Do you prefer to watch the censored or uncensored version of Dragon Ball?

[UltraInstinctRorikon]

There are some things omitted in the TV broadcastings and sometimes you have situations like Blue Popo. But I imagine some might prefer it censored for social reasons.

As for me I prefer it uncensored as I feel I get the most out of all the content. Especially in the pre-Z like in the earlier episodes of Dragon Ball some content cut out that I thought was great was omitted. One particular scene is Bulma shooting Goku with bullets, always had a good laugh at that.

How about you.

[MasenkoHA]

The censored version isn’t exactly readily available. Funimation pretty much stopped putting out edited releases on home video around the time VHS died out circa 2004. The only way anyone could watch Kai’s censored version is if they found tv rips online or recorded the episodes when they aired.


But also I prefer it uncensored because that’s the way it was intended. Aside from the risque stuff in early Dragon Ball there really isn’t anything in uncensored Dragon Ball that I would find inappropriate for kids under 7.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I can watch the old Saban and Westwood dubs with their various edits out of nostalgia, but it's just that - nostalgia, and as with all other edited versions they don't age as well as the uncut equivalents, although I will always have a soft spot for them.

[Cure Dragon 255]

Uncut all the way. I will always have a soft spot for edited versions that allowed millions to enjoy Dragon Ball but now for me its uncut.

[Robo4900]

The censored version isn’t exactly readily available. Funimation pretty much stopped putting out edited releases on home video around the time VHS died out circa 2004.

This isn't quite correct for the simple reason that Funi's "uncut" dubs are still censored dialogue-wise, heavily so in many scenes, especially in DB, where all the sexual humour was either toned down or totally removed. The TV edited dubs went a lot further, but it's clear that Funi primarily produced their pre-Kai Dragon Ball dubs for TV, with a minimal amount of additional lines to account for visuals that wouldn't make sense in uncut where they don't have paint edits and cuts.

I can watch the old Saban and Westwood dubs with their various edits out of nostalgia, but it's just that - nostalgia, and as with all other edited versions they don't age as well as the uncut equivalents, although I will always have a soft spot for them.

IMO the Vancouver/Calgary dubs were universally better than their Texan equivalents, so even though nostalgia is a factor, I do honestly think that dubbed viewing of the Saban/Westwood dubs of DB/Z/GT is the better way to watch, for a dubbed experience.
As I note above, the "uncut" dubs from Funi are censored in dialogue anyway, and of course the Blue Water dubs have better scripts than the Funi versions (particularly GT; Funi's is infamously bad, Blue Water's almost sounds like they just took Simmons' subtitles, changed the names, and made changes to fit the mouth flaps), which makes them far, far more faithful to the original than Funi's dubs ever were (prior to Kai), and of course the acting was infinitely superior in the Vancouver dubs, so for me, it's Ocean all the way.

To be more specific in terms of answering the OP question: The best version is the uncensored/uncut Japanese version, but if I'm going to watch English dubbed, I'm going to watch one of the Ocean dubs, since they're just a better viewing experience, despite the censorship (which was very, very minor in the Westwood dubs of Z and GT anyway; almost negligible).

[MasenkoHA]

The censored version isn’t exactly readily available. Funimation pretty much stopped putting out edited releases on home video around the time VHS died out circa 2004.

This isn't quite correct for the simple reason that Funi's "uncut" dubs are still censored dialogue-wise, heavily so in many scenes, especially in DB, where all the sexual humour was either toned down or totally removed. The TV edited dubs went a lot further, but it's clear that Funi primarily produced their pre-Kai Dragon Ball dubs for TV, with a minimal amount of additional lines to account for visuals that wouldn't make sense in uncut where they don't have paint edits and cuts.

Sure but the Japanese version is still readily available. And while the uncut dubs tend to be censored via dialog they’re still the uncut versions of the English dub


Funimation has not put out their edited for tv dubs since around 2004.

[90sDBZ]

I prefer uncut, but I have to admit there's a certain charm to the way Saban handled Seasons 1 and 2. It's just fun hearing lines like "Too bad it's sunday. Those buildings would've been full tomorrow", "He destroyed the cargo bott!", "I can see their parachutes. They're gonna be okay!", and the iconic "Next Dimension".

