What have the American/UK Dubs... DONE RIGHT?

[Super Sonic]

I can't be sure that 1996 Funi wouldn't have changed the name if it weren't already hip and cool enough).

But... they didn't... '95 with the KidMark dub had most if not all the original names (well, except "Pokawantha" or whatever ridiculous thing it was for the village girl). And then the Z dub started in what, '96 '97?

That "Pokawantha" thing was a blantant rip-off/pun of a particular movie that was out at the time. But yeah, for pretty much all of the characters who really mattered, they kept their names or were so close, to the point complainers might be questioned on their lack of lives. That was something that I liked that Funimation did as well as bring it over here whcih started my fandom and had an influence on my life.

[Lunaar]

Two lines of dialogue:

Goku: "Hey Vegeta, look! People-popcorn!"
Vegeta: *sigh* "What is he on?"

Absolutely priceless. Gotta give the dub props for that classic exchange.

I don't know why I had forgotten about that! That bit is wonderful.

There are also a number of lines I enjoy to hear, a lot of which come from the FUNi redub, no less.

[MetalMadness]

In the original, when Cell returned, he claimed he could regenerate as long as the nucleus in his head was intact.
But this didnt make sense since Goku clearked blasted his head off earlier

in the dub Cell simply says that every one of his cells has a life of its own and can regenerate, which fixes that plothole

[Tsukento]

Originally in Z, while Gohan's fighting Vegeta, he stops and prepares to launch a Masenko...and then shouts Kamehame-Ha.

When FUNi redubbed the scene, Gohan says Masenko instead. Toei made sure to use the correct name in Kai.

[Lunaar]

Originally in Z, while Gohan's fighting Vegeta, he stops and prepares to launch a Masenko...and then shouts Kamehame-Ha.

When FUNi redubbed the scene, Gohan says Masenko instead. Toei made sure to use the correct name in Kai.

Got that one already, my man. First post, actually. No worries.

Personally, I can never decide on whether or not I like Chris Sabat's Vegeta over Ryou Horikawa's... They both have respective qualities of their own. Although, if I get too into this, it'll probably be an entirely new topic. And I'm almost certain someone has made a topic concerning Chris Sabat's talents already.

The Cell bit is good, MetalMadness. Didn't think of that. These are pretty good. Keep 'em comin'.

[Vision]

The original 3 movies were done really well. I watched my old copy of Dead Zone the other day, and it was just so badass.
And despite what anyone else says, I miss hearing Faulconers music in the sub. Despite all of the obnoxious computer noises in the android saga. I got pumped during the fight between Goku and Vegeta in the Buu saga when the music kicks in as Goku is pulling himself away from the rockface Vegeta stapled him too.

[Lunaar]

The original 3 movies were done really well. I watched my old copy of Dead Zone the other day, and it was just so badass.

Funny story on that, for me. When Toonami had aired all three (edited) movies during DBZ20XL (was that it? I'm pretty sure it is, correct me if I'm wrong), my brother and I had recorded all three on VHS in a row. After watching them all dozens of times, a year or two passes and I'm over at my friend's house (...who, honestly was and still is a spoiled brat) and decides to pop in the actual VHS release of Dead Zone. I'm like "yeah, sure!", not before noticing the "UNCUT THEATRICAL MOVIE" bubble towards the bottom of the front cover. Being a third grader, I naturally wouldn't know the exact meaning of this phrase - until Chichi spewed "Hey, who are you? What the hell do you want??"

My mind was fucking blown. I think that's around the time I really started getting into finding out all I could about this crazy "uncut" stuff people kept talking about.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

- The dubbed Openings/Endings. FUNimation's "Gradually, You’re Charming My Heart" is IMO better than the original.

- Making the show more funnier. I never really found the Japanese version funny, the FUNimation version however, hilarious.

- Not erasing Japanese characters, which is a common practice for 4kids.

- As other people have mentioned, correcting errors that were present in the Japanese version.

- The movies were for the most part, very accurate.

- Keeping the original score in Dragon Ball.

- Awesome voices, such as Mr. Satan and Fat Buu.

- FUNimation's version introduced Dragon Ball Z to the U.S.A, Canada, Australia and other English speaking countries.

[Tsukento]

- Making the show more funnier. I never really found the Japanese version funny, the FUNimation version however, hilarious.

I dunno about other people, but I found myself groaning and rolling my eyes more at the jokes thrown around at the dub. Not because they weren't in the original or anything like that, but I found them to be just flat out terrible. Freeza's the worst offender. Even as a kid I didn't find any of the things said amusing in the slightest bit.

- Awesome voices, such as Mr. Satan and Fat Buu.

Satan I can agree with. Boo? Hell no. Not only did they make speak like an idiot, but they gave him an annoying voice to boot, right up there with #19 for characters who didn't have hive pitched voices in the original.

- FUNimation's version introduced Dragon Ball Z to the U.S.A, Canada, Australia and other English speaking countries.

I'd say this caused more harm. Call me nuts, but FUNi's version of DBZ ultimately started the biggest splittings of different fanbases for one franchises that I've ever seen for any series. Yeah, it's great that we got the franchise here, but man oh man, it caused a lot of problems with misinformation and fans fighting amongst other fans over who's dub was better, who's music was better and so on.

