Is the dub of the Buu saga good?

[Mewzard]

I have no doubt whatsoever that we will get the FUNi dub of the Buu Arc of Kai eventually (we're not talking the Ocean Dub of Kai here).

I get the feeling they're possibly under contract to get a TV airing first, but since the block that airs Kai (Toonami) is only half way through the old Kai episodes, they're probably just stuck waiting for it to wrap up before they can air it (it would be odd to be airing the Trunks material and the Buu Saga material at the same time).

Personally, I would wait for the Kai dub of the Buu Arc over watching the old Z dub. The original Japanese release of Z is an option, if you enjoy the original cast (I do, I can enjoy both the Kai dub and Z sub, though my personal preference leans ever-so-slightly towards the Kai dub). If you don't...I would suggest waiting. If you can enjoy both, then do Z sub now, Kai dub later.

Seems to me a reasonable way to handle it.

[Chuquita]

I don't remember much about old Funi Buu, but I do remember that's where:

"If I know my anatomy, that way's the southern exit!"
"Look Vegeta, popcorn people!"

and

'Some creative fake-cursing from Vegeta involving galactic/galaxy and Namek' (I don't recall the exact wording).

came from, so it's probably not the most accurate of dubs.

[Xeztin]

I don't remember much of the Buu Dub either, though I do know that as a kid it felt like a master piece and now it's "ehh". The Kai voice acting/script changes is 100x better and I'm glad they took the time to do it. Kai Buu Dub will definitely release, and I think it will air on Toonami before it releases to DVD.

[Vijay]

The script is still butchered & lines are still awful/corny to match the lip-syn. And the music is still...well. Its there.

If there's anything thats "good" about it, only 1. Sean's portrayal of Goku has improved by leaps & bounds. Dats all. If you admire Goku, then you'll love Boo Arc

The rest, meh.

Rather watch Jap or Kai treatment of Boo Arc

[Kamiccolo9]

People popcorn was fucking brilliant. Funi Buu Arc gets a 10/10 just for that.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Basically as others have said, it's leaps and bounds better than previous work done on the series (though really, you can already see small improvements made over time just going from 'season three' to the Androids/Cell era stuff, gradually - not to the point of being 'acceptable' to most, mind you, but it's there), but still nowhere near what they're capable of nowadays. Or hell, what they were doing in the video games after we'd already gotten the bulk of the anime franchise. If you can stand the dub for earlier parts of DBZ, even with a grimace, then you can probably bear with the Boo arc's dub well enough as well. But if the previous stuff was still painful for you...well, it's better, but maybe not enough for you to roll with.

People popcorn was fucking brilliant. Funi Buu Arc gets a 10/10 just for that.

Agreed 100%. Honestly I feel that and the 'wait until the fish jumps' bit from movie 7 to be the best jokes the dubs ever added.

[precita]

Its actually the best dub of the original DBZ dub. This is around the point Chris Sabat and Sean Schemmel perfect/nail their characters, even though they would continue to refine their voices after.

The new voices for Videl, adult Gohan, Goten, kid Trunks, Buu, Dabura and Babidi especially are all great. They all settle into their roles almost immediately. In fact almost all the new casting choices were good including Buu.

The Super Saiyan 3 theme and Pikkon's theme are also still godly.

[DBZAOTA482]

It's a lot better than most of what proceeded it. The FUNimation cast were starting to find their own identity rather than shamelessly mimicking the ocean dub, the soundtrack hit a stride with memorial tracks, and the dialogue is more matured... but no, it's not really "good" on technical terms. The scripting is still full of discrepancies, lines that alter scenes/characters completely, unnecessary dialogue to scenes with no dialogue at all, and still has moments of corny jokes/cheesy one-liners. Not to mention the soundtrack still won't shut the fuck up.

[Vijay]

@precita

I like slight variance was given to Videl & Kid Trunks despite same VA. Dabura's voice was perfect, while Babidi was over-the-top at times. Speaking of overall: vocal range, lines & portrayal of said characters

What I cannot digest is them wrecking Boo's portrayal. The goddamm Arc revolves around him!!

