Dragon Box Dub Vs. Orange Box Dub

[Greenman]

Hey guys call me a newb but I just thought of something else...what is this Ocean dub I keep reading about on this forum and are there any DVDs with the Ocean dub on them? Or is the Ocean dub the same as whats on the Orange Boxes/Dragon Boxes?

FUNimation hired a Canadian dubbing company called Ocean Studios to dub the first two seasons of Dragon Ball Z. These consisted of the first 67 episodes edited down into 53 episodes. These 53 episodes were released edited-only on 17 VHS/DVD volumes with three episodes each.

For season three onward, FUNimation decided to stop using Ocean Studios and hired their own in-house actors. These are the actors they use today.

Ocean Studios later continued their dub in Canada and the UK, starting at episode 108 (dub numbering) and continuing until the end. These episodes have never been released on VHS/DVD. For Canada (not sure about the UK), DragonBall and GT were dubbed by Blue Water Studios and used different actors than the Ocean Z dub.

[Gaffer Tape]

Since the infinitive "to dub" is often used as shorthand for the entire localization process, it should probably be clarified that Ocean Studios handled only the voicework of the first two seasons. It was still wholly FUNimation's dub. They simply outsourced the voice production to Canada.

However, those first two seasons differ from the rest of the FUNimation dub in a wide variety of ways. They were prepared for syndication rather than cable, and their syndicator was Saban (formerly of Power Rangers fame) who encouraged them to censor it far beyond FCC standards. And due to being made for standard television, their "seasons" conformed to U.S. television seasons, meaning that large chunks were cut out to accommodate storylines being wrapped up by the end of the first season. And for the home distribution, FUNimation outsourced to Pioneer for DBZ. That doesn't really have an effect on the production itself (except for the first three movies), but it is indicative of the era we're talking about.

At the end of the 2nd season, Saban dropped out of the syndication business, leaving DBZ on extended hiatus for about a year and a half. The following fall, Cartoon Network picked up the reruns, and the show became a hit. With the positive reception, FUNimation continued on with season 3, consolidating everything "in-house" with their own voice cast, own composer, own video division, etc. So that's why season 3 onward is so different from what's commonly referred to as the "Ocean dub."

[linkdude20002001]

Hey guys call me a newb but I just thought of something else...what is this Ocean dub I keep reading about on this forum and are there any DVDs with the Ocean dub on them? Or is the Ocean dub the same as whats on the Orange Boxes/Dragon Boxes?

To further explain the "Ocean dub" for episodes 123~291 (108~276), it was a dub produced by Westwood Media (a Canadian company) in association with AB Groupe (a French company that holds the license to Dragon Ball in most of Europe). The Westwood dub first aired in the Netherlands, and then shortly after, in the UK and Ireland. Canada got the Westwood dub too, but they got it a little later, and they didn't get some of the early episodes. Westood Media also produced an English dub of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT, but rather that use the same cast as DBZ, they chose to use a different pool of actors nearby Ocean Productions other recording studio, Blue Water Studios.

The term "Ocean" is a bit confusing, so let me explain it for you. Ocean Productions, formerly The Ocean Group, is an ADR company (meaning that they record voice work). Ocean Studios is a recording studio that Ocean Productions uses; it is owned and operated by them. Blue Water Studios is another recording studio that Ocean Productions uses; I actually don't know if they own and operate this studio.

FUNimation's first two seasons of DBZ were dubbed at Ocean Studios. Westwood Media's dub of DBZ was sometimes dubbed Ocean Studios, but mostly at Airwaves Sound Design due to Ocean Studios not being available. Westwood's dubs of DB and DBGT were recorded at Blue Water Studios.

[Akira]

I got away from the Broadcast Music when they started offering the dub with the original Japanese score that carried over many tunes from the original DB, which always had english dub with original Japanese score. Bear in mind that I like sub and dub versions both, and watch either based on my mood. However, the first two sagas, when first re-dubbed with the same voice cast, had a different composer, so there isn't even consistency within the broadcast score for the Z series.

Oddly enough, I actually liked the broadcast music used for the Ocean Studios/Pioneer releases a lot. Yet, I never bought any of those DVDs because I didn't like the fact that they were edited. I liked it better than any of the music they used for those seasons when they re-dubbed them, and any of the music used in the later sagas.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

If one more person explains the Ocean dub, I'll seriously self-destruct.

[Castor Troy]

If one more person explains the Ocean dub, I'll seriously self-destruct.

So in the fall of 1996....

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

If one more person explains the Ocean dub, I'll seriously self-destruct.

So in the fall of 1996....

Piccolo Daimaoh used Self-destruct.


It was super-effective.

[Metalwario64]

Piccolo Daimaoh used Self-destruct.


It was super-effective.

Trainer Metalwario64 used Max Revive! Piccolo Daimaoh regained 2193 HP!

[Greenman]

On the other hand, there are dub fans (including a couple on this board) who are hesitant to buy the Dragon Boxes because it doesn't have the broadcast music.

To add a little example I just came across: Half the comments on Gozar's Dragon Box vs. season set video say that they like the look of the Dragon Boxes but won't buy it because it doesn't have Faulconer's music.

It's kind of a shame that Faulconer dub fans are still stuck with the orange bricks, while sub fans pretty much have their perfect release.

[Gaffer Tape]

Are there really that many dub fans who are dissatisfied with the orange bricks in the first place? In the grand scheme of things, that is? I mean, FUNimation spent a decade telling people that their music and changes were better than the original, and people believed it. With the season sets, they told people that widescreen and "remastering" was better than the original. And it seems a lot of people defend it, which makes sense since they defended all the other "improvements" FUNimation made.

[Greenman]

True, there is a sizable number of dub fans willing to defend the season sets to the death with FUNimation's marketing. The primary argument I see now though against buying the Dragon Boxes is "It doesn't have American music." I do think that there are enough dub fans that at least know that DragonBall episodes aren't widescreen.

*Goes back to browsing FUNi DBZ singles*