Dragonball Kai (FUNimation English) Dub: General Discussion

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Ize da darn-tooting ally to the justice and da nitemare to youz.

Seriously, it isn't going to happen.

What the hell kinda accent were you even trying to do? To go Suthun-fried with it, it'd be more of a "Bohy, ah's gone tan yo hide!"

Give me a break, I've never spoken to a hick.

But seriously, making Goku sound like a hick would make the dub "too faithful" and just sound bad.

[SSJ2bardock]

I've gotta agree on that point. You really can't get it right either way by trying to make Goku sound like a redneck, in one case you'd have Schemmel trying to do an accent that never sounds right when its being faked... and even if he could get it right do you know how annoying that would be!? Have you ever spoken to a real live backwater folksy person? It's unbearable and I will not have the main character of my 99 episode epic speak like that, I don't care if it's accurate or not!

[VegettoEX]

I'm always fascinated by dub fans ("hardcore" fans, no less) who very clearly state that they don't want the show to be faithful to its original incarnation. This is the same complacent attitude that I speak about often and led to things like acceptance of the orange bricks. I suppose that's mostly another discussion, though.

I don't think anyone honestly wants Goku running around speaking in English like a redneck. That's not entirely accurate to the original performance, anyway. If you go back and listen to what Daimao said to us about translating the dialogue, I think he nailed it perfectly when talking about representing aspects of it in English in each line. For example, instead of having Superhero-Goku say, "I have to do this!"... a simple change to "I gotta do this!" works wonders. It was similar to how (apparently?) Rock Lee speaks without contractions in the dub of Naruto. (Future) Trunks should have been the same way in an English dub of DBZ.

There are ways to represent this. It just takes a talented translator and a talented actor given talented direction.

Unless you don't want any of that, of course. I suppose you can just watch the dub as-is for that.

[SSJ2bardock]

I was just replying the people that were talking about him sounding like a redneck. No need to get snippy...

[VegettoEX]

I was just replying the people that were talking about him sounding like a redneck. No need to get snippy...

o_O

There was absolutely nothing "snippy" in there. If you find it "snippy", maybe you're not confident enough in your own feelings on the dub...? I don't get it. I think this is another example of exactly what I'm talking about when FUNimation dub fans personify the production and take personal offense whenever its flaws are pointed out.

As for the commentary on fans, themselves... well... didn't what I just say mirror exactly what's been stated so far? They they're complacent and don't want it to be authentic? Is it somehow damaging or "mean" when someone who's not a dub fan agrees that they're acting that way?

[Li'l Lemmy]

When it comes to dub fans who don't want to see changes in the FUNimation dub, I can empathize with what they're feeling-- what they already have makes them happy without "changes" that they perceive are to make OTHER fans (of another version, most notably) happy at their expense. It feels like disregard for their own feelings and opinions. For some people, the dub in its current form is established, ingrained and routine for them. And when people are more or less settled, people don't like change.

Does it mean that these same people are blind to the fact that the dub has flaws? Of course not. It's more a case of them having decided that the positives outweight the negatives.

Speaking from a dub viewpoint, I can use myself as an example. Kai has switched out Stepanie Nadolny's Gohan for someone else. Will this "improve" the dub? Sure, it could. It might even make it "better" for a few people. But I can't say that I care for it-- I'm used to Nadolny. Clickenbeard could turn out a hundred times better in terms of performance, and part of me would still want Nadolny. It's just another one of those little things that makes "my" dub what it is.


~Da Lemmy

[JulieYBM]

Being someone who grew up with the dub (and owns dozens of the VHS tapes as they were being released monthly, whether edited or not), but having moved on to the original, I'd say--as a fan of many of those actors in different roles on different shows--I would like to see major changes in the cast because I am a fan. I think Sabat could contribute far more to the franchisec and series as a whole if he only played one or two roles, rather than nearly fourty. FUNimation has nearly four hundred different talent to choose from for probably just as many characters to cast. Use 'em, don't let the past tie you down on this one.

[Kai_fan]

No need to get snippy...

I mostly lurk, but this was kind of irresistible.

This forum (maybe the board in general, I only read this forum) would do well to make that their new mantra.

Every single thread here is "snippy", all the time.

[VegettoEX]

No need to get snippy...

I mostly lurk, but this was kind of irresistible.

This forum (maybe the board in general, I only read this forum) would do well to make that their new mantra.

Every single thread here is "snippy", all the time.

Define "snippy", though. You seem to think (or at least imply?) that someone presenting a viewpoint is "being snippy".

Hell, here I was agreeing with someone on how they were apparently interpreting the show (them saying they don't want something to be faithful when translated), and it's deemed "snippy"...?!

