Dragonball Kai (FUNimation English) Dub: General Discussion

[Puto]

I kinda like it when stuff like attack and technique names are left in Japanese. It kinda gives the dub a sense of...authenticity, for lack of a better term.

Also, apparently ki is still translated to energy or power. It's no big deal, since that is an acceptable translation. It's no different from "Reiki" being changed to "Spirit Energy" in the Yu Yu Hakusho dub.

Raditz referred to it as "energy", but he always did even in the jp version. Freeza's crew always referred to it as "energy", while it's the Earthlings that coined the term "ki".

[JulieYBM]

Adam Sheehan confirmed to Ishtar (a Toon Zone forum member) that Schemmel is the one performing the English Dragon Soul.

[Amigo Ten]

I was thought "亀" was turtle. I know it's pronounced "kame", but it's written differently for both terms. The Kamehameha spelling is just phonetic sounds, right (apart from the "wave")? It's be like taking "turtul" and translating it to 亀, or something.

I'd be okay with Kamehame-wave or something though, if they wanted to. I'm okay with having Makankosappo and stuff as well, it's just not my personal preference.

[Metalwario64]

Adam Sheehan confirmed to Ishtar (a Toon Zone forum member) that Schemmel is the one performing the English Dragon Soul.

That's just crazy. It doesn't even sound like him to me, but he is a pretty good singer!

I definitely think Schemmel is doing a better job this time around. Overall the biggest difference I can describe is that I thought his voice sounded consistently higher than his previous performances in the role.

Also, apparently his Goku voice is much higher pitched this time around, possibly even more so than his 23rd Budokai voice..

[jjgp1112]

Damn, I didn't know that Schemmel could sing that well. I was sure it was Vic Mignogna.

[B]

And again, Kamehameha is different. As far as I know it's not meant to have a translation. The sound of "Kame" is there, but it's not written the same as it is in Kame Sennin. Kamehameha is just a string of sounds.

Double standards are fun!

It's not just a "String of Sounds".

In Japanese it's written "かめはめ波". Notice there are Four Hiragana and one Kanji. No Katakana.
Kame means "Turtle"
Ha (Kanji) means "Wave".

It's the Turtle School's Signature "Wave" attack.

I don't see where there is argument for this attack being a meaningless "String of sounds". You just know "Kamehameha" and that's what you're used to, so anything else would sound silly to you.

He admitted to being semi-ignorant on the term, so it's not a double standard.

I see no problem translating attack names, or Magic Cloud. Like Amigo Ten said, it becomes gobbledygook to non-native speakers, but in Japan, it means something. "EXplosive Diarrhea Drill Light Devil Cannon Hot Sauce" can obviously be shortened and adapted appropriately.

Also, FUNimation had to do it. They HAD to ruin Yeah! Break! Care! Break!. They HAD to fuck SOMETHING up. I'm gonna go cry.

[DemonRin]

I was thought "亀" was turtle. I know it's pronounced "kame", but it's written differently for both terms. The Kamehameha spelling is just phonetic sounds, right (apart from the "wave")? It's be like taking "turtul" and translating it to 亀, or something.

I'd be okay with Kamehame-wave or something though, if they wanted to. I'm okay with having Makankosappo and stuff as well, it's just not my personal preference.

亀 is the Kanji for Turtle
かめ is the Hiragana for Turtle

It's the same word just written different ways.

A good way to explain this is, most characters in Shonen series' refer to themselves with "Ore". It's the generic "rudeish" way shounen heroes refer to themselves.

俺 is Ore in Kanji
おれ is "Ore" in Hiragana and オレ is "Ore" in Katakana

Regardless of which way you use it, the word still means the same thing. Look here. (I used a One Piece page because it was handy)

亀 and かめ mean the same thing. I always thought that Toriyama wrote it that way so he could draw it out.

instead of "亀... は...め........波!!" (Kame... Ha.... me.... HA!"
He could write it...
"か...め... は...め........波!!" (Ka.... Me.... Ha.... Me.... HA!!"

[Amigo Ten]

Well alright then. Still, I wouldn't be bothered if Kamehameha was translated. Does the "hame" mean anything?

[DemonRin]

Well alright then. Still, I wouldn't be bothered if Kamehameha was translated. Does the "hame" mean anything?

It can mean "Crack" or "Fissure" and most people translate it as "Destruction" or "Destructive" in Kamehameha.

[Kaboom]

Raditz referred to it as "energy", but he always did even in the jp version. Freeza's crew always referred to it as "energy", while it's the Earthlings that coined the term "ki".

Precisely, and that's why it's a bummer if the dub is still going to stick to having everyone call it "energy." The difference in terminology was a big part of reflecting how differently the two groups view and treat Ki. The disciplined human martial artists have a deeper and more intimate understanding of it, while Freeza and his technology-reliant cronies take it for granted.

Just referring to it as something generic like "energy" or "power" across the board loses that distinction and dumbs things down a bit.

