Dragonball Kai (FUNimation English) Dub: General Discussion

[PuppetDoctor]

I just watched Episode 47 and wow I must say color me impressed. I haven't been this impressed with the Kai dub yet until now. Unlike in Episode 48 (probably because it was a recap) the Super Saiyan transformation was more impressive because of all the lead up of the episode. Ayres does nothing less than impress as usual and Colleen when she screams "Piccolo" is nothing short of amazing. All in all what a great episode it truly was.

[Metalwario64]

Oh man... during the Super Saiyan transformation yell... Was that screechy noise an audio effect... or was that Schemmel's vocal chords? Really makes my own throat hurt! By far the most believable, emotional scream by Schemmel. Ever. You could just hear all of the right emotions in his voice during the whole scene.

I was actually kind of worried that it would simply be a "yell as loud and powerfully as he can" scream by Schemmel, but he really sounded like he was upset, angry, and in extreme agony over his friends death in that one, beastly scream.

I overall like Nozawa (Z) a little more than Schemmel (Kai), but I actually think his was better than both of Nozawa's Super Saiyan screams. The original one was just a standard Nozawa "DAAAAA!", but pitched down, and the one in Kai was very weak, yet still overacted because of all of the quivering going on in the yell. The Kai one got the agony part down, but nothing else I feel, whereas Schemmel got the agony, and the anger down perfectly. Both of Nozawa's had to be pitched down for a "monstrous effect", but man, Schemmel also did that with his voice alone! I still think Nozawa's (Z) pre-transformation dialogue and grunting was a bit better than Schemmel's (Kai), but his is still very close.

A few things in the script that I couldn't stand, like Freeza's "hope you're not afraid of heights!", but I'd take that over "pop goes the weasel!" any day. I'd also say Ayres' performance in this episode was about as good as Nakao's Kai performance.

[ohaimynameiserik]

A few things in the script that I couldn't stand, like Freeza's "hope you're not afraid of heights!", but I'd take that over "pop goes the weasel!" any day.

My money's on that being a dub line, anyway.

In the home release he may say something along the lines of sending him straight to hell or something to that degree.

[Metalwario64]

A few things in the script that I couldn't stand, like Freeza's "hope you're not afraid of heights!", but I'd take that over "pop goes the weasel!" any day.

My money's on that being a dub line, anyway.

In the home release he may say something along the lines of sending him straight to hell or something to that degree.

That would be nice, but it'd still be inaccurate to the manga line, which was "I'm still more than a match for all of you", or something like that, and when FUNimation said they were also following the manga for references on translating, I was hoping that they'd re-insert that line where it had previously been removed in both anime adaptations. I suppose I was only setting myself up for disappointment, but I was hoping for something close to that line at least, if not just to say that the dub was more accurate than the Japanese anime in that scene.

If it is a case of being an edited line in place of something along the lines of "I'll send you straght to hell!", then to me it'd still be better than the random, not-fitting-with-the-animation laughing going on in both Z and Kai at the very least, and as such would still be a bit more accurate than both Japanese versions.

[Tsukento]

Actually, the reason for that line was because Freeza laughs in the original...with animation that makes it look more like he's talking, rather than laughing. Even the Latino dub changed it to a spoken line.

[Ussj Future Trunks]

I thought Schemmel was channelling Nozawa in the transformation. With the quivering choking on his rage, and the more high pitched scream.