[Yuli Ban]

Saban's seasons 1 and 2, FUNimation's season 3 and 4, and Toonzai Kai are too astounding to not watch. I'm a connoisseur of cringe and failure, and the attempts to Bowdlerize and Macekre Dragon Ball Z are so stupendous in their content that I can't look away.
As to whether I prefer to watch it as a way to experience the series, no. Even back in 2004 when I first learned that DBZ had been censored with loads of swears and gorier scenes removed, I started getting upset at the changes, and I was a stupid 9 year old kid (who just wanted more blood and swearing in Hardcore DeeBeeZee). Especially by the Cell and Boo arcs— FUNimation was actually trying by that point, but the Cartoon Network/Toonami cut of the show was still censored for obvious reasons (this was back when Toonami was still oriented towards children instead of manchildren). So instead of the So Bad It's Good 4Kids-tier trash of the first 3 to 4 seasons of DBZ, it's just... eh. I mean we did get "This is to go even further beyond" and Faulconer's Super Saiyan 3 theme (both things I unironically like), but it's all the FCC-approved writing of the earlier work with none of the outrageous badness and the barest attempt to be faithful to the original version. At that point, why not just go uncut?


Wait!!

I think I even have a DVD of an edited cut of three episodes of the Buu Saga lying around somewhere.

YES, I DO!

I haven't watched this in probably fifteen years, and I have no intention of doing so. The disc probably doesn't even work. But I have it.


"2002"
Goshdarn, I should pop this in and see the TV dub in all it's glory. It doesn't say "Uncut" either so it's bound to be a treat.

[Soppa Saia People]

i mean, if i'm gonna Expirence dragon ball, i have and will always prefer the manga, which i guess the viz translation has always been somewhat censored so i guess technically the former ? i would prefer it to be uncensored but i also don't wanna devote time to watch 75 episodes when i feel like wanting to see the namek arc again.

anime wise though yeah lol, i'm not touching any English dub, so, yeah.

[Danfun64]

Wait!!

I think I even have a DVD of an edited cut of three episodes of the Buu Saga lying around somewhere.

YES, I DO!

I haven't watched this in probably fifteen years, and I have no intention of doing so. The disc probably doesn't even work. But I have it.


"2002"
Goshdarn, I should pop this in and see the TV dub in all it's glory. It doesn't say "Uncut" either so it's bound to be a treat.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but all of the post Saban DVD singles of the series proper are uncensored visually (aside from an early Captain Ginyu single censoring an image of nude Kid Goku in the English video track but not the Japanese) and used the uncut variant of the dub. They also usually contained the Japanese audio and English subtitles for it (a large number of Australian releases of the era didn't, but the dub included in them was still the uncut variant).

As for DVD releases of the Funimation dub of the Z series (not the movies/specials) with the edited dub, there's one with the final episode of Z paired with the GT introductory compilation episode "A Grand Problem". The World of Dragon Ball Z DVD, which contained said special, as well as ep 124-125 (uncut numbering)/109-110 (edited numbering), might have used the edited variants for those two. Those are somewhat rare though.

[Yuli Ban]

Means little to me anyway because I wasn't actually going to watch it, but thanks!

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Generally speaking, i'm almost exclusively an uncut viewer (Japanese for Z and Kai for dub) effectively uncut for the anime in general but every now and then on occasion i'll pop in my old CN/Toonami VHS recorded copies of the Ocean dub. Sure the censorship is utterly ridiculous in hindsight and many of the more infamous bits they used to tiptoe around the d-word (next dimension, hurt, destroy.etc) and such classics as Home For Infinite Losers (HFIL!!!!!) are so obvious and laughable but even then there's some nostalgic charm i find to it in spite of these things. Same as with the old DiC and Cloverway dubs of Sailor Moon, as though i prefer watching the original Japanese and Viz's dub of the original run i'll still put on the former sometimes despite how badly butchered they are at times (Sailor Says, cousins.etc) and some of the more cringeworthy voice performances like Linda Ballantyne's early over the top nasal take as Serena/Usagi in Sailor Moon S before she gradually improved it from just being a laughably awful impression of Terri Hawkes' performance.

[Planetnamek]

I do miss Dale Kelley's recaps and NEPs from the edited dub on Toonami, but other then that I prefer the uncut versions on the singles.

Weirdly enough I found out that the original DVD release of Return of Cooler actually did have separate edited and uncut versions, which for DVD releases of DBZ back then was usually not the case, so i'm a little surprised they did that.

