Opinions on the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball

[ABED]

I don't get the reaction to Chris Sabat's Yamucha. He's slightly heightening his normal voice. He ain't an offender.

He absolutely is. He sounds like a comical "dudebro" type and even in Kai he still slips into it now and then.

I completely disagree. There's none of the surfer dude or dudebro from season 3 by that time. Even if it's there, it's rare.

[Herms]

Brice Armstrong is the best English dub narrator a DB series has ever had.

Couldn't agree more. All the other voices are pretty hit-or-miss, but the narrator sets the tone of the show perfectly. I also like the Funi dub voice for kid Goku much more than their voice for adult Goku.

The script is pretty hit-or-miss too. It's alright much of the time, but they still insert lots of random nonsense for no reason. Much like the Kai dub, the attempt at a more professional approach is hampered by holdovers from the Z dub. What's more, since the people working on it have already done Z and know the audience is likewise already familiar with Z, it sometimes messes up the dub script in strange ways. Piccolo and Shen (or "Hero" or whatever) talk like they already know they're aliens; Piccolo even talks about having fought "all over the universe".

Likewise, it's bad enough that the dub insists on saying that the God of Earth is a "Guardian of Earth" who happens to be named "Kami", but when the character is introduced the dub makes pretty much no effort to explain the concept. All the characters (except Goku) are simply already familiar with the idea that there's a Guardian of Earth named Kami. Anyone who hadn't already seen the Funi dub of Z would be left out of the loop.

[ABED]

Goku is a bit of a good ball.

He is, but she's trying too hard. Nozawa is effortless, so was Henderson, and even Sean as adult Goku.

Brice Armstrong is the best English dub narrator a DB series has ever had.

Couldn't agree more. All the other voices are pretty hit-or-miss, but the narrator sets the tone of the show perfectly.

The script is pretty hit-or-miss too. It's alright much of the time, but they still insert lots of random nonsense for no reason. Much like the Kai dub, the attempt at a more professional approach is hampered by holdovers from the Z dub. What's more, since the people working on it have already done Z and know the audience is likewise already familiar with Z, it sometimes messes up the dub script in strange ways. Piccolo and Shen (or "Hero" or whatever) talk like they already know they're aliens; Piccolo even talks about having fought "all over the universe". It's bad enough that the dub insists on saying that the God of Earth is a "Guardian of Earth" who happens to be named "Kami", but when the character is introduced the dub makes pretty much no effort to explain the concept. All the characters (except Goku) are simply already familiar with the idea that there's a Guardian of Earth named Kami. Anyone who hadn't already seen the Funi dub of Z would be left out of the loop.

I love Brice but I think Kai's narrator is on par with him. You can't go wrong with either man. They are perfect narrators.

One of the worst offenders as far as dumb dub lines is when Goku and the tournament announcer talk about his nice suit. It's so not Goku.

As for Kami, I don't think they needed to go into the god thing, but they could've just as easily called him a deity or conveyed that Kami is a position of importance, and not his name.

[WittyUsername]

Doc Morgan does a good job as the narrator, but he can sound a little flat at times. I think Brice Armstrong sounded more lively and more memorable in the role honestly, plus I felt that his voice fit the adventure aspect of the series better.

[Super Sonic]

I thought it was fine. Some hiccups was from being too lazy to change scripts from the old ones of the early episodes and a few weird changes talking about things between episodes. With the songs, likely not wanting Japanese songs back then during the ep. Nowadays they would've left them alone or just did dub versions like Fruits Basket and Rosario + Vampire did.

[DBZASHKACHU]

It's not 100% perfect but I love the dub for Dragon Ball. Plus Dragon Ball had some great performances from the voice actors. Brice Armstrong's narration is great, seems to be a fan favorite! Mike McFarland gets to shine as Roshi, I really enjoyed Laurie Steele as Krillin and of course Stephanie Nadolny! I love her as Kid Goku she really brings a lot to the role for me. The crude/sexual jokes in the dub are watered down or removed from the dub. It would of been interesting to hear some of those jokes in the dub especially Roshi's lines.

[Insertclevername]

I more or less agree with penguintruth. It's definitely better than the Z dub but unless you're someone who prefers dubs or is interested in them, why even bother? The original just blows this out of the water. I don't think it's good enough to augment the original like some people find the English Kai to be with it's Japanese alternative.

[Codarik]

All these posts and not a single person said anything about how great Sonny Strait was as General Blue? He really shined in the dub. Speaking of General Blue, I didn't like that the dub changed Blue thinking that robot boy was his long lost brother.

[Duo]

Well, I do think Stephanie Nadonly makes a pretty good Goku most of the time, so there's that. I've only seen bits and pieces of this dub otherwise, so there's not much I can offer. I do recall that the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budokai made Sean Schemmel and Christ Sabat represent their characters a lot better than they did in Z, but that ends up with a very jarring transition into Z if you go from one to the next.

I will try to watch a bit more of the dub soon to form a better opinion. I just got a few of the blue bricks so I have the resources now for the first time.

