What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

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What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by WittyUsername » Sat May 12, 2018 5:45 pm

It's pretty much universally agreed around here that Funimation’s Dragon Ball related dubs didn’t truly grow the beard until 2010. With that being said, the pre-Kai dubs that they did for the franchise often varied in quality. With that in mind, whether it’s any of the anime shows themselves, or the various movies and TV specials, what part or installment of the franchise did Funimation handle best, prior to Kai? Keep in mind that since I’m referring specifically to Funimation’s work on the franchise, I wouldn’t count the Pioneer dubs of movies 1-3.

Personally, I’d say their best pre-Kai dub was probably the one they did for DBZ movie 8. Rock music aside, the script was mostly pretty accurate to the Japanese version, which is no surprise when you realize that Chris Sabat oversaw it.
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by Logania » Sat May 12, 2018 6:49 pm

Anime: Fusion Reborn was a really good dub of the movie, Sean's performance was really well done (like the SSJ3 transformation/fight with Janemba) the music was never really taking me away from the movie and I prefer Gogeta's theme from the dub to the sub.

Game: Burst Limit was done really well, and had scenes and dialogue that is done a lot better than the old dub (Goku vs Freeza was very well done)
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by sintzu » Sat May 12, 2018 7:34 pm

The Buu arc for the most part was really well handled.
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by PremiumSalt » Sat May 12, 2018 7:37 pm

I've always thought that their dub of the Original Dragon Ball was perfectly serviceable, even if not up to their current standards.
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by KBABZ » Sat May 12, 2018 7:46 pm

I don't have a lot of breadth in my experience, but I've always had a soft spot for OG DB, and when I did a side-by-side watchalong/readthrough I was surprised how on the money it could be, despite weird spots like "HE'S AN ALIEN!!" or Goku and Krillin not having the sunglasses discussion.

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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by Robo4900 » Sat May 12, 2018 8:53 pm

Technically, the Pioneer trilogy counts, since that was done under Funimation, so I would go with that. ;)
If that doesn't count, then there's also the fact that the Saban DBZ and BLT DB dubs were also done under Funimation, so those should count too. ;)

But, in terms of the ones recorded by the in-house cast, it kind of has to be OG Dragon Ball by default.

It's not good. In fact, it's inferior to both of the other two English dubs of OG Dragon Ball; the majority of the cast still hadn't settled into their roles yet(It was recorded either at the same time as the Boo arc, or between the Cell and Boo arcs), the scripts for the first 30-ish episodes were recycled from scripts they'd written for the 1995 dub, with only censorship that didn't fit the uncut footage replaced(Not with accurate dialogue translations, it was almost universally just Funi making up some crap that fits the visuals), and most of the dialogue underwent a layer of Funi-isms, which ends up meaning it's less accurate and faithful than the '95 dub; Goku and Bulma are horrifically miscast, not because of their voices(I don't think they're the best fits in terms of voices, but I guess they're okay), but because neither of them can act, the scripts don't ever get better than the crappy level they started at(Unlike Blue Water, who suddenly got better around episode 30, and pretty consistently maintained a lead on Funi in that regard), the voice cast is very clearly a very small group who try as many hokey accents and such as they can for the minor characters to disguise how small the cast is(Unlike either of the other studios who've also dubbed the original series), and the blank spaces in the soundtrack left by the missing insert songs are very jarring, despite Funi's best efforts to cover them up with added nonsense dialogue...

But it's less bad than everything else Funi did before Kai, excluding the video games. For one thing, it was designed from the ground up to fit with the Japanese score, so the tone is pretty much right, and it's not as massively inconsistent in its voicing as Z is, and it's not unnecessarily and unfittingly trying to be super "Hardcore" and "Edgy" like Funi tried to do in GT and the movies...
So, OG DB is the least-bad pre-Kai Funi dub.
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by WittyUsername » Sat May 12, 2018 9:40 pm

Robo4900 wrote:Technically, the Pioneer trilogy counts, since that was done under Funimation, so I would go with that. ;)
If that doesn't count, then there's also the fact that the Saban DBZ and BLT DB dubs were also done under Funimation, so those should count too. ;)

But, in terms of the ones recorded by the in-house cast, it kind of has to be OG Dragon Ball by default.

