Dragonball Kai (FUNimation English) Dub: General Discussion

[Gaffer Tape]

The opening song sounds good but the ending sounds meh.

The new narrator sounds awesome.

Makankosappo yay!

Yeah, I agree. The narrator sounds great! He'll probably the best one yet, as long as he can keep far, far away from the "monster truck announcer" vibe that Dale Kelley and Kyle Hebert went for.

[Kendamu]

It's nothing I'm going to lose sleep over. I don't mind dokkan being in the English lyrics. I just found it kind of interesting since there is an actual translation for dokkan that takes up the same amount of syllables.

I think I'd fall over laughing if Schemmel was forced to sing, "Kaboom! Bang! POW! Paradise!" ;p

Haha! Nah, he'd just say "Kaboom! Kaboom! Paradise!"

[linkdude20002001]

Isn't it strange that no one from Sakura Con's mentioned anything?

'Cause we're too tired to get online (or to open up the box containing the Master Sword!). Lol.

My opinions...
-Is that Schemmel singing Dragon Soul?! Yay, they kept in the "Dokkan dokkan" part!
-Grr... The ending was too quiet to hear.
-Doc Morgan sounded similar to one of the previous narrators. Was it Doc Harris or Brice Armstrong...? Hmm...
-The narrator said goh-koo, I think.
-Freeza's laugh was pretty good. Can't really form an opinion without words. Lol
-Makankosappo? Yay! Tien Shinhan? Boo!

-Schemmel's Gokuh... was actually great?! He finally sounds like Gokuh, and put a lot of effort into his role.
-The scripts and voice acting are unbelievable. They might even be better than the Japanese version. So much effort to even the smallest of details was put into this dub. I found it to be incredibly realistic.
-Clinkenbeard is non-adult Gokuh...? I liked it. Baby Gokuh sounded like Hima from Shin-chan, and child Gokuh and child Gohan sound like Maso. Yay, it sounds great! ^_^
-Palencia is perfect for Bulma!

Episode titles:
01. Prologue to Battle! The Return of Goku!
02. The Enemy is Goku's Older Brother!? The Secret of the Mighty Saiyan Warriors
03. A Life or Death Battle! Goku and Piccolo's Desperate Battle

So... any word on Kintoun?

Gokuh just said "Nimbus!".

[Gaffer Tape]

So... any word on Kintoun?

Gokuh just said "Nimbus!".

Damn! But (most) everything else sounds good. Sounds like dub fans might finally get a good show.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

So... any word on Kintoun?

Gokuh just said "Nimbus!".

Meh, no big loss. He doesn't even use the Kinto'un that much in Z anways, so non-dub fans' ears won't be burnt that much.

[Metalwario64]

-Schemmel's Gokuh... was actually great?! He finally sounds like Gokuh, and put a lot of effort into his role.

Can you tell how high pitched his voice is compared to his 23rd Budokai performance? Does he do a good job of making him sound childlike? How do the scripts handle him? Does it handle him as though he was still a child at heart? Does he speak perfect English, or does he speak in a slightly less intelligent dialect? Lastly, do his screams still sound like "rrgggaAARRGHH!" or do they sound more Nozawa-esque with a more "Kyaaaah!" sound?

-Palencia is perfect for Bulma!

It's actually Monica Rial. Does she do her own thing, or is she imitating Tiffany Volmer's performance?

I apologize for all of these questions. I am just really excited for this dub!

[linkdude20002001]

I don't remember the screams too much; I just remember them sounding good. At times his voice was deep and serious, but when he wasn't, it felt very much like the happy Gokuh we know and love (childlike I suppose). I never heard him during the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. Niether Gokuh nor Chichi sounded hick-like/less intelligent. I really enjoyed the acting though. And script-wise, it was great to watch. I liked how they made Gohan try to explain everything that happened with the bird, and the falling into the river, and the log (et cetera) while he cried into Gokuh's arms. So cute and realistic. Also, Gokuh made a sound when he turns his head behind him and then forwards again; I thought it sounded quite real. So all-in-all, the acting was great this time around.

Oh, thanks Metalwario. I'm such a dumb ass. Lol. Monica Rial was doing her own thing. There was a tone of "sexy girl Bulma"-ness in her voice. ^^

[Metalwario64]

Thank you. Also, I have one more question: is every action vocalized? In the original dub, everything from looking in another direction, to moving their eyes, to taking a step, or even just showing a character standing there with an angry face came with a grunt from the voice actor. Could you tell if there was any of that here?

[linkdude20002001]

Ah, well there was more than I remember there being in the Japanese dub, but not too much. And when they made noises an such, it sounded good. At least, I liked it.

[sailorspazz]

I also went to the showing on Saturday night. I haven't read the entire (over 40) pages of the thread yet, so I'm not sure of everything that's been discussed, but I'll add in my thoughts, anyway.

About the "Dokkan dokkan" in the opening song....maybe I didn't hear it right since the volume on the songs and eyecatchers was quieter than the rest, but it sounded like he was saying "Don't stop, don't stop" at the beginning (and, holy crap, I had no idea that it was Sean Schemmel singing it). Didn't quite sound exactly like "dokkan dokkan", but maybe I just heard it wrong.

