"Dragon Ball Super" Bang Zoom Dub Official Discussion Thread

[TheBlackPaladin]

I don't think a company ever should recast based on the reaction to a short clip. If that were the case, FUNimation would have re-cast Chris Ayres as Freeza after the first episode with him in it aired, because he only had one line, and the reaction wasn't particularly ecstatic. Then more episodes aired and everybody's opinions changed pretty quickly!

[Super Sonic]

I have a question regarding this dub. How come it's being recorded by Americans for an Asian broadcast? Do the fans over there prefer the neutral North American accents in their English anime dubs, or are there not a lot of actors in the countries where this is airing? Recall something similar happened with Powerpuff Girls Z where its dub was recorded in Canada, but didn't air in Canada. Kinda wondered with the Big Green dub as well as there were other anime dubs in England that were recorded in North America. Did the British otaku not want British accents or what?

[TheBlackPaladin]

I have a question regarding this dub. How come it's being recorded by Americans for an Asian broadcast? Do the fans over there prefer the neutral North American accents in their English anime dubs, or are there not a lot of actors in the countries where this is airing? Recall something similar happened with Powerpuff Girls Z where its dub was recorded in Canada, but didn't air in Canada. Kinda wondered with the Big Green dub as well as there were other anime dubs in England that were recorded in North America. Did the British otaku not want British accents or what?

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever know the answer to that question. However, I highly, highly doubt it has anything to do with what fans did or didn't want. I doubt any sort of formal surveys or questionnaires were sent out asking fans what dub they wanted to see or anything like that. In all likelihood, this dub exists for the same reason the Big Green dub, the Speedy dub, and other quirky situations like the Singaporean English dubs of One Piece and Yu-Gi-Oh! exist: there was just an incredibly weird loophole in the licensing rights that allowed for these dubs to exist.

Incredibly weird loopholes in the licensing rights that allow for other dubs of Dragon Ball shows to exist seems to be a recurring theme with the English dubs of Dragon Ball shows. It seems that for every Dragon Ball show that has ever been released, there will always be a "Mainstream Dub" (FUNimation) and an "Alternative Dub" (Ocean/Blue Water/Bang-Zoom/AB Groupe/etc). It's one of the things that keeps Dragon Ball interesting, in my opinion!

[Attitudefan]

That Goku is trying to sound exacly like Schemmel! His grunts are nearly exact copies...

Oh, how it stings that Ocean got cancelled and we will never see a dub with it's direction in the DB franchise again. The days of an official Goku that sounds like Kelamis/Nozawa in English is dead and buried.

I'm appalled. I'm shocked. I'm disappointed. The Vancouver VAs would have been thousands of times better (as it even helps with a nostalgia factor) and has its own take on the characters rather than Funimation copy-cats. The irony is not lost on that last point either.

Feh! Why can't Funimation just license a Canadian dub themselves if the Canadian producers can't get their shit to air?

This whole scenario is a joke! Pitiful it turned out this way.

[SSJ YUSUKE]

Am I the only one who has no problem with Goku's voice? It's really not as bad as people are making it out to be.

[NitroEX]

Oh, how it stings that Ocean got cancelled and we will never see a dub with it's direction in the DB franchise again. The days of an official Goku that sounds like Kelamis/Nozawa in English is dead and buried.

I'm appalled. I'm shocked. I'm disappointed. The Vancouver VAs would have been thousands of times better (as it even helps with a nostalgia factor) and has its own take on the characters rather than Funimation copy-cats. The irony is not lost on that last point either.

Feh! Why can't Funimation just license a Canadian dub themselves if the Canadian producers can't get their shit to air?

This whole scenario is a joke! Pitiful it turned out this way.

Funimation most likely don't want an alternate dub to exist. If it were up to them they would be the only English dub available on the market which I'm glad isn't the case.

Toei are the real ones to blame for this stupidity, they chose to go with Bang Zoom and not Ocean despite their history with the franchise. Hell, it was probably within their power to have Ocean's Kai dub broadcast in the asian territories like they did with Power Puff Girls Z (another Ocean dub) but no, instead they've decided to go with a new studio for Super who have no experience with the franchise and who seem to be taking cues from Funimation. I wish I knew what their logic was with all this.

[gokaiblue]

I was optimistic about this dub.....until I heard Goku. Lex Lang has some shining moments, but his Goku sounds a bit too generic and deep. Maybe he's better in future episodes, but I'm not sure. Ah well, for Americans such as myself, it won't matter anyway. We'll still have FUNimation dubbing the series, and if people don't like it, there's always the Japanese original.

