Starting the Japanese Version!

[Gyt Kaliba]

I can't remember what the first thing I saw in Japanese was either...hmm. I know my first experience with the Japanese voices period (outside of maybe Youtube clips...was Youtube around back in those Freeza/Trunks era episodes on Toonami though?) was with Ultimate Battle 22. Very jarring there.

As far as actually seeing some of the show or movies in Japanese though...it would have had to have been movie 7, 'Super Android 13' I think. I can remember borrowing that from my girlfriend (just a friend back then though) and checking out the Japanese version on it simply for the different musical score. It was quite the interesting experience. I know I later also watched movie 8 that way too, and I think I did the same with the last few episodes of Z when I got those single DVDs.

My experience with the Japanese version was pretty off-and-on and sketchy for the most part though, until I actually set out to watch the entire thing that way.

[Vice]

Actually, I'm thinking it might have been the Metal Coola movie that I was first exposed to, but I'm not sure.

[ABED]

My first encounter with Japanese DBZ was probably when I was 7 or 8. I lived in Japan back in 91-93, but I don't remember much besides the name. I think the first time I actually saw DBZ in Japanese was when I went to a store in my mall that rented anime. They didn't label the boxes well so I didn't know what episodes I was getting. I meant to get some of the fight against Freeza, but ended up getting the episodes where Vegeta fights Zarbon the first time. I had seen the Ocean dub and they cut away right before the headbutt makes contact so the blood and the brutality was kinda shocking. I was also shocked by how high Goku's voice was. I didn't like it. It took me some time to get used to it, but grew to love it.

[DoomieDoomie911]

I would say my favorites are probably Masako Nozawa (as Goku, Gohan, and Goten), Ryo Horikawa (as Vegeta), and Ryūsei Nakao (as Freeza).

[DBZ Mick]

A little bit of GT was the first I saw in Japanese. I was never one for thinking Goku's voice 'sounded like a girl' but I found it funny how the Oozaru sounded squeaky and high pitched. But the first main things I saw in full were a fansub of DBZ Movie 13 in the early days of Youtube before the official release and the Bardock Special from a friend.

[Gyt Kaliba]

A little bit of GT was the first I saw in Japanese. I was never one for thinking Goku's voice 'sounded like a girl' but I found it funny how the Oozaru sounded squeaky and high pitched.

Yeah...I'm still trying to understand the rationale there. It'd be one thing if it had always been like that in Japanese, but it wasn't, so...it's bizarre. Incredibly, incredibly so.

[ss3songoku]

I recently started watching the Japanese version myself, now I can't watch it any other way. You won't be disappointed.

[theawesomepossum777]

I think it's okay to post my own impressions on Japanese Dragon Ball episodes, so here we go!

Episode 1: Bulma and Son Goku

What a start! This is my first time watching Dragon Ball from the beginning in Japanese by the way. First off, Masako Nowaza's little Goku sounds so cute, innocent, and of course, a hick. Her performance is doing more for me in one episode than what Stephanie Nadolny did in the whole series. Hiromi Tsuru does a decent job at replicating the pampered sluttiness Bulma has early on. I heard some snippets of Shigeru Chiba in this episode voicing Pilaf, and already I hear some Buggy in his voice cracks and screams. The Japanese voice actors overall did a good job in this first episode. But hey! Dragon Ball isn't all about voice acting, unless we are talking about the Youtube Dragon Ball community in general that is...My favorite Kikuchi BGM this episode was "The Horrors Within." Thank you for your large Dragon Ball BGM guide Kenisu! It will come in handy in the future! This is where Kenisu's BGM documentation is: http://kenisu.webs.com/. Enjoy!

[Ringworm128]

If I remember correctly I discovered the Japanese version when I was 13 by switching the audio on the season sets around the portion where the Z fighters are fighting 17 and 18. It actually wasn't jarring for me at all the only voice that really stood out was Freeza's voice. When I noticed the sub scripts were different I simply thought "cool, the subs are different, more reason to watch both" instead of the "OMG I've been watching a lie! I'm never watching the dub again" reaction so many people seem to have.

[Kamiccolo9]

I think it's okay to post my own impressions on Japanese Dragon Ball episodes, so here we go!

