People who genuinely argue the humor added in dubs "Improves the show"

[Cure Dragon 255]

You read that right. NOT the music. Not the improved pacing from merging or skipping episodes. THE HUMOR. +

I really dont get why anyone would think this. I had the misfortune to see some people arguing this sincerely in 2023. And this in response to saying its Dub Haters who "miss the point" and that "The original Dragon Ball/Digimon/Sailor Moon had bland characters that wouldnt appeal to everyone." Pal, if everyone loved the shitty humor you liked so Uncut dubs that correct every single mistake the dubbers make wouldnt be made.

* I dont think ANY of these improved ANYTHING but are at least more understandable than liking "Mondo Cool" or any other joke from Funimation. Oh and this thread is not for jokes added by more faithful dubs made post 2010.

[GhostEmperorX]

The whole "Improvement" argument is completely moot anyways, because by the exact same token there's also going to be a lot of deteriorations, especially when the changes are as extreme as they are.
That, I would say, is completely "missing the point". Because it's not to re-mold it into a completely different experience, or superimpose your own ideas on it arbitrarily, which also opens the door to contradiction after contradiction with one established element or the other.
Honestly though, I think that those arguments you see even today are from a perspective that's just too far gone.
Make whatever judgement on the characters as they are, nothing more or less, is what I would say.

[Shaddy]

Like most arguments in favor of dub changes, what people need to understand is that major creative decisions are not their job. That's not what dubs are for.

The point of a dub is to make an audio track for another language, and bring as similar an experience across as possible. What that means can be very subjective, as many things are difficult or impossible to translate literally, or would give an inaccurate impression if they were. This is where some amount of creativity comes into play with dubbers, but adding in new material or trying to punch things up beyond bringing across information that already existed is where it starts to feel like crossing a line.

It's needless! And, dare I say, a bit arrogant. When translating something, you have to know your own language better than your source material, that's the whole point. But when we see stuff like this, it's essentially saying that you know the source material itself better than the creators, and think you're qualified to make decisions for it.

That's not me saying that dubs should always be 100% literal or even that translations can never be funny, but you would need it to be something more like translating a Nintendo game, where someone actually signs off on the changes and makes sure everyone is on the same page. With the non-union boys club of anime dubs, it feels like the communication with the JP side of things is only ever as significant as "yeah, you can license our show". Every grain of translation accuracy DB has seen is something fans have had to fight tooth-and-nail for, and it's still not perfect. This isn't even true for other Funimation dubs! Stuff like My Hero Academia or One Piece (again, Funi, not 4kids) rarely strays that far from the source, and I haven't noticed those shows suffering for it.

[Cure Dragon 255]

Like most arguments in favor of dub changes, what people need to understand is that major creative decisions are not their job. That's not what dubs are for.

The point of a dub is to make an audio track for another language, and bring as similar an experience across as possible. What that means can be very subjective, as many things are difficult or impossible to translate literally, or would give an inaccurate impression if they were. This is where some amount of creativity comes into play with dubbers, but adding in new material or trying to punch things up beyond bringing across information that already existed is where it starts to feel like crossing a line.

It's needless! And, dare I say, a bit arrogant. When translating something, you have to know your own language better than your source material, that's the whole point. But when we see stuff like this, it's essentially saying that you know the source material itself better than the creators, and think you're qualified to make decisions for it.

That's not me saying that dubs should always be 100% literal or even that translations can never be funny, but you would need it to be something more like translating a Nintendo game, where someone actually signs off on the changes and makes sure everyone is on the same page. With the non-union boys club of anime dubs, it feels like the communication with the JP side of things is only ever as significant as "yeah, you can license our show". Every grain of translation accuracy DB has seen is something fans have had to fight tooth-and-nail for, and it's still not perfect. This isn't even true for other Funimation dubs! Stuff like My Hero Academia or One Piece (again, Funi, not 4kids) rarely strays that far from the source, and I haven't noticed those shows suffering for it.

