Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" Dub Turns 14; Still Unreleased

[TheBlackPaladin]

Even if it had been pitched to them I doubt they would freely admit it in an email.

True, but there's a chance that they'd say it's coming if they had signed it.

The general rule of thumb about revealing the existence of certain shows is that it's only OK to talk about it once it has been publicly announced. Sometimes that public announcement takes the form of an official press release, sometimes it means when the first trailer is aired...but until that time, anybody involved with projects like these are told to keep their mouths shut and play dumb.

It's dead at this point, it's probably been recorded but it's not coming out. Would it have been cool to see? Oh hell yeah, but with a replacement score and possibly some other very ancient decisions being made with it, maybe it's a good thing that it never became a thing especially because we have FUNi's dub for our go to English version of the show.

It's probably true that this thing will never be released, but the fact remains, not even the FUNimation dub of Kai hasn't been seen on Canadian TV yet. The only benchmark left is the completion of the TV airing of FUNimation's dub of the Buu arc. There could be a policy in place saying Ocean can't release their dub until FUNimation is done releasing theirs. After that, though, if it's still not on TV, I think we can safely say this dub won't be seen.

[Quantum-Kakarrotto]

Take this with a HUGE Grain of salt.

I went to Megacon in Orlando and while waiting in line I met a fellow Dragon Ball fan. We talked for a while about the series before I brought up the Ocean Dub of Kai. AGAIN Take this with a grain of salt or a bucket full of salt grains like I have, but this guy informed me that apparently the first 3 episodes of the Kai ocean dub was shown in Korea!?

He explained to me a few things like how the Kai Ocean Dub voice of Raditz sounds too similar to the one from Funimation. Brian Drummonds voicework for Vegeta apparently sounds like a combo of his previous Vegeta and Zechs Marquise of Gundam Wing. Richard Ian Cox as Goku is apparently perfect casting and Nappa sounds good too.

Again I say take this only with a grain of salt. Until I see this series for myself I find myself not believing this 100%.

[NitroEX]

AGAIN Take this with a grain of salt or a bucket full of salt grains like I have, but this guy informed me that apparently the first 3 episodes of the Kai ocean dub was shown in Korea!?

He explained to me a few things like how the Kai Ocean Dub voice of Raditz sounds too similar to the one from Funimation. Brian Drummonds voicework for Vegeta apparently sounds like a combo of his previous Vegeta and Zechs Marquise of Gundam Wing. Richard Ian Cox as Goku is apparently perfect casting and Nappa sounds good too.

Again I say take this only with a grain of salt. Until I see this series for myself I find myself not believing this 100%.

It seems rather odd to me that someone who supposedly knew so much about Ocean Kai wouldn't partake in discussion about it anywhere online, I mean this thread is one of the first things that comes up when I google any combination of the words Dragonball, Kai and Ocean so what would be stopping them from sharing such info themselves? This story just doesn't seem to add up to me. As much as I want to see this dub I'm going to have to call bullshit on this story.

Also, I'm pretty sure Korea has already had a local dub of Kai produced. An English dub being aired there seems highly unlikely but hey, maybe you can prove it and shut me up. I'd certainly love to hear this dub if it's out there somewhere.

[Quantum-Kakarrotto]

I agree that it doesn't make any sense at all and why there's no one talking about this sort of thing if it exists. That's why I asked the guy to send me the downloads he got from the 3 episodes to see if it's legit or not. If I hear back from him I'll try to see if I upload these episodes somewhere for everyone else to see them, if I don't hear back we all know it's another BS info much like everything else with this Ocean dub of Kai. I just wish something can happen so that all this speculation can end.

[SX10]

Oh wow!

Thing is, surely more than 3 episodes would have had to have aired for him to hear Vegeta & Nappa. Interestingly though (and I've posted about this page before) that Frieza Facebook page which, supposedly, Lee Tockar runs and posts on, mentioned something similar.

Now, sometimes the posts match Tockar's tweets and sometimes they don't. This post wasn't on Twitter at all and he later posted saying he still hadn't seen the dub. I'm actually really unsure if it's really him. But it's bizarre. Why keep up such a weird charade if it wasn't him? Plus, the posts are months apart and you never get a reply.

