A Perfect Dub

[Piccolo Daimao]

I was just thinking about how much people like the original version of the anime here that it got me wondering. If FUNimation released a perfect dub with spot-on voices, acting, script and was way better than the decent Kai dub, would you sub fans start watching that instead, because it's faithful and in your native language? Or would you be so used to the original that you wouldn't go back to it, even if it was perfect?

And no, I'm not intending to start another dub vs. sub or "conversion" thread, because we've had enough of those already.

[Turtle Marked Stone]

I'd watch both. I usually rotate every few episodes on anime with accurate well done dubs.

[penguintruth]

I'm already watching Kai mostly in English as it is. I still don't think it's as good as the Japanese version, but it's such an improvement, I'm still kind of dazzled. The honeymoon will end soon, I'm sure, given the lack of quality in the Trunks episodes.

I'll say this much: For me, when the English track is as good as the Japanese track, convenience dominates.

[VegettoEX]

A dub, regardless of its quality, is just a minor curiosity at this point.

If there was a complete lack of the original Japanese version in terms of availability (a la 1999), then sure, I'd actually pay it two minds.

But that's not an issue. So neither is a dub.

It always comes back to: what language was this piece of media originally produced in? OK, that's how I'm going to consume it.

[TripleRach]

If they recast everyone from the ground up, used all the original music (preferably with the original vocals), and used names and terminology that didn't piss me off, I'd at least be willing to check it out. And if it were really good, I probably wouldn't mind watching it casually every once in a while if the opportunity came up.

But given a choice, I'd always choose the original version over a dub, no matter how good the dub might be. It's a purism thing.

[TheGreatness25]

I'm not really impressed at the "super accuracy" of the Kai dub. There are a lot of different lines thrown in there too, just a lot less room for them to play around than DBZ. In DBZ, during filler scenes, or other unimportant comments that don't necessarily pertain to the story, they could throw in the "cat loves food" type of crap, but when it came to something that needed accurate translating, they were never so far off that it was horrifying. In Kai, they do it the same way. If in the Japanese version they said, "It is time for you to perish," they could conceivably translate it to, "I will make sure you die!" And that's how Z was done, but with so much being cut out, they have no room to play around with the dialogue like they did in Z. There are still plenty of lines that are out of left field though, just minor ones. I'd like to give FUNimation credit because I respect them and am thankful that because of them I get to enjoy my favorite series in existence, but I'm not going to blindly toot their horn. Watching the Japanese version and switching over to the English track, most of the time, what they say isn't exactly DEAD SPOT on. And it is possible for the dub to say pretty much exactly what the original says, which is something I learned from shows like Cowboy Bebop, Street Fighter (movies, not sure about the series), etc.

[penguintruth]

There shouldn't be room to play around. You can't trust Funimation with adlibs, they always fuck up and say something stupid, and take things too far out of the way.

Cowboy Bebop and Big O are two of the best English dubs ever, and they're practically word-for-word. Fortunately, when their dub script does differ from the Japanese track, it's minute enough to not even be noticed, and their VAs are charming enough to sell it. With Funimation? They better just stick with the script.

I always hear that, "If a dub is way too much like the Japanese track, it sounds unnatural." Nobody's ever given me a good example of this.

[Mountain]

100% accurate? Sure, I'd watch it.

[Castor Troy]

I don't have the time or energy to watch series 2 times in both languages anymore like I used to, so I'll just watch the default language on whatever media I get the show in.

With Kai, I always watch the Japanese version when it first airs and the dub on nicktoons. I'm kinda forced to watch both by default.

[Super Sonic]

I don't have the time or energy to watch series 2 times in both languages anymore like I used to, so I'll just watch the default language on whatever media I get the show in.

That's how I do, and also a part of my being lazy, except for His and Her Circumstances, because everytime I sat down to watch that series, I was eating and I can't eat and read subtitles at the same time. Closest thing to doing so is plan to finish Voltron then watch Go Lion.

[NeoKING]

I always hear that, "If a dub is way too much like the Japanese track, it sounds unnatural." Nobody's ever given me a good example of this.

