Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" Dub Turns 15; Still Unreleased

[Robo4900]

On the Gill vs. Giru thing... if his name is supposed to be a pun on "Gear," then "Giru" would actually be more accurate. I'm not sure if it's been confirmed that "Gear" is not the pun, but I don't see why it would be "Gill." Unfortunately, there's no manual for when words are to be translated with an "L" or with an "R."

I think the whole Gill vs Giru thing is a bit of a mess.
Ultimately, Blue Water seems to have chosen to localise names as best as they can with what they can figure out from the materials they have. In this case, they went with Gill, which I believe is also the transliteration Steve Simmons went with, and given his transliterations are the standard, I'd say Blue Water made a good call. Even if his name should actually be Gear, if Steve Simmons made the same mistake, I think we can forgive them.
Funimation, meanwhile, went with Giru, which is pretty obviously a bad Japanese approximation.

"Awwww... I heart Gohan! Years ago I got married in the US & lived in CA. Temporarily replaced but got to do lots more." If we try and break that down, she's most likely referencing those Westwood episodes as they were recorded in 2001, the same year she got married and moved to California. We can see from her IMDB that she did some voice work in California for a while (Naruto, Zatch Bell!, Saints Row) but she also started appearing on Vancouver cast lists again afterward, so she didn't stay there for too long, giving her plenty of time to be cast in Kai when it came to Vancouver.

The part where she says "Temporarily replaced but got to do lots more." all but confirms it for me. Again, the context here is very clearly about Gohan, not general roles and voice work. She explains why she left the role in 2001 (getting married) and then right afterward says she was "temporarily replaced". Now both Stephanie Nadolny & Jillian Michaels did replace her but keep in mind the context, the set up from the fan was about Gohan not being voiced by Saffron in the Ocean dub, not the Funi dub, she responded talking about what happened when she was replaced in the Ocean dub, not the Funi dub. It seems clear to me that when she mentions being replaced, she was referencing her more recent replacement in 2001 rather than in 1999. The last part where she says "got to do lots more" can only mean Kai, as this was the only Dragon Ball project to come to Vancouver after 2001-2002. DB and GT were both done in Calgary.

That's really cool!
Also, she says she got married and had to leave as the reason she left; if she was referring to Nadolny replacing her, the marriage wouldn't be it since, from what I remember, it's known that she was married in 2001.

It probably wasn't realistic for her to come back during Z as I believe they finished recording it in 2002 and she was most likely still in California at that point.
I don't know when exactly she came back to Canada but based on when she started consistently appearing in Vancouver based projects I'd say it must've been around 2005 or so.
Also, there really isn't any evidence to suggest she left due to maternity leave, at least not that I know of. ButtfaceKalinski went into more detail about this a while back and I'm inclined to believe him. All that I've read so far seems to point to the timing of her wedding and moving to Caifornia being the reasons she left.
Given that the Blue Water dubs started being broadcast in 2003, and were probably recorded sometime in mid to late 2002, I don't think she would've been available for that either.

Yeah. Fair enough.

Glad to have this straigtened out.

Come on Ocean Kai... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_BosChxny8

Yep...
As the Ocean Kai opening demo says... "We will never give in..."

[ButtfaceKalinski]

I don't know anything about GT or its production but I'm going to guess they changed a character's name from "Rildo" because of what it rhymes with

[SX10]

I don't know anything about GT or its production but I'm going to guess they changed a character's name from "Rildo" because of what it rhymes with

… Bilbo.

[Robo4900]

Guys, let's be fair, even if it ends up turning out they pulled "Lock" out of their asses, General Lock is hardly the worst dub name change... Funimation have had Tsurusennin > Shen, Shen > Hero, Jheese > Jeice, Butta > Burter, Makankosappo(Demonic Piercing Light Murder Gun) > Special Beam Cannon, and of course, Funimation are responsible for Home For Infinite Losers, Hercule, and Bra > Bulla pronounced as "Bull-uh".

In any case, if Rildo's name didn't really mean anything, I don't really mind that much that they changed his name to Lock. It's a change, sure, and that is a point against the dub, but I see it as more of a nitpick than anything else to be honest. You could argue it goes a little bit further than a nitpick, but not that much, and there really isn't any better word for it.

[Scsigs]

Guys, let's be fair, even if it ends up turning out they pulled "Lock" out of their asses, General Lock is hardly the worst dub name change... Funimation have had Tsurusennin > Shen, Shen > Hero, Jheese > Jeice, Butta > Burter, Makankosappo(Demonic Piercing Light Murder Gun) > Special Beam Cannon, and of course, Funimation are responsible for Home For Infinite Losers, Hercule, and Bra > Bulla pronounced as "Bull-uh".

Pretty sure Saban came up with "home for infinite losers" & "special beam cannon." The rest are either chalked up to translation issues; Tsurusennin, Jeice, & Burter, or censorship due to the shows airing on Cartoon Network; Hercule, Bulla, etc (hell can also be in that).

[Cure Dragon 255]

I wonder if we'll hear MAKANPPOSAPPO from Scott McNeil in this dub... LOL.

