime » Thu May 31, 2018 3:35 pm

The one constant between all countries is the slow-moving nature of government. The hearing should've taken place this morning, but a decision seems like it'll take some time.
"I like the money it brings in, but Dragon Ball Heroes is the worst. That's actually the real reason I decided to start working on new material. I was afraid Bandai would make something irredeemably stupid like Super Saiyan 4 Broly." - Akira Toriyama, made up interview, 2013.

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

Post by SX10 » Thu May 31, 2018 5:34 pm

If the decision has been made today it may take time to publish it, I don't imagine those involved would think the general public would care enough to hear about it.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Wed Jun 13, 2018 5:34 pm

Boy, it sure is taking a while to get more news.
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.

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

Post by Robo4900 » Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:57 pm

8000 Saiyan wrote:Boy, it sure is taking a while to get more news.
That's showbiz for you.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Super Sayian Prime » Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:33 pm

8000 Saiyan wrote:Boy, it sure is taking a while to get more news.
This thread is 8 years old. What's a couple of more months?
"I like the money it brings in, but Dragon Ball Heroes is the worst. That's actually the real reason I decided to start working on new material. I was afraid Bandai would make something irredeemably stupid like Super Saiyan 4 Broly." - Akira Toriyama, made up interview, 2013.

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