Opinions on the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball

[WittyUsername]

What are your thoughts on Funimation's dub of the original Dragon Ball anime? I think it was a pretty good dub overall. It wasn't quite as accurate as the Kai dub, but it was still reasonably accurate overall, and although the voice acting wasn't really anything ground breaking, most of them did a pretty good job in my opinion. Oh, and Brice Armstrong was a damn good narrator, it really is a shame that he retired.

[eledoremassis02]

I saw episodes 14- to about the beginning of the tournament but I enjoyed what I saw. I though Roshi and Kirillen were pretty good

[ABED]

What are your thoughts on Funimation's dub of the original Dragon Ball anime? I think it was a pretty good dub overall. It wasn't quite as accurate as the Kai dub, but it was still reasonably accurate overall, and although the voice acting wasn't really anything ground breaking, most of them did a pretty good job in my opinion. Oh, and Brice Armstrong was a damn good narrator, it really is a shame that he retired.

Dragon Ball is definitely better on average than Z's dub. I wish this had been the quality level of season 3 and it improved from there. The acting is good, even Vollmer is much better. However, can't stand Nadolny as Goku.

The scripts are good, not great, and they fluctuate. There's the occasional excellent episode and then the terrible one. There are even episodes where it's good, but then inexplicably, one scene will be awful. I recall one or two episodes in the Commander Red "Saga" that are VERY accurate.

I wholeheartedly agree about Brice Armstrong. I wish he was the narrator for all 3 series. He's a solid actor and his voice is amazing. I could listen to that guy say damn near anything. Thankfully the narrations were good, but there were the occasional voice overs where he was required to say way too much, but at least he made it listenable. It would've been far worse had Kelly, Hebert, or GT's narrator been given the script. For example, there's a big monologue as Goku is heading towards the Red Ribbon Army base for the final showdown after he killed Tao Pai Pai.

[LordCrumb]

What are your thoughts on Funimation's dub of the original Dragon Ball anime? I think it was a pretty good dub overall. It wasn't quite as accurate as the Kai dub, but it was still reasonably accurate overall, and although the voice acting wasn't really anything ground breaking, most of them did a pretty good job in my opinion. Oh, and Brice Armstrong was a damn good narrator, it really is a shame that he retired.

I enjoy the Funimation dubbing and Funimation Music, but here we are in the extreme minority, as the original Japanese version can do no wrong here. Just prepare for the onslaught mate ;D

[WittyUsername]

What are your thoughts on Funimation's dub of the original Dragon Ball anime? I think it was a pretty good dub overall. It wasn't quite as accurate as the Kai dub, but it was still reasonably accurate overall, and although the voice acting wasn't really anything ground breaking, most of them did a pretty good job in my opinion. Oh, and Brice Armstrong was a damn good narrator, it really is a shame that he retired.

I enjoy the Funimation dubbing and Funimation Music, but here we are in the extreme minority, as the original Japanese version can do no wrong here. Just prepare for the onslaught mate ;D

Uh, the Dragon Ball dub kept the original score.

[Dbzfan94]

I love it. And I love Nadolny as Goku.

[LordCrumb]

What are your thoughts on Funimation's dub of the original Dragon Ball anime? I think it was a pretty good dub overall. It wasn't quite as accurate as the Kai dub, but it was still reasonably accurate overall, and although the voice acting wasn't really anything ground breaking, most of them did a pretty good job in my opinion. Oh, and Brice Armstrong was a damn good narrator, it really is a shame that he retired.

I enjoy the Funimation dubbing and Funimation Music, but here we are in the extreme minority, as the original Japanese version can do no wrong here. Just prepare for the onslaught mate ;D

Uh, the Dragon Ball dub kept the original score.

My mistake, when people say Dragon Ball I just lump all three series into one.

[Fizzer]

Certainly the best of the original three series. There are still some issues like "guardian of the Earth", "power level", the implication that Piccolo is an alien and direct statement that he has fought "all over the galaxy", but it's much more accurate that Z or GT, and it keeps the original music and even a couple of insert songs, which is a major plus point. If only all three series had been handled in the same way, the dub would actually be a reasonable alternative to the original.

[ABED]

DB and GT are about the same as far as accuracy goes.

[penguintruth]

While it's certainly better overall than the DBZ English dub, it's only tolerable. You still have to endure Tiffany Vollmer's Bulma, Chris Sabat's Yamucha, and Mike McFarland's Roshi. Stephanie Nadolny's Goku has its moments, but I still don't think she's a very good VA. Her laugh for Goku sounds so phony (compare to McFarland's Roshi where the laugh is the only good thing).

It does have a moderately accurate script, though they do like their little creative flourishes, such as lines that have no place being there whatsoever, but it rarely changes entire scenes and characters. It also has Laurie Steele's Kuririn going for it. And Kent Williams as Tao Pai Pai.

Brice Armstrong is the best English dub narrator a DB series has ever had.

[Nanotchi]

It's pretty good for the time. I really wish Funimation had treated the whole series like this. And treating it like a prequel, while less then ideal, was a smart way to bring it's attention to the DBZ obsessed youth of the time. I still wish it came before DBZ first though.

Also, I never cared for the silly accents some characters have. Minor characters I mean, like the cop with the Canadian accent. Though, that's more of a. General complaint of funimation's style. Still, it's overall solid.

[B]

It's pretty awful. I forced myself to watch the Pilaf arc dubbed on the Blue Bricks with Steve Simmons's subtitles, and that was all I could take of the added dialog and wittling away of any joke related to sex. I would occasionally spot check some of my favorite scenes, and was typically left disappointed whenever narration covered over the insert themes.

