FUNimation Announces "Kai" License ("DBZ Kai")

[penguintruth]

Unless they do a massive recasting and rescripting for the English dub, I won't be buying any of this lazily cobbled together nonesense. Sean Schemmel at least has to go.

Hell, even if they do, I'd only be getting the Namek stuff.

Freeza is probably the major voice change we want the most. FUNi can use the guy who played Cooler.

No, the guy who plays Coola doesn't quite have the sound for Freeza, either.

(And please, Freeza and Coola, or Freezer and Cooler, but don't mix and match like Funimation.)

[Amigo Ten]

I'll say it. I like Funi Freeza. It's different, but as far as I'm concerned it works (campy script aside). The Japanese VA does a fine job too, but that isn't Freeza's voice in my head, and I don't think anything else ever will be.

[LeprikanGT]

Why exactly is everyone flipping their shiz over Funi adding a Z to a DragonBall Z show? It's a revamp of DBZ not DB, so I'm alright with the Z there. Other shows have done that and it's been just fine.

And if people are going to buy this, there SHOULD NOT be any surprise as to what it is because they should research what they are going to buy.

And I'm definitely buying this [aside from being Funi's piggy bank] because I watched the Frieza vs Piccolo fight and it looked AMAZING, so of course I want to see how the whole show gets treated. While watching Z I always dread certain filler so this should be great.

EDIT: I love Funi Frieza too. It sticks out more so than a lot of the other voices.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

I'll say it. I like Funi Freeza. It's different, but as far as I'm concerned it works (campy script aside). The Japanese VA does a fine job too, but that isn't Freeza's voice in my head, and I don't think anything else ever will be.

I'm siding with this one. I know there is a BIG demand for a new Freeza and I KNOW I'm the minority but I like Linda Young as Freeza. Given the proper script I think she will do well(the proof is in the video games). Let's face it, these actors have been doing these roles for over 10 years. I doubt there is going to be any major replacements, seeing as how if Funi really wanted to replace people they would have done it already.


I just want them to stick to the original script, original music (English openers and closers would be cool too), and if they stick to this I'm sure the dub will be far greater than their first attempt.

[m121akuma]

Cast LittleKuriboh as Freeza and MasakoX as Goku and then we'll talk.

Seriously though, I doubt we'll get a dub change. The Funi Z dub is far too popular and lucrative in the States for Funi to attempt to muck with it.

Even if they did change it, I've become too accustomed to the JPN version to care at this point, really.

I will admit, although I love Z, the thought of having a version of the series that I can collect in its entirety without breaking the bank (due to its significantly smaller size) is highly tempting, so I'll probably end up picking it up, assuming Funi makes the release as affordable as the season sets and Dragon Boxes are.

But again, I cannot stress enough how awesome a streaming simulcast would be. It's doing wonders for some of Funi's other properties.

[Tanooki Kuribo]

Why exactly is everyone flipping their shiz over Funi adding a Z to a DragonBall Z show? Its a revamp of DBZ not DB, so I'm alright with the Z there. Other shows have done that and its been just fine.

Well the way some people feel is, all you have to do is dub the show into English and distribute it. Thats it. Don't mess with anything else. But hey, I guess that's marketing for ya. :\

[penguintruth]

If they want to treat the material seriously, they'll replace a lot of the voices. Otherwise, they might as well just take bits of their current dub and splice it together for the Kai dub.

[Tsukento]

Am I the only one who hopes this results in a streaming simulcast a la One Piece and FMA:Brotherhood? It seems like a logical direction.

Seems a wee bit late for that.


As for Linda Young, the reason we want change is because her voice does NOT work for the Freeza we know. It simply doesn't. It doesn't capture the essence or character in the same way as Ryusei Nakao or even the Mexican voice actor portrayed him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOuVgGQs85A

[Godo]

It's just a "Z", and I doubt that it will take much technical efforts to put a "Z" in the new logo. They have made masterpieces before when putting trees here and there when a character is naked.
In America, most of their audience started watching Dragonball Z first and got to know there was a Dragonball later. So to avoid confusion, since "Dragonball Z" is seen as the "real" Dragonball for most of the American audience except for people that roam Dragonball forums, they put a Z there.
And in the end, it should have been called Dragonball Z Kai (or Sûppaa Doragonbooru Zetto), so that they would be able to make a similar thing with early Dragonball, pre-Z.

In the end, they want to market their show too, so if I was a head of the marketing of Dragonball Kai, I would have added a "Z" to avoid confusion, because of that people are that dumb.

[Greenman]

his would be straight to Bluray or do you think DVD as well? EVERYTHING I have now is DVD BUT I have the VHS and switched to DVD so I guess Bluray would be an interesting change.

There's no way that FUNimation will release Kai on Blu-ray only.

Personally, I hope that:

a) FUNi makes an accurate dub
b) They get Kai on TV somewhere
c) Kai is in fullscreen on Blu-ray
d) Kai Blu-rays and DVDs have cheap box sets like DB/Z/GT

[Savage68]

Seriously though, I doubt we'll get a dub change. The Funi Z dub is far too popular and lucrative in the States for Funi to attempt to muck with it.

