Dragonball Kai (FUNimation English) Dub: General Discussion

[PuppetDoctor]

Holy shit, Vale's Trunks fucking sucks. Could his voice be more forced and delivery be more the complete oposite of what his character is? Even when his mom is asking him questions, hitting on him Back to the future style, his delivery is with that stupid raspy "bad-ass" additude. Sean's Goku is a Nozawa clone compared to the utter wrong-ness of this. Infact, Sean is as wonderful as ever, so much so that even the lack of "aint's" and such is'nt enough to detract how great he is as Son Goku. Goku's conversation with Trunks only made Vale's phoned in delivery and forced voice stand out all the more due to Sean's natural acting.

Vale better get his act together (i.e, actually start acting) or this arc is gonna suffer for it.

I think his last lines befoe leaving to the future was the only decent one so far, damn, colour me majorly dissapointed!

On a lighter note, Cold's voice was great, rich and royal, like a serious version of the old funi voice, perfect.

I completely agree with you on the parts I put in bold. The whole conversation with Trunks and Goku to me was a complete turn off. You have Schemmel who is acting well and than you got Vale who sounds atrocious.

I am also worried going into the Cell saga. I never had any huge attachment to any of the Funimation cast at all but I always loved Daemon Clark's Perfect Cell. It sucks he won't be returning and we will be getting probably Travis who does an imitation. I just hope that he can live up to Daemon Clark's Perfect Cell voice.

[batistabus]

Honestly, I'm really surprised they didn't scrap the rasp. They did so for Tenshinhan, so why not for Trunks? They're probably just trying to match him with the rasp of Young Trunks/Vegeta.

[linkdude20002001]

Trunks is so bad that I'm not sure I will even buy the Android and Cell arcs. It's certainly not something I'll ever want to watch again (even though Trunks is my favourite character)... :/

[MR.Mark]

Honestly, I'm really surprised they didn't scrap the rasp. They did so for Tenshinhan, so why not for Trunks? They're probably just trying to match him with the rasp of Young Trunks/Vegeta.

I mean fuck, John's kai Tenshinhan voice/delivery would be more suited than this. Vale's current voice makes Kai Vegeta sound smooth for christs sake!

[Tsukento]

Like I mentioned, it's sad to see how Eric Vale's Trunks is still basically unchanged from before. He can do the same voice, but without the raspiness in other roles, especially ones older than Trunks! What probably hurts this more is that J. Michael Tatum isn't writing the script right now. There's a reason we got several good lines during the Freeza fights - it's because JMT was the one writing them. Patrick Seitz has been handling the Trunks episodes and the writing's drop in quality is very noticeable.

Hell, what was with Trunks's last line to Goku about not telling anyone about who his parents were? It was like they ran out of dialogue to match the lip flaps, so they had to keep him going on by saying "Well they won't...you know..." as if it wasn't already implied by an earlier line stating he'd vanish from existence.

[Mewzard]

Like I mentioned, it's sad to see how Eric Vale's Trunks is still basically unchanged from before. He can do the same voice, but without the raspiness in other roles, especially ones older than Trunks! What probably hurts this more is that J. Michael Tatum isn't writing the script right now. There's a reason we got several good lines during the Freeza fights - it's because JMT was the one writing them. Patrick Seitz has been handling the Trunks episodes and the writing's drop in quality is very noticeable.

Hell, what was with Trunks's last line to Goku about not telling anyone about who his parents were? It was like they ran out of dialogue to match the lip flaps, so they had to keep him going on by saying "Well they won't...you know..." as if it wasn't already implied by an earlier line stating he'd vanish from existence.

That's very clearly an edit. What were they going to say on Nicktoons (or Toonzai for that matter) for an edit otherwise? "Well, they won't do the horizontal monster mash."

I don't think they'd even allow implications of why they need to be together for kid to be born.

Why are so many people assuming line that are blatant edits are actually supposed to be the dialog? <_<

[Suupaa Gohan 2]

Man, I've been away for so long, I don't even know where we are right now (I got Pokemon Fever...apparently my short attention span can't process more than one fandom at a time). I got busy and stopped following Kai on Nicktoons...happened to catch a couple episodes the other night, though, and one tonight, at the end of the Freeza arc.

