Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" Dub Turns 16; Still Unreleased

[Fennekin]

I hope this gets a DVD Release of some sort and isn't TV exclusive.

[Super Sayian Prime]

Does anyone think that it's possible that Matt Hill could be the new Goku?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuODPoFWSJs&t=1m47s

Nah, Goku's not a surfer.

[Gonstead]

Besides, I could never stop thinking of Kero (Cardcaptor Sakura) as Goku if he was indeed the voice actor.

[CaBrPi]

Besides, I could never stop thinking of Kero (Cardcaptor Sakura) as Goku if he was indeed the voice actor.

I could never stop thinking of Ed from Ed, Edd, 'n Eddy.

[El Diabeetus]

Yeah, when that hint was given the possible people that popped up were: Richard Ian Cox, Alessandro Juliani and Sarah Strange. If I remember correctly, another hint was it was someone you would expect.

[90sDBZ]

I think what will ultimately determine the quality of this dub will be 3 things
-The company releasing it
-The budget
-The recording schedule/voice directors

The 1st Ocean dub had Saban and Funimation producing it so it had a decent budget behind. They could afford the best actors/directors and could also afford for a good score to be made by Shuki Levy.

The 2nd Ocean dub aka the Westwood dub seemed to have a very small budget behind it as well as a very tight recording schedule. Most of the music had to be recycled from other shows and a lot of the time it felt out of place and got very repetitive very fast. And even the good actors who were involved with the dub had many moments of poor delivery most likely due to only being able to do very few takes of each scene. Hell for all we know it all had to be done in one take. It wouldn't surprise me given how the dub tuned out.

As far as we know Funimation have nothing to do with this dub otherwise there probably would have been an announcement long ago and they wouldn't be using Blue Water actors. My bet is that it's some Canadian TV company who need it to be made for that Canadian content on TV rule.

[Fizzer]

Well, we know that the dub isn't rushed, but has actually taken an extremely long time to complete, and we know that great attention to detail has been paid, so those are both good things, probably.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Yeah, when that hint was given the possible people that popped up were: Richard Ian Cox, Alessandro Juliani and Sarah Strange. If I remember correctly, another hint was it was someone you would expect.

Well, minor correction, Kirbopher said that it was someone we wouldn't expect. He said our initial reaction once we learned who was playing Goku would likely be a semi-suprised, "Wh--really, you chose him?" Also, it could be that I read the phrase too specifically, but Kirbopher using the word "him" suggets that it will indeed be a guy.

Still, the way you phrased it is true in a way. A lot of us are now using that statement to justify odd casting choices. I've seen a few instances of, "Well, I think it's this guy, but that wouldn't be a suprise, so maybe it's this guy..."

So, my first suspect would be Richard Ian Cox, but that...wouldn't be suprising, so I'm thinking it's not him. Because Kirbopher said it would be someone that'll suprise us, combined with Kaiserneko's Kappei Yamaguchi hint, my bets are currently on Alessandro Juliani.

It'll be interesting, no matter who it is!

[Solidus]

So, my first suspect would be Richard Ian Cox, but that...wouldn't be suprising, so I'm thinking it's not him. Because Kirbopher said it would be someone that'll suprise us, combined with Kaiserneko's Kappei Yamaguchi hint, my bets are currently on Alessandro Juliani.

It'll be interesting, no matter who it is!

This is what I was thinking. Kirby Morrow seemed like a safe bet for the role of Goku. So, the new producers must have found someone that they consider much better if they saw fit to recast him. By the sounds of things they went for a voice that is quite different than the previous English VA's. Richard Ian Cox seems like an obvious choice and you could easily see him fit into that sort of role but Alessandro Juliani on the other hand is considerably different to what you would expect from the past English Goku VA's.

I wonder though, do you think Doc Harris will return as the narrator? I thought out of all the VA's during the Westwood dub he always seemed to nail his lines.

[El Diabeetus]

Yeah, when that hint was given the possible people that popped up were: Richard Ian Cox, Alessandro Juliani and Sarah Strange. If I remember correctly, another hint was it was someone you would expect.

Well, minor correction, Kirbopher said that it was someone we wouldn't expect.

Haha, I meant to say wouldn't, but it was a minor typo. Haha, yeah, I think it's either Alessandro Juliani or Sarah Strange, of those three I would Richard Ian Cox the most, probably Alessandro Juliani the least since he has a relatively deep voice. Part of me thinks it's Sarah Strange based on the fact they want to take Goku in a direction more like the Japanese version.

