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

[SX10]

Still no news from Marni, which is either isn't a bad sign, or Ocean sent MIB to wipe her memory clean.

[Robo4900]

I mean, she said she'd keep us posted. I imagine this is the sort of thing where, if it was bad news, she'd have said so a month or two ago. The fact she's staying mostly silent likely means negotiations are still ongoing, which is a good thing.

[8000 Saiyan]

although I would hope Ocean would one day release Kai on home release (even though they clearly don't intend to and prefer a broadcast), they would probably never home release it

It's not that Ocean prefer broadcast, I'm sure if they could they would want to make DVDs for a quick buck. It's moreso that's all that is within their power to do. Ocean aren't a distribution company. Also, Funimation own the home video rights in Canada, and in Europe it's likely AB Groupe (now bought by Mediawan) who have the rights, and well, we all know how they are with releasing DVDs outside France. MangaUK could theoretically get the rights to release this dub, even if only for a collector's item but they haven't shown any interest and Funi Kai didn't sell well for them despite some discs containing the much sought-after Yamamoto score, so realistically I don't see anything changing.

Also, don't want to drag this topic too far away from Kai but just want to say Drummond's performance as Copy Vegeta in the latest Super dub episode was phenomenal. Think this is the best we've ever seen him as Vegeta (well pseudo-Vegeta, but its a good representation of how he'd sound in the role of an evil Vegeta). Really, Drummond with Sabat's direction is probably the ideal marriage of how both of them approach the character, especially because we literally had Sabat's Vegeta in the same episodes.

Vegeta was evil in the Saiyan saga, so...

And Drummond's performance in episode 45 was the MVP.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

although I would hope Ocean would one day release Kai on home release (even though they clearly don't intend to and prefer a broadcast), they would probably never home release it

It's not that Ocean prefer broadcast, I'm sure if they could they would want to make DVDs for a quick buck. It's moreso that's all that is within their power to do. Ocean aren't a distribution company. Also, Funimation own the home video rights in Canada, and in Europe it's likely AB Groupe (now bought by Mediawan) who have the rights, and well, we all know how they are with releasing DVDs outside France. MangaUK could theoretically get the rights to release this dub, even if only for a collector's item but they haven't shown any interest and Funi Kai didn't sell well for them despite some discs containing the much sought-after Yamamoto score, so realistically I don't see anything changing.

Also, don't want to drag this topic too far away from Kai but just want to say Drummond's performance as Copy Vegeta in the latest Super dub episode was phenomenal. Think this is the best we've ever seen him as Vegeta (well pseudo-Vegeta, but its a good representation of how he'd sound in the role of an evil Vegeta). Really, Drummond with Sabat's direction is probably the ideal marriage of how both of them approach the character, especially because we literally had Sabat's Vegeta in the same episodes.

Vegeta was evil in the Saiyan saga, so...

I'm referring to how an evil Vegeta should sound nowadays. Drummond, much like Sabat has improved with experience and these Super episodes are the perfect example. He sounded more comfortable and enthusiastic in the role than ever before, especially with the Galick Gun scream.

[8000 Saiyan]

It's not that Ocean prefer broadcast, I'm sure if they could they would want to make DVDs for a quick buck. It's moreso that's all that is within their power to do. Ocean aren't a distribution company. Also, Funimation own the home video rights in Canada, and in Europe it's likely AB Groupe (now bought by Mediawan) who have the rights, and well, we all know how they are with releasing DVDs outside France. MangaUK could theoretically get the rights to release this dub, even if only for a collector's item but they haven't shown any interest and Funi Kai didn't sell well for them despite some discs containing the much sought-after Yamamoto score, so realistically I don't see anything changing.

Also, don't want to drag this topic too far away from Kai but just want to say Drummond's performance as Copy Vegeta in the latest Super dub episode was phenomenal. Think this is the best we've ever seen him as Vegeta (well pseudo-Vegeta, but its a good representation of how he'd sound in the role of an evil Vegeta). Really, Drummond with Sabat's direction is probably the ideal marriage of how both of them approach the character, especially because we literally had Sabat's Vegeta in the same episodes.

Vegeta was evil in the Saiyan saga, so...

I'm referring to how an evil Vegeta should sound nowadays. Drummond, much like Sabat has improved with experience and these Super episodes are the perfect example. He sounded more comfortable and enthusiastic in the role than ever before, especially with the Galick Gun scream.

Yeah, that Galick Gun scream was awesome.

[TheGreatness25]

I absolutely loved Drummond's performance. It's so weird, but even though he and Sabat are miles apart on their voices, I could still see something in their performances that linked them. I can't explain it, but at no point was it jarring to go from one Vegeta voice to the other.

