Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" Dub Turns 15; Still Unreleased

[RazorX]

I'm a big fan of Drummond, McNeil, Lindbjerg, Brown, Dobson, and others.

O'Hara is better. Seeing the early Android saga episodes with Rial has reminded me how perfect O'Hara is as Bulma. Even a decent Bulma can't compare to her from this point onwards. Rial's voice and acting are similar to Lindbjerg and I think I can say that even if Lindbjerg was voicing Bulma in these episodes, I'd still miss O'Hara. Makes me sad to think O'Hara might not come back

[linkdude20002001]

True. O'Hara was an amazing Bulma. I never got the pleasure of hearing her as adult Bulma, though...

[RazorX]

O'Hara gets to show of her capabilities with adult Bulma. I love her in all the episodes she's in, especially in the Android and Imperfect Cell sagas.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Dark Vegeta-Sama has a point. It does make sense financially for Ocean to produce their own dub. However, arguing that it will somehow be much more popular than the already existing FUNimation dub is ludicrous.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

If the Ocean dub for Kai is as good as their dubs of the first three DBZ movies, then that'd be great.

But I get Mewzard's position, even though I'm a big fan of Drummond, McNeil, Lindbjerg, Brown, Dobson, and others. I mean, why not just have one uniform dub for Kai? There aren't a bunch of different English dubs for most of the rest of anime released. The Kai dub is a solid one, and frankly, it's not like the Ocean cast was so over-the-top better than the Funimation that we need another one.

I'd be really excited to hear a new English dub Goku, though.

I agree, it's bad enough that there is already a big divide between fans of Funimation's english version and the original version we don't need to split the fandom even further(though there are some people already out there) with the edition of an Ocean dub. Not trying to cause a problem but what if they just end up using Funimation's script like they did with the rest of Z...what would be the point? I know there are some old devoted fans of Oceans dub but the franchise has been passed along and it's time to move on. Besides, do we really need another English Goku.

[batistabus]

I think this thread's name should be changed to "Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub DOESN'T seem to be coming..."

Seriously...has there been any news besides the official "source"? I think the "what if Ocean dubbed Kai" speculation is great and everything, but is this even gonna happen?

[DemonRin]

I think this thread's name should be changed to "Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" dub DOESN'T seem to be coming..."

Seriously...has there been any news besides the official "source"? I think the "what if Ocean dubbed Kai" speculation is great and everything, but is this even gonna happen?

Yeah, it doesn't look like its happening to me either...

[VegettoEX]

I don't understand how two separate voice actors confirming that there were auditions somehow doesn't give you concrete proof that there are/were plans to do something with the series with that particular voice cast.

Maybe it's coming. Maybe it's not. Who knows? There was definitely something going on, though.

[Super Sayian Prime]

I don't understand how two separate voice actors confirming that there were auditions somehow doesn't give you concrete proof that there are/were plans to do something with the series with that particular voice cast.

Maybe it's coming. Maybe it's not. Who knows? There was definitely something going on, though.

Indeed, clearly someone was interested in this project, but if it has picked up any steam, and actually exists is the question.

Though, I must admit, every time I see this thread bumped I halfheartedly expect news, only to be greeted about more casting arguments.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

I don't understand how two separate voice actors confirming that there were auditions somehow doesn't give you concrete proof that there are/were plans to do something with the series with that particular voice cast.

Maybe it's coming. Maybe it's not. Who knows? There was definitely something going on, though.

Indeed, clearly someone was interested in this project, but if it has picked up any steam, and actually exists is the question.

Though, I must admit, every time I see this thread bumped I halfheartedly expect news, only to be greeted about more casting arguments.

Same, I'd like to see what Ocean can offer. Much like Funimation, the company has grown a lot and can probably pull off a good dub. My only complaint is that I don't feel there is a need. One English dub(in my opinion) is enough, there is already a huge divide among the community as it is. I'm just really, really curious about the project and want to see more news. Haven't heard anything in awhile.