It's not good. In fact, it's inferior to both of the other two English dubs of OG Dragon Ball; the majority of the cast still hadn't settled into their roles yet(It was recorded either at the same time as the Boo arc, or between the Cell and Boo arcs), the scripts for the first 30-ish episodes were recycled from scripts they'd written for the 1995 dub, with only censorship that didn't fit the uncut footage replaced(Not with accurate dialogue translations, it was almost universally just Funi making up some crap that fits the visuals), and most of the dialogue underwent a layer of Funi-isms, which ends up meaning it's less accurate and faithful than the '95 dub; Goku and Bulma are horrifically miscast, not because of their voices(I don't think they're the best fits in terms of voices, but I guess they're okay), but because neither of them can act, the scripts don't ever get better than the crappy level they started at(Unlike Blue Water, who suddenly got better around episode 30, and pretty consistently maintained a lead on Funi in that regard), the voice cast is very clearly a very small group who try as many hokey accents and such as they can for the minor characters to disguise how small the cast is(Unlike either of the other studios who've also dubbed the original series), and the blank spaces in the soundtrack left by the missing insert songs are very jarring, despite Funi's best efforts to cover them up with added nonsense dialogue...

But it's less bad than everything else Funi did before Kai, excluding the video games. For one thing, it was designed from the ground up to fit with the Japanese score, so the tone is pretty much right, and it's not as massively inconsistent in its voicing as Z is, and it's not unnecessarily and unfittingly trying to be super "Hardcore" and "Edgy" like Funi tried to do in GT and the movies...
So, OG DB is the least-bad pre-Kai Funi dub.
I can’t speak much for the Blue Water dub of OG Dragon Ball, since unlike their dub of GT, I haven’t seen much from that particular dub (though I can’t say I’m a fan of the He-Man sounding opening they used), but as far as how the in-house Funimation dub compares to the BLT dub, I’m not really sure how the in-house dub is inferior. It’s not exactly a fair comparison to begin with, given that the BLT dub only lasted for 13 episodes and a movie, but the fact that the Funimation dub was visually uncut and kept the original music from the very beginning already gives it an advantage. Plus, beyond the first 13 episodes, the dub usually did a serviceable job of staying accurate to the Japanese version, even if it wasn’t without some very bizarre liberties to the script. It was by no means a great dub, and I wouldn’t even consider it to be the best of the pre-Kai dubs that Funimation did, but I think saying that it’s inferior to a 13 episode dub that took more liberties with the show is a bit harsh. Besides, as far as the voices are considered, the in-house dub had Brice Armstrong as the narrator, and that man has a fantastic voice.

Anyway, I don’t want us to get into another long debate about the merits of the U.S. voices versus the Canadian ones, so we’ll have to agree to disagree.

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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by OmegaRockman » Sat May 12, 2018 9:59 pm

Since you're not including the Pioneer dubs of Movies 1-3 (which are the best way to watch them in English if you ask me), Movie 8's dub is probably the best. The script for that one is pretty spot on, and it's even better these days with the Japanese music option. I also think Vic Mignogna's Broly is legitimately great. While the character himself isn't that interesting, I think that Mignogna captured the spirit of the character fantastically.

Another dub script I have to applaud is Movie 10's - that one is pretty damn close if I recall correctly, save for them using the H-word instead of Mr. Satan throughout. I noticed that it's not mentioned as often as Movie 8 in these dub discussions. Probably because the movie itself is so bad that fans don't really revisit it, let alone make dub script comparisons. Still, you'll be okay if you watch this one in English with the Japanese music selected.

Funi's Movie 1 dub is another accurate one, though it may be a bit overshadowed by the spectacular dub on the Pioneer discs. Either way, it's a decent option for people who want something a little more consistent with Kai cast-wise. Movie 2 MIGHT have a faithful script, but I never bothered checking since I'd rather watch the dub that pronounces Kaio-ken correctly.

Movie 12 is pretty decent performance-wise with some great screams from Schemmel. The script and no Ayres as Freeza kinda brings it down for me, though.

The Cooler movies, while lacking in the scripts, gave us Andrew Chandler's great performance as Cooler. I thought Dore and Neiz were decent enough, as well.

