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 8000 Saiyan » Wed Mar 08, 2017 4:13 pm

90sDBZ wrote:
Robo4900 wrote:That's not what I was referring to. Ocean never dubbed 54-107, so obviously the Funi dub was used for that, but there are people throwing around the idea that other episodes aired from the Funimation dub. I was talking about that.
And yeah, the video games are there, but the TV show would be what people are more familiar with. Besides, casual fans wouldn't have necessarily bought a lot of the video games.

First off, Ocean not dubbing 54-107 is fairly common knowledge these days. Either way though, that's an odd thing to point out...
Second, "Completely separate production"? What are you even talking about? The only real difference is the people supplying the money, the ADR directors, and I guess the replacement score(Since Saban weren't involved anymore, Shuki Levy couldn't do it). The Saban era was produced by Funimation and Saban, but the only real effect they had on it was Funimation's ADR directors, and Saban's in-house composers. The Westwood era was produced by AB Groupe and Westwood media, with the only real effect being a lower budget than Saban provided, and a different replacement score. The whole point of bringing Ocean back in the first place was that they'd been voicing it before. Saying it's a "Completely separate production" is pretty silly.
I only pointed out Ocean not dubbing episodes 54-107 because you said that the Ocean dub was always used during re-runs without specifying any particular episodes. I guess I read your comment wrong, but I got the impression you were saying that the Ocean dub was used for literally the entire series during re-runs. I think you're actually thinking of the time CNX aired the Funi dub of the Fusion saga for its first few months on the air before switching back to the Ocean dub for the later re-runs.

And the reason I mentioned the Westwood dub being a separate production is because it's a common misconception among fans to simply refer to the "Ocean dub" as if it were one whole consistent production, while overlooking things like the major drop in quality, drastically different score and tone, and recastings. But you seem to be aware of that anyway so yeah, no big deal.
NitroEX wrote:
Robo4900 wrote: Huh. I'd always heard it failed.
It did have some success but given that they've now completely severed ties with the Dragon Ball IP and have seemingly made no moves to acquire TFC or Super, it would suggest that Kai wasn't a profitable investment for them after all. Whatever price Toei was charging for the license probably wasn't worth it to them anymore and after their channel saw no major growth with Kai they probably decided to pull out once the contract expired. I don't think Kai was the problem though, Kix is a small channel compared to Cartoon Network and Disney so their viewership is probably much smaller to begin with. If Kai had aired on a bigger channel it probably would've done better, problem is, Turner don't seem to want anything to do with anime anymore when it comes to the UK which is weird considering their recent push for Toonami in the US, Asia and France. Maybe the ratings on Kix were enough to convince them that it wasn't worth the investment.
Ultimately we can only speculate whether or not it was an actual financial success for Kix. However it might also be down to Kix just wanting an overhaul. Around the time they aired Kai they were also airing some old Toonami UK stuff like Batman of the Future, Justice League, The Batman, Xmen Evolution, and Ultimate Muscle. Since around the time Kai got taken off in late 2015 they've literally avoided showing any kind of action cartoons, so it could be coincidental. It also wouldn't have helped that they had to show the Nicktoons US edited version, which was pretty heavily cut in some scenes like Goku vs Vegeta.

And I agree that Kix wasn't the ideal channel for it to air on given how it's essentially outside of the main kids section. They also did stupid things like repeating the Saiyan and Frieza sagas constantly but only showing the Android/Cell saga a small handful of times for some odd reason.
I don't think that's overlooked.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by NitroEX » Thu Mar 09, 2017 3:39 am

90sDBZ wrote: Ultimately we can only speculate whether or not it was an actual financial success for Kix. However it might also be down to Kix just wanting an overhaul. Around the time they aired Kai they were also airing some old Toonami UK stuff like Batman of the Future, Justice League, The Batman, Xmen Evolution, and Ultimate Muscle. Since around the time Kai got taken off in late 2015 they've literally avoided showing any kind of action cartoons, so it could be coincidental.
But that wouldn't just be a coincidental thing. If they chose to make a drastic shift in direction of their channel and move away from action cartoons it would be because they're either making less money from it or the ratings aren't doing well enough to justify having those types of shows. They seem to have kept Power Rangers and a few other shows like Yugioh but they're all older versions and not the latest ones like Dino Super Charge/Ninja Steel or Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V for example. They're probably not the type of channel to premiere the latest versions because they likely can't afford to license them until they go down in value, it's probably the same reason they waited until 2012 to get Kai.

