Ocean Dragon Ball Z in the UK

Bejiita · Post by **Bejiita** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 4:22 pm

When ocean dubbed the movies they left the original BGM intact, if they dub the Frieza saga they can at least keep the music like they do in the movies. I actually didn't mind some of the Funi music for the Frieza saga, it did set the mood at times to be honest, but after I saw the episodes in Japanese I realised that it walks over the dub, got to give the dub some credit though.

I've been switching form different versions of the show a few times, I started watching from the Ocean version of the The Newest Super Saiyan, I was hooked to the show from then, I then got to the Energy Drain Episode and I thought DBZ was the best cartoon or anime I have seen.

I then started getting some Funi episodes on disc from my friend at school, after watching them it didn't feel like DBZ at all, it had different BGM and the voices sounded different, I had to try to believe it was DBZ but after some research I found out about the different versions.

I don't know why but the Ocean dub always has that 'at home' feeling when watching it, like the good old DBZ days when I knew nothing of the plot, or more to the point that the series ended around 1996!

Then CN started showing DBZ saga days with all the Frieza saga, and the Cell saga and noticed the difference between the two, as the Cell saga they showed was the ocean one.

Anyways, long story short, Japanese DBZ is the best!

I can see why you want those ocean episodes, if they had those episodes Uncut completely it would compete with Funi's version.

laserkid · Post by **laserkid** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 4:27 pm

Just a quick correction here - Ocean dubbed the first 2 seasons they didn't just start in the middle of it. Of course they later came to compete with FUNimation's dub internationally speaking, but they do have the fiorst 2 seasons with FUNimation.

The sad thing here is the line between legality and morality. Its not immoral what you want to do here - its not being sold and you'd buy it if it was. Sadly while that means you aren't an immoral person you still have laws to take into account which can make things troublesome.

Of course theres some logic here too. A favorate 80s toon of mine, Jayce in the Wheeled Warriors had been unavailable for a long time. Because of this, people began making trades and such online for movie files. Then last year a single DVD was released. Though many (myself included) bought it many just ignored it for the free versions out there, and we haven't seen more since. Even when there's a good reason for wanting to do what you want here, it is also a vicious cycle that creates the lack of the product you want.

Dayspring · Post by **Dayspring** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 10:08 am

laserkid wrote:Just a quick correction here - Ocean dubbed the first 2 seasons they didn't just start in the middle of it. Of course they later came to compete with FUNimation's dub internationally speaking, but they do have the fiorst 2 seasons with FUNimation.

The sad thing here is the line between legality and morality. Its not immoral what you want to do here - its not being sold and you'd buy it if it was. Sadly while that means you aren't an immoral person you still have laws to take into account which can make things troublesome.

Of course theres some logic here too. A favorate 80s toon of mine, Jayce in the Wheeled Warriors had been unavailable for a long time. Because of this, people began making trades and such online for movie files. Then last year a single DVD was released. Though many (myself included) bought it many just ignored it for the free versions out there, and we haven't seen more since. Even when there's a good reason for wanting to do what you want here, it is also a vicious cycle that creates the lack of the product you want.

That's the point. In Canada it's NOT illegal. He's a Canadian requesting Canadian products.

laserkid · Post by **laserkid** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 12:26 pm

I could request American products being an American free but it'd still be the case. Unless Canada has looser copyright laws. And from the sounds of it that portion wasn't ever aired in Canada either. I'm not AGAINST this mind you just trying to keep the facts straight for the situation.

Now let me ask this - are the FUNimation diss for sale inside of Canada? This will cover at least part of this issue - whenever seeking this sort of thing I always find it usefu;l to buy the official product and then get a "backup" of what I'm after thats just a diffrent not for sale vesrion.

Dark Vegeta-Sama · Post by **Dark Vegeta-Sama** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 12:38 pm

laserkid wrote:I could request American products being an American free but it'd still be the case. Unless Canada has looser copyright laws. And from the sounds of it that portion wasn't ever aired in Canada either. I'm not AGAINST this mind you just trying to keep the facts straight for the situation.

Now let me ask this - are the FUNimation diss for sale inside of Canada? This will cover at least part of this issue - whenever seeking this sort of thing I always find it usefu;l to buy the official product and then get a "backup" of what I'm after thats just a diffrent not for sale vesrion.

Yes, FUNimation's discs are sold in Canada, and yes, I have bought many of them.

Conan the SSJ · Post by **Conan the SSJ** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:37 am

For the record in case anyone hasn't known, Ocean DBZ doesn't use the original music (unlike in GT and DB) but rather use some type of Megamanish music for the series from what I've heard. And basicly for Canada and UK DBZ, you have the show like:

DBZ:
1 - 53: Original Ocean/FUNi dubbed episodes.

54 - 107: FUNi's home-based dub that we all in the US know and... have watched.

108 - 276: Ocean's own dubbed DBZ with the FUNi edited video track and their own replacing music.

DBGT: Ocean completly recasts with many inferior VAs, however stays nearly 100% accurate and faithful due to them using their own script and not adapting from FUNi's, and also use the original music with their own dubbed version of "Dan Dan".