The Dragon Ball (pre-Z) stuff is mentioned a lot, though I really have to disagree. The scripts are a mixed bag and Nadolny's acting simply cannot keep up with the more dramatic moments. The moment when Goku find's Kuririn's dead body is the main example I'll point to - Nadolny conveys none of the rage and sadness that Goku is feeling, and instead does that weird "guuuh" sound that she does for her angry Goku. I feel no genuine human emotion here. I won't rail too much on Nadolny, though - I'm sure she would do a better job if she were given a second chance. As is, though, I don't think her performance works. I'm gonna be one of those guys by saying that I much prefer Clinkenbeard's Goku.

I do think the dub has its high points, however. Laurie Steele is pretty great as young Kuririn, and I like how Merideth McCoy handles both of Lunch's forms. Sabat was getting the hang of Yamcha at this point, and Vollmer was mostly okay as Bulma. McFarland's Roshi may not be for everybody, but I think he made the voice mostly work even in the more serious moments. Granted, an actual old man would probably sound more appropriate, but I enjoyed McFarland enough. I rather enjoy Burgmeier's Tenshinhan. The Pilaf gang was top-notch, especially Huber's Pilaf, and you will not convince me otherwise. Overall, the voice direction was competent enough to not make me actively dislike the performances, even if there was a little awkwardness here and there and too much gravel on Sabat's Piccolos. Consistently decent scripts could have convinced me to give this dub a thumbs up, despite my misgivings with Nadolny's Goku. Alas, some of those scripts are REALLY off. They couldn't even get Piccolo Day right, for God's sake. A redub with the Kai cast would be a dream come true.

The dubs for the DB movies are so-so. I won't count Movie 1 here because the Funi dub was done in the Kai era (overall, I love it even though the recycled scripts hinder it quite a bit). Movie 2 is nearly unsalvageable. The script is waaaay off at points, adding way too much dialogue and trying to make references to the TV show when this is the movie continuity. The performances are super weak, but that's not surprising since this was Funi's first in-house DB production (if I remember right). You can even hear the difference in recording equipment between Sabat and the rest of the cast. It almost sounds like he recorded his lines after the studio upgraded their mics or something. Performance-wise, Laurie Steele's Kuririn and Sabat's Yamcha are probably the best. That's not saying much, though. Someone on this forum once described this dub as "archaic" - that's a pretty fitting word for it. It seriously needs a redub with the Kai-era cast.

Movie 3 is better, with the cast turning in okay performances (well, for the time, at least) and a script that wasn't too off the mark. I could do without the added lines, though. I'd still do a Kai cast redub for consistency.

The Path to Power dub is the best of the bunch, which is no surprise considering it was dubbed after the other two and the cast had been playing the characters for a while at that point. I actually think Nadolny did pretty well in this one, particularly with her cute, goofy Goku. I still like Clinkenbeard more, but Nadolny was pretty decent here. Vollmer, though... I don't know what the hell happened there. She sounds so ear-piercingly shrill in this movie. It's much worse than in the series or in the other movies. It's almost like she's doing a caricature of her normal Bulma performance, and I can't stand it. Everyone else was pretty good, I think, but I already liked most everyone else in these roles at this point so that comes as no surprise. The script, however, is pretty middling. Some stuff made it through okay, but added elements like the whole "Grandpa had to go away" thing take away a lot of points. Also, needlessly added dialogue strikes again. All in all, it's okay-ish. It would probably be fine to show to a newcomer to the series, though I'd rather show them the Japanese version. While this movie could technically do without a redub, I'd like one since it's my favorite out of the four DB movies.

