MangaUK did try to do stuff with the Canadian dubs; the plan with the Orange Bricks was to sync up the Canadian dubs, but since the Canadian dubs weren't uncut, they couldn't do it
Is this from something they said on a podcast? Either way, it's a fine excuse, but one that's unlikely to be the whole truth. Even if they expressed it publicly (which most likely was done to stave off negative responses ahead of their first release), they would have needed to acquire the audio tracks from various companies and licensed them, and in the case of the Westwood dub, that would have not been easy or cheap to do. I don't believe they would have gone out of their way and paid for all those tracks (including Funi's Saban dub) on top of their DB license with Toei. Financially, I don't think it was going to happen regardless of the sync issue. It needed to be a separate release, but they wouldn't have the forethought to plan that either, they were always aiming for quick, easy and cheap but they wouldn't publicly say that, hence the other excuse.
Unlike Funimation, they didn't want to flood the market with different releases.
They've already done that. Starting with the orange bricks was the most damning part. It created the same problem the US has; The majority of casuals are content with a low-quality widescreen release and wouldn't shell out for something better unless it was on a new format (Blu-ray) which they also used the same strategy with. It's diminishing returns from that point. They knew of the issues with the releases and still brushed it under the rug. Funimation at least had the excuse of being ignorant and/or incompetent. Manga walked into the same bad deal knowingly to get to profits quicker.
there was interest from the guy at the top (can't remember his name) in releasing the Rock The Dragon set in the UK, but it didn't end up materialising.
That was Jerome, the same guy in the interview I posted. I recall that interaction before he deleted his account, but his initial dismissal of Kai's Ocean dub before that was more than telling of his attitude towards a separate release of Kai. And yes, he was still working at Manga in a lead role up until this year, feel free to check his LinkedIn.
RTD was only considered because it was revealed to him as a Funimation product (which Ocean Kai is not), this matches their release strategy thus far. There is no reason to be hopeful of future Canadian releases from them, including Westwood or Blue Water. Evidence points to them not caring about box sets that Funimation hasn't created themselves.
Another thing is, the RTD not materialising after all these years adds to my argument, they ultimately didn't have the motivation to get that set for the UK despite what Jerome told you (and despite it being a Funimation product, at that). I believe it will remain this way as all prior requests for Ocean dubbed DB has similarly fallen on deaf ears. It's not as if people haven't been requesting this stuff until now, it's gone on for years, ever since Manga got the DB license. It's not like we're doing anything new by asking for it now. It's just a drop in the bucket. They already know by now and their silence on the subject speaks volumes.
I know for a fact that the people working at MangaUK want to do right by Dragon Ball fans,
Are you working for them? I kid but, that would help explain the blind loyalty and optimism for a company that up until this point has, what... At best, done the bare minimum? And, in more than a few ways, honestly made things worse. Virtually nothing about them has been respectable, they've acted as lapdogs taking the path of least resistance up until a predictable merger with their overlords. Their one shining moment having fixed a tint on Super Broly that Funi (somehow) put there. Wow, what a company.
but the reality of the business of distributing Dragon Ball makes it very difficult, with all the weird politics with Toei, and the way Funimation seems to be unable to provide good materials for MangaUK to release (they're not exactly in a position to acquire and transfer Funi's 16mm reels for their own UK release, for instance).
It's tricky, but other foreign distributors have managed better deals for themselves without resorting to Funimation's assets (and despite Toei's apparent stubbornness), so things are possible with the right negotiators. I think a lot of it is down to Manga's convenience of working with their preferred partners (like Funimation or Madman) and a clear lack of care and attention to detail for each individual brand they distribute. The problem is that we've since seen what a distributor that cares looks like, which makes the Manga situation all the more frustrating because of how late to the game they were, and all the options they squandered considering their unique situation with the UK's history with DB.
Another thing is, they can get materials from Toei. I'm fairly certain they've even accidentally mentioned something about this at one point regarding the DB sets; that they
should have been only getting things straight from Toei (perhaps not in regards to video, but still), only they broke that rule on many occasions due to the convenience and ease of their relationship with Funi or Madman, even in situations when those companies weren't meant to be involved.
Anyway, point is, in the digital age, Toei could have provided footage easier than before, and if other countries managed to get better footage than Funi's widescreen assets then I'm sure they could have too. If Toei couldn't provide, then the French DVD footage (which I believe was remastered in 09) was also a 4:3 option if they had really wanted it, and unlike dub tracks, it would have been a much higher priority and financially reasonable thing to actually acquire.
The rebrand to Funimation is just a consistency of brand thing, I think it's still the same staff, and probably the situation with them and Funi remains the same (Funi doesn't care what MangaUK does as long as it makes them money).
Most likely the same staff, sure (minus Jerome, which
would be an improvement... If it wasn't for the merger) but if the culture is still the same within then that's all the more reason for nothing to change or improve, and that's not even mentioning the new Funimation influence. Plus, most of the damage has been done already by this point.
Getting back to Funi, I personally don't think there's any truth to them not caring what Manga do, they've seemed to be very close collaborators prior to their merge (even if only for convenience) and I think that the Funimation (US) influence will logically increase now that they're under the same banner. They're almost certainly going to have to have US approval on things from now on, and the reality is that the US Funimation wants nothing to do with an Ocean Kai release, fans requests be damned.