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

Post by 90sDBZ » Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:11 am

NitroEX wrote:
90sDBZ wrote: Ultimately we can only speculate whether or not it was an actual financial success for Kix. However it might also be down to Kix just wanting an overhaul. Around the time they aired Kai they were also airing some old Toonami UK stuff like Batman of the Future, Justice League, The Batman, Xmen Evolution, and Ultimate Muscle. Since around the time Kai got taken off in late 2015 they've literally avoided showing any kind of action cartoons, so it could be coincidental.
But that wouldn't just be a coincidental thing. If they chose to make a drastic shift in direction of their channel and move away from action cartoons it would be because they're either making less money from it or the ratings aren't doing well enough to justify having those types of shows. They seem to have kept Power Rangers and a few other shows like Yugioh but they're all older versions and not the latest ones like Dino Super Charge/Ninja Steel or Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V for example. They're probably not the type of channel to premiere the latest versions because they likely can't afford to license them until they go down in value, it's probably the same reason they waited until 2012 to get Kai.
It could be down to that. Another factor that may have led to them dropping Kai could be the ridiculously long wait they had to go through for TFC. Even though the Funi Buu saga has been dubbed for years, I doubt Kix would have been allowed to air it before it had aired in America. If they had continued to patiently wait for it, a lot of the kids who watched Kai on Kix a few years back would have gotten older or lost interest. And it also didn't help that they ran through the series pretty fast and regularly restarted from the Saiyan saga which resulted in the same handful of episodes getting shown way too often.

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

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Fri Mar 17, 2017 6:20 pm

Not sure if anyone reading this thread lives near, but I just found out Brian Drummond and Lee Tockar will be guests at Kelowna Fan Xpo in British Columbia next weekend (March 24th-25th). Could be a chance to ask about the dub and if they've been able to make more progress on finding out what the situation is with that (hopefully if its been cancelled keeping these things a secret doesn't matter anymore).
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by NitroEX » Sat Mar 18, 2017 10:47 am

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote:Not sure if anyone reading this thread lives near, but I just found out Brian Drummond and Lee Tockar will be guests at Kelowna Fan Xpo in British Columbia next weekend (March 24th-25th). Could be a chance to ask about the dub and if they've been able to make more progress on finding out what the situation is with that (hopefully if its been cancelled keeping these things a secret doesn't matter anymore).
I feel as though Brian Drummond and Lee Tockar have both said as much as they can on this subject already. In fact, one of Tockar's assistants (who I won't name) was recently sighted online asking for the whereabouts of the dub, it's pretty clear that the actors are in the same boat as us and don't know the current status of Ocean Kai. Drummond seems to have stopped talking about the dub completely which could suggest that he may have received a warning after doing the interview with Geekdom.

I think the best case scenario for future convention appearances would be that they might be able to reveal a little bit more about who else was involved in the dub such as other cast members or a director, although, in the case of other actors, they probably wouldn't know too much about that either considering how dubbing is done one actor at a time. They might've also just forgotten many details about the production by this point since they did supposedly finish dubbing it years ago (plus they're super busy with other gigs).

I'm not saying no one should ask them but, realistically, I just don't think they'd have much info left to give us.

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

Post by Robo4900 » Sat Mar 18, 2017 11:30 am

One thought I've had recently is that if Scott McNeil is at a convention at some point, someone should ask him if he was brought back to play Majin Boo.

This could put to rest the long-standing question of whether they've done Boo Kai. And on the off chance they have, it'll give us another casting teaser.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sat Mar 18, 2017 1:54 pm

Robo4900 wrote:One thought I've had recently is that if Scott McNeil is at a convention at some point, someone should ask him if he was brought back to play Majin Boo.

This could put to rest the long-standing question of whether they've done Boo Kai. And on the off chance they have, it'll give us another casting teaser.
I doubt Ocean has dubbed Buu Kai.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by NitroEX » Sat Mar 18, 2017 1:57 pm

Robo4900 wrote:One thought I've had recently is that if Scott McNeil is at a convention at some point, someone should ask him if he was brought back to play Majin Boo.