Dark Vegeta-Sama · Post by **Dark Vegeta-Sama** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 9:50 am

Conan the SSJ wrote:For the record in case anyone hasn't known, Ocean DBZ doesn't use the original music (unlike in GT and DB) but rather use some type of Megamanish music for the series from what I've heard. And basicly for Canada and UK DBZ, you have the show like:

DBZ:
1 - 53: Original Ocean/FUNi dubbed episodes.

54 - 107: FUNi's home-based dub that we all in the US know and... have watched.

108 - 276: Ocean's own dubbed DBZ with the FUNi edited video track and their own replacing music.

DBGT: Ocean completly recasts with many inferior VAs, however stays nearly 100% accurate and faithful due to them using their own script and not adapting from FUNi's, and also use the original music with their own dubbed version of "Dan Dan".

Correct for the most part, except in Canada, Ocean 108-167 was never aired (instead we were still getting FUNimation's dub) but they were in the United Kingdom and Holland. Which is the whole point of this thread.

Also the music was recycled Mega Man stuff at the beginning, but later on Ocean's DBZ got some other music from other shows as well as some of its own, new music. A lot of its Buu Saga music was very good and oftentimes was better than the Japanese music in the opinions of many Ocean fans.

Also on the note of DBGT, Ocean's regular cast was originally going to voice it, but they were royally screwed out of it by Producer Ken Morrison, who didn't want to pay Ocean their higher salaries. So instead, he outsourced the voicing of the show to Blue Water (a division of Ocean, but in a different part of the country and with a completely different, inexperienced cast). Very similar to what FUNimation did in season three in fact, in terms of replacing Ocean's professional cast with an inexperienced cast. Blue Water dubbed all of DBGT and then went on to dub the original Dragonball series, which also aired in the United Kingdom and Canada. While the voice work of those two shows was very bad, the original Japanese score and accurate scripts were used, and the shows both aired pretty much uncut.

Which means that if Ocean hadn't been screwed out of voicing DB and DBGT, they would have been the perfect dubs.

Post by **VegettoEX** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 10:50 am

Dark Vegeta-Sama wrote:Which means that if Ocean hadn't been screwed out of voicing DB and DBGT, they would have been the perfect dubs.

From what little I've seen of the Ocean DBZ dub, though, the voice direction was teeerrible. You can say it's on the voice actors, because Scott McNeil and Brian Drummond don't sound that bad, and shouldn't be out-of-practice (especially McNeil, who essentially uses the same voice for every character).

So even with the proper voices, unless you have a good ADR guy, your dub sounds like ass

.

Dark Vegeta-Sama · Post by **Dark Vegeta-Sama** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 11:35 am

VegettoEX wrote:
Dark Vegeta-Sama wrote:Which means that if Ocean hadn't been screwed out of voicing DB and DBGT, they would have been the perfect dubs.
From what little I've seen of the Ocean DBZ dub, though, the voice direction was teeerrible. You can say it's on the voice actors, because Scott McNeil and Brian Drummond don't sound that bad, and shouldn't be out-of-practice (especially McNeil, who essentially uses the same voice for every character).

So even with the proper voices, unless you have a good ADR guy, your dub sounds like ass .

The voices definitely weren't that great at some points, to be sure. The early episodes of the Cell Saga (because Ocean's actors were rusty, not having played those parts in years) comes to mind from what I've seen of the clips of those episodes as they never aired in Canada, as well as the end the Cell Games/Early Buu Saga era, partially because many of the actors were being overworked.

The later part of the Buu saga (Fusion/Kid Buu sagas) were done tremendously though. I know that you much prefer the Japanese version, but if you got a chance to see how well Ocean handled those final episodes in terms of voices and musical score, I think you might be pleasantly surprised.

Bejiita · Post by **Bejiita** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 2:18 pm

I recently saw those last DBZ episodes on Toonami and they are done pretty good, the music is ok, but it's definately not as good as the Japanese BGM. Not just because I think original is always better, because that isn't always true, but really and truthfully, the Ocean dub music doesn't even compare to the original in any saga.

Videl's voice sound stupid in Energy Drain, it sound like some video game voice, robot style, mostly the part where Goku grabs her to stop her from trying to help Gohan.

But really there are times when watching both dubs(mostly Funimation's) where Goku will say something and I'll be like 'No, he didn't just say that', because you can tell when the man who voices him tries to make him sound high pitched like in the Japanese one, this is especially in Budokai 3 in DU mode, they try to make Goku sound so much like the Japanese one it hurts.

And when someone laughs (in the dub) it sounds like they're not really laughing because what happened was funny, it sounds like a fake laugh, the Japanese voice actors make it sound like they are actually having a laugh. People like Vegeta and Frieza are horrid in the dub. It's funny how voice actors make crap of what was originally enjoyable and good.

El_Diablo · Post by **El_Diablo** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 8:19 am

Ocean's actors may have been rusty at the beginning of the Cell arc, but I still get chills down my back when I hear Kami-sama fusing with Piccolo and Piccolo powering up against #17.

