Why isn't there a proper UK DVD release?

[Semajer]

I have been a UK Dragon Ball fan for years and I have always wondered why there has never been a DVD release for Dragon Ball, Z and GT. (Excluding the three crap movie dubs)

I just wondered if anyone knows why there hasn't been any releases? I would have thought that with the new FUNimation season sets, they would be releasing them in as many places as possible for more money.

Sorry if this has been asked before but thank you for your time.

[PaperSun]

Well, Funimation only owns the rights to distribute here in the U.S., so that is why Funi hasnt done it.

[Tsukento]

Why? Some will hate me for this, but it's the absolute honest truth and I will be blunt about it...

The UK is the absolute worst place for games and anime. They generally get the short end of the stick when it comes to releases and usually it's either of shoddy quality (the REALLY badly dubbed DBZ movies of unknown origin), arrives incredibly late (Animal Crossing on the GameCube was released nearly a year after the US got it) or never at all (Dragon Quests I - VII never reached PAL territory).

[Adamant]

You know, I think I can count on my hands how many different anime series have been released over here in Norway.
Sure, you can import Norwegian subtitled DVDs from Sweden, since foreign shows/movies released on DVD in Scandinavia usually get a whole slew of subtitle tracks thrown in, but the UK is incredibly well off compared to both these two countries.

[mysteriousdbzgt]

I have been asking this question myself. Revelation usually licence FUNimation's products such as Fullmetal Alchemist and Fruits Basket and sell out here. So, why can't they do it for Dragonball z???

[Timo]

Ask AB Groupe.

[Semajer]

So what does AB Groupe have to do with no UK release?

[Dark Vegeta-Sama]

So what does AB Groupe have to do with no UK release?

They own the distribution rights to the Dragonball franchise throughout much of Europe. As such, they decide when and where the series gets released. Since they are based in France, they have typically catered to the French market the most, which is why France has always been ahead of other countries with proper (and widely available) translations of the manga and a nice DVD release after many years of the series getting a lot of airtime.

It has probably been determined, for whatever reason, that the UK wouldn't be a viable market for Dragonball-related products, even though such a notion is ridiculous. I still hold hope that the later Ocean dub (Trunks saga onward) that aired on television over there is released someday, because from what I can tell, there isn't any reason why it couldn't be. If it were released in the UK, I'd import it in a second.

[Semajer]

Does anyone know when their rights expire? I doubt that anything will get released unless FUNi or someone else gets the rights.

[Dark Vegeta-Sama]

Does anyone know when their rights expire? I doubt that anything will get released unless FUNi or someone else gets the rights.

AB probably has the rights for a very long time to come. Don't count on them losing the rights and another company picking them up anytime soon.

Although FUNi would probably love to have their DBZ stuff released in Europe, there's a chance that the stuff wouldn't sell as well there for the same reason that the later Ocean dub aired on television in the United Kingdom and Holland; the international audience didn't like FUNi's new voice cast in season 3 and demanded that the original Ocean cast be brought back. This is why I think that the Ocean dub being released there would be more commercially successful, since it's the voices that people know.

[Semajer]

Would it be possible to have the Ocean or the FUNi dub released through the AB Groupe?

[Dark Vegeta-Sama]

Would it be possible to have the Ocean or the FUNi dub released through the AB Groupe?

As far as I know, the Ocean dub could be released by AB. It aired on television in the UK and Holland, it's the voice cast that the audience knows (and presumably loves) and it's never been domestically released anywhere. It's also completely independent from FUNimation in terms of production; Westwood Media purchased the rights to use FUNi's video tracks in order to save time from having to acquire it themselves, basically.

FUNimation's dub wouldn't be released through AB, because FUNi is long past the days where they want to be sharing royalties with other companies through sub-licensing (Madman in Australia is an exception of course, but Madman isn't anywhere near as big or as greedy a company as AB is).

Basically, in the UK, you could get anything. The rights are so fucked up there that there doesn't seem to be any limitation as to what theoretically could be released there, but again, FUNi wouldn't because they would have to pay AB to do so. Plus, AB likely doesn't want any North American companies "invading their territory" so to speak.

[Kendamu]

Does anyone know when their rights expire? I doubt that anything will get released unless FUNi or someone else gets the rights.

AB probably has the rights for a very long time to come. Don't count on them losing the rights and another company picking them up anytime soon.

Although FUNi would probably love to have their DBZ stuff released in Europe, there's a chance that the stuff wouldn't sell as well there for the same reason that the later Ocean dub aired on television in the United Kingdom and Holland; the international audience didn't like FUNi's new voice cast in season 3 and demanded that the original Ocean cast be brought back. This is why I think that the Ocean dub being released there would be more commercially successful, since it's the voices that people know.

The US audience didn't like the cast, either. It's strange that a Canadian cast can dub for overseas viewes but FUNi tells us that we're essentially fucked and are stuck with the Texas cast becauseCanada is too far away or some bullshit.

I would love to import the continued Ocean dub if it were possible. To me, that is the English-speaking cast of DBZ.

