Is the Animax dub of Dragon Ball lost forever?

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Is the Animax dub of Dragon Ball lost forever?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Fri Jan 20, 2023 9:00 am

It aired in Southeast Asia in 2006, although there doesn't seem to have been any online discourse about it, only one fan here has ever claimed to have seen it when it aired, and of course recordings are no where to be found (at least as far as we know).

I've talked about this with other fans who considered perhaps only a small number of episodes aired at an awkward timeslot. However although we don't know whether or not all 153 episodes aired, we know it aired weekdays at 6:30pm, hardly a time no one could have seen it.

It's just so strange, you would think a series as popular as Dragon Ball would have some episodes in circulation, even if it only aired once on Animax. I've not even heard anything about it being hoarded, which is a practice I hate, but if that was the case I'd at least have some hope of it leaking, the hoarder changing their ways, or it being retrievable even if we heard the masters were trashed.

Otherwise, is there any other way this dub could be tracked down? I don't want to see it become lost forever.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

Tian
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Re: Is the Animax dub of Dragon Ball lost forever?

Post by Tian » Sun Jan 22, 2023 12:15 pm

Despite I am no longer looking for it, I doubt the dub is lost forever.

As you said, Dragon Ball is a well known and famous property (mostly in Asia) to be overlooked, so it is surprising that Animax dubs from "less known" anime like Azumanga Daioh and Sgt. Keroro have resurfaced but Dragon Ball's didn't.

So there's still the chance that somebody recorded some of the Animax Dragon Ball dub, whether it is a low quality clip recorded from a phone or a full episode in good quality using video capture but hasn't uploaded it yet for some reason.

Maybe that person doesn't even know that this dub is looked by many.

I wish my personal search for the dub could've been more intensive but there were some limitations:

- One of them was the language barrier since there are some countries where this dub was aired whose languages use a different script from ours (I can read Cyrillic script because I know Serbian but I can't read the Chinese nor Thai scripts because I don't know those languages)

- And another one was that I've had bad experiences with Asian websites. As soon as my laptop caught this really bad malware from one of those sites, I knew I had to abruptly end my search.

So yeah, even though my efforts to look for it didn't give any results, I still have some hope that it will resurface someday.

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Re: Is the Animax dub of Dragon Ball lost forever?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Sun Mar 12, 2023 9:16 am

Thanks for the update Tian, and of course I 100% understand your concerns about furthering your search for this dub. Nonetheless, I appreciate the efforts you've gone to.

I recently had someone DM me on Reddit confirming they did watch the Animax Dragon Ball dub, but remember very little and what they do recall is very vague. Their last message to me was "Let's see" so I'm hoping if something does jog their memory we can at least have some sort of idea how this dub sounded.

I do think, as you say its possible recordings could be lying around, perhaps in the attic, basement (if they are common in Asia, but I'm unsure on that), garage, whatever of someone unaware of how sought after it is. We just don't know, and it may one day surface when we least expect it to. Here's hoping.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

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Re: Is the Animax dub of Dragon Ball lost forever?

Post by Tian » Sun Mar 12, 2023 10:49 am

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 9:16 am I recently had someone DM me on Reddit confirming they did watch the Animax Dragon Ball dub, but remember very little and what they do recall is very vague. Their last message to me was "Let's see" so I'm hoping if something does jog their memory we can at least have some sort of idea how this dub sounded.

I do think, as you say its possible recordings could be lying around, perhaps in the attic, basement (if they are common in Asia, but I'm unsure on that), garage, whatever of someone unaware of how sought after it is. We just don't know, and it may one day surface when we least expect it to. Here's hoping.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure at least there's some recording out there since:

1) The channel availability. We're speaking about a channel that was aired in several countries, not just one.

2) The schedule time. I recalled there's this comment (the one from Kanasai 427) on this Reddit topic that this dub was aired in an accesible time in the evening, not late night nor early morning.

3) The amount of episodes dubbed. From what we know, they dubbed all 153 episodes of Dragon Ball. So out of the 153 episodes, there might be a recording of one of them and if we're lucky, even two.

Going by my saying "If you can't find it, look for the closest thing", I think our miraculous uploader is likely to be the same one who uploaded that recording of Ranma's dub since both Dragon Ball and Ranma were aired at the same block of time according to Kanasai427.