[8000 Saiyan]

I wonder if we'll hear MAKANPPOSAPPO from Scott McNeil in this dub... LOL.

According to Quantum-Kakarotto, he talked to someone who told him that the first three episodes of Ocean Kai were shown in Korea and that Scott said Makankosappo instead of Special Beam Cannon. While I don't think that information is true, I believe it's possible that Scott will say Makankosappo.

[Robo4900]

According to Quantum-Kakarotto, he talked to someone who told him that the first three episodes of Ocean Kai were shown in Korea and that Scott said Makankosappo instead of Special Beam Cannon. While I don't think that information is true, I believe it's possible that Scott will say Makankosappo.

I heard this rumour that Ocean Kai at least partially aired in Korea. Is there any way of finding out for sure?

Seems a bit odd they'd air an English dub though, especially given that Korea has dubbed Dragon Ball in the past, so I'm sceptical.

[8000 Saiyan]

According to Quantum-Kakarotto, he talked to someone who told him that the first three episodes of Ocean Kai were shown in Korea and that Scott said Makankosappo instead of Special Beam Cannon. While I don't think that information is true, I believe it's possible that Scott will say Makankosappo.

I heard this rumour that Ocean Kai at least partially aired in Korea. Is there any way of finding out for sure?

Seems a bit odd they'd air an English dub though, especially given that Korea has dubbed Dragon Ball in the past, so I'm sceptical.

The guy Quantum-Kakarotto talked to is probably lying.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I don't see any reason for believing the guy who told Quantum-Kakarotto Ocean Kai aired in Korea was right, as kei17 explained:

I really doubt the info about the airing in Korea, too. They once released their own English dub of the first few episodes of DBZ on VHS, but it was solely for an educational purpose. From what I know, there are some strict laws in South Korea regarding foreign TV contents, so they rarely air foreign TV shows subbed. In addition, since anime channels chronically exceed the limit of the proportion of foreign contents to their programs, for an excuse, they even edit out or censor everything that can be related to the Japanese culture and sometimes replace them with Korean alternatives so that they can be considered as domestic contents. Considering such a situation, I don't think they'd air a Japanese anime in the English language.

Also, this guy apparently also claimed downloads of the first three episodes could be found online if you looked hard enough. That makes the story even harder to believe. It would be more realistic if the dub had aired in an Asian country, there was some evidence of a broadcaster and it wasn't recorded. That was true of the Bang Zoom Super dub for a short while and as far as we know its common for English dubs aired in those regions to go under the radar. That said, if recordings of Ocean Kai were available online they almost certainly would have leaked by now, especially because there are so many fans of the likes of McNeil and Drummond out there that would be dying to hear them again.

[SX10]

Yeah, not a single thing came of that rumour. If it did happen, it was not only a freak accident, but this guy was the only person alive to witness it… that is until Ocean Group got to him… yikes.

I really wish it were true though.

Wonder how those phone calls are coming along the more I think about it, the more I can't think of a reason why this shouldn't happen.

I've been re-watching clips from episode 53 Saban dub and then the following episodes from the original Texas dub and things were just about to get SO GOOD when it all changed. Seeing the Ginyu/ Freeza episodes with the Ocean cast will scratch an itch I've had since 1999.

[Super Sayian Prime]

Wonder how those phone calls are coming along the more I think about it, the more I can't think of a reason why this shouldn't happen.

It's been seven years. Maybe the company who paid for this dub lost the rights to Kai.
If they still have Kai, maybe they only have TV rights which would be incompatible with a lineup that appears to be complimenting Canadian VOD services.
Maybe they still have Kai, but the asking price is beyond what Wow! Unlimited is willing to pay for an acquisition.

I'm not trying to be negative. I've been posting in this thread for years and I understand this is the second closest we've ever gotten to see this thing. I just don't want anyone to psych themselves up for something that may not happen.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Wonder how those phone calls are coming along the more I think about it, the more I can't think of a reason why this shouldn't happen.

It's been seven years. Maybe the company who paid for this dub lost the rights to Kai.
If they still have Kai, maybe they only have TV rights which would be incompatible with a lineup that appears to be complimenting Canadian VOD services.
Maybe they still have Kai, but the asking price is beyond what Wow! Unlimited is willing to pay for an acquisition.

I'm not trying to be negative. I've been posting in this thread for years and I understand this is the second closest we've ever gotten to see this thing. I just don't want anyone to psych themselves up for something that may not happen.

Agreed. I'd add to that list that Toei may, for business reasons, simply decide that they're not interested in promoting Kai anymore. By all accounts, the Kai brand was toxic to both home video and merchandise sales back in Japan.

I'll echo what Super Saiyan Prime said in that I'm not trying to be negative--quite the contrary, I really hope this works out--I'm just saying that it has been long enough since we first heard about this dub that I'm taking a "seeing is believing"-approach and reserving any of my excitement for when we have official confirmation.

[Robo4900]

I'm not trying to be negative. I've been posting in this thread for years and I understand this is the second closest we've ever gotten to see this thing. I just don't want anyone to psych themselves up for something that may not happen.

