Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" Dub Turns 16; Still Unreleased

[penguintruth]

Ugh, so Blue Water is involved for certain?

They might as well cast the people on this message board as the voices if they're going to give it to Calgary's losers.

[kei17]

Do you think they're not doing Buu yet or not doing it at all? I imagine the Buu footage isn't even complete yet, so they'd have to wait if they were doing it anyway.

Toei hasn't done half of the Buu arc yet, so I'm pretty sure they're waiting for it to be completed.

[ABED]

It was a confused yes. Haha. I thought you were asking to imply that it would be too nit-picky (or something) to pronounce it that way.

But to answer your question, Tenshinhan is pronounced [ten-sheen-hawn].

It's just that when you say [han], the default pronunciation is like the [han] in hand [hand]. Han Solo would be pronounced [hawn soh-loh].
Though different countries and different dialects tend to complicate things... I just go by what Dictionary.com uses.

I bet they're still keeping it as Tenshinhan...

Please, no. That would defeat all purpose... -_-

Sorry, I keep forgetting that it's hard to convey tone on the internet. I can see how you thought I was being nit picky, but I was asking it out of genuine curiosity. I've always pronounced the middle part "shin".

I'm not sure why people are excited for this. We already have a good dub for Kai.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Do you think they're not doing Buu yet or not doing it at all? I imagine the Buu footage isn't even complete yet, so they'd have to wait if they were doing it anyway.

Toei hasn't done half of the Buu arc yet, so I'm pretty sure they're waiting for it to be completed.

Yeah, at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if even FUNimation hasn't started dubbing the Buu arc yet, and they're likely to get first dibs on it.

[VegettoEX]

The writing quality started suffering after the Freeza arc, so I can see people hoping for something more consistent all the way through, and there are still plenty of people out there with no real attachment to the FUNimation voice cast but an interest in the "original" English voice cast.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Well, I have confirmed that Lee Tockar is Freeza! He got in deep shit for that twitter post hahaha.

I'm really curious as to what kind of trouble Scott McNeil is in. I know I've said it before, but considering that apparently both Lee Tockar and Kirby Morrow (who didn't even sign an NDA) got in huge trouble for revealing what they did, I can't imagine how much it must have angered some producers when Scott McNeil flat-out said, "Screw the NDA."

[Gonstead]

IIRC Scott McNeil is one of the only few who actually makes a comfortable living of doing nothing but voice acting, so even if they did fire him for breaking NDA, it wouldn't affect his voice acting career in a monetary sense. He could just up and go get another voice over job, probably for better money than anime dubbing offers.

[CaBrPi]

Yeah, it's still Scott freaking McNeil we're talking about. You don't just fire that guy.

[Fennekin]

I never expected news as soon as March began, so this is definitely a plus.

All we need now is a TV/DVD date set for this.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Yeah, it's still Scott freaking McNeil we're talking about. You don't just fire that guy.

I'd hope that's the case, but voice actors have been replaced before. Even when the fans (REALLY) didn't want them to be.

In any event, it doesn't sound like Tockar's been fired either. He still apparently got in some "deep shit," though. NDAs are no small matter in this biz. Accidental slips and leaks are one thing, but to flat-out disregard them...I'd have to imagine somebody wasn't happy about that.

[linkdude20002001]

Sorry, I keep forgetting that it's hard to convey tone on the internet. I can see how you thought I was being nit picky, but I was asking it out of genuine curiosity. I've always pronounced the middle part "shin".

I'm not sure why people are excited for this. We already have a good dub for Kai.

I actually meant I thought you thought I was being nitpicky. Sorry about that. ^.^'

Kai was a step in the right direction (several steps actually), but this seems like it could be all the way there. Funimation's dub had a lot of remaining problems, nitpicky or not.