[Flamingwindjutsu]

Wow, Ayres after he got hit by Gohan and Krillin's attack... legitimately scared me. Like, that was freaky, he just starts laughing, I love it. Sonny Strait simply has so much charisma, it's astounding. Every single role he's played, from Krillin, to Major Hughes in full metal alchemist, to Usopp in One Piece, they're all fantastic. His comedic timing is spot on too. When he screams about forgetting Bulma, the little added "Ah" at the end made me burst out laughing. Colleen Clinkenbeard, how does she do it? Her scream as Gohan was SO LONG! Putting aside the point that it was so full of emotion, it was so long! That's some hardcore breath control right there. Mmm, my, Chris Ayres rolling his Rs. Truly delectable. And now... Sean Schemmel. Man, you'd hardly think it was the same person. The fact that one person could improve so much to go from making you embarrassed to watch a scene, to nearly bringing a tear to my eye with the very same scene, with such a THROAT RIPPING scream! It's astounding! This episode was outstanding, personally, I enjoyed it more then episode 48, besides the awesome factor of him saying Son Goku of course. Oh, and no "Hope of the universe" crap. It was interesting, I first heard that speech when I played Dragon Ball Z Budokai on the Gamecube, and the speech there is actually quite close to the original, despite when it came out. The performance was quite good as well. Then I watched the scene in the english dub, and was like "... this can't be right. I sense shenanigans." But man, to finally have an (almost) flawless Dragon Ball dub, is glorious. I honestly think Sabat is just trolling everybody now, with King Kai's voice. Maybe they'll change it in the next arc, hopefully Schemmel will still do it though, because he's got a large repertoire of voices at his disposal, that he could easily use, and they'd be great.

[Metalwario64]

Actually, the reason for that line was because Freeza laughs in the original...with animation that makes it look more like he's talking, rather than laughing. Even the Latino dub changed it to a spoken line.

I know. That's what I was saying. I was just a little disappointed that their claim about "looking at the manga for translation help" doesn't seem to be holding up, because "hope you're not afraid of heights!" is nowhere near the original line.

[MetalMadness]

That's why I hope the Kai cast redubs the full show so You can choose from the original or Faulconer score.

If you have the proper tools, you can extract the voices only from Kai and then add in any music you want, whether it be Faulconer's or Kikuchi's.

I know because I myself am doing this

[Ahiru77]

They called him Son.

[mystic trunks]

That's why I hope the Kai cast redubs the full show so You can choose from the original or Faulconer score.

If you have the proper tools, you can extract the voices only from Kai and then add in any music you want, whether it be Faulconer's or Kikuchi's.

I know because I myself am doing this

I wish I knew how to do that.

[KaiserNeko]

Actually, the reason for that line was because Freeza laughs in the original...with animation that makes it look more like he's talking, rather than laughing. Even the Latino dub changed it to a spoken line.

I know. That's what I was saying. I was just a little disappointed that their claim about "looking at the manga for translation help" doesn't seem to be holding up, because "hope you're not afraid of heights!" is nowhere near the original line.

I'm pretty sure it's a censorship stand in line for "You will be the next to die!"

[MetalMadness]

That's why I hope the Kai cast redubs the full show so You can choose from the original or Faulconer score.

If you have the proper tools, you can extract the voices only from Kai and then add in any music you want, whether it be Faulconer's or Kikuchi's.

I know because I myself am doing this

I wish I knew how to do that.

It's not difficult at all actually. It's literally a simple step by step process, the only downside is that it's time consuming.

If you happen to have a video editing tool like Vegas or Adobe, then you're pretty much set to put in any music you want with your Kai episodes. In fact, I don't even think something like Vegas or Adobe is necessary, I haven't tried with Audacity before but I;m pretty sure it can be done with Audacity, and it can be done with Windows Movie Maker as well but I personally don't like the end result quality of Windows Movie Maker, but I'm a qualitywhore so what I don't like usually other people don't notice lol.

I was actually considering making a topic to teach people how to do this easily, but I dunno if people would be interested in it

[G1Ravage]

I'm happy Son has finally reached the English speaking world for the first time. (The mispronunciation of it in the video game doesn't count.)

At the same time, it just strikes me as fan-servicey and inconsistent. They should have been using Son from the beginning in this dub, and now they'll probably never use it again. At the same time, the noobs will be scratching their heads, wondering what the hell he just said. This is completely characteristic of FUNi's approach to Kai. They're wildly inconsistent in whether they want to create the most perfect English dub to ever grace the world of Dragon Ball, or stick with dub fan familiarity in voice choices, attack names, and script. This Jekyll and Hyde approach really can be bothersome.

