What is the best (and most faithful) dub?

[ronaldnorth_03]

What is the best (and most faithful) dub? Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball Kai? It's because?

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

What is the best (and most faithful) dub? Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball Kai? It's because?

I would definitely have to say Kai, as FUNi went the extra mile to try and ring much closer to the original compared to the old Z dub. The improvements in the dub cast that had come in the decade plus made a big difference not to mention far more accurate scripts and less of the type of changes that had been so common when FUNi went in house back in 1999, and there is also the benefit of the almost near total abandonment of a good degree of the mentality that they had prior to that. Namely the idea that they need corny jokes and ZOMG!!!! hardcore rock music to attract a certain viewing audience but just keep it as much "as is" as possible.

Kai is definitely the superior and most faithful dub in my eyes, it's an example of what can be done when you try to stay as close to the source as possible.

[Kokonoe]

In terms of English, it would be Kai. I'd be interested in hearing people who speak other languages chiming in here.

That said, one thing to note is that the anime itself is not exactly 100% faithful to the manga in a few areas so I always recommend reading the manga if you want the most "accurate" story. You can read most of it here on vizmanga for 2$ a month.

https://www.viz.com/read

[NewKakarot]

I have a soft spot for the Spanish (or Latin American) dub. I started with the English dub, but I didn't watch the whole series until I moved to Mexico for a few years. While I haven't watched the whole series with that dub in years, I remember it being very faithful to the Japanese original (at least compared to the Funimation dubs until Kai). I also love the opening songs in Spanish, they keep the feel and excitement of the Japanese versions, unlike the English dub with Rock the Dragon and the Bruce Faulconer theme. I never watched their version of Kai, but from what I've heard from other fans, it's not very good and they replaced some of the voice cast (such as Mario Castañeda's Goku).

One issue I do remember with this dub is that the audio quality wasn't very good. It sounded like they were recorded with a low-end microphone (but that may have just been due to a poor signal on our antenna)

[eledoremassis02]

I have a soft spot for the Spanish (or Latin American) dub. I started with the English dub, but I didn't watch the whole series until I moved to Mexico for a few years. While I haven't watched the whole series with that dub in years, I remember it being very faithful to the Japanese original (at least compared to the Funimation dubs until Kai). I also love the opening songs in Spanish, they keep the feel and excitement of the Japanese versions, unlike the English dub with Rock the Dragon and the Bruce Faulconer theme. I never watched their version of Kai, but from what I've heard from other fans, it's not very good and they replaced some of the voice cast (such as Mario Castañeda's Goku).

One issue I do remember with this dub is that the audio quality wasn't very good. It sounded like they were recorded with a low-end microphone (but that may have just been due to a poor signal on our antenna)

I have the Latin American dub on DVD and the audio is what you describe I think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUdz_1QlWyg I thought maybe it was the poor encoding *might be* but did it always sound like this?

[NewKakarot]

I have the Latin American dub on DVD and the audio is what you describe I think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUdz_1QlWyg I thought maybe it was the poor encoding *might be* but did it always sound like this?

Yeah, that's pretty much how I remember it

But what I watched wasn't the original Latin American run, so maybe they just have the same issue as the Japanese audio? Only way to find out would be if someone had a VHS tape from when it first aired.

[ZodaEX]

There isn't a "best dub". The dubs are different in so many ways that it's subjective what is best.

[Danfun64]

What is the best (and most faithful) dub? Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball Kai? It's because?

There is a LOT to unpack there. Different series have different dubs in many different languages. I'm assuming you're only looking at the English side of things.

