Dub or Sub? (It's not what you think!)

[sniperking323]

This thread was not made to spark a debate, rather it was made because I need some info. I am currently having a friend of mine watch Kai (dubbed for those wondering), and she's somewhat enjoying it =D. The problem now being, I asked her to watch Dragon Ball without any idea about which version to watch with her. She says she's fine with watching the series in Japanese, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind watching it in her native langauge. So what I want to know is how accurate the script /dialouge is for Funimation's English dub of Dragon Ball? If it's not too much trouble, maybe someone could tell me how accurate GT's Funimation dub is also (just out of curiousity).

[Soul]

Out of all three original series?
I believe Dragon Ball it self had the most accurate scripts to a extent.
I'm not a expert nor have I compared the 2 recently like most people here have.
But in my opinion? Outside of Kai? The original Dragon Ball was pretty damn faithful, though having the original score helps.
GT? Is just as bad as the original Z dub.

[Gaffer Tape]

Personally, I say if she says she's fine watching the series in Japanese, there's no reason not to show it to her that way. I guess I'm of the opinion that dubs only exist for people who really refuse to watch a foreign work subtitled, and she doesn't seem to have that particular hang-up. That's not to say that Kai isn't accurate. I'm not sure exactly how you want it quantified how accurate it is, but, from all the clips I've watched (and I admit I don't watch it regularly) it's pretty darned good.

[.:PoetikaL:.]

Here's my thing when it comes to watching something dubbed or subbed:

Before I start to watch a show, I look at what's available and do some research. For example, when I saw Slam Dunk on Hulu and decided to watch the series, I knew that the only available version is subbed, and so far I'm enjoying it a whole lot. When it comes to animated movies like any of Miyazaki's films, I read the reviews of how the dubbing (most of the time) is done to see if it's accurate to the original script (to which most are thanks to Studio Ghibli's strict policies for when Disney attains the films). I watch anime in both English and Japanese, and there are some I will watch strictly in English (such as Yu Yu Hakusho and Trigun) and some I will watch strictly in Japanese (like Dragon Ball, Bleach, and Paranoia Agent), and then there's both (like Black Lagoon and the Dragon Ball movies). It's all a matter of accuracy in dubbing. I may not always agree with voice choices, but if they present their lines well and represent their interpretation of that character to the best of their ability with accuracy, then that's all that matters.

EDIT: As for your question, the Dragon Ball dub for the most part is pretty accurate from what I remember. Some dialogue changes like Bulma saying General Blue is a homosexual, and some others I can't think of. As for GT, it's pretty decent (the dub) nothing too fancy or worth praising, but it's tolerable.

[Adamant]

Why would you not show someone the original version of something unless they specifically states they won't watch anything but some particular edit? The original is the show.

[penguintruth]

The dub for the original Dragon Ball series is decent, but you still have to put up with shitty performances from Tiffany Vollmer and Chris Sabat, and later on Sean Schemmel. John Burgmeier isn't a great Tenshinhan, either, in my opinion. Naldony's Goku is decent most of the time, but I hate her Goku laugh. The script takes liberties at times, but sometimes it's necessary due to Japanese word puns.

It's still much better than the DBZ dub.

[Herms]

From my experience watching the dub of the Piccolo stuff, Funi's dub of the original DB really isn't as accurate as people seem to think it is. They mess up fairly important stuff like how the king who Piccolo usurps is king of the entire world (they call him a local king), they have Piccolo claim to have fought "all over the universe", have Kami declare himself an alien, and insert long, bizarre conversations about squirrels. The voice acting is decent on the whole and retaining the original score helps immensely, but the odds of any given line being the same as what's said in the original is still rather low.

Anyway, I second Adamant: if this person has no problem watching it in Japanese, why force the dub on them?

[Kaboom]

My grading for the accuracy of FUNi's various DB series.

Z Kai: A
Extremely accurate and faithful, but a few stubborn name-changes and odd moments keep it from getting an A+.

Dragon Ball: B-
Overall the most faithful of the pre-Kai dubs. But all the awkward workarounds for the naughty jokes plus some characteristic odd flubs make it still flawed.

GT: C
It suffered from all the same problems as Z's dub, though thankfully less severe. The attempt at giving it the "EXTREEEEME" image had a lot to do with it, but the original music on the green bricks helps soften that blow a lot.

