Dragon Ball Dubs when compared to One Piece & Naruto Dub

[Sebastian (SB)]

So, yeah I've been hearing about how tired people are hearing Naruto say "believe it!" & how some of the voices "don't fit". Well I've decided on listing some of the pros/cons of all the recent dubs of the past decade or so (All entirely being my opinion of course), then try to wrap it up with a conclusion. I'm only gonna list the ones, I have seen because there's many Dragon Ball Dubs.

Dragon Ball (FUNi's Dub)
+Original Music Intact
-Voices are usually a hit or miss
-Dub Terms/ Dialogue Changes
Overall: Decent (probably as good as it gets with FUNi)

Dragon Ball Z (Ocean Group Seasons 1 & 2)
+Really good voice acting & performances (as expected by Ocean & probably the best we'll get)
-Very Bad Editing
-Bad dialogue/Script changes
-Original Music not intact
Overall: Sorry, but I don't think it was decent enough, but I do think its better than what FUNi did. Sure it had good voice acting but that's all it had going for it.

Dragon Ball Z (FUNi's Dub)
+Voice Acting/Peformances gets better overtime
+Music gets better overtime
-Voices are usually a hit or miss
-Original Music not intact
-Bad dialogue/Script changes kept intact from the Ocean seasons
-Musicians switched for the "Ultimate Uncut Versions"
Overall: Not so decent, sure the voice actors got better with experience (I'd give em' that), but the switch from Falcouner to the likes of Menza & others just ruined it from me.

Dragon Ball GT (FUNi's Dub)
+.....................I can't think of anything that I haven't mentioned from above.
- BAD, BAD MUSIC....OH GOD.
Overall: Again the transition from "okay" music to "really bad" music just ruined it for me. The anime was less then stellar (had some good ideas & opening/ending sequences), but FUNi made it worse.

Dragon Ball Dubs Overall: Not good

So that's pretty much pretty much for Dragon Ball. Let's see how it fares when compared to One Piece & Naruto.

One Piece (4Kids Dub)
+Some voices were....okay.
-Most voices were bad (& the dialogue didn't really help it at all)
-Dialogue/ Script Changes (concentration on puns didn't really help at all)
-Worst editing of the bunch
-Worst music of the bunch
-Original music not intact
Overall: The worst of the bunch. It's saddening really, it had the potential to fare up against Naruto as a really good series if dubbed properly

Naruto (Dubbed by STUDIOPOLIS, Inc.)
+ A lot of well known/respected voice actors in the helms
+ Original music intact
+ Original script/dialogue intact (....for the most part when compared to others)
- Voices are a hit or miss
-Very light editing (you may consider this to be somewhat of a pro)
Overall: Easily the best of the bunch. It's getting the best treatment by some of the most well known people in the dubbing industry. Can't get any better than that.

So to conclude this:
Best to Worst Dubs
Naruto (STUDIOPOLIS, Inc.)
Dragon Ball (FUNi)
Dragon Ball Z (Ocean Seasons)
Dragon Ball Z (FUNi)
Dragon Ball GT (FUNi)
One Piece (4Kids)

Out of all the dubs based on three of the beloved franchises, Naruto is easily getting the best treatment & I can't think of anyway it can get any better than that (who knows, "Bleach" might take its place as the better dub), yet there's so many mixed feelings/thoughts about it. As a dub, it's pretty good. The Dragon Ball dubs got very mixed treatment overall there were some pros that stood out, but many cons, so obviously, I have very mixed thoughts about it. One Piece is of course the worst, but I guess it was expected. Anyone else that agrees/disagrees with pretty much what I said, please feel free to post some of your opinions, post any other dubs of the same anime you might wanna put up, & how you would structure which got from Best to Worst (or Worst to Best).

[Synthe]

Serouisly complaining over dubs is stupid.

[Taku128]

Serouisly complaining over dubs is stupid.

Not always, I feel fine complaining about dubs if the DVDs don't include the Japanese version with subtitles of the Japanese version, and 4Kids would never do that, so I complain about their dub.

[Godo]

Serouisly complaining over dubs is stupid.

It's stupid to write something and don't write why you think like that.

[tarsonis]

Regarding Naruto's editing, is this just for the TV version? If I understand correctly they have uncut DVDs now.

[Sun_Wukong]

The Naruto dub is honestly not all that bad. The only voice I really cant stand is Naruto's. Lee's is growing on me. But in all honesty, the dub started out wayy better than dbz Season 3.

[Panda]

I agree with your views on this. One Piece is garbage and naruto has a decent dub (I'm not a fan of Naruto anyway but it did get handled nicely me thinks)

What I don't really think is fair is that you're comparing it to DBZ. I understand you kinda have to (this is a DBZ forum after-all) but in the grand terms of thing it doesn't make much sense to compare "modern dubs" of things that happened 10 years ago to things that happened maybe 2 years ago. It's almost like comparing the Bleach dub to the Speed Racer dub.

