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

[Kakacarrottop]

Could the score have something to do with the delay? From what I understand they have to license the music separately? Perhaps Ocean couldn't afford the Kikiuchi replacement score?

Extremely unlikely. Way back in 2010 it had already been confirmed they were using replacement music. It was likely an artistic decision, as well as a financial one, since they can earn TV music royalties by using their own music instead of Kikuchi.

[Hellspawn28]

It would be interesting if Ocean dubs Kai if Blue Water studios dubs Super. Didn't Blue Water studios dub GT before Ocean dub the rest of DBZ on their own?

[NitroEX]

It would be interesting if Ocean dubs Kai if Blue Water studios dubs Super. Didn't Blue Water studios dub GT before Ocean dub the rest of DBZ on their own?

As far as we know this dub is a cross production between Ocean and Blue Wate talent. The main roles are given to Ocean/Vancouver actors while minor roles are filled out by Blue Water guys. This has been a trend in recent years for Ocean dubbed anime which is probably the result of less shows being sent there. In the past they would only send anime with low budgets to be dubbed at Blue Water but this didn't always produce good results. I think what they're doing now is a smarter way of doing things, especially since it allows everyone a chance to get work.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Could the score have something to do with the delay? From what I understand they have to license the music separately? Perhaps Ocean couldn't afford the Kikiuchi replacement score?

Extremely unlikely. Way back in 2010 it had already been confirmed they were using replacement music. It was likely an artistic decision, as well as a financial one, since they can earn TV music royalties by using their own music instead of Kikuchi.

Oh did not know that thanks for the info. Very interesting. The intrigue around this dub just peaked some more for me!

[eledoremassis02]

If only shuki levy could come back but isnt he in jail?

[Jinzoningen MULE]

If only shuki levy could come back but isnt he in jail?

Why would you want him again? Wouldn't it be better for the new dub to have its own, unique take on the music.

[Godgoku95]

so nobody knows subzero ice is, no clues, contact or even a location ?

[TVfan721]

For what it's worth, I added Subzero Ice to facebook and he/she accepted my friend request. I currently have the person on FB but they never replied to the PM I sent on there.

[jelleline89]

I imagine Subzero Ice did their part in making the community aware of this dub and isn't putting their neck out any further. Chances are they have a job they would prefer to keep.

[eledoremassis02]

If only shuki levy could come back but isnt he in jail?

Why would you want him again? Wouldn't it be better for the new dub to have its own, unique take on the music.

We're going back to ocean so why not I wouldnt mind a new take but when people usually think of ocean they usally also remeber shuki's soundtrack

[Jinzoningen MULE]

If only shuki levy could come back but isnt he in jail?

Why would you want him again? Wouldn't it be better for the new dub to have its own, unique take on the music.

We're going back to ocean so why not I wouldnt mind a new take but when people usually think of ocean they usally also remeber shuki's soundtrack

But if they want that, they could watch Ocean's Z dub.

[Bansho64]

But if they want that, they could watch Ocean's Z dub.

But what if they wanna see better acting and better placements? If they want to hear his music in a new dub, then that's cool. Fans of Ron Wasserman's score for Z haven't gotten the same treatment that, say, the Kikuchi and Faulconer fans have. The old two arcs of the Ocean dub with that music is all they got. And the second arc wasn't even done in its entirety. I say, if there is a replacement score in their dub of Kai, let it be that score. I'm not that big a fan of it myself like I am for Kikuchi but I'm a fan nonetheless.

[Kakacarrottop]

If only shuki levy could come back but isnt he in jail?

Why would you want him again? Wouldn't it be better for the new dub to have its own, unique take on the music.

We're going back to ocean so why not I wouldnt mind a new take but when people usually think of ocean they usally also remeber shuki's soundtrack

Levy has been retired or semi-retired since Saban Entertainment got sold to Disney in 2001. On his IMDB page he's only had one credit in 15 years, and that was back in 2009. The other guys from Saban who were supposedly involved with the Ocean soundtrack have also retired or only do music for crappy reality shows now.

Interestingly, Saban's music library got purchased by some other company a few years ago, and their DBZ score can now be purchased online through this website. I guess it wouldn't be impossible for Ocean to license the music.

[TheBlackPaladin]

so nobody knows subzero ice is, no clues, contact or even a location ?

The Ocean dub of Kai has tons of mysteries, and the identify of the ever-mysterious "Subzero Ice" is one of them. Whoever he/she is, Subzero Ice is someone who is in a position to know things that are not public knowledge. So, like jelleline89 said, the most likely explanation is that Subzero Ice's job security would be compromised if his/her true identity were to be revealed.

