Why do Kai haters say the the dub sounds boring?

[JEFFMAN219]

Why do Dragon Ball Z Kai haters say that the dub actors sound boring? When I watch Kai the actors don't sound boring to me.

[VegettoEX]

My guess is that it's either:

(1) Unfortunately a general "UNFAMILIAR = THEREFORE BAD!"

or, more likely,

(2) They became accustomed to the over-acting of FUNimation's original dub, so when things are done more accurately to the original (naturally-delivered dialog delivered from a more accurately-localized script from actors with more than a decade's more experience than they used to have), it sounds more "bland" or "boring".

[Ajay]

There's also the viewpoint that it's 'too Shakespearean'. To me, that's just a comment on the viewer's intelligence more than anything.

But yeah, unfortunately, when something you hold in high regard is changed, you'll find the most absurd excuses coming out against it.

[TheBlackPaladin]

There's also the viewpoint that it's 'too Shakespearean'.

My guess is that that specific comment is referring to Freeza. Part of the reason Chris Ayers was cast as Freeza is because apparently, when he's not voice acting, one of the things he's doing is acting and directing Shakespeare plays at the local theater scene, and he said in an interview that he absolutely loves wordy/Olde English/Shakespearean scripts. Which is one of the reasons he was cast as Freeza...Freeza's dialogue, while not quite Shakespearean, has echoes of Shakespeare in it when translated into Enlgish in that it's upper-class and verbose (especially in comparison to the dialogue he had in the DBZ dub).

[Ajay]

Yeah, Freeza as well as Vegeta are the primary examples of that. Some stretch it to Cell as well. I find it entirely silly, honestly.

Vegeta is a Prince. Freeza is as aristocratic as they come. I can kinda see a complaint with Cell but I don't hear the Shakespeare in his dialogue at all.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Yeah, Freeza as well as Vegeta are the primary examples of that. Some stretch it to Cell as well. I find it entirely silly, honestly.

Oh man...I was so beyond elated with how Freeza was treated in the English dub of Kai. Tatum wrote scripts for Freeza that, when they weren't word-for-word, still had the same overall meaning and with dialogue that was still completely in the realm of what Freeza would say, and Ayers freaking nailed that performance. Such a treat it was. I couldn't have been less bored with Freeza's scenes, as a matter of fact I loved FUNimation's handling of Freeza in the Kai dub so much that I remember being bummed when Goku killed (well, OK, "defeated") him!

[Ajay]

Exactly. It's one of the finest examples of a dubbing I've seen in a long time. It frustrates me to no end to see people criticising it. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

[El Diabeetus]

Exactly. It's one of the finest examples of a dubbing I've seen in a long time. It frustrates me to no end to see people criticising it. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

Have to agree with both of you. This makes me wish they would redub the Bardock Special and Movie 12 with this kind of traatment and with Ayres as Freeza.

[JackyBoi99]

Chris Ayres absolutely nailed it as freeza, yet there are still fans who say Linda Young is so much better.

[dbboxkaifan]

Exactly. It's one of the finest examples of a dubbing I've seen in a long time. It frustrates me to no end to see people criticising it. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

Have to agree with both of you. This makes me wish they would redub the Bardock Special and Movie 12 with this kind of traatment and with Ayres as Freeza.

There's just no reason for FUNimation to re-dub the Dragon Ball Z films or TV-Specials unless they were to remaster them properly in HD for a future Blu-ray release, but who knows if they will. It'd be awesome (for the better picture quality and higher quality Japanese audio if they could).

Chris Ayres absolutely nailed it as freeza, yet there are still fans who say Linda Young is so much better.

He was better than Young but my favourite English Freeza is LittleKuriboh. LK aced Freeza completely and I love it.

[andrewtuell1991]

You know how when your budget gets tight and you have to switch to generic, store-brand foods for a while, and then you make enough money again and go back to main-brand foods it can be a little jarring. I'd imagine it's something like that.

[bkev]

I wouldn't go as far as boring, but I've always gotten a bit of a transliteration feel out of the Kai script. I think it could have used more adaptation -- no, I don't mean Woolseyisms. I mean a tightening of the script so that it sounds more natural in English. Although I have no specific instances off the top of my head, I can say I did at times feel like the script felt overly verbose and had issues with passive voice.

That said, it is still miles above the Z dub - and this goes without saying.

[Fizzer]

There's also the viewpoint that it's 'too Shakespearean'.