[DBZ Mick]

It's alright from what I remember. I didn't like how they basically changed or cut or the sexual innuendo in some scenes- well, okay, mainly Chun's filler song in the 21st Budokai which Miyauchi was frickin awesome at.

But as a whole the original Japanese version is where it's at. Nozawa's Goku...Miyauchi's Turtle Hermit etc...stupendeous stuff!

[TheRed259]

The dub is almost perfect for me and far better than DBZ's. But honestly, Kid Goku must stop smoking too much...

[Fizzer]

All these posts and not a single person said anything about how great Sonny Strait was as General Blue? He really shined in the dub. Speaking of General Blue, I didn't like that the dub changed Blue thinking that robot boy was his long lost brother.

Well, I didn't like that, but I also didn't like Toei adding a filler scene to imply that the gay character was also a pedophile.

[Kid Buu]

All these posts and not a single person said anything about how great Sonny Strait was as General Blue? He really shined in the dub. Speaking of General Blue, I didn't like that the dub changed Blue thinking that robot boy was his long lost brother.

Well, I didn't like that, but I also didn't like Toei adding a filler scene to imply that the gay character was also a pedophile.

What scene is this?

[Fizzer]

All these posts and not a single person said anything about how great Sonny Strait was as General Blue? He really shined in the dub. Speaking of General Blue, I didn't like that the dub changed Blue thinking that robot boy was his long lost brother.

Well, I didn't like that, but I also didn't like Toei adding a filler scene to imply that the gay character was also a pedophile.

What scene is this?

This one, but I can't find the sub version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGaSPxArQz8

In the original dialogue, rather than mistaking Obotchaman for his brother, General Blue is saying he's his type.

[90sDBZ]

I think it's damn near perfect. Funimation made the decision to keep Kikuchi's music for DB because unlike in Z it actually did the show justice. And I like how with the DB dub they didn't feel the need to go over the top with big words or add swearing in for the sake of making the show appear more mature or hardcore like in Kai. It was fairly accurate and they didn't try to make it anything more than the kids show it was. Kids have trouble following the dialogue in Kai's dub while I'm sure they have no problem following DB's dialogue. Same with GT actually. That was pretty accurate and didn't go over the top with words either. With DB and GT they found a good balance. With Kai they were overcompensating for the complaints about Z's dub.

Nadolny is great as Kid Goku. She sounds really innocent and simple minded. Volmer is now fine as Bulma. Yamcha no longer sounds like a surf dude. Mcfarland is perfect as Roshi. In fact I'd say his Roshi was better in DB than in Kai. Sabat's King Piccolo sounds really evil. And I really like Chuck Huber's Pilaf and whoever voices Shu and Mai. And Tien's actor is also spot on. And Sean does a fine job of making his Goku sound a bit younger in the Piccolo Jr saga. And Kid Krillin's actor is a very inspired choice as he truly sounds like a younger version of Sony Strait's Krillin.

Also I really enjoy the English cover songs of the opening and ending. Just a shame they couldn't use all the intro and ending videos.

[ABED]

By and large, those cuss words are in the original, and I don't know how many kids really had a hard time following Kai's dialog.

[DBZAOTA482]

By and large, those cuss words are in the original, and I don't know how many kids really had a hard time following Kai's dialog.

Yes, but the swearing was less common and more varied in the original.

On-Topic: The FUNimation dub of Dragon Ball was pretty decent. Sure, it ain't got shit on what FUNimation is pumping out right now but it's at least better than their dubs for DBZ and DBGT. The translation is still loose in several areas, and Tiffany Volmer's Bulma is still shit but it actually kept Shunsuke Kikuchi's masterful fully orchestrated soundtrack.

[B]

... I like how with the DB dub they didn't feel the need to go over the top with big words or add swearing in for the sake of making the show appear more mature or hardcore like in Kai. It was fairly accurate and they didn't try to make it anything more than the kids show it was. Kids have trouble following the dialogue in Kai's dub while I'm sure they have no problem following DB's dialogue. Same with GT actually. That was pretty accurate and didn't go over the top with words either. With DB and GT they found a good balance. With Kai they were overcompensating for the complaints about Z's dub.

Do you have specific examples of Kai using "big words?" That seems pretty subjective to any individual's vocabulary.

[ABED]

Again, GT's dub is on par with DB.

Yes, but the swearing was less common and more varied in the original.

You make it sound like it was all the time in Kai. The original wasn't that varied with its cussing.

[Ringworm128]

Chris Sabat is an excellent fit for Piccolo-Daimao as well as Kent Williams as Tao Pai Pai. Kent Wiliams makes Tao sound like something out of a cheesy 70's kung fu movie dub while making him sound legitimately arrogant and threatening.

I don't get the reaction to Chris Sabat's Yamucha. He's slightly heightening his normal voice. He ain't an offender.

He absolutely is. He sounds like a comical "dudebro" type and even in Kai he still slips into it now and then.

Yamcha'a a pretty cool, laid back dude so it's not like that sort of voice doesn't make sense for him. And it's not like it's Bill and Ted levels of "dudeness".