Shaddy always comes with the best posts. Thanks pal.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

That argument was being made when Funimation was dubbing Super. I remember people saying here that the Japanese lines were bland. These fans said the dub lines made the retellings more enjoyable, and I like the dubs of those episodes for the performances but I still would have preferred if the dialogue wasn't punched up, it didn't need to be, because, as stated that is not a dubbing studios job, their job is to translate as faithfully as possible and only take liberties, within reason (that is to say keep the full intention), where a line wouldn't sound natural in the alternate language.

[Cure Dragon 255]

Again, the post 2010 dubs arent in discussion at least these jokes at least fit a bit better and arent a constant like they used to be.

[GhostEmperorX]

Like most arguments in favor of dub changes, what people need to understand is that major creative decisions are not their job. That's not what dubs are for.

Indeed, anything more is the realm of full-blown adaptations, which the first set of dubs for the series was merely a few steps short of (as, again, the whole site knows).

The point of a dub is to make an audio track for another language, and bring as similar an experience across as possible. What that means can be very subjective, as many things are difficult or impossible to translate literally, or would give an inaccurate impression if they were. This is where some amount of creativity comes into play with dubbers, but adding in new material or trying to punch things up beyond bringing across information that already existed is where it starts to feel like crossing a line.

It's needless! And, dare I say, a bit arrogant. When translating something, you have to know your own language better than your source material, that's the whole point. But when we see stuff like this, it's essentially saying that you know the source material itself better than the creators, and think you're qualified to make decisions for it.

True, there's lots of elements that get lost in translation for one reason or the other, from cultural context to just being a kind of phrasing that's never used in the language being translated to (which is something that, for whatever reason, some out there have more than a little difficulty understanding). And small bumps like that are okay. But it's really easy to tell when it's not even trying to do so much as accomplish the same thing or keep the tone or meaning, to say nothing of saying the same thing in a different way.
And of course, middle men are always out of place whenever they do that.

Every grain of translation accuracy DB has seen is something fans have had to fight tooth-and-nail for, and it's still not perfect. This isn't even true for other Funimation dubs! Stuff like My Hero Academia or One Piece (again, Funi, not 4kids) rarely strays that far from the source, and I haven't noticed those shows suffering for it.

There's surely a massive (and quite frankly, warped) double standard when it comes to the handling and perceptions of DB by official license holders and audiences that is just about nonexistent with most anything else. Which is also what leads to the "special treatment" the series gets being one absurd thing or the other, whereas standard treatment like any other series is the far more preferable alternative.

[ClutchBangstrip]

Idk if it "improved the show", but it made it Way funnier...

[MasenkoHA]

I don't know about "improved the show" but I will say there is a world of difference between the type of punch up humor found in Super and the type of punch up humor Funimation tried to employ back in the 90s.

"Some brother, I don't think your mom gave him enough spankings!"

"If you were a dog I'd scratch your belly, if you were a cat I'd give your warm milk until you started to purr, but since you are neither of things I will congratulate you on a job well done."

"Your shoe laces came untied." "Nice try, I don't even have shoe laces!"

[ABED]

What's worse is being called a gatekeeper for saying things like Freeza isn't a character who makes vaguely sexual comments and dumb childish jokes. Whether you like that character more isn't my issue. It's literally NOT the character in the story.

The idea that anyone actually believes it improves the show doesn't feel at all genuine to me. I think they enjoy the dub and likely have a hard time watching the original. As condescending as that sounds, I have a hard time wrapping my head around anyone really believing those lines are improvements.

[90sDBZ]

I can only speak from my own subjective experience, but some of those jokes definitely got a chuckle out of me.

Things like Vegeta's photographer line, and Krillin calling Vegeta ugly only for the latter to wake up and say "Who's face is ugly!?" get a laugh out of me every time.

They might not fit the tone of the original, but I can honestly say I found them funny.

[ABED]

I don't think "whose face is ugly?!" would feel completely out of place in the original.

[MasenkoHA]

What's worse is being called a gatekeeper for saying things like Freeza isn't a character who makes vaguely sexual comments and dumb childish jokes. Whether you like that character more isn't my issue. It's literally NOT the character in the story.

The idea that anyone actually believes it improves the show doesn't feel at all genuine to me. I think they enjoy the dub and likely have a hard time watching the original. As condescending as that sounds, I have a hard time wrapping my head around anyone really believing those lines are improvements.

