Would Dragon Ball be successful in English-speaking countries if the old English dubs weren't Americanized?

[coola]

It was successful despite being Americanized. Then again, as much as i despise Funimation, it could be way, way worse if 4Kids got license or Harmony Gold keep it. You can forget about uncut Japanese original on DVDs...Like with Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh.

[MasenkoHA]

It was successful despite being Americanized. Then again, as much as i despise Funimation, it could be way, way worse if 4Kids got license or Harmony Gold keep it. You can forget about uncut Japanese original on DVDs...Like with Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh.

4Kids hasn’t had the license to Pokemon since 2006 and it took until 2020 for The Pokemon Company USA to release any legal subtitle release…for the CG remake of the first movie and even then it used dubtitles and swapped out the remix of the Japanese theme song with a remix of the English theme song, possibly due to licensing issues. Seems like OLM or The Pokemon Company just doesn’t want a legal release of the Japanese version beyond that one exception


4kids did eventually start release uncut Yugioh DVDS back in like 2004 they just got cancelled early on for whatever reason.

We were never in any danger of 4kids licensing Dragon Ball anyways but even if we did it was theoretically possible the Japanese sub would have eventually saw the light of day

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Yeah, while the Japanese OST is superior, there are some 4Kids' tracks that were good like Kaiba's theme.

I loved that, and the themes for the Egyptian Gods were really memorable.

It was successful despite being Americanized. Then again, as much as i despise Funimation, it could be way, way worse if 4Kids got license or Harmony Gold keep it. You can forget about uncut Japanese original on DVDs...Like with Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh.

The Saban dub is basically what a 4Kids dub of Dragon Ball Z would have been like. I also think if Yu-Gi-Oh got uncut DVDs with the Japanese audio (however short-lived they were) so would Dragon Ball Z. I suspect there would have been enough of a push from the fan base to get the whole series released that way.

As much as I enjoy the Harmony Gold dub for what it is them keeping the license would have been the worst. We would have seen fans being called weebs for calling the main character Goku .

[coola]

As much as I enjoy the Harmony Gold dub for what it is them keeping the license would have been the worst. We would have seen fans being called weebs for calling the main character Goku .

From what i heard, what makes Harmony Gold especially scummy, is that they sit on Macross license, and do jack squat with it, yet they keep renew license at last moment, so fans hope of someone else getting it get shatteted I don't get it, why buy license and do absolutely nothing?

[Captain Awesome]

Dragon Ball succeeded in spite of what Funimation did to it.

[AlexSketchy04]

Let's say that instead of FUNimation, another company got the rights to Dragon Ball in North America and other English-speaking countries and did faithful English dubs of the classic 1986-1997 DB anime run. Would Dragon Ball be massively successful in America and other English-speaking countries if the old English dubs were faithful to the original Japanese versions and weren't heavily Americanized?

Ya'll would probably cancel me for this.

I understand why people take Mexico and Latin America as an example, and even Europe, but the American market is completely different from any of them, this is a more "puritanital" market when it comes to children's content.

A huge chunk of the world is very used to importing content from the USA and beyond, America isn't, LATAM is also very familiarized with serials and soap-operas with lots of violence, America isn't. I am Hispanic and grew up watching novelas, so I know what I'm talking about. I think Dragon Ball Z would have been Americanized, or at the very least censored to some degree on the states, script and visually wise. I don't see general audiences accepting a foreign show for kids, and I don't see the show having aired on a network with a much older audience, Fukunaga and Watson even mentioned it.

That said, I think think that changing the music and re-writes are pretty stupid, the show is "family friendly" enough that it doesn't even warrant it save for a few moments, same with the music, I always found the silence argument pretty strange because I recall other shows from the same era using much softer music or having silence, which almost never happened during the Funi days.

But well, that's my opinion on the matter.

[MasenkoHA]

Let's say that instead of FUNimation, another company got the rights to Dragon Ball in North America and other English-speaking countries and did faithful English dubs of the classic 1986-1997 DB anime run. Would Dragon Ball be massively successful in America and other English-speaking countries if the old English dubs were faithful to the original Japanese versions and weren't heavily Americanized?

Ya'll would probably cancel me for this.

I understand why people take Mexico and Latin America as an example, and even Europe, but the American market is completely different from any of them, this is a more "puritanital" market when it comes to children's content.

A huge chunk of the world is very used to importing content from the USA and beyond, America isn't, LATAM is also very familiarized with serials and soap-operas with lots of violence, America isn't. I am Hispanic and grew up watching novelas, so I know what I'm talking about. I think Dragon Ball Z would have been Americanized, or at the very least censored to some degree on the states, script and visually wise. I don't see general audiences accepting a foreign show for kids, and I don't see the show having aired on a network with a much older audience, Fukunaga and Watson even mentioned it.

That said, I think think that changing the music and re-writes are pretty stupid, the show is "family friendly" enough that it doesn't even warrant it save for a few moments, same with the music, I always found the silence argument pretty strange because I recall other shows from the same era using much softer music or having silence, which almost never happened during the Funi days.

