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

Discussion specifically regarding the "refreshed" TV version of DBZ created in Japan for its 20th anniversary, including individual threads for each episode.

Moderators: General Help, Kanzenshuu Staff

User avatar
8000 Saiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 2841
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:03 am

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

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Fri Feb 16, 2018 2:55 pm

Mewzard wrote:So, no guarantee, but a new channel is considering the Ocean Kai? Huh. That's surprising.

Well, I still thing it's a bit on the too little, too late side...but genuine congratulations to those who would enjoy it if it does end up airing.

Well, it ever ends up in Super, they need to have Chris Sabat voice Copy Vegeta, this has to go both ways, lol.
I don't think Ocean will dub Super. But if they did, it'd be cool if they got Sabat for Copy Vegeta.
Mewzard wrote:That's exactly what I'm saying. FUNi's Kai dub ran from the middle of 2010 to the beginning of 2012 (not counting 98 airing on TV like a year later).

We're only a few months from it being 8 years since the debut of FUNi's Kai dub. That's a lot time to wait, with most markets interested in such a dub having already used FUNi's dub. Leaves the Ocean dub with few places to run. If I recall correct, doesn't FUNi own the home distribution rights in North America anyways? That really leaves only TV airings in Canada, unless FUNi lets some company have the rights to put out an Ocean Kai DVD set.

From a business perspective, it just seems hard to make any money on this dub with what tiny slivers are left in the pie that is DB fans wanting Kai in English-speaking markets.

Had this run, like a few months to a year after FUNi, they could have competed for the UK, Australia, etc, but that time has come and gone.
The Canadian dubs of Dragon Ball never aired in Australia as far as I'm concerned, so I doubt Ocean Kai would have aired there.
Robo4900 wrote:Where the hell did you get any of this info? XD
All we know is that Marni Shulman reached out to IPP, then some point after that, was negotiating the rights to get the dub to air. That's all we know. And yet, you're phrasing this like there was some grand conspiracy here.
Look, dude, just slow down. You're starting to sound like a conspiracy theorist or something.
I have to agree with you on that one.
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.

User avatar
NitroEX
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:21 am
Location: Not America

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

Post by NitroEX » Fri Feb 16, 2018 5:28 pm

Robo4900 wrote: Thing is, they began airing Kai on Kix in early 2012, right?
Wrong, early 2013 with the premiere being in December 2012.
NitroEX wrote:I don't think the CRTC approval holds much importance in getting the show on air outside of Canada, it wouldn't be something a UK channel would be concerned about let alone need to wait for. And this is something that has been demonstrated in the past with the Canadian version of Z starting to air in Western Europe before showing up on Canadian TV.
You misunderstand.
The CRTC approval date gives us a timeframe by which the post-production would have been finished. It was approved in April 2014, so it was likely finshed around early 2014/late 2013.
Doesn't matter, earlier episodes would have had post-production completed on them long before then and been ready to air in the UK if a deal had been made, they'd be foolish not to have something prepared to air before then. The Ocean dub of Powerpuff Girls Z was certified by the CRTC on May 16, 2011 despite airing on Boomerand in the Philippines from as early as 2008.

The CRTC approval is only useful to us in knowing roughly when the last batch of episodes was finalized and that they were hoping to get it aired on a Canadian TV channel. If the dub was only made to air elsewhere in the world they wouldn't have bothered doing it, Ocean's dub of InuYasha The Final Act doesn't have a CRTC certification to my knowledge which makes sense as it only aired on Toonami in America.
Again, it's in Toei's best interests to have multiple dubs going, because it makes more money. If the dub had been ready, they would have offered both to CSC. They didn't, so obivously they had a reason. There's not really any other explanation, anyway; if Toei had some kind of grudge against Ocean, they simply wouldn't have let them get the license to dub it. Having the dub ready, and just not offering it to CSC would be a trememdously crappy thing to do. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it's illegal. But, it would also be a very bad idea; if they screwed whoever produced Ocean Kai out of this, they would likely be found out, and those guys would never work with Toei again. And once again, Ocean having a second English dub is good for Toei's business...
So it would make no business sense for Toei to deliberately screw the Ocean dub.
You're putting words in my mouth, I didn't say Toei had a grudge against Ocean.
We don't know the reason they refused to offer CSC Media the Ocean dub, but we do have a source telling us that they did, (according to SubZero Ice, who I'm inclined to believe) which is why I mentioned it. You're offering an alternative spin on that but in order to believe it, you first have to bend over backward and assume that Ocean or the company they worked for refused to let any episodes air before the last one was complete, hardly believable if you ask me, especially given their track record.
NitroEX wrote:Whoever holds the rights to the Canadian version seems to be acting separately from Toei, that's how it seems at least, otherwise, Toei would have offered them the choice of which dub to have. Wow Unlimited probably had to specifically seek out this dub and find the company that holds the rights to it, other channels either haven't bothered to do the same or didn't care about a different dub. CSC Media apparently did know about the Canadian dub, so they weren't ignorant of its existence, it just seems that it was Toei that got in the way for whatever reason.

