Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" Dub Turns 14; Still Unreleased

[batistabus]

For your information, Burter occasionally speaks in a feminine way in the original Japanese version.

That's interesting. I never knew that. It would be cool if it was represented like that over here in English. Was it like that in the manga, too?

Not that this excuses Jeese's accent in the least.

[sangofe]

For your information, Burter occasionally speaks in a feminine way in the original Japanese version.

That's interesting. I never knew that. It would be cool if it was represented like that over here in English. Was it like that in the manga, too?

Not that this excuses Jeese's accent in the least.

I've always found Burter sounding gay-ish in the Japanese version.

[NitroEX]

Probably but we can hope to get a release.. or beg for one :/

So it's not odd to have every character speak in a mid-western/North American accent? So to you guys, Lets say if it were to be dubbed by Aussies or Scots or even Brits, would it be okay if all the characters had British-type accents?

It has nothing to do with the accent, it's that they're getting a Canadian man to use a foreign accent because they think it for some reason suits the character. If there was a consistent British dub where everyone had British accents, I'd be fine with that.

Scott McNiel is actually Australian.

[KingofWisdom]

Well, whatever. It's still a foreign accent he had to do. But this Burter development is interesting.

[andrewtuell1991]

For your information, Burter occasionally speaks in a feminine way in the original Japanese version.

Isn't that kind of the point though? Aren't the Ginyu Tokusentai suppose to be flamboyant and over-the-top comic relief? Just out of curiosity though, how would you describe the speaking patterns of the four members?

[El Diabeetus]

For your information, Burter occasionally speaks in a feminine way in the original Japanese version.

That's interesting. I never knew that. It would be cool if it was represented like that over here in English. Was it like that in the manga, too?

Not that this excuses Jeese's accent in the least.

I'm surprised Vic didn't play that up (he probably wasn't told anything like that existed in the original version). He can illustrate a flamboyance in his voice if he so chooses i.e. Tamaki in Ouran.

[RazorX]

Scott McNeil is a versatile and talented voice actor. He is actually able to portray a British accent well. In Jeice's case, it's a Brummie (Midlands) accent. There is no validity in some of the comments regarding the accent he gave Jeice. The Brummie accent was good. it wasn't as "heavy" as the accent you'd find in the Midlands but it wasn't far off. He made it believable. I would want Scott to keep the Brummie accent he gave Jeice or better still, go for a southern British accent.

Some of you calling a British English accent "foreign" should perhaps consider going back to school and learn where the English language originated from.

Then come back and tell me who has the "foreign" English accent.

It's Toei's job to tamper with the show...they produced it and put the whole thing together.

Producing a new musical score for a recut version of DBZ; fine.

Replacing said new musical score with rushed, limited and repetitive old score not intended for the new recut of DBZ; not fine.

In such a case, replacing the music should be a condition for licensing the rights to produce a dub.

If Avatar the Last Airbender got a replacement score overseas, and was replaced by some type of rock music, it just wouldn't be the same show.

Avatar got beaten by DBZ Kai in a popularity poll. A Nicktoons home made show that was on US Nicktoons for quite some time got beaten by a new show which had been on US Nicktoons for only a few months prior to the poll. Kids prefer DBZ Kai to Avatar the Last airbender and it's no surprise. DBZ Kai is exciting and visually pleasing, Avatar the Last airbender is boring and looks like a cheap Anime wanabee.

But at least Nicktoons was honest enough to report that DBZ Kai won the popularity poll.

Kai placement ain't even that bad. It's especially not bad enough to warrant an entire replacement score.

It is bad, so bad that people who really like Kikuchi's music are calling for replacement music. Toei can only use a quarter (approx) of Kikuchi's DB related music due to them being unwilling to pay more for more tracks. Let's call that quarter a 'pool'.; Out of that pool, they take a handful of tracks and repeat them on most episodes. As for the remaining themes in that pool, they take some every now and then and place them randomly.

The rest of the music in that pool isn't even used. So Toei are limiting themselves even beyond what limited amount they can use. Such disregard for the show shouldn't be tolerated if it can be helped.

Kikuchi is an award-nominated composer. If they get someone who can compete with that, then we'll talk.

Three names: Tom Keenlyside, John Mitchell and David Iris.

