Would you have liked to see Pioneer dub the franchise?

[Sailor Haumea]

Was the Blue Water DB dub ever released on DVD/BD?

[Danfun64]

The only English dub stuff AB Groupe released on vhs and dvd were the "Big Green" movies and specials, and even then a couple of them weren't released (First three original DB movies and the GT special). The Westwood dub of DBZ and the Blue Water dubs of DB and GT have never been released on home video.

If you are looking up the versions of all of these with the least cuts, look for Toonami UK airings from Trunks to the Cell Games and the missing "Big Green" movies/specials, then YTV airings for everything else (YTV never got the Westwood dub of the aforementioned portion), nor did it ever receive the "Big Green" movies/specials.

Even with the YTV version of DB though, beware of premade edits from the French transfer. AB Groupe was infamous for cutting out whole scenes from its masters. I'm not 100% sure how it affects DB (though I do know that in at least the Toonami UK cut the Namekian language scene from Piccolo vs Kami was partially removed), but I heard that in the AB Groupe's version of DBZ (which was only used for the last three episodes of the Westwood dub, using the edited Funi masters most of the time), the death scenes of Dodoria and Zarbon were completely removed. However, the AB Groupe's original masters of the Boo saga and GT have almost no edits, if any, so most of the cuts done in Blue Water GT dub were original to it.

[huzaifa_ahmed]

So basically, to get the most accurate English experience (with filler):

Blue Water dub of Dragon Ball
Funi dub of Dragon Ball (Episodes 14-153)
Pioneer dub of movies
Funi dub of DBZ
Blue Water dub of GT

Does the Blue Water dub have much censorship?

This is about right. However, DBZ is unfaithful in all English dubs despite the visual content being uncut; the English script in all dubs are poor, censored, and unfaithful to the original content. Otherwise Kai would be the way to go. But yes, with filler, I guess FUNi's Texas dub would be the best (term used loosely) for a more accurate English experience.

Pioneer only did the first 3 DBZ movies sadly. So the rest would have to be FUNi's Texas dub again, which has the problems Z has in English. The only exception would be the first Broly film, movie 8, which is dubbed pretty faithfully by FUNi's in-house cast.

I believe Blue Water retains the Japanese script except there are no curse words. They do use the Japanese terms for ki attacks and names of characters.

So the most faithful English experience (without Kai) would be:

Blue Water dub of Dragon Ball
Pioneer dub of movies (movies 1-3)
FUNi dub for the rest of the films
Funi dub of DBZ
Blue Water dub of GT

Gonna sound a bit facetious/trollish here, but the most accurate English experience of DB would be the original TV adaptation of the show, subtitled. & DB's dub isn't anything special - the casting, even in the Ocean dub, is not really a respectful one in terms of referencing the original audio. They more or less "made up voices" from the picture, & those voices are what all future dubs would be based off of.

* & 99.999% of all anime dubs are rewritten to force English dialogue into the Japanese mouth flaps. This is kind of unnatural...

Most anime fans just watch subs - generally high-quality, & less noticeable as you don't understand the language. It's a business thing (dubs are incredibly popular in Japan, which imports a ton of stuff), but dubs just aren't available as anime companies have trouble making huge waves here. DB dubs only even get a mention because it was once a MASSIVELY viewed show on TV.

[Attitudefan]

Oh yeah, absolutely. The best way would be watching it in Japanese. No question.

I'd honestly tell everyone to steer clear from the English dub and watch it in the original language. Sadly, even the English manga is censored with weird translations. So the anime subs is the most accurate way to view the show.

It was to answer someone's question on what would be the best way to view it in English only, and I gave what I thought might be best. Might not be... different strokes for different folks y'know

[huzaifa_ahmed]

Oh yeah, absolutely. The best way would be watching it in Japanese. No question.

I'd honestly tell everyone to steer clear from the English dub and watch it in the original language. Sadly, even the English manga is censored with weird translations. So the anime subs is the most accurate way to view the show.

It was to answer someone's question on what would be the best way to view it in English only, and I gave what I thought might be best. Might not be... different strokes for different folks y'know

As a rule (Sub, what is dub?), in general (Sub>~dub), or just for DB?