Something totally random came to me just now, though. You know that song that people assume is the would-be Ocean Kai theme? Why would people be so sure about that? It refers to the series as Dragon Ball Z. Who knows what it was recorded for, but I just never got why people used it to rip on Ocean Kai when it might not even be the actual theme. Anyway, random thoughts.

[Super Sayian Prime]

Something totally random came to me just now, though. You know that song that people assume is the would-be Ocean Kai theme? Why would people be so sure about that? It refers to the series as Dragon Ball Z. Who knows what it was recorded for, but I just never got why people used it to rip on Ocean Kai when it might not even be the actual theme. Anyway, random thoughts.

David is very clearly saying "Kai" in the backing vocals.

"Fight with courage,
Fight with honour,
Fight on Dragon Ball Z (Kai)"

He also labelled the track on his website as "dragon ball z kai".

Whether or not it's the final track is unknown. David says he recorded it in 2009, which would be really early in this dub's production. The mp3 he uploaded is also shorter than a traditional TV opening theme.

[TheGreatness25]

Ah, I never really heard the "Kai" before.

[TheBlackPaladin]

I absolutely loved Drummond's performance. It's so weird, but even though he and Sabat are miles apart on their voices, I could still see something in their performances that linked them. I can't explain it, but at no point was it jarring to go from one Vegeta voice to the other.

Well, Sabat is also the director of the dub, so I'm sure he did his duty as a director to make sure there was chemistry and cohesion among the performances. Man, that must have been both very cool and very weird at the same time...to direct the guy who originally had your role on that very same role. Either way, it worked beautifully. For that matter, it's great to see that both of them have been so polite and complimentary towards each other. Save one or two exceptions here and there, this idea that the Ocean and FUNimation casts are "bitter rivals who hate each other" is (mostly) nonsense created by the more bitter members of DBZ fandom.

I agree too, by the way: Drummond freaking nailed it. I was under the impression that he was going to tone down the screaming...and hey, I wouldn't have blamed him for it. Screaming can be dangerous for a voice actor, and while he's not old by any means, he's not the late-20's actor he was when he first took the role. But man, not only can he still play Vegeta well, the dude can still scream fantastically!

[8000 Saiyan]

I absolutely loved Drummond's performance. It's so weird, but even though he and Sabat are miles apart on their voices, I could still see something in their performances that linked them. I can't explain it, but at no point was it jarring to go from one Vegeta voice to the other.

Well, Sabat is also the director of the dub, so I'm sure he did his duty as a director to make sure there was chemistry and cohesion among the performances. Man, that must have been both very cool and very weird at the same time...to direct the guy who originally had your role on that very same role. Either way, it worked beautifully. For that matter, it's great to see that both of them have been so polite and complimentary towards each other. Save one or two exceptions here and there, this idea that the Ocean and FUNimation casts are "bitter rivals who hate each other" is (mostly) nonsense created by the more bitter members of DBZ fandom.

I agree too, by the way: Drummond freaking nailed it. I was under the impression that he was going to tone down the screaming...and hey, I wouldn't have blamed him for it. Screaming can be dangerous for a voice actor, and while he's not old by any means, he's not the late-20's actor he was when he first took the role. But man, not only can he still play Vegeta well, the dude can still scream fantastically!

Maybe he was just going to tone it down for the Kai dub, but thought that not going all out with the screams for Copy Vegeta would disappoint the fans.

[SX10]

I'd argue that IS his toned down. I'm sure when he mentions that, he is referencing instances like when he powered up against Goku in the Saiyan arc & was screaming so hard it seemed to be audibly straining his vocal chords.

He's just THAT good.

[Robo4900]

Something totally random came to me just now, though. You know that song that people assume is the would-be Ocean Kai theme? Why would people be so sure about that? It refers to the series as Dragon Ball Z. Who knows what it was recorded for, but I just never got why people used it to rip on Ocean Kai when it might not even be the actual theme. Anyway, random thoughts.

It's pretty obvious listening to it that it's a demo, or at the very least an unfinshed mix, and it's almost certainly not the full song. So even if it is the real theme, it may in fact sound totally different in the show.

Whether or not it's the final track is unknown. David says he recorded it in 2009, which would be really early in this dub's production.

Yeah, that's the thing. I think this might be an early demo of the final track. If this song is in fact what is in the show, it'll be a different mix at least. The instruments may use different recordings, it's possible Steele's vocals were just being used as a scratch track with unfinished lyrics, and a different singer will come in, and use Steele's recording purely as a base for the vocal melody.
We really don't know.

