Dragonball Kai (FUNimation English) Dub: General Discussion

[Metalwario64]

Whenever people say "Oh, they pronounced Goku correctly", I'm always puzzled, because I never hear any difference.

Same here. The narrator's pronunciation sounds exactly the same as every other pronunciation I've heard...

[Kaboom]

The proper emphasis is on the "Ku," not the "Go."

Yeah, it's a minor thing, but still pretty nice to hear when it happens.

[Kendamu]

So far,i actually prefer American Kai dub to Japanese Kai dub,am i nuts?

As long as we're listening to the same music and the script is accurate I don't care what you like.

[JulieYBM]

Welp, a clip of the Raditz fight it is (with the revelation Piccolo has lost his arm, the KameHame-Ha, and first Makankôsappô). Still not liking Justin Cook.

[Metalwario64]

Is Goku saying "damn!..." at the beginning of the clip?

Man, Sabat's Piccolo sounds completely different from when he started, and still sounds much more natural and calmer than his voice even in the "Ultimate Uncut" dub. Also, instead of loud grunting, he sounds like he is actually making more of a "khhhhnngh" (not as throaty as the Japanese counterpart which is more "Kkkkkcchk!!") sound when he is raising his ki, as opposed to the usual "RRRRGGHHHGHAAAAGHGH!!!"

This dub just continues to impress me. It seems like FUNimation is putting more effort into Kai than Toei has. Rial's Bulma also is giving a much better performance than her Japanese actress did during these parts as well (and while she did improve a bit later, she still sounds a bit bored to me).

Radditz' death clip has also been uploaded. Nappa sounds better, and Vegeta sounds much better and his delivery is much better than before. Goku also sounds like he is really in pain when he is talking now too. The only time he has really come close before was during the scenes after Vegeta had been defeated and he was laying on the ground in pain, but he sounded a bit more tired than hurt there...

And when Vegeta says "Is that a joke?!" I always subconsciously add in the lines "this money isn't worth the paper it's printed on!"

[Velasa]

The Kame House clip is just wonderful. Seriously. I've hated everyone in this cast since they waltzed in and replaced my beloved Ocean but goddamn the FUNi cast is downright respectable here. I'm especially happy with the changes in Shemmel, it feels more light and easy like the things I love about Ian. He doesn't sound quite as good when he's all 'grr I'm serious" but hell, it's so much better than before.

New Bulma's wonderful, I love it except for the part where she spreads viscous lies about Yamcha some more. New Gohan's adorable, totally want to hear some more of him as he changes and see how the voice changes with him. I'm not as fond of the rest of the cast but they all sound alright. Except for Sabat. Him I can't stand on principle whether it makes sense or not- I hold grudges hard and I'm a Scott McNeil fangirl and yeah.... We're never gonna get along.

I'd actually think about buying this if it wasn't for the fact that I simply don't like Kai or Sabat though. Heh.

Oh, and was there any chance of getting a new Yamcha? I haven't heard much about him so far.

[Gaffer Tape]

New Bulma's wonderful, I love it except for the part where she spreads viscous lies about Yamcha some more.

Haha! Thank you! Someone besides me complaining about that!

But I have to agree with jjgp on the Schemmel thing. From the excerpts of the dub on the DBox I've listened to, I thought that he'd made quite a few strides as Goku. He hasn't bothered me as the character in quite a while. Granted, I've only barely spot checked the dub, so maybe there are quite a few annoying things still in the most recent Z dub, but I thought he was pretty good in the first two seasons and still pretty good now.

Tien Shinhan still sounds very awkward to me. If they pronounced more like it was one word (like the name it's supposed to be), maybe it wouldn't sound so off, but they seem to keep acting like it's supposed to be his first name and last name. And that's what makes it weird because why would his close friends need to refer to him like that around other people who are also his friends?

[jjgp1112]

I dunno, Piccolo's not that much different from before. Slightly different, but I really have trouble finding anything significantly different about his voice.

It's funny how everyone else is going crazy over this, yet I of all people am the one picking this apart and saying, "it's not that great"

And dammit, Vegeta sounds virtually the same as how he did in the UUC eps as well. Am I the only one noticing this?!

[JulieYBM]

The death of Gokû is up as well. Not quite as emotional as the Japananese version. Strait do reletively well as Kuririn.

[Chuquita]

Nappa sounded a bit like Takahata101 to me in this clip. I know it's not him, but maybe it's because I haven't heard Funi's dub Nappa in a while.

Curious to hear what the dubbed ED sounds like, and to know who they picked to sing it.