I won't bother speculating as to why as there's too little evidence BUT, it does strike me as odd that both Manga UK and CSC Media made licensing agreements with Toei for Dragon Ball around the same time, why didn't Toei make any deals prior to this? Probably because some other company in Western Europe still held onto the UK rights and Toei needed to wait for them to expire first.
Where the hell did you get any of this info? XD
I could ask you the same question.
This time, they've deliberately spent a ton of time getting it ready before opening it up to be used. Toei doesn't really have any reason to block the Ocean dub from being purchased by CSC media
Doing a dub in an episode-by-episode way is fine, but that's not how Ocean did it
Remember, though, it's known that once the main voice recording for Ocean Kai was done, they went back and did pickups on lines that either didn't work, or otherwise had to be re-recorded.
Seriously though, about the recording pickups thing you've been mentioning; I've been following info on this dub for a number of years now and never heard anyone involved in the production go into that much detail about their recording sessions. Unless someone has revealed new information recently that I missed, you shouldn't be speaking of it like it's fact.
All we know is that Marni Shulman reached out to IPP, then some point after that, was negotiating the rights to get the dub to air. That's all we know. And yet, you're phrasing this like there was some grand conspiracy here.
Look, dude, just slow down. You're starting to sound like a conspiracy theorist or something.
I see, anyone who disagrees with your theory is a conspiracy theorist, got it. :crazy:

If anyone needs slowing down it's you. You're clearly attached to this theory and seem to be taking it personally when the idea is challenged. From my perspective, it seems that you're making some bizarre assumptions to try and retroactively justify the absence of Ocean Kai on Kix when really, there's no need for it. I really think you're overthinking this one. CSC Media evidently weren't interested in seeking out the Ocean dub of Kai or try to deal directly with the company behind it, they were probably happy to air whatever Toei gave them. Marni Shulman on the other hand clearly is interested in this dub and made the effort to seek it out. All this stuff about the dub not being ready for air despite being worked on for years simply doesn't jive with what we know of this production and how Dragon Ball is typically handled by these companies.

Tian
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1126
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2015 10:21 pm
Location: Argentina

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

Post by Tian » Sat Feb 17, 2018 9:56 pm

8000 Saiyan wrote: I've never heard an old man that sounded like McFarland's Roshi. It's such a fake voice. I'd prefer if Funimation had cast an actual old guy in the part.
I agree. McFarland's Roshi can't be taken seriously like Schemmel's King Kai. He sounds annoying. Roshi may be a pervert but he can be a serious master at times, McFarland only fits the first part but the second he doesn't. About if the voice sounds old or not, most of the old guys I've heard or known had either a deep or a wheezing voice, not a high pitched like Roshi has.

User avatar
8000 Saiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 2841
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:03 am

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

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sun Feb 18, 2018 1:06 pm

Tian wrote:
8000 Saiyan wrote: I've never heard an old man that sounded like McFarland's Roshi. It's such a fake voice. I'd prefer if Funimation had cast an actual old guy in the part.
I agree. McFarland's Roshi can't be taken seriously like Schemmel's King Kai. He sounds annoying. Roshi may be a pervert but he can be a serious master at times, McFarland only fits the first part but the second he doesn't. About if the voice sounds old or not, most of the old guys I've heard or known had either a deep or a wheezing voice, not a high pitched like Roshi has.
It seems impossible for Roshi to get one great English voice.
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.

User avatar
Super Sayian Prime
I Live Here
Posts: 2296
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:26 pm
Location: Hail

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

Post by Super Sayian Prime » Sun Feb 18, 2018 7:07 pm

"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.

