Watching the Buu arc

[Valerius Dover]

So, now that school has started, I've finally gotten around to watching the Buu arc of Z.

First to recap. I saw Dragon Ball first, on the Blue Bricks, in English. All 153 Episodes. I can definitely say I enjoyed all of it, but the Red Ribbon portion was my favorite. I also like any appearance made by the Pilaf Trio.

I then went ahead and saw the Movies, from the Movie 4 Pack. Curse of the Blood Rubies was fine, but a bit rushed. Also, the dub voices, while different, are good and clue us in to how a Dragon Ball Kai would sound if it covered the original series. Sleeping Princess of Devil's Castle was better, but sounded like a fandub at times. Mystical Adventure was a very good setup and I like the unique way it's presented. The Path to Power is my favorite out of those, and while the music is good, it's too quiet and there's too much silence in this movie in particular.

I went ahead and saw Dragon Ball Z afterwards, Episodes 1-194 to be exact. I chose the US score to heighten the contrast when I get around to seeing the Japanese version later. I enjoyed the Frieza arc from start to finish, but I feel they wasted Raditz as a character. The Garlic Jr. Saga I liked since it gave Gohan the main role for the first time. I also liked the Cell arc, but things got a bit clumsy by the end, I'll admit.

So, now the Buu arc. I'm going to update as I go for the rest of the series. I just finished the Great Saiyaman Saga. Here are a few notes.
I can say for sure that this is probably my favorite arc in a long time. I definitely feel more of an original DB vibe from this, and I love it! The Other World Tournament was a blast, and it came with a hilarious exchange!

Grand Kai: Listen Pikkon, I want you to go straight to Hell for me.
Pikkon: Yes, sir.
Goku: That wasn't very nice...
North Kai: He's the Grand Kai, he can say whatever he wants!

Will update more later.

[Daimakku]

I'm actually re-watching the Majin Buu saga right now for the first time in about 10 years too. I'm starting to remember why I loved this saga so much.

I'm up to where Goku demonstrated all the Super Saiyan levels to Babidi and Buu at the moment, so I'm a bit ahead of you.

But my marathon of the show started with my Kai sets. So far I've re-watched the whole show with the Kai english dub, and now watching the Buu saga on my Dragonboxes with the english dub for consistency's sake.. but going from the Kai dub to the old Z dub is jarring. So many corny jokes and dialogue that resembles nothing like the japanese one..

[ABED]

But my marathon of the show started with my Kai sets. So far I've re-watched the whole show with the Kai english dub, and now watching the Buu saga on my Dragonboxes with the english dub for consistency's sake.. but going from the Kai dub to the old Z dub is jarring. So many corny jokes and dialogue that resembles nothing like the japanese one.

What have you noticed regarding the dub scripts as the series progresses?

Sleeping Princess of Devil's Castle was better, but sounded like a fandub at times.

This is the very first thing the in-house cast dubbed, hence its crudity.

[Valerius Dover]

So, notes on the Great Saiyaman stuff:

Gohan's Saiyaman antics are hilarious! Especially loved that corny rap he did at one point!
He's very much influenced by the Ginyu Force. The US score even seemed to unintentionally foreshadow this back in the early Frieza Saga.
Speaking of the score, the Great Saiyaman's motif is awesome! One of the first orchestral pieces heard since Episode 67.
Gohan and Videl, where do I begin with those two? I think I'd rather do that in the Relationships thread, though.
Also, the narrator's voice sounds different, but gets back to normal by the end of the saga. That's because Kyle Hebert started here, while everything before this was redubbed.

[ABED]

He's very much influenced by the Ginyu Force

Maybe in universe, but Ginyu and the Great Saiyaman's poses are parodies of Super Sentai.

[Valerius Dover]

Yeah, in universe was what I meant.

[ABED]

I figured.

Are you watching the dub with the dub score(s)?

[Baggie_Saiyan]

I'll be avoiding this thread for spoilers then lol

But from the clips on YouTube and my memory the Buu saga was awesome, it was funny, awesome fights, fusion. Four months from now once the blu's are all out I will finally watch it in it's entirety.

Oh and I totally agree on Raditz, Vegeta and Goku's relationship should have been Raditz and Goku, but having said that Vegeta is still awesome so not a bad replacement for dear Raditz. We didn't even see the guy in hell?!?

[Valerius Dover]

I figured.

Are you watching the dub with the dub score(s)?

Yes, I've been going with the dub score all the way, and am sticking with it for consistency.

[SSJ3_Zack]

I'm going to start watching the Funimation dub next week. I haven't seen it since it was shown on CNX. I may as well since I've been buying the Season blu-rays. .

[ABED]

Oh and I totally agree on Raditz, Vegeta and Goku's relationship should have been Raditz and Goku, but having said that Vegeta is still awesome so not a bad replacement for dear Raditz

Simply b/c he's Goku's brother?

[Valerius Dover]

That's not to say I would want Vegeta replaced. But it's such a shame he did away with Raditz so quickly. He's the brother of the main character. He doesn't even make any Hell appearances. I would've liked to see him be more involved in the plot. Either way, this thread isn't really about Raditz.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Yeah sorry for side tracking this thread. I might have Raditz in my avatar actually lol okay back too Buu saga. Pink!

[Freeza Soldier #156]

I got into the series with the Buu arc on Toonami so it holds a special place in my heart. I haven't watched it dubbed in forever. I may have to do that soon.