Spoiler:

In my opinion, the Funi dub of both Kai ep 1-98 and The Final Chapters (99-167) is better than either the Funi or the Ocean dub of the Z episodes. Much of the dialogue has been corrected (though sometimes it has lines that are almost identical to the Z dubs, and sometimes it adds errors of its own), it doesn't replace the soundtrack (Funi didn't anyways. The first set of episodes were originally composed by Yamamoto, but when it was revealed that he was a huge plagiarist, Toei replaced the score with poorly placed recycled Z Kikuchi music. The Final Chapters has always been composed by Sumitomo) and it's more consistent since it was recorded with being uncut in mind from the start as opposed to the mess between the heavily edited Ocean/Saban dub (ep 1-53 cut numbering) or the Ultimate Uncut dub's attempt to replace it (ep 1-67 uncut numbering).

I think that the best option for DBZ Movies 1-3 is the Ocean/Pioneer dub, and the best option for GT is the Blue Water dub (despite having a handful of cuts, it was recorded with the original Tokunaga score in mind and is more faithful/accurate overall compared to the Funi dub with it's Menza score). The best dub of "Bardock - Father of Goku" is the xXInfinite026Xx fandub found here.

The Battle of Gods, Resurrection 'F' and Super Broly movies only have one English dub, Funimation's. They're all decent choices (well the first two are, anyways. Haven't seen Super Broly yet). DB Movie 4 (Path to Power) has only two dubs. Go for the Funimation dub, because the alternative (Speedy's dub) has poor voice acting that is hard to understand. Similarly, the Funi dub is the only meaningful choice for DBZ Movies 12-13. Lastly, the only meaningful dub of the GT special is the Funi dub since the only other dub it has received (the Big Green dub) is missing. (The Funi dubs for DBZ Movie 12-13 and the GT Special originally had replacement music, just to warn you.)

The DB trilogy (DB Movies 1-3): Funi's dub of DB Movie 1 is in the same category of revisionism as the Ultimate Uncut redub of DBZ ep 1-67 and DBZ Movies 1-3, the Speedy dub of DB Movies 2-3 isn't worth mentioning, and the Big Green dub of DB Movies 1-3 is mostly missing ATM, so you're only two real options are BLT DB Movie 1 + Funi DB Movies 2-3 or Harmony Gold DB Movies 1&3 (yes, that's an & and not a - as HG didn't dub DB Movie 2). The HG dub has lots of name changes, but is slightly more faithful in DB Movie 1 and significantly more faithful in DB Movie 3. Unfortunately, the experience is dampened due to trying to write DB Movie 2 in it's entirety out of the story, and both the Goku/Krillin training montage and Blue's introductory scene are cut. It skips from Goku departing King Gurumes' land (which fades out a few seconds before the scene finishes in the uncut version) to head to Master Roshi's, to the Pilaf Gang getting killed by Tao Pai Pai, to the first throne room scene where the Crane Hermit is introducing the Dragon Radar to Chaozu. In other words, the first time Krillin and Launch are seen is the plane scene. On the other hand, Funi DB Movie 2 has a dub error in the form of the assumption that Goku already went Oozaru and lost his tail, which assumes that the film is a sequel to the Pilaf Saga of the show instead of the first movie.

DBZ Movies 4, 7-9, and DBZ Special 2 all have a choice between Funimation's dub (which used a replacement score: 4, 8, and DBZ Special 2 had licensed "real bands" music), the Big Green dub (based off the infamous French translation, and is somehow even worse. The dub gets that name because Piccolo was renamed "Big Green"), and the Speedy dub (again, you're not going to want to make that your primary way of watching the show). DBZ Movies 5-6 are in the same situation but have another alternate dub in the form of the Fillipino dub. Unfortunately, it's not available outside of a poorly compressed Real Media file from the late '90s, and even if that wasn't the case the script is fairly inaccurate. DBZ Movies 10-11 are in a similar situation as DBZ Movies 5-6, but don't have a Big Green dub, and the upload of the Fillipino dub is in much better quality and has a much better script... but it's fairly rare, the acting is poor, and the sound mix is very poor.

