The FUNimation Dub's "Story" Changes

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Chuquita
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Post by Chuquita » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:58 pm

The Time Traveller wrote:
Jerseymilk wrote:
NeptuneKai wrote: I said it once but I'll say it again, Sabat singing "Cooking Hell" would make my life.
No. Just no. >>
It's a funny song, having Sabat sing it will just make me puke with laughter.

But hearing Mike McFarland singing Muten Roshi no Oshie would surely kill me.

I don't suppose any of you have ever seen this then: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... d=18296479


It's Mr. Sabat as Vegeta singing/rapping LL Cool J's "Mama said Knock you Out".
On hiatus.

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Post by Artificial Human #887 » Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:07 pm

I think I just died.

It was both frightening and hilarious. I think I need to send that to everyone I know. :?
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Post by caejones » Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:18 pm

Hehehehe. Now the talk of the Levy music has the generic "dramatic stuff's happening" / "Gohan's Hidden Powers" song stuck in my head.
Now that you mention it, though... I think the shows that I got most into were those that had less generic music. (I'm thinking Rugrats, actually... even when stuff was recycled, it often acted as a huge draw-in to the stuff that was happening. 'course, it'd be pretty dull to just have a bunch of toddlers ninjaing around in total silence...).

... I don't know what to make of the Faulconer #18 CD. (There are samples on his website. They kinda scare me. XD).

I can think of times where rock-type stuff felt more appropriate than orchestral stuff (Power Rangers. Though MMPR had a few more orchestrated bits as well... and I think Zedd's theme playing during his scenes in Countdown to Destruction might have been the most awesome thing ever, had it happened...). Generally speaking, though... *meh*
And... I keep forgetting who does what in the "post Z" dubbing and redubbing. Who's the GT (w)rap guy, and whodoes the orchestral stuff for the UUE's and the new movies? ... they both suck. :P. Though I appreciate that the took the new DBZ stuff in a different direction... I think most of the new "orchestrated" stuff falls into the realm of "generic forgettable stuff" that Kunzait nailed.

*takes notes on the contents of the thread for future diabolical plans*
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Post by MajinVejitaXV » Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:11 pm

Xyex wrote:
Sean Schemmel, on the Japanese theme song "Head-Cha-La":
"Head-Cha-La," for another example and I've told you this Jon, even though it's very catchy, it's absolutely ridiculous for the American culture. (thumbs down Schemmel. Shakes angry fist)
What? He's right, you know. Have you even seen the lyrics? They song's fun and catchy but it's absolutely absurd and really doesn't fit with the show. If they'd have dubbed it or left it as is wth subs.... 85% of the audience would have laughed at it and changed the channel.
Hm, song implies a child's wonder with the world and complete lack of worries...

Gohan is an innocent child who is fascinated with the world, and Goku shares a similar innocent view of the world and seemingly has no worries...

Yep! Doesn't fit with the show in the least ;p
Sonny Strait, North American VA for Krillin, on FUNimation's new music score:
I think the main thing about them not using the original music, and I could be wrong, is because of the dated factor of it...But uh, there's definitely an appeal to it, but I don't think that it's as wide a range of appeal as what they want. I mean, people like you, and others that are die-hard anime fans are definitely gonna want as much of the original as possible, but I think the general population is more entertained by screaming guitars and such.
Another solid point. Loud rock music = popular. Orchastrated non rock music = not as popular.
Uh...the BGM that FUNimation had composed was not rock music. I take offense to the suggestion as a musician. At best it was uber generic faux-techno/rock/mishmash.
Composer Bruce Faulconer, on the music:
They wanted music that would better communicate to a Western audience the drama of this saga.
And again, correct.
I think the score to a Tiger handheld conveys drama moreso than Faulconer's score. Faulconer was painfully pretentious, and his music had the depth of a kiddy pool. Reading the interview he gave back in the Planet Namek days is evidence enough of his ego.