I absolutely love the intellectual tone of Freeza and Vegeta in Kai, but this is definitely one of the bigger problems that people have. They say the script is unrealistically wordy, but what they're forgetting is the background of those characters.

[TheBlackPaladin]

There's also the viewpoint that it's 'too Shakespearean'.

I absolutely love the intellectual tone of Freeza and Vegeta in Kai, but this is definitely one of the bigger problems that people have. They say the script is unrealistically wordy, but what they're forgetting is the background of those characters.

I'm not even sure "forgetting" is the right word. In many cases, they don't even know. Which is not a criticism--there's no law saying that people have to be informed about the original Japanese version, after all--but I think on a subconscious level, us fans who are familiar with the original version forget that other fans don't know what we know.

[Fizzer]

There's also the viewpoint that it's 'too Shakespearean'.

I absolutely love the intellectual tone of Freeza and Vegeta in Kai, but this is definitely one of the bigger problems that people have. They say the script is unrealistically wordy, but what they're forgetting is the background of those characters.

I'm not even sure "forgetting" is the right word. In many cases, they don't even know. Which is not a criticism--there's no law saying that people have to be informed about the original Japanese version, after all--but I think on a subconscious level, us fans who are familiar with the original version forget that other fans don't know what we know.

Surely every fan of the series will at least know that Vegeta is a Prince and Freeza holds some emperor-like role? I'm pretty sure both of them are called "Lord" by the lesser Freeza soldiers in the English dub. The dialogue in Kai does clash heavily with the Z dub that these people are used to, but I don't see how they can say that it's unrealistic for those characters.

I guess, from the Z-dub, they could have preconceptions about those characters and simply think things like "what?! Freeza would never say something like that!"

[matt0044]

I wouldn't go as far as boring, but I've always gotten a bit of a transliteration feel out of the Kai script. I think it could have used more adaptation -- no, I don't mean Woolseyisms. I mean a tightening of the script so that it sounds more natural in English. Although I have no specific instances off the top of my head, I can say I did at times feel like the script felt overly verbose and had issues with passive voice.

That said, it is still miles above the Z dub - and this goes without saying.

Well, when you watch the dub with the subs on, there are a number of liberties in terms of wording certain statements. It strikes a balance that Z's dub hardly did.

[Fizzer]

The Z dub conveyed the overall gist of the story, a literal word-for-word translation would convey the meaning and exact wording of each line, and what the Kai dub does is convey the wording and tone of each line with clever localisation, so that the English-speaking audience should react in the same way as the Japanese-speaking audience did. In my opinion, it's the best way to handle translation.

[theoriginalbilis]

I wouldn't go as far as boring, but I've always gotten a bit of a transliteration feel out of the Kai script. I think it could have used more adaptation -- no, I don't mean Woolseyisms. I mean a tightening of the script so that it sounds more natural in English. Although I have no specific instances off the top of my head, I can say I did at times feel like the script felt overly verbose and had issues with passive voice.

That said, it is still miles above the Z dub - and this goes without saying.

I personally disagree. For the most part, the Kai dub's dialogue is still pretty adaptive and not word-for-word with the subtitles with the exception of a few key phrases. It's just much closer than we've gotten for a Dragon Ball dub outside of the video games. I noticed that in the Kai dub, the script is less wordy in spots which gives the actors a chance to slow down, emote, and emphasize certain words more.

I think lots of dub fans are just used to the old Z dub where characters were constantly talking or making noises to fill pauses and time, and a slowed-down and more thoughtful adaptation may throw them off upon an early viewing.

Personally, I think I'd prefer a super-literal dub script over a super-heavy rewrite any day of the week.

[Fionordequester]

For those complaining about Cell's dialogue being too complicated, there's actually a pretty good real life explanation for that. Narcissists, like him, do tend to like to use ultra verbose and grandiose words to make themselves seem more important than they actually are, and I say that as someone who almost has his Bachelor's in Psychology.

That's just my two cents on that.

[Valerius Dover]

Personally, I think I'd prefer a super-literal dub script over a super-heavy rewrite any day of the week.

Somebody set up us the bomb.

Couldn't resist. Seriously, though, I agree that these people are just "They Changed It Now It Sucks". Which is ironic, since the Funi dub is the "changed" version in the first place. I don't understand the whole nostalgia thing, though. I mean, if Funimation or somebody did a redub of some 4Kids dubs or something, I'd be overjoyed to get it uncut. I wouldn't cling on to the old version.