Here is a copy:

"Hello Frieza fans. Apparently the Ocean Group DBK is finally airing somewhere. I would love it if someone could let me know and tell me where and when to see it. So excited to see what my version of Frieza plays out like as I only really get to see the scenes I am in... I hope you all like it... pass this along please... for Frieza'ssake... LOL."

Posted 15th July 2015

I hope this guy is right!

[OmegaRockman]

Oh wow!

Thing is, surely more than 3 episodes would have had to have aired for him to hear Vegeta & Nappa. Interestingly though (and I've posted about this page before) that Frieza Facebook page which, supposedly, Lee Tockar runs and posts on, mentioned something similar.

Now, sometimes the posts match Tockar's tweets and sometimes they don't. This post wasn't on Twitter at all and he later posted saying he still hadn't seen the dub. I'm actually really unsure if it's really him. But it's bizarre. Why keep up such a weird charade if it wasn't him? Plus, the posts are months apart and you never get a reply.

Here is a copy:

"Hello Frieza fans. Apparently the Ocean Group DBK is finally airing somewhere. I would love it if someone could let me know and tell me where and when to see it. So excited to see what my version of Frieza plays out like as I only really get to see the scenes I am in... I hope you all like it... pass this along please... for Frieza'ssake... LOL."

Posted 15th July 2015

I hope this guy is right!

Actually, Nappa and Vegeta pop up at the very end of episode 3 and have their discussion about Raditz dying and wishing for immortality, so this person would have heard them if he's telling the truth.

[SX10]

Oh yeah! It's late here, my brain feels a bit fried

I went looking, haven't found anything solid :/ but in Korea, a channel called "Anione" airs the show. I messaged them about it through Facebook.

Hey, who knows, might be fruitful. Gotta try everything I can think of.

[Ajay]

Here is a copy:

"Hello Frieza fans. Apparently the Ocean Group DBK is finally airing somewhere. I would love it if someone could let me know and tell me where and when to see it. So excited to see what my version of Frieza plays out like as I only really get to see the scenes I am in... I hope you all like it... pass this along please... for Frieza'ssake... LOL."

This was on Twitter once. It was when FUNi's Dragon Ball Kai was beginning to air (or beginning to air the Freeza arc, anyway) on Toonami, and Tockar got the wrong idea. I imagine he took it down when he realised his mistake.

[SX10]

Here is a copy:

"Hello Frieza fans. Apparently the Ocean Group DBK is finally airing somewhere. I would love it if someone could let me know and tell me where and when to see it. So excited to see what my version of Frieza plays out like as I only really get to see the scenes I am in... I hope you all like it... pass this along please... for Frieza'ssake... LOL."

This was on Twitter once. It was when FUNi's Dragon Ball Kai was beginning to air (or beginning to air the Freeza arc, anyway) on Toonami, and Tockar got the wrong idea. I imagine he took it down when he realised his mistake.

Thanks for letting me know man that sucks. I would tweet Lee Tockar to see what the word is as he did say he'd inquire about it, but I feel like I'd be hassling him.

Same for Michael Dobson, I recall him saying he'd look into it for someone.

However, I do ask Richard Ian Cox from time-to-time via his tumblr haha! He answers every question. I have learned that he always denies knowledge about anything Ocean Kai related and that he has a convention appearance sometime this year that he is keeping secret about.

[Quantum-Kakarrotto]

I went looking, haven't found anything solid :/ but in Korea, a channel called "Anione" airs the show. I messaged them about it through Facebook.

Hey, who knows, might be fruitful. Gotta try everything I can think of.

If this is true and that this "Anione" is airing Kai and if somehow they are showing the Ocean Dub of Kai, then I just wanna know why does Korea have it and not us? Everything regarding the Ocean Dub of Kai just becomes more and more confusing the more I hear about it. I just wish we can some real news about it already, it's been what 6 years since we've heard about this? I'm just wondering when we can actually get something real.

[OmegaRockman]

I went looking, haven't found anything solid :/ but in Korea, a channel called "Anione" airs the show. I messaged them about it through Facebook.

Hey, who knows, might be fruitful. Gotta try everything I can think of.