I ask this because a lot of people from this site, especially those from the pre-Toonami era, use "original language" as a rule. I mean like Mike, Lance, & Ajay (though he can make very intelligent critiques & I heavily respect his opinion), & gravitypriest. & a lot of folks just default to subs because they're available.

Needs a poll IMO

[Attitudefan]

Oh yeah, absolutely. The best way would be watching it in Japanese. No question.

I'd honestly tell everyone to steer clear from the English dub and watch it in the original language. Sadly, even the English manga is censored with weird translations. So the anime subs is the most accurate way to view the show.

It was to answer someone's question on what would be the best way to view it in English only, and I gave what I thought might be best. Might not be... different strokes for different folks y'know

As a rule (Sub, what is dub?), in general (Sub>~dub), or just for DB?

I ask this because a lot of people from this site, especially those from the pre-Toonami era, use "original language" as a rule. I mean like Mike, Lance, & Ajay (though he can make very intelligent critiques & I heavily respect his opinion), & gravitypriest. & a lot of folks just default to subs because they're available.

Needs a poll IMO

I think it depends on what anime. But the general rule for myself is the original language. However, I regret doing that watching Black Lagoon since there is just so much to take away from scenes where characters are speaking in Russian, Japanese, and English all at once in the same scene; it was harder to follow with subtitles and the dub just has some amazing use of accents and whatnot. I think Cowboy Bebop is another that is great to watch dubbed. The director of Cowboy Bebop from Japan thought it was great, and I believe he thought the dub was better than the original.

These cases are rare and are exceptions to the rule. I think for most mediums, fiction or non-fiction, literature and visual entertainment are generally better in their original language. Not only that, but Japan has a very competitive talent pool for voice acting. The English speaking world's talent pool for voice acting is much smaller and isn't viewed as important compared to "live action" actors. That's probably the reason many people want to see a live action Dragon Ball... but that's veering off topic so I digress.

For Dragon Ball, I only watch it in its original form. I do like to see some scenes in English for nostalgia, but I will not watch full episodes that way.

If there was a Pioneer style dub, I think it would be interesting to watch in full out of curiosity but it would not be my definitive viewing experience.

I think, however, Dragon Ball was so unique and had such animation and art style for it to stand out so much that even if dubs/localizations were awful it was leagues beyond many Western made cartoon productions of that era.

[Hellspawn28]

If we got a Animaze voice cast with the voice actors from FB, I think the dub could have been good. Some of the voices from Final Bout are not too bad and I think Kevin Seymour's voice for Freeza was ahead of it's time. However Kevin Seymour died in 2014, so a dub of ROF and Super from Geneon would need a new voice actor for Freeza. I also think Steven Blum's voice for Goku could have work if there was better voice direction for it.

[huzaifa_ahmed]

If we got a Animaze voice cast with the voice actors from FB, I think the dub could have been good. Some of the voices from Final Bout are not too bad and I think Kevin Seymour's voice for Freeza was ahead of it's time. However Kevin Seymour died in 2014, so a dub of ROF and Super from Geneon would need a new voice actor for Freeza. I also think Steven Blum's voice for Goku could have work if there was better voice direction for it.

I honestly heavily prefer the Harmony Gold cast over the Final Bout cast, for the most part. I think NitroEX mentioned that Joshua Seth would be a great adult Goku, if they were to change Goku's voice as an adult. Tom Wyner, & Skip Stellrecht, were good casting. Maybe Derek Stephen Prince as Freeza? Or Steve Blum for somewhat deeper.

[Sailor Haumea]

If we got a Animaze voice cast with the voice actors from FB, I think the dub could have been good. Some of the voices from Final Bout are not too bad and I think Kevin Seymour's voice for Freeza was ahead of it's time. However Kevin Seymour died in 2014, so a dub of ROF and Super from Geneon would need a new voice actor for Freeza. I also think Steven Blum's voice for Goku could have work if there was better voice direction for it.

I honestly heavily prefer the Harmony Gold cast over the Final Bout cast, for the most part. I think NitroEX mentioned that Joshua Seth would be a great adult Goku, if they were to change Goku's voice as an adult. Tom Wyner, & Skip Stellrecht, were good casting. Maybe Derek Stephen Prince as Freeza? Or Steve Blum for somewhat deeper.

