Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" Dub Turns 16; Still Unreleased

[Bansho64]

Yeah, sorry about that, high quality recordings of the Cell Saga seems to be incredibly hard to find. You're right about the context so here's a scene when Future Trunks is more relaxed.

There's a channel called Unified Divide on YouTube with many clips of the Ocean dubbed Cell arc in pretty decent quality. Here's a scene he uploaded.

[thomas1up]

Yeah, sorry about that, high quality recordings of the Cell Saga seems to be incredibly hard to find. You're right about the context so here's a scene when Future Trunks is more relaxed.

There's a channel called Unified Divide on YouTube with many clips of the Ocean dubbed Cell arc in pretty decent quality. Here's a scene he uploaded.

The audio quality sounds pretty much the same as the Dutch recordings we currently have, all he did was sync up the audio to the bluray footage.

This is the kind of audio that I want for the Cell Saga. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x592PyR ... e=youtu.be

[Robo4900]

How's this?

Admittedly, the video is pretty bad, but of course the audio is what's important.

[thomas1up]

How's this?

Admittedly, the video is pretty bad, but the audio is what's important.

WOWOWOWOWOWOW dude, that's some rare stuff you're holding on to. This is the highest recording of the Westwood dub I've heard.

[Bansho64]

How's this?

Admittedly, the video is pretty bad, but of course the audio is what's important.

Woah, nice quality. That's freaking cool.

[SX10]

Um, nope. The recycled music was out of rushed necessity, there's a brand new and original score that's been composed for this. And according to one of the actors, the score sounds bad ass. Not trying to hype it up as everyone has their own tastes, but this is what I was told.

Yeah well, that's good and all, but will be ever be able to hear it...?

Deep down I believe we will one day.

[Robo4900]

This is the highest recording of the Westwood dub I've heard.

Thought that might be the case.

My dad made some DVD-R recordings of the show 12 years ago which I recently found(Only about 6 Z episodes, and 5 GT episodes, one of which is the GT finalé), and of course, that was the dub which was airing back then, so that was an interesting find.

Anyway, I do hope we see the Ocean Kai dub one day; I've always thought Ocean deserved another shot at doing Dragon Ball, and this seems like the perfect opportunity for that. Hell, even if it's bad, it'll be worth it just to see more of Drummond's Vegeta and McNeil's Piccolo.

[NitroEX]

This is the highest recording of the Westwood dub I've heard.

Thought that might be the case.

My dad made some DVD-R recordings of the show 12 years ago which I recently found(Only about 6 Z episodes, and 5 GT episodes, one of which is the GT finalé), and of course, that was the dub which was airing back then, so that was an interesting find.

Your dad is a hero, seriously. The Android and Cell sagas of the Westwood dub were never broadcast in Canada so the only sources that exist are from UK and Dutch airings. I'm very glad to know higher quality recordings (at least for some episodes) exist somewhere.

[8000 Saiyan]

Does anyone know who voiced Trunks in the last 3 Z episodes?

That's Alistair Abell

Seriously? He sounds so much better than he did in the Androids arc. If he can do a performance like that in Kai then I'd be happy for him to stay.

Here's a video of comparison.

Android arc Trunks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_OHe6GKLKY

End of Z Trunks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbst9xS ... e=youtu.be

He sounds a million times better than he did in the Android/Cell Saga. If Abell uses that voice throughout Trunks' appearances in Kai, then I don't mind him, although he may have been replaced. If only the early Westwood dub sounded this good.

[sangofe]

That's Alistair Abell

Seriously? He sounds so much better than he did in the Androids arc. If he can do a performance like that in Kai then I'd be happy for him to stay.

Here's a video of comparison.

Android arc Trunks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_OHe6GKLKY

End of Z Trunks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbst9xS ... e=youtu.be

He sounds a million times better than he did in the Android/Cell Saga. If Abell uses that voice throughout Trunks' appearances in Kai, then I don't mind him, although he may have been replaced. If only the early Westwood dub sounded this good.

...And Drummond's Vegeta sounds very much not good :/

[8000 Saiyan]

Seriously? He sounds so much better than he did in the Androids arc. If he can do a performance like that in Kai then I'd be happy for him to stay.

Here's a video of comparison.

Android arc Trunks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_OHe6GKLKY

End of Z Trunks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbst9xS ... e=youtu.be

He sounds a million times better than he did in the Android/Cell Saga. If Abell uses that voice throughout Trunks' appearances in Kai, then I don't mind him, although he may have been replaced. If only the early Westwood dub sounded this good.

...And Drummond's Vegeta sounds very much not good :/

Well you know, rushed directing and having to do only one take. Whoever was responsible for that dub clearly didn't take his/her job seriously since they hired voice directors that had no knowledge about the series, who asked the voice actors to say their lines in one take and call it a day. And of course, the unfitting Megaman music that didn't fit that show to begin with.

