Dub Changes That Don't Bother You...that much

[DanielSSJ]

Out of all the dub attack name changes, "Spirit Bomb" is pretty serviceable. It's not exactly a one-to-one translation, but it's definitely a cut above garbage like "Special Beam Cannon" and "Tri-Beam".

[Lord Beerus]

"Wake up! Majin Buu's eaten everyone we care about! Everyone is gone, even Bulma! They've become part of Buu, they can't even die! I just thought the least we could do is put our old differences aside, just this once, and really work together. We owe that to our teammates, our families Vegeta, our friends! Look, you've always talked about our Saiyan race, how we're the last of a mighty people. Well it's time we accept we're starting a new race, one that can be just as strong, just as proud! But not if we're caught up in so much of our old birthrights to see what we have right in front of us! We've lost our old race Vegeta... let's not lose this one, too!"

- Goku, Episode 268, Dragon Ball Z

In my opinion, that stands as the best Funimation dubbed-in additional dialogue in all of Dragon Ball Z.

[MasenkoHA]

If only the acting was better

[ulisa]

Another change that I think is relatively minor but I ended up loving how it played out: in the original FUNimation dub, they translated “Otou-san” differently depending on the character/circumstance (I’m sure fitting mouth flaps likely had something to do with it): Kai seems to translate it as “Father” or “Dad,” which I believe is most accurate. Though my subtitles does have Goku refer to himself as “Otou-chan” when he shows up on Namek and is talking to Gohan before giving him a sensu.

The original started out with “Daddy” and only switched to “Dad” about the Android arc. Then they switched back to Daddy for Gohan’s scream after Goku dies. I doubt that much thought went into it but I really think it works well for an additional emotional punch.

The commentary for DBZ movie 1 even has them remark “how many times do you think Gohan says the word “Daddy” in the series?” Which I thought was interesting commentary.

[MasenkoHA]

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The commentary for DBZ movie 1 even has them remark “how many times do you think Gohan says the word “Daddy” in the series?” Which I thought was interesting commentary.

Considering how common it is for little kids around Gohan’s age in the Saiyan and Namek saga to refer to their dads as daddy I never gave it a second thought and I’m not sure why the localizers felt the need to comment on it.

[ulisa]

.

The commentary for DBZ movie 1 even has them remark “how many times do you think Gohan says the word “Daddy” in the series?” Which I thought was interesting commentary.

Considering how common it is for little kids around Gohan’s age in the Saiyan and Namek saga to refer to their dads as daddy I never gave it a second thought and I’m not sure why the localizers felt the need to comment on it.

It was always what I associated with a father when I was little (and because of that, Gohan’s “Daddy!” Will always have more impact than “Otou-san!”) One of my friends said it was weird for an “action show” to use it though. Can’t say I thought much about that—when I first saw the show in Japanese, it was a little weird to see Goku called “Father” all the time though.

[PremiumSalt]

The 1995 dub, as well as the Blue Water dub and the TV edited Funi dub of the relevant episode, censoring Oolong's desire to molest Bulma during a drug-induced sleep he put her in, into being him trying to steal the Dragon Balls from her room while she and Goku are drugged out.

Agreed.
I liked censoring Blue's attraction to Obotchaman to thinking he's his "long lost brother". Only because I hate the implication that gay men are pedophiles.

Whatever way you cut it, giving Blue a scene of paedophilic attraction is pretty bad whatever way you do it, so... Yeah, I don't really mind this one either. And the censored version is pretty entertaining in its own right.

While I agree with the motivation behind the censorship, I've always been of the opinion that the way the scene is animated is far too overt for the "little brother" change to work, and it ends up making the scene even creepier.

[MasenkoHA]

^Yeah the animation and how Blue acts around him with his facial expressions gives it away.

[Fionordequester]

Bardock becoming more of a good guy in the Bardock movie. Because NOW, that's pretty much what Toriyama's made him, anyway .

[MasenkoHA]

Bardock becoming more of a good guy in the Bardock movie. Because NOW, that's pretty much what Toriyama's made him, anyway .

Vegeta: Your father was an average fighter but he was a buh rillliaaant scientist

Toriyama *strokes chin*: What if he was

Bardock:Father of Goku Funimation dub presents Bardock as heroic

Toriyama: Interesting concept

*Toriyama watched Superman:The Movie

Toriyama: Yes, yes taking notes

[TobyS]

I’ve always preferred Goku’s speech about “having lost our old race” and “let’s not lose our new one too” just prior to fusing with Vegeta.

While that sounds great, it falls flat for me because Goku has zero memory or emotional connection with the Saiyan race. He grew up on Earth, so they aren't his new race.

I don't like the change either but for different reasons.
To play devils advocate can't you imagine he's pandering to Vegetas ego about vague saiyan pride. (even though he didn't care about the saiyans.) I feel like that line sorta works there.

[TobyS]

"Wake up! Majin Buu's eaten everyone we care about! Everyone is gone, even Bulma! They've become part of Buu, they can't even die! I just thought the least we could do is put our old differences aside, just this once, and really work together. We owe that to our teammates, our families Vegeta, our friends! Look, you've always talked about our Saiyan race, how we're the last of a mighty people. Well it's time we accept we're starting a new race, one that can be just as strong, just as proud! But not if we're caught up in so much of our old birthrights to see what we have right in front of us! We've lost our old race Vegeta... let's not lose this one, too!"

- Goku, Episode 268, Dragon Ball Z

In my opinion, that stands as the best Funimation dubbed-in additional dialogue in all of Dragon Ball Z.

Actually now I see the whole thing it's pretty bad.

“team-mates” perpetuates the fundamental crucial american misunderstanding of the *vomits in mouth* “Z-fighters the super hero team” vegeta has no friends, he's a prick.