[Big Momma]

Yeah, they'll probably just leave the attack names untranslated. I mean, can you imagine Goku or Krillin shouting out "Sun Fist" or Piccolo shouting out "Demonic Spiralling Light Ray of Death".

Well...that's basically what the Japanese are hearing...just in their own language. It only sounds weird because it takes longer to say it in English than in Japanese. (I'm talking about the Makkasapopopopo-whatever)

I'm all for Kaboom's option #3.

[Kendamu]

I definitely think Schemmel is doing a better job this time around. Overall the biggest difference I can describe is that I thought his voice sounded consistently higher than his previous performances in the role.

Also, apparently his Goku voice is much higher pitched this time around, possibly even more so than his 23rd Budokai voice..

It'll be interesting to hear how much he drops it when Goku first goes SSj, then maybe gradually bringing it back up throughout the Artificial Human arc until he uses his normal Goku voice again for FPSSj.

[Gaffer Tape]

Oh, geez. Since it's been brought up, what about Kintoun? What side of the line does it fall on? Techniques-we're-intent-on-fixing-because-we're-better-at-dubbing-now or Characters-we-don't-feel-like-messing-with-because-we're-still-a-bit-cowed? It'd be nice to hear Kintoun spoken by the dub or at least a better translation than the accursed "Flying Nimbus" (geez, it's been so long I'd almost forgotten about it). Well, if they don't fix it, at least Kintoun is so marginal in this part of the series it won't make much of a difference.

Wait. I'm sure it's been confirmed by some people by now. Kintoun is summoned near the beginning of the series. What did Goku call it?

[Puto]

Yeah, they'll probably just leave the attack names untranslated. I mean, can you imagine Goku or Krillin shouting out "Sun Fist" or Piccolo shouting out "Demonic Spiralling Light Ray of Death".

Well...that's basically what the Japanese are hearing...just in their own language. It only sounds weird because it takes longer to say it in English than in Japanese. (I'm talking about the Makkasapopopopo-whatever)

I'm all for Kaboom's option #3.

Thing is, the english translation is long and bulky, thereby sounding awkward. "Makankôsappô" sounds good, whether you know what it means or not.

Though I wouldn't be opposed to a decent-sounding accurate adaptation of the name. Just not a literal translation, please.

[Tsukento]

Raditz referred to it as "energy", but he always did even in the jp version. Freeza's crew always referred to it as "energy", while it's the Earthlings that coined the term "ki".

Precisely, and that's why it's a bummer if the dub is still going to stick to having everyone call it "energy." The difference in terminology was a big part of reflecting how differently the two groups view and treat Ki. The disciplined human martial artists have a deeper and more intimate understanding of it, while Freeza and his technology-reliant cronies take it for granted.

Just referring to it as something generic like "energy" or "power" across the board loses that distinction and dumbs things down a bit.

Personally, I'm fine with it as long as they stray far away from referring to one's Ki as their "power level", like they did in the DBZ dub even long after Scouters and battle power readings were done away with.

[Khalid Shahin]

Why didn't anyone tell me that they would be first showing Dragon Ball Z Kai in Boston at Anime Boston, I would've totally gone if someone told me. RAGE

[DemonRin]

Raditz referred to it as "energy", but he always did even in the jp version. Freeza's crew always referred to it as "energy", while it's the Earthlings that coined the term "ki".

Precisely, and that's why it's a bummer if the dub is still going to stick to having everyone call it "energy." The difference in terminology was a big part of reflecting how differently the two groups view and treat Ki. The disciplined human martial artists have a deeper and more intimate understanding of it, while Freeza and his technology-reliant cronies take it for granted.

Just referring to it as something generic like "energy" or "power" across the board loses that distinction and dumbs things down a bit.

Personally, I'm fine with it as long as they stray far away from referring to one's Ki as their "power level", like they did in the DBZ dub even long after Scouters and battle power readings were done away with.

"Power Level" is fine with me as long as they make sure only the Scouter-users use the term.

It's when the Ki masters use it that it's like... "Huh"?

[Gaffer Tape]

I'd still prefer a more accurate translation, like battle power or combat strength, but it's not too big a deal. Like others have said, as long as they can keep the main martial artists from using the term, I can live with it.

So... any word on Kintoun?

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

I'd still prefer a more accurate translation, like battle power or combat strength, but it's not too big a deal. Like others have said, as long as they can keep the main martial artists from using the term, I can live with it.

So... any word on Kintoun?

I think they'll leave it as "Flying Nimbus" mainly because it's used so much in Dragon Ball and it's that stuck in dub fans' heads. Even if they did use it, they'd probably mispronounce it, unless they write it as Kinto'un. Same goes for changing it to "Battle Power".


As for "Ki", they used it in Raging Blast, so who knows. I wouldn't care if they kept it as energy though.

[Chuquita]

Adam Sheehan confirmed to Ishtar (a Toon Zone forum member) that Schemmel is the one performing the English Dragon Soul.

Now I'm really curious to hear what this sounds like.
That could be interesting.