What do the creators think?

[Valerius Dover]

Yeah, you totally know where this is going, but this is something I've been wondering for a while.

Has Akira Toriyama, a seiyuu, or anybody else involved with the original Dragon Ball production ever commented on the English dub? I'd be curious to know what their opinions would be.

[qjz123]

Well on the American side both Schemmel and Sabat have expressed their disdain and embarrassment of the original DBZ dub. On the Japanese side I recall Nozawa being asked about the english dub at the east meets west panel she said that "there's something universal about voice acting even though I don't speak english I can tell the acting is good" (something along those lines I'm having trouble remembering I'll try to find the video to check) now although Nozawa said this for all we know she was just trying to be nice not because she didn't like the dub but because she hasn't really seen it. I don't know if anyone else has commented on it, I honestly doubt Toriyama gives a rats ass same with Toei.

[shinmaru]

Yeah, you totally know where this is going, but this is something I've been wondering for a while.

Has Akira Toriyama, a seiyuu, or anybody else involved with the original Dragon Ball production ever commented on the English dub? I'd be curious to know what their opinions would be.

I think Toriyama said that he liked all dubbed versions because it's fun to see his Creation DB different.
Look in Kanzenshuu Interviews translation.

[qjz123]

Found it here you go Schemmel asked the Japanese cast what they thought of the dub here http://youtu.be/5HhyhPol-8A?t=1h5m19s

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Toriyama said that the English dub was superior to the Japanese, because it had more fitting voice actors (Goku doesn't sound gay) and music. I read that on the Internet.

[Valerius Dover]

Toriyama said that the English dub was superior to the Japanese, because it had more fitting voice actors (Goku doesn't sound gay) and music. I read that on the Internet.

.....That's probably not the best thing to be saying here on Kanzenshuu.....

Also, I don't think that sounds like something he'd say. Weren't the seiyuus handpicked by him? I can't remember where I heard that.

[qjz123]

Toriyama said that the English dub was superior to the Japanese, because it had more fitting voice actors (Goku doesn't sound gay) and music. I read that on the Internet.

.....That's probably not the best thing to be saying here on Kanzenshuu.....

Also, I don't think that sounds like something he'd say. Weren't the seiyuus handpicked by him? I can't remember where I heard that.

He's just joking, obviously Toriyama wouldn't say that lol.

[Valerius Dover]

Oh, sorry I misunderstood.
I'm autistic, so I have problems understanding jokes and sarcasm in real life, let alone through text on the Internet.

That one did match up with what was said earlier in this thread. I've actually seen this video. Videl's Japanese VA there apparently spoke some English. Also, I totally like how humble Schemmel is.

I do wonder if Toriyama or any Toei producers have said anything about it. (I think one supposedly former Toei associate was trashing the dub back in the DBZ Uncensored days, I think it was on Chris Psaros's website or something). I don't know how valid that was, though.

[qjz123]

Heres an old thread about this topic http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtop ... =7&t=18460 . Toriyama doesn't seem to care much about the Japanese version of the anime let alone the english version.

[Adamant]

Contrary to what the English part of the Internet seem to think, foreign creators don't really pay all that much attention to what some random Americans do when localizing their creation.

How much do you think Steven Spielberg has commented on the Japanese dub of Jurassic Park? I doubt he even knows more about it than "I guess there is one now that you mention it". It's the same with anyone involved with Dragonball's creation. What reason do they have to care?

[Valerius Dover]

VegettoEX did make some really good points there, actually. The whole "seal of approval" thing. Only, in my case, I really am just curious. I guess Toriyama isn't the best example, since he can be incredibly forgetful at times. But, then again, it seems he has recently taken an interest again all of a sudden by bombarding us with wacky information. I'm not even going to bother asking about the music, since I don't think anyone even knows anything about Kikuchi. Seriously, this guy must be a total mystery...
I don't really know any big names, I just wonder if anyone else from the staff of Toei ever thought of it. I can imagine it being an "as long as it makes us money" kind of situation, but surely there must be some opinions somewhere, right?

[Valerius Dover]

Contrary to what the English part of the Internet seem to think, foreign creators don't really pay all that much attention to what some random Americans do when localizing their creation.