I don't think anyone in this thread is arguing that Kikuchi is a poor composer. Kikuchi is a very good composer and if his music is utilised properly, it can be fantastic. The problem is Toei and their sound editors. They are making someone as good as Kikuchi look bad.

I sincerely doubt this has anything to do with fans disliking the Kikuchi score. How do I know that fans don't care? I can't speak for all fans, bu I've introduced at least 10 friends to Dragon Ball through Kai, and while marathoning the sets, nobody mentioned anything about the change of music. Maybe they didn't notice it, maybe they thought it just changed with the Arc, but there was never a complaint. I can't speak for everyone, but the casual fan likely just doesn't notice or care. Decreases in sales are likely more a result of a decrease in promotion by FUNimation, the change in plot, or the general availability of the volumes. At least where I live, I haven't seen anything past Volume 3. Again, this is just from personal experience and observation, but I'm sure it's not just contained to my area.

I'd say that the Kikuchi replacement music is a factor in the decrease in DVD/Blu Ray sales.

As far as US Nicktoons TV broadcasts go, when the Yamamoto music was being used, we were given a good amount of news regarding Kai's high ratings. Kai with Yamamoto was the highest rated new show in Nicktoons' history, ever. Kai with Yamamoto smashed TV ratings. Kai with Yamamoto helped Nicktoons beat a rival channel (Disney XD) soundly in the ratings on one of the US holiday periods, despite Disney XD apparently being in 60 million more homes than Nicktoons, in the US. Kai with Yamamoto is/was the highest rated show on the US 4kids Toonzai morning block.

Kai with Kikuchi? Not much is being bragged about, and I think it's because of a decrease in ratings.

Edit: And by fans, I mean newcomers to the series.

I don't see why new fans wouldn't recognise the change in music. New fans had no problem recognising and complaining about the change from Levy to Faulconer back then.

[penguintruth]

Please. I very much doubt the Kikuchi music is causing a lot of lost sales. Fact (probably) is, the average viewer doesn't care what music is playing when their favorite characters are beating the crap out of each other. Only a select few of us geeks do.

[VegettoEX]

I'd say that the Kikuchi replacement music is a factor in the decrease in DVD/Blu Ray sales.

I'd say the triple-canibalization (quadruple, if you count the orange bricks still on my Target and Best Buy shelves) of having competing products on the market is having a far larger effect.

I think you're just making up an argument you want to be valid.

[KingofWisdom]

Scott McNeil is a versatile and talented voice actor. He is actually able to portray a British accent well. In Jeice's case, it's a Brummie (Midlands) accent. There is no validity in some of the comments regarding the accent he gave Jeice. The Brummie accent was good. it wasn't as "heavy" as the accent you'd find in the Midlands but it wasn't far off. He made it believable. I would want Scott to keep the Brummie accent he gave Jeice or better still, go for a southern British accent.

Some of you calling a British English accent "foreign" should perhaps consider going back to school and learn where the English language originated from.

Then come back and tell me who has the "foreign" English accent.

That's all fine and dandy, but it still makes absolutely no sense for him to have a different accent than every other character. I'm not insulting McNeil's ability to do the accent.

[kei17]

Was it like that in the manga, too?

No, it wasn't.

Just out of curiosity though, how would you describe the speaking patterns of the four members?

I refer to Z because I didn't care much about that while watching Kai. Ginyu speaks like a typical captain, and Jeice speaks like an athletic type teenager who is a little bit authoritarian. Recoom sounds extremely droll and frank, and Guldo speaks like a bullied child who is forcing himself to speak wildly.

Please. I very much doubt the Kikuchi music is causing a lot of lost sales. Fact (probably) is, the average viewer doesn't care what music is playing when their favorite characters are beating the crap out of each other. Only a select few of us geeks do.

So true. Speaking about this would be against some rules here, but I want to refer to my experience here: I once uploaded the whole DBZ movie 8 with the Yamamoto score I placed to a Japanese video sharing site just to troll people, and I really laughed at their responses because most of them didn't realized the score was different, and some even said the music brought back old memories. (Of cource I deleted the video after seeing some hilarious comments!)

[TheBlackPaladin]

Please. I very much doubt the Kikuchi music is causing a lot of lost sales. Fact (probably) is, the average viewer doesn't care what music is playing when their favorite characters are beating the crap out of each other. Only a select few of us geeks do.