This could put to rest the long-standing question of whether they've done Boo Kai. And on the off chance they have, it'll give us another casting teaser.
For what it's worth, McNiel did answer this question back in 2013. You can see the video for yourself here.

If the company who commissioned Ocean to produce Kai part 1 didn't see any return on their investment I can't see them going through and dubbing Final Chapter as well, especially since it would technically count as a separate show and not part of the same package. If the first part could finally get on air though I think we'd stand a better chance at seeing that happen, especially if it did well in the ratings.

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

Post by Godgoku95 » Sat Mar 18, 2017 6:10 pm

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote:Not sure if anyone reading this thread lives near, but I just found out Brian Drummond and Lee Tockar will be guests at Kelowna Fan Xpo in British Columbia next weekend (March 24th-25th). Could be a chance to ask about the dub and if they've been able to make more progress on finding out what the situation is with that (hopefully if its been cancelled keeping these things a secret doesn't matter anymore).
i could make it, i live a few hours a way from Kelowna

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

Post by Godgoku95 » Sat Mar 18, 2017 6:31 pm

should i ask if there are talk of a possible ocean dub of super?

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

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sat Mar 18, 2017 6:46 pm

Godgoku95 wrote:should i ask if there are talk of a possible ocean dub of super?
It's unlikely.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Godgoku95 » Sat Mar 18, 2017 6:51 pm

what should i ask?

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

Post by Danfun64 » Sat Mar 18, 2017 7:26 pm

If Ocean doesn't dub Boo Kai, an Ocean dub of Super will never happen... and Ocean Boo Kai will most likely never be dubbed until Ocean Kai 1.0 is released.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sun Mar 19, 2017 2:17 am

Godgoku95 wrote:what should i ask?
Well, tell them that one Kanzenshuu member (Kirbopher, a voice actor) was informed by some people that worked on the dub that it wasn't coming out.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by TheBlackPaladin » Mon Mar 20, 2017 12:34 am

8000 Saiyan wrote:
Godgoku95 wrote:what should i ask?
Well, tell them that one Kanzenshuu member (Kirbopher, a voice actor) was informed by some people that worked on the dub that it wasn't coming out.
I understand the logic behind asking this, but I'd advise against it, firstly because it's likely they won't know who Kirbopher is (he said his source that the dub was cancelled was somebody who this thread hasn't mentioned yet), and secondly because they might feel a tad awkward if they're asked about what a specific person said...I know if I were asked that question, I'd be reluctant to comment on it for fear of starting some sort of uncomfortable "What He Said VS What I Said" war.

They likely can't talk about it, and if they can, they likely aren't privy to production information like release dates or cancellations since voice actors aren't in charge of that. I think your best shot is to simply mention that you heard an Ocean dub of Kai was in production and you were wondering if they can comment on it. If they can't, then they can't, and if they can, they'll reveal what they can. That's about as good an answer as we can hope for.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Mon Mar 20, 2017 5:55 am

TheBlackPaladin wrote:
8000 Saiyan wrote:
Godgoku95 wrote:what should i ask?
Well, tell them that one Kanzenshuu member (Kirbopher, a voice actor) was informed by some people that worked on the dub that it wasn't coming out.
I understand the logic behind asking this, but I'd advise against it, firstly because it's likely they won't know who Kirbopher is (he said his source that the dub was cancelled was somebody who this thread hasn't mentioned yet), and secondly because they might feel a tad awkward if they're asked about what a specific person said...I know if I were asked that question, I'd be reluctant to comment on it for fear of starting some sort of uncomfortable "What He Said VS What I Said" war.

They likely can't talk about it, and if they can, they likely aren't privy to production information like release dates or cancellations since voice actors aren't in charge of that. I think your best shot is to simply mention that you heard an Ocean dub of Kai was in production and you were wondering if they can comment on it. If they can't, then they can't, and if they can, they'll reveal what they can. That's about as good an answer as we can hope for.
Well, all right, but I don't expect any big revelations.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by Robo4900 » Mon Mar 20, 2017 5:46 pm

NitroEX wrote:For what it's worth, McNiel did answer this question back in 2013. You can see the video for yourself here.