[Mewzard]

Over 90% of the Kai dub feels really faithful, so I don't see it as much a Jekyll/Hyde scenario. An anime doesn't need to have regular mention of a character's full name to be that character's full name. Not every anime needs to be Bleach "ICHIGO KUROSAKI!". I think it's nice that they acknowledged that bit for the fans. It's like with Buu, they went with "Super...Saiya-jin?".

With Attack Names and Script, the Uncut dub has been mostly right, with a few "...?" here and there, but it's not as bad as with the more edited version, where many instances of death are removed, and attacks keep the old naming. As for voice choices...considering what other countries are going through, I'm glad Funi has kept our voices mostly consistent. I didn't want Kai just for an accurate dub...I wanted Kai for an accurate dub with the cast I like.

The acting has improved, the direction has improved, the script has improved, no music alterations, this is what I wanted from the cast I liked. Sure, there are some voice changes, but several of them have been for the best (especially Chris Ayres; I wouldn't have minded them giving Linda Young a shot to try to improve like the others, but I can't complain that Chris Ayres has become a fantastic Freeza), and in roles I didn't mind a replacement, if the quality was good

Edit: Also, from Sean Schemmel's twitter: http://twitter.com/Solarmax20

"@KevDGrussing I think I can take credit for that one. I insisted on doing at least one take saying "son gokou" and I specifically did it"

"@KevDGrussing for the die hard dbz fans. Chris was ok with it and I guess it got approved! I am very pleased. "

He did mention, when questioned about "Son Gokou", he would try to get it put in at some point.

[Super Sonic]

This might just be my opinion, but hearing "Son Goku" said in English sounds kinda weird to me. It was the same in DBE, but here too. Not that I'd want it in the Western order, because that just sounds worse and not right.

[mystic trunks]

They were just trying to please the elitist fans.

[SuperSaiyanBatman]

They were just trying to please the elitist fans.

Uh, I'm not an elitist and I was one of the people who really, really, really wanted to hear him say it in Kai.

[AoiKageNoChikara]

If you have the proper tools, you can extract the voices only from Kai and then add in any music you want, whether it be Faulconer's or Kikuchi's.

I know because I myself am doing this
I wish I knew how to do that.

It's not difficult at all actually. It's literally a simple step by step process, the only downside is that it's time consuming.

If you happen to have a video editing tool like Vegas or Adobe, then you're pretty much set to put in any music you want with your Kai episodes. In fact, I don't even think something like Vegas or Adobe is necessary, I haven't tried with Audacity before but I;m pretty sure it can be done with Audacity, and it can be done with Windows Movie Maker as well but I personally don't like the end result quality of Windows Movie Maker, but I'm a qualitywhore so what I don't like usually other people don't notice lol.

I was actually considering making a topic to teach people how to do this easily, but I dunno if people would be interested in it

I AM INTERESTED PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WILL YOU TEACH US :DDD!

[obiwan23s]

They were just trying to please the elitist fans.

Lol. I don't care how much any of you love FUNimation's ridiculous and improper treatment of DBZ through the years, especially their wack former dub with all of its incorrect character names, radically incorrect script and outright removal of the original music track. I have waited 15 long years for Dragon Ball to be getting the respect it is now getting. First the Dragon Box release, of which the only flaw has been using out of place images on two of the background images for the episode select menus, and now "Son Goku" being used in the dub and actually surviving the cutting room floor to be played on TV. I can pretty much die happy now, the only thing better than this would be to go back in time and show FUNimation execs how well DBZ can do without watering it down like to mask a double shot of tequila.

I'm going to laugh my ass off at any posts after this from the dub faithful crying about how they think the old dub did certain scenes or episodes better. This is how Dragon Ball should be. To think I can actually watch an edited dub of DB on television and not feel like smoking crack is a preferable alternative.