logo Sign In

Info: Dragon Ball Z, and the Dragon Ball series in general... — Page 3

Author
Time

Oh, there's entire forums dedicated to differing opinions of the various dubs of Dragon Ball and Z. I for one started with the Canadian dub that ran in the mid to late 90's in the US.
The voice actors were so good, but the dub was terrible. The Texas Funimation dub wasn't any better. I never could really appreciate the voice actors on the Funi dub. I think my bias is similar to the classical music community; how the first recording you hear of a certain piece of music will often be your favorite, unless you find one that is immensely better.

I've wanted to rewatch the show in japanese, but have never gotten around to it. I got burned out on DBZ pretty early in life, because we kept getting the shaft for episodes. I mean, we made it all the way until the Namek saga, and then boom, we stopped getting episodes for a while, and eventually got a new cast. I was also really mad that the ocean group didn't dub the rest of the Namek saga, and you've got a good gap of missing episodes.

I've been hearing news of the Ocean Group's own version of DBZ Kai, but it's been a few years, and I'm not hearing anything promising. Supposedly it's still on.

"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you’ll be able to project it on a 20’ by 40’ screen with perfect quality. I think it’s the director’s prerogative, not the studio’s to go back and reinvent a movie." - George Lucas

<span> </span>

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Well, I began my journey through the DB series. I'd probably go through this order:

Loop 1 (Canon) (For learning the story): Dragon Ball (Funi sub through either hulu or *******.*** (I can't believe it's on that site.) --> Dragon Ball Z Kai (Funi Dub or Funi Sub, depending on...)--> Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters (Possibly Fansub. Possibly Funi Dub (censored or otherwise) or Funi Sub depending on when they are released. Official translation of any kind is preferred to the fansub) OR Dragon Ball Z ep 200-291 (Funi Sub) --> Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (Funi Dub or Funi Sub) --> Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (Funi Dub or Funi Sub) --> Dragon Ball Super (an official translation does not exist yet, as far as I'm aware.)

Loop 2 (English Experience) (Understanding memes, and looking at filler material): Dragon Ball (English Dub. Most likely Funi uncut for most, if not all. If there are other dubs I should watch and are easy to find, let me know) --> Dragon Ball Z (Saban English Dub) --> Dragon Ball Z (Um...which dub should I finish the series with for the purpose of understanding fandom specific jokes?) --> Dragon Ball GT (Which dub should I watch?)

Loop 3 (Untamed and Uncut, but not on Animal Planet): Dragon Ball Z (Funimation Uncut dub for at least episodes 1-67. If the dub I watch in loop 2 after the namek saga is uncut, then I go to...) --> Dragon Ball GT (Only if the dub watched in the last loop isn't uncut.)

Loop ? (Trolololololololo....): Dragon Ball Z: Abridged

Should I Watch something else before "Loop ?" or any of the other loops? I'd like some suggestions for everything :P

Nobody sang The Bunny Song in years…

Author
Time
 (Edited)

The AB dub (by Ocean) of 123+ is based on the same scripts and masters as the TV edit of the Funimation dub, but does have further tweaks.

That said, you'll have one hell of a time finding it complete. I don't have it complete, for example; several eps are missing recaps and/or previews, some are even missing chunks of the episode proper, and some are nearly unwatchable due to low audio quality.

I fansubbed a good chunk of the second DBK run with a couple friends (we went on to join a couple other fansubbers to do DBS), so so far as Baaro DBK exists, it's probably the best choice for that. ;)

The Funimation dub of DBGT is technically superior, but the Ocean dub (apart from the OPEDs) is more accurate to the Japanese and is the original English dub.

ETA: Far as I know there's no official translation of DBS yet. Get the Dragon Team subs. (And not only because I was the encoder =P)

"Right now the coffees are doing their final work." (Airi, Masked Rider Den-o episode 1)

Author
Time

I'm thinking of changing my viewing order. The Funimation Subs for Dragon Ball are very literal. Perhaps too literal, as there are many cases where certain words or phrases are left untranslated, and I'm not talking about names or japanese honorifics. I'm thinking of starting over with the uncut dub, so that I don't have to read a non-translation that might make TV Nihon wince.

Nobody sang The Bunny Song in years…

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Danfun128 said:

I'm thinking of changing my viewing order. The Funimation Subs for Dragon Ball are very literal. Perhaps too literal, as there are many cases where certain words or phrases are left untranslated, and I'm not talking about names or japanese honorifics. I'm thinking of starting over with the uncut dub, so that I don't have to read a non-translation that might make TV Nihon wince.