User avatar
Arian
Banned
Posts: 341
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:52 pm
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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

Post by Arian » Sun Feb 18, 2018 7:09 pm

Super Saiyan Prime wrote:Was it Toei who paid for this dub? I don't even know what to say ...
We may very well have gotten our answer. Or a very clever cover.
Was the hate for Kai largely unjustified?
Super Saiyan Prime wrote:It's an edited, cynically produced, cheap recut with a poorly utilized ancient score and awful scene recreations that later got traded in for a weird green tint.

The story of Kai's production is far more interesting than the actual product.
Danfun64 wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 7:40 pm Screw Corus and it's monopoly. It should sell off the Nick, Disney, and CN assets at minimum.

SuperCyan2
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 436
Joined: Sun Feb 04, 2018 5:38 pm

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

Post by SuperCyan2 » Sun Feb 18, 2018 8:12 pm

Tian wrote:I agree. McFarland's Roshi can't be taken seriously like Schemmel's King Kai. He sounds annoying.
Really? For me, Schemmel's Kaio sounds like he has a lisping and I can't take him seriously because of that.
Awesome!
Account no longer in use since 03/31/2018.

Tian
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1126
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2015 10:21 pm
Location: Argentina

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

Post by Tian » Sun Feb 18, 2018 8:16 pm

SuperCyan2 wrote: Really? For me, Schemmel's Kaio sounds like he has a lisping and I can't take him seriously because of that.
Oops. I wanted to say McFarland's Roshi voice is just as stupid as Schemmel's Kaio.

Perhaps you thought I said Schemmel's Kaio can be taken seriously. No, it can't be taken. He's just horrible.

User avatar
SX10
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 345
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2015 10:03 pm
Location: Kilmarnock, Scotland
Contact:

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

Post by SX10 » Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:12 pm

I have always believed Toei to be behind the dub, although I'm not quite sure what this is haha!
"Four eyes, ever had four black eyes?" -- Brian Drummond's Vegeta

https://youtu.be/5TW1njkk52Q -- Dragon Ball Sheep

User avatar
Robo4900
I Live Here
Posts: 4383
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 2:24 pm
Location: In another time and place...

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

Post by Robo4900 » Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:27 pm

Hm. I'd take that with a grain of salt for now.

Still, a fascinating prospect.
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.

User avatar
Super Sayian Prime
I Live Here
Posts: 2296
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:26 pm
Location: Hail

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

Post by Super Sayian Prime » Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:33 pm

SX10 wrote:I have always believed Toei to be behind the dub, although I'm not quite sure what this is haha!
It's a production database maintained by the province of British Columbia. It's far from exhaustive but managed to list Kai in 2010 and 2010. It claims the company doing production work in BC was Toei.
"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.

User avatar
Attitudefan
I Live Here
Posts: 2963
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:51 pm
Location: Canada

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

Post by Attitudefan » Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:11 am

Interesting... then why would they refuse to let it air in the UK?
My favourite art style (and animation) outside Toriyama who worked on Dragon Ball: Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, Masaki Satō, Minoru Maeda, Takeo Ide, Hisashi Eguchi, Katsumi Aoshima, Tomekichi Takeuchi, Masahiro Shimanuki, Kazuya Hisada

User avatar
Super Sayian Prime
I Live Here
Posts: 2296
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:26 pm
Location: Hail

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

Post by Super Sayian Prime » Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:24 am

Attitudefan wrote:Interesting... then why would they refuse to let it air in the UK?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq3abPnEEGE

I honestly don't know. If Toei USA funded this dub (they worked with Ocean on Pretty Cure and World Trigger), then Toei Europe probably would've known about it. Afterall, they sold Ocean's (well, Blue Water's) Pretty Cure to CSC Media to run on one of Kix's sister channels.
"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.