Also, is that Barbra Goodson voicing Goten? It sounds good!

[sangofe]

Well, here's Goku: https://youtu.be/oshoRDqLRJc

I'm disappointed (my expectations were too high). Who's voicing him there?

It does, in fact, amusingly seem to be Lex Lang (Gohan from the Final Bout dub, actually), whom many of us were discussing just a moment ago, lol. I cannot believe it, it's his Kenshiro/Goemon voice doing a Schemmel impression (or a Nozawa impression, which comes with the matter of dubbing overall). This is insane & I cannot believe it exists.


It would have been more amusing & a hilarious meta-casting if Kyle Hebert (Gohan's FUNi VA, & a definite sound-alike to Lex) had voiced Goku here, & Lex Lang..returned to voice Gohan. That being said...nah, I'm not happy with this. I'll give it a chance, but I was really wanting a performance more in line with the original VO. This is much deeper than Schemmel & also its obviously nothing like Kelamis or any previous VAs. Lex would have made a far, far better Tenshinhan, Piccolo, Zamasu, Hit. His voice is more like He-Man than it is Goku. I love Lex, but why u do this to me Bang Zoom?! lol

With what they're doing here with imitating the FUNi VAs, I'm definitely pegging Richard Epcar (Batou), Paul st Peter (Nine-Tailed Demon Fox), or perhaps Chris Terglaferia (Mohammad Avdol from JJbA) as Vegeta or Piccolo, although the latter as Beerus'd be great.

Fingers still crossed for Matt Mercer as Zamasu though. Maybe Chris Smith'd or Keith Silverstein'd be fine, too.

You're saying you'll give it a chance; will you be able to watch full episodes of this dub?

[Nightmare Wheel]

That Goku is trying to sound exacly like Schemmel! His grunts are nearly exact copies...

Um... no? When was the last time you heard a Kenshiro-style Kiai from Sean Schemmel?

[sangofe]

That Goku is trying to sound exacly like Schemmel! His grunts are nearly exact copies...

Um... no? When was the last time you heard a Kenshiro-style Kiai from Sean Schemmel?

If he imitates something it's the high pitches of Schemmel when Goku's excited.

[SaintEvolution]

The biggest question is: who is this guy dubbing Goku?

It's Lex Lang? Or other person? Can't you guys recognize it?

That voice reminded me Ian Sinclair, but of course it's not him.

[TheBlackPaladin]

The biggest question is: who is this guy dubbing Goku?

It's Lex Lang? Or other person? Can't you guys recognize it?

That voice reminded me Ian Sinclair, but of course it's not him.

It hasn't been officially confirmed. However, once a trailer and/or clip comes out, that means that whatever actor was featured in that trailer and/or clip is free to start admitting it was them. So, if someone wants to ask Lex Lang on Twitter, he is--unless it's a special circumstance--cleared to admit it now if he so desires.

[Attitudefan]

That Goku is trying to sound exacly like Schemmel! His grunts are nearly exact copies...

Um... no? When was the last time you heard a Kenshiro-style Kiai from Sean Schemmel?

It was mostly the sounds he made near the beginning of the clip. I could hear Schemmel coming from him. But there is clearly inspiration taken from Schemmel's Goku by this new guy.

Funimation most likely don't want an alternate dub to exist. If it were up to them they would be the only English dub available on the market which I'm glad isn't the case.

Toei are the real ones to blame for this stupidity, they chose to go with Bang Zoom and not Ocean despite their history with the franchise. Hell, it was probably within their power to have Ocean's Kai dub broadcast in the asian territories like they did with Power Puff Girls Z (another Ocean dub) but no, instead they've decided to go with a new studio for Super who have no experience with the franchise and who seem to be taking cues from Funimation. I wish I knew what their logic was with all this.

Indeed. I honestly believe people at Funimation don't want Ocean to get a shot again. Remember, Schemmel was so sour about the whole thing back in 2010 here on this forum!!!

Toei and Funimation probably colluded to make sure Funimation to maintain high marketability in North America.

[Cure Dragon 255]

...By denying it airtime in Canada. If that is indeed true, then I'm REALLY dissapointed in them.

[TheBlackPaladin]

For clarification, the reason the Ocean dub of Kai never aired was because Canadian TV networks were not interested, not because of any efforts on Toei or FUNimation's part. There is no FUNimation vs Ocean conflict going on. Quite the contrary, they worked with each other on the edits. For that matter, the members of both casts have been largely civil and complimentary towards one another.