I think the most likely thing is that this is a 30-second snippet of an early mix, though. I imagine what we'll get in the show will be this, but with a different mix(Some instruments may be re-recorded, all of them will likely be louder, the bass will probably be stronger), and it'll probably be at least another 40 seconds longer.

The mp3 he uploaded is also shorter than a traditional TV opening theme.

Yeah. I think it's just a snippet of the full recording.

I'd argue that IS his toned down. I'm sure when he mentions that, he is referencing instances like when he powered up against Goku in the Saiyan arc & was screaming so hard it seemed to be audibly straining his vocal chords.

He's just THAT good.

Agreed. No one can scream like Drummond; when he went over the top with it, you end up with stuff like in the Saban era when it was pretty clear he was straining himself. In fact, it's even pretty clear later on in the Saban run that he's not pushing it as hard as he once was.
Honestly, I think we'll get something similar to what we used to get in the later Westwood dub in terms of his performance overall, just generally at lower pitch. I haven't seen the whole Copy Vegeta thing yet, but from the little I have seen, that seems to be basically the approach he's taking.

[TheBlackPaladin]

I'd argue that IS his toned down. I'm sure when he mentions that, he is referencing instances like when he powered up against Goku in the Saiyan arc & was screaming so hard it seemed to be audibly straining his vocal chords.

He's just THAT good.

Agreed. No one can scream like Drummond; when he went over the top with it, you end up with stuff like in the Saban era when it was pretty clear he was straining himself. In fact, it's even pretty clear later on in the Saban run that he's not pushing it as hard as he once was.

That could be, SX10, the man's a damn talented actor, and has proven that several times throughout his life. Not counting his voice acting work, I think one of my favorite stories about him is about how he got accepted to Studio 58, a place known for being one of the toughest acting schools in Canada. They only accept 16 students a year, and many end up quitting because of how intense the curriculum is...not only was he accepted, but he's also one of only two people in his class who managed to graduate.

Put another way...the dude's a badass.

And yes, Robo4900, I did notice that he changed his screams even as the Saban era was winding down. I think part of the problem back then--with all dubs--was that most dubbing companies were not given a lot of help by the original animation companies, and so they had to learn the story as they went along. In other words, most people involved with a dub didn't know what they were signing up for, and had no easy way of investigating what they were signing up for. I can definitely imagine a young Drummond thinking, "OK, that was his big scream, it's not like there's much more of th.......oh, God........."

[8000 Saiyan]

I'd argue that IS his toned down. I'm sure when he mentions that, he is referencing instances like when he powered up against Goku in the Saiyan arc & was screaming so hard it seemed to be audibly straining his vocal chords.

He's just THAT good.

Agreed. No one can scream like Drummond; when he went over the top with it, you end up with stuff like in the Saban era when it was pretty clear he was straining himself. In fact, it's even pretty clear later on in the Saban run that he's not pushing it as hard as he once was.

That could be, SX10, the man's a damn talented actor, and has proven that several times throughout his life. Not counting his voice acting work, I think one of my favorite stories about him is about how he got accepted to Studio 58, a place known for being one of the toughest acting schools in Canada. They only accept 16 students a year, and many end up quitting because of how intense the curriculum is...not only was he accepted, but he's also one of only two people in his class who managed to graduate.

Put another way...the dude's a badass.

And yes, Robo4900, I did notice that he changed his screams even as the Saban era was winding down. I think part of the problem back then--with all dubs--was that most dubbing companies were not given a lot of help by the original animation companies, and so they had to learn the story as they went along. In other words, most people involved with a dub didn't know what they were signing up for, and had no easy way of investigating what they were signing up for. I can definitely imagine a young Drummond thinking, "OK, that was his big scream, it's not like there's much more of th.......oh, God........."

If I recall correctly, Scott McNeil and Ted Cole were also students of Studio 58.

[SX10]

I'd argue that IS his toned down. I'm sure when he mentions that, he is referencing instances like when he powered up against Goku in the Saiyan arc & was screaming so hard it seemed to be audibly straining his vocal chords.

He's just THAT good.

Agreed. No one can scream like Drummond; when he went over the top with it, you end up with stuff like in the Saban era when it was pretty clear he was straining himself. In fact, it's even pretty clear later on in the Saban run that he's not pushing it as hard as he once was.

That could be, SX10, the man's a damn talented actor, and has proven that several times throughout his life. Not counting his voice acting work, I think one of my favorite stories about him is about how he got accepted to Studio 58, a place known for being one of the toughest acting schools in Canada. They only accept 16 students a year, and many end up quitting because of how intense the curriculum is...not only was he accepted, but he's also one of only two people in his class who managed to graduate.