[Metalwario64]

Part of me thinks it's Sarah Strange based on the fact they want to take Goku in a direction more like the Japanese version.

I would say that's unexpected. I thought she kinda disappeared after voicing Ranma, but it seems she started exclusively doing movies and TV shows.

Her voicing Goku would be sorta like Clarke returning for Cell a little bit.

[TheBlackPaladin]

I wonder though, do you think Doc Harris will return as the narrator? I thought out of all the VA's during the Westwood dub he always seemed to nail his lines.

Hard to say. The fact that Kirby Morrow auditioned and that several other original cast members are coming back tells me that, whoever these producers are, they at least considered the original cast and auditioned them, even if they didn't select them. So I suppose it's possible, but they've already shown that they're not beyond recasting roles!

Then again, if Harris has signed on again, good luck getting him to be open about it. Lee Tockar apparently got in huge trouble for revealing that he was playing Freeza, and Kirby Morrow got in huge trouble for revealing the stuff that he did, even though he claims he didn't sign an NDA. Which, again, is why I'm so shocked that Scott McNeil has been as open as he has about the Kai dub, using the phrase "screw the NDA." I'm not looking down on him as a person for saying that, I'm just very surprised that he's been brave enough to say that considering that these producers (whoever they are) apparently have no problem going after people even if they didn't sign an NDA, like in Morrow's case.

Haha, I meant to say wouldn't, but it was a minor typo.

Oh, ha, gotcha! No worries.

[NitroEX]

I'de love for Harris to return. He's an awesome narrator especially in the early Ocean dub where he talked slower and deeper.

[El Diabeetus]

I have a feeling they're sticking with Say-yan even though they changed Nam-ek to Nah-mehk. I think Scott McNeil would of said Saiyan changed to 'Sigh-an' at the same time if that was the case.
Maybe that'd be a question for Brian Drummond or Scott McNeil if someone comes into contact with 'em (although Brian Drummond would be more likey, haha).

[Attitudefan]

I have a feeling they're sticking with Say-yan even though they changed Nam-ek to Nah-mehk. I think Scott McNeil would of said Saiyan changed to 'Sigh-an' at the same time if that was the case.
Maybe that'd be a question for Brian Drummond or Scott McNeil if someone comes into contact with 'em (although Brian Drummond would be more likey, haha).

Well I hope I talk to him but I haven't seen him in a while. :/

I am sure Say-an will still be the pronunciation.

[bkev]

Part of me is digging the idea of Sarah Strange voicing Goku. I really hope that's the case but I'd be shocked if it is.

Essentially, anyone but Richard Ian Cox is good by me. If they think Morrow's too cool, why would they even audition Cox? That doesn't really make much sense to me... but I'm mostly familiar with his work as Ranma and Inuyasha. Maybe there's more variety to his pool of voices than I'm aware.

[TheBlackPaladin]

If they think Morrow's too cool, why would they even audition Cox?

They may not necessarily have been talking about Morrow's voice type, just his delivery. Beyond that, it's totally possible that Cox may do something completely different than what he's done before.

If Alessandro Juliani has been cast as Goku, then things are going to get a tad ironic when they get to the Kai-Buu arc and he finds himself interacting with Brad Swaile's Gohan. In "Death Note," they played two characters bent on destroying each other, and now they'll (possibly) be playing father and son!

[90sDBZ]

Strangely as a kid I never had a problem with Morrow's Goku despite hating the Westwood dub. In a way he did suit Goku's character during the Cell Games episodes because Goku really was cool and calm about everything at that time telling everyone not to worry and chilling out.

[Gonstead]

My main issue with Morrow's Goku is that he can't quite grasp the innocent side of Goku very well and when he is seemingly to be trying, it just basically sounds like the rest of his performance.

Also, he can't scream to save his life, it's terrible *coughSSJ3cough*.

[90sDBZ]

It does really bug me how he used the exact same voice for Goku as he had for most of his other characters. Goku is a character that should have a voice unique to him. But I actually found Morrow to be be more listenable than Kelamis in the Westwood dub. At least Morrow didn't sound like a barking dog with a sore throat. Kelamis in the Westwood dub sounded bad to the extent that I almost felt relieved when Morrow took over.

That is one good sign about Ocean Kai though I must admit. Kirby Morrow would have been a passable choice for Goku in that he wouldn't have been the best but good enough to listen to and get the job done. The fact that they weren't willing to settle for passable but have gone out of their way to get someone better shows that they care a lot more than the Westwood dub producers who seemed to not give a toss.