Fat Boo was purposefully made to sound soft & dumb. While his Jap voice convey child-like innocence & sudden shift into terrifying demon convincingly

Super Boo was fine. Especially Gotenks-Boo when he played mind-games against Ultimate Gohan was great. But it was too much of Perfect Cell rip-off

Good Boo was abysmal. Kid Boo, final boss villain was turned into a monkey/baboon parody. His shrieks & maniacal laughs in Jap wad creepy as f***. Funi Dub however treated him as "just another guy Goku & Veggie need to beat" routine.

Boo isnt a deep, thought-provoking villain. But there needs to be certain degree of respect when you play a character as featherweight as Boo to "connect" with the fans. Take Goku for example. Nozawa-san infuses so much spirit & energy into Goku's featherweight character which makes him endearing as Chibi Goku, and confident & matured guy as Adult

Dub totally mishandled Boo's character imo

[Lord Beerus]

People popcorn was fucking brilliant. Funi Buu Arc gets a 10/10 just for that.

Agreed 100%. Honestly I feel that and the 'wait until the fish jumps' bit from movie 7 to be the best jokes the dubs ever added.

Oh, I loved that line, too. I always get a kick out of watching it again.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Who said the "popcorn people" line? Because, I'll be honest, even if FUNimation made it up....that actually does sound like something that Goku, with his lack of intelligence and obsession with food, would say.

[Gyt Kaliba]

It was Goku himself who said it, yup (the link in Lord Beerus's post is to it, actually).

[LuckyCat]

'Some creative fake-cursing from Vegeta involving galactic/galaxy and Namek' (I don't recall the exact wording).

came from, so it's probably not the most accurate of dubs.

I think Vegeta's line is something along the lines of "Do you want the whole Universe to die?"

To be fair, I haven't seen FUNimation's take on the Buu saga entirely. However, I've been subjected to some really terrible lines that have now come and gone as memes. I'm not sure how anyone could defend the delivery of those lines, and hearing it now makes me all the more astonished how much better things have gotten for FUNimation in recent years.

[Chuquita]

You've just reminded me of another one:

Vegeta's "I've ridden galactic slugs faster than this."

while in the airplane on the way to the tournament.

[Gyt Kaliba]

I forgot about the galactic slugs. So Vegeta clearly has no problem riding slugs, it's just worms that are a no go? We're learning more about him every day.

[sbk]

Yes. Not as good as Kai but I really like the new voices for Goten, Gohan, Videl, and the voices for the old characters have improved.

And the Faulconer dub soundtrack is excellent this arc

[fadeddreams5]

The English dubbed Buu saga is great.

Of course, if you're just basing its quality on how well it faithfully adapts the original, then it's no different than the rest of the dub: garbage. Like VegettoEX said, just watch the original version if that's all you're looking for.

If you were to personally ask me which version I prefer, it's no ****ing contest, the dub is better. Some of the most iconic lines and scenes are present in it, and the music is awesome (see: Vegeta vs Pui Pui).

[Kuririn Fan]

The English dubbed Buu saga is great.

Of course, if you're just basing its quality on how well it faithfully adapts the original, then it's no different than the rest of the dub: garbage. Like VegettoEX said, just watch the original version if that's all you're looking for.

If you were to personally ask me which version I prefer, it's no ****ing contest, the dub is better. Some of the most iconic lines and scenes are present in it, and the music is awesome (see: Vegeta vs Pui Pui).

I agree with the second paragraph.
Is it good? No, no it is not. Watch the original version.

[ABED]

Of course, if you're just basing its quality on how well it faithfully adapts the original, then it's no different than the rest of the dub: garbage.

That's not a fair assessment. Having watched the entire dub with original subtitles on, I can attest to the dub's dialog being much better. It's still not great but not as abysmal as season 3.

[8000 Saiyan]

Not really. There are some good voices such as Brannan's Babidi, Robertson's Dabura and Hebert's Gohan, but there are also bad ones such as Goten, Killa and Trunks. Sabat's Vegeta still sounds forced and he alternates between his grunting ogre and his Kai voice for Piccolo. The worst voice however is Majin Buu. Buu is just intolerable in all English dubs. The dub has also cringy puns, unnecessary dialogue changes and music that just keeps on playing.

I'm sure that Kai's Buu Saga dub will be a thousand times better.