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Re: Is the Animax dub of Dragon Ball lost forever?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Sun Mar 12, 2023 11:40 am

Tian wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 10:49 am1) The channel availability. We're speaking about a channel that was aired in several countries, not just one.
The ironic thing is that of all English dubs of Dragon Ball this Animax dub is the one that aired in the highest number of countries. But yes, the fact that Animax Dragon Ball aired in a potentially staggering number of countries in the most densely populated continent gives me hope there are recordings, possibly belonging to someone whose first language isn't English, has never seen the western English dubs and simply assumes what they recorded for themselves or their kids on Animax was "the English dubs".

For reference when it comes to the English dubs of original Dragon Ball and where they were seen:
  • Harmony Gold dub : Only aired in the US
  • Creative Corp Product dub : Only aired in the Philippines
  • BLT dub : Only aired in the US and Canada as far as I'm aware
  • Funimation inhouse dub : Aired in the US, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
  • Blue Water dub : Aired in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Canada
  • Animax dub : Animax territories, according to their site include Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Phillipinnes and Singapore, all of which are potential candidates for where this dub could have aired
Tian wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 10:49 am2) The schedule time. I recalled there's this comment (the one from Kanasai 427) on this Reddit topic that this dub was aired in an accesible time in the evening, not late night nor early morning.
Correct, in fact, as we can see from this promo Dragon Ball aired on Animax Monday-Friday at 6:30pm, perfect timeslot to be recorded.
Tian wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 10:49 am3) The amount of episodes dubbed. From what we know, they dubbed all 153 episodes of Dragon Ball. So out of the 153 episodes, there might be a recording of one of them and if we're lucky, even two.
Dave Bridges has confirmed he played adult Goku, so yes it is likely all 153 episodes were recorded. Thus far we have no evidence they were all aired, but I would assume they were, and if recordings exist it is likely a bunch of episodes, even if all 153 is unlikely.

In terms of the next closest thing, I do like that idea, and agree with your suggestion of using it to learn more about the Kohavision dub by process of elimination. I'm not sure what other TOEI properties Animax dubbed, but since a long series like Dragon Ball would by its nature be expensive to license, I would have to assume they did acquire other series as package deals would likely be cheaper.

I'll keep everyone posted if I hear more from anyone on Reddit that has seen this dub or might be able to point us in the direction of recordings.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

Tian
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Re: Is the Animax dub of Dragon Ball lost forever?

Post by Tian » Sun Mar 12, 2023 2:08 pm

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 11:40 am In terms of the next closest thing, I do like that idea, and agree with your suggestion of using it to learn more about the Kohavision dub by process of elimination. I'm not sure what other TOEI properties Animax dubbed, but since a long series like Dragon Ball would by its nature be expensive to license, I would have to assume they did acquire other series as package deals would likely be cheaper.

I'll keep everyone posted if I hear more from anyone on Reddit that has seen this dub or might be able to point us in the direction of recordings.
Now that you mention Kohavision, there's something I've been thinking about the Kosovar dub lately... I feel it might be as illegal as the Albanian dub.

Don't get me wrong, but I just find it hard to believe that the distributor decided to let Kohavision dub the thing on their own. Let alone, even believe that Kosovo has a dubbing industry.

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Re: Is the Animax dub of Dragon Ball lost forever?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Sun Mar 12, 2023 2:22 pm

Tian wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 2:08 pm
Dragon Ball Ireland wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 11:40 am In terms of the next closest thing, I do like that idea, and agree with your suggestion of using it to learn more about the Kohavision dub by process of elimination. I'm not sure what other TOEI properties Animax dubbed, but since a long series like Dragon Ball would by its nature be expensive to license, I would have to assume they did acquire other series as package deals would likely be cheaper.

I'll keep everyone posted if I hear more from anyone on Reddit that has seen this dub or might be able to point us in the direction of recordings.
Now that you mention Kohavision, there's something I've been thinking about the Kosovar dub lately... I feel it might be as illegal as the Albanian dub.

Don't get me wrong, but I just find it hard to believe that the distributor decided to let Kohavision dub the thing on their own. Let alone, even believe that Kosovo has a dubbing industry.
I don't think we know whether Kohavision dubbed those early episodes of original Dragon Ball themselves or just licensed them, all we know is that they aired them. I also believe at the time Kosovo was part of Serbia, which is a larger country and the dubbing company could have been based there, or maybe Kohavision bought the dub from an Albanian company because enough people in their region spoke the language to make it seem like a worthwhile investment. I'm not familiar with Albanian dubs in general and whether or not other shows got legal dubs, so its hard to say. What I find most interesting about the dub Kohavision aired is it was apparently based on the Japanese version and even used the original OP and ED, as most European dubs were based off the French dub to save costs, so I guess it wasn't a super low budget dub, but we'll never know unless the dub surfaces again and we can hear how small or large the cast is.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

Tian
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Re: Is the Animax dub of Dragon Ball lost forever?

