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

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I haven't seen the show, but I heard Escaflowne's original dub wasn't that bad, it was just that the TV cut of it was utterly awful(Skipped episodes, replaced music, etc.). Apparently the uncut version was fine...?

Still, regardless, Funi snubbing Ocean on Escaflowne was awful either way.

I guess that Funimation's die-hard fans don't mind them getting the show because they think they should dub everything and they can do no wrong.

Now y'see, there's nothing wrong with liking Funimation and hoping they continue to get work, but hoping they overpower every other dubbing studio is just kind of mean to all the other talented actors who work really hard on anime dubbing... If Funimation were the only studio doing dubbing, we'd have never got the Cowboy Bebop dub we did...

Being a fan of something is one thing, but wanting other things to be snubbed in favour of the thing you like is taking it too far...

I agree, I like Funimation. I think they've done a great job dubbing Dragon Ball in the last decade, the Super dub has its problems with unnecessary script changes but the voice actors still deliver 90% of the time and Kai is top notch. That said, I do agree that we should have diversity so anime fans don't end up hearing the same actors in every single anime they watch. Vancouver, in particular hasn't had the chance to put out many anime dubs by comparison, but if this dub does well it would be nice to see the door opened for them to get more work within the genre in future.

[8000 Saiyan]

I don't even think there's anything wrong with liking Funimation either. I just think that the studio is overrated and overused, although some people don't seem to mind that.

Funny, someone once thought that just because I considered the studio overrated, I found their voice actors overrated, when that's not even the case. I like Kent Williams, J. Michael Tatum, Stephanie Young, Colleen Clinkenbeard, John Swasey and Luci Christian a great deal. Hell, even if I'm not big on John Burgmeier as an actor, I do think he's decent. I certainly don't think he's a terrible actor.

[shadd21]

Is the dub still coming?

[Robo4900]

Is the dub still coming?

Yes. Wow TV are currently negotiating to air it in Canada. Assuming all goes well(And there's no reason for it not to at this point, really), I imagine we'll be seeing it start to air within a few months.

And unlike last time, way back in 2013 with Kix in the UK, we can be certain the version being looked into here is in fact Ocean's dub.

I agree, I like Funimation. I think they've done a great job dubbing Dragon Ball in the last decade, the Super dub has its problems with unnecessary script changes but the voice actors still deliver 90% of the time and Kai is top notch. That said, I do agree that we should have diversity so anime fans don't end up hearing the same actors in every single anime they watch. Vancouver, in particular hasn't had the chance to put out many anime dubs by comparison, but if this dub does well it would be nice to see the door opened for them to get more work within the genre in future.

I have a lot to say about the way Funi have handled their scripts for Super and TFC... But the actors behind it always put in their all, and I wouldn't say a word against them.

But yeah, Vancouver really doesn't do enough dubs anymore; it's a great bunch, they do excellent work, and they should absolutely get more.

I don't even think there's anything wrong with liking Funimation either. I just think that the studio is overrated and overused, although some people don't seem to mind that.

Funny, someone once thought that just because I considered the studio overrated, I found their voice actors overrated, when that's not even the case. I like Kent Williams, J. Michael Tatum, Stephanie Young, Colleen Clinkenbeard, John Swasey and Luci Christian a great deal. Hell, even if I'm not big on John Burgmeier as an actor, I do think he's decent. I certainly don't think he's a terrible actor.

Agreed; Funimation are definitely overrated online, and they are overused; they aren't an LA or Vancouver studio, which are really the two main hubs of cartoon voiceover, and as such have a lot of massive advantages(In particular, as American voice actors move up in the world, they generally gravitate to one of those two places, so an LA or Vancouver dub would naturally have the best of the best), and their scripts generally don't impress me, but the actors do good work, overall the studio generally does good work... But, the fact they do every anime dub there is... It's crazy! And yet, everyone seems to talk about Funimation's dubbing like it's the best thing since sliced bread... They do good work, yes, but... Y'know, it's not like there aren't other dubbing studios who do as good a job(Or even better; look at Cowboy Bebop).

I think a lot of it comes from the attitude of "look the studio doing all the dubs isn't 4kids anymore!!", and everyone is forgetting the fact that better doesn't always mean good... Yes, Funimation do good work, but one studio dominating all dubbing is still crazy and ridiculous, and if your standards for dubbing are based on how they compare to 4Kids, you're going to have a hard time finding something that doesn't totally outshine 4Kids' dubbing work... Hell, even 4Kids themselves have outshone their own dubbing work; the uncut dub of Yu-Gi-Oh -- short-lived as it was -- was outstanding, and would've totally blown the original dub out of the water if it had continued on.
... And, of course, naturally now people online are saying that Funimation should redub Yu-Gi-Oh... >_<

(Honestly, I wouldn't have a problem with Funi redubbing Yu-Gi-Oh... If they brought in as much of the original cast as they could possibly get)

[8000 Saiyan]

Well, their dubs of Fullmetal Alchemist, Baccano, Yu Yu Hakusho and My Hero Academia are considered to be excellent.