If the company who commissioned Ocean to produce Kai part 1 didn't see any return on their investment I can't see them going through and dubbing Final Chapter as well, especially since it would technically count as a separate show and not part of the same package. If the first part could finally get on air though I think we'd stand a better chance at seeing that happen, especially if it did well in the ratings.
That was 2013, though. Before Boo Kai was even announced. It's entirely possible the company behind it decided to revisit it and complete the dub to make it more viable. It's even possible they'd had it dubbed from the start, but weren't allowed to talk about it because Boo Kai hadn't been announced yet(After all, it wasn't long ago that they weren't even strictly supposed to be talking about Kai 1.0's Ocean dub). After all, Ocean Kai happened in 2013, at which point Final Chapters was probably ready, with any remaining work likely just being Toei cutting it down for the Japanese version.

It's unlikely, but there's no harm in asking, so it'd be kind of silly not to if the opportunity presents itself.
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by SX10 » Tue Mar 21, 2017 3:14 am

That is a really exciting opportunity :) would love to meet these guys!

I can imagine the time for multiple questions on the subject would come after when he's signing merch for fans?
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Re: Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub seems to be coming...

Post by NitroEX » Tue Mar 21, 2017 8:55 am

TheBlackPaladin wrote:
8000 Saiyan wrote: Well, tell them that one Kanzenshuu member (Kirbopher, a voice actor) was informed by some people that worked on the dub that it wasn't coming out.
I understand the logic behind asking this, but I'd advise against it, firstly because it's likely they won't know who Kirbopher is (he said his source that the dub was cancelled was somebody who this thread hasn't mentioned yet), and secondly because they might feel a tad awkward if they're asked about what a specific person said...I know if I were asked that question, I'd be reluctant to comment on it for fear of starting some sort of uncomfortable "What He Said VS What I Said" war.
Also, it's worth pointing out that Kirbopher's sources are most likely other voice actors and thus, unreliable sources. I believe he's now a voice actor himself (not to mention he's interviewed many of them, including ones from Canada) so it seems rather obvious where he's getting his info from. Recently It's become very apparent that the actors involved in this dub have been kept in the dark on a lot of issues surrounding the production so I wouldn't put much stock in the rumor from Kirbopher. For all we know the person he talked to is in the same boat as Lee Tockar and Brian Drummond—i.e., They don't know what's going on and have both seemingly tried and failed to get further info on the whereabouts of this dub.
Robo4900 wrote: That was 2013, though. Before Boo Kai was even announced. It's entirely possible the company behind it decided to revisit it and complete the dub to make it more viable. It's even possible they'd had it dubbed from the start, but weren't allowed to talk about it because Boo Kai hadn't been announced yet(After all, it wasn't long ago that they weren't even strictly supposed to be talking about Kai 1.0's Ocean dub). After all, Ocean Kai happened in 2013, at which point Final Chapters was probably ready, with any remaining work likely just being Toei cutting it down for the Japanese version.

It's unlikely, but there's no harm in asking, so it'd be kind of silly not to if the opportunity presents itself.
Just to clarify, when you say "happened" you mean Ocean finished dubbing in 2013? Because we already know from multiple sources that they started dubbing in 2010 at the earliest, so when it "happened" would be somewhere around that year.

Anyway, I wish I could share in your optimism but I really don't think they got to dub the second batch of Kai episodes. I can somewhat understand the logic in finishing off Kai 1.0 since they could theoretically still sell the completed show (Kai 1.0) to a TV channel later down the line, plus it very well could've been a clause written into the contract with Ocean that every episode be dubbed regardless of an airing. That I can reasonably believe, but for them to willingly invest more money in a second batch (Kai 2.0) despite already (allegedly) being turned away from YTV just seems too ridiculous to believe. The money for this dub, it's actors, the sound design and music has to come from somewhere and they almost certainly would've learned from their mistake and froze any plans for Kai 2.0 after the first batch saw no return. Remember that unlike DBZ, TFC & the Buu arc is technically a separate show and is going to be treated as such, as far as I'm aware they would've been under no obligation to dub TFC under their current contract because it simply counts as a separate anime. Having Kai 2.0 also wouldn't have made their version of Kai any more viable than it already was because as I touched upon before, viewership and ad revenue brought in from Kai 1.0 would've naturally facilitated the continuation of the Ocean dub into Kai 2.0 and possibly even Super. That's the smart way to do things, not dubbing excess material ahead of time before there's even a demand for it (from the TV channels).