How much do you think Steven Spielberg has commented on the Japanese dub of Jurassic Park? I doubt he even knows more about it than "I guess there is one now that you mention it". It's the same with anyone involved with Dragonball's creation. What reason do they have to care?

That is a good point, except that English is an international language that almost everybody learns nowadays. And American things are still very well known in Japan. Many foreign countries see English as a "cool language" to speak.

[Adamant]

Contrary to what the English part of the Internet seem to think, foreign creators don't really pay all that much attention to what some random Americans do when localizing their creation.

How much do you think Steven Spielberg has commented on the Japanese dub of Jurassic Park? I doubt he even knows more about it than "I guess there is one now that you mention it". It's the same with anyone involved with Dragonball's creation. What reason do they have to care?

That is a good point, except that English is an international language that almost everybody learns nowadays. And American things are still very well known in Japan. Many foreign countries see English as a "cool language" to speak.

So do you assume Swedish actors, directors, writers etc track down English dubs of Swedish movies they were involved in just so they can form an opinion on it?

Because I don't. And the average Swede knows a hell of a lot more English than the average Japanese.

[Valerius Dover]

Contrary to what the English part of the Internet seem to think, foreign creators don't really pay all that much attention to what some random Americans do when localizing their creation.

How much do you think Steven Spielberg has commented on the Japanese dub of Jurassic Park? I doubt he even knows more about it than "I guess there is one now that you mention it". It's the same with anyone involved with Dragonball's creation. What reason do they have to care?

That is a good point, except that English is an international language that almost everybody learns nowadays. And American things are still very well known in Japan. Many foreign countries see English as a "cool language" to speak.

So do you assume Swedish actors, directors, writers etc track down English dubs of Swedish movies they were involved in just so they can form an opinion on it?

Because I don't. And the average Swede knows a hell of a lot more English than the average Japanese.

I didn't even know there were dubs of Swedish movies. Well, actually I don't even know about a whole lot of Swedish movies to begin with. I think I see where you're coming from, though. Having English as my primary language doesn't always give me an accurate international perspective on these things.

Hmm, so I guess they just care about the money, right?
I think Studio Ghibli sending the katana to Disney must've been out of the ordinary then.

[Patrick]

I think Studio Ghibli sending the katana to Disney must've been out of the ordinary then.

Huh, I remember hearing something about this. Why did Ghibli send a genuine katana to Disney?

[jpdbzrulz4sure]

Huh, I remember hearing something about this. Why did Ghibli send a genuine katana to Disney?

To my understanding, the katana came with the simple message, "no cuts", and it was in response to a suggestion by Miramax's co-chairman about censoring the film, Princess Mononoke.

[Super Sonic]

You know how with foreign dubs of American cartoons and tv shows Americans usually think, "I don't care what those foreigners do." I think it's the same in Japan when it comes to foreign dubs of their cartoons.

[Hellspawn28]

It's not like Funi's dub is the holy grail of English dubs. I doubt AT sat down and watch the Funi English dub since he likely does not understand any of it and he has no time to watch it.

[Valerius Dover]

Probably not AT, but surely somebody at Toei must at least be aware of how the rest of the world is handling their product. Gen Fukunaga mentioned in his Blu-Ray interview that he had to convince them to let Funimation skip Dragon Ball the first time around. That's what got me thinking. Surely, somebody at Toei's got to be approving all these.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Probably not AT, but surely somebody at Toei must at least be aware of how the rest of the world is handling their product. Gen Fukunaga mentioned in his Blu-Ray interview that he had to convince them to let Funimation skip Dragon Ball the first time around. That's what got me thinking. Surely, somebody at Toei's got to be approving all these.

Oh, well certainly, I'm sure somebody at Toei is supervising what FUNimation does. I just don't think it's one of the creators per say. Probably just an employee at Toei who holds an executive-level position (not really a creative one) who checks in with them to make sure the shows are making money.

Many licensing contracts do stipulate some kind of level of approval from the original Japanese animation studio, but how much the original studios care about the changes differs from case to case. Apparently Toei was relatively fine with the changes to DBZ, but by contrast, Hideaki Anno and Gainax were very strict about how the English dub of Neon Genesis Evangelion was handled (with voice actress Tiffany Grant reflecting that it was the most supervised project she ever worked on as far as involvement from the original Japanese studio).