But well, that's my opinion on the matter.

My problem with this argument is even at it’s most white washed (the Saban era Funi/Ocean dub) the show was clearly Japanese or at least East Asian. Look at Gohan’s outfit, look at King Kai, look at Chi Chi. Look at all the kanji on the character’s gi. Replacing the kung fu orchestral score with rock synth and having the characters grunt and and sound like they’re taking massive dumps doesn’t change the show clearly came from the East. If anybody was fooled into thinking the show was American made even as a six year old, I’m very concerned about their intelligence.

[ABED]

I know it's not universal and there are likely kids who don't like foreign things but from my experience (my own and talking to other kids or just observing others), I think most kids like certain shows and movies from other countries. They don't have to be Americanized, but dubbing allows them to be more accessible. In other words, an action show from Japan was a positive.

[GhostEmperorX]

I understand why people take Mexico and Latin America as an example, and even Europe, but the American market is completely different from any of them, this is a more "puritanital" market when it comes to children's content.

And this despite what the same country was known for producing within that century (Hollywood, the 60's in general, etc).

My problem with this argument is even at it’s most white washed (the Saban era Funi/Ocean dub) the show was clearly Japanese or at least East Asian. Look at Gohan’s outfit, look at King Kai, look at Chi Chi. Look at all the kanji on the character’s gi.

The curious thing is that not only have there been martial arts films that were Western productions (a lot featuring an actor who probably needs no mention around here), but there's also at least one big franchise that takes a massive amount from East Asian cinema, cultural concepts, attires, etc while its cast had for a long time been largely unrelated to the region (least until 2016 or so).

[Saiya6Cit]

Oh wow the way you put it into words could offend some people... but it is 2025 and people are always offended and upset about something... so... I guess you are fine today.

As a simple answer to your question....Uh... I can say what in my humble opinion is: Yes.

And my supportive argument is: Disney did it in the early 2000s and it worked. Now, I don't know if they continue to do so, but I know from personal experience the example of The incredibles in Spanish dub. Back then when the DVD was released it came with two Spanish versions, one said "neutral" and the other "mexican" and well, the latest had regionalisms whilst the other did not. That is what I call professional dub: Caring enough for your locals, but keeping the professional standards as well.

I want to apologize for any incorrect spelling, I did not posses the time to check on it.

Peace.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

My problem with this argument is even at it’s most white washed (the Saban era Funi/Ocean dub) the show was clearly Japanese or at least East Asian. Look at Gohan’s outfit, look at King Kai, look at Chi Chi. Look at all the kanji on the character’s gi. Replacing the kung fu orchestral score with rock synth and having the characters grunt and and sound like they’re taking massive dumps doesn’t change the show clearly came from the East. If anybody was fooled into thinking the show was American made even as a six year old, I’m very concerned about their intelligence.

Theres a show called Xiaolin Showdown that is full of East Asian iconography and sounds, but it was created in America (albeit by a Chinese woman). Myself and my cousin initially thought it was an anime for these reasons until I digged deeper and found out it aired on Kids WB in the US with shows like Static Shock, Teen Titans, Mucha Lucha and Johnny Test, and unlike the rare cases of anime that aired on the block (like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh) it had no original Japanese equivalent.

I've heard people mistake Dragon Ball Z for being an American cartoon, but if they're young, have only seen the dub and haven't been exposed to other anime I wouldn't blame them for having that misconception. The important thing is they are respectfully informed that this is, and always will be a Japanese show, which I'd hope most of this fandom has been.

[MasenkoHA]

The curious thing is that not only have there been martial arts films that were Western productions (a lot featuring an actor who probably needs no mention around here), but there's also at least one big franchise that takes a massive amount from East Asian cinema, cultural concepts, attires, etc while its cast had for a long time been largely unrelated to the region (least until 2016 or so).

Theres a show called Xiaolin Showdown that is full of East Asian iconography and sounds, but it was created in America (albeit by a Chinese woman). Myself and my cousin initially thought it was an anime for these reasons until I digged deeper and found out it aired on Kids WB in the US with shows like Static Shock, Teen Titans, Mucha Lucha and Johnny Test, and unlike the rare cases of anime that aired on the block (like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh) it had no original Japanese equivalent.

I've heard people mistake Dragon Ball Z for being an American cartoon, but if they're young, have only seen the dub and haven't been exposed to other anime I wouldn't blame them for having that misconception. The important thing is they are respectfully informed that this is, and always will be a Japanese show, which I'd hope most of this fandom has been.

Of course eastern influenced American made media exist. Though I’m not sure how assuming something like Xiolin Showdown or Avatar the Last Airbender was Japanese made is the same as thinking Dragon Ball is American made.

If the argument was “Americans wouldn’t accept something they think is foreign” then I have no idea how the hell anyone would look at Dragon Ball for 5 minutes and go “Yep this show is as American as Apple Pie and medical debt”

[Zephyr]

Some people in these sorts of conversations often take for granted how extremely un-American something like, say, "Pikachu" sounds. And yet, well, here we are.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

Some people in these sorts of conversations often take for granted how extremely un-American something like, say, "Pikachu" sounds. And yet, well, here we are.

