Is THIS a good reason to "skip" DB? (German, watching with partner, dub concerns)

[Banduck]

So I want to watch Dragon Ball with my girlfriend sometime in the future and I have a question.
I know everyone says to start with DB first, BUT in Germany DB has a bad dub (with some exceptions). Especially the voice actor of Piccolo is the worst one I have ever heard.
In DBZ all voice actors were replaced with much better ones.

The Problem: Maybe she will get used to the DB voices and then find the Z voices unfitting (even though they're better) and therefore she will not be able to really enjoy DBZ?
Imagine watching a show and after 150 episodes, suddenly every single character has a different voice... that could ruin everything.
(And no, watching in Japanese is not an option for us)

I thought maybe we could watch the Pilaf Arc first because it is short enough not to get too used to the voices.
And after that, the 3 DB Movies (which actually got the Z Dub) to get to know all the important side characters.
And after that DBZ, and then DB.
Would that be a good alternative? Or do you think we HAVE TO start with DB, and my concerns are unjustified?
This question has been on my mind for weeks. DBZ is very important to me and I want my girlfriend to love it as much as I do.

(btw I wish Toei would have made 6 good & long DB movies at some point that covered the whole DB portion, but now it's too late for that)

[eledoremassis02]

So I want to watch Dragon Ball with my girlfriend sometime in the future and I have a question.
I know everyone says to start with DB first, BUT in Germany DB has a bad dub (with some exceptions). Especially the voice actor of Piccolo is the worst one I have ever heard.
In DBZ all voice actors were replaced with much better ones.

The Problem: Maybe she will get used to the DB voices and then find the Z voices unfitting (even though they're better) and therefore she will not be able to really enjoy DBZ?
Imagine watching a show and after 150 episodes, suddenly every single character has a different voice... that could ruin everything.
(And no, watching in Japanese is not an option for us)

I thought maybe we could watch the Pilaf Arc first because it is short enough not to get too used to the voices.
And after that, the 3 DB Movies (which actually got the Z Dub) to get to know all the important side characters.
And after that DBZ, and then DB.
Would that be a good alternative? Or do you think we HAVE TO start with DB, and my concerns are unjustified?
This question has been on my mind for weeks. DBZ is very important to me and I want my girlfriend to love it as much as I do.

(btw I wish Toei would have made 6 good & long DB movies at some point that covered the whole DB portion, but now it's too late for that)

Is there a way to watch kai? They did a pretty good Dragon Ball recap. I feel DB is kind of essential, but I also guess you can explain whats going on early on in Z

[mute_proxy]

I'm sure she'll get over the voice change in a few episodes, you did say Z has better dub after all. It was written as a single story, watch it from the start.

[MasenkoHA]

Read the manga at least

The movies aren’t a good alternative since they don’t cover Piccolo at all.

[Danfun64]

Is there a way to watch kai?

Even though I can't speak German, apparently the German Kai dub has a more accurate script than the Z dub... but worse acting (along with wholesale actor replacement for at least the first half, people apparently screaming softly or away from the mic or something, etc)

[Robo4900]

Given that DB and Z are basically one show, I say it's better to experience the whole show, in its original order, via a presentation that's unideal, than to only experience half the show.

As far as I see it, that's all there is to it, but to further alleviate your specific concerns here: If your girlfriend legitimately likes the show and knows that the recasts are coming, she will be fine to stick with it, and will get used to the new voices. Most of the English-speaking fanbase had to do that in the '90s and early '00s, after all.

[Banduck]

Is there a way to watch kai? They did a pretty good Dragon Ball recap. I feel DB is kind of essential, but I also guess you can explain whats going on early on in Z

Well the german Kai dub is even worse than the DB dub
But I thought about taking that recap scene from Kai and putting it into the first episode of DBZ.

apparently the German Kai dub has a more accurate script than the Z dub... but worse acting

Even though the script is more accurate, it feels a bit like a literal translation, the dialogues sound unnatural.
And yeah the acting is much worse.

Read the manga at least
The movies aren’t a good alternative since they don’t cover Piccolo at all.

Reading the manga might be an option
I even thought about editing every arc into a movie but it's harder than I thought.

