Is It Time For A Redub? Dragon Ball (OG)

[Dragon Ball Gus]

Hey everyone! welcome to a new thread series that I'm gonna be putting out called, "Is It Time For A Redub?", where we're gonna be talking about old Dragon Ball properties dubbed by Funimation and whether it's time for them to put out a redub of those properties that's in the same way they dubbed Kai, Battle of Gods, Resurrection F, and Super. And in this first entry, we're gonna be talking about the one that started it all, OG Dragon Ball. Is it time for Funi to put out a more accurate, better acted dub of the original, or do you think the old dub is fine the way it is?

[sintzu]

I'd love for DB to get a re-dub and Blue ray release but that's never going to happen due to it not being as profitable as Z (which itself never got a redub) and Super currently being ongoing. The only way that'll happen is if Japan gives it a Kai release which is even less likely.

[Dbzfan94]

It could use an improvement but Stephanie Nadolny wouldnt be Kid Goku so I'm not interested.

[TheGreatness25]

There's really no reason for a redub, in my opinion. The biggest determinant of this would be the question of what this dub would accomplish. Would this be broadcasted? If it would be broadcasted, then maybe it would make sense. But as far as a DVD/Blu-ray/streaming release, the Japanese subtitles are available, so there's that "definitive" version right there. I don't know if a new redub would sell enough to justify the costs of producing it.

[precita]

Not with that new kid Goku voice they use now.

The original Dragonball Goku voice is perfect.

[90sDBZ]

I don't think it needs one to be honest. Anyone who cares about accuracy would probably stick with the Japanese version in the long run regardless. And I still prefer Stephanie Nadolny as both Kid Goku and Kid Gohan to Colleen Clinckenbeard.

And it would take up time and resources that would otherwise be spent dubbing Super and the new movie, which obviously wouldn't be a good business decision. When you factor in that OG DB is the least profitable series for Funimation it's really unlikely it will ever happen.

[DragonBallKing]

They should have just started with Dragon Ball back when kai was being made, problem solved. I know DB doesnt have a lot of filler compared to Z but it would make the red ribbon arc drag less in anime form.

[OmegaRockman]

I'm gonna say yes. The original dub, while miles ahead of the Z dub, is plagued with problems in both the acting and writing departments. Having a dub that I feel comfortable showing to friends who have never seen the show would be a dream come true, and as a huge fan of Colleen Clinkenbeard I'd like to hear her do more Kid Goku. Rial doing more young Bulma would also be a treat. Recycled script aside, I can't tell you how much I loved the 2010 dub of Curse of the Blood Rubies, and more of that would be welcome.

If nothing else, they should at least redub the other two movies in the original DB movie trilogy - while they're notable in that they're among Funimation's first in-house dubs and deserve to be preserved for history's sake, the fact of the matter is that they're kind of low quality. This isn't even talking about acting or writing, though they certainly leave a lot to be desired - I'm talking about noticeable differences in mic quality depending on the character speaking. Frankly, they should not be the go-to English dubs of these films, and redubbing them would certainly be more cost effective than redoing the whole show.

For the record, I am fully aware that the likelihood of them ever revisiting any of this stuff is pretty close to zero. When I say they "should" or "need" to do a redub, I'm mostly speaking from a perspective of artistic integrity rather than a business perspective, "movies as cost effective compromise" thing aside.

[Kaboom]

Honestly, the Funimation dub for OG Dragon Ball is at least "okay" and by far the least in need of a re-dub. Z and GT would each benefit from it far more. The former is far too long for it to be practical (and honestly the damage is done by this point), so that really only leaves GT as a practical choice, but then that's... well, it's GT. It's probably not going to get the attention. Getting re-dubs of either of them is probably unrealistic, as much as I'd like to see them.

But aside from those, if there's anything I'd want Funimation to re-dub... it's actually the DB/Z movies and specials. Most of them are as horrendously-dubbed as the Z series was, and the Bardock and Trunks specials have possibly the worst English dubs that Funimation has ever produced. Hoping or calling for movies/specials re-dubs (perhaps accompanying their inevitable next big release) is the most practical and needed choice, in my book.

[sintzu]

The Bardock and Trunks specials have possibly the worst English dubs that Funimation has ever produced.

Seriously ? worse than late Freeza and Cell arcs ?

[Dr. Casey]

I'm gonna say yes. The original dub, while miles ahead of the Z dub, is plagued with problems in both the acting and writing departments.

This. I would probably give the original Dragon Ball's dub a 4 out of 10, as opposed to the original Z and GT dub's 1 out of 10 (well, I guess the Buu saga was marginally better and bumped things up to the '2' mark). The voice acting was more or less just as rough on my ears as the rest of Funi's original serving of Dragon Ball dubs during the 90s and early 2000s, the translation was very loose, and a lot of Funi's old bad habits - such as needing to have dialogue at all times without ever having periods of silence - were still prevalent here. The dub's heart was in the right place compared to Z/GT in that it basically tried to maintain the spirit and tone of the original, but it's still just not a very good product, in my opinion.

