What would you choose: Good voice acting with bad translation or Bad voice acting with good translation?

[TheRed259]

If you had only these 2 options, which one would you choose and why?

1) Good voice acting with bad translation.
2) Bad voice acting with good translation.

Would you sacrifice a good translation for a good voice acting or would you sacrifice a good voice acting for a good translation?

This question refers to the various dubbed versions of DB.

[Kaboom]

I would definitely prioritize a good, faithfully-translated script. The bulk of the English dubs that already exist show that people will still watch no matter how amateurish and lousy the voice acting is. But at least with an accurate script, they would still get the actual story and not be functionally watching a different show.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Good voice acting with a bad translation. That is what Funimation's first 2 edited seasons of Dragon Ball Z with the Ocean Studios cast is. It's quite different to the Japanese equivalents of those episodes with all the corny jokes and a more ominous feel, but it's endearing in its own right, and it is what introduced an entire generation to this franchise.

[PurestEvil]

Good voice acting. The script doesn't matter if the delivery ruins it.

[ABED]

Hard to say, but probably good acting with a bad translation. We got that with the Ocean dub. Good actors can make chicken soup out of chicken feathers.

[Grimlock]

We're not onto many posts, but as a translator myself, I already find some of the responses to this important question (and quite useful for "research" purposes) very concerning... I'll wait for more posts and collect more opinions on what people prefer before I dive into the serious issue here...

[Asin]

...Honestly would prefer neither, but if I had to pick, I'd like an accurate script. I can only hope the VAs would be the laughable kind of bad rather than the unlistenable type of bad.

[MasenkoHA]

Since the closest we've had to an example of good translations but bad acting was the Blue Water dubs of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT, I'm gonna have to go with good acting and bad translations.

The Ocean/Funi dub of season 1 and 2 of DBZ have some pretty wonky translations and the scripts can be pretty wtf? but the Vancouver cast were talented enough to elevate it to tasty cheese. We saw what happen when you put the same level of writing quality paired with much worse actors. You get DBZ Funi season 3.

And in some AU where Funimation got their act together as far as scripting was concerned and we got dead on accurate scripts but the acting was the exact same as what we got in 1999 would that really be all that much better? Oh the scripts are faithful now but Gohan still sounds like Bobby Hill stole Patty and Selma's pack of cigarettes, Goku sounds lost and confused, Piccolo sounds like a moron, Bulma sounds like an alien watched Cher from Clueless to try to emulate humans speech patterns, and Frieza sounds like grandma's vocal cords got ran over by a reindeer.

[ABED]

We're not onto many posts, but as a translator myself, I already find some of the responses to this important question (and quite useful for "research" purposes) very concerning... I'll wait for more posts and collect more opinions on what people prefer before I dive into the serious issue here...

I don't think anyone's diminishing the value of a good translation. It's certainly vital, but performance is vital and a good script can be mangled with poor execution.

And in some AU where Funimation got their act together as far as scripting was concerned and we got dead on accurate scripts but the acting was the exact same as what we got in 1999 would that really be all that much better?

I think it could've helped a lot, not as much as great actors with subpar material but I think they could've gotten a D-. They would've gotten a 60 instead of 5.

[Wrigglything]

It's hard to say which is worse. On the one hand, an inaccurate script could probably make the show feel more juvenile or otherwise contradictory to what the original source material sets out to do, ruining the perception of what they are trying to set out to do. That's what the early dubs of DB were, as beloved and entertaining as they are, with writing that feel more at home at the WWE than a martial arts movie and over the top acting that feels like it is over compensating just how different this style of animation is.

On the other hand, stilted delivery would ruin the intent of the source material, making the scene more awkward and taking the audience out of it. Mid sentence pauses, takes that barely felt more than a first or second pass, actors struggling to convey emotions when time is just not on their side. Many of the early anime dubs that weren't aimed at kids were like this, and if you were in Asia or if the dub was produced there, well let's just say that it contributed to a generation of dub haters then and there.