[B-kun]

Regarding Naruto's editing, is this just for the TV version? If I understand correctly they have uncut DVDs now.

Yep, the first uncut box set just came out.

And I'll have to agree that the Naruto dub's the best I've seen. People complaining about Naruto's voice being annoying are funny - It's SUPPOSED to be annoying. Only one I REALLY do not like is Shino. He soundds way off.

Crap, got a bit off topic..

[Sun_Wukong]

Naruto's original VA is tolerable. The american one just isnt.

BACK ON TOPIC!!

[theoriginalbilis]

Sebastian, I agree with all of your point/opinions. ^_^

I think the Naruto dub is a perfect way to dub for TV/American audiences. Translate/adapt it enough to fit the demographics, but while also keeping it almost entirely intact & accurate to the original. Outside of a couple of casting choices, I love this dub, especially knowing that an uncut version is available on DVD.

As for DB/DBZ/DBGT, The Ocean dub was definitely the better in terms of VAs/acting (especially DBZ Movies 1-3), but FUNi's improved dramatically since the start of their in-house dubbing. I have little problem with their DB dub, but DBZ's music changes and script alterations tended to kill much of the original intent/emotional impact of certain scenes. And I think everyone here can agree the GT dub made it EVEN WORSE.

One Piece. I haven't watched more than 3 mins. of the dub, but I'm sure I don't want to, since reading episode comparisons and multiple forum posts regarding it. The only American adaptation of One Piece worth a damn is the manga from Viz, which is quite well done.

I tend to judge dubs pretty harshly, since it's my preferred method of viewing anime. If I don't like the dub, I'll switch to the Japanese track even though it's not my 1st choice. So... yeah, I'm a primary dub watcher, and DBZ and One Piece would be the only anime I watch in Japanese right now, considering the sorry state of their dubs.

[Sebastian (SB)]

Serouisly complaining over dubs is stupid.

I'm sorry you see it that way, it really wasn't my intention. I just felt it would make for an interesting topic to pinpoint some of the aspects of the dubs from my point of view & I wanted to hear others opinions or points of view. (Like for example how would someone who purely watches dubs would structure, "best to worst")

What I don't really think is fair is that you're comparing it to DBZ. I understand you kinda have to (this is a DBZ forum after-all) but in the grand terms of thing it doesn't make much sense to compare "modern dubs" of things that happened 10 years ago to things that happened maybe 2 years ago. It's almost like comparing the Bleach dub to the Speed Racer dub.

I understand where you're coming from & you're right, but my intention was to compare the dubs that were based on three of the major Shonen Jump mangas/animes, in which each has influences upon each other. I was trying to point out how they've improved (in terms of dubbing), but at the same time, not.

[MajinVejitaXV]

What I don't really think is fair is that you're comparing it to DBZ. I understand you kinda have to (this is a DBZ forum after-all) but in the grand terms of thing it doesn't make much sense to compare "modern dubs" of things that happened 10 years ago to things that happened maybe 2 years ago. It's almost like comparing the Bleach dub to the Speed Racer dub.

Well, step back a second. Yeah, the Ocean Studios dub did happen around a decade ago, and FUNi has produced very respectible material since then (Fruits Basket is the only one I know of personally, but it was a good enough dub that I don't feel I'm forced to watch the original to get an accurate feel of the show), but the DragonBall Z/GT property has been pretty much unchanged. We traded seasoned professional actors for more violence. That's all, really.

My point is, had FUNi 180'd when they started doing the show by themselves (or at all, compare 3rd season to the final episode and while there are changes, the overall treatment is the same in many respects), it'd be a bad comparison...but, they didn't, so it holds water.

Just my $0.02.

-Corey

[Saiyan]

Well, in Funimation's defense, they were trying to give it a more constant feel throughout the show. I mean, they did a pretty good job with Dragon Ball. GT is a different story...

But I do like the voices they've given the characters (most of the time). They're way different than their Japanese counterparts, but I feel the VAs still did a good job with their characters.

[Sebastian (SB)]

Well, in Funimation's defense, they were trying to give it a more constant feel throughout the show. I mean, they did a pretty good job with Dragon Ball. GT is a different story...

But I do like the voices they've given the characters (most of the time). They're way different than their Japanese counterparts, but I feel the VAs still did a good job with their characters.

Yes, this is similar to what I said in another topic.

But he (meaning Goku, in relevance to the topic) has to be americanized, otherwise FUNi will lose its "Japan is the gay crowd" that watches the series so much. The fact there has been so many people that grew up watching the dub, that for some its hard to make a transition from Dub to Sub for whatever reason/excuse there may be. I'm just happy we even get subbed DBZ for FUNi (with good subtitles to boot). You basically have two different audiences (& two different DBZs) that at this point, It's basically pointless to repair some of the damages the dubs may have so done. I agree that it isn't exactly Son Goku, but rather a completely different Son Goku (& a different type of DBZ) that works for the audience its intended for.