About McNeil and the other actors; I obviously can't prove they didn't dub Kai 2.0 but I really doubt they're still withholding any more info from fans at this point, especially given how honest they've already been so far. Richard Ian Cox is the only actor I've seen dodging questions publicly. Drummond has already admitted all he could to Geekdom and he seemed more confident in stating that they hadn't gone past the original 98 episodes. McNeil has been a bit more vague with this, merely stating that they've "just finished Kai" numerous times at convention panels over the years, even as recently as 2016, but I have to stress that this is pretty much always his go-to line when it comes to the subject of Kai, even going as far back as 2013. What I'm basically saying here is that Scott might not be remembering things accurately in the moment, or he's waiting for Kai to drop first before changing his tune.

I really can't see Toei having much involvement in this dub other than agreeing to give the company that hired Ocean the license to dub Kai but that's just my personal opinion.

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

Post by Robo4900 » Tue Mar 21, 2017 12:55 pm

NitroEX wrote:Just to clarify, when you say "happened" you mean Ocean finished dubbing in 2013? Because we already know from multiple sources that they started dubbing in 2010 at the earliest, so when it "happened" would be somewhere around that year.
That would have been the super early stages, probably before casting had even started, so I don't think they'd have been dubbing it.
IIRC, it's been said in a couple of places that it got done around 2013/2014, which works out in terms of timing.
NitroEX wrote:Anyway, I wish I could share in your optimism but I really don't think they got to dub the second batch of Kai episodes. I can somewhat understand the logic in finishing off Kai 1.0 since they could theoretically still sell the completed show (Kai 1.0) to a TV channel later down the line, plus it very well could've been a clause written into the contract with Ocean that every episode be dubbed regardless of an airing. That I can reasonably believe, but for them to willingly invest more money in a second batch (Kai 2.0) despite already (allegedly) being turned away from YTV just seems too ridiculous to believe. The money for this dub, it's actors, the sound design and music has to come from somewhere and they almost certainly would've learned from their mistake and froze any plans for Kai 2.0 after the first batch saw no return. Remember that unlike DBZ, TFC & the Buu arc is technically a separate show and is going to be treated as such, as far as I'm aware they would've been under no obligation to dub TFC under their current contract because it simply counts as a separate anime. Having Kai 2.0 also wouldn't have made their version of Kai any more viable than it already was because as I touched upon before, viewership and ad revenue brought in from Kai 1.0 would've naturally facilitated the continuation of the Ocean dub into Kai 2.0 and possibly even Super. That's the smart way to do things, not dubbing excess material ahead of time before there's even a demand for it (from the TV channels).

About McNeil and the other actors; I obviously can't prove they didn't dub Kai 2.0 but I really doubt they're still withholding any more info from fans at this point, especially given how honest they've already been so far. Richard Ian Cox is the only actor I've seen dodging questions publicly. Drummond has already admitted all he could to Geekdom and he seemed more confident in stating that they hadn't gone past the original 98 episodes. McNeil has been a bit more vague with this, merely stating that they've "just finished Kai" numerous times at convention panels over the years, even as recently as 2016, but I have to stress that this is pretty much always his go-to line when it comes to the subject of Kai, even going as far back as 2013. What I'm basically saying here is that Scott might not be remembering things accurately in the moment, or he's waiting for Kai to drop first before changing his tune.

I really can't see Toei having much involvement in this dub other than agreeing to give the company that hired Ocean the license to dub Kai but that's just my personal opinion.
I guess. Still, can't hurt to ask. With the amount of people giving different info, it makes sense to ask about their knowledge of the current situation every now and then. The existence of Ocean Kai in the first place is pretty odd, so I wouldn't discount the possibility of Boo Kai just yet.
Naturally, it's best to focus on getting the word out there that there is interest in Ocean Kai, but it can't hurt to poke around for info on what exactly is going on.
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