If you want my opinion, the FMA dubs are overrated. Vic Mignogna doesn't have the talent of Romi Park. And the Yu Yu Hakusho dub is fine, but it's kinda like the DBZ dub, although it has better voice acting.

[Robo4900]

Well, their dubs of Fullmetal Alchemist, Baccano, Yu Yu Hakusho and My Hero Academia are considered to be excellent.

If you want my opinion, the FMA dubs are overrated. Vic Mignogna doesn't have the talent of Romi Park. And the Yu Yu Hakusho dub is fine, but it's kinda like the DBZ dub, although it has better voice acting.

I haven't seen those shows...

Still, given how early in the studio's life Yu Yu Hakusho was done, I have strong doubts it's "Excellent"... I imagine that, as you say, it's probably got a lot of the same problems as their work on Dragon Ball.

As for MHA, I'm sure it's very good, but individual shows aren't the problem here; it's the fact every anime dub now is Funimation... Is every superhero movie a Marvel film? No, of course not, that would be silly. So why is every anime dub a Funimation dub? (It's actually even more crazy than this IMO, since anime is a much more broad category than "Superhero film" -- it's just a shorthand for Japanese animation, so it'd be more like if all American cartoons were produced by Cartoon Network)

[8000 Saiyan]

Still, given how early in the studio's life Yu Yu Hakusho was done, I have strong doubts it's "Excellent"... I imagine that, as you say, it's probably got a lot of the same problems as their work on Dragon Ball.

For YYH, the Funimation writers would rewrite the dialogue to make it more hardcore and if a plot point or a piece of characterization was too subtle, they would hammer down on it to make sure viewers got it.

The main character of the show, Yusuke Urameshi, is known for being a punk because he butts heads with Kuwabara, another major character from the show, and tends to be rude to authority figures, but Funimation decided to make him even more of an asshole and a badass by rewriting his dialogue. It just came off as force feeding.

Hell, there was a character that commentates on the fights of two tournaments that was changed in the dub. While in the sub, she's a bright and cheerful character that works for bad people, in the dub, she's turned into a violent sadist and she often gives commentary on how much she enjoys the pain and death she sees.

Justin Cook, the guy who voices Raditz and Adult Dende in the Funimation dub, is praised for sounding more like a punk than Nozomu Sasaki, who voices Yusuke in the Japanese version. I honestly prefer Sasaki because Cook tries too hard. I can't think of a character that I prefer in English.

Personally, I'd say that watching YYH in Japanese made like me the show a lot more. I rewatched a few episodes in Japanese a few months ago, but I really should do a complete rewatch

[MistaL]

Still, given how early in the studio's life Yu Yu Hakusho was done, I have strong doubts it's "Excellent"... I imagine that, as you say, it's probably got a lot of the same problems as their work on Dragon Ball.

For YYH, the Funimation writers would rewrite the dialogue to make it more hardcore and if a plot point or a piece of characterization was too subtle, they would hammer down on it to make sure viewers got it.

A good example of this is "Hey, let's change Urameshi to Yurameshi in the dub so his name's "YuYu" so people know he's the main character!".

[WittyUsername]

The only thing I’ll say about the dub of YYH is that they really seemed to love Brice Armstrong. He voiced so many characters that it was ridiculous.

[linkdude20002001]

A good example of this is "Hey, let's change Urameshi to Yurameshi in the dub so his name's "YuYu" so people know he's the main character!".

Actually, that's just becuz they didn't know how Japanese works. Just like how people pronounce 'Uranus' as "Yuranus" becuz they don't know how Greek works. It's cuz in English we call the letter U the "Yu" unlike the rest of the world which use the original Latin names. In any case, the dub of YuYu Hakusho is terrible. Might be worse than their dub of DB, might be the same. I haven't seen much. I just know the acting is kinda...C-Rank since the non-actors that were hired for DBZ only had been acting for two years at this point. And they mispronounced basically every name.

[MistaL]

A good example of this is "Hey, let's change Urameshi to Yurameshi in the dub so his name's "YuYu" so people know he's the main character!".

Actually, that's just becuz they didn't know how Japanese works. Just like how people pronounce 'Uranus' as "Yuranus" becuz they don't know how Greek works. It's cuz in English we call the letter U the "Yu" unlike the rest of the world which use the original Latin names. In any case, the dub of YuYu Hakusho is terrible. Might be worse than their dub of DB, might be the same. I haven't seen much. I just know the acting is kinda...C-Rank since the non-actors that were hired for DBZ only had been acting for two years at this point. And they mispronounced basically every name.

No, I'm sure it was a conscious change. You don't figure out how to say Yusuke and somehow not know how to say Urameshi.

[JohnnyCashKami]

No, I'm sure it was a conscious change. You don't figure out how to say Yusuke and somehow not know how to say Urameshi.