[Kakacarrottop]

The censored versions are a product of the late 90s, whereas the real Dragon Ball is a product of the late 80s. I don't prefer one or the other since it's like comparing apples to oranges.

[UltraInstinctRorikon]

Yeah feels like if you go the censored route many Bulma and Master Roshi jokes you miss out on.

[Robo4900]

Sure but the Japanese version is still readily available.

The Japanese version is readily available, but it's entirely valid to prefer to watch English dubbed.

And while the uncut dubs tend to be censored via dialog they’re still the uncut versions of the English dub

Yeah, but if you're gonna have censorship and unfaithful dialogue either way (for Z), then why not at least pick the version with vastly superior acting?

And then for DB and GT, the Canadian scripts are significantly better than the American scripts (Funi's GT being worse than their Z, Ocean's GT being of a similar standard script-wise to the Pioneer movies), so even though there is censorship in the Canadian version, the Funi version is ultimately still a far less faithful representation of the original, and critically, it's also just a worse product.

So, yes, I still prefer the Canadian dubs if I'm gonna watch in English, and I still maintain they are legitimately the superior choice. For Z, it's a closer call since the Canadian scripts for Z are basically the same as Funi's, but for DB and GT, it's no contest.

[UltraInstinctRorikon]

I honestly think the orange bricks dub is the best dub despite the inaccuracy of the script in places. Sometimes the script changes actually add more to the scene and some of the jokes are better in the dub.

Though if I'm going for accuracy I'll stick to the manga. Always use manga before anything else when discussing things.

[ABED]

FYI, censorship only pertains to government action. What you are talking about is more Broadcast Standards and Practices.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

IMO the Vancouver/Calgary dubs were universally better than their Texan equivalents, so even though nostalgia is a factor, I do honestly think that dubbed viewing of the Saban/Westwood dubs of DB/Z/GT is the better way to watch, for a dubbed experience.
As I note above, the "uncut" dubs from Funi are censored in dialogue anyway, and of course the Blue Water dubs have better scripts than the Funi versions (particularly GT; Funi's is infamously bad, Blue Water's almost sounds like they just took Simmons' subtitles, changed the names, and made changes to fit the mouth flaps), which makes them far, far more faithful to the original than Funi's dubs ever were (prior to Kai), and of course the acting was infinitely superior in the Vancouver dubs, so for me, it's Ocean all the way.

I agree, when it comes to voice acting and music the Vancouver dubs are superior to the Texas ones, in which both aspects fall flat for the most part. I should clarify that I was comparing edited Ocean to uncut Japanese, although I don't think the uncut footage benefits the pre-Kai Texas dubs that much. It just feels like a dull experience when the scripts are no more accurate, the voice acting leaves a lot to be desired, and the music is either distracting (Faulconer) or inconsistent with the tone of the dub (Kikuchi). The Vancouver dubs at least give you some consistency when it comes to production values. And the Calgary dubs of OG Dragon Ball and GT are better in every way.

[Robo4900]

FYI, censorship only pertains to government action. What you are talking about is more Broadcast Standards and Practices.

I think we all know what each other mean in this case, even if the terms aren't technically correct. Though I will grant you that it is worth acknowledging that government-mandated censorship is a very different thing from the typical standards & practices and other such types of "censorship". But I think that goes a bit beyond the scope of a thread about whether or not people still enjoy the TV edited dubs of Dragon Ball.

I agree, when it comes to voice acting and music the Vancouver dubs are superior to the Texas ones, in which both aspects fall flat for the most part. I should clarify that I was comparing edited Ocean to uncut Japanese, although I don't think the uncut footage benefits the pre-Kai Texas dubs that much. It just feels like a dull experience when the scripts are no more accurate, the voice acting leaves a lot to be desired, and the music is either distracting (Faulconer) or inconsistent with the tone of the dub (Kikuchi). The Vancouver dubs at least give you some consistency when it comes to production values. And the Calgary dubs of OG Dragon Ball and GT are better in every way.

Yeah, this is my feeling on it too.

I didn't bring up the replacement scores because I didn't feel like arguing about the "remastered dub" Kikuchi score, which IMO is horrendously unfitting to the Texas dubs, but yeah, I agree with you on that.

It really amazes me more people don't talk about the Calgary dubs of DB and GT, given how much better they are than the Texas dubs. IMO if you can't watch subbed for some reason, the Calgary dubs are the only way to go.