"Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters" FUNimation English Dub Official Announcement and Discussion Thread

[Robo4900]

We can be fairly sure that it doesn't exist. No release in any country has been 4:3 so far.

Ugh.

Well, at least Buu Kai looks less over-contrasted than Funi's Blu-Rays, so some colour correcting to tone down the greens should make it look a litter better than Funi's. And hey, the higher bitrate of Blu-Ray might give the Blu-Ray release of Buu Kai more detail, which might make it look better, and actually show some grain preservation.

But having said that, seeing that comparison was pretty shattering, and has largely dulled my enthusiasm for Buu Kai.

[ErikB]

But having said that, seeing that comparison was pretty shattering, and has largely dulled my enthusiasm for Buu Kai.

Indeed. It's a sad realization that FUNimation's blu-rays actually look...marginally (arguably?) nicer than Buu Kai. Although in this shot, there are some crushed blacks in Old Kai's outfit; the blue is visible in Kai.
I've been thinking about tracking down the Buu Dragon Boxes and seeing if I can use them and Buu Kai blu-rays (whenever we get them) to create an personal ideal version; Dragon Box footage, Buu Kai dub. I have no idea if I'll ever find the time though.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

Although in this shot, there are some crushed blacks in Old Kai's outfit; the blue is visible in Kai.

Crushed Blacks are pretty much a universal constant in Funimation's source material, it's not indicative of the remastering process itself. The loss of dark detail usually isn't noticeable outside of the Saiyan Arc.

[thaman91]

I've been thinking about tracking down the Buu Dragon Boxes and seeing if I can use them and Buu Kai blu-rays (whenever we get them) to create an personal ideal version; Dragon Box footage, Buu Kai dub. I have no idea if I'll ever find the time though.

That sounds like a good idea. The Dragon Boxes have the absolute best picture quality in terms of detail, saturation, and grain. Despite that, they do have some color issues from what I've heard. I wonder if the FUNi single DVDs might have more accurate colors (besides their black crush & saturation issues).

[Jinzoningen MULE]

Despite that, they do have some color issues from what I've heard. I wonder if the FUNi single DVDs might have more accurate colors (besides their black crush & saturation issues).

By the time the Dragon Boxes were first put together, the footage had aged to the point where blues shifted to green (making Toei's choice to tint Boo Kai green even stranger), and reds faded into... not red? Still, they're the best release around.

The old Funimation Singles are in 4:3, that's pretty much the only benefit they have. The encoding was atrocious, macro-blocking was frequent, and Funimation, even then, fiddle-fucked (excuse my French) with the picture to make it seem "newer". Also, they aren't complete. The Ultimate Uncuts, which would have completed the series, were abandoned in favor of the Orange Bricks. In short, don't bother seeking them out.

[thaman91]

By the time the Dragon Boxes were first put together, the footage had aged to the point where blues shifted to green (making Toei's choice to tint Boo Kai green even stranger), and reds faded into... not red? Still, they're the best release around.

The old Funimation Singles are in 4:3, that's pretty much the only benefit they have. The encoding was atrocious, macro-blocking was frequent, and Funimation, even then, fiddle-fucked (excuse my French) with the picture to make it seem "newer". Also, they aren't complete. The Ultimate Uncuts, which would have completed the series, were abandoned in favor of the Orange Bricks. In short, don't bother seeking them out.

Well I wouldn't argue with most of what you said. The only thing I didn't know was that FUNi was tampering with the picture even back then. Do you have a source for that?

What I'm really wondering though, is if the Dragon Box video could be somehow color-matched to the FUNi singles whilst preserving the DBox's black levels & overall video quality. Because, from what I understand, the FUNi singles were sourced from a master that was made prior to the color fading of the DBox. So wouldn't it make sense that they'd be closer to the correct colors? And so if the amazing picture quality of the DBox could have the more accurate colors of the singles, that'd make for a better version right?

[Jinzoningen MULE]

The only thing I didn't know was that FUNi was tampering with the picture even back then. Do you have a source for that?

It was nothing even close to the extent that they do now. In fact, I don't even own the few singles that I had anymore. Maybe someone who's more familiar with them can confirm it for me. Either way, they aren't something you want to go out of your way to find. Boo Kai is preferable to them, if you ask me.

[Metalwario64]

The only thing I didn't know was that FUNi was tampering with the picture even back then. Do you have a source for that?

For some of the earlier releases, the footage seems more saturated than it should for the digibeta masters they had, and there was noticeable edge enhancement. This is especially evident when you compare Pioneers release of the Ocean cast material to FUNimation's Rock The Dragon set, which had lower contrast and saturation. Those Pioneer sets encoding were just as bad, if not worse than FUNimation's in-house releases of Season 3 and onward.

By the Buu-arc though, the colors looked a bit toned down and more natural. Still, the encoding throughout the entire series was terrible. Even the early Orange Bricks encoding, while better, wasn't that great, though the later ones when they went back on the DNR had less macroblocking, because FUNimation changed their encoding guy apparently around that time.

Even the Dragon Boxes were a tad softer and had more macroblocking than the Japanese sets, but for FUNimation's release of Kai, even on DVD, I have not noticed and pixellation even in the fastest of action scenes that I've looked through frame by frame, and I expect that to continue if we ever freaking get the Buu arc released here.