Put another way...the dude's a badass.

And yes, Robo4900, I did notice that he changed his screams even as the Saban era was winding down. I think part of the problem back then--with all dubs--was that most dubbing companies were not given a lot of help by the original animation companies, and so they had to learn the story as they went along. In other words, most people involved with a dub didn't know what they were signing up for, and had no easy way of investigating what they were signing up for. I can definitely imagine a young Drummond thinking, "OK, that was his big scream, it's not like there's much more of th.......oh, God........."

I didn't know that. That IS badass! He has the range and the stamina to give us some surprising and stunning performances throughout this Kai run and it's gonna be epic. No question.

[8000 Saiyan]

Yeah, Drummond is indeed a badass. I remember that some people on this thread thought that he should be replaced with another actor for Vegeta because they felt his voice was unfitting for Vegeta after the Frieza Saga. However, since he's going for a deeper pitch this time around according to Attitudefan, they'll likely like him if this dub gets released. It's what I like about Drummond, he has the talent to prove people that they were wrong about him not fitting Vegeta.

[Robo4900]

Yeah, Drummond is indeed a badass. I remember that some people on this thread thought that he should be replaced with another actor for Vegeta because they felt his voice was unfitting for Vegeta after the Frieza Saga. However, since he's going for a deeper pitch this time around according to Attitudefan, they'll likely like him if this dub gets released. It's what I like about Drummond, he has the talent to prove people that they were wrong about him not fitting Vegeta.

As someone who grew up with Drummond as pretty much the sole voice of Vegeta when the show as on TV, I think Drummond works great for the entire run. He's a very talented actor, and thus is capable of pulling off the more mature Vegeta later on in the series. A lot of the reason people say he's good for the early part but not the later part almost certainly comes from the fact most people have only seen a significant amount of his performance from the Saban run, and are only really used to Sabat's after that, so hearing Drummond do, say, his suicidal attack on Majin Boo ends up sounding odd to these people, as they're simply not used to Drummond.

On another related note, I wonder if Drummond knows anything, or if he's simply as curious and excited as we are.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Yeah, Drummond is indeed a badass. I remember that some people on this thread thought that he should be replaced with another actor for Vegeta because they felt his voice was unfitting for Vegeta after the Frieza Saga. However, since he's going for a deeper pitch this time around according to Attitudefan, they'll likely like him if this dub gets released. It's what I like about Drummond, he has the talent to prove people that they were wrong about him not fitting Vegeta.

As someone who grew up with Drummond as pretty much the sole voice of Vegeta when the show as on TV, I think Drummond works great for the entire run. He's a very talented actor, and thus is capable of pulling off the more mature Vegeta later on in the series. A lot of the reason people say he's good for the early part but not the later part almost certainly comes from the fact most people have only seen a significant amount of his performance from the Saban run, and are only really used to Sabat's after that, so hearing Drummond do, say, his suicidal attack on Majin Boo ends up sounding odd to these people, as they're simply not used to Drummond.

I agree. I like both Drummond and Sabat's portrayals, and I think part of the reason some fans say Drummond's voice "doesn't fit" Vegeta after the Freeza arc...is because that's around the time that the casts got replaced, and so people are simply not accustomed to hearing Drummond as Vegeta in that area of the story. It's for that exact reason, actually, that that's the part of the Ocean dub of Kai that I'd be most interested in hearing/seeing: I'm most excited to hear the section of the dub for which there is no Ocean/Westwood equivalent.

I should also note that, between the industry standards of dubbing at the time (which is to say, the dubbing team learning the story as they went along) and dub director Barry Watson, apparently Drummond was directed to play Vegeta "like an evil psychopath." That's not really the best way to describe Vegeta, but hey, that's the director's fault. Considering that's the direction Drummond was given, I'd say he nailed it. I'm willing to bet there are a lot of dub performances--for lots of animes--that sounded wrong to us fans who were in the know, but were perfect based on the director's mis-informed direction and understanding of the show.

On another related note, I wonder if Drummond knows anything, or if he's simply as curious and excited as we are.

That reads to me more like he's just as being as excited as we are, as it's not common for actors to be in the know about release dates. I sure hope they do get this thing to air, though!

[Super Sayian Prime]

If you want to hear Drummond in a less sinister role, check out the CG-animated Little Prince TV show. Ocean produced the show and had him play the fox. His son Aidan plays the prince.

[8000 Saiyan]

Not interested in watching it. Sometimes, I feel sorry for Vancouver and Toronto voice actors for having to work on crappy shows.