Wasn't Harmony Gold the source of Whiskers the Wonder Cat?

[huzaifa_ahmed]

If we got a Animaze voice cast with the voice actors from FB, I think the dub could have been good. Some of the voices from Final Bout are not too bad and I think Kevin Seymour's voice for Freeza was ahead of it's time. However Kevin Seymour died in 2014, so a dub of ROF and Super from Geneon would need a new voice actor for Freeza. I also think Steven Blum's voice for Goku could have work if there was better voice direction for it.

I honestly heavily prefer the Harmony Gold cast over the Final Bout cast, for the most part. I think NitroEX mentioned that Joshua Seth would be a great adult Goku, if they were to change Goku's voice as an adult. Tom Wyner, & Skip Stellrecht, were good casting. Maybe Derek Stephen Prince as Freeza? Or Steve Blum for somewhat deeper.

Wasn't Harmony Gold the source of Whiskers the Wonder Cat?

Sure, it is. The HG dub changed so much stuff it felt like a different show, but the story was intact, as was the OST.

But the casting was LEAGUES more respectful than the FUNi casting.

[Sailor Haumea]

I honestly heavily prefer the Harmony Gold cast over the Final Bout cast, for the most part. I think NitroEX mentioned that Joshua Seth would be a great adult Goku, if they were to change Goku's voice as an adult. Tom Wyner, & Skip Stellrecht, were good casting. Maybe Derek Stephen Prince as Freeza? Or Steve Blum for somewhat deeper.

Wasn't Harmony Gold the source of Whiskers the Wonder Cat?

Sure, it is. The HG dub changed so much stuff it felt like a different show, but the story was intact, as was the OST.

But the casting was LEAGUES more respectful than the FUNi casting.

I dunno, whoever voiced Pilaf (Chuck Hebert?) seems to fit his character.

[huzaifa_ahmed]

Wasn't Harmony Gold the source of Whiskers the Wonder Cat?

Sure, it is. The HG dub changed so much stuff it felt like a different show, but the story was intact, as was the OST.

But the casting was LEAGUES more respectful than the FUNi casting.

I dunno, whoever voiced Pilaf (Chuck Hebert?) seems to fit his character.

Occasionally there are a few characters that they get right, like Mr. Satan & Nappa. But they didn't have proper reference audio, or even proper translations, so it was a pretty questionable casting overall.

[Sailor Haumea]

All I can say about the Pioneer/Ocean dub is...

Saffron Henderson thus far is a better-sounding Gohan than Stephanie Nadolny.

Gohan actually sounds like a boy for once! Just like he does in Kai!

My opinion on Gohan voice actors (Kid):

Clinkenbeard > Henderson >>>>>>>> Nadolny

[huzaifa_ahmed]

All I can say about the Pioneer/Ocean dub is...

Saffron Henderson thus far is a better-sounding Gohan than Stephanie Nadolny.

Gohan actually sounds like a boy for once! Just like he does in Kai!

My opinion on Gohan voice actors (Kid):

Clinkenbeard > Henderson >>>>>>>> Nadolny

I would go even further & say that, in the Pioneer dubs of the first 3 movies, Saffron is the best English Gohan. Too often I find the Kai dub voice really overdoing Gohan's meek qualities; he sounds positively whiny in Kai's dub.

Henderson is both soft-spoken & sweet, yet also pretty straightforward & not straight-up annoying. & this is in fact very similar to Nozawa's performance throughout.

[Sailor Haumea]

All I can say about the Pioneer/Ocean dub is...

Saffron Henderson thus far is a better-sounding Gohan than Stephanie Nadolny.

Gohan actually sounds like a boy for once! Just like he does in Kai!

My opinion on Gohan voice actors (Kid):

Clinkenbeard > Henderson >>>>>>>> Nadolny

I would go even further & say that, in the Pioneer dubs of the first 3 movies, Saffron is the best English Gohan. Too often I find the Kai dub voice really overdoing Gohan's meek qualities; he sounds positively whiny in Kai's dub.

Henderson is both soft-spoken & sweet, yet also pretty straightforward & not straight-up annoying. & this is in fact very similar to Nozawa's performance throughout.