Next things to note are the original DB series and Super. The BLT dub of the DB series only covered the first 13 episodes (the Pilaf saga), is the only dub of the original show to have a replacement score, and butchers Master Roshi in such a way that his portrayal contradicts EVERY OTHER portrayal (instead of lusting for young, hot babes, he wants an innocent (albeit "impure") relationship with an elderly woman. How this is problematic is brought up almost immediately in DB ep 14, where Goku arrives and sees Roshi watching some exercise tapes). Since the Funi and Blue Water dubs of the original DB series cover the whole series, and since the show flashes back to Pilaf saga scenes, it would probably be better to watch one of those two dubs instead. You could make an argument for either dub, in my opinion. Funi's dub has the advantage of being uncut, slightly more consistent, and flowing better with the Z/Kai dubs. Blue Water has a better sound mix, is more professional, and becomes more accurate than Funi's dub close to the half way point (though as a warning, it's accuracy is worse than Funi's and BLT's in the Pilaf saga and to a lesser extent Funi's take of the 21st Tenkaichi Tournament saga). The main dub of Super is Funi's dub, though Bang Zoom did it's own of the first 27 episodes (covering both the Battle of Gods saga and the Resurrection 'F' saga), in a similar situation of BLT DB (Roshi's character is censored in a way no other dub has done (gambling debts, anyone?), the script is more accurate than the Funi dub, these episodes are flashed back to in the next saga (Universe 6 Tournament)). Again, at this point watching the Funi dub is the safer bet.

TL:DR

Funi Kai
Pioneer DBZ Movies 1-3
xXInfinite026Xx DBZ Special 1
Blue Water GT
Either Funi OG DB or Blue Water OG DB
Funi DBZ Movies 12-15, DB Movie 4, DBGT Special, Super Movie 1
Funi Super

The rest is up to you. (I was going to talk about Z series dubs as well, but I'm too tired ATM xD . Also, I probably didn't describe the dubs as detailed as I would've liked)

[Robo4900]

The only actually good and faithful dubs that are just straight-up good work on the whole are Funi Kai, Super, and a few of the movies, the Pioneer movies, and Blue Water GT.

The ones that are a mixed success are Blue Water DB, BLT DB, a few of the Funi movies, Saban Z, and Westwood Z, with a bunch of these either being iffy in or straight-up faililng in accuracy, but still being solid for what they are in and of themselves(Saban and Westwood Z; hampered by poor scripting, but the cast does wonders to the work), or being almost there but not quite sticking the landing for one reason or another(BW DB, BLT DB, and a few of the Funi movies kind of nearly get there, but either Funi decides to make some random, major changes to the plot or characterisations, BW has a bunch of cutting inherited from AB Groupe as well as occasional weirdness in a scene or two of a script, and BLT DB had a replacement score, and never really got going, unfortunately).

And the failures are Funi DB, Z, GT, and a bunch of the movies. And Speedy, I guess.
Admittedly, Funi DB is somewhat borderline here, but I consider it a failure because it's supposedly an uncut dub. The way it was produced, one could probably excuse a lot of what went on if it was just a TV dub and there was an uncut version that didn't have a bunch of the issues it has, but unfortunately that is not the case.

Big Green is in a category all on its own, much in the same way one would categorise The Room among their favourite filmgoing experiences.

[JohnnyCashKami]

The Mexican-Spanish and Brazilian-Portuguese dubs of Dragon Ball in general are easily the best foreign dubs ever made, then for newer best dubs.. French Kai, Catalàn Kai, Galego Kai and FUNimation's English Kai dub. Oh, the Ocean Dub of Z Movies 1-3, for sure, too.

I've checked out the Kai dubs of MX-ES and BR-PT, and they're not as good as their older dubs but still entertaining.

Would like to throw in Blue Water dubs of DB and GT but haven't seen just how good they really are, though I really like it.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

In terms of English dubs it would have to be the 3 recent movies, the Pioneer trilogy and Kai. Just fantastic all around for retaining the spirit of the Japanese version, feeling the same tonally, thematically, its just top notch work in every regard.