I mean seriously, "I know about as much as you can know about 2,000 years of musical history"? He must have thrown out his back from sucking his own dick so hard...say, I wonder what all his grand mastery of music and composition has gotten him in terms of projects?

Oh, right. Jack shit. If you read carefully, it appears the only thing he's actually composed with regularity is DragonBall Z. The rest are credited for "sound design" and production in general, save for small bits here and there (and his only CD's appear to be DragonBall Z related).
And, of course, just before Gohan goes SS2, we hear Gohan's "dub" thoughts when the original only had Spirit vs. Spirit playing.
Which was an improvement, as far as I was concerned. Nothing but the BGM there was a bad choice on Toei's part. Lack of connection to a character reduces emotional impact~
..."nothing but the BGM was a bad choice on Toei's part"? I think you meant nothing but the BGM was a good choice on Toei's part.

Personally, and this is just me, I don't need everything to be said at me. To me, especially with animation, a lot can be said visually, musically, etc. It's the whole point of using such a medium.

The scene said plenty, especially since the past few episodes had been building toward the moment. We knew what was happening. We heard Gohan's inner monologue, we saw his attempts to remain in control because he knew letting the rage win would make him kill Cell. We saw #16 tell him to "let [his] angry spirit be free" and that "there is no need to hold back any longer." Then...we saw him let go. Gohan ceased to exist because he let the rage overtake him, basically until his father died to save the world.

Why do we need to hear, "Oh, hey. Now I'm pissed. I'm not taking this anymore. I'm slipping. HOARG."? What does that add in terms of emotional impact? Did we really not know Gohan was pissed? Was the complete look of shock on his face not enough? The scream that people bill as the best in DragonBall Z? Seriously?

Better yet, let me ask this: Someone gets murdered right in front of you while they're pleading to you to let go and fight. Do you thinking about how you should let go and fight, or do you just...well, fucking lose it? Moreover, which is genuinely more emotional? At least with Goku, both in the Japanese and English, his reaction to Kuririn's death was more of an enraged rambling than a concise, "You killed my friend. I'm getting pissed. Really pissed. I'm letting go. I'm slipping. Grr." type of statement/monologue.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

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Post by Onikage725 » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:27 pm

Yeah, well, the dub = a lack of subtlety. I think I mentioned this once elsewhere, but look at the scene when the Z Senshi gather before Freeza and Cold land on earth.

In the Japanese version, Vegeta berates Yamcha and Ten, claiming that Freeza's going to have scouters, so could they please lower their fucking ki signatures. He then adds in that smug and superior sort of way of his that, surprisingly, Piccolo's already doing a pretty good job of this. Then we are introduced to Piccolo, who's been there the whole time unnoticed, and paying them no mind.

In the english version, Vegeta berates them because their conversation apparently runs some risk of alerting Freeza. "Incessant jabbering" I believe is his term. So I guess he's worried that Freeza may overhear them or something. Yet he tells them this while yelling at the top of his lungs. Then, rather than tossing a mild compliment at Piccolo, he says that the "scary talk is upsetting the Namek." Cut to shot of Piccolo looking 100% nonchalant and not even paying attention to them.

So I guess the dub felt that Vegeta would be more palatable to an American audience if they upped his "wow, what a dick" level while also making him a complete retard. Watching the dub, I kinda miss the know-it-all asshole who actually kinda knows it all. Dub Vegeta's a fricken idiot who compensates for this by being painfully loud and abrasive, at least in the Cell era.
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Post by bkev » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:31 pm

I like Faulconer's score, but I also think that the Japanese score has its own touch. Faulconer music would *NOT* fit in the original DragonBall; however, for some reason I enjoy it in DBZ. Whether it's nostalgia or preference, I don't know - but, I would guess the former. In the end, they didn't need to compose original music - a part of me is glad they did, and another part isn't. You know what I'm saying?
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Post by DemonKingPiccolo » Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:40 am

Graphic wrote:By far one of the funniest pieces of added dialog by FUNi is in episode 128 I believe, during the SSJ Goku and Artificial Human 19 fight.

