Dragonball Kai (FUNimation English) Dub: General Discussion

[Innagadadavida]

These two episodes needed to be cut down into one. I was about to fall asleep. Drag On Ballzeekai is more like it, amirite? Other than that it was solid all around. I don't think I've mentioned this, but I think the colors in Kai are fantastic. Very vibrant and lively. Much better than my first exposure to Namek, which was the season sets. The color scheme in "Seasons 2 & 3" ranged from white to whiter.

Also, I picked up Part 2 of Z Kai on Blu-Ray recently. Very nice sets. They look fantastic. I had some buddies over for the Vegeta and Goku fight, they had never watched DBZ before. They were pretty blown away.

I'll be taking my recordings of this week's and last week's episodes over to my dad's this weekend for my little brothers to watch. They've been asking about the new episodes for a while and I can't wait to watch it with them to see their reactions. I was thinking about Vegeta's death and wondering if that'll be clear. The little one takes the theme song very literally and thinks that nobody can possibly die in the show. He actually thinks we're watching a show about a bunch of immortals.

[Gaffer Tape]

Then... how did he react to the other dozen or so major character deaths up to this point?

[Innagadadavida]

Well... They didn't really react. They don't say much when they're watching TV. I never understand what they're thinking until we talk about it later. I know the older one was well aware the characters were dying. But I don't think the youngest one quite understands everything that happens. He still likes watching some fools get rumped, but he still says some bizarre things.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

You only say that because you know he's a forty year old man.

Haha. But yeah, it is pretty easy to tell that a woman who is at least over the age of thirty is voicing Gokū.

[batistabus]

Am I the only one who thought it was a solid performance on Schemmel's part, that the translation was totally acceptable, and that the Kai version of this scene as a whole was decent, though not quite stellar?

Seriously, I think Schemmel's actually better than usual during this scene. He's being stern with Vegeta, who he has never been on good terms to begin with. I also felt that the music was appropriate, just sadly overused for scenes like these. The scene with Goku after Vegeta's death was also very strong as well. The music in that scene was also much better.

Also, Sabat was brilliant. His crying as Vegeta was incredibly authentic sounding.

... But Christ, Kaio-sama. ;.;

Agreed.

Sabat actually gave me chills. And of course, I loved Ayres. And don't even get me started on that laugh from the next episode preview...

[PuppetDoctor]

Maybe it was just me but at the beginning of Episode 41 Sean's Goku sounded very off. However, the rest of the cast in that episode were spot on.

[Puto]

Oh god, Freeza's fireworks line was kept. That line was so awesome.

[MR.Mark]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that earlier, "such splendid fireworks".

It was simply,well, splendid!

[Ahiru77]

Yep, Freeza is menacing in every way. He's the best villain in the entire show and Ayres's voice lives up to that.

[Zionist]

I wonder what'll happen when he goes 100% and becomes Bulky.....Will his voice get deeper or huskier?

[SuperSaiyanBatman]

I wonder what'll happen when he goes 100% and becomes Bulky.....Will his voice get deeper or huskier?

Personally, I'd go with huskier. But that's just me.

[Lum-Chan~]

I really liked how well acted Vegeta's death was on last Thursday's episode, it was spectacular and Sabat's performance was on par with the original Japanese version. The only thing I didn't like was the addition of the line "Do it for me..." while Vegeta was asking Goku to avenge the Saiyan race. What made the scene so moving in the original (and this was carried over in the original English dub) was that in the end Vegeta wasn't asking for Goku to get revenge for him but for him to avenge the Saiyan race's pride. Other than that I loved it.

I also liked Schemmel's Goku while he was digging Vegeta's grave I could feel the sympathy and vengence in his voice and it sounded awesome.

Also while on the subject of Goku, I noticed that Schemmel used a voice similar to his SSJ 3 voice for this episode (The one that sounds like "Ok I know the situation and I got this.") and I think it really makes sense to use that voice for this fight, considering he feels confident that he will defeat Frieza.