Really happy with Ayers' dying Freeza. He sounds genuinely pained and struggling...and then when Gokou gives him energy and revives him, he sounds even cockier than ever. Fantastic. Schemmel is nice and low-key, as well, which is what I always wanted out of his Super Saiyajin in this arc. He really sounds just...tired of this fight, and ready to leave this whole thing behind. Let's just go home, it's over, do what you want, Freeza, I'm outta here. My only complaint in the episodes I caught is fucking Kaioh...ruining everything by opening his mouth. Really sucks having such a wordy and important section of the arc finale having to listen to that voice going on and on and on...and especially a shame because, while it was always a bit confusing and I was only paying half-attention, it seemed like it was translated pretty accurately (though I feel like they got that whole wish thing right in the old dub as well). Kaioh's not as important after this arc ends, though, so I won't have to complain about him as much.

Oh, and I really liked,

"Be crushed...like an insect...at the whim of your master!!"

Oh God, I don't even remember what the original dub iteration of this was, just that it was more of Linda's strained raspy Freeza as per usual...this was great, though. What a final line to go out on. It's been a great ride with Ayers' Freeza. I know there's still his brief return in mecha form, but as far as I'm concerned, that's the Freeza 'death' that counts, as far as vocal portrayal and acting is concerned.

Just felt like I'd pop back in briefly with my two cents because I happened to catch the end of such an important arc.

Edit: Haha oh wow, I really have been gone a while, I forgot I Christmasized my avatar...ah well, I'll change it back later.

[Innagadadavida]

I haven't watched the leaked episodes. I've been saving myself for the TV broadcast since I record it anyway and it would be boring to watch it three times in succession (leak, record, then with the little guys I recorded it for). So I just got to hear the "you fool" line. I didn't think the delivery could have been that good. That really gave me goosebumps. Awesome job, Schemmel. That delivery was the jam.

[Rory]

Like I mentioned, it's sad to see how Eric Vale's Trunks is still basically unchanged from before. He can do the same voice, but without the raspiness in other roles, especially ones older than Trunks!

While I do completely agree with you, I did chuckle at the line "Well you're wrong, but you probably figured that one out".

[Super Sonic]

"Be crushed...like an insect...at the whim of your master!!"

Oh God, I don't even remember what the original dub iteration of this was, just that it was more of Linda's strained raspy Freeza as per usual...this was great, though. What a final line to go out on. It's been a great ride with Ayers' Freeza. I know there's still his brief return in mecha form, but as far as I'm concerned, that's the Freeza 'death' that counts, as far as vocal portrayal and acting is concerned.

Been awhile but from what I remember:

Frieza: Foolish Saiyan, you actually think you've won? Your puny mind cannot comprehend! I am Frieza! The most powerful being in the universe! And you are nothing but a beast! A fragile animal! (In Trunks flashback, line was "You are nothing but a monkey!) You cannot win for I am mighty, and you are not. Now learn. Learn what happens when you mess with the most powerful being in the universe!

Will say that while it wouldn't have fit as much in the middle of the ep here, and more like the original being at the end of the ep, I kinda missed "Ginyu Transformation" playing during the final blast. Still good ep of Kai, and the Grand Elder's passing seemed more sad here than before. Still surprised at its occurence changing.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

I saw those "leaked" clips, and I must say, Sean Schemmel's Gokū is absolutely fantastique. He really captures the personality of the character perfectly, at this point. Eric Vale's Trunks is pretty much the same as before. Which isn't a bad thing per se, but it really stands out for me when so many of the other characters have drastically improved.

[Rory]

Eric Vale's Trunks is pretty much the same as before. Which isn't a bad thing per se, but it really stands out for me when so many of the other characters have drastically improved.

How is it anything but bad? It's a horrible/plain wrong representation of the character.
I though Vale's Trunks would be one of the things they'd focus on fixing for the Kai dub, since he's such an important character for this arc. They fixed King Cold for Christ's sake, how could they just leave Trunks the way he is?

[MetroidJunkie]

Just be glad he isn't talking about interrupting Frieza's date with Goku...