Its a pick your poison situation, and there should ultimately be a balancing act of a good script that tries to keep the spirit of the original without being too stuck on one culture, but getting back on topic, I suppose a more accurate script would be more ideal in spite of bad acting. At least there you're getting an idea on what the original is supposed to be.

[Vegard Aune]

Bad acting with good translations. Other folks here say that good acting can elevate a bad translation, but personally, an inaccurate portrayal of the story annoys me infinitely more than a poorly acted dub. Like, say the "Season 3" dub for Z was basically cast with nothing but Patrick Stewart-tier actors who delivered the jankiest of dialogue with complete conviction, making for a situation similar to Star Trek TNG season 1 where the scripts might be rubbish but you still kind of buy it because of how dang charismatic and immersive the acting is... But you still have a version that outright tells people that Vegeta is only evil because Freeza "made him" that way and that in his final moments he desperately regrets how his life turned out, or where Goku delivers the most Superman speech ever to Freeza, and I'm like... at that point it's just not the same story anymore. Can the inaccurately portrayed story still be compelling in its own right? Sure. But I just fundamentally disagree with the idea that dubs should even be allowed to massively alter the plot and characterization. My ideal for a dub is one where a person who watched the original version and a person who watched the dub can discuss the show together, and the fact that they watched different language versions never becomes relevant. Assuming neither is all that concerned with voice acting quality, this could in theory happen with a badly-acted, well-translated script. But when literal plot-points differ between the two versions, as is sometimes the case in Dragon Ball... Yeah the fact that they watched different versions is going to lead to confusion.

End of the day, I do think a dub needs both strong acting and a good and accurate script to be a quality dub, but if I have to pick one or the other, I will absolutely pick the translation.

[chitsunameru]

Good acting. The Viz sailor moon dub shows how the script can only do so much. Yeah it was a fairly accurate script but the director (s) dropped the ball so hard. It's unironically harder for me to listen to that dub than the 90s dic dub because the acting is done so poorly on it. And it's not like they had only bad actors some have been good in other things but ugh it was just so badly done. I'd hate for the same fate to befall dragon ball

[90sDBZ]

I'd definitely lean towards good acting with an innacurate script. I still love the Saban dub to this day, although the music plays a part there too.

I feel like the 2 english dubs of GT are good examples for this topic. The Funimation cast had gotten pretty good by the Buu saga, and they're pretty much just as good in GT, but the scripts became less accurate again. The Blue Water dub has a much more accurate script, but the actors are green and some are miscast.

Of course there was also the issue of 'Step into the Grand Tour' along with Menza's score that hurt Funimation's dub. Although it can now be watched with the original score and opening/endings, which helps it significantly.

I've always been mixed on Blue Water's GT dub. I do have some nostalgia for it, and the theme tune is awesome. Kid Goku, Trunks, and Pan sound decent enough, but some of the others sound off. Jeremiah Yurk sounds a bit too mature as adult Goku, although it kind of works with SS4 because he looks so different in that form. Vegeta also sounds really old. I guess it works from the perspective that Goku and Vegeta are actually well into middle age at this point. Baby had a cool voice, and I remember Mr Satan sounding good on the episode were Buu merges with Uub. I'd have to rewatch it as I haven't watched it properly in about 17 years.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Jeremiah Yurk sounds a bit too mature as adult Goku, although it kind of works with SS4 because he looks so different in that form. Vegeta also sounds really old. I guess it works from the perspective that Goku and Vegeta are actually well into middle age at this point. Baby had a cool voice, and I remember Mr Satan sounding good on the episode were Buu merges with Uub. I'd have to rewatch it as I haven't watched it properly in about 17 years.

Jeremiah Yurk and Roger Rhodes are discount store Kirby Morrow and Brian Drummond, although since Ocean were originally going to dub GT with the Vancouver cast it makes sense they went with those performances for Goku and Vegeta respectively.

