Dragonball Kai (FUNimation English) Dub: General Discussion

[Turtle Marked Stone]

I'm fine with a little added humor/script additions so long as they don't break character with it. Maybe when it gets the point of Goku lecturing about swords of injustice and Kuririn doing Humphrey Bogart impressions I'll regret not having a harsher stance.

[penguintruth]

Well, when they're adding lines where there were no lines to begin with, that's pretty bad.

That's more of that "We can improve this!" arrogance Funimation has that makes me want to vomit.

[Innagadadavida]

Wasn't Kai itself supposed to be the "improved" version? Why doesn't Kai itself make you want to vomit?

[penguintruth]

Parts of it do.

But Toei made the show to begin with.

[Turtle Marked Stone]

I kinda figure the opposite. If they absolutely have to add shit I'd rather them toss in an occasional line during silence as opposed to slapping stuff onto canon sentences that further the story, the latter just seems more dangerous to me.

I know you mentioned the Gohan putting on his boots thing. I actually fully see where you're coming from. It hearkens back to the days of "SILENCE,WHAT SILENCE!? 420 ROCKIN' THE DRAGON EVERY DAY!!!" The bacon line got on my nerves personally. The changes are insignificant by themselves but these sort of shenanigans are too familiar of the old Z dub. I actually don't mind the old Z dub at all. I've been watching it and having a grand time. I view it much like the old 80's TMNT show. It's its own thing and the majority of casual fans from both versions seem to not give 2 shits about the source material and just like enjoying the version they watched every day after school, cowabunga man. That being said it's perfectly reasonable not wanting those aspects mixing in with the dub that explicitly stated through actions (and well...Sean and Chris interviews) that it's going to be giving us the Japanese version translated into English as best as it can. The same way I don't want Rocksteady and Beebop popping into my 2003 turtles cartoon and bumbling around with a kooky inventions from Krang "TRYIN' TO DESTROY DOSE TOITLES" I can understand not wanting added shit that deviates from accomplishing what this version of the show set out to do from the beginning. Stick very closely to the source material. That's really why I'm a harsher critic on this dub then I am on say, the Saban Sailor Moon dub.

(Before anyone says something, Turtles Forever I know. While that was fitting for the end of TMNT as we know it, not so much as if it was common place in the actual 2003 cartoon.)

[Taku128]

I too excrete bodily fluids when throwaway lines are added to my children's cartoons.

[penguintruth]

I too excrete bodily fluids when throwaway lines are added to my children's cartoons.

Whether or not it's a children's cartoon is entirely irrelevant. Those lines don't belong there, end of story.

Funimation doesn't make DB Kai. I have no interest in what they find clever or funny. If they want to write a cartoon, they should create their own. This one's already been made.

[Kaboom]

This particular sub-topic is wearing out its welcome, guys.

[Turtle Marked Stone]

This particular sub-topic is wearing out its welcome, guys.

Why can't we post about this? I'm just curious because it seems on topic and I honestly haven't seen all that many people look into the changes they've made script wise outside of name changes. For example I was just about to ask PT for some examples of script additions because I legitimately haven't been comparing the two and have just been taking it on good faith they're translating as accurately as possible. I'm not trying to be rude I'm just curious what the limitations are on this topic.

[Kaboom]

I'm just curious what the limitations are on this topic.

Mostly directed at the two above, it'd be "discuss things without resorting to condescending sarcasm or abject exaggeration." The problem is not the material being discussed, but the bad attitudes at work within the discussion.

[ConfusedPhantom]

And the videos no longer work. Though, I did manage to catch up to the midpoint of episode 54. Sean Schemmel and Chris Ayres did a fantastic job, and I really like how they scripted Freeza's final rant. And, they did a fairly decent job working around the scene where Freeza gets sliced in two.

EDIT: Never mind. They work.

[penguintruth]

Something I noticed from a scene in episode 55:

In Japanese, Bulma wonders if Vegeta has ever worn the type of clothing they (she and other Earthlings) wear.

In English, Bulma wonders if Vegeta would hold them (her and Goku's other friends) hostage to get Goku to return from space.

Funimation completely changed what she said, for no reason. It's not an incredibly bad line, but there was no reason to change it.