I dislike Nozawa Goku.

Is her Gohan better?

For me, Sabat is perfect for those that he voices. He IS Vegeta, Piccolo, etc. for me.

[huzaifa_ahmed]

All I can say about the Pioneer/Ocean dub is...

Saffron Henderson thus far is a better-sounding Gohan than Stephanie Nadolny.

Gohan actually sounds like a boy for once! Just like he does in Kai!

My opinion on Gohan voice actors (Kid):

Clinkenbeard > Henderson >>>>>>>> Nadolny

I would go even further & say that, in the Pioneer dubs of the first 3 movies, Saffron is the best English Gohan. Too often I find the Kai dub voice really overdoing Gohan's meek qualities; he sounds positively whiny in Kai's dub.

Henderson is both soft-spoken & sweet, yet also pretty straightforward & not straight-up annoying. & this is in fact very similar to Nozawa's performance throughout.

I dislike Nozawa Goku.

Is her Gohan better?

For me, Sabat is perfect for those that he voices. He IS Vegeta, Piccolo, etc. for me.

You can dislike Nozawa for being too high & crackly for adult Goku - that is a choice that is much less in line with general Hollywood casting directors, & it is understandable that it's the sole thing that certain fans (aka the ones who appreciate voice-over & the proper Japanese DB) dislike.

However, child Goku is adorable, & yes, her young Gohan is very good & brings out all the qualities I read of Gohan in the comics.

As for Sabat "being those characters"...Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, & several of his other characters...he only does them currently because of the bad history with Gen Fukunaga not being able to find anyone to dub the voices.

Yamcha & Vegeta should be played by tenors, & in general even the DBKai dub in general should have had re-auditions as there were decent conditions now.

[Attitudefan]

Henderson's Gohan is by far the best. She gives qualities of a childlike voice in the way she makes the character speak, which is really hard to explain but it is there. Henderson's Gohan can also sound tough when needed but always very polite sounding. Her speaking voice for Gohan is a more soft-spoken one but can up the ante when the setting demands it to. To me, that's amazing.

Clinkenbeard gets criticism because her Gohan is always very shrill, whiny, and loud in most situations; many times she sounds like a woman imitating a boys voice rather than actually sounding like a boy! When me and my buddies first heard her in the Kai trailers, we all thought it sounded too much like a grown woman.

[8000 Saiyan]

Henderson's Gohan is by far the best. She gives qualities of a childlike voice in the way she makes the character speak, which is really hard to explain but it is there. Henderson's Gohan can also sound tough when needed but always very polite sounding. Her speaking voice for Gohan is a more soft-spoken one but can up the ante when the setting demands it to. To me, that's amazing.

I gotta say, if Ocean Kai ever comes out, I can't wait to see Henderson's performance as a Super Saiyan 2.

[8000 Saiyan]

Nah, the voices WERE a problem. What people DO like is the attitude toward the dub. But they also didn't have Japanese audio, so the casting is WAY off.

More realitically - Saffron Henderson- Masako Nozawa, Cathy Weseluck- Kuririn, Roshi- Garry Chalk, Matt Hill- Yamcha, Mark Hildreth- Tenshinhan/16, Christopher Judge- Kenji Utsumi, Venus Terzo- Bulma, Don Brown- Kaio-sama, Tara Strong- Chi-Chi, Brian Dobson- Piccolo, RIC- Vegeta, David Sobolov- Nappa, Lee Tockar- Freeza, Kirby Morrow- Trunks, & between David S & K, Scott McNeil, & the Dobson bros, hopefully we'd cover the bases of Lord Gori.

It's really annoying how you act as if the voice actors need to sound like the Japanese voice actors to be good. I fail to see how Richard Ian Cox sounds like Horikawa or how Don Brown sounds like Yanami. Or how Chalk sounds like Miyauchi.

[Bansho64]

It's really annoying how you act as if the voice actors need to sound like the Japanese voice actors.

I really wouldn't say he's acting like they have to. More like, he'd prefer it if they did. And sometimes, they can turn out pretty great.
Just listen to Latin American Yajirobe.
Or, Catalan Kuririn
And let's not forget Korean Goten.