[NitroEX]

Well you know, rushed directing and having to do only one take. Whoever was responsible for that dub clearly didn't take his/her job seriously since they hired voice directors that had no knowledge about the series, who asked the voice actors to say their lines in one take and call it a day. And of course, the unfitting Megaman music that didn't fit that show to begin with.

You seem to be making an awful lot of assumptions. When was it ever stated that the actors only had one take?

[8000 Saiyan]

You seem to be making an awful lot of assumptions. When was it ever stated that the actors only had one take?

Some actors have said it, I don't know which ones said it though. And since the Westwood dub was clearly a rushed product, then it would make sense. The screaming sessions were apparently not rushed, since it took various takes for Kirby Morrow to get his screams right. And Drummond seemed to have done several takes for the Final Flash.

[NitroEX]

Some actors have said it, I don't know which ones said it though. And since the Westwood dub was clearly a rushed product, then it would make sense. The screaming sessions were apparently not rushed, since it took various takes for Kirby Morrow to get his screams right. And Drummond seemed to have done several takes for the Final Flash.

So basically you don't know.

Just because a dub is stated to be "rushed" does not mean they literally raced through every line and weren't allowed any time for retakes. From what I've gathered from interviews they recorded multiple episodes in each session however they still had to perform their lines (or screams) until the director was satisfied with the take. If you have a problem with the way the actors are directed then that's one thing but saying they were only given one take is a pretty absurd exaggeration.

[8000 Saiyan]

Some actors have said it, I don't know which ones said it though. And since the Westwood dub was clearly a rushed product, then it would make sense. The screaming sessions were apparently not rushed, since it took various takes for Kirby Morrow to get his screams right. And Drummond seemed to have done several takes for the Final Flash.

So basically you don't know.

Just because a dub is stated to be "rushed" does not mean they literally raced through every line and weren't allowed any time for retakes. From what I've gathered from interviews they recorded multiple episodes in each session however they still had to perform their lines (or screams) until the director was satisfied with the take. If you have a problem with the way the actors are directed then that's one thing but saying they were only given one take is a pretty absurd exaggeration.

You own a Twitter account, right? You could ask Drummond, Henderson or Morrow if there were times where they could do only one take.

I have problems with the dub if the actors aren't directed well and you always need more than one take to get a line right. Dale Wilson, a good voice actor, embarrassed himself with poor voice direction. In the scene where Cell says that he will live forever, he sounds so monotone. Whoever was responsible for the production of this dub clearly didn't care about the dub's quality until the Fusion and Kid Buu Saga. C'mon, the voice directors that worked on the dub didn't have any knowledge of the Dragon Ball series, with the exception of Karl Willems, who had directed the first three movies. If I were the producer, I would have kept Willems as voice director and I wouldn't have rushed the production of the damn dub.

[Attitudefan]

McNeil stated that they had went through 7 directors in a short period of time. Probably why the Android/Cell arc is wonky. Dale Wilson's Cell is really embarrassingly bad.

But the end of Z stuff Westwood did was great. Vegeta's confession is really good and I love the music in it (particularly when they have the flashback from the Recoome fight). I'd still say the early Buu stuff is still a bit wonky too in some spots but still miles better than the Cell arc. However, any of the acting done during the Super Buu portion until the end was fantastic.

[Kirbopher]

...some alternate universe where Ocean did the newer DBZ Movies:

Beerus - Colin Murdoch
Whis - Jonathan Holmes
Jaco - Sam Vincent
Tagoma - Andrew Francis
Sisami - Mark Acheson
Sorbet - Peter New

Because this is the second of two places I know where anyone would be interested in this.

[8000 Saiyan]

McNeil stated that they had went through 7 directors in a short period of time. Probably why the Android/Cell arc is wonky. Dale Wilson's Cell is really embarrassingly bad.

But the end of Z stuff Westwood did was great. Vegeta's confession is really good and I love the music in it (particularly when they have the flashback from the Recoome fight). I'd still say the early Buu stuff is still a bit wonky too in some spots but still miles better than the Cell arc. However, any of the acting done during the Super Buu portion until the end was fantastic.

I don't think that's Wilson's Cell at his worst. I think these moments are way worse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y22npybmwKk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UnlqGz4uH8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc-HlBW_nl4

[Super Sayian Prime]

Just to chip in with an "other side of the coin" comment...

I spoke with a dubbing director (not based in Canada) who believes that Ocean technically could get more anime dubs under their wing, but are choosing not to. Ocean doesn't just dub anime, they also serve as the recording studio for lots of pre-lay (North American) animation shows, and money-wise, pre-lay pays way, way, way more. For pretty much everybody involved. So, a possible explanation for the decline of Canada-based dubs is quite possibly that the studios who normally used to do dubbing projects in Canada are just busier with work that, quite frankly, pays more. That's a key difference between those studios, who do different kinds of projects in addition to anime dubs, and a company like FUNimation who is--for the most part--anime-exclusive.