Frieza's a good example because back in the day nobody and I mean NOBODY liked Funi Frieza. Sub fans hated what a bastardization the character was and dub fans thought Frieza was an effeminate gender confused creepy weirdo (there's probably discussion to be had on effeminophobia in how it relates to Funi Frieza but probably not here). There was a reason Cell was the most popular DBZ baddie amongst Toonami viewers.

But then decades later and Frieza gets a more accurate version via Kai and Super and suddenly fans come out of the woodwork claiming they always loved Linda Young's Frieza

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

They"ve also moved away from trying to make the dubs feel all edgy/hip and try hard like with Z and and especially GT. Lines that had a "ZOMG HARDCORE EDGINESS!!!!!!!" vibe which were the writers' attempts to appeal to the younger demographic they were targeting the dub towards at the time.

Like with these infamous examples:.

"Oh yeah, i almost forgot...KRILLIN'S IN DA HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Wow, Mondo Cool."

"That's right boys, Mondo Cool."

"That's one whopper of a lizard."

"I get lots of exercise and drink plenty of juice."

"It must be my diet, i eat real wholesome foods."

[kemuri07]

What's worse is being called a gatekeeper for saying things like Freeza isn't a character who makes vaguely sexual comments and dumb childish jokes. Whether you like that character more isn't my issue. It's literally NOT the character in the story.

The idea that anyone actually believes it improves the show doesn't feel at all genuine to me. I think they enjoy the dub and likely have a hard time watching the original. As condescending as that sounds, I have a hard time wrapping my head around anyone really believing those lines are improvements.

Frieza's a good example because back in the day nobody and I mean NOBODY liked Funi Frieza. Sub fans hated what a bastardization the character was and dub fans thought Frieza was an effeminate gender confused creepy weirdo (there's probably discussion to be had on effeminophobia in how it relates to Funi Frieza but probably not here). There was a reason Cell was the most popular DBZ baddie amongst Toonami viewers.

But then decades later and Frieza gets a more accurate version via Kai and Super and suddenly fans come out of the woodwork claiming they always loved Linda Young's Frieza

Not that hard to understand.


Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

[WittyUsername]

They"ve also moved away from trying to make the dubs feel all edgy/hip and try hard like with Z and and especially GT. Lines that had a "ZOMG HARDCORE EDGINESS!!!!!!!" vibe which were the writers' attempts to appeal to the younger demographic they were targeting the dub towards at the time.

Like with these infamous examples:.

"Oh yeah, i almost forgot...KRILLIN'S IN DA HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Wow, Mondo Cool."

"That's right boys, Mondo Cool."

"That's one whopper of a lizard."

"I get lots of exercise and drink plenty of juice."

"It must be my diet, i eat real wholesome foods."

None of those lines are what I would call hardcore or edgy. They’re just corny attempts to be funny.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

They"ve also moved away from trying to make the dubs feel all edgy/hip and try hard like with Z and and especially GT. Lines that had a "ZOMG HARDCORE EDGINESS!!!!!!!" vibe which were the writers' attempts to appeal to the younger demographic they were targeting the dub towards at the time.

Like with these infamous examples:.

"Oh yeah, i almost forgot...KRILLIN'S IN DA HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Wow, Mondo Cool."

"That's right boys, Mondo Cool."

"That's one whopper of a lizard."

"I get lots of exercise and drink plenty of juice."

"It must be my diet, i eat real wholesome foods."

None of those lines are what I would call hardcore or edgy. They’re just corny attempts to be funny.

Ok, i don't know why i thought they were. At least with the first two i'd say they were attempts at trying to be cool/hip to appeal to the younger viewers, in some cases by using outdated lingo and slang even by 1999 standards.

[8000 Saiyan]

Well, the people who defend the humor in the Funimation dubs of Dragon Ball media also defend the adlibbing, and the swearing in YYH.

To them, the swearing and crass humor of Yusuke means that Funimation somehow understood the source material better than the guys who made the anime.

[PurestEvil]

I find the added humor is funny but only in an ironic sense. I don’t think they were actually beneficial to the actual show though.

[Zephyr]

For me the worst part is that Dragon Ball is already a funny story. You don't need to add more humor.