KillerCory wrote:Which language did you first see the show in?
When I first saw
Dragon Ball Z, it was via FUNimation's Freeza Saga dub with their Texas cast. I know, looking back, it wasn't the best introduction to the series, mostly because of the bad dialogue and the actors who were still getting used to their new roles, but I enjoyed the show nonetheless. I watched the show on Toonami from the Freeza saga all the way to the end of the Cell saga, and by then, I had fallen in love with FUNimation's current cast and Bruce Faulconer's music. I purchased all of the Buu saga VHS tapes just so I could see the episodes before Toonami aired them. After seeing the dub of the final episode, I started doing a lot of research on the series on the internet. I saw some information on the Bojack movie, and since Gohan (
the hero of that movie) was my favorite character, I said: "
Man, when that gets dubbed, I'm picking that up." After that, my excitement for the franchise faded, and I just kinda moved on with life. So, to answer that question, FUNimation's dub was my first exposure to the series.
And, which language do you watch the show in now?
Which brings me to part 2. A few years after I had left the series behind, I went through a nostalgia phase (
which, honestly, I still haven't gotten out of yet), so I began going back and watching all of my old Disney movies and Hanna-Barbera cartoons that I had on tape. One day, I was in the store, and I saw FUNimation's uncut Bojack movie DVD, which had just come out. I said: "
Holy crap, I remember how excited I was about this movie as a kid; I'll check it out." After watching the dub, I got a feeling of "
Wierd, that wasn't as awesome as I thought it would be." That was mostly because of Mark Menza's boring and somber musical score. I was exploring the DVD, and switched to the Japanese version just for fun. I started watching it, and realized that the musical score was at least ten times greater than the English version, and that there wasn't nearly as much added dialogue as there was the dub, which I liked. I was surprised, yet strangely intrigued, by the Japanese voice cast (
mainly because Masako Nozawa and Mayumi Tanaka's voices were very different from Sean Schemmel and Sonny Strait's, who I was so used to.), and wanted to hear more of the music and acting that the Japanese version had. I started purchasing the rest of the
DBZ movies on DVD and comparing the dub to the original, and found that while I had a soft spot for FUNimation (
whose dub I grew up with), the original version was winning me over quickly. Nowadays, I'm more into the series than ever, and the Japanese version is my standard viewing option for all three shows.
Overall, which do you perfer more?
I would have to say that my viewing preferences, from most to least liked, go like this:
1.) Original Japanese Version
2.) FUNimation Dub with Original Background Music
3.) FUNimation Dub with Bruce Faulconer's, Mark Menza's, and Nathan Johnson's Music
4.) Edited FUNimation/Pioneer Dub
When I purchased the seaosn 1 set, I was excited to see FUNimation's dub with the original music, since both have a very special place in my heart. When I saw it, I thought about how huge of an improvment it was, but also about how much better it could have been if FUNimation had used some common sense. There's too much added dialogue, and I don't think ten measly seconds went by in all 39 episodes where there wasn't somebody talking. The inclusion of the original background music is great, but it does no good when I can't even hear it. The narrator absolutely will not shut up, and I can't hear the recap music at all, which is sad because it's one of my favorite pieces. Another problem was the acting, which has really gone down since the stellar acting (
IMO) from the Buu saga dub. It's like the actors are tired of their roles, and the voice direction isn't any better. All of FUNimation's other dubs honestly approach perfection, mainly because of the acting and script. With DBZ, though, they seem to forget everything they've learned and say "
All right, this is DBZ, so I want all of you to constantly grunt and overact. Okay? All right, let's do this." Another problem is the script, which, while FUNimation corrected some of the huge errors, hasn't gotten any better. Funimation seems to have abandoned the original script and gone with most of the lines from the original edited dub. It seems like they were aiming for nostalgia over accuracy, which is a problem.
The new English version is still very good (
watch the "Kuririn-throwing-the-Genki-Dama" scene in the dub-with-Japanese-music track to see what I mean.), but it just could have been better.
To answer the question, I prefer the original version more. I just like the voices, acting, and script better.
Edit done, but you get the point anyway.
) But beyond that there isn't anything else to say other than I missed some of the movies and filler episodes. That is why I was a little pissed when they discontinued the Ultimate Uncut line for the DBZ movies. I wanted them for the Mexican dub, because there hasn't been a domestic release so far. I might have to get the Funi discs that they are making now, even if they lack the Mexican dub soundtrack. Grrrr.