[linkdude20002001]

Though in response to the first post- I really never got the point of dubbing songs. Either you do the tempo right or the lyrics right, it's just not possible to do both.

How is it impossible?

In the original, when Cell returned, he claimed he could regenerate as long as the nucleus in his head was intact.
But this didnt make sense since Goku clearked blasted his head off earlier

in the dub Cell simply says that every one of his cells has a life of its own and can regenerate, which fixes that plothole

I'm prett sure that he never actually said it was in his head. If I'm remembering correctly, he just said "as long as the nucleus inside me is intact" and pointed to his face with his thumb.

[Tsukento]

I don't have the actual episode on hand, so I can't check for accurate subtitles. But Cell does mention his head (atama) and something small (chiisai) within it during the explanation, so it is actually a flub in the original.

[Lunaar]

- The dubbed Openings/Endings. FUNimation's "Gradually, You’re Charming My Heart" is IMO better than the original.

- Making the show more funnier. I never really found the Japanese version funny, the FUNimation version however, hilarious.

- Not erasing Japanese characters, which is a common practice for 4kids.

- As other people have mentioned, correcting errors that were present in the Japanese version.

- The movies were for the most part, very accurate.

- Keeping the original score in Dragon Ball.

- Awesome voices, such as Mr. Satan and Fat Buu.

- FUNimation's version introduced Dragon Ball Z to the U.S.A, Canada, Australia and other English speaking countries.

Great list, I agree with pretty much all of them with the exception of the humor in the dub. I'm not so sure about that. :/

Keeping the original score in Dragonball was probably one of the best decisions...well, ever. In fact, let's just add this to the list:

The Dragonball Dub. Period.

[Tsukento]

While the Dragon Ball dub was quite a few steps up over DBZ's dub, there were still some issues with throwing in nonsensical dialogue changes and having people talk right over insert songs (such as this scene in the dub where the narrator would not shut the hell up).

[B]

Yeah, I wish they hadn't had felt the need to take the original translation and stretch it out as a conversation in the Dragon Ball dub. The more I peak over at it on the blue bricks, the more I realize how obnoxious it is.

At least the acting is semi-believable.

[Captain Awesome]

- As other people have mentioned, correcting errors that were present in the Japanese version.

Yeah, things the Japanese version got wrong- like Doctor Gero not being the leader of the RR army, or Tao Pai Pai being an assassin instead of a general.

Honestly anything you think they may have "fixed" is rendered completely null and void by the sheer amount of errors the dub script brought the the table.

[Metalwario64]

- As other people have mentioned, correcting errors that were present in the Japanese version.

Honestly anything you think they may have "fixed" is rendered completely null and void by the sheer amount of errors the dub script brought the the table.

That... doesn't make sense...

If it did fix instances where the Japanese version was "wrong" or not true to the manga, then it doesn't mean that it hasn't improved upon those points just because it gets other things wrong.

Yes, in the bigger picture it might be nullified, but in those instances, there is no denying that the dub actually corrected a few errors. For instance, the dub still got Vegeta's reaction to Trunks' death correctly, whereas the Japanese version actually changed it from the manga.

Just because it changed other things doesn't mean that the things it got right whereas the Japanese anime didn't "don't count".

[B]

That... doesn't make sense...

Gohan shouting "KAMEHAMEHA" whilst not doing the correct hand motion = one error.
Gero being the RR leader and Tao being an RR general = two errors.

2 > 1

EDIT: Oh yeah, and one error is a visual one where anybody with a lick o knowledge on the series would be able to tell is wrong, while another is verbal and has no way to be fact checked unless you look at the other version, which, quite frankly, most people refuse to do.

[Metalwario64]

That... doesn't make sense...

Gohan shouting "KAMEHAMEHA" whilst not doing the correct hand motion = one error.

That was also in the Japanese version... And FUNimation actually corrected that in their "Ultimate Uncut" redub, which brings another example of correcting a Japanese version error.

Gero being the RR leader and Tao being an RR general = two errors.

Did you even read my post? I said that even though the dub also made other errors, it doesn't mean that the things it corrected don't exist. Yes, if you are looking at the big picture, it doesn't make much of a difference, but to say that you can't credit them for at least fixing some things, then you are simply bashing the dub for the sake of bashing it.

Also, pointing out what the dubs "did wrong" is off-topic.

[Captain Awesome]

That... doesn't make sense...

You're right, praising one instance where they got something right script wise while ignoring the multitude of problems they caused makes far more sense.

[Metalwario64]

That... doesn't make sense...

You're right, praising one instance where they got something right script wise while ignoring the multitude of problems they caused makes far more sense.

Yep, so I guess the dub ONLY made mistakes. I guess because they made more mistakes then they did correcting them, that the few good things don't count whatsoever. Also, who was ignoring their other mistakes? You are reading too far into it and are making something out of nothing.

You also completely failed to read my post, because I elaborated on my initial point. I agreed with you in the sense that looking at the whole picture may nullify the corrected aspects, but that doesn't mean that the improvements and corrections are non-existant and don't deserve proper credit.

This thread is about discussing things they did right, not what they got wrong. If you can't handle the fact that the dub got some things right over the Japanese version, then don't post in this thread.