Second-closest? I thought this has been the only time this has even come close to airing?

I'd add to that list that Toei may, for business reasons, simply decide that they're not interested in promoting Kai anymore. By all accounts, the Kai brand was toxic to both home video and merchandise sales back in Japan.

Nah. If it brings in money, Toei wouldn't care about something like that.
Besides, if they wanted to push Kai aside, how come Funimation are airing Final Chapters on Adult Swim?

I think the only problems this could potentially face is if there are rights shenanigans. I don't know if Toei will try to push for Funimation's dub, but if Shulman specifically is asking for Ocean Kai, and has been talking to IPP/Ocean, I imagine they'd definitely want to just give the woman what she's asking for. Dragon Ball isn't currently airing in Canada at all, so getting the franchise on TV there is something Toei would very much want; which dub it is has no bearing on Toei.
Other than that, the only reason I can think of is that whoever produced this dub might have given up the rights. But, if that happened, I don't think the Ocean representatives would continue to say to the actors "Yes, it's coming, I don't know when, but it's still happening" and such, as we heard in Brian Drummond's interview on Geekdom's channel.
I imagine that since Kai hasn't aired yet, Kai's rights would have been held onto, and they'll be basically just twiddling their thumbs, waiting for a chance to air it. Dragon Ball is a big property, Kai hasn't aired in Canada yet, and if they can get a foothold in Canada, the producers of this dub will have potentially really made it.

I've been re-watching clips from episode 53 Saban dub and then the following episodes from the original Texas dub and things were just about to get SO GOOD when it all changed. Seeing the Ginyu/ Freeza episodes with the Ocean cast will scratch an itch I've had since 1999.

Yeah, kind of the same for me, although I try to stay away from Funimation's work on Z all-together.

After finally seeing the Ocean Freeza saga, it'll be nice to have a retake of Ocean's Androids saga work too, this time with the entire Trunks saga, instead of the way they did it in Z where they skipped about 3 episodes.

[Super Sayian Prime]

The closest being the UK broadcast since SubzeroIce seemed convinced it would happen and you know, Kai still actually made it to TV.

[TheBlackPaladin]

The closest being the UK broadcast since SubzeroIce seemed convinced it would happen and you know, Kai still actually made it to TV.

I was so excited for that! I also remember making a joke as the premiere date approached, "Wouldn't it be funny if we got all hyped up, but then it just turned out to be FUNimation's dub?"

...................................Sorry.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I'd add to that list that Toei may, for business reasons, simply decide that they're not interested in promoting Kai anymore. By all accounts, the Kai brand was toxic to both home video and merchandise sales back in Japan.

Nah. If it brings in money, Toei wouldn't care about something like that.
Besides, if they wanted to push Kai aside, how come Funimation are airing Final Chapters on Adult Swim?

It's also worth noting Kai was toxic to home video and merchandise in Japan, by all accounts it did fine in western markets at least as far as the anime goes, and for Super to air in Canada in future it would be preferable for a future audience to have a jumping on point. Besides the Ocean and Blue Water dubs performed well in Canada when they aired, why not try it again?

[Robo4900]

It's also worth noting Kai was toxic to home video and merchandise in Japan, by all accounts it did fine in western markets at least as far as the anime goes, and for Super to air in Canada in future it would be preferable for a future audience to have a jumping on point. Besides the Ocean and Blue Water dubs performed well in Canada when they aired, why not try it again?

Indeed.

In fact, I remember hearing somewhere that the ratings in the UK were always better for the Canadian dub airings than for Funimation's; apparently that's why they so quickly switched back to Ocean after those two Fusion saga episodes from Funimation, and re-bought those two episodes from AB Groupe.

The same might be true in Canada given that once they switched to Canadian around episode 160-180, they never went back. At the very least, I imagine the ratings would have been about equal. Thus, with the Canadian content bonus, it becomes very much justified to use the Canadian dubs.

As a side-note, I've realised something; if Ocean Kai is successful enough to bring about an Ocean Boo Kai, one thing they could do during the wait between the two is bring Blue Water's Dragon Ball back to Canadian TV, and air that in the meantime.

[Danfun64]

...or they could take the (equivalent) Nicktoons route and air Blue Water GT before Ocean TFC

[Scsigs]

It's also worth noting Kai was toxic to home video and merchandise in Japan, by all accounts it did fine in western markets at least as far as the anime goes, and for Super to air in Canada in future it would be preferable for a future audience to have a jumping on point. Besides the Ocean and Blue Water dubs performed well in Canada when they aired, why not try it again?

Indeed.

In fact, I remember hearing somewhere that the ratings in the UK were always better for the Canadian dub airings than for Funimation's; apparently that's why they so quickly switched back to Ocean after those two Fusion saga episodes from Funimation, and re-bought those two episodes from AB Groupe.

I thought that was because it was cheaper to import the dub from Canada for some reason than the American dub. I mean, the main reason they switched back to the Canadian cast in Canada after airing the FUNi dub was because of Canadian broadcast regulations saying that at least 50% of content that airs on Canadian TV networks HAS to be produced in Canada, & dubs from there count towards that.