Other than their own kids they didn't really leave a legacy and influence the humans.

Also when Vegeta decides to get the humans to save themselves it looks like he got the idea from Goku from this conversation, so it takes something away from his first sign of actually not being a piece of shit trash person anymore.

[Robo4900]

Yeah, learn something every day, and all that.

Indeed.

. The best example I can think of is when Goku first turns SS3. Compare Funi's "this is to go even further beyond!" to the technically-more-accurate but wordier and stiffer line in Kai. .

“This next level goes way beyond Super Saiyan 2” really doesn’t seem much wordier and stiffer than “This is to go even further beyond” honestly watching both to compare Kai still comes up on top because Schemmel’s acting got way better. In the Z clip he sounds like he’s taking a massive dump to me

In this case though, either way, it isn't a dub change. Unless the Japanese line was substantially different to both lines, both are perfectly fine ways of rendering what Goku's trying to say. It's just a matter of the Kai script wording it differently.

If this was a dub change, Kai would be equally guilty.

[Super Sonic]

I didn't mind Slug's changed backstory. Yeah, his Japanese wasn't so hot either, but made more sense to me. Also I preferred when they had Raditz talking about Vegeta and Nappa's strength in his dying words over telling them earlier. Gave more of an "Oh crap!" feeling.

[MasenkoHA]

. Also I preferred when they had Raditz talking about Vegeta and Nappa's strength in his dying words over telling them earlier. Gave more of an "Oh crap!" feeling.

Now that I think about it I prefer that too.

[Dbzfan94]

If only the acting was better

The acting was just fine for that scene. Do you really have to insist on bashing the voice acting every time makes an addition?

[ShadowBardock89]

Censoring out the little boy wang

Agreed. This would not fly in Japan nowadays.

[Soppa Saia People]

While power levels being completely meaningless and arbitrary is totally spot on, my issue is simply that the Over 9000 meme, in and of itself, was never actually funny at any point, in any way, and for any reason in the first place.

Wow! this entire time I thought I was the only anomaly that never found that funny in any capacity and was genuinely confused as to why that became popular at all in the first place. Guess we're a rare breed haha, at least when it comes to western fans anyway.

in fairness, internet culture and memes as whole from that age, doesn't hold up well and a lot of that stuff was pretty hit and miss with how funny it was. i won't lie i do kinda miss the simplicity of it though.

[KBABZ]

While power levels being completely meaningless and arbitrary is totally spot on, my issue is simply that the Over 9000 meme, in and of itself, was never actually funny at any point, in any way, and for any reason in the first place.

Wow! this entire time I thought I was the only anomaly that never found that funny in any capacity and was genuinely confused as to why that became popular at all in the first place. Guess we're a rare breed haha, at least when it comes to western fans anyway.

in fairness, internet culture and memes as whole from that age, doesn't hold up well and a lot of that stuff was pretty hit and miss with how funny it was. i won't lie i do kinda miss the simplicity of it though.

Over 9000 is the 90s equivalent to The Cake Was a Lie. Not that funny to begin with, and was within a week overused to death.

[Kunzait_83]

Over 9000 is the 90s equivalent to The Cake Was a Lie. Not that funny to begin with, and was within a week overused to death.

Over 9000 didn't take off as a meme until 2006. Anytime prior to that point, much less back in the 90s, if you randomly said "Its Over 9000!!" to anyone - even to a die-hard anime Otaku - they'd most likely look at you like you were a complete mental patient. Rightly so.

in fairness, internet culture and memes as whole from that age, doesn't hold up well and a lot of that stuff was pretty hit and miss with how funny it was. i won't lie i do kinda miss the simplicity of it though.

You're misunderstanding me. I'm not saying that Over 9000 was a case of "This was funny at one point long ago in a more innocent time, but just doesn't hold up these days." I'm saying that it was NEVER funny and was ALWAYS completely brain dead, even back then when it first became a thing, and people were always being ridiculously stupid for even making it into a thing in the first place.

Also 2006 wasn't exactly some ancient, far off, antiquated, bygone era of prehistory. We're talking 12 years ago: people born that year aren't even fully reaching puberty just yet. Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, HD televisions, Blu Rays, etc. were all very much around still. Hell, most of us were all still blabbering on about Dragon Ball on this very same forum back then.

And honestly, roughly 80 to 90% of damn nearly ALL internet memes are similarly idiotic inherently, and guaranteed most all of the big ones of today will likely seem just as stupid and unfunny ten years from now as those from circa 2006 might seem to some folks today: and that's because most of them are innately stupid and unfunny to begin with, particularly a lot of the most widespread ones.

I mean don't get me wrong: once in a great, great while there's the occasional gem of a meme every so often that's genuinely clever and funny (stuff like the Change My Mind meme just off the top of my head have yielded a few keepers, and the whole Motivational Poster thing is an outright classic at this point). But overall by and large, the idea that shit like Ben Swolo or the Dead Yamucha Pose in the 2010s are somehow some kind of vast upgrade of comedic sophistication over things like mid-2000s Youtube Poop videos (which is basically what Over 9000 got its start as in the first place) is, in and of itself, about as dumb and ridiculous of a notion as most of these memes themselves.

Ugandan Knuckles is just as stupid as Harlem Shake which is just as stupid as Lolcats which is just as stupid as Over 9000 which is just as stupid as All Your Base Are Belong To Us, etc. etc. And that's without even getting into the universe of cringe and "shit that won't age well in about ten milliseconds" that makes up a sizable chunk of the political memes that are out there.

Internet culture as a whole in general has basically been an ever-declining downward IQ slope since at least 1998, if not even earlier.