Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

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Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by SRB2Unleashed » Wed May 13, 2015 9:17 am

Are there any of the people out there that can watch any dub of Dragon Ball Z and still enjoy it? I'm curious because I realized while my preferred method of watching Z is the FUNi Kai Dub - I can still watch any version of the dub that's in front of me. Now to me this includes the Ocean Dub, the FUNi Dub, Kai Dub and the Japanese dub of both Z and Kai. Now clearly there's a lot more dubs of the show, but is this the same for anyone else?

For example - I started watching DBZ Kai in Nicktoons back in 2010, while at the same time watching Ocean and FUNi Z
When Nicktoons went on hiatus, I started watching fansubbed versions of the japanese airings for Kai until I caught up weekly (frankly I got a much more better atmosphere from watching Japanese Kai simply because of the sponsor cards and other things not included in the US airings) and when I started getting DBZ on DVD, I watched in Japanese subbed just for curiosity and enjoyed what I saw. Never really minded Goku's Japanese voice and adapted quickly to everything.

So, is anyone else like this? That prefers a certain dub but can watch any version that's presented in front of them or enjoys other dubs to a certain degree? I even admit I like FUNi Dub's Faulconer score and cartoony atmosphere.
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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by BlackCatScott » Wed May 13, 2015 10:43 am

I've grown up with the Ocean Dub so that's something I've always been very fond of. Nowadays I feel the same about the FUNimation dub. I love Sean Schemmel and Chris Sabat and the work they've done on the series. Kai is the best dub all round. It has the best voice acting because the actors have become more experienced and really grown into their roles - and the writing is just so much better. When I watched Kai, it felt like I was watching Z for the first time again. I'm fond of those three though.

I must admit though, the only time I watch DBZ in Japanese is when there's no alternative. Growing up I watched some of the films in Japanese (and in very poor video quality too!) and I watched Battle of Gods in Japanese too, my first viewing. It's not my preference to watch in Japanese though.

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by DemonRin » Wed May 13, 2015 1:05 pm

Watching the Ocean dub or the FUNi dub of any DB property made before Kai has nostalgic value and I'll watch clips and brief moments because of that, but as a whole product it's kinda meh to me. I typically watch any material produced Pre-Kai in Japanese without subs.

Starting with Kai however, FUNi kinda hit a groove and is now a much better company overall, and this translates to everything they've done Kai and after being decent and pretty enjoyable, so I actually prefer watching this material dubbed because I actually LIKE a good solid dubbed product, and so watching a Dragonball product finally have that is nice and feels like a new thing to me. After seeing this material in Japanese as many times as I have, the new competent Dub doesn't feel like an entirely different show, but seeing it in English feels new, like something I haven't quite seen before and therefore I'm getting more enjoyment from it.

So Kai these days I watched dubbed mostly, and entirely new stuff like BoG I watch an equal amount in Japanese and English.
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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by NitroEX » Wed May 13, 2015 2:40 pm

All the dubs have flaws honestly, I can watch any of one of them (including Funi Kai & Japanese Z) and find things that I personally think they could have been done differently. Conversely I think all the dubs (barring the Malaysian) can be enjoyed on some level, you just need to have the right mindset going in and not be overly critical (which is hard when you're no longer a child and jaded/biased).

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by Gdugz » Wed May 13, 2015 3:05 pm

I enjoy all the dubs aswell, my preferred way to watch is the Japanese dub. Hell for years the only way I could watch the movies was with my vhs recordings of the big green dub, and I watched them at least 20 times each :lol:

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by DemonRin » Wed May 13, 2015 3:20 pm

NitroEX wrote:Conversely I think all the dubs (barring the Malaysian) can be enjoyed on some level
Oh come on, the Maylay dub is awesome. I used to have Movies 6-13 in this format because I had a dumb cousin who wanted to see all the DBZ movies right around the time FUNi released movie 5, and he didn't believe me when I (his 12 year old Cousin) told him (a 20 year old at the time) that nothing beyond the first 5 movies were dubbed when he paid a lot of money for an auction for all 13 movies dubbed in English on VHS (when a cheaper, subbed on VCD offer was available)
so when we got them, we were floored to find that every movie beyond 6 were the Maylay English dub. (Except 13 which was inexplicably, luckily subbed despite the eBay auction saying they were all dubbed)

At first, this was terrible and a thing that greatly upset me (why didn't he listen to me?!) but repeated viewings of these VHS' started making me laugh quite heavily. It sounds like every voice is dubbed by like the same 3-4 people, and there are back to back mistakes and hilarious line reads (in movie 12 alone, Goku calls Vegeta "Beeta", and Freeza calls Gohan "Goku's Brother" when he recognizes him)

Those movies are hilarious.
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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by Eire » Wed May 13, 2015 3:29 pm

It also gives Polish a perverse satisfaction that somebody had it worse than us :P
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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by One_Instance » Wed May 13, 2015 3:39 pm

With some dubs I might be able to enjoy it simply because it's Dragon Ball, others because they're actually decent, and other ones simply because they're so laughable bad. I'm not sure if I could enjoy any dub, but I feel like there are quite a few I wouldn't mind watching, for whatever the reason my enjoyment might be.