-The writing got lazy after the Freeza arc.
-Even during the Saiyan and Freeza arcs, the script would occasionally leave people scratching their heads.
-Bad voices: the Turtle Sage, Oolong, Chichi, the Ox Demon-King, God, Kaioh, Reacoom, Trunks.
-Too much Sabat; There are times a character of his is laughing or yelling, and the voice sounds like one of his other characters.
-Name changes: Tien, Master Roshi, Guldo, Jeice, the Son family name.
-Semi-or-non-exsistent-translations: Fortuneteller Baba, King Kai, Kami.
-Mispronunciations: Goku, Bulma, Nappa, Saiyan, Namek, Dr Gero.

And I'm sure there are tons more.

[TheBlackPaladin]

I'm not sure why people are excited for this. We already have a good dub for Kai.

Well, I can't give a universal answer for everyone. For me, though...

1) Above all else, the idea of hearing some of the voices that English-dubbed DBZ began with is exciting to me. My very first exposure to DBZ was through the Ocean dub. Actually, the very first clip I saw was when Vegeta landed on Namek. So Brian Drummond's Vegeta is, quite literally, the first time I ever heard a DBZ character speak. I was hoping they'd go the extra mile and get Ian Corlett back for that reason, but alas.

2) I love dub comparsion videos. I really do. I never say which ones I prefer due to the nature of my profession, but they're very fun for me to watch. And I'd be SHOCKED if more of them didn't arise after the Ocean dub of Kai comes out. I could do without some of the over-zealous wars of words that sometimes arise in the "comments" section on YouTube, but then again, that's why I go to this community to discuss DBZ, not YouTube.

3) We certainly have a good dub already (I'd call it a great one with just a few dents here and there)...but, y'know, what's wrong with two good dubs?

4) I'm curious to see if the rumors of replaced music and SFX are true.

5) In comparison to the FUNimation dub of Kai, the Ocean dub seems to be shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Just following the behind-the-scenes info has been, at times, like reading an ongoing mystery novel. Well, okay, slight exaggeration there, but you get the idea.

6) I find dubs fascinating in general. I still keep hoping to hear about other international dubs of Kai. I'm surprised we haven't heard anything about Kai out of Italy, Spain, or Germany yet.

[bkev]

Ugh, so Blue Water is involved for certain?

They might as well cast the people on this message board as the voices if they're going to give it to Calgary's losers.

That is so incredibly rude you know. Give them the benefit of the doubt. I will agree that there's a reason the Blue Water pool isn't their primary talent, but I've never found them absolutely horrendous - give or take a few casting mismatches, I found GT watchable for instance. I wonder if Zoe Slusar will be Gohan? I kind of hope not but you never know.

edit: does he know anything about the production side? Ever since Schemmel let the news of this dub slip years ago there's been talk of a replacement score, do you think if you asked he might be able to reveal anything?

[ABED]

I think the writing suffered a little, but not that much. It's still quite close to the original.

"-Name changes: Tien, Master Roshi, Guldo, Jeice, the Son family name.
-Semi-or-non-exsistent-translations: Fortuneteller Baba, King Kai, Kami.
-Mispronunciations: Goku, Bulma, Nappa, Saiyan, Namek, Dr Gero."

I wouldn't consider Goku egregious considering it's just the accent on the wrong syllable, and I don't know how "Bulma" is mispronounced. The english pronounciation of Nappa still works since Napa is a vegetable. Even if it's an American mangling of another language, Napa as in "Napa Valley" has been around so long that it's accepted.
I think Semi-translations are fine. You can't make things super consistent because even the japanese version has some English words. Kami forbid, they don't call him God. As long as they portray Kami as a deity instead of a name, then all is well.

[Metalwario64]

I don't know how "Bulma" is mispronounced.

FUNimation pronounces it "Bole-muh", when it should be "Bool-mah".

[ABED]

I don't know how "Bulma" is mispronounced.

FUNimation pronounces it "Bole-muh", when it should be "Bool-mah".

I don't hear what you hear. I hear it pronounced like it looks, Bull-muh.