[IAmTheMilkMan]

I believe he talked about Goku choking up abit during the goodbye, which is not a good thing. Its not their job to add or remove anything from the original Japanese dub. If Nozawas take on the scene doesnt have Goku holding back tears or a sob then the English dub shouldnt add something like that.

Agreed, 100%. I've been worried about this ever since I first heard Schemmel mention it as I really don't want a repeat of this disaster from the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. A similar thing has already happened in the Kai dub with this scene when Goku wakes up from the heart virus. In the Japanese version (and even the original English dub, I believe) he just says "heh, sorry about that" after catching Chi-Chi. While it's not as bad as the first example, it still sticks out like a sore thumb to me.

I believe he talked about Goku choking up abit during the goodbye, which is not a good thing.

During that scene Goku thought he'd never see his son again so him choking up a bit isn't that big of a change and it adds a bit more to his character.

But the "bit more" you're referring to isn't Goku's character, that's the problem. I'll reserve judgement until I actually see the finished scene, but I really wish Funimation/Schemmel would stop trying to add this different side to Goku that was never there to begin with.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

To be fair to Sean he did give us the great "Son Goku" bit so not all his changes are bad. I mean as you said reserve final judgment for the actual scene I'm not as bothered as some people about it (it's just one scene I've waited so long for this I don't care lol) who knows maybe Sean hyped it up too much and we barely notice anything.

[ekrolo2]

Didn't Sabat add in a line to BoG that didn't stick out at all? Freeza's come back to Vegeta in F was also vastly better than the original where it's just "Don't be cocky Vegeta!".

[sintzu]

Freeza's come back to Vegeta in F was also vastly better than the original where it's just "Don't be cocky Vegeta!".

If the changes improve a scene like this then there's no reason to be against it.

[KentalSSJ6]

To be fair to Sean he did give us the great "Son Goku" bit so not all his changes are bad. I mean as you said reserve final judgment for the actual scene I'm not as bothered as some people about it (it's just one scene I've waited so long for this I don't care lol) who knows maybe Sean hyped it up too much and we barely notice anything.

The change Schemmel pushed for that had Goku use his full name during his "I Am" speech in Kai isnt really all that big when you look at the Japanese dub where you hear Son Goku a ton of times when compared to the English dub where the Son portion of his name has been almost completely ignored. In Japanese, Bulma and Piccolo often refer to Goku as only "Son". Off the top of my head I can only recall Son Goku being said in English in Burst Limit and Kai.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

To be fair to Sean he did give us the great "Son Goku" bit so not all his changes are bad. I mean as you said reserve final judgment for the actual scene I'm not as bothered as some people about it (it's just one scene I've waited so long for this I don't care lol) who knows maybe Sean hyped it up too much and we barely notice anything.

The change Schemmel pushed for that had Goku use his full name during his "I Am" speech in Kai isnt really all that big when you look at the Japanese dub where you hear Son Goku a ton of times when compared to the English dub where the Son portion of his name has been almost completely ignored. In Japanese, Bulma and Piccolo often refer to Goku as only "Son". Off the top of my head I can only recall Son Goku being said in English in Burst Limit and Kai.

I understand that but for a dub of the show that was a pretty powerful moment that was unscripted. To this day gives me goosebumps!

[Bansho64]

The change Schemmel pushed for that had Goku use his full name during his "I Am" speech in Kai isnt really all that big when you look at the Japanese dub where you hear Son Goku a ton of times when compared to the English dub where the Son portion of his name has been almost completely ignored. In Japanese, Bulma and Piccolo often refer to Goku as only "Son". Off the top of my head I can only recall Son Goku being said in English in Burst Limit and Kai.

And, not to mention, he didn't really pronounce "Son" right. It's still a good line, I loved it a lot when I was younger.

[Robo4900]

I've been thinking about tracking down the Buu Dragon Boxes and seeing if I can use them and Buu Kai blu-rays (whenever we get them) to create an personal ideal version; Dragon Box footage, Buu Kai dub. I have no idea if I'll ever find the time though.

I'll almost certainly try my hand at doing this if the Kai Buu-Rays aren't in 4:3, which seems pretty likely at this point. Even if it doesn't turn out great for some reason, I've been meaning to brush up on editing chops, and this seems like a perfect opportunity.

(From this point on, I am calling all Blu-Rays of Buu saga material "Buu-Rays")

Also, about Sean Schemmel making dialogue changes; he's a talented actor who's been playing Goku for over 15 years. If he decides to deliver a line in a particular way, I trust him to do it right.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Lmao Super announced before Kai. Welp. (I'm obviously happy about Super but I just want Buu Arc out already!)

[AzuraRacon]

Lmao Super announced before Kai. Welp. (I'm obviously happy about Super but I just want Buu Arc out already!)

On the plus side, if Funimation's reason for a lack of an announcement was fear of backlash over it not being super, That's out of the way now
But I wouldn't be surprised if they just still let Toonami handle the reveal

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Lmao Super announced before Kai. Welp. (I'm obviously happy about Super but I just want Buu Arc out already!)

Just goes to show had Funimation announced the Buu saga of Kai much earlier the hype among the majority of the fanbase wouldn't have been lost.

I'm still excited to know 2017 will be an immense year for dubbed Dragon Ball with Buu Kai most likely airing on Toonami AND Super on a kids station.

[Hellspawn28]

Buu saga Kai is just new episodes for Kai, so they probably didn't feel like that they need to announce it since the show is old kai. I would think the Buu saga would air soon in December or January.