Most of the English-speaking fanbase had to do that in the '90s and early '00s, after all.

I don't know much about all the different english dubs, but I know for example that many people prefer the old voice of Freeza, which confirms my concern that people get too used to the first voices they hear.
Many even prefer the Z Dub over Kai Dub, which makes absolutely no sense to me. It's (mostly) the same voices but with much better acting...

----------------
Maybe we should just start with DB and I'll show her some unimportant DBZ clips from time to time where she hears the Z voices, so she can get used to it at the same time.
But I'm still not sure. I definitely spend way too much time worrying about it.

[MasenkoHA]

The first English voice for Frieza is usually forgotten since that dub was overridden by Funimation’s in house dub


There’s a pretty fair split between those who like Young’s Frieza and those who like Ayres. But I honestly think most don’t care

[Robo4900]

I don't know much about all the different english dubs, but I know for example that many people prefer the old voice of Freeza, which confirms my concern that people get too used to the first voices they hear.
Many even prefer the Z Dub over Kai Dub, which makes absolutely no sense to me. It's (mostly) the same voices but with much better acting...

The only people who still prefer the old Freeza care more about nostalgia for something they enjoyed 10-20 years prior. Voices switching during your first ever viewing of something won't have even close to the same effect.

A better example would be looking at how people view the English Gokus... Chances are, you'll find most American fans most enjoy Sean Schemmel, despite the fact that Ian Corlett and Peter Kelamis both preceded him in the American TV run.

In fact, most Americans feel most attached to the Funi voices in general, despite the fact that literally the entire cast was completely different in the first two seasons, and the Funi guys who replaced the originals were kinda shitty impressionists who didn't get good until years later.

Maybe we should just start with DB and I'll show her some unimportant DBZ clips from time to time where she hears the Z voices, so she can get used to it at the same time.
But I'm still not sure. I definitely spend way too much time worrying about it.

I wouldn't worry about clips to get her used to the voices. Just start with DB, work through it, talk with her about the fact that the voices do change, so there'll be a period of adjustment, but encourage her that the later voices are very good, just different.

Again, if she enjoys the series, she'll be open to some changes.

[Matches Malone]

If the German dub for DB is as bad as you say it is (I've only seen English and Japanese), then why not watch it subbed then switch to the dub for Z ?

[Koitsukai]

How about watching it in japanese with german subs? I found way funnier the original dub than any other. Goku is so lovely you can't even breath, and you don't need to understand a great deal of japanese to enjoy Nozawa

[Robo4900]

Watching subbed in general is probably the best solution to the various issues that come up from dubbed viewing, though I hear German home media of Dragon Ball is dub-only for the most part?

Either way, OP specifically said watching in Japanese is not an option, so this line of thinking is not particularly productive.

[Banduck]

The only people who still prefer the old Freeza care more about nostalgia for something they enjoyed 10-20 years prior. Voices switching during your first ever viewing of something won't have even close to the same effect.

That's a good point.
I wish I could just ask someone who recently watched DB and DBZ (german) for the first time how the change felt for him.
I watched DB the first time when I was 4, and DBZ when I was 5-6. So you can imagine that I can't quite remember how it felt for me

Again, if she enjoys the series, she'll be open to some changes.

I already told her about the voice change. She said it's no problem for her, she even insists on watching DB first.
Well, if I can't think of anything better, I guess I'll just have to risk it

If the German dub for DB is as bad as you say it is (I've only seen English and Japanese), then why not watch it subbed then switch to the dub for Z ?

How about watching it in japanese with german subs? I found way funnier the original dub than any other. Goku is so lovely you can't even breath, and you don't need to understand a great deal of japanese to enjoy Nozawa

Japanese is not an option for us because we just prefer to watch shows in our native language.
Also, the ger voice actress of Kid Goku is fortunately one of the better ones.

[Koitsukai]

Japanese is not an option for us because we just prefer to watch shows in our native language.
Also, the ger voice actress of Kid Goku is fortunately one of the better ones.