Z: D-
The basic plot barely got through. 'Nuff said.

[jjgp1112]

Eh, they probably won't notice/care about whatever differences they would be, and besides, this is Dragon ball, not a 4Kids licensed show, so you won't have that much of a difference in story outside of how it's presented, so just go with what you feel like. If you just want them to get the story and nothing else, dub. If you want them to get the right presentation, sub.

[sniperking323]

so you won't have that much of a difference in story outside of how it's presented, so just go with what you feel like. If you just want them to get the story and nothing else, dub. If you want them to get the right presentation, sub.

Man, that's a tough one. I think I'll ask her tonight when we hang. Thanks guys! I really appreciate it 8D. I almost can't wait to finish to Kai. 'Cause I'm sure by the time we finish there'll be plenty of episodes of DB on Hulu after it starts streaming (don't have the money to buy the blue bricks you know, plus I'm holding out for Dragon Box masters). It would be my first time watching more than 5 minutes of the TV series myself XD.

[Perfect]

Dragon Ball's scripts are homophobic, they tried to make General Blue look like he wasn't gay.
Dub ratings:
Dragon Ball - 7/10 (The scripts are bothersome, but you can get around it. Bulma is very annoying at times as well as a few other characters due to inexperience on the voice actors behalf).

Dragon Ball Z
Pioneer movies - 9/10 (These were just fantastic).
FUNi Ocean, first two seasons - 4/10 (Scripts are terrible, voice actors have potential with poor direction).
FUNi 2008 redub on seasons 1 & 2 - 7-8/10 (Voice acting has improved, the scripts however are poor).
FUNi season 3 - 4/10 (Piccolo and Vegeta just sound terrible).
FUNi season 4 - 5/10 (Trunks and various others have moderate to great performances).
FUNi season 5 - 5-6/10 (Clarke gives an excellent Cell which is complimented by an excellent Chuck Huber as #17).
FUNi season 6 - 7/10 (Clarke gives a great Perfect Cell).
FUNi season 7 - 6/10 (Voice acting has improved by this time, it's the Buu saga, things are acceptable for the most part).
FUNi season 8 - 7/10 (The Majin Buu saga continues, voice acting is easily better than season 3. Scripts seem to be a hit and miss like Dragon Ball).
FUNi season 9 - 6-7/10 (Things seem consistent with the last two seasons).

Dragon Ball Z Kai (FUNi) - 9/10 (I'll admit I don't like Gohan's voice, but I feel this dub to be very accurate and fantastic. Voice acting has improved drastically).

Dragon Ball grades:
Voice acting * B-
Scripts * C-
Overall * 150/200 ( C )

Dragon Ball Z grades:

Pioneer -
Voice acting * A
-Can't say I remember how accurate the scripts are-
Overall * 95/100 ( A )


FUNi/Ocean, seasons 1 & 2 -
Voice acting * C-
Scripts - F
Overall * 120/200 ( D )

FUNi season 1 & 2 redub:
Voice acting * B+
Scripts - D+
Overall * 157/200 ( C+ )

FUNi season 3:
Voice acting * C-
Scripts - F
Overall * 120/200 ( D )

FUNi season 4:
Voice acting * C
Scripts - F
Overall * 125/200 ( D )

FUNi season 5:
Voice acting * C+
Scripts - F
Overall * 129/200 ( D+ )

FUNi season 6:
Voice acting * B
Scripts - D
Overall * 150/200 ( C+ )

FUNi season 7:
Voice acting * C+
Scripts - D
Overall * 140/200 ( C )

FUNi season 8:
Voice acting * B
Scripts - D+
Overall * 156/200 ( C+ )

FUNi season 9:
Voice acting * B
Scripts - D+
Overall * 156/200 ( C+ )

Dragon Ball Z Kai FUNi:
Voice acting * A+
Scripts - A+
Overall * 200/200 ( A+ )

Now as a note, I really put no time into this. This is just based off of speculation over the years, I'm aware of how inaccurate is it because of the little effort I put into it.

@linkdude20002001
I can understand the other two, but Kai with a C...?