[Mewzard]

Both of those could be reasonable to see thoughts crossing her mind at the time (especially given Vegeta's OCD when it comes to Goku), but it's less bothersome when it's a little throwaway line that's altered. As long as it doesn't affect canon dialogue, I'm less stringent about accuracy. A off comment about Vegeta's dress habit from an anime only scene being changed is one of those alterations that really isn't bothersome to me. Just avoid anything to story damning (or make Goku suddenly start teaching Special Relativity), and I'll at least give the change a shot, to see if it works.

It reminds me of YYH's dub, where it wasn't always the most accurate, but it kept true to the spirit of the series, kept the emotional scenes emotional, and didn't replace music, and I enjoyed it greatly. The English Dub of YYH is still my preferred choice for viewing the series, with the original manga being second.

We don't want to change that much, mind you...but the idea I do agree with: If there is going to be any deviations, let them retain the spirit of the source material...or, at bare minimum, don't be too far off for any given character. Of course, such a view is heresy to some, and I've even held against this view for some series (mostly series where liberties are taken too far, and I just want a half way accurate dub *and most of these instances involve 4Kids dubs or Digimon, where I'm not even given the option of uncut Japanese subs on DVD*).

So, like all things, I don't let changes fall into one broad category, I like to separate them dependent on the situation. Of course, that's just me, and you guys are free to have more open or strict standards.

[penguintruth]

Well, a change like the one I mentioned isn't particularly damning, but I am a little concerned it could lead to larger changes. I should probably calm down, though, since they've mostly kept pretty faithful.

I still say Gohan talking to his boots is kind of dumb. He also shouts, "My dad's a hero, my dad's a hero" in the episode prior, even though his mouth is clearly not moving, and of course there's no line there to begin with. Again, not damning, but come on.

Hey, it's still a good dub, but it could be better.

[Mewzard]

Well, a change like the one I mentioned isn't particularly damning, but I am a little concerned it could lead to larger changes. I should probably calm down, though, since they've mostly kept pretty faithful.

I still say Gohan talking to his boots is kind of dumb. He also shouts, "My dad's a hero, my dad's a hero" in the episode prior, even though his mouth is clearly not moving, and of course there's no line there to begin with. Again, not damning, but come on.

Hey, it's still a good dub, but it could be better.

A little change like that is not too worrying to me. As for Gohan talking to his boots, I do goofier things when both by myself and around people I know, so Gohan talking to his boots is more slightly amusing and silly to me. The kid's gotta talk to someone; considering how his mom is about education, he probably only gets human interaction when he sneaks off to visit Krillin, the poor kid.

That last one I'm not sure what to make of. Misplaced dialog? Something from a joke track that accidentally got added? Something for edited version only? Who knows. We might learn, though, when the either the fourth or fifth DVD set comes out (I forget which episode that scene was in).

I'm saddened that we lose Chris Ayres as Freeza with this batch of episodes, he was so fantastic. Between Ayres and Schemmel, the last ten or so episodes were just a blast. With any luck, the Androids and Cell will continue this high quality voicework into a fantastic dub of the arc in question.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Has anyone considered that the filter may have been added for censorship? Its one thing to slice and destroy a living breathing thing, but a robot... That's not as bad. I dunno. It's just a thought. Maybe the home release won't have a filter, who knows?

Maybe. Although I don't see why. If you can see Freeza's a robot, you don't need to add a filter to his voice. Part of me thinks they're going to keep in that robotic voice for #19 too.

[G1Ravage]

I think I missed the part of the thread that explained how the rest of us can see these hidden episodes.

[Gozar]

Has anyone considered that the filter may have been added for censorship? Its one thing to slice and destroy a living breathing thing, but a robot... That's not as bad. I dunno. It's just a thought. Maybe the home release won't have a filter, who knows?

No. Sadly it was in Raging Blast 2 =(

[batistabus]

The filter's not even that bad, its barely there.

Trunks is too gruffy for me. Maybe when he comes out of the ROSAT, or back from the future, it'll be gone...

King Cold is great.

There are some script problems...not a huge deal but I hope they don't continue.

[spaceace998]

I've got a question with deciphering a line by the Grand Elder. It's at this link, at about 3:15.

http://nicktoons.nick.com/videos/clip/d ... art-d.html

I can't quite tell what he's saying, but I've interpreted it as "I, by all rights, may our ways yet adore." Which isn't a cohorent sentence.