Edit: Kuririn DOES sound really good in the death scene.

[Metalwario64]

I dunno, Piccolo's not that much different from before. Slightly different, but I really have trouble finding anything significantly different about his voice.

It's funny how everyone else is going crazy over this, yet I of all people am the one picking this apart and saying, "it's not that great"

And dammit, Vegeta sounds virtually the same as how he did in the UUC eps as well. Am I the only one noticing this?!

It's not the voices I'm mainly complimenting; it's the delivery. The voices do sound practically the same, but the delivery doesn't sound nearly as forced as it was in the UUC dub. The acting is also more believable because no longer does everything result in grunting. When Piccolo was struck with fear, instead of the usual "Uuugh.... Uggghhh" it was like he was actually gasping for air.

Vegeta sounds a lot smoother now, and less rough and more natural than before. He sounds like he had more vocal range or something. That's what better voice directing does... Chris Sabat wasn't lying when he promised better directing.

[jjgp1112]

That's what I'm saying. The acting, the voices...everything sounds just as fine as it was in the UUC episodes (well, except for Raditz - he sounds worse). It's still good, it's just not mind-blowing because it's been this good before, albeit with a worse script.

[Kendamu]

I'm more focused on the script itself than the voices. I figure that people who already like whichever cast they like is gonna like that cast even if both casts have some changes in them. As long as we can all talk about pretty much the same thing and not have to worry about extreme line changes we're good to go.

[Mountain]

I'm liking some things, but I think I need a little better audio quality before I give my full thoughts. I am liking the "You can all go to Hell!" line.

[Metalwario64]

That's what I'm saying. The acting the voices...everything sounds just as fine as it was in the UUC episodes. It's still good, it's just not mind-blowing because it's been this good before, albeit with a worse script.

I don't know. I've watched the "Ultimate Uncut" dub many times, and the actors still grunted quite a bit, and the delivery was at it's peak of the Z dub, but from what I've heard of Kai's dub, the delivery sounds much more realistic and natural than the UUC delivery.

It's better voice direction this time around, and 5 more years of experience. The voices are very similar, but the actual performances seem more natural in this dub.

[jjgp1112]

And the more I watch some of these clips, the more I prefer Sabat's UUC Piccolo. He sounded a lot calmer back then. It just seems like to me that if you liked the UUC performances, then I don't see how you can possibly like this more. Again, that's not a knock against this, because it's fantastic. I'm just saying how it is (well, at least to me).

And just as I said before, it seems like Monica Rial sounds almost exactly like Tiffany Vollmer. If I didn't know beforehand that she was replaced, I would've thought it was her.

[Metalwario64]

And the more I watch some of these clips, the more I prefer Sabat's UUC Piccolo. He sounded a lot calmer back then. It just seems like to me that if you liked the UUC performances, then I don't see how you can possibly like this more. Again, that's not a knock against this, because it's fantastic. I'm just saying how it is (well, at least to me).

An example of the improved performances is in the scene where Radditz first encounters Piccolo. Sabat's range there really sounds more dynamic than his UUC performance, which rarely shifted in tone. In the UUC dub, his deepness sounded a bit forced when he would yell or raise his voice, but in Kai, he seems to let go of some of that deepness, which makes it sound more natural. Also, when struck with fear, in the UUC dub, his "gapsing" was more of a "Ugghhh...Ughhhhh..." whereas the Kai performance sounded like real gasping, and like he was really struggling to catch his breath.

It's these tiny things all added together that really make it an improvement in my eyes.

[jjgp1112]

Well, I'm watching episode 1 on my Dragon Box now just to make sure I'm not going crazy...and I just...don't...see it.

EDIT: GODDAMN, Raditz sounds SO much worse now than he did in Z. God, what the fuck happened?

[ohaimynameiserik]

Makankosappo <3

[Metalwario64]

Well, I'm watching episode 1 on my Dragon Box now just to make sure I'm not going crazy...and I just...don't...see it.

One thing I definitely remember from the UUC dub, is that Sabat's Piccolo, when yelling would make an "aaaAAUUUUUGH!?" tone with his voice, and then simply continually raise the tone of said nose. Whereas on the clip where he finishes off Radditz, he sounds more like he is actually screaming without fear of going out of his character voice. It's still a bit "AAAAHHHHHHG!", but sounds a bit less stiff and more dynamic; more like an actual scream.

It still doesn't sound super realistic, but it is a huge improvement in my eyes. And it is possible that most of the improvements are in, or are a result of the vastly superior scripts.