[Daimakku]

But my marathon of the show started with my Kai sets. So far I've re-watched the whole show with the Kai english dub, and now watching the Buu saga on my Dragonboxes with the english dub for consistency's sake.. but going from the Kai dub to the old Z dub is jarring. So many corny jokes and dialogue that resembles nothing like the japanese one.

What have you noticed regarding the dub scripts as the series progresses?

I always put subtitles on for my movies and shows I watch on DVD/BD, be them in english or not, just a habit I've always had. So I watched Kai in english with english subs on, but the subs follow the japanese script, and so do my Dragonboxes. Kai followed the japanese script pretty damn closely, only deviating from it if something doesn't match the character's mouth. On original Z however, the english script is almost always completely different than the japanese one. Not always, but many times it is. For example, just last night I watched the episode where Piccolo and Krillin go to Kami's Lookout after Majin Buu revived from Vegeta's blast attack. On the way there they passed by Karin's and Yajirobe. On the japanese version, Yajirobe says he'll be on guard in case Buu goes to Karin's Tower, and Krillin tells Yajirobe that he's useless and no good to anyone then leaves. In the english version, Yajirobe says he wishes he could order pizza from up there, and Krillin tells him maybe he should learn how to fly and get the pizza himself, then tells Piccolo "cmon Piccolo, lets vamoose".

Things like that happen all the time in the english version with really corny dialogue. Something that rarely happens in the english version of Kai.

[ABED]

I remember things like that, but I mean overall, I recall that the scripts get closer to the original as the series progressed. If they were a 1/10 in season 3 they were 6/10 by the Buu arc. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how I remember it. I even recall that the narration when Vegeta gives his life to kill Buu was accurate.

[Daimakku]

I remember things like that, but I mean overall, I recall that the scripts get closer to the original as the series progressed. If they were a 1/10 in season 3 they were 6/10 by the Buu arc. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how I remember it. I even recall that the narration when Vegeta gives his life to kill Buu was accurate.

Yeah, that part was accurate. Yes, I agree that the Majin Buu saga got closer to the original japanese script than the rest of the earlier sagas, but there are still a lot of moments that still make me facepalm, lol.

Although I can't blame them for those types of moments. There was an interview with Sabat and Schemmel in the Season 4 set of DBZ Kai where they talked about Kai and how it's more accurate and faithful to the original than the old Z dub since they know that most DBZ fans are now grown adults and they don't have to "dumb it down" (their words) anymore. And I applaud them for that. They did a great job, IMO.

[Valerius Dover]

I noticed that Fortuneteller Baba's voice is different. It appears Laurie Steele voices her instead of Linda Young (who voiced her in Dragon Ball and the Vegeta Saga of Dragon Ball Z). She only had one line in the Cell Games Saga, so I don't think I took much note of the voice there, but it was different sounding there as well.

I wonder why this is? The Buu arc was dubbed at around the same time as the original series, although I'd imagine they would've gotten to Fortuneteller Baba a lot later than Cell Games and Great Saiyaman. That would mean Laurie Steele is the original Baba voice in the Funi dub. Any thoughts on this? And what about Kai?

[Valerius Dover]

Sorry to double post, just giving an update.

I've started watching the World Tournament saga and am now up to just before the match between Videl and Spopovich.
Some notes on the saga so far.

-I was curious to know how Team Faulconer's score would work in a martial arts tournament, but it fits surprisingly well
-Another score note, the music associated with Shin and Kibito is really good (I know people have been praising Sumitomo's equivalent as well)
-Also, the track "Goku vs. 19" makes its return for the first time since it's debut saga, and "Piccolo vs 17" gets some brief usage in the Goten and Trunks fight as well
-Piccolo goes by the name MaJunior, similar to the name he went by in the 23rd Tournament, where he was simply Junior
-Krillin apparently made a subtle dirty joke about Gohan and Videl Both his face and their horrified reactions make this scene hilarious!
-Actually, this part was in the Great Saiyaman saga, but I love how the announcer doesn't let any shit bother him anymore, as he seems pretty cool with Goku being dead, having already run into a resurrected Krillin at the 23rd

[thomas1up]

Sorry to double post, just giving an update.

I've started watching the World Tournament saga and am now up to just before the match between Videl and Spopovich.
Some notes on the saga so far.

-I was curious to know how Team Faulconer's score would work in a martial arts tournament, but it fits surprisingly well
-Another score note, the music associated with Shin and Kibito is really good (I know people have been praising Sumitomo's equivalent as well)
-Also, the track "Goku vs. 19" makes its return for the first time since it's debut saga, and "Piccolo vs 17" gets some brief usage in the Goten and Trunks fight as well
-Piccolo goes by the name MaJunior, similar to the name he went by in the 23rd Tournament, where he was simply Junior
-Krillin apparently made a subtle dirty joke about Gohan and Videl Both his face and their horrified reactions make this scene hilarious!
-Actually, this part was in the Great Saiyaman saga, but I love how the announcer doesn't let any shit bother him anymore, as he seems pretty cool with Goku being dead, having already run into a resurrected Krillin at the 23rd

I think my favourite line from the announcer is when he says to Piccolo "Please don't destroy the stadium this time" or something along those lines

I really loved the Boo Arc, much more than Cell Arc, the humour that had been missing for oh-so-long had finally made a return and Boo actually gets genuinely terrifying. (Also Vegeta is a boss later on!)