Episode 1: Bulma and Son Goku

What a start! This is my first time watching Dragon Ball from the beginning in Japanese by the way. First off, Masako Nowaza's little Goku sounds so cute, innocent, and of course, a hick. Her performance is doing more for me in one episode than what Stephanie Nadolny did in the whole series. Hiromi Tsuru does a decent job at replicating the pampered sluttiness Bulma has early on. I heard some snippets of Shigeru Chiba in this episode voicing Pilaf, and already I hear some Buggy in his voice cracks and screams. The Japanese voice actors overall did a good job in this first episode. But hey! Dragon Ball isn't all about voice acting, unless we are talking about the Youtube Dragon Ball community in general that is...My favorite Kikuchi BGM this episode was "The Horrors Within." Thank you for your large Dragon Ball BGM guide Kenisu! It will come in handy in the future! This is where Kenisu's BGM documentation is: http://kenisu.webs.com/. Enjoy!

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to watch much, as it drives my roommate crazy. Hopefully I can get some time in this weekend. Glad to hear your having a good time with it at least

[Ringworm128]

If there's a suggestion I can make it would be to watch DragonBall, THEN Z or Kai. Don't skip ahead, start where Bulma meets Son and they go searching for the DragonBalls together.

I've noticed something when it comes to fans who start with the dub. Fans who start at DragonBall and watch through the series and see Son Goku's voice start as a young kid and literally grow with the character tend to have a better opinion of his Japanese voice than fans who jump straight to him as an adult in the Raditz fight and get the "Goku's voice sounds like a girl in Japanese" reaction.

I started by watching the Funimation dub of Z and I never had that problem.

[ABED]

If I remember correctly I discovered the Japanese version when I was 13 by switching the audio on the season sets around the portion where the Z fighters are fighting 17 and 18. It actually wasn't jarring for me at all the only voice that really stood out was Freeza's voice. When I noticed the sub scripts were different I simply thought "cool, the subs are different, more reason to watch both" instead of the "OMG I've been watching a lie! I'm never watching the dub again" reaction so many people seem to have.

I never had "I've been watching a lie" reaction. It was more a "Finally, I know what they actually said and it's not embarassing"

[medama_oyaji]

Definitely keep an ear out for Daisuke Gori! He is, of course, the voice of the great Mr. Satan, but the awesome thing about Gori is that he appears throughout the series in a number of rolls, so you can enjoy him over and over again! He's Roshi's turtle as well as The Ox King, and a number of smaller rolls as well.

[Vice]

About halfway through the King Piccolo Arc. Very good, though I think King Piccolo's voice should be a little more different between his young and old versions.

[Slickmasterfunk]

I started back in January and I'm trying to average about 2 episodes a day. Just yesterday I finished the Vegeta fight. After I finish watching all the way through GT, I'm going to watch all the movies in order of release. After that, for shits and giggles, I just may watch all 98 episodes of Kai. I own all of Kai but haven't watched any more than a couple episodes. I think all of that puts me on track to finish sometime in November.

[Vice]

Yeah, I'm not bothering with GT. No interest in that series at all.

[Gyt Kaliba]

I just may watch all 98 episodes of Kai. I own all of Kai but haven't watched any more than a couple episodes. I think all of that puts me on track to finish sometime in November.

I'm still undecided on that one really. I've heard that the original Japanese version of Kai is really just like Z, only with poorer performances handed in by the veteran actors compared to what they originally did, so...I'unno. I know my next watch of it (whenever I can get Season 4) will be dubbed, but I'll probably eventually go back and watch it subbed too, just to hear the actors that are new actors for the franchise.

[SSJJezter]

Yeah, I think when I've finished my whole series marathon I will possibly watch Kai, purely out of interest for the dub.

[DBZ Mick]

I just may watch all 98 episodes of Kai. I own all of Kai but haven't watched any more than a couple episodes. I think all of that puts me on track to finish sometime in November.

I'm still undecided on that one really. I've heard that the original Japanese version of Kai is really just like Z, only with poorer performances handed in by the veteran actors compared to what they originally did, so...I'unno. I know my next watch of it (whenever I can get Season 4) will be dubbed, but I'll probably eventually go back and watch it subbed too, just to hear the actors that are new actors for the franchise.

The Japanese Kai is still perfectly fine and serviceable IMO. I don't think any of them give poorer perfomances, if anything only their age has stopped them slightly (Horikawa sounds quite croaky at times) but the female seiyuus such as Nozawa and Tanaka are still really good. It's was like what? 12 years since they voiced the characters on a regular weekly basis? I think it's only obvious that they won't be as good as themselves in the past.

I only just this past few days started watching the dub out of curiosity. I was surprised to see how more professional and better voiced it is now (this was Saiyan-Freeza arcs). There is definitley some genuine passion to the voice acting and source material finally.

[FortuneSSJ]

Will it be your first time hearing the original sountracks?!
Prepare for the epicness!! You will watch the true dragon ball.