Then no, I don't think the dub change is a good reason to skip DB. Unless it's really bad to the point it makes the show unbearable (like the latin dub of the Simpsons for the past 15 years)

Aside of Goku, Piccolo, Krilin and Bulma, the rest of the DB cast becomes less important in Z, so she might not even notice it or care, plus they are all adults in Z, while by the end of DB they were in their late teens. It isn't even a random change.
I bet your girlfriend gets accustomed to the change within the first few episodes, specially if it's an improvement.

I might be more worried about the dub being so bad that she would not enjoy DB, but DBZ should not suffer from it.

All in all, if it's the same experience you and every other german went through and hasn't prevented you from enjoying the show, she should have the same awesome trip.

[TheBlackPaladin]

...people apparently screaming softly or away from the mic or something, etc)

This is correct. On a purely technical level, the German dub of Kai was mixed very poorly. It's not that the audio sounds muffled or unclear or anything like that, it sounds crystal-clear. The problem is that not nearly enough was done to mix the vocal audio to make it sound like it was actually the characters talking in their respective physical locations. The audio sounds like it was recorded in a booth, with the actors placed way too far away from the mic...and this became particularly evident during the screams.

This is particularly embarrassing considering that tons of dubs (at least in the US) are now being recorded by actors in their home studios due to the pandemic, and even with that disadvantage, the mixes are coming out better than the German dub of Kai--which was recorded before the pandemic and in a professional studio--did.

[Adamant]

I already told her about the voice change. She said it's no problem for her, she even insists on watching DB first.

Japanese is not an option for us because we just prefer to watch shows in our native language.

...so it's out of the question to watch anything other than a dub you admit is horrible because "you prefer to not watch in Japanese", but it's NOT out of the question to tell her you won't allow her to watch the first third of the series even though she insists on not skipping that part?

I'm not even sure what you're trying to ask here, but it seems to involve some very weird attempt at trying to get people to agree that she's not allowed an opinion in the matter.

[Banduck]

Aside of Goku, Piccolo, Krilin and Bulma, the rest of the DB cast becomes less important in Z, so she might not even notice it or care, plus they are all adults in Z, while by the end of DB they were in their late teens. It isn't even a random change.

Yeah I also hope that the time jump will make the voice change more believable.
I'm most worried about Goku and Krillin.

I might be more worried about the dub being so bad that she would not enjoy DB, but DBZ should not suffer from it.

The dub is mostly "okay" (6/10 probably). It's just "bad" compared to Z. Some of the voice actors are actually very good, like Muten Roshi's.
It only becomes problematic towards the end because the voice actors of Tenshinhan and especially Piccolo are very bad. Sadly this weakens the experience of the 3 most important arcs of DB

I'm not even sure what you're trying to ask here, but it seems to involve some very weird attempt at trying to get people to agree that she's not allowed an opinion in the matter.

Of course she is allowed to have an opinion. But she has never watched Dragon Ball, so she can't know if it's better to start with DB or DBZ, especially considering the Dub problem.
That's what I'm trying to figure out with the help of this thread.

[OmegaRockman]

Just start with DB. I'm sure she'll enjoy DBZ just fine, different cast or no. Maybe cut out the filler episodes to help with the pacing, but that goes for both series. On that note, I wish you guys' Kai dub wasn't such a mess because I hear the scripts are much closer to the Japanese. Then again, I also heard the Z dub used the manga translations to help with the scripts so it fared a bit better than other dubs based on the French version. But yeah, your girlfriend should be just fine as long as she knows about the cast changes going in.

[Adamant]

Of course she is allowed to have an opinion. But she has never watched Dragon Ball, so she can't know if it's better to start with DB or DBZ, especially considering the Dub problem.
That's what I'm trying to figure out with the help of this thread.

She told you she insists on not skipping the first third of the series, and you came to this thread in search of agreement that you should skip that part anyway. The thread told you you shouldn't. You're still arguing against that. The thread also told you you should watch in Japanese, and you're arguing against that too.

I dunno, you don't seem to hold the opinions and recommendations of anyone other than yourself in particularly high regard here.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I think you should go with the Japanese version if the German dub is that flawed.

EDIT:Also poor Girlfriend. You really ought to listen to her more. And be more open to the advice that you yourself requested topic creator.