In the beginning right after Goku hits android 19 through a rock mountain, it shows Tenshinhan and he says something and then it switches to Piccolo 's face and all of the sudden you can hear Gohan say,

"Way to go dad!"

Meanwhile, Gohan is nowhere to be found; this is when Gohan, Kuririn, and Yamchu are still looking for Goku and the others.

By far the one of the funnier things I have seen.

Still, the all time ultimate, Ocean dubs Tenshinhan: "Look I can see their parachutes, they're all right."

No...No, actually they aren't, they blowed the hell up Tenshinhan! You should actually put those 3 eyes to use!

But along the point, I think FUNi goes for what best fits children, and what do children have? Short attention spans! Therefore they cannot and will not allow any silence on screen whatsoever, because we all know silence takes away from suspense and drama! (sarcasm) This is why there are always characters talking in between shots and etc. when there should be no dialog at all.

EDIT* Oops someone already beat me to it, but I listed the episode number according to the original JP list, and what Gohan really says.
Thanks for listing the ep #, I thought that was hilarious too, FUNI making Gohan saying something offscreen when he's not even there.
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Post by Super Sonic » Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:44 am

bkev wrote:I like Faulconer's score, but I also think that the Japanese score has its own touch. Faulconer music would *NOT* fit in the original DragonBall; however, for some reason I enjoy it in DBZ. Whether it's nostalgia or preference, I don't know - but, I would guess the former. In the end, they didn't need to compose original music - a part of me is glad they did, and another part isn't. You know what I'm saying?
It's kind of like that for me and Sailor Moon. Personally for the most part I didn't think the original Japanese music and the dub voices matched too well, and some friends of mine who preferred the Japanese version agreed with me. However, though I liked the Dic music, I couldn't picture Uranus and Neptune's music being different.

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Post by Captain Awesome » Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:31 am

MajinVejitaXV wrote: Faulconer was painfully pretentious, and his music had the depth of a kiddy pool. Reading the interview he gave back in the Planet Namek days is evidence enough of his ego.
Wow, I've never read that interview before, and it makes Faulconer sound like a moron AND an asshole.

Surely someone with the depth and scope of his musical knowledge, could come up with something other than bad techno played backwards?

You know.

Something using actual instruments. :roll:

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Post by caejones » Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:35 am

I think even with the synthesizers it could have turned out better... he just had a tendency to over use the midi instruments that happen to sound the least musical... o.o.
And rereadin the interview... it makes it sound like a lot of stuff was rushed back in 98-2000... which is pretty noticeable with the music. O.O.

... this thread is depressing. :cry:
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Post by Kunzait_83 » Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:49 am

b
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Post by Onikage725 » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:24 am

Kunzait_83 wrote:
caejones wrote:... this thread is depressing. :cry:
Well yeah. That's because the dub is depressing.
Bruce Faulconer: I even like the the idea of turning a book into a feature, like with Lord of the Rings, it's like "Hooray! This is gonna be so cool." I can't wait to watch that this weekend, and I wish I could have been there, doing the score. Just wasn't in the timing though.

Oh my fucking god.
They could've kissed those Academy Awards for best score goodbye.
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Post by Captain Awesome » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:45 am

Onikage725 wrote:
Bruce Faulconer: I even like the the idea of turning a book into a feature, like with Lord of the Rings, it's like "Hooray! This is gonna be so cool." I can't wait to watch that this weekend, and I wish I could have been there, doing the score. Just wasn't in the timing though.
You can't be serious..., who the fuck does he think he is? John Williams?

There is no way in a million years Faulconer ever had a shot at scoring anything bigger than DBZ, has he even done any big projects since? I mean fuck, I've heard more emotionally moving music coming out of a Christmas card.