Is it just the standard dub defensiveness? Another example for my argument of its existence? Is this a new category of the self-loathing dub fan who must strike out when encountered? What do you think?

[Li'l Lemmy]

Every single thread here is "snippy", all the time.

While heightened sensitivities, overbearing opinions and general smartass attitudes certainly exist (both here and as a part of DragonBall fandom on the whole), I would hardly go so far as to say that EVERY new thread contains these and/or other negative elements. An astonishingly bare minimum do, and even then it usually ends up rather quickly contained-- this is, for the most part, a very open and accepting community whose forum style of comaraderie, administration and maintenance quite literally BEGS the aquaintance of just about every other DragonBall forum out there. While far from perfect, this place sets a standard that I've yet to see replicated.

Lemmy's been a-livin' in these here parts for damn near five years now. He won't settle to have it bashed, or at least not without a more constructive kind of criticism.


~Da Lemmy

[Rocketman]

Have you ever spoken to a real live backwater folksy person? It's unbearable!

Screw you too, buddy.

[penguintruth]

Have you ever spoken to a real live backwater folksy person? It's unbearable

But that's sort of Goku's intended characterization. He's a bit of a backwater hick.

Like I said, I don't really think the VA needs to be just an imitation of Masako Nozawa per se, or even some kind of regional accent, and some of this will probably be dealt with in the script. However, they should at least try to tweak Goku's voice to the point it sounds like he's not exactly the most sophisticated speaker.

[Super Sonic]

I'm starting to think like the concept of pretty boys, the image of hicks differ greatly in the US than they do in Japan.

[ohaimynameiserik]

Define "snippy", though. You seem to think (or at least imply?) that someone presenting a viewpoint is "being snippy".

Hell, here I was agreeing with someone on how they were apparently interpreting the show (them saying they don't want something to be faithful when translated), and it's deemed "snippy"...?!

Is it just the standard dub defensiveness? Another example for my argument of its existence? Is this a new category of the self-loathing dub fan who must strike out when encountered? What do you think?

While I agree that the dub should be more faithful by simply tweaking lines to fit characters appropriately, you could be more polite.

To paraphrase what you've been saying...

"I'm always fascinated by these DUB fans, who may be self loathing, because they don't want their dub to be more faithful."

^^That, when read as plain text, is disrespectful, and I guess could be called "snippy".

[linkdude20002001]

But that was after being called snippy. I'd be snippy if I was falsly accoused of being so. Kinda stupid, but true.

Regardless though, he never said all dub fans, or dub fans in general. He said "catagory" of dub fans.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

While heightened sensitivities, overbearing opinions and general smartass attitudes certainly exist (both here and as a part of DragonBall fandom on the whole), I would hardly go so far as to say that EVERY new thread contains these and/or other negative elements. An astonishingly bare minimum do, and even then it usually ends up rather quickly contained-- this is, for the most part, a very open and accepting community whose forum style of comaraderie, administration and maintenance quite literally BEGS the aquaintance of just about every other DragonBall forum out there. While far from perfect, this place sets a standard that I've yet to see replicated.

Lemmy's been a-livin' in these here parts for damn near five years now. He won't settle to have it bashed, or at least not without a more constructive kind of criticism.


~Da Lemmy

Exactly. While I didn't care for Nadolny's Kid Gohan, if the voices for Goku, Tien and Yamcha get switched, the dub wouldn't be the same for me.

[Gozar]

It was similar to how (apparently?) Rock Lee speaks without contractions in the dub of Naruto. (Future) Trunks should have been the same way in an English dub of DBZ.

That's pretty hard to imagine for me. I mean I personally find the way Rock Lee talks in the Dub to be really annoying. There are certain things that work in translation, such as your example of Goku. But there are other things that just simply wouldn't sound right when spoken in English. Sure in certain instances it would work. But certain words need contractions or it makes the speech of the character sound off.

[ohaimynameiserik]

But that was after being called snippy. I'd be snippy if I was falsly accoused of being so. Kinda stupid, but true.

Regardless though, he never said all dub fans, or dub fans in general. He said "catagory" of dub fans.

Got a point. I dunno... I guess I was just trying to find the snippy, lol. Though I'm with him all the way.

ANYWHO, throw in them tharr contractions, FUNimation!

[JulieYBM]

From Schemmel on Twitter:

Solarmax20 Just finished next batch of dbz kai episodes. I really think this will be the definitive dbz...

It really bugs me how they continually reffer to it as the 'definitive DBZ'. It's. Not. DBZ.

[Taku128]

How is it not DBZ? It tells the story that DBZ told using the same footage, sound effects, and mostly the same actors. Just because Toei decided to drop the Z doesn't change the fact that it's a re-edited version of Z.