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

[TheQuazz]

I went DIRECTLY TO Marni:

"Hi Ms. Shulman,

I believe I owe you an apology.

Recently I contacted Toei USA with the intention to let them know that we fans are in support of any potential deal with them and you channel for the Ocean Dub of kai. Just for support.

To my complete amazement, Lisa Yamatoya responded believing myself a representative. I corrected her, but the reply seemed overwhelmingly positive. She seemed very happy and interested to talk about airing Ocean's dub.

She CC'd me into a recent email she sent to yourself.

Her response confuses me. Please be aware that although Funimation's dub does run for more episodes, it is simply due to the fact that originally Kai stopped airing after episode 98. The latter half is technically a new series. When Funimation first aired Kai, episodes 1 - 98 ran on Nickelodeon with and without HD quality and Final Chapters (the latter half) ran uncut on toonami. I am aware there is no TV edit of Final Chapters that is safe for children as there is swearing and violence depicted that are not suitable for broadcasting to youth.

I didn't mean to make things more confusing than they are, but I can't cope knowing I may have put your deal at risk.

We fans trust you whole heartedly to still pursue the Ocean Dub.

I am truly, truly sorry.

Kind Regards,

Sam Love"

Thank you for doing so well with all the chances you've had to talk to the people involved in this deal. I'll parrot what was said earlier and say that you are without a doubt this thread's MVP!. It was good you mentioned that the 98 episodes of Kai are their own complete series that come to a definite end, and not just the first half of a series like Ms Yamatoya seemed to believe. Hopefully with that and the Canadian content issue in mind Ms. Shulman will be able to license this thing...

Which leads me to a new discovery. In that editor's animation showreel, I spotted something interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46pqBb3zdjo&t=15s Note how that doesn't sound like it would fit with the Dave Steele demo that was uncovered years ago. I'm not sure what kind of implications that aspect ratio has.

Holy crap you're like a bottomless well of info hahaha. How you manage to find all this stuff is beyond me. Thanks for giving us little bits of info like this and the updates on Wow!. It's very much appreciated.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Not sure about Marni specifically, but there's a phone number for Wow Unlimited here (https://www.sedar.com/DisplayProfile.do ... o=00027273) so maybe suggest Lisa calls and ask if she can be put through to Marni Shulman or leave a message for her.

Only problem with this is that this is the information for their Vancouver branch. Marni works at their headquarters in Toronto. :/

That, fortunately, is not a big deal. I've done a ton of research on the Canadian voice acting and media industry....because, erm, I've been....ahhh....well, thinking about moving there since....oh....November2016nottogetpoliticalbutanyway, from all the research I've done, Toronto is essentially the "original Canadian content" capital of Canada. Most--not all--but most content that is of Canadian origin comes out of Toronto, and thus, Toronto just happens to be the HQ location for a lot of Canadian media companies.. That wouldn't prevent them from contracting a company in Vancouver to handle the voice acting work, which happens reasonably often.

Vancouver, by contrast, is mostly known as the city that US productions go to when they want a cheaper filming/recording location. They actually do have a very strong pre-lay voice acting industry that's on par with Toronto's (and the actors who work regularly in pre-lay animation in Vancouver can earn up to $750K a year), but other than that, it's "the cheaper alternative" for American productions. The majority of the stuff that gets filmed in Vancouver is U.S. shows (the new Supergirl TV series, for example, was picked up for a second season partially because the CW decided to re-locate the show's filming location from Los Angeles to Vancouver due to cost concerns). For that matter, even the majority of the commercials that are filmed/recorded in Vancouver are commercials that air primarily in America. As one voice actor told me, ACTRA's Vancouver-based sister union, UBCP, has separate contracts from the other branches that allow for commercials to be paid for as one-time buyouts rather than using residuals. It was, to use this voice actor's words, "A way to keep actors working in Vancouver, as well as for American advertising companies to get union actors for non-union rates."

I feel like the last couple posts of mine have been a little on the nay-saying side, so I'm happy to finally say something positive for the first time in a while.

[MistaL]

....because, erm, I've been....ahhh....well, thinking about moving there since....oh....November2016nottogetpoliticalbutanyway,

You don't insert a drawn out part about your political views into an unrelated post and say "not to get political". No one here cares what reason you have for wanting to move to Canada, and given how stupid some people get about political shit I'd rather not see this thread potentially become a stupid flamewar.

