Is the dub of the Buu saga good?

[VejituhTheWarriorGuy]

Or is it at least watchable because I want to know if I should buy the Buu saga of Z on Blu Ray or wait til the Kai Buu Saga comes out on Blu Ray.

[B]

No.

People are going to come into this thread with 8,001 qualifiers -- The cast improved; the scripts improved; the added dub lines feel more in-character; the casting for new characters was better because they weren't beholden to sounding like the replaced Ocean cast -- but the bottom line is it's still very poor overall. The Faulconer score is still a nuisance(watching with the Kikuchi score feels pointless to me as all that silence really highlights how poor much of the acting is).

I don't know what to tell you about buying. Waiting for the Kai version seems laughable to me at this point; I sincerely believe it's not coming. At this moment in time, there's no acceptable, watchable version of DBZ episodes 200-291 in English. I guess if you somehow already like the dub before that, then in that case, you will probably continue to. Hunt down FUNi's DRAGONBOX Volumes 6 and 7, I suppose is the best answer I can give.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Or is it at least watchable because I want to know if I should buy the Buu saga of Z on Blu Ray or wait til the Kai Buu Saga comes out on Blu Ray.

Well, bottom line, there's a 99% chance that the Kai dub for the Buu arc is going to be better than its DBZ counterpart. Even if they were to use the exact same scripts (which is not likely, those will probably be better too), it'd probably still be better just by virtue of the fact that everybody involved has had a lot more experience.

Having said that, the dub for the Buu arc of DBZ is...eh, OK. It marks the point at which FUNimation was starting to get the hang of what the show and characters really are. The key word there, though, is "starting." I'd give it a 6.5/10 overall, with certain scenes and episodes ranking higher or lower than this overall average. I mean, the scene where Vegeta and Piccolo talk before Vegeta sacrifices himself--and even the actual sacrifice itself--is an 8.5/10, in my opinion. I know a lot of people aren't fond of the "English Voices With Japanese Music" audio track, but I guess I'm one of the oddballs who really liked that track and felt that it improved the experience.

All that to say...I'd stop short of calling it "good," but I can't call it "poor overall" in a world where the dreaded "Season 3" dub exists.

[VejituhTheWarriorGuy]

Or is it at least watchable because I want to know if I should buy the Buu saga of Z on Blu Ray or wait til the Kai Buu Saga comes out on Blu Ray.

Well, bottom line, there's a 99% chance that the Kai dub for the Buu arc is going to be better than its DBZ counterpart. Even if they were to use the exact same scripts (which is not likely, those will probably be better too), it'd probably still be better just by virtue of the fact that everybody involved has had a lot more experience.

Having said that, the dub for the Buu arc of DBZ is...eh, OK. It marks the point at which FUNimation was starting to get the hang of what the show and characters really are. The key word there, though, is "starting." I'd give it a 6.5/10 overall, with certain scenes and episodes ranking higher or lower than this overall average. I mean, the scene where Vegeta and Piccolo talk before Vegeta sacrifices himself--and even the actual sacrifice itself--is an 8.5/10, in my opinion. I know a lot of people aren't fond of the "English Voices With Japanese Music" audio track, but I guess I'm one of the oddballs who really liked that track and felt that it improved the experience.

All that to say...I'd stop short of calling it "good," but I can't call it "poor overall" in a world where the dreaded "Season 3" dub exists.

So, wait for Kai?

[TheBlackPaladin]

Or is it at least watchable because I want to know if I should buy the Buu saga of Z on Blu Ray or wait til the Kai Buu Saga comes out on Blu Ray.

Well, bottom line, there's a 99% chance that the Kai dub for the Buu arc is going to be better than its DBZ counterpart. Even if they were to use the exact same scripts (which is not likely, those will probably be better too), it'd probably still be better just by virtue of the fact that everybody involved has had a lot more experience.

Having said that, the dub for the Buu arc of DBZ is...eh, OK. It marks the point at which FUNimation was starting to get the hang of what the show and characters really are. The key word there, though, is "starting." I'd give it a 6.5/10 overall, with certain scenes and episodes ranking higher or lower than this overall average. I mean, the scene where Vegeta and Piccolo talk before Vegeta sacrifices himself--and even the actual sacrifice itself--is an 8.5/10, in my opinion. I know a lot of people aren't fond of the "English Voices With Japanese Music" audio track, but I guess I'm one of the oddballs who really liked that track and felt that it improved the experience.