As was mentioned before, all of the names and terms are the same as before (Nimbus, Tien Shinhan, etc, and "power" instead of "ki"). The pronunciations we've seen so far (like Saiyan) have stayed the same. But, yes, we got Makankousappou (was definitely surprised to hear that). And the script is much, much more accurate than before. Unlike the 2005 redub, which was heavily based on the first dub, you can tell it's been completely rewritten (I only heard a couple of lines that were similar). Dumb errors like Planet Vegeta being destroyed three years ago are GONE (praise zombie Jesus!) There aren't any stupid little jokes added in for "humor". Maybe it's not line-for-line accurate to the Japanese version, but it feels much more like the show that it should have been from the beginning. It kind of makes me interested to buy it when it comes out so I can watch the dubbed version with Japanese version subtitles so I can compare the scripts. I think the script would hold up very well in comparison.

Another thing about the script is they've put in some light swearing again, and with greater frequency than the 2005 redub (in the first three episodes, I think there were six or seven instances total). A couple of "what the hell"s, and "dammit"s so far, coming from Raditz, Piccolo, and, kind of surprisingly, Gokuu. I don't recall them ever having Gokuu swear even in the redub. I don't think they're overdoing it, though. I mean, in Gokuu's case, he was writhing on the ground in pain after Raditz kneed him in the stomach, so I think a "dammit" is appropriate, since he could have very well been saying "kuso" or "chikusho" in the Japanese version.

As for the vocal performances....first of all, I think the new voices (Bulma, Gohan, the Narrator) are doing a good job so far. The narration is more in the style that it was for Dragonball, rather than the "hardcore" style they were going for with Z. More gentle, rather than, "ZOMG, get ready for some mind-blowing action!" *explosion* *guitar riff* The cast that remains from before, well....to me, they mostly sound pretty much the same. Since the script is better than before, it automatically sounds better than it used to, but the performances seem largely unchanged. I will agree with what linkdude said about Gokuu sounding more childlike, but only to a certain extent; during the scenes when he's with Chichi and Gohan, and hanging out at Kame House, you can hear that innocent quality. Once Raditz comes around and the fighting begins, Sean Schemmel seems to go back to that superhero voice pretty quickly. I guess I'd like for there to be a less drastic change between his fun, happy voice, and his totally serious voice.

I should have written notes, because I feel like I didn't remember everything I wanted to say, but overall I think they've done a much better job this time around. But if you really don't like the dub voices, then all of the cast that remained from before is probably going to be a turnoff, since they still sound essentially the same, even if their script is more accurate.

[Rocketman]

Lastly, do his screams still sound like "rrgggaAARRGHH!" or do they sound more Nozawa-esque with a more "Kyaaaah!" sound?

I must know this. Nozawa's screams set my teeth on edge and I'm hoping they weren't emulated.

[penguintruth]

Based on the past few reports, I'm starting to get a little excited. But I'd still have to hear it for myself.

If I had to make a bet, it would be that Gohan and Bulma's new VAs are probably going to be the best in the bunch.

[DemonRin]

Ok, getting kinda excited, but question.

Was there any mention of The Son family name, or was it ignored again?

[ohaimynameiserik]

and, kind of surprisingly, Gokuu.

No, they didn't have him swearing before.

I was really hoping for this, seeing as in the japanese version, during a fight, every other word outta his mouth is "kuso"

[LilKokuLink]

I was looking on Youtube earlier for DBKai videos from Sakura con but couldn't find anything.

Makankosappo
Dub Ending
Dub Opening

[Kendamu]

and, kind of surprisingly, Gokuu.

No, they didn't have him swearing before.

I was really hoping for this, seeing as in the japanese version, during a fight, every other word outta his mouth is "kuso"

"Kuso" doesn't quite carry the same taboo as American curse words do when compared to other words. The only problem with translating it properly is that, to us, equally severe words to "kuso" like "drat" or "blast" sound silly to us.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

and, kind of surprisingly, Gokuu.

No, they didn't have him swearing before.

I was really hoping for this, seeing as in the japanese version, during a fight, every other word outta his mouth is "kuso"

"Kuso" is a very light swear in Japanese, it would translate to something like "darn" or "drat" which sound silly to say when someone has just been severely injured. I think "dammit" fit the situation well and I hope to hear that in Kai instead of "shit" or whatever.

[ohaimynameiserik]

and, kind of surprisingly, Gokuu.

No, they didn't have him swearing before.

I was really hoping for this, seeing as in the japanese version, during a fight, every other word outta his mouth is "kuso"

"Kuso" doesn't quite carry the same taboo as American curse words do when compared to other words. The only problem with translating it properly is that, to us, equally severe words to "kuso" like "drat" or "blast" sound silly to us.

True, seeing as there aren't really curse words in Japan.

But in the right context I think it'd be appropriate for the swearing.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

True, seeing as there aren't really curse words in Japan.

But in the right context I think it'd be appropriate for the swearing.

You're right, there's no equivalent of harsh swear words in Japanese like "fuck" or words like that. However, I personally feel that words like "shit" and "fuck" have no place in a children's show like Dragon Ball Z and that "dammit" is fine as long as nothing worse is said.

[Treklin]

I was looking on Youtube earlier for DBKai videos from Sakura con but couldn't find anything.

Makankosappo
Dub Ending
Dub Opening

From the dub opening :

i believe freddy krueger doesnt like the english dub of DB KAI ^^