Unless Chris Sabat is a goddamn liar, a 'faithful dub' would entail a faithful cast of actors, as well.

And if we're talking about dub Frieza, he didn't even sound so bad until the Android saga.

[nathantheguitarist]

DragonBall Z on Blu-ray: I can't imagine this not being released on Blu-ray over here. My only hope is that it gets the widescreen version. I know some people are against that, but for this, I think it fits pretty well.

So what is everyone else looking forward to.... or not looking foward to?

I'm going to say I'm looking forward to the opposite. Aside from them screwing up the dub (which I'm not entirely interested in), I see them releasing the Blu-Rays in 16:9 messing up this release. It goes back to the Orange Bricks, and I have a problem with it in the same way I do the original series: If it was made in 4:3, then release it in 4:3. If you want it wide, then just use the zoom feature. I'm sure most, if not all HDTVs have the option.

I was going to point out some junk about the name change, but that's been covered. All I'll say is that it makes perfect sense, because most American DBZ fans are very uneducated when it comes to this series. But that's fine though, because there's so god damn much of it.

I am very dissapointed in FUNimation's decision to change the name of the series. Very.

Don't be dude. They could've easily called it "Dragonball Z HD" or "Dragonball Z 9000!!!!" or something.

And dammit Tsukento, you just reminded me that I want Z in Spanish on DVD. ....

[pjay]

Ooh! I didn't know that. Sweet. I had no idea that they used the correct framing for the Blu Ray release.

Look I'm really just hoping for an accurate dub this time. I'm of course still going to buy the whole series of Dragon Boxes. Also I've looked at those in widescreen perspective and they don't look to bad, I'm assuming that's what Kai looks like. Full 1440 x 1080p would have been preferable, but as long as that full image is in it I really don't see a problem.

Well it depends.

Kai is 16:9 in its broadcast airings and on DVD, but 4:3 on Blu-ray.

[m121akuma]

Am I the only one who hopes this results in a streaming simulcast a la One Piece and FMA:Brotherhood? It seems like a logical direction.

Seems a wee bit late for that.

Considering the fact that One Piece started being simulcast a couple of years ago, and the series has been on the air for over 10 years, I don't think it's necessarily "too late". Even with it being significantly shorter than Z, I think we probably still have a good year left in Kai. Start simulcasting in the summer, release older episodes from the beginning alongside the current ones, like OP has been doing, and it could totally work.

[Tsukento]

The thing there is that most people into One Piece have been watching fansubs for a good long time. Simulcasting OP was their way of trying to stomp down on fansubs while bringing in those fans already watching.

DB is a different audience, for the most part.

[pjay]

Look I really don't care about the voice as much as the US dub being faithful to the original Japanese script. Also, about Funimation making it "Dragon Ball Z Kai" instead of "Dragon Ball Kai," is it seriously that big of a deal? I mean that's like when Viz instead of calling the whole Dragon Ball Manga "Dragon Ball" they call the first part Dragon Ball and the second part Dragon Ball Z. Also about the Fun Z dub being popular, really?

Cast LittleKuriboh as Freeza and MasakoX as Goku and then we'll talk.

Seriously though, I doubt we'll get a dub change. The Funi Z dub is far too popular and lucrative in the States for Funi to attempt to muck with it.

Even if they did change it, I've become too accustomed to the JPN version to care at this point, really.

I will admit, although I love Z, the thought of having a version of the series that I can collect in its entirety without breaking the bank (due to its significantly smaller size) is highly tempting, so I'll probably end up picking it up, assuming Funi makes the release as affordable as the season sets and Dragon Boxes are.

But again, I cannot stress enough how awesome a streaming simulcast would be. It's doing wonders for some of Funi's other properties.

[SHINOBI-03]

I really don't care about the voices they'd choose as long as the script is faithful to the original.

Remember... FUNimation saved One Piece from 4Kids and they are redubbing the show with better treatment than before.

If they can do it with other new shows, why not Kai?

[mysteriousdbzgt]

"Dragon Ball Z Kai"? Really, they needed to change the name, anyway... I hope Funimation decide to do a re-dub of the show and re-write the script, make it more accurate to the original, if they don't it won't bother me that much as I watch the Japanese dub anyway. Still deciding whether I should decide to buy the Dragon Box or just wait till this release comes out.

[Tanooki Kuribo]

Remember... FUNimation saved One Piece from 4Kids and they are redubbing the show with better treatment than before.

Yea, but FUNimation dubbed DragonBall Z so it would be like saving it from themselfs....? ::shrugs:: I know what you mean though.

[m121akuma]

The thing there is that most people into One Piece have been watching fansubs for a good long time. Simulcasting OP was their way of trying to stomp down on fansubs while bringing in those fans already watching.

DB is a different audience, for the most part.

True, but various other series have been getting the simulcast treatment that weren't widely downloaded already, or were brand new series without established fansubbers. I'll admit it's probably unlikely, especially due to DBZ's established place in the market and fears of it competing with itself too much, but I don't think it's entirely out of the question.