I haven't watched any of the new dubs, but skimming through a video of the Resurrection F dub on YouTube, things have certainly become much more listenable than they were during the original dub's 90s and early 2000s heyday. The original Dragon Ball dub I would score as being on the cusp of 'bad' and 'mediocre,' but a more accurate dub with Funi's improved acting would make for a pretty good, 7/10 experience.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

The Bardock and Trunks specials have possibly the worst English dubs that Funimation has ever produced.

Seriously ? worse than late Freeza and Cell arcs ?

Bardock dub certainly is as bad as them (Haven't seen HoT in JPN yet). Even after forgiving the music now it's still not great, many-er moments the dub flat out ruined one example was when Bardock found his crew dead the dub ruined it by giving him some shitty inner monologue.

I think Herms made a thread ages ago detailing all the changes.

[KBABZ]

On the one hand, it'd be great to get a Kai-like dub with some of the filler removed. On the other hand, Vollmer and Nadolny aren't playing their associated roles in Dragon Ball anymore, and that would turn me off it completely because I so thoroughly associate them with the characters in English at this point.

[sintzu]

The Bardock and Trunks specials have possibly the worst English dubs that Funimation has ever produced.

Seriously ? worse than late Freeza and Cell arcs ?

Bardock dub certainly is as bad as them (Haven't seen HoT in JPN yet). Even after forgiving the music now it's still not great, many-er moments the dub flat out ruined one example was when Bardock found his crew dead the dub ruined it by giving him some shitty inner monologue.

I think Herms made a thread ages ago detailing all the changes.

This is it for who wants to read it.

viewtopic.php?t=17295

I'll give it a read later as I've never seen it in Japanese so I'm interested in seeing what changes they made.

[PremiumSalt]

This falls under the category of "Things I would absolutely love to see but will never happen in a million years."

[WittyUsername]

The Bardock and Trunks specials have possibly the worst English dubs that Funimation has ever produced.

Seriously ? worse than late Freeza and Cell arcs ?

The dub of the Trunks special is about on par with the dub of the Cell arc (which makes sense, since they were produced around the same time), but the dub of the Bardock special is pretty bad. Not only does the dub add in a lot of dialogue where it doesn’t belong, but the script was radically different from the Japanese version. In fact, it was so different that they pretty much changed the plot. Just to give an example, the dub implies that Bardock ends up going through a last minute moment of redemption, despite the fact that the Japanese version gave zero indication that Bardock felt bad about being a space pirate.

[WittyUsername]

Regarding whether or not Funimation should redub OG Dragon Ball, I’m honestly fine with them leaving it as is. Apart from the obvious fact that producing a new English dub of the series would be impractical from a financial standpoint, I don’t really think OG Dragon Ball is in particularly desperate need of a redundant. It’s not up to the standards of Funimation’s current dubs (though even their current dubs have their ‘WTF’ moments), but it did feel like it tried to stay true to what Dragon Ball is at its core. It’s by no means a fantastic dub, but I think it’s serviceable, and it had what I consider to be the best narrator for any English dub of Dragon Ball.

As a side note, I feel like redubbing the series would be a little mean spirited towards people like Stephanie Nadolny. Regardless of what you think of her as an actor, it would be very unfortunate if they tried to just erase her performance from existence. I get that she’s apparently gotten in trouble for DUI a few times, but still.

[KBABZ]

I'd totally be up for a redub that alters specific lines to either make them more faithful or to give a better performance. For example, fixing Daimao's "I've been all across the universe" line, or having Goku say the name of that Jang-Ken attack series when he's supposed to. Or saying that Goku learnt Bukujitsu so that the finale makes more sense!

[Logania]

I would love it, as the dub annoys me for one main reason. One specific thing I hear in the dub that makes me wanna go deaf, is the overabundance of little grunts and noises the cast does. Like the beginning of this clip for example.

https://youtu.be/mW6rYf3KvN4

Stop it. Stop making noises for everything! One moment sure, but it's for every single episode...It may seem small, but it's all you think about when you notice it.

[Ringworm128]

This falls under the category of "Things I would absolutely love to see but will never happen in a million years."

Not necessarily. I would have agreed with you 100% a few years back but with the whole generation of fans that were introduced via Kai on Nicktoons and everyone watching Super in Japanese or the longest time, I think there's a slightly bigger market of fans who don't have an attachment to the old dub now. In a few years when Funimation milks Z again is everyone going to be as fond of "hope of the universe". Also it would be a good way to drum up interest in the series; "the way it was meant to be seen!" can only do so much.

While I still think it's got virtually no chance of happening, I no longer think it's a "when pigs fly" type thing.