I have nothing against LA or Texas-based dubs, but as an audience member, I miss when dubbing locations were a little more spread out. Vancouver, Toronto, and New York all have some fantastic actors in their talent pool that I'd love to hear more of...but--kind of like the Ocean dub of Kai--one can't always get what they want.

Does Ocean do a lot of pre-lay? There's a lot of local competition for that. I know of Voicebox, Vida Spark, and Dick & Rogers just in Vancouver. Then you have a bunch of studios in Toronto that get big productions, with the odd European series trickling down to Montreal. You see it in the non-anime productions Ocean tends to get. Now that the Marvel stuff is gone, they're rarely top shelf.

The Toronto talent pool unfortunately has never made a great dub IMO, although they did a good job with Medabots. Perhaps they need better voice directors and more voice actors.

I have to wonder how much of Toronto's dubbing struggles come from inexperience. The city overwhelmingly does pre-lay, and largely does a fine job with those productions. Dubs are where the voice actors and directors seem to trip up. It's a slightly different tool set and because those shows are rarely done in Toronto, no one seems to have gotten a great hang of it.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Just to chip in with an "other side of the coin" comment...

I spoke with a dubbing director (not based in Canada) who believes that Ocean technically could get more anime dubs under their wing, but are choosing not to. Ocean doesn't just dub anime, they also serve as the recording studio for lots of pre-lay (North American) animation shows, and money-wise, pre-lay pays way, way, way more. For pretty much everybody involved. So, a possible explanation for the decline of Canada-based dubs is quite possibly that the studios who normally used to do dubbing projects in Canada are just busier with work that, quite frankly, pays more. That's a key difference between those studios, who do different kinds of projects in addition to anime dubs, and a company like FUNimation who is--for the most part--anime-exclusive.

I have nothing against LA or Texas-based dubs, but as an audience member, I miss when dubbing locations were a little more spread out. Vancouver, Toronto, and New York all have some fantastic actors in their talent pool that I'd love to hear more of...but--kind of like the Ocean dub of Kai--one can't always get what they want.

Does Ocean do a lot of pre-lay? There's a lot of local competition for that. I know of Voicebox, Vida Spark, and Dick & Rogers just in Vancouver. Then you have a bunch of studios in Toronto that get big productions, with the odd European series trickling down to Montreal. You see it in the non-anime productions Ocean tends to get. Now that the Marvel stuff is gone, they're rarely top shelf.

Well, that's just what this director told me their interpretation of the situation was. I didn't doubt it, though, as they do seem to have some impressive pre-lay credits. Even if the material they're getting for pre-lay projects isn't top-shelf, the fact still remains, top-shelf or not, pre-lay always pays more than dubs.

The Toronto talent pool unfortunately has never made a great dub IMO, although they did a good job with Medabots. Perhaps they need better voice directors and more voice actors.

I have to wonder how much of Toronto's dubbing struggles come from inexperience. The city overwhelmingly does pre-lay, and largely does a fine job with those productions. Dubs are where the voice actors and directors seem to trip up. It's a slightly different tool set and because those shows are rarely done in Toronto, no one seems to have gotten a great hang of it.

It depends on what the area of struggle is. One of the interesting things about dubs is that the actors are the least influential in how a dub is handled, but the most influential in how a dub is remembered.

What I mean by that is that their efforts may be the most immediately identifiable, but there's only so much they can do if the director has no clue what they're doing, or if the script is poorly adapted, or if the translators didn't come up with a particularly good translation, or if the producers have made an effort to ignore the original material and "re-version" the show rather than faithfully dub it...or, in some particularly bad cases, a combination of all four. If some or all of those areas are screwed up, actors can't really save the dub at that point, and yet they tend to receive the most blame if the final result is poor (and I'm not saying you did that, Super Saiyan Prime, you didn't, I'm just making a general observation).

As much as I disapprove of how a lot of 4Kids dubs were handled, I've always thought they had very talented actors, it's just that in a lot of cases the talents of those actors didn't get to shine because of the material they were tasked with bringing to life. It's a similar deal with the Toronto talent pool. For example, I think the actors in the original dub of Sailor Moon did a great job considering the material given to them, but the material given to them was--for the most part--not compatible with the act of producing a faithful English version of the original show. The fact that it was a pre-DVD, pre-internet age didn't help matters...back then, it really was a case of, "Edit it and make it TV friendly, or it doesn't go on TV at all."

So, Toronto dubs, I'm sure, probably could have been excellent, as evidenced by how good a lot of their pre-lay (and even videogame) productions are. People higher up on the food chain gave them a difficult situation, though, and between that, the amount of pre-lay work they now get, and the fact that Dallas and LA now get the majority of dubbing work, I think it's doubtful that we'll see Toronto get a major dubbing project...at least for the time being. 'Tis unfortunate.