So yeah, I'm basically not bashing FUNi in anyway. In the most case, I kinda sympathize (giving its their first dub in the anime business) with them & I'm glad they're the company they are now. It's just well, Dragon Ball Z & GT wasn't really their best in overall dubbing & that's a fact.

[DBZ-Guy]

DB, DBZ, and DBGT all had decent dubs although the first 13 episodes of Dragon Ball and the first 2 seasons of Dbz had some really bad voice actors (I actually like most of the FUNi voice actors better than the ocean dub voice actors) and dialouge (Master Roshi: "Can you get me a date with a older lady?"......Uhh, thats not what he's saying. He's saying he wants to see Bulma's panties). FUNimation got better tough. During the Buu arc most voice actors was pretty good, dialouge was okay, and it had some really good music too (Not nearley as good at the Japanese of course but it was still pretty good). Overal i think FUNimation started pretty bad and got better over the years.


Naruto's dub is good but has it's flaws. The major problem is that Naruto's voice is horible! No matter how many time i watch it i cant get myself to like it. Most other voice's are actually pretty good. Apart from some other stuff this dub is pretty good.

One Piece is just horible. 4kids should burn in hell for corrupting the master piece One Piece is. The author of One Piece must be disgusted with how his story is being threated by 4kids. Thats all i have to say.

[Mystic Jack]

As far as my opinion goes, very rarely does the dub ever make a good a performance as well as the original japanese. As for Naruto and One Piece, you're definitely better off buying the japanese editions, as far as I'm concered both of those dubs are disgraceful, as for dragonball, as far as a dub goes, it's an impressive piece, of work, with the changing voice actors and such, it's hard to accept the ever-changing VA's. I certainly hope they stick with schemel.

[theoriginalbilis]

As far as my opinion goes, very rarely does the dub ever make a good a performance as well as the original japanese. As for Naruto and One Piece, you're definitely better off buying the japanese editions, as far as I'm concered both of those dubs are disgraceful, as for dragonball, as far as a dub goes, it's an impressive piece, of work, with the changing voice actors and such, it's hard to accept the ever-changing VA's. I certainly hope they stick with schemel.

Wow. That's so totally opposite from what the majority of the forum says. But you're entitled to your opinions.

As far as mine go, Naruto is the best of all 3 dubs because it's the closest to the original Japanese. DBZ's dub may have be visually uncut, but almost everything else is different. And One Piece... the dub is hacked to ribbons, not even preserving any of the original.

At least Naruto and DragonBall have uncut Japanese versions available in the US, unlike poor One Piece.

[maiku84]

Of the three, I also have to go with Naruto, by far. In all honestly, I think it's a very well-done dub -- Yuri Lowenthal (Sasuke's VA) oftentimes emotes much more convincingly than the Japanese one, and to be honest, Maile Flanagan (the woman who plays Naruto) is actually quite good at capturing the overenthusiastic, incredibly annoying side of Naruto perfectly. The only voice I'm not really fond of is Shino's. Script's really quite good -- a few changes here and there, but they're nitpicking compared of FUNi's tendency to totally rewrite DBZ dialogue, and 4Kids' ... being 4Kids.

I can live with the FUNimation-written DBZ dub, on that note -- the changes to dialogue are a little irritating, and sometimes the voice-acting isn't that hot... But considering that I watched it on more-or-less free TV, I can't complain. (Especially after hearing the BIG GREEN movie dubs from the UK) It's no Yu Yu Hakusho (well, YYH's first season, which was on Adult Swim) but it'll do. The first two seasons, while they had better voice acting for the most part, are unwatchable to me. The dialogue changes (I can see their parachutes!) and clumsy digital edits are too much for me.

I find it so depressing that One Piece has been treated so badly. Of the two major new-generation fighting manga/anime, I honestly prefer One Piece to Naruto, since it seems to have a better grasp on where the plot is going, and it infuses the story with a nice amount of humor, like the old days of Dragonball. So, to see the show so badly bungled by 4Kids -- who really needs to stop taking on anime aimed at a pre-teen audience -- saddens me. The voices are quite bad, the dialogue is horrible, the music is irritating -- the list goes on!

[Sebastian (SB)]

If it helps any, I like the 2nd Ocean Season more so than the first season because its the season I started with, it's has less of those annoying digital edits that were found in the first season, & I like Peter Kelamis's Son Goku if only for the fact he has somewhat a similarity to Nozawa's Son Goku (if only for some instances).

[GI_Judd2287]

I think all dubs of Dragon Ball get a really undeservedly bad rep. The only complaint I have is the music. The Z music was actually pretty decent (not as good as the Japanese version though), but GT had really bad BGM. At least Z had some character themes and other motifs. I wish both were like Funi's Dragon Ball dub.

I'm torn between the Ocean dub and the Funimation dub. On one hand, I heard those voices first (and they may be superior in terms of acting) but on the other I've really gotten adjusted and more used to Funi's dub and associate those voices with those characters.

Oh yeah, I also liked Ocean's dub of DB eps 1-13. For some reason they deliver their lines a lot more comically (sp?) and even now make me laugh a bit.