Why do so many American fans hate Kai?

[Roland_ELoG]

Most of my experience with child dub actors is from Heavy Rain. And that was just embarrassing. Those kids were French though, so they had a language barrier thing to work through as well.

[dbzfan7]

Sonic Adventure 2 seemed decent at least, but oh my God were the others bad.

Tail voice actor still wasn't good. But he was better than the next guy who was soooo terrible. We also got the good ole "Look at all those eggman's robots"

[Cursed Lemon]

A lot of fans not liking Kai proves that the appeal of DBZ has almost nothing to do with its voice acting, its pacing, or any other technical aspects of production.

[RocktheDragon]

I actually feel that it's the inverse: many American fans love Kai. At least in my immediate experience with friends and relatives who've I've shown Kai too. Even on many DB forums I feel that most enjoy what Kai has to offer even with the newly implemented voice actors/actresses.

[ABED]

Good kid voice actors are rare, but they do exist. I always thought Aaron Dismuke's performance as Alphonse Elric was very good.

Problem is that Dragon Ball is constantly going on that having a kid voice Goku or Gohan isn't feasible over the long haul. Didn't Dismuke have to be recast for Brotherhood?

[El Diabeetus]

Good kid voice actors are rare, but they do exist. I always thought Aaron Dismuke's performance as Alphonse Elric was very good.

Problem is that Dragon Ball is constantly going on that having a kid voice Goku or Gohan isn't feasible over the long haul. Didn't Dismuke have to be recast for Brotherhood?

Indeed, Maxey Whitehead played Al in Brotherhood. She was also Dende in Kai.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Good kid voice actors are rare, but they do exist. I always thought Aaron Dismuke's performance as Alphonse Elric was very good.

Problem is that Dragon Ball is constantly going on that having a kid voice Goku or Gohan isn't feasible over the long haul. Didn't Dismuke have to be recast for Brotherhood?

Indeed, Maxey Whitehead played Al in Brotherhood. She was also Dende in Kai.

Oh definitely, I understand the incentive not to cast a kid. FUNimation directors/voice actors involved with the FMA dub have since said that, had they known that "Brotherhood" was going to be made, Dismuke probably would never have been cast to begin with (not because he wasn't good, but because they didn't think his voice would remain young-sounding for long enough).

So I totally understand it and don't blame FUNimation for being hesitant to cast actual kid actors. Still, my thought is that a recast is worth it if that extra bit of authenticity can be obtained.

[Flame Dragon]

I actually feel that it's the inverse: many American fans love Kai. At least in my immediate experience with friends and relatives who've I've shown Kai too. Even on many DB forums I feel that most enjoy what Kai has to offer even with the newly implemented voice actors/actresses.

I agree, nowadays the only people i see hating Kai are the nostalgia blinded people who can't accept anything that isn't the Z Funi dub.
I'm sure those same people would have complained EVEN if Kai dub was using the Faulconer score and reusing the lines from the Z dub. You just can't please someone who doesn't give anything that isn't his childhood a chance.

[thatdbzguy]

Nostalgia. Kai isn't the DBZ they grew up with, so they hate it.

The various misinformation about Kai ("kiddie" DBZ, anyone?) doesn't help either.

[ABED]

The most common complaints I read about Kai are the new actors, and lack of Faulconer score. In a few cases I've read that people think the dialog is worse and they miss the filler.

[Wibbs]

The most common complaints I read about Kai are the new actors, and lack of Faulconer score. In a few cases I've read that people think the dialog is worse and they miss the filler.

I can sort of see where those complaints are coming from. I personally think Gohan's new voice can be a little irritating and it doesn't quite suit Teen Gohan, though I am grateful Clinkenbeard puts the effort into emoting. But then I suppose the simple solution would just be to watch the Japanese version instead.

[TheGmGoken]

The most common complaints I read about Kai are the new actors, and lack of Faulconer score. In a few cases I've read that people think the dialog is worse and they miss the filler.

I can sort of see where those complaints are coming from. I personally think Gohan's new voice can be a little irritating and it doesn't quite suit Teen Gohan, though I am grateful Clinkenbeard puts the effort into emoting. But then I suppose the simple solution would just be to watch the Japanese version instead.

To be fair. Gohan isn't Teen . He only 9-10. Though I can't believe people who complain bout Z filler is complaining bout Kai not having filler.

[Wibbs]

The most common complaints I read about Kai are the new actors, and lack of Faulconer score. In a few cases I've read that people think the dialog is worse and they miss the filler.

I can sort of see where those complaints are coming from. I personally think Gohan's new voice can be a little irritating and it doesn't quite suit Teen Gohan, though I am grateful Clinkenbeard puts the effort into emoting. But then I suppose the simple solution would just be to watch the Japanese version instead.

To be fair. Gohan isn't Teen . He only 9-10. Though I can't believe people who complain bout Z filler is complaining bout Kai not having filler.

I don't get why people complain about filler so much, some of the filler in Z was great, like when Goku and Piccolo learn to drive or the Garlic Jr part.

[TheGmGoken]

Because filler imo is boring and inconsistent with logic. Garlic Jr filler was terrible. Felt like watching paint dry.

[Wibbs]

Because filler imo is boring and inconsistent with logic. Garlic Jr filler was terrible. Felt like watching paint dry.

Fair enough, I'll admit there's some personal bias to the filler I like as the Garlic Jr filler was the only arc I watched all the way through when I was a kid.

[ChiChiFan]

I am one of those fans that hated on Kai because I felt it couldn't compare to Z but I started watching it and I will say that the acting is much better than it is in Z. I cringe at some of the things were said in Z but the acting did get better during the Cell and Buu saga. Z and Kai have strengths and weaknesses like every other anime that is dubbed in English. I would rather watch Sailor Moon in Japanese because the dubbing is terrible.

[Flame Dragon]

I don't get why people complain about filler so much, some of the filler in Z was great, like when Goku and Piccolo learn to drive or the Garlic Jr part.

Well to be fair, the driving school filler was hilarious. If i could have saved one filler from Z transition to Kai, i probably would have picked that one!

[KentalSSJ6]

I am one of those fans that hated on Kai because I felt it couldn't compare to Z but I started watching it and I will say that the acting is much better than it is in Z. I cringe at some of the things were said in Z but the acting did get better during the Cell and Buu saga. Z and Kai have strengths and weaknesses like every other anime that is dubbed in English. I would rather watch Sailor Moon in Japanese because the dubbing is terrible.

Ironically, I think I love Kai so much because before I watched it, I didnt see DBZ on tv again for years. All I had were the games. I admit if I watched DBZ on a regular basis before seeing Kai, id have likely hated it. Thankfully, some time and distance as well as seeing other anime that was dubbed leagues better than the old Z dub helped me see how bad it really was.

[Codarik]

To sum up this topic, it's because of no Faulconer Productions music, and Gohan's recast. At least that's what the majority says.

[Mewzard]

To sum up this topic, it's because of no Faulconer Productions music, and Gohan's recast. At least that's what the majority says.

The vocal majority is rarely the true majority. A thousand people whispering to one another won't be as loud as ten people shouting angrily at the top of their lungs.

I love Kai's dub, it's what we needed. I'd love for that effort to be put in a DB/Z/GT redub, but I'll take what I can get until that miracle can happen.