[Super Sayian Prime]

The only benefit an Ocean dub would have to me would be the greater likelihood of it being broadcast on Canadian TV since it's clear no one is touching the Funimation dub here.

[sven-]

Same, I'd like to see what Ocean can offer. Much like Funimation, the company has grown a lot and can probably pull off a good dub. My only complaint is that I don't feel there is a need.

What do you mean? Back in the days of the first DBZ English dub episodes, Ocean could already pull off a good dub (1-53 were amazing). There is no comparison between the first Funimation dub and the first Ocean Dub.

The reason people want another dub from Ocean is because we shouldn't have to be satisfied with Funimation, which, although better than in the beginning, still provides average voice acting.

[Innagadadavida]

What do you mean? Back in the days of the first DBZ English dub episodes, Ocean could already pull off a good dub (1-53 were amazing). There is no comparison between the first Funimation dub and the first Ocean Dub.

The reason people want another dub from Ocean is because we shouldn't have to be satisfied with Funimation, which, although better than in the beginning, still provides average voice acting.

Maybe you're blinded by nostalgia. Because I recently bought the first Ocean Dub box set to check it out and... That dub is pretty bad. The acting is overly cheesy, the dialog is written for five-year-olds, and the script couldn't get any more inaccurate. I'll agree that those first hatchet-job 53 episodes were of better quality than FUNimation's season 3 dub, but they were in no way good. They're just outside of laughably bad.

FUNimation's current Kai dub has phenomenal acting. The best Dragon Ball Z has ever had in English to be sure. I'm not sure Ocean can outdo them. The best I would hope for is something on par. Lord knows they'd end up using the same script as FUNimation; much like they did with their remaining Z dub.

[The Time Traveller]

The reason people want another dub from Ocean is because we shouldn't have to be satisfied with Funimation, which, although better than in the beginning, still provides average voice acting.

No other anime gets 2 English dubs, where is this sense of entitlement coming from, the past Ocean dubs?One dub is good enough but if you're not satisfied with it watch it in Japanese, that's how it works for every other anime.

Having 2 dubs was to our advantage last time luckily since we got a more accurate DB and GT, and as someone who has always hated the Funi voices and in the past 5 years been a fan of the original Japanese version, I really like their Kai dub. It's quite accurate, the acting is leagues better and the jokes are great too. I'm over things like Kaio's voice, Ti-en, Seiyan, Tri-beam, since they're minor things shadowed by all of the possitive stuff.

It's a waste of time and money, surely. It's not like we'll ever have the Ocean voices on the video games.

Ocean really messed up the Cell and Boo arcs by obviously rushing things, if they rush Kai then it'll be a shame that we don't have the Funimation dub here.

It seems with all this time they're taking it could be good, so we'll just have to see. Hearing Brian Drumond as Vegeta in a more accurate dub would kick ass, and I hope Brad Swaile plays Goku.

Their Death Note dub is one of the best English dubs out there though, so they'll probably treat DBZKai properly since Dragon Ball is probably a big part of their history.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

The only benefit an Ocean dub would have to me would be the greater likelihood of it being broadcast on Canadian TV since it's clear no one is touching the Funimation dub here.

That really bites. Why won't people touch the Funimation version, I'm going to assume it has to do with licensing rights. I'm guessing Ocean still has the rights to distribute Dragonball in Canada over Funimation even if they didn't want to make Kai. Can you buy either of the boxsets(Kai or the Dragonboxes) in stores or are you restricted to online only? Not being able to buy my favorite show in stores would really bother me(I'm not much of an internet purchasing guy).