I have a lot of nostalgia for Blue Water GT too, although when it comes to English dubs it is probably the best example we have of the second option as the Big Green dubs have worse acting than Blue Water, although the script isn't as accurate at times because it's based on the French dub, which has its own issues.

I hope one day the English dub aired on the Southeast Asian channel Animax surfaces as it would be really interesting to see how that compares to the other dubs we've seen.

[90sDBZ]

I have a lot of nostalgia for Blue Water GT too, although when it comes to English dubs it is probably the best example we have of the second option as the Big Green dubs have worse acting than Blue Water, although the script isn't as accurate at times because it's based on the French dub, which has its own issues.

The Big Green dub would definitely be a more extreme example of bad acting, but as you said it also had some innacuracies. There was also the issue of weird lines like "Let that child alone!", Goku having the most unfitting voice imaginable, and every attack being called kamehameha.

[MasenkoHA]

I have a lot of nostalgia for Blue Water GT too, although when it comes to English dubs it is probably the best example we have of the second option as the Big Green dubs have worse acting than Blue Water, although the script isn't as accurate at times because it's based on the French dub, which has its own issues.

The Big Green dub would definitely be a more extreme example of bad acting, but as you said it also had some innacuracies. There was also the issue of weird lines like "Let that child alone!", Goku having the most unfitting voice imaginable, and every attack being called kamehameha.

To say nothing of, per the French dub, deciding to call the dragon balls, the very fucking thing the series is named after, "crystal balls".

[Koitsukai]

After years of bad translated latin dubs for pretty much any type of cartoons, by now I only want a good translation.
Don't care if it's acted by that boring old guy playing with dinosaurs from Mrs. Doubtfire, I just want the truth, even if I can't handle it.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I have a lot of nostalgia for Blue Water GT too, although when it comes to English dubs it is probably the best example we have of the second option as the Big Green dubs have worse acting than Blue Water, although the script isn't as accurate at times because it's based on the French dub, which has its own issues.

The Big Green dub would definitely be a more extreme example of bad acting, but as you said it also had some innacuracies. There was also the issue of weird lines like "Let that child alone!", Goku having the most unfitting voice imaginable, and every attack being called kamehameha.

Not to mention using some of the same terms that the French scripts originated, such as Space/Super Warriors and Magic Stick/Baton.

[90sDBZ]

Not to mention using some of the same terms that the French scripts originated, such as Space/Super Warriors and Magic Stick/Baton.

They were inconsistent with it too. They started out using Space/Super Warriors, then in Movie 7 they sort of got it right with Krillin/Clearin saying "All 3 Super Saiyas are here!". I remember being weirdly pleased about it, because it felt like a big deal for them to actually correct something. Movie 4 was even called Super Saiya Son Goku, but it took them until Movie 7 to actually have a character say the word. Perhaps if they'd continued they'd have figured out Big Green was actually called Piccolo.

I also remember them going from Magic Stick in the Z movies, to Magic Wand in the OG DB movies.

It's funny how certain characters actually sounded half decent. I remember Trunks not sounding terrible.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

They were inconsistent with it too. They started out using Space/Super Warriors, then in Movie 7 they sort of got it right with Krillin/Clearin saying "All 3 Super Saiyas are here!". I remember being weirdly pleased about it, because it felt like a big deal for them to actually correct something. Movie 4 was even called Super Saiya Son Goku, but it took them until Movie 7 to actually have a character say the word. Perhaps if they'd continued they'd have figured out Big Green was actually called Piccolo.

I also remember them going from Magic Stick in the Z movies, to Magic Wand in the OG DB movies.

Not only that, but in the Big Green dub of the GT special Pan said Saiyans with the correct pronunciation. Of course there's no way of telling what order the company behind the Big Green dubs dubbed the movies and specials, but the fact there was a change may suggest they did, in fact, learn as they went along.