Exactly. If FUNimation was that dim then they would be pronouncing Freeza as they spell it Frieza to be "Fry-za" (even the guys at DBZ Abridged pointed it out) but they don't really do that, though.

I'm glad that FUNimation eventually (took them a good bunch of years to get it right) to pronounce Kaio-ken correctly, know the proper amount of power that Son had (Over 8000), Mankankosappo, Taiyo-ken (do recall hearing it on the FUNi Kai dub), Goku actually says Son Goku for once but something that never changed... How they say Saiyan (Say-un).

The narrator of Dragon Ball Z For Kinect got shit for saying it "wrong" and so did IGN's Daemon Hatfield for it.

Putting that aside, we then have the discussion of how to pronounce correctly NES and SNES which turns out it's how most around the world have always done it — That being, Ness and Sness than saying it out as if it were an acronym (there are certain exceptions depending on the word itself). Nintendo even confirmed it themselves.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I always said it NOT like an acronym and felt really dumb. Thank god I was right.

[SX10]

It would be great if, once this releases and someone hopefully captures the footage, that a fan creation could sync it up to uncut Kai HD footage. But instead of trimming the video for audio, found clever ways to fill the extra few seconds that were cut for TV. That could be really special. I would seriously consider doing it somehow (although I have two young kids and life is just demanding 24/7).

[JohnnyCashKami]

It would be great if, once this releases and someone hopefully captures the footage, that a fan creation could sync it up to uncut Kai HD footage. But instead of trimming the video for audio, found clever ways to fill the extra few seconds that were cut for TV. That could be really special. I would seriously consider doing it somehow (although I have two young kids and life is just demanding 24/7).

Well, it's a guaranteed given there'll be multiple people who'll cap it because many have been waiting years for Ocean Dub's Dragon Ball Kai release and knowing it ahead gives everyone time to sit down, relax, grab a snack, watch and maybe record it.

I'm guessing this won't air on CBC so what possible channels can it broadcast on?

By the way, it'd be great if Ocean Dub also did Dragon Ball Kai TFC with custom music than the questionable soundtrack composed by Sumitomo.

[MistaL]

It would be great if, once this releases and someone hopefully captures the footage, that a fan creation could sync it up to uncut Kai HD footage. But instead of trimming the video for audio, found clever ways to fill the extra few seconds that were cut for TV. That could be really special. I would seriously consider doing it somehow (although I have two young kids and life is just demanding 24/7).

I've been planning on doing something like that for a while now. Some cuts will have to be made like Kame Sen'nin trying to grope Bulma, as that's a part that had dialogue that I won't really be able to get around, but I'm sure I'll be able to fix up some other scenes.

[SX10]

It would be great if, once this releases and someone hopefully captures the footage, that a fan creation could sync it up to uncut Kai HD footage. But instead of trimming the video for audio, found clever ways to fill the extra few seconds that were cut for TV. That could be really special. I would seriously consider doing it somehow (although I have two young kids and life is just demanding 24/7).

I've been planning on doing something like that for a while now. Some cuts will have to be made like Kame Sen'nin trying to grope Bulma, as that's a part that had dialogue that I won't really be able to get around, but I'm sure I'll be able to fix up some other scenes.

That would be absolutely wonderful! Like, the perfect way to own or enjoy the Ocean dub. You're right about parts with dialogue like that. In my head, moments like, when Freeza is cut to ribbons and parts of him are falling, instead of cutting the visual, just this intense "silence" as he falls and such. And this way the blood and the blows get to stay too.

I was in the middle of getting my hands on the uncut HD footage (1080p) JUST in case I do attempt something like that, but I know it's a long haul and requires time I maybe don't have. Keep me posed in future

JohnnyCashKami - that's the hope, as would be the only way I could even see it. I imagine if it does well and Wow want FC AND consistency, they will help fund Ocean to cover FC and it should have it's own score. Then another fan edit can ensue and the only 2 things that should go from that are the party episode AND Freeza watching the fight from hell.

[Arian]

I'm guessing this won't air on CBC so what possible channels can it broadcast on?

When has CBC aired anything animated in primetime or late night, let alone anime?

Anyway, if it's going to air anywhere, it's going to air on Michael Hirsh and Bell Media's upcoming network, Wow TV.

In any case, I'm personally against "filling holes" in the dub, because what patches are you going to use? The FUNimation dub? Wouldn't that just ruin it completely?

[SX10]

No, it's not like we would find dubbed lines from elsewhere. I found a site pointing out differences between the uncut and TV dub and really you'd only want to keep the lingering/ extra shots of content, like violence and combat. Anything that obviously has extra dialogue would go, like MistaL said about Kame Sen'nin trying to grope Bulma etc.

[MistaL]

Another issue would be the music. It'd be difficult in certain scenes to reinsert shots seamlessly given we don't have access to Ocean's score, though we may be able to take other parts of the tracks from scenes where there were no other interfering sounds and use that. It just might be tricky to get it to sound quite right.