The Super dubs have been solid for the most part in terms of scripting, but not without their flaws. Funimation's dub has some added jokes that aren't necessary (although some are downright terrible like Hits' Donut line) but if you take them away its a very well made dub. Bang Zoom's dub also has good scripting, although it can be a bit too literal and clunky at times.

Blue Water's dubs have pretty decent scripts, even if GT throws in some corny jokes ("if you want to land a hit you should join a boyband", "bring it on momma's boy", "shocking, isn't it, etc) but for the most part don't take away from the experience.

Funimation's Dragon Ball dub is the most middle of the road of all their works. Decent scripts a lot of the time, but tends to play it much safer than Blue Water's dub and isn't really as uncut as it claims to be.

The other movie and special dubs by Funimation are a mixed bag ranging from decent (DBZ movies 8, 12, 13) to downright awful (DB movie 2, Bardock special).

Dragon Ball Z's dubs are products of their time and as such Americanize the scripts six ways to sunday. Obviously both Funimation's inhouse dub and the Westwood dub share almost identical scripts so not much else to say there. Not that faithful.

The Saban and BLT dubs are enjoyable if taken for what they were created to be, a Japanese anime transformed into a cheesy saturday morning style cartoons with wacky dialogue and heavily censorship especially when it comes to death. Not faithful but funny to look back on at any rate.

As for the Big Green dubs, I have nostalgia for movie 2 as my mam bought me the DVD way back when. They are entertaining, I'll let that child alone.

Funimation's GT dub is just plain awful.

[ABED]

The dub of DBZ movie 8 is very accurate and made better with the original score.

Funimation's GT dub is just plain awful.

No worse than Z's.

[8000 Saiyan]

Funimaion's GT dub went more overboard with the superhero shtick for Goku way more than Z did.

[ABED]

Funimaion's GT dub went more overboard with the superhero shtick for Goku way more than Z did.

That alone doesn't make it worse. I'm not even so sure that's true. I can take that over the horrific scripts and brutally amateur VA's forced to be sound alikes.

It's not uncommon for me to see the opinion that GT's dub is the worst of them, and not even by a frog's hair. It's just not true. Z's dub is an F. GT is a D.

I'd say the most faithful dubs are Kai (even though there are annoying hold overs), Ocean dub DBZ movies 1-3 (wish they didn't have Kelamis), and DBZ movie 8.

[Danfun64]

The Team Faulconer music for Z had a big range. Sometimes it was pure electronic, sometimes it was orchestral, sometimes it was heartwarming, sometimes it was lighthearted and silly, sometimes it was dark... and unfortunately sometimes it was edgy as HFIL.

The Menza GT score is pretty much dark and/or edgy all the time, even in the more lighthearted moments.

[JohnnyCashKami]

The Team Faulconer music for Z had a big range. Sometimes it was pure electronic, sometimes it was orchestral, sometimes it was heartwarming, sometimes it was lighthearted and silly, sometimes it was dark... and unfortunately sometimes it was edgy as HFIL.

The Menza GT score is pretty much dark and/or edgy all the time, even in the more lighthearted moments.

You're commenting on replacement scores, not dubs. To be fair, the Faulconer score is alright but I can't stand Menza's "music."

[MasenkoHA]

I don’t get where this idea the Faulconer score has range is coming from. 90 percent of it sounds the same

[Robo4900]

even if GT throws in some corny jokes ("if you want to land a hit you should join a boyband", "bring it on momma's boy", "shocking, isn't it, etc) but for the most part don't take away from the experience.

People like to bring that up, but these were very rare, and pretty much if someone's going to criticise BW GT, they'll bring up episode 55, the Vegeta flashback episodes -- which is where "Momma's boy" came from -- where BW seemed to drop the ball on the translation for no discernible reason. Rest of the run was pretty much spot-on; even where the scripts didn't literally capture all of the original Japanese dialogue, the intent and general vibe of the line was rendered great, and you do get a proper feel for the show.
Essentially, BW GT's scripting is comparable to Funi's scripting on Kai 1.0.