All that to say...I'd stop short of calling it "good," but I can't call it "poor overall" in a world where the dreaded "Season 3" dub exists.

So, wait for Kai?

Well, it's up to you, but if it were me, I would. It's hard to imagine, given FUNimations' recent track record, that it wouldn't be at least a marginal improvement over the DBZ dub (and, again drawing on their track record, it's likely to be far more than a marginal improvement).

Sure it has taken a long time to come out, but I don't get the impression that it's a FUNimation thing, because only a handful of other countries have gotten around to dubbing the Buu arc. It may take a while to come out, but it's coming.

[VegettoEX]

I hate to be that guy, but as you read through the thread here with all the qualifiers... don't you just have to ask yourself, "Why not just watch it in Japanese?"

I mean, if you're concerned with an accurate script and the characters being themselves, that's what the original version is there for, and it's been widely available for years. I mean, I guess there's always the, "But I want to watch it in English!" viewpoint... b-but... like... it's right there. The show's right there! It's waiting for you! Why wait for a product that may never exist when a perfectly fine alternative (read: the original version, which isn't an alternative at all!) is right there?

[TheBlackPaladin]

I hate to be that guy, but as you read through the thread here with all the qualifiers... don't you just have to ask yourself, "Why not just watch it in Japanese?"

Or that.

[sintzu]

Or is it at least watchable because I want to know if I should buy the Buu saga of Z on Blu Ray or wait til the Kai Buu Saga comes out on Blu Ray.

If you want a fast paced story and great acting with accurate scripts then wait for Kai.

If you can't wait and are OK with filler and average acting with somewhat changed scripts then get the Z Blu-Rays.

[ABED]

If someone was asking me to evaluate the Buu arc's dub, I would say it was on average a C- at best. If I was asked what version of the show to watch, I would take Mike's advice - watch the original. Then I would watch the Kai dub b/c I think the dub of Kai is better than the JPN version. I would preface that last point by saying that I haven't seen Kai's Buu arc, but if the rest of the JPN version of Kai is any indication, I'll still prefer the dub over the original.

[TheBlackPaladin]

If someone was asking me to evaluate the Buu arc's dub, I would say it was on average a C- at best. If I was asked what version of the show to watch, I would take Mike's advice - watch the original. Then I would watch the Kai dub b/c I think the dub of Kai is better than the JPN version. I would preface that last point by saying that I haven't seen Kai's Buu arc, but if the rest of the JPN version of Kai is any indication, I'll still prefer the dub over the original.

That's actually a very good suggestion! DBZ will provide you with the better Japanese version, and Kai will (in all likelihood) provide you with the better English version.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I hate to be that guy, but as you read through the thread here with all the qualifiers... don't you just have to ask yourself, "Why not just watch it in Japanese?"

I mean, if you're concerned with an accurate script and the characters being themselves, that's what the original version is there for, and it's been widely available for years. I mean, I guess there's always the, "But I want to watch it in English!" viewpoint... b-but... like... it's right there. The show's right there! It's waiting for you! Why wait for a product that may never exist when a perfectly fine alternative (read: the original version, which isn't an alternative at all!) is right there?

That's all well and good, but there's nothing wrong with a dub fan looking forward to seeing the Buu saga with the improved Funimation cast.

I like the Japanese version myself, but as a Kai fan I like the option of having both Japanese Z and English Kai.

[VegettoEX]

That's all well and good, but there's nothing wrong with a dub fan looking forward to seeing the Buu saga with the improved Funimation cast.

I like the Japanese version myself, but as a Kai fan I like the option of having both Japanese Z and English Kai.

Right, and I literally just acknowledged that in the very post you're quoting .

But... so like was already described, the original dub isn't all that great, and the Kai dub is vaporware. At what point do you just have to say: do I want to watch it right now (i.e., watch it in Japanese), or do I continue to indefinitely wait (i.e., keep waiting for that Kai dub)?

[VejituhTheWarriorGuy]

That's all well and good, but there's nothing wrong with a dub fan looking forward to seeing the Buu saga with the improved Funimation cast.

I like the Japanese version myself, but as a Kai fan I like the option of having both Japanese Z and English Kai.

Right, and I literally just acknowledged that in the very post you're quoting .

But... so like was already described, the original dub isn't all that great, and the Kai dub is vaporware. At what point do you just have to say: do I want to watch it right now (i.e., watch it in Japanese), or do I continue to indefinitely wait (i.e., keep waiting for that Kai dub)?

