Will VIZ ever do a uncensored/re translated version of the Dragon Ball Manga?

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Majin Man 101
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Will VIZ ever do a uncensored/re translated version of the Dragon Ball Manga?

Post by Majin Man 101 » Wed Aug 31, 2022 12:28 am

I myself am not a experienced manga reader, as my expertise and knowledge of the series mainly comes from the anime.And what experience I do have of reading the manga comes from just looking at the artwork on my Japanese full color manga which i cannot read.

I have tried to read the manga before but the censorship and translations have bothered me deeply and I have no desire to pick up what VIZ has put out here in the states because of it.

Is there a chance that we will ever get a re-release of Dragon Ball with new translations and completely uncensored? Releasing the ENTIRE full color would be a nice bonus as well.

I’m sure there are some manga-afficianados that have some wonderful thoughts on this particular subject.

Has this ever been done before with any other series???

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Re: Will VIZ ever do a uncensored/re translated version of the Dragon Ball Manga?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Wed Aug 31, 2022 4:48 am

Probably not. Much like a complete redub of Dragon Ball Z by the Texas cast there's not enough demand and those of us who want it are in the minority. The only chance of this happening was with the full colours, which have been seemingly discontinued, which I can only assume was because of high licensing costs not meeting sales.
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Re: Will VIZ ever do a uncensored/re translated version of the Dragon Ball Manga?

Post by Brodes » Wed Aug 31, 2022 9:26 am

Doubt it. Dragon Ball seems to the most disrespected property out there for how popular it is (probably why). Luckily, the Viz manga, while not perfect, is a large step up from the Funi dubs and is quite good besides some quirks.

I don't believe even Japan has the entire 42 volumes worth in colour.

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Re: Will VIZ ever do a uncensored/re translated version of the Dragon Ball Manga?

Post by MasenkoHA » Wed Aug 31, 2022 10:25 am

Hey bro wazzzzup

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Re: Will VIZ ever do a uncensored/re translated version of the Dragon Ball Manga?

Post by VegettoEX » Wed Aug 31, 2022 10:30 am

I don't think it's impossible for a re-translation. The Sailor Moon manga has received, what, three completely separate translation releases?

Perhaps the only real difference is that Dragon Ball has been in continuous print since 1998 from the exact same licensee, and they themselves have released near-countless different versions/permutations over that time.

I still think it's possible, and the longer we go without something "new" on the market, the better a position we're in. I also think the overall success of the premium Fist of the North Star and Jojo's volumes would be helpful toward a similar kind of Dragon Ball release.

But yeah, uhh, give us a call?
Brodes wrote: Wed Aug 31, 2022 9:26 am I don't believe even Japan has the entire 42 volumes worth in colour.
The whole thing came out over the course of 2013-2016:

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/manga/full-color/
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Re: Will VIZ ever do a uncensored/re translated version of the Dragon Ball Manga?

Post by MasenkoHA » Wed Aug 31, 2022 10:48 am

VegettoEX wrote: Wed Aug 31, 2022 10:30 am I don't think it's impossible for a re-translation. The Sailor Moon manga has received, what, three completely separate translation releases?
I know the first one was done by, the now defunct, TokyoPop, but the last two were both done by Kodansha's USA branch, weren't they?

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Re: Will VIZ ever do a uncensored/re translated version of the Dragon Ball Manga?

Post by MuscleRobo » Wed Aug 31, 2022 10:58 am

VegettoEX wrote: Wed Aug 31, 2022 10:30 am The whole thing came out over the course of 2013-2016:

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/manga/full-color/
That's a really neat page! I'm scrolling and skimming it though and don't see the colorist? I even tried to use "Ctrl+F" and clicked on one of the chapters to check that way. Do we know who the colorist was? I'm kind of fine with the black and white because I want to enjoy it as it was originally created but I was curious who they got to do it.

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Re: Will VIZ ever do a uncensored/re translated version of the Dragon Ball Manga?

Post by Brodes » Wed Aug 31, 2022 6:44 pm

VegettoEX wrote: Wed Aug 31, 2022 10:30 am
Brodes wrote: Wed Aug 31, 2022 9:26 am I don't believe even Japan has the entire 42 volumes worth in colour.
The whole thing came out over the course of 2013-2016:

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/manga/full-color/
Well, there you go. I knew they'd done the latter half of the series, but wasn't sure about the first half. Cool.

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Re: Will VIZ ever do a uncensored/re translated version of the Dragon Ball Manga?

Post by Vegard Aune » Thu Sep 01, 2022 6:52 am

I feel like at this point Viz probably prioritizes being consistent with themselves over making the manga "better." And honestly, I can see the logic; Fact of the matter is, millions of copies exist with the existing translation, censorship and occasionally odd name choices included. And it has been constantly in print. Even if they were to do a retranslation now, those old copies would still be out there for a very long time, and you'd almost certainly incur some confusion among casual customers for what version they should buy. And for what? Basically, for the sake of pleasing a very small vocal minority. Sad fact of the matter is, most people don't care if 17 points a gun at that old guy's face, or if Goku and Vegeta's fusion is called Vegerot rather than Vegetto, or any other change Viz made. Same as why I doubt Viz will ever release a version of One Piece that doesn't use "Zolo" ever again. (And yes, I know the very earliest print runs did call him Zoro, but there's a pretty big difference between making a change like four volumes in on a series that isn't all that well-known yet, and making a change literally a hundred volumes into what is now a world-famous series with, again, millions of copies floating around.)

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