Post by Tian » Sun Mar 12, 2023 3:08 pm

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 2:22 pm
Tian wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 2:08 pm
Dragon Ball Ireland wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 11:40 am In terms of the next closest thing, I do like that idea, and agree with your suggestion of using it to learn more about the Kohavision dub by process of elimination. I'm not sure what other TOEI properties Animax dubbed, but since a long series like Dragon Ball would by its nature be expensive to license, I would have to assume they did acquire other series as package deals would likely be cheaper.

I'll keep everyone posted if I hear more from anyone on Reddit that has seen this dub or might be able to point us in the direction of recordings.
Now that you mention Kohavision, there's something I've been thinking about the Kosovar dub lately... I feel it might be as illegal as the Albanian dub.

Don't get me wrong, but I just find it hard to believe that the distributor decided to let Kohavision dub the thing on their own. Let alone, even believe that Kosovo has a dubbing industry.
I don't think we know whether Kohavision dubbed those early episodes of original Dragon Ball themselves or just licensed them, all we know is that they aired them. I also believe at the time Kosovo was part of Serbia, which is a larger country and the dubbing company could have been based there, or maybe Kohavision bought the dub from an Albanian company because enough people in their region spoke the language to make it seem like a worthwhile investment. I'm not familiar with Albanian dubs in general and whether or not other shows got legal dubs, so its hard to say. What I find most interesting about the dub Kohavision aired is it was apparently based on the Japanese version and even used the original OP and ED, as most European dubs were based off the French dub to save costs, so I guess it wasn't a super low budget dub, but we'll never know unless the dub surfaces again and we can hear how small or large the cast is.
1) I've been thinking about this possibility too, that both Kosovar Digimon Adventure and Dragon Ball dubs were actually dubs recorded in Albania but somehow, they never got to air in the latter country.

2) Well, except for some cases like Albanian Disney dubs which are official, most of the dubs from Albania, mainly those from Jess Discographic and Studio Suprem are illegal.

3) The Serbian dub of the original DB series used the original Japanese version as source but it didn't exactly have a big budget, considering the cast was pretty small (Dragan Vujić, Vladan Savić, Marica Vuletić, Valentina Pavlicić and the late Nenad Nenadović) and the audio mixing was one of worst I've ever heard. Then for Z, they switched to the French version and added Nikola Bulatović to the cast.

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Re: Is the Animax dub of Dragon Ball lost forever?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Sun Mar 12, 2023 3:31 pm

Tian wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 3:08 pm 1) I've been thinking about this possibility too, that both Kosovar Digimon Adventure and Dragon Ball dubs were actually dubs recorded in Albania but somehow, they never got to air in the latter country.
It's not unprecedented. Remember the Westwood dub was recorded and produced in Canada, but the first 60 episodes never aired there even on reruns and were exclusive to the European territories that used that dub of Z.
Tian wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 3:08 pm 2) Well, except for some cases like Albanian Disney dubs which are official, most of the dubs from Albania, mainly those from Jess Discographic and Studio Suprem are illegal.
Interesting, I think we can then say if this elusive dub of original Dragon Ball was recorded in Albania it most likely was illegal, although I would hope Kohavision would have opted for an officially licensed version.
Tian wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 3:08 pm 3) The Serbian dub of the original DB series used the original Japanese version as source but it didn't exactly have a big budget, considering the cast was pretty small (Dragan Vujić, Vladan Savić, Marica Vuletić, Valentina Pavlicić and the late Nenad Nenadović) and the audio mixing was one of worst I've ever heard. Then for Z, they switched to the French version and added Nikola Bulatović to the cast.
Fair enough. I haven't been able to gather much info about the Kohavision dub on Reddit, but from the few anecdotes I've heard the only consensus I've been able to find on that dub was that it was badly translated, possibly using very simplistic Albanian. Someone vaguely recalled a certain scene Krillin/Kuririn would have been saying something important to Goku, but apparently in the Kohavision dub he just said "use the stick" (which was apparently a commonly used phrase in this dub). I did consider it may have had a very small cast to offset the cost of licensing all the original Japanese tracks and possibly some badly translated scripts.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

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