I mean, I could watch it in Japanese but that just goes to a problem that I have in general. I have a hard time switching from dub to sub because I'm usually just so used to the dub and I'm just so used to watching Dragon Ball dubbed after 17 years. But hey, I did end up switching to subbed One Piece when the dub eps ran out and I'm going to go back and rewatch the eps that I watched subbed when they come out dubbed so I might be able to but then again, the DBZ dub is far different from OP's dub.

[Valerius Dover]

Well, it was the Buu Arc dub that gave us this.....whatever this is supposed to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lvsVfa3Yg

[ekrolo2]

Well, it was the Buu Arc dub that gave us this.....whatever this is supposed to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lvsVfa3Yg

What the actual fuck

[TheBlackPaladin]

...but then again, the DBZ dub is far different from OP's dub.

Well...funny you should say that...

For a long time, I thought fans of the original version were unnecessarily angry and hateful towards dub fans. I think a small part of that was because the "discussions" about the dub and the subtitled version took place on YouTube, where maturity and coherence are not big concerns...but the argument that got me to see where fans of the subtitled version were coming from was this:

"How are the (4Kids) One Piece and DBZ dubs that different?"

It was kind of a mind-blowing bombshell. Now, don't get me wrong, I do still believe that the 4Kids One Piece dub is worse, but not because it had more problems than the DBZ dub...rather, I think it's worse because it had all of the DBZ dub's problems, but to a greater extent. Greater extent or no, every problem the 4Kids One Piece dub has had, the DBZ dub has (or, at least, had at some point):

-Scripts that were not even remotely close to the original dialogue.
-Different characterizations.
-Some mis-cast voice actors.
-Sub-par acting.
-Upper management that wasn't particularly concerned with faithfully adapting the original story.
-Bad direction.
-Minor story alterations.
-Replaced musical score (no longer technically a problem beginning with the release of the orange bricks).
-Censorship (placed last since the DBZ dub is now at uncensored).

The DBZ dub improved with time and lessened these problems, whereas the 4Kids One Piece dub didn't, so like I said, the 4Kids One Piece dub is still worse...but I wouldn't call it "far different."

[Lord Beerus]

Well, it was the Buu Arc dub that gave us this.....whatever this is supposed to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lvsVfa3Yg

What the actual fuck

I'll never let FUNimation live down their dubbing of Killa. What the fuck were they thinking? Did they actually think this was funny?

[Valerius Dover]

Well, it was the Buu Arc dub that gave us this.....whatever this is supposed to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lvsVfa3Yg

What the actual fuck

I'll never let FUNimation live down their dubbing of Killa. What the fuck were they thinking? Did they actually think this was funny?

I'm pretty sure they'll have him sound normal in The Final Chapters, at least.

[Soppa Saia People]

Well, it was the Buu Arc dub that gave us this.....whatever this is supposed to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lvsVfa3Yg

What the actual fuck

I'll never let FUNimation live down their dubbing of Killa. What the fuck were they thinking? Did they actually think this was funny?

It's like Punch - Out!!! but a lot worse.

Nvm.

[VejituhTheWarriorGuy]

...but then again, the DBZ dub is far different from OP's dub.

Well...funny you should say that...

For a long time, I thought fans of the original version were unnecessarily angry and hateful towards dub fans. I think a small part of that was because the "discussions" about the dub and the subtitled version took place on YouTube, where maturity and coherence are not big concerns...but the argument that got me to see where fans of the subtitled version were coming from was this:

"How are the (4Kids) One Piece and DBZ dubs that different?"

It was kind of a mind-blowing bombshell. Now, don't get me wrong, I do still believe that the 4Kids One Piece dub is worse, but not because it had more problems than the DBZ dub...rather, I think it's worse because it had all of the DBZ dub's problems, but to a greater extent. Greater extent or no, every problem the 4Kids One Piece dub has had, the DBZ dub has (or, at least, had at some point):

-Scripts that were not even remotely close to the original dialogue.
-Different characterizations.
-Some mis-cast voice actors.
-Sub-par acting.
-Upper management that wasn't particularly concerned with faithfully adapting the original story.
-Bad direction.
-Minor story alterations.
-Replaced musical score (no longer technically a problem beginning with the release of the orange bricks).
-Censorship (placed last since the DBZ dub is now at uncensored).

The DBZ dub improved with time and lessened these problems, whereas the 4Kids One Piece dub didn't, so like I said, the 4Kids One Piece dub is still worse...but I wouldn't call it "far different."

Well, I was talking about the FUNi dub of OP being far different from their Z dub.