The actors are more or less all green and no fun to listen to. Biggest offenders would be Bulma, Kame-Sennin, and Yamcha, all prominent characters. Laurie Steele (Kuririn) and Stephanie Nadolny (Goku) give acceptable performances. Steele was pretty good at capturing Kuririn's more mischievous traits, but as the character settles down and grows up... She's not bad, but I'm left wondering if it would have been better for Sonny Strait to just play him at that age as well. There probably aren't going to be that many instances where FUNimation will have dub this Kuririn ever again, but if they do, they'll most likely keep Steele and I could live with that. Nadolny is competent, but never rises beyond that. She's a heck of a lot better than Schemmel, and is better here than with Gohan(or even Goku in GT, which is weird!) When Goku needs to be naive and cute, she can do it; when he needs to get angry, she can do it without making him sound smarter or too adult... honestly, her greatest shortcoming may be that she lives in the shadow of Masako Nozawa, who absolutely made this character iconic and her own.

A few standout performances would be Brice Armstrong as the narrator(and Senbei Norimaki) and Chuck Huber as Pilaf. I've heard a few people complain that Kai's narrator, Doc Morgan, is forced to say "on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z Kai" and that kills the mood. I can see how that would be the case when Armstrong would end his narration with a simple "Next time, on Dragon Ball". I suppose it's worth mentioning Jouji Yanami never did this, and maybe, just maybe, Armstrong improved on that slightly. Watching the show in Japanese on the Blue Bricks' "marathon mode" can be jarring, as Yanami will really just give an anecdote, almost as if he's not done talking, and then boom, the next episode plays. Even without the OP or ED, you'd know when an episode of the dub was finished. Not sure what I can say about Huber. If he's not the best English actor associated with Dragon Ball, he's been good the longest, and possibly never had a period where he had to figure out what he was doing.

... I actually wasn't going to comment on this, but writing the Armstrong/Yanami comparison reminded me: Hey kids, the Japanese OP and ED are in English, sort of! They do the job and get their points across. I'm happy that's how the show's localization was approached to begin with, along with keeping the score(prior attempts at releasing the show notwithstanding).

If I must toss out a meaningless grade, I'd go with C-. I'd love to see this material with the care of Kai's dub. I'd like to reiterate my first statements o this dub being awful. I listed some positives and why I liked them, but that shouldn't outway the many negatives, because it certainly doesn't when you're watching. This dub is no good. This dub is no good. This dub is no good. This dub is no good.

[ABED]

Here are a few things I found baffling

B, the Pilaf arc isn't the best representation of that dub. They just basically reused old scripts, the rest tends to be better.

I don't get the reaction to Chris Sabat's Yamucha. He's slightly heightening his normal voice. He ain't an offender. Huber's only okay. McFarland is good as long as Roshi isn't serious.

How is Nadolny better as Gohan than Goku? Why do you think she's better than Schemmel?

[B]

How is Nadolny better as Gohan than Goku? Why do you think she's better than Schemmel?

I'm pretty sure I said she isn't better as Gohan. Reading the post over again, I said "better here than with Gohan." She's really not good as Gohan at all, but that's for another thread.

Nadolny is better than Schemmel because Goku's personality and mannerisms come through much more clearly. Schemmel has proven incapable of dumbing himself down.

(I may actually watch a little dubbed DB tonight; I blame you all for this!)

[Kid Buu]

A good dub, but still some issues. For example, I really HATED how they covered up the image songs with narration. BLEH

[ABED]

How is Nadolny better as Gohan than Goku? Why do you think she's better than Schemmel?

I'm pretty sure I said she isn't better as Gohan. Reading the post over again, I said "better here than with Gohan." She's really not good as Gohan at all, but that's for another thread.

Nadolny is better than Schemmel because Goku's personality and mannerisms come through much more clearly. Schemmel has proven incapable of dumbing himself down.

(I may actually watch a little dubbed DB tonight; I blame you all for this!)

My bad, I was typing too fast, I meant "better as Goku than Gohan"

I don't agree that Sean is incapable of dumbing Goku down. He's quite good with Goku's naïve side, and he can act. Nadolny doesn't make Goku sound goofy and naïve, she makes him sound like everything is a question and her laugh is Goofy and fake.

A good dub, but still some issues. For example, I really HATED how they covered up the image songs with narration. BLEH

From what I've read, that's not necessarily FUNi's fault, something to do with rights issues. Don't know about the validity of that statement.

[Puto]

There's absolutely no way that any kind of 'rights issues' would specifically require adding narration on top of a song. Require them to not include the song, maybe, but require them to narrate over it makes no sense.

[ABED]

I thought you meant had narration instead of the song.

[WittyUsername]

Here are a few things I found baffling

B, the Pilaf arc isn't the best representation of that dub. They just basically reused old scripts, the rest tends to be better.

I don't get the reaction to Chris Sabat's Yamucha. He's slightly heightening his normal voice. He ain't an offender. Huber's only okay. McFarland is good as long as Roshi isn't serious.

How is Nadolny better as Gohan than Goku? Why do you think she's better than Schemmel?

I'm pretty neutral to Nadolny as Gohan but I think she's pretty good as kid Goku. The goofy laugh for she does for Goku doesn't really bother me since Goku is a bit of a goof ball. My favorite English Goku is still Schemmel though, his Kai performance is on par with Nozawa if you ask me.

[penguintruth]

I don't get the reaction to Chris Sabat's Yamucha. He's slightly heightening his normal voice. He ain't an offender.

He absolutely is. He sounds like a comical "dudebro" type and even in Kai he still slips into it now and then.