Has FUNimation ever featured dubtitles for the series/films?

[Gaffer Tape]

Well, do any of the post-dubtitle discs have closed captioning programmed? I'm not talking about a player-generated subtitle track, but a television-generated closed-captioning feature. If so, then that would solve the problem. But I can't recall any discs I've owned having that feature (I usually watch television with CC on), and I don't think I've watched any post-dubtitle discs on anything other than a computer.

[Adamant]

I was a little disappointed that they didn't include the dubtitle for Z Kai, since the dub was pretty accurate, and the voice acting is superb. That was what Z Kai was about: the accurate dub for "refreshed" version of Z. If Funimation heavily advertizes solely on accurate dub, then why not include dubtitle? It's little things like this that irritate me to no end.

All in all, the dubtitle has a positive side, but not when the dub is garbage.

When the dub is rather accurate, what's the point in having a transcription of it when there's already an even more accurate subtitle script right there on the disc? Why settle for the second best?

(And what does the voice acting quality matter to a person who can't hear?)

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

When the dub is rather accurate, what's the point in having a transcription of it when there's already an even more accurate subtitle script right there on the disc? Why settle for the second best?

(And what does the voice acting quality matter to a person who can't hear?)

We've already had an accurate script for Japanese track on orange bricks and Dragon Boxes. It's essentially same on Kai in Japanese version. If a brand new and more accurate dub was heavily advertized by Funimation, they might as well slap dubtitle on it. If the hearing people are watching Z Kai with accurate dub, what about the deaf people? They aren't able to know what they were saying because the dubtitle wasn't included. It's a shame, really.

I can tell if the voice acting is pretty well done or not because I'm not completely deaf. While my right ear is completely shut, my left ear isn't fully. I can hear if the TV's volume is high enough, usually on the max. I can easily compare between the old dub and new one by listening to it.

[Adamant]

If the hearing people are watching Z Kai with accurate dub, what about the deaf people? They aren't able to know what they were saying because the dubtitle wasn't included.

...what? The deaf people get an entirely accurate subtitle track right there. They're the ones who get to know what's really being said, not the people watching an only mostly accurate dub.

[dbboxkaifan]

I can tell if the voice acting is pretty well done or not because I'm not completely deaf. While my right ear is completely shut, my left ear isn't fully. I can hear if the TV's volume is high enough, usually on the max. I can easily compare between the old dub and new one by listening to it.

That's one way of hearing it, my grandma is able to hear us but I kind of have to talk with high volume (don't really like to scream at all), and whenever the TV's on, it's the same, volume almost at the max.

I'd liked to have dubtitles for the Kai Blu-rays just to keep up with the dub if I were to miss anything, there are a few times where the subtitles coincide with the dub exactly.

It was on Freeza's arc, he said something related to "monkey saiyan" and also appear on the subs the same.

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

If the hearing people are watching Z Kai with accurate dub, what about the deaf people? They aren't able to know what they were saying because the dubtitle wasn't included.

...what? The deaf people get an entirely accurate subtitle track right there. They're the ones who get to know what's really being said, not the people watching an only mostly accurate dub.

.... If they really want an accurate script, the Dragon Boxes are right there. It's also included in Z Kai. Nobody is missing anything.

The whole point of Z Kai being released, as said by Funimation, was so the fans get to enjoy "the most accurate English dub." I would have enjoyed it even more if they included the dubtitle as a fun extra. The people may enjoy the cupcake without frost on it but if you include it, it becomes even more enjoyable.

I can tell if the voice acting is pretty well done or not because I'm not completely deaf. While my right ear is completely shut, my left ear isn't fully. I can hear if the TV's volume is high enough, usually on the max. I can easily compare between the old dub and new one by listening to it.

That's one way of hearing it, my grandma is able to hear us but I kind of have to talk with high volume (don't really like to scream at all), and whenever the TV's on, it's the same, volume almost at the max.

Yeah, it's sometimes difficult for us. I used to have hearing aid, but I lost it somewhere a several years ago. It's pretty expensive to get one. Around $6,000 for a good quality hearing aid. If I get one, I probably don't need to turn up close to the max.

[Adamant]

If the hearing people are watching Z Kai with accurate dub, what about the deaf people? They aren't able to know what they were saying because the dubtitle wasn't included.

...what? The deaf people get an entirely accurate subtitle track right there. They're the ones who get to know what's really being said, not the people watching an only mostly accurate dub.

.... If they really want an accurate script, the Dragon Boxes are right there. It's also included in Z Kai. Nobody is missing anything.

The whole point of Z Kai being released, as said by Funimation, was so the fans get to enjoy "the most accurate English dub." I would have enjoyed it even more if they included the dubtitle as a fun extra. The people may enjoy the cupcake without frost on it but if you include it, it becomes even more enjoyable.

Again... what? The deaf people already have the show offered to them with an accurate translation, why should Funi tell them "Hey, deaf guys, wouldn't you like the ability to watch the show with LESS accurate subtitles?" All it'd really do would be to have two sets of subtitles, one more accurate than the other, which would just cause confusion due to Funi most definitely not wanting to label them as "accurate" and "less accurate".

The correct cupcake analogy would be more along the line of "people may enjoy their frosted cupcake, but you should offer to take a bite of it before serving it to them, because they might prefer to not be able to eat the entire thing."
...or something.

[Naughty Kinto Un]

I'm a deaf guy. And while I'm almost strictly a sub fan I was disappointed to find that the Dragon Boxes and other recent releases did not have optional dubtitles. I was one of those kids who first caught Dragon Ball Z on Toonami, and kept up with the series that way with its infamously bad dialogue and stilted voice acting, buying the only the occasional single to watch the subtitled version that I preferred. Despite my intellectual as well as visceral dislike of the dub, it actually has a nostalgic value for me that I am compelled to revisit from time to time. I'm also interested in comparing the two versions with fresh eyes. And I'm curious how the dub dialogue works alongside the Shunsuke Kikuchi soundtrack (no, this is not a paradox--deafness is more complex than most people realize.) I can't do the above because there are no dubtitles. Don't get me wrong, I love my Dragon Boxes and Blue Bricks. They fulfill my main purpose in experiencing the Dragon Ball/Z anime, which is to watch it subbed, and in the case of the Dragon Boxes, in the best available quality. But I do consider the lack of dubtitles a frustrating imperfection.

Also, judging from what I've seen here and all over the internet, there is a sizable dub fan base that actually prefers FUNi's version over the original. It's not that far out there to suppose that there may be a good number of deaf and hard of hearing people that are or could potentially be part of that fan base. If hearing people have the option to choose between the two versions, why not deaf and hard of hearing people as well. I think it's disingenuous to rationalize the lack of dubtitles, the lack of choice, by saying the subtitled version is better anyway. It may be so in your case and mine, but that's not for us to decide for others. At least we had the privilege to make that decision on our own. In fact, I can sympathize with the deaf and hard of hearing DB/Z/GT dub fans because I've had a similar experience with the dubtitles-less DVDs of Yu Yu Hakusho, which has a popular dub that many say is much better than the original. I can't compare them because I wouldn't know... the original airing of the dub was too long ago for me to remember and I don't have the dubtitles now to check it out.

I mean, I don't know about anyone else, but I got a kick out of showing back to back the sub and dub of the History of Bardock DVD to my cousin, and pointing out the all the differences and laughing at how bad the dub script was. With dubtitles at the very least we get to join the discussion.

Ugh, I'm tired. I'm going to bed.