Its that good.

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 6:16 pm

Well, I personally think when they went back to Ocean, one actor totally ruined it for me. Kirby Morrow in the role of Goku. The worst Goku in the history of the DBZ dubs. I'll watch Funi's over Ocean's dub any day just to avoid hearing his weak protrayal. Even if I get to hear McNeil and Drummond in there, it's not worth it to me.

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 7:05 pm

Conan the SSJ wrote:
DBGT: Ocean completly recasts with many inferior VAs, however stays nearly 100% accurate and faithful due to them using their own script and not adapting from FUNi's, and also use the original music with their own dubbed version of "Dan Dan".

That kind of sounds like the second "Gatchaman" dub called G-Force. It had the original music, less editing and was truer to the original than the previous dub "Battle of the Planets", but is hated due to many BOTP fans not liking it and some characters having been given corny names.

Dark Vegeta-Sama · Post by **Dark Vegeta-Sama** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:48 pm

Jerseymilk wrote:Well, I personally think when they went back to Ocean, one actor totally ruined it for me. Kirby Morrow in the role of Goku. The worst Goku in the history of the DBZ dubs. I'll watch Funi's over Ocean's dub any day just to avoid hearing his weak protrayal. Even if I get to hear McNeil and Drummond in there, it's not worth it to me.

Peter Kelamis returned early on in the Ocean dub to voice Goku, from episodes 108-144. Unfortunately they didn't air here in Canada so we didn't get to see them, but thankfully I got to see many clips from the old site 'UK Dragonball' in 2001 and 2002.

Kelamis used a totally different voice in the new Ocean episodes than he did in FUNimation's season 2 episodes (and the 3 movies) years earlier. He dropped the 'surfer accent' and his voice and screams were incredible. He was the best English Goku voice ever, in my opinion.

It's a shame that he was replaced with Kirby Morrow, because yeah, Kirby's voice was far from fantastic.

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:27 am

Ya, I thought he did fine as Trowa in Gundam Wing and as Van Fanel in Vision of Escaflowne, I don't even mind his Miroku in Inu Yasha, but he just doesn't have the voice for a character like Goku in my opinion. Apparently I read in an interview he had a really hard time doing the screams and was exhausted at the end of the sessions. Though, even when he did the screams, they always sounded half-hearted to me. If that's "his best", it seriously scares me. I honestly don't know what the casting people were thinking when they selected him.

spikemcruffy · Post by **spikemcruffy** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:00 am

Bejiita · Post by **Bejiita** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:59 am

It is obvious that the Funi dub is more proffessionally done than the Ocean dub, I only have a bit of respect for the Ocean dub because it's the first dub I watched.

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:25 am

spikemcruffy wrote: Oh yeah another thing I remember hearing one piece of the same background music in Hamtaro (when it was on) than what was in the ocean dub.

Yes, I remember hearing a piece of music in the Ocean version that was previously used in the Monster Rancher dub. Very scary.>_>

SSJsnake · Post by **SSJsnake** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 4:30 pm

I am a fan of both the Ocean dub and the Funimation dub myself. Both have their pros and cons. Funi has the best Goku voice going outside of the orginal voice while the same can be said for Ocean's Vegeta in my opinion.

I always wondered why after all these years we never saw a release of at least the edited Ocean episodes over here in the UK. I know that the actual Funimation dub DVDs where never released since they never they where believed to be disliked by UK viewers. Also if i remember what i read years ago on DBZUK since the english rights where held by a French company, AD distribution i think, that they wouldnt allow the Funimation disks to be released here. Makes you wonder why after stoping them they never released the Ocean ones here to generate more cash.

I know they did allow the movies to be released here eventually but went the cheap option and got Bridge to dub them even when some Ocean versions already exhisted. The less said about that the better i guess. I believe some of the Ocean dub episdoes where released in Holland on PAL region 2 but only of the early Saiyan saga eps which are already available in America.

Bejiita · Post by **Bejiita** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:44 pm

I know most UK viewers would not like the change, I didn't, one thing about most Brits is that once you've get used to watching something you like a change of music and voice actors makes the show seem like something different and puts people off big time. After

I watched those Tournament episodes with Goten and Trunks and all and got to Energy Drain they stopped showing Ocean eps on CN for a while, so my friend at school got me the Funimation version episodes where Gohan fights Dabura and where those episodes have most of Buu's plot revealed which I missed I thought, 'is this really DBZ?' It seemed a heck of a lot different, the funny music of Ocean's dub (some of the tunes I admit are crap, but there are some that I like a lot! It really gives me the at home feeling with Ocean episodes) wasn't there anymore and whilst there was some Funi music I liked(Vegeta's), most was this new metal rock 'n roll type music that played when people fought, and it really makes the fight seem like a continuing minute of boredom which I didn't like. That'a a reason I like the Japanese version, the fight music us awesome, Ocean's isn't too bad if you get used to it first.

Just too say some of Cell's theme from the Funi version spoils the Cell saga because it sounds stupid at times where it doesn't need to be inserted.