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by NitroEX » Wed May 13, 2015 3:43 pm

DemonRin wrote:
NitroEX wrote:Conversely I think all the dubs (barring the Malaysian) can be enjoyed on some level
Oh come on, the Maylay dub is awesome. I used to have Movies 6-13 in this format because I had a dumb cousin who wanted to see all the DBZ movies right around the time FUNi released movie 5, and he didn't believe me when I (his 12 year old Cousin) told him (a 20 year old at the time) that nothing beyond the first 5 movies were dubbed when he paid a lot of money for an auction for all 13 movies dubbed in English on VHS (when a cheaper, subbed on VCD offer was available)
so when we got them, we were floored to find that every movie beyond 6 were the Maylay English dub. (Except 13 which was inexplicably, luckily subbed despite the eBay auction saying they were all dubbed)

At first, this was terrible and a thing that greatly upset me (why didn't he listen to me?!) but repeated viewings of these VHS' started making me laugh quite heavily. It sounds like every voice is dubbed by like the same 3-4 people, and there are back to back mistakes and hilarious line reads (in movie 12 alone, Goku calls Vegeta "Beeta", and Freeza calls Gohan "Goku's Brother" when he recognizes him)

Those movies are hilarious.
They might be funny but I don't personally count them as "English dubs" since a large part of the dialogue is clearly not from native English speakers and is incomprehensible a lot of the time. Even the Big Green dubs at least have that going for them.

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by Eire » Wed May 13, 2015 3:45 pm

Well, it was intended to be English dub so we should give them credit for trying I suppose... But it still makes me wonder who thought that making dub based on non-natives is a good idea.
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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by Demon of Light » Wed May 13, 2015 11:38 pm

To be honest, I'm really picky about dubs. I'm especially critical of American anime dubs, and haven't really liked one since I watched Cowboy Bebop dubbed over a decade ago (and Ghost Stories, but it's a gag dub, that doesn't count). It's frustrating because I know a lot of the actors in anime dubs are extremely skilled, but somehow in anime they always come off as extremely cheesy and unnatural. The only person I've heard that seems to avoid that in a Dragon Ball dub is Chris Ayres as Freeza in Kai, but one good performance does not make a piece of media watchable when everything else is off.

The Hebrew dub is a different story. I could, theoretically, sit down and watch a full episode of the Hebrew dub of Dragon Ball Z, though I haven't actually done so since it finished airing here about nine years ago. All considering (I mean, it really messed up some key character names in the first 50 episodes and the remainder of the dub had to stick with those), it was a fairly decent dub, so that combined with the power nostalgia should assure that I can watch it without feeling self-conscious and silly. Not sure the same courtesy would extend to the GT dub or the movie dubs, mostly because GT is unwatchable to me and the movie dubs were a blink and you miss it TV special affair, which I missed entirely and can't find recordings of.

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by voltlunok » Thu May 14, 2015 12:24 am

I still watch the old Funi Z dub. I know it's not super accurate and some people hate it but to me (And I do mean ONLY TO ME! Not saying anyone has to agree with my opinion nor do they have to jump down my throat for having a different opinion.) It's my proffered way of watching DBZ. I respect and enjoyed some of Kai Dub but it just didn't do it for me. I can say with confidence that yes I can still watch it and enjoy the old z dub. Yes it's cheesy and different but...I like that about it.
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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by SpiritBombTriumphant » Thu May 14, 2015 1:23 am

Honestly if I get the content I think I can watch anything. I'm currently watching Kai 2.0 with the original Japanese voice actors and English subtitles. I love the FUNimation dub of Z because of the music, nostalgia, and the fact that it's in HD. I like the English dub for Kai 1.0 because it's very good, the dialogue is insanely better, and it cut out most of the filler. So they're all good. Although one time I downloaded a dub for... one of the movies, I forget which, and the dialogue was terrible. It wasn't the "Big Green Dub" but I thought it was (until no one said that name). I will never watch that again.

Worst line was when a bunch of things happened and then a weakened Krillin proceeded to say exactly what just happened as if the viewer was supposed to have somehow not seen the events of the last minute or two. Something was up with that. My guess is that it was the Ocean Dub or the Saban Dub (1996 dub). But honestly, I think what can ruin something for me is censoring material. That is an instant "do not watch" for me.

