To The People That Switched From Dub To Sub...

[PrinceVegetto]

How long did it take you to get used to the Japanese voices? Do you recommend me watching DBZ subbed? I've never watched DBZ subbed as I've either watched it in Italian growing up or in English so I'm curious to know...

[TripleRach]

It didn't take me very long at all. I think the key for me was watching things in Japanese that I'd never seen dubbed before. Like the Bardock TV special, which starred a character whose voice I'd never heard before.

I would also suggest starting with the very beginning of DB (the first anime). A lot of people seem to have issues with Nozawa as adult Gokuu, so it may be easier to first experience her voice as kid Gokuu and watch him grow up and get older.

[Ajay]

Maybe two episodes? A few more just to get used to Nozawa's screams, I guess.

Never looked back. You should absolutely watch it subbed. If you're anything like me, you'll struggle to go back afterwards.

Everything else pales in comparison. The difference in quality is staggering.

As TripleRach said; if you start with Dragon Ball, you'll fully understand why they kept Nozawa on. The way she changes her voice as the character ages is just great.

[Basaku]

How long did it take you to get used to the Japanese voices? Do you recommend me watching DBZ subbed? I've never watched DBZ subbed as I've either watched it in Italian growing up or in English so I'm curious to know...

I think it's subjective, but personally have little problem 'switchin' between different dubs when it comes to animation. Live-action movies and shows I cannot stand watching dubbed, but I'm fine watching the same animation in multiple languages unless one of the dubs is trully horrendous quality.

Do I advise you to watch DBZ subbed with original Japanese voices? Yes, simply because that's how you'll be watching Super in July, unless you're very patient and can wait for Italian/English dub. So may as well get used to it now

[BojGrass]

I'll echo what TripleRach and Ajay said. I had watched what was available on Cartoon Network at the time and wanted more. Mom knew I loved it so she snuck off and bought the "entire series, Dragon Ball, Z, and GT" on CD for me. It was basically all the bad sub-VHS tapes ripped to avi, and what ever RealPlayer's format was. It was actually about 85%, a lot of the files were corrupt and wouldn't play or had some obscure player that had to be used and couldn't be found. I started from the beginning of Dragon Ball and went to the end and fell in love with that cast for the characters, and I would say it definitely helps to do it this way as opposed to switching halfway through. I still have a soft spot for Schemmel and company though! Heck, I even like the original U.S. cast for that matter.

[One_Instance]

I was probably about 10 episodes in when I could tell that it was better than the FUNi dub. However, I still wanted to make sure whether I preferred the Japanese Z music, it took about as long to conclude that I did.

[B]

Less than a second. I just couldn't believe how much silence there was.

[Lord Beerus]

It only really took me about 15 episodes into the Dragon Ball anime to really see the casm in terms of quality between the original JPN cast and Funimation cast. When watching the Z anime, it took me about 5 episodes. The difference in quality between the JPN cast and the FUNi cast was really unbelievable.

[Zephyr]

I would also suggest starting with the very beginning of DB (the first anime). A lot of people seem to have issues with Nozawa as adult Gokuu, so it may be easier to first experience her voice as kid Gokuu and watch him grow up and get older.

As TripleRach said; if you start with Dragon Ball, you'll fully understand why they kept Nozawa on. The way she changes her voice as the character ages is just great.

I can't prop these sentiments up and vouch for them enough. So many times people complain about Goku's adult voice, and so many times they don't understand where the voice came from. Nobody, in my experience, ever really complains about Goku's Japanese voice when he's a kid, it's only when he's an adult. Nozawa's Goku voice does deepen when he grows older, contrary to what many will purport.

As for my own experience, I used to hate the subbed version, specifically Goku's voice. I would use the same poor reasoning that I see people use now in attempts to somehow discredit the voice, or argue that it's "unfitting". Keep in mind I was largely going off of Youtube clips, much the same way I see many still doing. One evening a few years ago, however, I got high and decided to watch DBZ in Japanese for the first time. It may have been the drugs partially, but it was such a surreal experience, relative to the way I'd experienced the series before. Afterwards, I wound up keeping up with Kai's Cell arc as it was airing in Japan, which got me pretty used to the Japanese cast.

So in short, the "drawback" of Goku's voice becomes less of one when you watch the series in order, so I recommend doing so, but even if you don't do that, the initial aversion you have to it will likely pass.