I don't know about that. I've seen countless instances of "I want Faulconer back!" on YouTube videos. I can't relate to that, but there are plenty of people who detest any non-Faulconer music.

Also, do we know for a fact that DVD/Blu-Ray sales have decreased?

[AgitoZ]

I don't know about that. I've seen countless instances of "I want Faulconer back!" on YouTube videos. I can't relate to that, but there are plenty of people who detest any non-Faulconer music.

You shouldn't ever make conclusions based on YT comments. Just because they're the most vocal doesn't mean they're the majority. The majority of people buying wouldn't be commenting on videos anyways.

Also, do we know for a fact that DVD/Blu-Ray sales have decreased?

I don't think so.

[jordanator]

I really hope we get some news on this soon. I'm keen to find out who's playing Goku. Personally I'd love Corlett to return, but I'm open to a new actor, provided he does a good job! Also, let me get this right, at the present moment, we have no confirmation of Drummond being recast to play Vegeta, right? Not even any hints etc.? (Twitter, Facebook)

[Gonstead]

Also, let me get this right, at the present moment, we have no confirmation of Drummond being recast to play Vegeta, right? Not even any hints etc.? (Twitter, Facebook)

Nope, only confirmation we have so far is Scott McNeil as Piccolo, Jeice and Dr Briefs.

[TripleRach]

Some of you calling a British English accent "foreign" should perhaps consider going back to school and learn where the English language originated from.

Then come back and tell me who has the "foreign" English accent.

I know where the language originated from, and it still doesn't matter. Hundreds of years of separation from the British Empire, along with a few oceans, have created perfectly valid regional variants of English throughout the world. Blame the ancient Englishmen for spreading the language around and not being able to force it to stay in sync with UK English. The British don't exactly speak Old English, either, so there's been plenty of change everywhere.

But yes, British accents absolutely are foreign to Canadians and Americans, because that's not how they speak normally, and it's unique to a country hundreds of miles (or kilometers) away. Obviously everyone has an accent of some sort, and this whole argument has been about whether to put on different accents or not.

[SSJSteve]

Also, let me get this right, at the present moment, we have no confirmation of Drummond being recast to play Vegeta, right? Not even any hints etc.? (Twitter, Facebook)

Nope, only confirmation we have so far is Scott McNeil as Piccolo, Jeice and Dr Briefs.

We can also assume Lee Tockar is voicing Freeza. Scott McNeil doesn't care about the NDA, Lee Tockar does.

[Gonstead]

Also, let me get this right, at the present moment, we have no confirmation of Drummond being recast to play Vegeta, right? Not even any hints etc.? (Twitter, Facebook)

Nope, only confirmation we have so far is Scott McNeil as Piccolo, Jeice and Dr Briefs.

We can also assume Lee Tockar is voicing Freeza. Scott McNeil doesn't care about the NDA, Lee Tockar does.

Ahh yes, forgot about Tockar.

[TheBlackPaladin]

What I really want to know is who's in charge of casting this dub. It sounds like they at least tried to audition all of the last known voice actors to play their respective characters in the Westwood dub, because both Kirby Morrow and Scott McNeil auditioned. Morrow is not coming back, but McNeil is. Presumably, if the same people in charge of the Westwood dub were casting the Kai dub, they would just bring back the same voice actors without the need for auditioning.

[jordanator]

Also, let me get this right, at the present moment, we have no confirmation of Drummond being recast to play Vegeta, right? Not even any hints etc.? (Twitter, Facebook)

Nope, only confirmation we have so far is Scott McNeil as Piccolo, Jeice and Dr Briefs.

We can also assume Lee Tockar is voicing Freeza. Scott McNeil doesn't care about the NDA, Lee Tockar does.

Great, so far, so good IMO.
I understand the fact that we have very little info on the whole subject of an ''Ocean Kai'', but is there any info out there at all regarding other voice actors being cast? Maybe ones that aren't well known?

Oh, and just a general question (to everyone). How do you feel about the roles being recast in Ocean's Kai? Are there any roles that you would like new VA's for, or possibly kept the same? For me, I'd want Drummond, Corlett, and McNeil back to voice their previous character's as my core actors. I'm open to hearing a new child Gohan, and I certainly wouldn't mind hearing a new Freeza.