[linkdude20002001]

How I rate the English dubs...
DB: D
DBZ: F
Kai: C

A = Nothing annoying (FUNi One Piece, Death Note)
B = Contains ignorable annoyances (Inuyasha)
C = Contains bothersome annoyances (Kai, Yu Yu Hakusho)
D = Contains seriously annoying annoyances (DB)
F = So... Annoying!! (DBZ, 4Kids One Piece)

[theoriginalbilis]

As good as the dubbed versions can be at times, they're still inconsistent in terms of voice acting, scripting, and edits. For the most part, DB, DBZ, and DBGT were dubbed with younger children in mind (like ages 10 or younger)...

I'd say if she's up for watching it, go ahead and watch the Japanese version. It's more consistent vocal-wise and music-wise, and you don't have to worry about anything being edited out.

[Kingdom Heartless]

From my experience watching the dub of the Piccolo stuff, Funi's dub of the original DB really isn't as accurate as people seem to think it is. They mess up fairly important stuff like how the king who Piccolo usurps is king of the entire world (they call him a local king), they have Piccolo claim to have fought "all over the universe", have Kami declare himself an alien, and insert long, bizarre conversations about squirrels. The voice acting is decent on the whole and retaining the original score helps immensely, but the odds of any given line being the same as what's said in the original is still rather low.

Anyway, I second Adamant: if this person has no problem watching it in Japanese, why force the dub on them?

Not to mention Goku's romantic proposal to ChiChi, as opposed to "Wanna get hitched?"

[Asura]

Well, I think if she wants to get into Dragonball she should watch the dubbed version. It's really not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, and it's not like the storyline is drastically different and the actors have no idea what they're doing. I think she should watch the entire dubbed series, because it's in her native language which will probably be more entertaining for her. Then if she really enjoys it you guys could watch it again in the subbed version to get a true feel for the "original" dragonball

[Gaffer Tape]

But again, why substitute "original" Dragon Ball for "diet" Dragon Ball if she's already explicitly said that subtitles aren't a problem for her? To kick in the hyperbole, that's like someone telling you they want to watch a movie, and you showing them the trailer. The dub certainly makes some sense to ease a new fan in if that person's squeamish about that whole crazy moon language thing, but if they're strapped in and ready to go, why hold back?

[Soul]

It does make me wonder if Z's dub performance's were actually good and still was inaccurate.
It might be a bit different otherwise.
Which is how I feel about Yu Yu Hakusho's dub. While the dub isn't inaccurate to say, it isn't a straight adaption.
But the performances, emotion and feeling you get from the "reversioning" (if you'd call it that, because I, by any means wouldn't call it a butchering) is still accurate to the characters (Give or take a few accents here or there).
Those Justin Cook's Yusuke probably comes off more as a punk than Nozomu Sasaki performance.

But in the case of DBZ's dub itself, the performances are very very lackluster and overtly Saturday morning cartoonish.
When you've seen and continue to see American Cartoons with top-notch voice acting. (DCAU shows, Avatar, Samurai Jack, etc).

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Your friend doesn't seem like someone who gets caught up on whether the script is accurate, or if there were any liberties taken with it. So I don't think she'll care about small rewrites, like the Earth King being played down to merely a sectoral king. Either way is fine, in my opinion. Also, the dub is "the show" just as much as the original version.

[linkdude20002001]

I wouldn't just dismiss the "small" rewrites if I were you. The script is a C at best, and certainly feels less like Dragon Ball than it should. Plus, the main character's voice actor can't convey Gokuh's cuteness to save her life. And Bulma's voice actor can't act; period. Though the majority of the actors are great, it's hard to enjoy the show when the main character doesn't feel right. :/

I can understand the other two, but Kai with a C...?

The script is good enough to warrant an A, but many of the voices suck, and it's full of name changes and mispronunciations. Each of these three points are enough to drop the grade by one letter each. To not get lowered a letter grade, there shouldn't be any F's or D's, and only a few C's. The main character should of course be an A, as well.

A: Gohan, Kulilin, Bulma, Chaozu, Pu-ehr, Freeza, Ginyu, Ghurd, Zarbon, Dodoria, Grand Elder, Dende;
B: Piccolo, Chichi, Raditz, Nappa, Gregory, Mister Popo, Great King Yama, Butta, Jheese, Nail;
C: Gokuh, Turtle Sage, God, Yamcha, Gohan (granpa);
D: Tenshinhan, Yajirove, Vegeta, Oolong, Karin, Gyumao, Turtle;
F: Kaioh, ReaCoom.

[Kodoshin]

I'd stick with the sub regardless. The dub script is very poorly done and brings the show down several notches.