[SX10]

Still nothing from Marni. I hope she read the email. I've been checking literally every hour or more when I am awake, so I think, unfortunately, I may no longer be privy to what's happening behind the scenes. But what a glimpse I got! If I get a reply, I'll float the idea out of possibly funding Ocean to dub Final Chapters. That could possibly be my final contribution as I'd have nothing else to give, unless more convincing is needed

Rest assured if anything pops up you guys will be the first to know!

[WittyUsername]

....because, erm, I've been....ahhh....well, thinking about moving there since....oh....November2016nottogetpoliticalbutanyway,

You don't insert a drawn out part about your political views into an unrelated post and say "not to get political". No one here cares what reason you have for wanting to move to Canada, and given how stupid some people get about political shit I'd rather not see this thread potentially become a stupid flamewar.

If you want to avoid a flame war, I think it might be best not to draw any attention to that in the first place. Of course, I myself am now drawing attention to it, and I certainly don’t want to get roped into any sort of political debate on a Dragon Ball forum of all places, so I’m not going to comment any further on the matter.

[8000 Saiyan]

I'm so glad that we'll finally get the chance to hear the Ocean guys again.

[TheBlackPaladin]

....because, erm, I've been....ahhh....well, thinking about moving there since....oh....November2016nottogetpoliticalbutanyway,

You don't insert a drawn out part about your political views into an unrelated post and say "not to get political". No one here cares what reason you have for wanting to move to Canada, and given how stupid some people get about political shit I'd rather not see this thread potentially become a stupid flamewar.

If you want to avoid a flame war, I think it might be best not to draw any attention to that in the first place. Of course, I myself am now drawing attention to it, and I certainly don’t want to get roped into any sort of political debate on a Dragon Ball forum of all places, so I’m not going to comment any further on the matter.

Well, that was meant partially as a joke, but in hindsight, you're right, I certainly don't want to turn this thread about a Candian dub of my favorite anime into a political debate. My apologies.

[Robo4900]

Still nothing from Marni. I hope she read the email. I've been checking literally every hour or more when I am awake, so I think, unfortunately, I may no longer be privy to what's happening behind the scenes. But what a glimpse I got! If I get a reply, I'll float the idea out of possibly funding Ocean to dub Final Chapters. That could possibly be my final contribution as I'd have nothing else to give, unless more convincing is needed

Rest assured if anything pops up you guys will be the first to know!

I suggest not mentioning TFC. If/when that does happen, I don't think Wow would be funding it, they'd probably just license it from whoever produced it. All we should focus on now is "Go with 1-98, figure out 99+ later."
Remember, we don't even know for sure who produced the Ocean Kai dub yet.

[8000 Saiyan]

Still nothing from Marni. I hope she read the email. I've been checking literally every hour or more when I am awake, so I think, unfortunately, I may no longer be privy to what's happening behind the scenes. But what a glimpse I got! If I get a reply, I'll float the idea out of possibly funding Ocean to dub Final Chapters. That could possibly be my final contribution as I'd have nothing else to give, unless more convincing is needed

Rest assured if anything pops up you guys will be the first to know!

I suggest not mentioning TFC. If/when that does happen, I don't think Wow would be funding it, they'd probably just license it from whoever produced it. All we should focus on now is "Go with 1-98, figure out 99+ later."
Remember, we don't even know for sure who produced the Ocean Kai dub yet.

It's either the Canadian government or M. Night Shyamalan.

[Robo4900]

It's either the Canadian government or M. Night Shyamalan.

Nope. Chuck Testa.

Bet you weren't expecting to hear that reference again.

[8000 Saiyan]

It's either the Canadian government or M. Night Shyamalan.

Nope. Chuck Testa.

Bet you weren't expecting to hear that reference again.

No, I wasn't.

Considering she replaced Moneca Stori as Kagome in Inuyasha: The Final Act, I'd like to see Kira Tozer voicing Videl if Ocean ever gets the chance to dub The Final Chapters. Hell, Shannon Chan-Kent would also be great as well. But some people will probably complain about Videl sounding like Misa Amane or Kagome when they hear either lady in the role. Moneca got these complaints as well despite playing Videl first.

[WittyUsername]

Assuming this dub ever does see the light of day, would it even air anywhere outside of Canada? More importantly, with Kai being old news at this point, would it even get decent ratings? I’m asking this because the more I think about it, the less it seems like there are any financial benefits to airing this dub, especially when it won’t even get a home video release.

[8000 Saiyan]

Assuming this dub ever does see the light of day, would it even air anywhere outside of Canada? More importantly, with Kai being old news at this point, would it even get decent ratings? I’m asking this because the more I think about it, the less it seems like there are any financial benefits to airing this dub, especially when it won’t even get a home video release.