Geez. What started as me simply praising the halfway decent aspects of the Z movie dubs turned into an unnecessary, detailed critique of the original DB dubs. I'm sorry.
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by ABED » Sat May 12, 2018 10:25 pm

Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan is a damn great dub. It's Kai level and almost word for word the original. If only the scripts for the rest of the dub had been that good, even with the actors they had, season 3 and 4 would've been a lot more palatable.
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sun May 13, 2018 3:00 am

The script for the first Broly movie is pretty damn good. I believe Sabat wrote it.
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by Dr. Casey » Sun May 13, 2018 5:51 am

Now that you mention it, I do have vague memories of reading that Movie 8 has a very accurate translation (I got the DVD for the movie the Christmas of 2003). Kind of like how with the original Dragon Ball dub from 1995 or so, episode 10 allegedly had a near-perfect translation that never detoured from the Japanese lines.
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Sun May 13, 2018 7:18 am

The Pioneer trilogy was completely and thoroughly made by Funimation, so if we're talking any Funimation dubs those three movies would be the best without question. Although since the OP is clearly referring to the in-house cast I'm going to say movies 12 and 13 are the best all around pre-Kai dubs. From script accuracy to performances and the option being there to watch with the Japanese score those movies were pretty solid. The Buu arc and original DB Funi dubs are overrated, they were certainly not as bad as the in-house cast's earlier work but there was still lots of room for improvement.
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sun May 13, 2018 1:47 pm

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote:The Pioneer trilogy was completely and thoroughly made by Funimation, so if we're talking any Funimation dubs those three movies would be the best without question. Although since the OP is clearly referring to the in-house cast I'm going to say movies 12 and 13 are the best all around pre-Kai dubs. From script accuracy to performances and the option being there to watch with the Japanese score those movies were pretty solid. The Buu arc and original DB Funi dubs are overrated, they were certainly not as bad as the in-house cast's earlier work but there was still lots of room for improvement.
This very much.

And the Cooler movie dubs are worth it for Andy Chandler's performance.
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by MasenkoHA » Sun May 13, 2018 1:57 pm

If the first 3 Pioneer movies don’t count than Dragon Ball

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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by DragonBallKing » Mon May 14, 2018 2:43 pm

I'd say the first broly movie as well, I watched it on Toonami like a year ago with the Kikuchi soundtrack and it was pretty damn good. Only inaccuraccy was I think they tried to hide the fact that Roshi was drunk but at least they got rid of that awkward line "Krillin your the best in Japan".
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by Robo4900 » Mon May 14, 2018 3:21 pm

WittyUsername wrote:I can’t speak much for the Blue Water dub of OG Dragon Ball, since unlike their dub of GT, I haven’t seen much from that particular dub (though I can’t say I’m a fan of the He-Man sounding opening they used)
That's fair.

I've gone through a decent chunk of the run of OG DB comparing the Mandelin subs to the Funimation, Blue Water, and -- where applicable -- BLT dubs, and making notes on the actual voices and such along the way. At every turn, BLT turned out superior to both other dubs, and while Funi and Blue Water are somewhat close in quality overall, Blue Water gets better as it goes along, and generally does a much better job at various things. The biggest advantage BW have is, of course, the scripts, which start out quite rough, but improve by leaps and bounds as the run goes on, to the point where from episode 30 onwards, they're pretty much universally superior to Funi's.
WittyUsername wrote:but as far as how the in-house Funimation dub compares to the BLT dub, I’m not really sure how the in-house dub is inferior. It’s not exactly a fair comparison to begin with, given that the BLT dub only lasted for 13 episodes and a movie
The acting was better, the scripts were a lot better, the overall approach to the dub was much more faithful to the intent and style of the original story, and the censorship was more seamless.
WittyUsername wrote:but the fact that the Funimation dub was visually uncut and kept the original music from the very beginning already gives it an advantage.
The original music I will grant you, but I don't think that's anywhere near as big of a deal as the other factors that it loses on...
And funny thing about "Uncut"...
Uncut does not mean uncensored, and unfortunately that's a particularly big problem in Funi's dub. BLT's had censorship, but it was generally pretty much seamless, while Funi's usually sticks out like a sore thumb. And since Funi carries pretty much all of BLT's non-visual censorship over, and even adds some of its own, the fact it's "Uncut" only takes you so far. You're getting heavy censorship with all three dubs(You could argue about which did it to the stronger degree, but the difference between each dub's level of censorship isn't very big), so my attitude is that censorship shouldn't be considered in such a comparison; only how well the dub portrays the original intent, style, and feel of the show, and how well the actors portray their characters.
WittyUsername wrote:Plus, beyond the first 13 episodes, the dub usually did a serviceable job of staying accurate to the Japanese version, even if it wasn’t without some very bizarre liberties to the script.
The bizarre liberties are exactly why it fails. In the cases where the original intent is in a line, more often than not, the focus of the line is changed to be more centred around one of Funimation's odd adaptations. So while the original intent is in there, the way the scene reads is completely changed. It's not a faithful dub. As an uncut dub, it is a complete failure, and as a TV dub, it's a bit iffy, and doesn't really stand up to either of the other two.