Dragon Ball Ireland
I Live Here
Posts: 3540
Joined: Thu May 21, 2015 9:09 am
Location: Sligo, Ireland

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

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:57 am

I don't know what to make of this. On one hand it is consistent with the listing SX10 found on another anime website, which also credits TOEI (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/ti ... -kai-toei/) but on the other it doesn't seem very clear in which context either site are referring to it. 'Production Company' could mean the ultimate rights holder that created the show (which is obviously TOEI) and had to be the one approving of foreign dubs, or it could mean the company financing these alternate productions. Its hard to say without clarity. Nonetheless I've messaged them on Facebook to ask what capacity TOEI was involved with the Kai listing or if they have any knowledge of another company.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

User avatar
8000 Saiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 2841
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:03 am

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

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:45 pm

Attitudefan wrote:Interesting... then why would they refuse to let it air in the UK?
I guess it's because there was another English dub of Kai available.
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.

User avatar
SX10
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 345
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2015 10:03 pm
Location: Kilmarnock, Scotland
Contact:

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

Post by SX10 » Mon Feb 19, 2018 4:33 pm

https://youtu.be/51KXeB7q0-A

Go to 7mins in.

To summarise:

* Chris Sabat didn't direct Brian Drummond for the copy Vegeta role, which took only 4 hours to complete (recorded from home in Vancouver).

* They both did arrange details before hand and decided to go with his higher pitch early days voice!!

So basically, I was wrong, that's not his Kai Vegeta voice. Delivery was more refined, I think, but that's the Saban era voice.
"Four eyes, ever had four black eyes?" -- Brian Drummond's Vegeta

https://youtu.be/5TW1njkk52Q -- Dragon Ball Sheep

SuperCyan2
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 436
Joined: Sun Feb 04, 2018 5:38 pm

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

Post by SuperCyan2 » Mon Feb 19, 2018 5:28 pm

8000 Saiyan wrote:I guess it's because there was another English dub of Kai available.
And the FUNimation dub grew to become the 'definitive' dub within the English market while the Ocean Dub is kept as a nostalgic memory in Canada, US, UK, Australia and in Scandinavian countries. Unfortunately, the Ocean Dub dropped the ball with its quality inconsistencies and they never had the chance to dub the Freeza arc though we did at least hear what Freeza would have sounded like.

A lot of folks bash Ocean Dub's Future Trunks thru Majin Boo arc for using Mega Man music but it was surprisingly very fitting for the series. I'd rather listen to MM's score than Faulconer's.
Account no longer in use since 03/31/2018.

User avatar
8000 Saiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 2841
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:03 am

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

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:05 pm

SuperCyan2 wrote:
8000 Saiyan wrote:I guess it's because there was another English dub of Kai available.
And the FUNimation dub grew to become the 'definitive' dub within the English market while the Ocean Dub is kept as a nostalgic memory in Canada, US, UK, Australia and in Scandinavian countries. Unfortunately, the Ocean Dub dropped the ball with its quality inconsistencies and they never had the chance to dub the Freeza arc though we did at least hear what Freeza would have sounded like.

A lot of folks bash Ocean Dub's Future Trunks thru Majin Boo arc for using Mega Man music but it was surprisingly very fitting for the series. I'd rather listen to MM's score than Faulconer's.
I can't say I'm a fan of the Mega Man music.
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.

User avatar
NitroEX
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:21 am
Location: Not America

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

Post by NitroEX » Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:06 pm

Awesome interview. Great to see the love for Drummond.
SX10 wrote: To summarise:

* Chris Sabat didn't direct Brian Drummond for the copy Vegeta role, which took only 4 hours to complete (recorded from home in Vancouver).
Glad we can finally put this to bed. Too many people were taking the opportunity to only praise Sabat's directing ability — as if Drummond somehow can't give a good performance without him, ridiculous.

User avatar
SX10
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 345
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2015 10:03 pm
Location: Kilmarnock, Scotland
Contact:

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

Post by SX10 » Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:11 pm

NitroEX wrote:Awesome interview. Great to see the love for Drummond.
SX10 wrote: To summarise:

* Chris Sabat didn't direct Brian Drummond for the copy Vegeta role, which took only 4 hours to complete (recorded from home in Vancouver).
Glad we can finally put this to bed. Too many people were taking the opportunity to only praise Sabat's directing ability — as if Drummond somehow can't give a good performance without him, ridiculous.
Agreed. That was really bugging me too. He did praise the directors though, which was nice. Also kind of glad that we didn't get a preview of the Kai voice cause I really want to hear that in its proper context.
"Four eyes, ever had four black eyes?" -- Brian Drummond's Vegeta

https://youtu.be/5TW1njkk52Q -- Dragon Ball Sheep

Post Reply