I don't know for certain why the alternative dub for Super is being done by Bang-Zoom instead of Ocean, but quite frankly, it doesn't strike me as an illogical business decision. Whoever the producers of the Ocean dub of Kai were, they paid for a 98-episode dub that TV networks rejected. That's a lot of money spent on a dub that will never be seen. As a fan, I think an Ocean dub of Super would have been cool, but looking at things from Toei's point of view, I could absolutely see why they'd be hesitant to hand Super over to Ocean again after they weren't able to talk TV networks into airing their dub. Toei may not have the highest confidence in Ocean's business skills anymore.

[NitroEX]

For clarification, the reason the Ocean dub of Kai never aired was because Canadian TV networks were not interested, not because of any efforts on Toei or FUNimation's part.

While that is true... There was that one rumour from alleged insider source (SubZero Ice) mentioning that Toei had a part to play in the UK not getting a choice in the matter. If that's true then they're at least partially responsible. The UK was the main market for the westwood dub, don't forget.

As a fan, I think an Ocean dub of Super would have been cool, but looking at things from Toei's point of view, I could absolutely see why they'd be hesitant to hand Super over to Ocean again after they weren't able to talk TV networks into airing their dub. Toei may not have the highest confidence in Ocean's business skills anymore.

Well, tbf, Ocean's business skills had nothing to do with their dub getting aired or not. It was the responsibility of whoever commissioned them to produce the dub. Ocean had no hand in it outside of providing the audio track. They were paid to complete their end of the bargain and (as far as we know) they accomplished their end of the deal with no issues aside from the odd bit of leaked info (which Funimation have also been guilty of).

Toei and Funimation probably colluded to make sure Funimation maintain high marketability in North America.

See... At one point I originally thought this might be the case but, with the Bang Zoom dub being a thing that exists at all I'm not so sure anymore. If Funimation and Toei are in bed with eachother then why bother commissioning another English dub in the first place? Especially one that wouldn't even fulfill the requirements of the CRTC (Like a Canadian dub would).

The whole thing seems like such a bizarre waste of money to me. Was the BZ Super dub just a preemptive move on Toei's part to forgo the need for a Funimation dub? Maybe Funimation did something to put their Super dub in jeopardy like accidentally offending Toei or not dubbing Final Chapters quickly enough. On the other hand it might have just been a simple case of Funimation's DB dubs not performing well in asian markets for whatever reason. We'll probably never know.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

The whole thing seems like such a bizarre waste of money to me. Was the BZ Super dub just a preemptive move on Toei's part to forgo the need for a Funimation dub? Maybe Funimation did something to put their Super dub in jeopardy like accidentally offending Toei or not dubbing Final Chapters quickly enough. On the other hand it might have just been a simple case of Funimation's DB dubs not performing well in asian markets for whatever reason. We'll probably never know.

As far as I am aware everything DB releated was aired with the FUNi dub and the fact the BZ dub is basically FUNi-lite I don't think that's the case. What I think happened is there was a miscommunication between the Toei branches or the fact Asia were to air it in July and FUNi dub obviously not ready by then probably caused the commission of the BZ dub and then that ended up getting delayed for unknown reason and we're here now.

What the smart play would be is to swap over to the FUNi dub once the BZ eps are done.

[90sDBZ]

The whole thing seems like such a bizarre waste of money to me. Was the BZ Super dub just a preemptive move on Toei's part to forgo the need for a Funimation dub? Maybe Funimation did something to put their Super dub in jeopardy like accidentally offending Toei or not dubbing Final Chapters quickly enough. On the other hand it might have just been a simple case of Funimation's DB dubs not performing well in asian markets for whatever reason. We'll probably never know.

As far as I am aware everything DB releated was aired with the FUNi dub and the fact the BZ dub is basically FUNi-lite I don't think that's the case. What I think happened is there was a miscommunication between the Toei branches or the fact Asia were to air it in July and FUNi dub obviously not ready by then probably caused the commission of the BZ dub and then that ended up getting delayed for unknown reason and we're here now.

What the smart play would be is to swap over to the FUNi dub once the BZ eps are done.

Pretty much this. I seriously doubt Toonami Asia would have bothered licensing the entirety of Funimation Z and their movie dubs if their previously aired Kai dub had been poorly received by viewers. And the fact that the Bang Zoom cast are impersonating Funimation pretty much confirms Toonami Asia have no issues with the Funi cast. I can definitely see a switchover happening for them at some point, unless there's been some sort of legal issue behind the scenes preventing it.