[Daimo-Rukiri]

From what I've seen and heard I really have to not only blame the writing but the voice direction for Trunks, why hasn't Sabat stepped in yet and fired patrick for a horribly written script?!

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

How is it anything but bad? It's a horrible/plain wrong representation of the character.

How so? Care to give some actual reasoning, and not just saying "X is horrible as character Y"?

[linkdude20002001]

The Trunks from the future grew up with Gohan as his mentor and best friend. This, plus Vegeta being dead, resulted in Trunks being earnest, polite, respectful, et cetera. He talks in a polite manner similar to Gohan, calling Gohan "Gohan-san", and Gokuh "Son Gokuh". Vale's portrayal of his is more in line with the Trunks from the main timeline (the one raised by Vegeta). He's even got this rough gravely voice that makes Vegeta's seem smooth. It's just a horrible voice speaking a horrible script in a horrible way.

Bah... I can't imagine how it could possibly have been worse in DBZ. It's hard to even imagine it being this bad. >_<

[Mewzard]

The Trunks from the future grew up with Gohan as his mentor and best friend. This, plus Vegeta being dead, resulted in Trunks being earnest, polite, respectful, et cetera. He talks in a polite manner similar to Gohan, calling Gohan "Gohan-san", and Gokuh "Son Gokuh". Vale's portrayal of his is more in line with the Trunks from the main timeline (the one raised by Vegeta). He's even got this rough gravely voice that makes Vegeta's seem smooth. It's just a horrible voice speaking a horrible script in a horrible way.

Bah... I can't imagine how it could possibly have been worse in DBZ. It's hard to even imagine it being this bad. >_<

Consider the worse scripts, worse voice direction, and less acting experience, it's pretty easy to see.

As for the script...95% of what we see of Trunks is when he's facing villains, those he'll kill. As for the others...does one use "-san" with a child? And they don't formally use "Son Goku", that addition was done by Schemmel in his best take of the scene, a tribute to the character and fans.

As for the rough speaking voice, it does almost make sense in relation to Sabat's Vegeta, but it could be toned back a peg. Maybe he will be when he returns, we don't know yet.

And, of course, I'm always reminded of this scene, when I'm not thinking of Trunks Saga Trunks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPRBZS2kEng

[Kirbopher]

Eric's acting I think is of the same quality as always, that being good. The voice is what's irritating, but I'm assuming it's because that's just how it's "developed" over time and through all of the recent video games. At the same time though, it's not THAT different than what it used to be. I think we're noticing it because of how completely different the character sounds when he FIRST shows up, so hearing him with his "usual" voice at that time is a little off-putting. The only one I felt kinda "meh" about was King Cold. Jason Douglas is good, but the character just felt very...stale? I dunno. He's in like an episode and a half, so it's not a big deal really.

Also to those wondering, Kent is still Gero, Todd is doing #19, Chuck is still #17 (though his screams and fight reactions may be "stunt-casted") and Jeremy is still #16, but with a different voice. No word on what's going on with #18 yet.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

Eric's acting I think is of the same quality as always, that being good. The voice is what's irritating, but I'm assuming it's because that's just how it's "developed" over time and through all of the recent video games. At the same time though, it's not THAT different than what it used to be. I think we're noticing it because of how completely different the character sounds when he FIRST shows up, so hearing him with his "usual" voice at that time is a little off-putting. The only one I felt kinda "meh" about was King Cold. Jason Douglas is good, but the character just felt very...stale? I dunno. He's in like an episode and a half, so it's not a big deal really.

Also to those wondering, Kent is still Gero, Todd is doing #19, Chuck is still #17 (though his screams and fight reactions may be "stunt-casted") and Jeremy is still #16, but with a different voice. No word on what's going on with #18 yet.

It is the same voice, I just don't know how that much rasp can be anything but intentional. Vale's original Trunks was probably one of the dub's most appropriate castings, so I guess I wasn't expecting him to change.

Ayers wins to the end, and I honestly didn't think Sean could act as well he is right now, I'm getting more impressed with every episode.

But Kent's coming back as Gero!

[JulieYBM]

Ah, so were #17's dialogue lines done before the unfortunante event or has he done them post-operation, but isn't up to coughing up his lungs from yelling yet?