If this is true and that this "Anione" is airing Kai and if somehow they are showing the Ocean Dub of Kai, then I just wanna know why does Korea have it and not us? Everything regarding the Ocean Dub of Kai just becomes more and more confusing the more I hear about it. I just wish we can some real news about it already, it's been what 6 years since we've heard about this? I'm just wondering when we can actually get something real.

I have a theory. You know how some channels in the US have the Spanish audio of certain shows available? Well, what if this channel does the same for some of their shows except for English speakers (tourists and the like) and the Ocean dub happened to be cheaper to buy than the Funi dub? I know it's a stretch, but maybe it's possible.

[TheBlackPaladin]

I went looking, haven't found anything solid :/ but in Korea, a channel called "Anione" airs the show. I messaged them about it through Facebook.

Hey, who knows, might be fruitful. Gotta try everything I can think of.

If this is true and that this "Anione" is airing Kai and if somehow they are showing the Ocean Dub of Kai, then I just wanna know why does Korea have it and not us? Everything regarding the Ocean Dub of Kai just becomes more and more confusing the more I hear about it. I just wish we can some real news about it already, it's been what 6 years since we've heard about this? I'm just wondering when we can actually get something real.

I have a theory. You know how some channels in the US have the Spanish audio of certain shows available? Well, what if this channel does the same for some of their shows except for English speakers (tourists and the like) and the Ocean dub happened to be cheaper to buy than the Funi dub? I know it's a stretch, but maybe it's possible.

Well, you said it yourself, it's a stretch...but, as you also said yourself, it's possible. I can't remember which one it is, but I vaguely recall that Toei commissioned an Ocean dub of a particular anime that only aired on TV, and in an odd location.

Hey, stranger things have happened! I can recall a few instances of odd airing schedules for dubs...
-There's going to be an English dub of Super that will only air in Asia.
-There are two English dubs of Yu-Gi-Oh and One Piece, one being the 4Kids/FUNimation dub and a dub, and the other being a different dub done by a company called Odex in Singapore, who used American actors.
-There are actually two English dubs of Shin-Chan, the FUNimation dub that everybody is familiar with, and another one recorded in Los Angeles in 1994, using big-name, union voice actors..........that only aired in the UK.
-There's a Japanese dub.......of the.....English dub.....of Doraemon airing in Japan right now.

See, here's the thing...years ago, I would have called BS on this story as well, but considering all the crazy things that have happened with the production of this franchise, I'm willing to believe a lot more than I used to. At this point, if Toei announced a DBZ crossover with Justice League, I'd just be like, "Oh, so that's what they're doing now."

[Android17]

The fact that the Ocean Studios actors are still keeping quiet about this dub makes me hopeful that we still may still see it eventually. You'd think that if the project had been canned then they would be able to talk about it freely. I could be wrong though, I really have no idea how NDA's work.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Take this with a HUGE Grain of salt.

I went to Megacon in Orlando and while waiting in line I met a fellow Dragon Ball fan. We talked for a while about the series before I brought up the Ocean Dub of Kai. AGAIN Take this with a grain of salt or a bucket full of salt grains like I have, but this guy informed me that apparently the first 3 episodes of the Kai ocean dub was shown in Korea!?

He explained to me a few things like how the Kai Ocean Dub voice of Raditz sounds too similar to the one from Funimation. Brian Drummonds voicework for Vegeta apparently sounds like a combo of his previous Vegeta and Zechs Marquise of Gundam Wing. Richard Ian Cox as Goku is apparently perfect casting and Nappa sounds good too.

Again I say take this only with a grain of salt. Until I see this series for myself I find myself not believing this 100%.

Well this is intriguing, and certainly something I will take with a grain of salt, but let's all hope it's true .

Did this guy say anything more about the Ocean dub? How was the BGM? Did they keep this opening? How did McNeil's Piccolo sound? Were the scripts the same as the Funi version or did Ocean take any liberties?

[SX10]

I know a little something about the BGM

Apparently it's something like what you'd hear on a DC cartoon, specifically Teen Titans. But the guy also told me he loved it and would happily have one or two tracks on his mp3 player.

Would be amazing to hear of any other details provided

[Quantum-Kakarrotto]

Well this is intriguing, and certainly something I will take with a grain of salt, but let's all hope it's true .