[Super Sayian Prime]

I think this dub was Toei's fail-safe to make sure they received international revenue from Super while it's still relevant. Just look at the debacle that is Kai: The Final Chapters. That show was created for the west, but more than 2 years after its Japanese debut it's shown up in fewer than 10 foreign markets. It'll likely enter calendar 2017 with 0 officially announced sales in the English speaking world. That limits the franchise's profile significantly and hurts merchandise sales among those who weren't already diehards. Who's to blame for that? Ultimately, Toei, for waiting 3 years to revive Kai, but at this juncture it's Funimation. We know their dub has been finished for ages but it's as MIA as Ocean's dub of the first 98. As so many international markets are reliant on Funimation's materials and their productions don't premiere outside the US, that means Toei hasn't received license revenue from the UK, Australia, South East Asia, South Africa and every other market that derives releases from the US one. Kai: TFC is now old news. Very few people care about it. They might still sell the show to those markets, but it'll be at a diminished rate thanks to new content. Based on this, maybe Toei felt Funimation wouldn't be able to get a Super dub out in a reasonable amount of time, so they commissioned their own. Think about it. Toei sold the "English-language premiere" of Super to Toonami Asia over a year ago and they're only now getting the show.

Why Bang Zoom and not Ocean? Maybe Toei knows Canadian broadcast is a lost cause and figured there's no reason to pander? Given what we've heard of this Super dub, it seems like there was a deliberate attempt to try to do soundalikes. We don't know what Ocean's dub of Kai sounds like, but from the leaked cast members, I get the sense they weren't gunning for 1:1 clones of the people who cloned them. If Toei were looking for a dub that wouldn't be jarring in markets that received Funimation's one, recasting would be likely. From what I can tell, this isn't a SAG dub, so that's money saved.

[TheBlackPaladin]

From what I can tell, this isn't a SAG dub, so that's money saved.

Here's an interesting note on that. I have a few friends who have been in some non-union Bang-Zoom dubs, and while it probably wouldn't be appropriate if I revealed their non-union rate, I can say that it's surprisingly close to SAG-AFTRA scale (unless it's a union dub with a TV deal, in which case residuals come into play and then the actors involved make way more money). Non-union acting jobs, by definition of being non-union, don't have standardized rates, so it's not as though every dubbing company pays the same rate. The thing is, Los Angeles is a very expensive place to live, so because the dollar doesn't go as far out in LA as it does in (almost) every other part of the country, LA-based dubbing companies tend to pay actors higher non-union rates than dubbing companies in other parts of the country.

Put another way...without disclosing what the rates are, the Bang-Zoom dub is actually going to end up being more expensive than the FUNimation dub, despite that also being a non-union dub. So it's interesting that the dub that won't be as widely seen is, in fact, going to be the more expensive one. That would also be an interesting parallel with some of the other "alternative" English dubs that were done through the Canadian union, ACTRA (which has rates even higher than SAG-AFTRA). Kind of weird how the dubs that aren't as widely seen seem to end up being more expensive.

For clarification, the reason the Ocean dub of Kai never aired was because Canadian TV networks were not interested, not because of any efforts on Toei or FUNimation's part.

While that is true... There was that one rumour from alleged insider source (SubZero Ice) mentioning that Toei had a part to play in the UK not getting a choice in the matter. If that's true then they're at least partially responsible. The UK was the main market for the westwood dub, don't forget.

True, I meant to say "Toei and FUNimation," as in I don't believe it was a tag-team effort. I believe Sub-Zero Ice when he supplied that info, as he has proven completely reliable thus far. Man, he's like the Keyser Soze of Dragon Ball...this all-knowing guy in the shadows, but instead of being all-knowing about the criminal underworld, he's all-knowing about Dragon Ball dubs.

As a fan, I think an Ocean dub of Super would have been cool, but looking at things from Toei's point of view, I could absolutely see why they'd be hesitant to hand Super over to Ocean again after they weren't able to talk TV networks into airing their dub. Toei may not have the highest confidence in Ocean's business skills anymore.

Well, tbf, Ocean's business skills had nothing to do with their dub getting aired or not. It was the responsibility of whoever commissioned them to produce the dub.

Also very true, I meant to say the producers behind the Ocean dub, not Ocean themselves.