What an arrogant douche.

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Post by VegettoEX » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:52 am

Let's try to keep the slanderous personal attacks to a minimum.
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Post by NeptuneKai » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:57 am

I just have a small request, could anyone pick any scene from Lord of the Rings and add the dub DBZ score to it? Just because I'm super curious what it would sound like. :lol:
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Post by The Time Traveller » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:04 am

Chuquita wrote:
The Time Traveller wrote:
Jerseymilk wrote: No. Just no. >>
It's a funny song, having Sabat sing it will just make me puke with laughter.

But hearing Mike McFarland singing Muten Roshi no Oshie would surely kill me.

I don't suppose any of you have ever seen this then: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... d=18296479


It's Mr. Sabat as Vegeta singing/rapping LL Cool J's "Mama said Knock you Out".
I had a Muller corner before I watched that, I almost did puke it out laughing.

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Post by Rocketman » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:57 am

Onikage725 wrote:In the english version, Vegeta berates them because their conversation apparently runs some risk of alerting Freeza. "Incessant jabbering" I believe is his term. So I guess he's worried that Freeza may overhear them or something.
He's being sarcastic.
VegettoEX wrote:Let's try to keep the slanderous personal attacks to a minimum.
I resent that. Slander is spoken. In print, it's libel.

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Post by Onikage725 » Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:10 pm

Rocketman wrote: He's being sarcastic.
Completely relevant comment about people needing to pay attention and lower their ki for fear of being detected by scouters is replaced by someone screaming at the top of his lungs that people shouldnt be talking. He came off as sarcastic in both versions, but he just sounds like a moron in the dub. And he yells way too fucking much. Dial it down for pete's sake. Its annoying. I much prefer the smooth, smug and superior asshole he is in the original version over the loud and abrasive dub version who basically spends most of his time screaming about how his dick is bigger than everyone elses (I know not literally, before someone tries to jump on that).
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Post by VegettoEX » Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:18 pm

Rocketman wrote:
VegettoEX wrote:Let's try to keep the slanderous personal attacks to a minimum.
I resent that. Slander is spoken. In print, it's libel.
While this is indeed true, the point and request remains.
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Post by TheGreatness25 » Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:29 pm

I don't think that his music would sound as bad if it was made with some decent instruments. It sounds like he picked up some sticks and a noise maker from the street and started banging out DBZ music. The beats were pretty good, and some music was excellent (Trunks Theme, Super Saiyan 3 Theme, Vegeta's Theme, Gohan Turning Mystic), but still, would be better with some decent instruments.

About the Japanese music, the team before this one had absolutely zero choice in the matter to begin with. And when this dub team came along in 99 (I think), they just followed suit. If you don't know what I mean, I'm talking about the fact that episodes were edited so heavily, that if they left in the original music, it would sound all chopped up to hell. They edited a lot more things than just for the sake of censoring. If there was a scene where a planet is shown for 5 seconds, goes to another angle of the planet for 5 seconds, then back to the first angle for 5 seconds, the original dub team would show that planet from the first angle for 2 seconds and continue to the next scene. For them, it was absolutely essential for them to add in their own music, and as far as the 99 team, well they just followed suit because they wanted to make their interpretation of DBZ close to the dub from the Saban team.

And for the original Japanese music, I kind of agree that Cha-La-Head-Cha-La would be pretty ridiculous. It's a great song, but for DBZ? I would understand if DBZ started out like Dragon Ball, but it didn't. Right from the get-go they had Raditz and just down and dirty fighting. I mean I find it very weird that it's blood shed, blood shed, punches, kicks, energy balls, bones cracking, "I'm gonna kill you, you bastard!" "Die scum bag!" And then transition into, "Breaking through shining clowds, tra-la-la-lala" But I would rather have them put in the Barney theme song than listen to the one they have for the US opener on the Season Sets! What set of instruments did they harass to come up with that noise?

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