I would say the un-American nature of shows like Pokemon and Dragon Ball are the exact reason as to why they succeeded. People were used to episodic, isolated stories focused on keeping a certain status quo. Dragon Ball and Pokemon however were not, they were serialized stories that went on for hundreds of episodes in which the status quo (besides Ash's age) would change on a regular basis.

[JulieYBM]

Some people in these sorts of conversations often take for granted how extremely un-American something like, say, "Pikachu" sounds. And yet, well, here we are.

I would say the un-American nature of shows like Pokemon and Dragon Ball are the exact reason as to why they succeeded. People were used to episodic, isolated stories focused on keeping a certain status quo. Dragon Ball and Pokemon however were not, they were serialized stories that went on for hundreds of episodes in which the status quo (besides Ash's age) would change on a regular basis.

Pocket Monsters was mostly episodic. While throughlines might have existed to built to each series' big regional tournament endings, it was nevertheless not nearly anything like even Dragon Ball, with its unending story arcs.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I can definitely relate to Dragon Ball's serialized storytelling being a big part of the reason I got into it. It felt innovative because no American cartoons I'd seen were like that. It's also probably part of the reason Dragon Ball will always be my favourite anime as I'll always credit it for introducing me to non-episodic storytelling.

I think the art style was what led me to learn that shows like Dragon Ball Z and Pokémon were Japanese. I don't recall when I learned that, but the fact characters were more realistically proportioned and had more exaggerated facial expressions and visual cues made them seem quite unique amongst the miniscule number of shows I'd seen by the age of 8. Now when I look at an anime it's unmistakably an anime as I've not seen any American cartoons replicate everything in the medium to a tee.

[ABED]

I can definitely relate to Dragon Ball's serialized storytelling being a big part of the reason I got into it. It felt innovative because no American cartoons I'd seen were like that. It's also probably part of the reason Dragon Ball will always be my favourite anime as I'll always credit it for introducing me to non-episodic storytelling.

I think the art style was what led me to learn that shows like Dragon Ball Z and Pokémon were Japanese. I don't recall when I learned that, but the fact characters were more realistically proportioned and had more exaggerated facial expressions and visual cues made them seem quite unique amongst the miniscule number of shows I'd seen by the age of 8. Now when I look at an anime it's unmistakably an anime as I've not seen any American cartoons replicate everything in the medium to a tee.

X-Men was, though not always picking up directly where the last one left off.

[Tian]

One thing I've learned from looking the history of Dragon Ball around the world is that people got to know and became fan of the franchise no matter whether the localization they watched or read is in another language they don't speak and distanced from their local cultural standards.

And the U.S is no exception. There are people who have watched the Telemundo broadcast of Z without any knowledge of Spanish and they didn't have problems to watch a dub (LATAM Spanish dub) that had the original Kikuchi score and was more uncut and faithful than the English dub that others were watching on their respective local stations and later, Toonami.

So, if Dragon Ball was a success in the U.S, it wasn't because of the americanization. It was because of the magic of the series itself.

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

and to have the show be considered Canadian Content

Where was this stated? I don't think the Saban dub would have been considered Canadian content since it only utilized a Canadian cast, some writers and a Vancouver-based recording studio, but otherwise it was wholly an American production.

At best it would have been a neat bonus but never a deciding factor, the latter seems to have always been about it being cheaper to record in Canada (which was a popular option at the time).

By Gen Fukunaga way back in 1997.

So is it you that picks who does the voice acting for the characters?
No, actually that's done in Canada. In fact, 35% of all cartoons shown in the US have the voice acting done in Canada. Partially because it's cheaper to do so there and also in order to show our cartoons in Canada a certain amount of work has to be done there.

https://dbzu.3gkai.com/opinions/gfukunaga.html

The cheaper rates and wanting their product to be considered Canadian Content to get on Canadian television were both the reasons

I don't know the exact timeline here since he didn't list years, but Peter Kelamis mentioned in that hour+ podcast he did with geekdom101 that they didn't actually get to see the saban dub air on Canadian TV until several years after the fact. In fact the in house dub might have been airing in America by that point.

People in America would have no issues with the Japanese music as well. If kids in the 90s can enjoy re-runs of Showa Era Godzilla movies playing on TV, they would have no issues with a faithful English dub of DB.

The fact that the Pioneer dubs of movies 1 & 2 aired on Cartoon Network and old fans (even dub fans, not just purists) hold those in extremely high regard proves this.

[Zephyr]

People were used to episodic, isolated stories focused on keeping a certain status quo. Dragon Ball and Pokemon however were not, they were serialized stories that went on for hundreds of episodes in which the status quo (besides Ash's age) would change on a regular basis.

The serialized storytelling and ever-changing status quo were definitely things I noticed and really liked about Dragon Ball, which set it apart form most other stuff I was watching on Cartoon Network at the time.