Beyblade: Metal Fusion is a perfect example, and Zeta Gundam is close to this, but that's how Gundam is in general; Sunrise makes the English dubbers do it that way. Another example is the Sony dub for Samurai X, and at times, the Media Blasters dub of Rurouni Kenshin. Oh, and TPC's Pokemon DP dub came off as this in some parts, though it's still pretty good(so is the Black and White dub, which was basically 100% faithful to the original if the two premier eps. that showed on Saturday were anything to go by)

[JulieYBM]

A 'perfect dub' isn't going to happen, not that one would change anything for me now. There's no reason to continue playing the back-and-forth flip-flopping between the original an a dub of it. I'm honestly not interested in emotionally investing in another set of actors who are just dubbing the shows/movies/specials/game, rather than being intergral contributing factors to the show.

[Piccolo Daimao]

A 'perfect dub' isn't going to happen, not that one would change anything for me now.

We know that; it's a hypothetical question.

[JulieYBM]

A 'perfect dub' isn't going to happen, not that one would change anything for me now.

We know that; it's a hypothetical question.

Hence why I wrote "not that one would change anything for me now."

[Piccolo Daimao]

A 'perfect dub' isn't going to happen, not that one would change anything for me now.

We know that; it's a hypothetical question.

Hence why I wrote "not that one would change anything for me now."

I know, just that you were kinda stating the obvious.

[Ahiru77]

I'd watch it. They sound more entertaining in english.

[B]

I kinda fail to see how this isn't a conversion thread just because you say it's not, but alright.

I would flip-flop. If I want to sit down and watch it, original. If I'm multi-tasking, dub.

[Kiyza]

Whenever a series I like has a good dub, I generally go out of my way to watch it in both English and Japanese. I generally watch it in Japanese first, though, then take a look at the dub second. I think if there was a really great dub of Dragon Ball, or even if I had the motiviation/cash to watch Kai, (I've been short on cash lately and I don't get Nicktoons. I wake up much too late on weekends to watch it on CW4Kids as well) I'd probably do the exact same.

[Gaffer Tape]

I'd certainly check out an episode or two for comparison's sake or spot check a few key scenes (pretty much what I do with Kai now), but, no, I certainly wouldn't switch. Even if, somehow, the dub was 150% objectively better than the original and caused my ears to orgasm with every line... okay, I'd definitely be more interested in checking it out and probably showing off to my friends that I can orgasm through my ears... wait, where was I going with this?

Oh, yeah. It wouldn't matter because I'd still prefer to watch it in its original form. A foreign adaptation, no matter how good it is, still isn't the real thing, and it never will be.

[penguintruth]

I always hear that, "If a dub is way too much like the Japanese track, it sounds unnatural." Nobody's ever given me a good example of this.

Beyblade: Metal Fusion is a perfect example, and Zeta Gundam is close to this, but that's how Gundam is in general; Sunrise makes the English dubbers do it that way. Another example is the Sony dub for Samurai X, and at times, the Media Blasters dub of Rurouni Kenshin. Oh, and TPC's Pokemon DP dub came off as this in some parts, though it's still pretty good(so is the Black and White dub, which was basically 100% faithful to the original if the two premier eps. that showed on Saturday were anything to go by)

Those are all examples of dubs with terrible voice acting. Zeta Gundam especially, since it's a Blue Water dub. The problem isn't the scripts being too literal. It's that there aren't any talented VAs in that pool to sell the lines. Good voice actors will be able to sell even the most literal translations.

Remember that time Blue Water put out a good, solid dub? Yeah, me neither. Zeta's relative dub's accuracy is the only thing it has going for it.

Look at NYAV's Gundam Unicorn, dub, though. Best Gundam dub ever. And it's super accurate, as well as well-acted. And well-directed, another key element.


I'm not looking for Funimation's little creative inputs into the Kai script, their ridiculous abitrary dialogue changes and joke inserts. Their job isn't to write a show that's already been written. I'd allow a little more latitude if their past with this franchise wasn't full of failure.