See here for Funi vs Blue Water:
[spoiler]Clyde Mandelin subtitles (Unknown year):
Bulma - By the way, what's your name?
Goku - Goku! Son Goku! What about you?
Bulma - Eh? Me?
Goku - Yeah!
Bulma - Bulma.
Goku - Bulma? What a funny name!
Bulma - That's why I didn't wanna tell you!
Goku - Bulma! (Laughs)
Bulma - Look, I don't like it either, you know! I hate kids!

Funimation in-house dub (2001):
Bulma - So kid, what's your name anyway?
Goku - My name is Goku; G-O-K-U. What's yours?
Bulma - Uhh... My name? Mine?
Goku - Uh-huh!
Bulma - Bulma.
Goku - Hm?... (Laughs) That's funny...
Bulma - Hey, Goku's not exactly normal, so there!
Goku - Yeah, but it's not as weird as yours!
Bulma - Hey, you be quiet. Bulma happens to be very elegant. It's a lot better than Goku, that's for sure!!

AB Groupe/Blue Water dub (2003):
Bulma - So, uhh... What's your name, kid?
Goku - My name's Goku. Well, Son Goku really. And you?
Bulma - Oh, me? Well...
Goku - Huh?
Bulma - Okay, it's Bulma.
Goku - Nice name... (Laughs)
Bulma - Yeah, what's so funny about Bulma, huh?!
Goku - (Laughs) It's weird!
Bulma - Oh really? Well my father is a doctor, and I think Bulma happens to be very eloquent.[/spoiler]

And Funi vs BLT:
[spoiler]Clyde Mandelin subtitles (Unknown year):
<Goku> (Points to Nimbus) This is great, Old-timer.
<Master Roshi> But of course it is! It's a fantastic cloud given to me by Kami-sama himself!
<Goku> Kami-sama? Wow!

Funimation/Ocean/BLT dub (1995):
<Master Roshi> I had a feeling I'd be seeing you again.
<Goku> I still have the Flying Nimbus! It's great!
<Master Roshi> You still have it?
<Goku> Uh-huh.
<Master Roshi> Well of course you do! That cloud was a gift from the heavens!
<Goku> Wow! I didn't know that! That's real neat!

Funimation in-house dub (2001):
<Master Roshi> I had a feeling I'd seeing you again.
<Goku> I still have the Flying Nimbus! It's great!
<Master Roshi> Still have it?
<Goku> Uh-huh.
<Master Roshi> I'm not surprised. Why if I didn't know better, I'd say that cloud was made for you.
<Goku> Yeah, we get along great! We're friends now.[/spoiler]
WittyUsername wrote:a 13 episode dub that took more liberties with the show
That's a common misconception. The BLT dub is actually significantly more faithful than Funi's in-house dub, with anything that isn't censorship generally being pretty faithfully adapted into English. Meanwhile, Funi's... Well... Yeah... >_>
WittyUsername wrote:Besides, as far as the voices are considered, the in-house dub had Brice Armstrong as the narrator, and that man has a fantastic voice.
Sure, I'll give you that. But the vast majority of the voice cast weren't that great at acting...
WittyUsername wrote:Anyway, I don’t want us to get into another long debate about the merits of the U.S. voices versus the Canadian ones, so we’ll have to agree to disagree.
Indeed. We've both made our points now, so if you want to drop this, I'm good to aswell.
Last edited by Robo4900 on Mon May 14, 2018 3:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by WittyUsername » Mon May 14, 2018 3:49 pm

Now that I think about it, I do have to wonder how exactly the dub of movie 8 would be perceived if it never used a replacement score to begin with. Would the dub of that film be viewed on the same level as the Pioneer dubs of movies 1-3 if it kept the Kikuchi score from the start?