I don't think so.

[SX10]

Well I'm sure there are some benefits if they are still open to airing the show. Royalties and license fees paid and see where it goes from there. I don't think Toei want to possibly finance FC which is probably their biggest gripe.

The biggest draw is that it has never been seen and the dust has settled since Funimation stopped airing. I actually don't see the draw in airing Funimation dub yet again as it is so widely available elsewhere. The USA dub is old news at this point.

[sangofe]

It also tells us that a Canadian TV deal still isn't done. We'll have to see if that's because Wow isn't willing to pay what Toei asked, or if they simply haven't finalized a deal because their channel buyout was still in front of the CRTC until very recently. For our sake, I certainly hope it's the latter as we're running out of options to help this dub finally see the light of day.

It's most likely the latter. Marni told me yesterday that talks were still ongoing and that wouldn't be the case if Wow! already decided against paying for it.

Yesterday? Cool.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Well I'm sure there are some benefits if they are still open to airing the show. Royalties and license fees paid and see where it goes from there.

I'd also put this forward as a financial incentive: the chance to actually do something with a dub that...somebody...paid a lot of money for. I mean, think about it, somebody paid not only for all those actors and their many recording sessions, but also script adaptations, recording engineers for all those recording sessions, mixing engineers for post-production on all the episodes, a music composer for all the episodes, and script adaptations for all those episodes. One of the thoughts that stuck with me most after Kibopher's anouncement that the dub likely wouldn't be seen was this: "Wow...they spent all that money on a dub that'll never be seen?"

If anything, at least there's a financial incentive on the part of the producers of this dub to actually get something for all the money they spent. If this dub remains unaired, that's a staggering waste of money.

[SX10]

Well I'm sure there are some benefits if they are still open to airing the show. Royalties and license fees paid and see where it goes from there.

I'd also put this forward as a financial incentive: the chance to actually do something with a dub that...somebody...paid a lot of money for. I mean, think about it, somebody paid not only for all those actors and their many recording sessions, but also script adaptations, recording engineers for all those recording sessions, mixing engineers for post-production on all the episodes, a music composer for all the episodes, and script adaptations for all those episodes. One of the thoughts that stuck with me most after Kibopher's anouncement that the dub likely wouldn't be seen was this: "Wow...they spent all that money on a dub that'll never be seen?"

If anything, at least there's a financial incentive on the part of the producers of this dub to actually get something for all the money they spent. If this dub remains unaired, that's a staggering waste of money.

Exactly my line of thinking! While I may or may not see further emails, I am still 90-95% certain it will air on Wow now.

[Super Sayian Prime]

Assuming this dub ever does see the light of day, would it even air anywhere outside of Canada? More importantly, with Kai being old news at this point, would it even get decent ratings? I’m asking this because the more I think about it, the less it seems like there are any financial benefits to airing this dub, especially when it won’t even get a home video release.

This dub was finished years ago. Broadcasts outside of Canada or getting a home video release would only be relevant should someone look to justify the production of anything beyond those 98 episodes. The latter is far from a guarantee.

Kai was old news the day it debuted, yet it still commanded sizeable audiences in the United States up until its completion on Toonami earlier this summer. Dragon Ball has been absent from Canadian television for a decade and isn't available legally on a mainstream platform (Hulu doesn't operate here). Obviously, people have other ways of watching things now, but this is a version of Kai that's never been seen before featuring voices that are nostalgic to this audience. This is also a channel that is starting with essentially no programming of note. Kai isn't going to be competing with Teen Titans Go and SpongeBob for placement on the schedule. Should it land on Crave TV (a local SVOD service tied to Wow), it'll be the service's first anime title and likely command attention by that fact alone.

On Toei's end, Kai serves as a good reintroduction of the brand to Canadian television. Should it prove successful, it's hard to believe that won't lead to more Dragon Ball up here. Over the last 10 years, Toei has earned $0 off of Canadian television for Dragon Ball. While that money is just a drop in the bucket for them, it's ultimately more than what they were already making. TV also has the trickle down effect of making it easier for merchandise to get placement in big retailers.

[8000 Saiyan]

It's a shame that it'll be an edited dub, though. Brian Drummond wanted to do an uncut dub IIRC.

[MistaL]

It's a shame that it'll be an edited dub, though. Brian Drummond wanted to do an uncut dub IIRC.

Well we don't know to what extent it's been toned down. We should be able to sync the audio up to the blurays. Hopefully "censored" just means no swearing -- I'd really like if words like "kill" and "dead" are left in.