Was the original Dragonball the best dub FUNI ever did?

[precita]

The original Dragonball especially uncut is the best dub FUNI ever did. Not only did they keep the original music, but all the voice actors were very well suited to their roles in this series having been doing their roles on DBZ for a few years before this dub began. Goku, Bulma, Roshi, Krillin, Oolong, etc. all have great voices and performances. Chris Sabat's Yamcha is also very well done here.

The dialogue was also kept much closer to the original although there were still some changes here and there. I honestly prefer watching the dub of Dragonball over the original.

[Valerius Dover]

I think from what I understand it's still behind many other dubs that they've done, including Dragon Ball Z Kai. I guess it must've been pretty good for its time though.

[Herms]

It's...better, but I don't really see it as that much of a step up, especially compared to Kai or BoG/RoF. The fact that they kept the original score goes an awful long way, but the script is absolutely all over the place. There are long conversations about squirrels. There's some really weird and pointless name changes (Baba's fighters, "Master Shen", "Hero"). Acting-wise, there's quite a few cheesy accents, and some of the main characters could have been better cast. Great narrator though; the first time a narrator in the Funi dub sounded like a proper narrator, in my terribly biased opinion.

Overall, I'd probably put it about on par with Funi's dub for the DBZ Buu arc, or maybe a little better. But I don't think it holds up to their work on Kai/BoG/RoF. Still, out of all Funi's dubs for the franchise, it's probably the one I've watched the most of, which probably says something.

[Theophrastus]

In the context of Funimation's Dragon Ball franchise dubs, I'd put it below Kai (haven't seen BoG/RF), although I still enjoy it a lot.

In the context of Funimation dubs in general, I'd probably put it below both Fullmetal Alchemist series, One Piece, Baccano, Spice & Wolf, Eden of the East, Darker than Black...a lot of the dubs they've produced after 2007 or so, really.

[ABED]

I agree with Herms. It's a much better dub than Z, but there's still a ton of room for improvement.

Pros: Amazing narrator, much better scripts than Z, the actors and directors were more familiar with the series and it shows, the original score is kept, the actress who plays young Kuririn

Cons: The scripts still take more liberties with the show than it should (I'd give the writing at least a C average), Vollmer is still Bulma and Nadolny is awful as Goku.

Even prior to Kai, DB isn't the best, DBZ movies 1-3 were the best.

[SaintEvolution]

It was better than other dubs like their DBZ or DBGT, but still behind of their Kai dub.

[theoriginalbilis]

The original Dragonball especially uncut is the best dub FUNI ever did. Not only did they keep the original music, but all the voice actors were very well suited to their roles in this series having been doing their roles on DBZ for a few years before this dub began. Goku, Bulma, Roshi, Krillin, Oolong, etc. all have great voices and performances. Chris Sabat's Yamcha is also very well done here.

The dialogue was also kept much closer to the original although there were still some changes here and there. I honestly prefer watching the dub of Dragonball over the original.

I dunno, my friend. Watch other series that they've dubbed (Attack on Titan, FMA, Space Dandy). I think many of those dubs are way better handled. DragonBall's dub benefits from being completely uncut and having the original score and some slightly more polished voicework, but there's still plenty of added dialogue, changed lines, pointless name changes, and jokes inserted needlessly into scenes. I feel it's a lot more faithful tone-wise, but script-wise, nah. It's certainly better handled than their Z/GT dubs, but doesn't hold up to modern productions like Kai or the new movies.

To be honest, I'm a bit biased towards the original Japanese cast myself. But not so biased that I can't make solid judgment on the good and bad of both versions.

I would say that this DB dub is just "okay". For the time though, 2001-2004, it was probably looked at a lot more favorably than Z's dub back at that time.

[nickzambuto]

I agree with Herms. It's a much better dub than Z, but there's still a ton of room for improvement.

Pros: Amazing narrator, much better scripts than Z, the actors and directors were more familiar with the series and it shows, the original score is kept, the actress who plays young Kuririn

Cons: The scripts still take more liberties with the show than it should (I'd give the writing at least a C average), Vollmer is still Bulma and Nadolny is awful as Goku.

Even prior to Kai, DB isn't the best, DBZ movies 1-3 were the best.

Nadolny 4life

[gohann]

I don't watch many FUNi dubs to know if it's the best one they've done, but it's certainly the best Dragonball-related dub. The voicework was strong, with many of the actors being at their prime here, and while the scripts weren't as faithful as the Blue Water dub, they were still reasonably accurate and well-handled and written.

Nadolny 4life

Seconded!

[ABED]

I don't really understand why GT gets lumped in the same category as Z in terms of its accuracy. Yes, the dub score was awful, but the scripts were on par with DB's.

[DoomieDoomie911]

It's nowhere near as good as Kai or Battle of Gods (haven't seen Resurrection F, but I'm sure it's pretty good too). It's definitely better than the Z dub, though.

[Straw]

I wouldn't call it a good dub...it's more like a well-intended clusterfuck, especially compared to some of the smaller series FUNi was dubbing at the time, which had accurate scripts and smarter casting. It's like in 2001 FUNi was at a crossroads in their handling of Dragon Ball and couldn't figure out exactly how well to treat the original series. The dub earned a lot of points for using the original score, even though I have a feeling that if FUNi-- specifically Barry Watson-- had found a way to make the series more marketable it would've been changed, similarly to GT. So, yeah, Kikuchi's music is there, but what about the rest of it?