[Super Sayian Prime]

No other anime gets 2 English dubs

This is actually very untrue. A lot of anime receive multiple English dubs thanks to Asia-only produced dubs or the previous dub not fitting the work. InuYasha, Fullmetal Alchemist, Cardcaptors, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, etc. all have had exclusive to Asia English dubs. They may not be any good, but they exist. There's no reason a Canada - Euro exclusive dub of Kai can't exist in the same train of thought (Granted, these Asia-exclusive dubs are usually produced because the existing one is heavily edited, or doesn't exist yet)

The only benefit an Ocean dub would have to me would be the greater likelihood of it being broadcast on Canadian TV since it's clear no one is touching the Funimation dub here.

That really bites. Why won't people touch the Funimation version, I'm going to assume it has to do with licensing rights. I'm guessing Ocean still has the rights to distribute Dragonball in Canada over Funimation even if they didn't want to make Kai. Can you buy either of the boxsets(Kai or the Dragonboxes) in stores or are you restricted to online only? Not being able to buy my favorite show in stores would really bother me(I'm not much of an internet purchasing guy).

Ocean is a voice production studio. They're hired out by other companies to do audio recording work. They don't actually create, and sell anything other than their audio. It's up to another company to release the product. In theory, Funimation could even hire out Ocean to dub the Black Lagoon OVAs (which they should given it's a better alternative than having only half the cast fly out to Texas and have the rest recasted). Apparently Ocean has the capabilities to do some video editing work, but they still don't claim ownership of the video they're editing (Ocean is credited with visual edits in the Nicktoons broadcast version) - once again they're just a hired gun.

As for Dragon Ball in Canada, you can buy Funimation's DVDs and Blu-Rays at any general retailer (thanks to their distribution deal with Vivendi Canada - a sister company to the likes of Activision, and Universal Studios). It's always been like that, even when the Ocean dub of the later arcs were airing on TV. Even when Funimation released DVDs with a dub completely different than the DB and GT dubs airing on TV. You've also been able to buy any of Atari's, and Namco Bandai's video games. Though, Bandai and Jakks Pacific has/had terrible distribution in Canada, so hardly any Dragon Ball toys had made it to store shelves since Irwin Toys died way back when (IT is a Canadian company, so it's understandable their distribution would excel that of an American, and Japanese company in this market).

A Canadian dub, would (I hate to say this since it's a very inaccurate portrait of the landscape of television in Canada and probably isn't the reason Kai isn't on TV here) be more marketable in Canada than a US one simply due to the fact it's made in Canada. If the broadcaster isn't going to earn a cent off of merchandise (which as I mentioned above, isn't really a big deal in this country outside of games and home releases), but they know the property is popular they may pick it up if it has a Canadian dub to help quench the daily government quota of Canadian produced content.

Personally, I think Kai isn't airing here because the broadcaster who aired Dragon Ball, Z, and GT (YTV) shifted focus from being a general youth entertainment channel with a slight bias towards anime to a channel aimed at preteen girls and their families. A show with muscle-bound men fighting each other would clash with this motif. This is a channel who had huge success with Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, InuYasha, and Gundam SEED/SEED Destiny but hasn't picked up Brotherhood, Shipudden, or Gundam 00, and appears unlikely to air InuYasha: The Final Act, despite the fact it was once the channel's highest rated show. Their output of anime dropped to just Beyblade (which their sister company produces), Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Pokemon. With the only other anime broadcasting on an accessible channel in this country being Bakugan (which, once again is produced by a sister company).

This other channel (Teletoon) had a history with Dragon Ball Z, they aired the Saban dub in their anime block at 12AM. It isn't the channel the show is remembered for airing on, and after a watershed incident, they removed all non-child aimed anime from the channel. While more than 10 years have past since then, they still don't air any older youth anime, and due to the fact YTV has been dumping shows they'd air on Teletoon they have no space to air things like Kai when they have to juggle original productions with shows from The Hub, Cartoon Network, Disney XD, Nicktoons, and European shows.

So yeah, a Canadian dub would certainly improve Kai's chances of airing on TV here, but I don't think a lack of a Canadian dub is the reason it isn't on TV (the CW4Kids broadcast doesn't count).