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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by TheBigBoy » Mon May 14, 2018 8:57 pm

OmegaRockman wrote: I do think the dub has its high points, however. Laurie Steele is pretty great as young Kuririn, and I like how Merideth McCoy handles both of Lunch's forms. Sabat was getting the hang of Yamcha at this point, and Vollmer was mostly okay as Bulma. McFarland's Roshi may not be for everybody, but I think he made the voice mostly work even in the more serious moments. Granted, an actual old man would probably sound more appropriate, but I enjoyed McFarland enough. I rather enjoy Burgmeier's Tenshinhan. The Pilaf gang was top-notch, especially Huber's Pilaf, and you will not convince me otherwise. Overall, the voice direction was competent enough to not make me actively dislike the performances, even if there was a little awkwardness here and there and too much gravel on Sabat's Piccolos. Consistently decent scripts could have convinced me to give this dub a thumbs up, despite my misgivings with Nadolny's Goku. Alas, some of those scripts are REALLY off. They couldn't even get Piccolo Day right, for God's sake. A redub with the Kai cast would be a dream come true.
Going to second all of this. McFarland's goofy, put on "1840's gold prospector" voice grew on me after a while and I kinda like it in both the serious and goofy moments. It doesn't do a thing for me in Z but that might have to more to do with the overall portrayal of the character at that point. It'll be interesting to see what McFarland does with him in the ToP dub. Not a fan of Sabat's King Piccolo at all. He just took his normal Piccolo voice and made it more monstrous sounding and it doesn't really work for me at all. Huber's Pilaf is great.

Overall problems with the DB dub aside, I think it does a decent job of capturing the tone of the series better than Z did. Having the Kikuchi score goes a long way with me. I even think the dubbed versions of the opening and ending are decent. It would have been nice if they went ahead and dubbed the insert songs, or at least left them in as is.

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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by KBABZ » Mon May 14, 2018 11:23 pm

TheBigBoy wrote:Not a fan of Sabat's King Piccolo at all. He just took his normal Piccolo voice and made it more monstrous sounding and it doesn't really work for me at all.
I think it works fine, it helps him really stand out from snivvely Pilaf and the outraged Commander Red. For me where it doesn't work is when the voice is maintained through to Piccolo Jr., particularly like me if you're used to the more nuanced and sophisticated take used in Kai.
TheBigBoy wrote:I even think the dubbed versions of the opening and ending are decent. It would have been nice if they went ahead and dubbed the insert songs, or at least left them in as is.
I think the original language is part of the charm, particularly since many of the insert songs were for the RRA arc specifically where Goku travels the world. Plus when I put the Son Goku song back in for T1C, there was a great charm in having Nadolny and Nozawa coming into my ears at the same time! What's weird is that they kept the song for Goku heading to the RRA HQ.

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Re: What would you say was Funimation’s best (or least bad) pre-Kai dub of something Dragon Ball related?

Post by Robo4900 » Tue May 15, 2018 8:14 pm

TheBigBoy wrote:Not a fan of Sabat's King Piccolo at all. He just took his normal Piccolo voice and made it more monstrous sounding and it doesn't really work for me at all.
Yeah, I agree. He basically just sounds like a more brutish version of his normal Piccolo voice, which really doesn't fit the character at all, or convey the menace of the character. He just sounds like "strong burly guy #283". Wish they'd brought someone else in for that voice.
In the past, I've said that I think Bob Carter should have replaced Chris Sabat as Piccolo in Kai, and I'm going to further back that up and say I think Carter should have been brought in as King Piccolo, even if they kept Sabat as Piccolo Jr.; much as I'm rather mixed on Sabat's Piccolo Jr., and I'm fully willing to admit I'm probably far too harsh on that front, I will always stand by my opinion that his King Piccolo was just massively underwhelming.
TheBigBoy wrote:I even think the dubbed versions of the opening and ending are decent. It would have been nice if they went ahead and dubbed the insert songs, or at least left them in as is.
Agreed 100%.
It's a shame Funi didn't do dub versions of the Z OPs/EDs for the "Remastered" DVDs like they did for GT, because their English covers of DB's and GT's were really great.
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.

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