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by ultimateemail5000 » Thu May 14, 2015 6:48 am

I used to be unable to watch DBZ in English until 2007 when they started using the original Japanese BGM. I absolutely can't watch Dragon Ball in English because of Goku's voice. Looking back now, I wish they would have just gone the South Park route and just pitched Sean Schemmel's voice for Goku and it would have probably worked fine. Everything else though, I prefer it in English now that they have grown into their roles.

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by 90sDBZ » Thu May 14, 2015 8:08 am

I can watch and enjoy the Saban Ocean dub, Funimation DB/Z/GT dub, Funimation Kai, the Fusion and Kid Buu sagas of the Westwood Z dub and Blue Water DB.

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by huzaifa_ahmed » Thu May 14, 2015 8:32 am

English Kai is my preferred, due to having spottily seen Z on CN back in the day, I know the VAs and music , but storyline I know from Viz Shonen Jump.

Anyhow, old Funi dub is good for laughs and sometimes the rock score,if I want to add some spice to it. For dialogue/story, howver, I even prefer foreign original language than that dub. Heck, I prefer the Latin American dubs, the French dub, and my parents' language dub over Toonami era. Ocean dub I havent seen much of, but I dont hate it.
Japanese Kai is wonderful for finally having decent qualtty audio, not to mention Tanimoto's songs.
So...
English Kai>~Japanese Kai>>Spanish Z>Japanese Z>French Z>Ocean?>>>Funi>>>Malaysian, though i cant believe "Beta" was used. I'm tempted to put it on par with Funi's old dub if I find more Urdu/Hindi words scattered about.

If it means anything for context, I am born 96, a couple weeks before the Ocean dub debuted.

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by Kakarot88 » Thu May 14, 2015 11:00 am

If I want to watch Z dubbed I'll watch the funimation singles and my dragon boxes for the other episodes in proper aspect ratio. Aside from the Vegeta arc I cannot stand the dub with the Japanese music, as it just does not mesh with the dub script and acting.

Don't get me wrong I'm a fan of the Kikuchi score and think it works perfectly with the Japanese cast...but the American audio in Z and Kai just sounds awful with it.

Kai is the only version of the dub I cannot watch whether it be Yamamoto's score or Kikuchii's ad hoc replacement. Until this forum I had not encountered a single person who preferred Kai to Z in terms of dub.
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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by Lord Beerus » Thu May 14, 2015 12:00 pm

There's always a soft spot in my heart for the original FUNi dub of the show as well the Ocean dub of the show. I mean, it's so bad, it's good. I often go back to marathon the episodes of those versions of the show just that nostalgia.

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by huzaifa_ahmed » Thu May 14, 2015 12:26 pm

Kakarot88 wrote:If I want to watch Z dubbed I'll watch the funimation singles and my dragon boxes for the other episodes in proper aspect ratio. Aside from the Vegeta arc I cannot stand the dub with the Japanese music, as it just does not mesh with the dub script and acting.

Don't get me wrong I'm a fan of the Kikuchi score and think it works perfectly with the Japanese cast...but the American audio in Z and Kai just sounds awful with it.

Kai is the only version of the dub I cannot watch whether it be Yamamoto's score or Kikuchii's ad hoc replacement. Until this forum I had not encountered a single person who preferred Kai to Z in terms of dub.
What the heck? If you are on Youtube and Facebook, even, there are plenty of folks who acknowledge Kai's English version being better than the old dub.

Perhaps this is a habit/nostalgia/"accustomed" thing for you?

Mind you, a

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Re: Anyone that can watch any of the dubs?

Post by Kakarot88 » Thu May 14, 2015 1:07 pm

huzaifa_ahmed wrote:
Kakarot88 wrote:If I want to watch Z dubbed I'll watch the funimation singles and my dragon boxes for the other episodes in proper aspect ratio. Aside from the Vegeta arc I cannot stand the dub with the Japanese music, as it just does not mesh with the dub script and acting.

Don't get me wrong I'm a fan of the Kikuchi score and think it works perfectly with the Japanese cast...but the American audio in Z and Kai just sounds awful with it.

Kai is the only version of the dub I cannot watch whether it be Yamamoto's score or Kikuchii's ad hoc replacement. Until this forum I had not encountered a single person who preferred Kai to Z in terms of dub.
What the heck? If you are on Youtube and Facebook, even, there are plenty of folks who acknowledge Kai's English version being better than the old dub.

Perhaps this is a habit/nostalgia/"accustomed" thing for you?


Mind you, a
I don't watch the series on YouTube nor would I engage in the flame wars that go on there.

Better to you, not to me. There are other threads with that as a topic for debate.

It's not s habit/nostalgia thing. I dislike Kai because of the odd pacing and choice of edits and removal of action filler and not just dialogue or subplot or staring filler. I dislike the dub of Kai on more levels than just the IMO phoned in acting.
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