So overall, well acted episode and I can't wait for next week's.

[Mewzard]

But Nozawa's Goku sounds like an angry manchild in this scene, not an angry forty year old man lecturing his child who drew on the walls with crayon.

Sabat was good, at least. And Ayres. And with the script improved, I guess this is as good as Funimation's going to do this.

I would argue that "Good as Funimation's going to do this" is pretty damn good. The whole seen was done quite well. You seem to be fixated that Goku needs to be this high pitched helium man 24/7. Goku's not a manchild in every single action he does, and his pitch does change. Your critiques of Goku almost always seem to be parallel to how Nozawa did it. It doesn't need to be pitch perfect to Nozawa to be good.

And most forty year old men tend to sound older, and deeper. Schemmel's Goku only sounds 20ish to me. A lot closer to my college classmates in tone than any of my varied professors (which are now 40s for two, and 50s for one).

His voice was calm and collected in some points, tempered anger in others, and even giddy in a part or two, and all when appropriate. I felt it was an excellently done scene by all involved, and the script did help tremendously.

[penguintruth]

I would argue that "Good as Funimation's going to do this" is pretty damn good. The whole seen was done quite well. You seem to be fixated that Goku needs to be this high pitched helium man 24/7. Goku's not a manchild in every single action he does, and his pitch does change. Your critiques of Goku almost always seem to be parallel to how Nozawa did it. It doesn't need to be pitch perfect to Nozawa to be good.

My own voice is quite childlike for a 27 year old, so it's possible to give Goku an appropriate-sounding male voice (not that I'm nominating myself... I can't act), and I don't think Nozawa made him sound like he was on helium.

I still think that Schemmel's Goku sounded too severe, even for that scene, in a way that made him seem very un-Goku-like. There's too much growl and grain in his voice.

[sailorspazz]

I don't believe that the dub version of Vegeta's first death has ever been able to move me close to tears like Sabat managed to with the Kai dub (though I can't be sure....the sight of Vegeta dying might have been enough before, even if the previous versions' dialogues were inaccurate). He really did sound pained and like he was actually crying. There's another thread talking about "grading" the dub as you're watching, and I was definitely grading Vegeta's death scene, with the script for the Japanese version running through my head (I've watched it enough times, I could probably recite it!) I was for the most part very pleased with the accuracy, though like others, I'm hoping that the line that "Freeza must die by a Saiyan's hand" will be present in the uncut version. They got so many other lines correct, so hopefully they'll get that one right, too.

Speaking of Freeza....oh, man, I am soooo happy with Chris Ayres' performance. Every time I hear him, I just get all tingly. He just seems to be getting better and better. Can't wait to see him do some fucking crazy screams as he starts getting his ass handed to him by Gokuu. Just think, this could have still been Linda Young. So glad they made the decision to replace her with this totally amazing English Freeza.

[El Diabeetus]

I would argue that "Good as Funimation's going to do this" is pretty damn good. The whole seen was done quite well. You seem to be fixated that Goku needs to be this high pitched helium man 24/7. Goku's not a manchild in every single action he does, and his pitch does change. Your critiques of Goku almost always seem to be parallel to how Nozawa did it. It doesn't need to be pitch perfect to Nozawa to be good.

My own voice is quite childlike for a 27 year old, so it's possible to give Goku an appropriate-sounding male voice (not that I'm nominating myself... I can't act), and I don't think Nozawa made him sound like he was on helium.

I still think that Schemmel's Goku sounded too severe, even for that scene, in a way that made him seem very un-Goku-like. There's too much growl and grain in his voice.

Yeah, voices are an interesting thing. I'm 17 and I sound like I'm probably 35-40. So, that's not unbelievable to be 27 and have a higher pitch voice. I'd probably say my natural voice is at a similar pitch/range to Julian's or even Jeff's.

But, I do agree with Mewzard that not much was wrong. Still, though everyone's entitled to their opinion. I will agree that there were a few off parts on his performance, such as Goku telling Vegeta to be quiet in tone sounded like "NO! SHUT THE FUCK UP!". While he wasn't calm in the original it was still a bit too much there.