Did this guy say anything more about the Ocean dub? How was the BGM? Did they keep this opening? How did McNeil's Piccolo sound? Were the scripts the same as the Funi version or did Ocean take any liberties?

I didn't ask about the BGM, he did mention that the opening is the same Japanese version of Dragon Soul, I don't know if this is because it's shown in Korea(if true) so the opening and closing could be different than anything we could get here. but Mcneil's Piccolo was said to have improved significantly and he apparently says Makankosappo instead of Special Beam Cannon , I didn't get to ask for more details on Mcneil or anything else as the convention opened before I got to ask but didn't someone post a video link on here a while back on Scott Mcneil explaining how the Kai ocean dub was fixing pronunciations of names in the series to make it sound closer to the Japanese like Namek/Nawmek and Saiyan/Cyan. so Mcneil's Piccolo saying Makankosappo could be true.

[SX10]

This is all just so fascinating.

So I imagine you've swapped contact details with this guy and you're just waiting on him getting back to you? Btw, did he mention how he came across it? Like, did he live in Korea for a short while, got friends out there, or just get super lucky with a random download?

[Quantum-Kakarrotto]

This is all just so fascinating.

So I imagine you've swapped contact details with this guy and you're just waiting on him getting back to you? Btw, did he mention how he came across it? Like, did he live in Korea for a short while, got friends out there, or just get super lucky with a random download?

Yeah, I swapped contact info with him, I wasn't gonna lose the only chance I have at maybe seeing the Kai ocean dub if it's true. He told me a buddy of his in Korea came across the ocean dub and sent the downloads for it to him here in the US which is apparently huge download files. I'm waiting for him to get back to me about sending me these downloads so I can see proof of this myself.

He also mentioned that the three episodes of the Kai Ocean Dub can be found online but you have to look really hard for it, like in all the places you'll less likely to go and places where your computer might deem unsafe. I don't know if Korea has different internet laws pertaining to sharing files online or uploads, but I know this is the only lead about this dub we got so far until a real announcement or broadcast can be found.

[NitroEX]

Interesting stuff... though I must say, some of this seems contradictory to what we've learned so far. Unless Ocean produced two versions of the same dub intended for use in different markets, I can't imagine why they would commission Anitunes to produce a replacement soundtrack along with a kid friendly intro song, only to then go in a completely faithful direction. The choices they've made so far seemed to indicate that the dub was going to be aired on western kids TV and feature heavy localisations but if what this guy said is true, then this dub has either done a complete 180 or their plan from the start was to produce two versions.

For the record, Lee Tockar has mentioned the replacement music on Twitter at least once (unfortunately I can no longer find the link) and a Blue water actor who was allegedly involved in the dub also made mention of it on another forum. We definitely know that a version of the dub with this new soundtrack exists so either they used a faithful script with unfaithful music (which doesn't make much sense) or they've produced two versions of the show.

I suppose it's not out of the question to think that they could have turned to Asian markets as a last resort since Canada and the UK weren't biting. Perhaps they were forced to ditch the replacement soundtrack by whatever Korean channel that brought the show and had to not only replace the music, but also get the actors back to retake certain lines (i.e McNeil saying "Makankosappo"). This would certainly help explain the long delays in production, if this is all true of course.

didn't someone post a video link on here a while back on Scott Mcneil explaining how the Kai ocean dub was fixing pronunciations of names in the series to make it sound closer to the Japanese like Namek/Nawmek and Saiyan/Cyan. so Mcneil's Piccolo saying Makankosappo could be true.

McNeil did indeed mention that the producers of the dub enforced a change to the Namek pronunciation but he didn't mention changes to "Saiyan" or anything about "Makankosappo". I mean if they had changed Special Beam Cannon to Makankosappo I'd like to think that would've been the first thing he'd mention, although maybe he purposely chose not to talk about that detail since he knows fans at the conventions like to hear him shout "Special Beam Cannon" instead.

[SX10]

Thank you for all this information, I hope he replies to your email soon! Could be an insane find! I'm currently searching Korean Google

Ah, Nitro, it seems they didn't discuss the BGM, but my theory is that they ditched the idea of a brand new opening song. I do notice that Ocean dub's at least seem to keep original Japanese openings. I still think there'll be a replacement score though.