Some episodes the scripts and the voice direction are dead-on, and in others the accuracy and the voices are just all over the place.

Like the Buu arc's dub, there's still way too conversations and names that are mistranslated, too much added dialogue, and annoying over-the-top accents on every single extra. In some episodes the scripts and the voice direction are more or less dead-on, and things are all over the place, often not for the better.

Nadolny's Goku is especially a problem-- she handles Goku's aggressive side just fine, but the goofy, ill-mannered and clueless Goku that we spend the majority of the series with is just not there. She just doesn't have the voice range for it-- her Goku is all monotone. Muten Roshi's voice is also an issue for me-- its fine when Roshi is just bumbling around and being a perv-- but when it's time for him to get serious as both teacher and Jackie Chun the actor just doesn't have the right tone for it.

At the time it was miles ahead of DBZ's dub, but when I think now that we have Kai, BoG, and RoF...it's just not a good enough dub anymore.

[ABED]

What accents do you all have an issue with? I take it you mean characters like Nam? While it's certainly not a great accent, I don't have an issue with using an Indian accent given that his character is essentially from that part of the world, even if DB doesn't technically have an India.

[Straw]

What accents do you all have an issue with? I take it you mean characters like Nam? While it's certainly not a great accent, I don't have an issue with using an Indian accent given that his character is essentially from that part of the world, even if DB doesn't technically have an India.

Nah, I meant for people in the crowd and one-off characters that the gang runs into...one's a redneck, one's from Boston, one's from Scotland, and so on. That just annoys me.

[UltimateHammerBro]

If we're only talking about the DB franchise, I'd say that the Kai dub is miles better.
If we count every dub FUNI has ever produced, there are better dubs IMO. I love their Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood dub (so much that it's the only anime I watch in English by default: I switched languages a couple of episodes in) and I've also heard some of their One Piece dub and I really liked it.

[B]

What accents do you all have an issue with? I take it you mean characters like Nam? While it's certainly not a great accent, I don't have an issue with using an Indian accent given that his character is essentially from that part of the world, even if DB doesn't technically have an India.

There are at least two separate instances where a character with a mustache is played by Justin Cook doing a poor Mexican/Spanish accent. The first is one of the cops that tries to arrest Lunch in Episode 14, the second was somewhere else in the Red Ribbon arc. I'm honestly not sure if I find it racist, poorly performed, or both.

One of these days I really want to dig into how mediocre this dub is, episode-by-episode Dogasu's Backpack-style. It's been skating by on the "not as bad as Z" notion for years and it kind of annoys me. Most dubs of anything aren't as bad as Z. The various Digimon dubs all are given new musical scores and crammed with terrible jokes, and yet it is pretty clear that at least Tamers and Frontier are doing a better job than FUNi's handling of the original DB.

[MagicBox]

In the early 2000s, it was a breath of fresh air compared to Z's dub. In 2015, it's a lot harder to defend it.

With all due respect, I don't see how any impartial, informed viewer could look at Dragon Ball's dub and call it "the best" of anything. It's not even the best of FUNi's dubs for the Dragon Ball franchise, and that's not even taking into account their (now hundreds) of other licensed titles.

I think the acting is fine. I think the cast is fine. I'll be controversial and say that I still prefer Nadolny and Vollmer, even now. But the script absolutely kills it. Far too many changes for the sake of change. It all depends on the scriptwriter. Some (Eric Vale, Andrew Rye) do a nice job. Others (Christopher Neel, Sean Teague) change things the first chance they get. Everything else could be fantastic, but the scripts for all three shows, as they are, deviate so often that it's off-putting for all but the most devoted FUNimation fans.

[Super Sonic]

I'd say some of these shows would beg to differ.

To be honest, couldn't tell you what Funimation's best dub is. DB is good, but will admit some things haven't aged as well. Quite a few dubs of that era are kinda the same, hence folks watch with their anime senses off. Their best will depend on whoever you talk to. Also while DBZ's dub isn't that great and hasn't aged well, it's still better than the better dubbed, but Funimation's worst show "Master of Martial Hearts".

[precita]

I think the acting is fine. I think the cast is fine. I'll be controversial and say that I still prefer Nadolny and Vollmer, even now. But the script absolutely kills it. Far too many changes for the sake of change. It all depends on the scriptwriter. Some (Eric Vale, Andrew Rye) do a nice job. Others (Christopher Neel, Sean Teague) change things the first chance they get. Everything else could be fantastic, but the scripts for all three shows, as they are, deviate so often that it's off-putting for all but the most devoted FUNimation fans.

Considering my memory is hazy, what are these "major changes" FUNI made to the Dragonball dub that people don't like? Keep in mind I'm talking about the uncut dub, not the one broadcast on Cartoon Network back in the day. So the "tomato soup" edit isn't in the uncut ones.

What major dialogue changes were there?

[Cipher]

I don't really understand why GT gets lumped in the same category as Z in terms of its accuracy. Yes, the dub score was awful, but the scripts were on par with DB's.

It's better than Z, but episodes still varies wildly between "mostly accurate" and "character-defining changes" depending on who's writing the script. Goku goes into full-on superhero mode against Baby a few times during their fight with lines that are nowhere in the original, and that's just off the top of my head.

Dragon Ball's probably the most faithful of the original three series' dubs, and I think the acting is the best, but ... that's not saying much.