Funimation's Dragon Ball dub is the most middle of the road of all their works. Decent scripts a lot of the time, but tends to play it much safer than Blue Water's dub and isn't really as uncut as it claims to be.

It really isn't decent; it's just as bad as the work they were doing on Z at the same time, but with a lot more censorship than Z tended to have. In fact, you get the sense it was pretty much recorded as a TV dub, with only lines that wouldn't work with the uncut footage being done with an "Uncut" version for home video. So, stuff like Blue's paedophile speech is censored, but Roshi nosebleeding on the invisible man after Bulma's boobs are flashed at him isn't censored.

Dragon Ball Z's dubs are products of their time and as such Americanize the scripts six ways to sunday. Obviously both Funimation's inhouse dub and the Westwood dub share almost identical scripts so not much else to say there. Not that faithful.

Westwood did change a few small pieces of terminology; instant transmission became instant translocation, which is more accurate Though that's not really worth much more than the curiosity; the scripts are indeed on the exact same level.
However, I will note the vibe of the Westwood dub is a lot closer to the Japanese than Funi's dub, as unlike the Funi dub's way of blaring loud edgy stuff every second of the show's run, Westwood tended to quietly play tracks of a more atmospheric feel, making for a more low-intensity vibe that gets the feel of the show down much better than Funi's dub did.
And I guess there's the situation with Killa, who was actually given real dialogue in the Westwood dub, unlike Funi's. Though that is quite a small correction.

There are a few performances that are much better analogues to the Japanese too; Scott McNeil's Boo comes to mind, which had much more of the creepiness of Boo than Josh Martin's Z-era performance.

The Saban and BLT dubs are enjoyable if taken for what they were created to be, a Japanese anime transformed into a cheesy saturday morning style cartoons with wacky dialogue and heavily censorship especially when it comes to death. Not faithful but funny to look back on at any rate.

The BLT dub is actually the most accurate dub of the first 13 episodes of DB. Their scripts were reused by Funi, and actually made significantly less accurate, and almost none of the censorship was undone. BW used altered, corrected, better-flowing versions of Funi's scripts that BW worked on themselves, but BLT was still more accurate.

Funimation's GT dub is just plain awful.

A million times yes. It's hard to really grasp the depth of Funi's GT dub's awfulness without having seen one of the other versions that got it right, and settling into and gaining an appreication of what GT is. But once you're there, the depth of Funi's failure on GT becomes apparent, and... It's really quite baffling. It's easy to hate on Funi's DB, Z, and movie/special dubs, but there's a reason they found an audience that stands by them to this day, and while the competing Ocean dubs generally did a much better job at what Funi were trying to do, Funi certainly put in the effort, and had a real passion behind them, so it does end up having a certain narm charm. Funi's GT just... Falls down. It sucks.

[ABED]

A million times yes. It's hard to really grasp the depth of Funi's GT dub's awfulness without having seen one of the other versions that got it right, and settling into and gaining an appreication of what GT is. But once you're there, the depth of Funi's failure on GT becomes apparent, and... It's really quite baffling. It's easy to hate on Funi's DB, Z, and movie/special dubs, but there's a reason they found an audience that stands by them to this day, and while the competing Ocean dubs generally did a much better job at what Funi were trying to do, Funi certainly put in the effort, and had a real passion behind them, so it does end up having a certain narm charm. Funi's GT just... Falls down. It sucks.

Hard disagree. You're saying GT failed to find an audience that stands by them due to the dub, but the reason people stand by DB and DBZ isn't because of the quality of the dubs, but because the show itself. GT has never been loved by the west. The problem isn't coming primarily from the dub, it's coming from the series itself. GT's dub is not the worst, it's on par with the previous series.