Also, if you want to know some cool little things about the Japanese cast that makes it more awesome for me:
- The narrator is also the voice of Kaio/King Kai, so when Goku finally arrives there, it feels like the entire series is one giant epic that he's telling to someone (perhaps a future student).
- The VA for Vegeta also voices Captain Falcon in Smash Bros, if you're a fan of that series.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Kind of a hard question for me to answer, because I was at least passingly familiar with some of the cast for years before I actually watched it all subbed. I think the first things I saw subbed was either movie 7 or 8, and maybe the last three episodes of Z - basically all things that I actually had access to via DVD instead of VHS tape first. For those, it was just a matter of 'Oh hey, there's that Japanese version I'm always hearing about...guess I'll check it out' and nothing more. I thought the voices were odd probably, and different for sure, but never 'bad'.

It wasn't until a couple of years after owning the entire franchise (well, at the time...this was still pre-Battle of Gods or so) that I finally got around to watching the entire thing all the way through in Japanese. I got used to it all pretty quick on that viewing. I'm one of those that's able to move back and forth between versions of the show fairly easily though, so even now I'm watching via the dub again.

I do fully recommend you check out the Japanese version though. There really is a pretty big world of difference, and often in a good way. If it turns out not to be for you, then that's fine, you tried. If it does work for you though, you'll have yet another way to enjoy the show!

Oh, and ditto on the 'start with the original Dragon Ball' thing. It will not only make you get well used to Nozawa long before you hear her as adult Goku, it's also just a great way to watch the series period if you've never seen it in order before.

[ABED]

I was first used to the masculine voice and never heard the original until I rented video with the original and I was taken aback by his high pitched voice. However, it didn't take me long to get on board and love it way more than the dub. It's like Led Zeppelin, it was an acquired taste, but it didn't take me long to acquire a taste for it.

[Kaboom]

By the time I "switched" from the dub I was already mostly accustomed to the Japanese voices. Because from almost the very start of my fandom, I constantly dove into various seedy corners of the internet looking up all kinds of info, including video clips of story arcs and series and movies that hadn't been dubbed yet at the time. It didn't take long for concepts like, "Goku has a boy's voice done by an older woman (just like Ash!) because he's kind of a kid at heart" to click with me.

[Kakarot88]

Do what you like.

The "getting used to the voices" statement has always been odd to me as I grew up on Link in Zelda sounding way higher pitched. I've watched the series all the way through multiple times both ways and find that I prefer to flip flop depending on my mood.

In the end you'll either like the original or you won't so don't force it, life's too short.

I'll tell you though if you're a fan of the replacement music then start with Dragon Ball, otherwise the different tonalities could turn you off. Have fun!

[Chuquita]

I love spoilers and I was in full fan-girl mode at the time (my ssjg Gokû gushings are probably the closest I get to that anymore) so it was super-easy for me to accept "Gokû's got a cute voice and Vegeta's got a smooth deep voice". I was a tremendously easy sell on this. Didn't hurt that my first sub episodes were their adventures inside Buu either. (Because silly Gokû and Vegeta antics are also something easy to sell me on.)

[Vaughngief]

I recently started watching the series subbed and it took me roughly 2 episodes. I find the delivery to have more of an impact than the Funi actors when they were just starting out. Though to be fair, they were new and young.

Original DBZ series = subbed

Dragon Ball = subbed or dub (they're both good imo)

Kai and beyond = Dub

[JulieYBM]

It didn't take me long at all. I was already relatively familiar with some of the actors from other series I watched.

[PrinceVegetto]

Thanks guys! I think I'm gonna give Z subbed a go. I just watched DB (the 1st series) not too long ago so I won't start from there. That won't be a problem though as judging from Youtube clips I don't mind Nozawa as adult Goku.

[TheGreatness25]

My first introduction to the Japanese voices came in 1999 when my parents got me Dragon Ball Z Legends and Final Bout for my PS1 and I was like, "Whaaaat? This is awesome!" I just kind of took to it with no issues. Since I was used to them from the games, it was a very smooth transition when I started getting the DVDs. I kind of came to terms with the idea of two different versions existing and looked at them as two separate entities.

[sangofe]

It took me 2-3 episodes. I thought the voices were awfully unfitting and strange at first, but I quickly got used to it. Believe it or not, I started with Dragon Ball GT in japanese fansubbed on vhs in 1996. I was 14 at that time.

[dbboxkaifan]

Pretty much instant. Whether it be the games, series or music I generally prefer the original Japanese track because the voice acting is far superior as well as the songs are stellar quality.

Now, it's true that dubs have gotten a lot better than they were back in the 90's so it's understandable that there's people who prefer the new dubs over the original audio track of it. I watched the Spanish Traditional dub of Battle of Gods and loved it, perhaps even more than the Japanese so it's starting to grow on me again, still without the option to hear the Spanish voices on the games and no Kai dub it's too limited.