[bkev]

I would love to import the continued Ocean dub if it were possible. To me, that is the English-speaking cast of DBZ.

Of course, minus Ian Corlett, Peter Kelamis (later Goku), a less-convincing Brian Drummond, and possibly minus Scott McNeil (I don't recognize his voice in the clips on youtube.)

[Super Sonic]

Does anyone know when their rights expire? I doubt that anything will get released unless FUNi or someone else gets the rights.

AB probably has the rights for a very long time to come. Don't count on them losing the rights and another company picking them up anytime soon.

Although FUNi would probably love to have their DBZ stuff released in Europe, there's a chance that the stuff wouldn't sell as well there for the same reason that the later Ocean dub aired on television in the United Kingdom and Holland; the international audience didn't like FUNi's new voice cast in season 3 and demanded that the original Ocean cast be brought back. This is why I think that the Ocean dub being released there would be more commercially successful, since it's the voices that people know.

The US audience didn't like the cast, either.

Depends on who you talk to and from what I heard of the later characters, Miroku Goku, and Trunks don't sound too good. Now that I think of it, because they barely talked, does anyone know who played Tien and Chaozu in seasons 1 and 2?

[Dark Vegeta-Sama]

Of course, minus Ian Corlett, Peter Kelamis (later Goku), a less-convincing Brian Drummond, and possibly minus Scott McNeil (I don't recognize his voice in the clips on youtube.)

That's only half right.

Ian Corlett was re-offered the role of Goku when the show came back to Vancouver, but he declined because he had quit ADR entirely, a decision which he has stuck with to this day.

Peter Kelamis came back to voice Goku and stuck around for a bit into the Cell Saga, but he also got tired of ADR and left. He was replaced by Kirby Morrow, and while Morrow isn't exactly the greatest Goku around, he's miles ahead of FUNimation's Sean Schemmel in my opinion.

Brian Drummond had his ups and downs; at one point he was being overworked and it showed, but he later readjusted the voice in correlation with Vegeta's reformation and settling down with a family. Drummond is the perfect Vegeta, and his voice really became the highlight of the show near the end of the series. And man, nobody can top those insane screams of his.

Scott McNeil was always Piccolo, right through until the end of the series. He was always great.

The rest of the original Ocean cast remained for the most part; the only major characters that had their voices change were Goku and Gohan. Chichi and Bulma also changed actresses later in the series, but considering how unimportant they are at that point, it doesn't really matter.

Just to clarify, the Vancouver-based Ocean actors only recorded Dragonball Z. DB and GT were also dubbed in Canada, but due to corporate greed they were given to Calgary-based Blue Water Studios, a subsidiary of Ocean, and as such every character was recast. The dubs had the original Japanese music and remained largely uncensored, but the voices sucked.

Depends on who you talk to and from what I heard of the later characters, Miroku Goku, and Trunks don't sound too good. Now that I think of it, because they barely talked, does anyone know who played Tenshinhan and Chaozu in seasons 1 and 2?

Tien was voiced by Matt Smith. Chaozu was voiced by Cathy Weseluck. Both actors stuck around even in the later Ocean dub.

[bkev]

Thanks for the corrections; now if someone were able to remove the BG and put mr. McNeil in place of Sabat, now THAT would be a great feat.

[Super Sonic]

Of course, minus Ian Corlett, Peter Kelamis (later Goku), a less-convincing Brian Drummond, and possibly minus Scott McNeil (I don't recognize his voice in the clips on youtube.)

That's only half right.

Ian Corlett was re-offered the role of Goku when the show came back to Vancouver, but he declined because he had quit ADR entirely, a decision which he has stuck with to this day.

That explains why he wasn't in Amarda, Energon, and Cybertron like some of his co-stars.

Depends on who you talk to and from what I heard of the later characters, Miroku Goku, and Trunks don't sound too good. Now that I think of it, because they barely talked, does anyone know who played Tenshinhan and Chaozu in seasons 1 and 2?

Tenshinhan was voiced by Matt Smith. Chaozu was voiced by Cathy Weseluck. Both actors stuck around even in the later Ocean dub.

Ok. Was wondering because they didn't talk that much during that time, which is why I think of mainly John Burgmeier and Monika Antonelli as Tien and Chaozu.

[Kendamu]

Depends on who you talk to and from what I heard of the later characters, Miroku Goku, and Trunks don't sound too good. Now that I think of it, because they barely talked, does anyone know who played Tenshinhan and Chaozu in seasons 1 and 2?

Well, back when Season 3 was first airing it seemed as if nobody liked the new cast. But, like I said, FUNi didn't listen to the American audience.

[Dark Vegeta-Sama]

Well, back when Season 3 was first airing it seemed as if nobody liked the new cast. But, like I said, FUNi didn't listen to the American audience.

That's because despite all of the complaining, ratings for the show on Cartoon Network soared to new heights. People might've hated the new cast, but they kept watching anyway.

If ratings had slumped, they would've listened. Would they have gone back to using the Ocean cast? Who knows, but this is a company and ratings/sales/money is what speaks to them. Anything else is meaningless.