Very early on I thought Subzero Ice might be one of the voice actors involved in the dub, but as time went on, it appears that that's not the case, because Subzero Ice had knowledge of the production itself and dropped some hints regarding TV deals...that's info that no voice actor would ever be given access to. That info is strictly for producers only. Voice actors are just hired to come in and act, and that's the end of their responsibilities. After that, they're in the dark just as much as we fans are about the show's production, release dates, and methods of distribution (that's why, in every interview you'll ever hear with a voice actor, when they're asked, "When is [show name here] coming out?", their response will always be, "I honestly don't know"). So, Subzero Ice definitely appears to be someone involved on the production level, and not just a voice actor.

[Bansho64]

Very early on I thought Subzero Ice might be one of the voice actors involved in the dub, but as time went on, it appears that that's not the case, because Subzero Ice had knowledge of the production itself and dropped some hints regarding TV deals...that's info that no voice actor would ever be given access to. That info is strictly for producers only. Voice actors are just hired to come in and act, and that's the end of their responsibilities. After that, they're in the dark just as much as we fans are about the show's production, release dates, and methods of distribution (that's why, in every interview you'll ever hear with a voice actor, when they're asked, "When is [show name here] coming out?", their response will always be, "I honestly don't know"). So, Subzero Ice definitely appears to be someone involved on the production level, and not just a voice actor.

This is great info! You really know your stuff about the business!
Question: For curiosity's sake, may I ask, are you a VA yourself? If so, what have you acted in? I'm always interested in the voice acting business so its great to have someone explain what goes on behind the scenes.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Thank you for the interest, but I'll have to politely decline giving a lengthy answer only because I want to respect the wishes of the mods and keep the thread on-topic and about Dragon Ball. The super-short answer to that question, though, is that I'm not involved in anything Dragon Ball-related (apart from being a fan), and that I'm--I assure you ( )--no one special.

[Super Sayian Prime]

Here's a summary about what we know so far:

Pre-production phase may have started as early as 2009. Casting began mid/late 2010. The 98 episode production ended sometime before April 2014.

Known cast and crew:
Goku: Richard Ian Cox
Vegeta: Brian Drummond
Piccolo: Scott McNeil
Freeza: Lee Tockar
Tien: Brendan Hunter

Music production: Tom Keenlyside and John Mitchell
Theme song singer: Dave Steele

[Nightmare Wheel]

I can add a little more to that.

Saffron Henderson made a tweet that says she was temporarily replaced as Gohan, but got to do lots more later. It seems likely this refers to Kai.
https://mobile.twitter.com/SafHen/statu ... 2930347008

It's gone now, but I distinctly recall that an older version of Michael Dobson's website made specific mention of him returning as Nappa for Kai.

[TheBlackPaladin]

It's gone now, but I distinctly recall that an older version of Michael Dobson's website made specific mention of him returning as Nappa for Kai.

You recall correctly. More specifically, he posted his resume online, and it specified that it was indeed the for role of Nappa in Dragon Ball Kai.

I'd also add a few other factoids.
-Apparently, the most recent actors to play their respective characters in the Westwood dub were asked to re-audition for their parts, with Kirby Morrow saying that he auditioned for Goku again and did not get his part back because the producers thought he sounded "too cool" for Goku.
-Peter Kelamis and Ian Corlett said that they were not contacted about Kai and didn't even know about it until fans started asking.
-Scott McNeil said that he reprised Jeice from the Ginyu Force as well.
-Kix, the UK TV network that airs (the FUNimation dub of) Kai was apparently aware of the existence of the Ocean dub, but Toei, for unknown reasons, did not allow them to use it. There's been a ton of speculation as to why, but even if we don't know the reasons, one thing that keeps coming up is that many producers have said that licensing an anime is a legal nightmare. So, licensing issues could absolutely be the case.

[NitroEX]

It's gone now, but I distinctly recall that an older version of Michael Dobson's website made specific mention of him returning as Nappa for Kai.

You recall correctly. More specifically, he posted his resume online, and it specified that it was indeed the for role of Nappa in Dragon Ball Kai.

This is true. Micheal Dobson has also alluded to being in the Kai dub on Twitter. https://twitter.com/michaeldobson07/sta ... 4351752192
Much like Scott, he's likely to have played more than one character as he voices multiple roles in DBZ.

Aside from him and Saffron we also know that Cole Howard is Android 17 and that James Beach played a character in episode 21.

I sent a few questions to James at the time he revealed his involvement but he wouldn't go into any specific detail as he didn't want to risk spoiling any surprises. He did mention that a friend of his who's apparently "widely popular for voicing an iconic character in another Canadian produced series" was in the dub for only a few episodes and that, according to the actor himself (whoever he is), "he blew his performance out of the water compared to his FUNimation counterpart". This was very promising to hear as it made me think some of the actors might have been aiming to outdo the Texas cast. As we know, competition always helps produce the best results and I hope this was the case for this dub.

The only other bit of info he revealed to me was that he was a big fan of Brian's Vegeta and that from what he heard, "[Drummond] brought his A game and delivered". I certainly hope that is the case.