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

Ok, that makes a lot of sense. It also sounds like YTV is following in the footsteps of Cartoon Network in a way. The CN has gotten a lot better, but they really shifted demographics back in 2008 and almost cut out anime completely.

Anyway, I would like to see this dub purely out of curiosity. I don't agree with some of the cast member choices but they are a good team and I'm sure they could pull of something nice(especially if they aren't rushed). Also, if it gets on TV and creates new fans then more power to it.

[RazorX]

I've found a little something, but first....

There really doesn't need to be multiple dubs of one series, it's pointless.

Let me ask you something. If the Ocean English dub of Dragon Ball Kai was released first and after a good number of episodes, information about a second English dub by Funimation was leaked, would you hold the same stance against the Funimation dub in this scenario?

You do realise that by ignoring the question you make the answer seem obvious.

I'll also ask this question to Piccolo Daimaoh, SparkyPantsMcGee and anyone else who feels like answering.
I would've included penguintruth but I think I can guess his answer.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

Let me ask you something. If the Ocean English dub of Dragon Ball Kai was released first and after a good number of episodes, information about a second English dub by Funimation was leaked, would you hold the same stance against the Funimation dub in this scenario?

You do realise that by ignoring the question you make the answer seem obvious.

I'll also ask this question to Piccolo Daimaoh, SparkyPantsMcGee and anyone else who feels like answering.
I would've included penguintruth but I think I can guess his answer.

I really don't get what you are asking but I'll try to answer things to the best of my abilities. If things were like they were before Kai; where Funimation not only had a fully finished dub but was also the establish cast for both home releases and video games then, if anything, I'd be confused about Ocean doing Kai first. I would still check it out but I think my first reaction over anything else would be towards them taking the series over again. If Funimation did a version of Kai after Ocean I'd be even more confused. I'd probably feel the same way I do now, asking why we need two dubs. On top of that, I think I'd be more interested in how Ocean got Kai first.

Regardless of who does it(Funimation or Ocean) I feel we only need one primary English dub(like every other dub in the universe...excluding the Asian exclusive dubs Super Saiyan Prime mentioned). The only reason I lean more towards Funimation is because they have established themselves as that primary Dub. Even though Ocean finished the series, Funimation's cast is the cast that is on all the home releases and video games and to me they are essentially the cast of Dragonball. They have been the *leading English cast* for those characters for over 10 years. We could argue quality and personal preference all day long but that's not what this topic was really aimed for and I don't really care to derail the thread. It's not like I don't have an interest in the Ocean dub, I'm really curious about what they can do(which is why I'm following this thread).

*Please understand that when I see leading English cast it is because they dominate the home releases and the video game roles on top of having a fully complete dub of every version of Dragonball. I know Ocean finished the series, but outside of the television broadcast and early VHS releases(before Funimation's cast took over) I don't know of any home releases or video game vocal dubs.*

Now then, in an attempt to bring this thread back on point; What did you find?

[The Time Traveller]

No other anime gets 2 English dubs

This is actually very untrue. A lot of anime receive multiple English dubs thanks to Asia-only produced dubs or the previous dub not fitting the work. InuYasha, Fullmetal Alchemist, Cardcaptors, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, etc. all have had exclusive to Asia English dubs. They may not be any good, but they exist. There's no reason a Canada - Euro exclusive dub of Kai can't exist in the same train of thought (Granted, these Asia-exclusive dubs are usually produced because the existing one is heavily edited, or doesn't exist yet)

I know that, I wasn't talking about Asian English dubs or old edited dubs/new uncut dubs like One Piece, Macross and the like.
I'm saying that two English dubs created around the same time based around the same area of the world is stupid.

If kids here got to see the Funi dub with is confirmed for awesome then awesome, the Ocean dub could be major balls and be a total waste.