But, since I'm a fan of Schemmel's Goku and I'm a HUGE fan of Ayres' Freeza, I'm definitely going to enjoy these next 11 or so episodes. I'm sorry; but, I hated Linda Young's Freeza (not trying to disrespect her, it's not her fault she was miscast.) But, yes. Definitely going to enjoy these episodes.

[jjgp1112]

I think it was more of Goku telling Vegeta that he was "running his mouth" that made that line come off as so harsh.

[El Diabeetus]

I think it was more of Goku telling Vegeta that he was "running his mouth" is what made that line come off as so harsh.

Yeah, I couldn't remember the exact line; but, that was it.

[Ashy-kun]

I dunno. I thought "Running your mouth" sounded very much like a Gokuu sort of thing to say. It just sounds a little... You know, relaxed and informal. Like "Stop shooting yer mouth off" or something.

I can't quite remember the delivery of the line in the dub myself, so this point is somewhat invalidated, I'm sure, but maybe it sounds harsher just because of how harsh the delivery is?

[Suupaa Gohan 2]

Funimation's Original Vegeta plea was much better....this was crap. I expected so much better from this. This was disappointing to say the least.

So you prefer a completely rewritten major plotpoint with the utterly atrocious season 3 voice acting over an accurately-translated and well-acted one? Right. That makes perfect sense. The original dub's version was a completely different story about a major character and a huge aspect of his development. I don't care how hardcore the most hardcore dubbies in the world may be - there is absolutely no way the original FUNimation version of this scene was 'better', and that's not an opinion, it's fact. If it's mistranslated and desecrates an important facet of a character, it's wrong, period. Sub and dub fans may never see eye-to-eye when it comes to things like the voices or the music or even the corny jokes, but no, just no. You can't possibly by any stretch of the imagination believe the original mistranslated version of this scene was better, I'm sorry. That's just ridiculous stubbornness and blatant stupidity.

Anyways, I wanted to say this on Thursday when I saw the episode, but I just got myself a DS Lite for my birthday (no, I've never owned a DS before; I didn't want one when they came out, and when I did start wanting one, I had started college, and the finances just never aligned in a way that I could get one) and Pokemon SoulSilver, and Pokemon Nostalgia > Dragonball Nostalgia, so I've been a bit distracted...I thought the entire episode was fantastic, especially the death scene, and even though I hate Sabat's Vegeta, it didn't feel strained. I felt his genuine pain, both physical and emotional, as he lay there dying, as it should have been. I thought Schemmel did a fantastic job, as well - and while I'm no penguintruth, if I'm praising Schemmel for a scene, it had to be good. The two played off each other very well, and I particularly enjoyed the end when Gokou buried Vegeta and asked to borrow his pride. It felt like a pretty spot-on translation of the scene to me, and I was genuinely surprised that the burial was left untouched (I think; if not, Hell, we still saw him bury the body of a dead man) on Nicktoons. Very pleasantly surprised. Ayers was, as usual, fantastic, and I'm really loving the chuckle - it's spot on with Nakao's, and iconic for the character. Can't wait to see this week's episodes.

Outside the dub aspect, having never watched Kai before this, I liked that they threw in some of the footage of King Vegeta's death in there. As I said in a previous post, I remember watching the VHS I recorded off Toonami for the episode 'Fighting Power One Million' dub over and over, because I always loved the backstory aspect that the Manga never really touched upon, and was sad to see it gone in Kai...seeing it here at least briefly like that was a nice treat, because it gives more emotional impact than just 'oh by the way Freeza destroyed the planet and killed everyone', when you actually see the dethroning of the king. It felt better placed in this episode, too, than where it was in the original series, because you can tack it onto Vegeta's death and it gives off more emotion that way, as opposed to Freeza regaling everyone before the fight began. This may be one of the few episodes/moments of Kai so far that I've preferred to the original series.