[dbret12]

When watching the Japanese version it is pronounced bu-l-ma (bool-mah) or some would prefer bu-ru-ma instead. But I think it would be awesome that the Ocean actors will play the characters again.

[TheBlackPaladin]

When watching the Japanese version it is pronounced bu-l-ma (bool-mah) or some would prefer bu-ru-ma instead.

I wonder how much of that is just Japanese accents, though? Sometimes it's hard to tell. 'Cause if we're to interpret things strictly from how the words are pronounced in Japan, then "Dragon Ball Z" should be "Doragon Boru Zetto," "Vegeta" should be "Beijita," and "Freeza" should be "Furiza." Sometimes I wonder if "Freeza" is even correct, and that his name shouldn't have been romanized as "Freezer" (which it was in the Latin Spanish dub).

It's for reasons like this that pronunciation is not a huge deal for me, personally. It matters, definitely (especially in Toriyama's work since he clearly loves to use wordplay and puns in naming his characters), but I don't consider it a huge deal...just because it's really hard to tell sometimes what the correct pronunciation should be. If even I can't tell, I'm willing to cut the translators some slack in that department.

[penguintruth]

Ugh, so Blue Water is involved for certain?

They might as well cast the people on this message board as the voices if they're going to give it to Calgary's losers.

That is so incredibly rude you know. Give them the benefit of the doubt. I will agree that there's a reason the Blue Water pool isn't their primary talent, but I've never found them absolutely horrendous

Zeta. Gundam. Full stop.

Kai was a step in the right direction (several steps actually), but this seems like it could be all the way there. Funimation's dub had a lot of remaining problems, nitpicky or not.

-The writing got lazy after the Freeza arc.
-Even during the Saiyan and Freeza arcs, the script would occasionally leave people scratching their heads.
-Bad voices: the Turtle Sage, Oolong, Chichi, the Ox Demon-King, God, Kaioh, Reacoom, Trunks.
-Too much Sabat; There are times a character of his is laughing or yelling, and the voice sounds like one of his other characters.
-Name changes: Tien, Master Roshi, Guldo, Jeice, the Son family name.
-Semi-or-non-exsistent-translations: Fortuneteller Baba, King Kai, Kami.
-Mispronunciations: Goku, Bulma, Nappa, Saiyan, Namek, Dr Gero.

And I'm sure there are tons more.

This. I would also place Tenshinhan's voice as being pretty terrible (which is a shame because he's such a good Kurama in YYH) even in Kai.

[ABED]

You think John Burgmeier is terrible as Tenshinhan? Interesting, and I know I'm in the minority on this, I prefer him to the original Japanese voice actor. His original voice actor was good, but I can't pick him out of a line up. THere was nothing particularly distinct about his voice. I agree that Burgmeier is excellent as Kurama, but disagree with your assessment especially as it pertains to Kai. He was really good in Dragon Ball, and got even better and more natural in Kai. What do you think of him in comparison to Tenshinhan's ocean dub voice. Matt Smith always sounded like he was trying too hard.

When watching the Japanese version it is pronounced bu-l-ma (bool-mah) or some would prefer bu-ru-ma instead.

I wonder how much of that is just Japanese accents, though? Sometimes it's hard to tell. 'Cause if we're to interpret things strictly from how the words are pronounced in Japan, then "Dragon Ball Z" should be "Doragon Boru Zetto," "Vegeta" should be "Beijita," and "Freeza" should be "Furiza." Sometimes I wonder if "Freeza" is even correct, and that his name shouldn't have been romanized as "Freezer" (which it was in the Latin Spanish dub).

It's for reasons like this that pronunciation is not a huge deal for me, personally. It matters, definitely (especially in Toriyama's work since he clearly loves to use wordplay and puns in naming his characters), but I don't consider it a huge deal...just because it's really hard to tell sometimes what the correct pronunciation should be. If even I can't tell, I'm willing to cut the translators some slack in that department.

I concur.