[Robo4900]

A million times yes. It's hard to really grasp the depth of Funi's GT dub's awfulness without having seen one of the other versions that got it right, and settling into and gaining an appreication of what GT is. But once you're there, the depth of Funi's failure on GT becomes apparent, and... It's really quite baffling. It's easy to hate on Funi's DB, Z, and movie/special dubs, but there's a reason they found an audience that stands by them to this day, and while the competing Ocean dubs generally did a much better job at what Funi were trying to do, Funi certainly put in the effort, and had a real passion behind them, so it does end up having a certain narm charm. Funi's GT just... Falls down. It sucks.

Hard disagree. You're saying GT failed to find an audience that stands by them due to the dub, but the reason people stand by DB and DBZ isn't because of the quality of the dubs, but because the show itself. GT has never been loved by the west. The problem isn't coming primarily from the dub, it's coming from the series itself. GT's dub is not the worst, it's on par with the previous series.

Given GT got on just fine everywhere that wasn't the USA or Japan -- and even Japan liked it just fine, everyone was just kind of done by the midpoint of the Boo arc, so its ratings continued the slow downward trend the Boo arc had, as if the ratings bump of the end of Z hadn't happened...

I don't think the dub is the only reason GT failed, but I would say the presentation of Dragon Ball in the west generally is largely to blame for GT's hate in the west. It's not just GT's dub that's to blame, though; this goes back to Z's HARDCORE EDGY approach, which was amped up even higher for GT. If GT, the series in its original form, had been more like Z, then honestly it probably would have got on much better in the west, but it wasn't, and it didn't.
GT, compared to its forerunners, is much more a lighthearted, sentimental, goofy space opera with an almost melancholy feel, a much more intimate cast somewhat akin to the very early run, and a lot of time and effort devoted to some fairly subtle character stuff. It didn't always succeed, naturally; Piccolo's end comes too suddenly, Pan's progression was a bit weird and could have done with a longer run so she could get a Super Saiyan moment or something... But it did okay, and brought Dragon Ball to a satisfying and definitive conclusion.
The problem is, combine what GT is with what Funimation was doing with Dragon Ball, and it stops being just a case of Funi fudging the show in a weird edgy direction, and it becomes just a vastly transformative thing. And it's not just their presentation of GT, it's what people were expecting from the presentation of Z, from all the marketing and the OP/ED of GT, etc. Everything was pointing to GT being THE NEXT, EDGIER, MORE HARDCORE LEVEL OF DRAGON BALL ZEEEEE... And it wasn't. In fact, it's a rather huge departure from what Dragon Ball had been for a long time, in most ways. And the more it came into its own as the weird sentimental thing it was, the more it found itself, and the more it fell out of flavour with what Funi was presenting Dragon Ball as, and the less it was destined to grip with American audiences.

GT's dub taken on just the merits of the acting quality, script accuracy & flow, etc. is of basically the same standard as the later Z dub. Arguably slightly better since the score is not as in your face, so its awfulness doesn't quite jump out so strongly. But the tone of it is all wrong, and jars just so massively against everything GT is supposed to be.

I don't think GT would have become the one true classic amazing follow up to DB&Z that we all wanted if Funi hadn't screwed it up so badly, but it wouldn't be hated like it is now. It'd be the somewhat disappointing follow-up that does some interesting things, and has its advocates, but generally doesn't measure up to the utter, undisputed classics its forerunners were... And time would probably be quite kind to it.
But as it stands, GT is considered some kind of unholy abomination unto god in the western fandom. Latin American fans, Japanese fans, etc. reflect on GT in the modern day quite positively in my experience, even if the Japanese ratings at the time were exactly what was to be expected for more Dragon Ball following the mass exodus in the mid-Boo arc. So, there's definitely something going on, and this is my theory. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it's a pretty strong theory.