 While I admit that I have issue with Steve Simmons's subtitles (Mato, who does original DB, is not as guilty of the literalness), you really are better off pulling through and dealing with that.  I'll never understand why they don't translate certain terms in the opening (unless GISSIRI etc. don't mean anything in particular), but the terms they leave untranslated are so for a reason.  The nyoibo for example is actually lifted directly from Chinese folklore and using any term other than the Japanese translation would be a loose adaptation that probably wouldn't read well either.

The show is leagues better in Japanese, if only for the acting. Ride it out, I think you won't regret it.

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

Author
Time

We believe the DB opening and ending may have actually been translated by Simmons rather than Mandelin.

Both translators have done DAN DAN kokoro hikareteku; Mandelin's translation can be found at the end of Path to Power.

"Right now the coffees are doing their final work." (Airi, Masked Rider Den-o episode 1)

Author
Time

BTW, a possible reason GISSIRI and DOSSARI are left alone in the DB subs has to do with how they're written in the lyrics (yes, I think it's ridiculous; Simmons somewhat repeated the practice in DBGT too with the DAN DAN and ZEN ZEN).

"Right now the coffees are doing their final work." (Airi, Masked Rider Den-o episode 1)

Author
Time
 (Edited)

I listened to small clips of the English Uncut Funi dub of the original Dragon Ball, and wasn't impressed, so I'm sticking with the original Japanese. Shame it's stuck in mono, and it isn't even Dragon Box quality of course. If only Kei17 wouldn't be so greedy and release all of the Original Broadcast Audio to the public.

As for the subbed version, I've seen up to (but not including) episode 50. A pretty wild ride so far. Sometimes I'm amazed that it was shown to children in Japan considering the...crude humor. Although I admit it did make me chuckle a little.

Honestly, of the sub releases of the original Dragon Ball, what do you like the best?

1. Saga Sets

Pros: not as zoomed as Blue Bricks.

Cons: First 13 episodes only uncut in Australia, meaning PAL conversion is likely.; poor compression.

Meh: Japanese Title cards.

2. Blue Bricks/*******.*** um....

Pros: Better compression/quality than Saga Sets; First 13 episodes are uncut (and may or may not have new transfers); probably cheaper than Saga Sets.

Cons: More zoomed than Saga Sets; Mild DVNR applied (nowhere near as bad as the DBZ Orange Bricks and the DBZ Season Blu-Rays)

Meh: No Japanese Title cards.

3. Hulu

Pros: Everything is free and legal.

Cons: Linux support is abysmal; commercial breaks (and fade ins/fade outs)

Meh: I have no idea what transfer is used, and how it compares to the other two English releases.

I know I haven't gotten that far yet, but I'm considering watching the original DBZ with subs instead of watching Kai first. Do the Funi Dragon Box subs cover everything, including the recaps that other releases lack?

Nobody sang The Bunny Song in years…

Author
Time

Hulu hash ad some sort of improvements done to the audio. I'd stick to that service.  It's the blue brick footage, barring Japanese title cards.

Also, I wouldn't call Kei greedy by any means of the word. How would you feel if the only thing people asked you for was free stuff that you spent years hunting down?  Besides, supposedly, he's sending tapes with the broadcast audio to Chris Sabat over at FUNimation. We'll see how that goes down the road. 

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Thanks for the wake up call bkev (although it's really my bedtime :P)

I guess I got so caught up in the preservation aspect that I didn't even think of "give me free stuff" as a reason for not releasing it to the public.

You say he's sending the tapes to FUNimation, eh? Good luck with that, considering how lazy they are with their DB releases (First they start out with the competent Level sets, then they decide quality is too expensive and release the heavily DVNR'd and 16:9 cropped Season Blu-Rays. The main reason to choose the Season Blu-Rays over the Orange Bricks is that the Blu-Rays pan and scan rather than just crop. Of course, most, if not all of the DB Blu-Rays have lossless audio, but is it really worth it? If FUNi releases another Orange Brick/Season Blu-Ray type release with the Original Broadcast Audio, I guarantee that certain fans would rip said audio and try to sync it with the Level sets and/or the Dragon Box (either FUNi or Japanese) video.

edit: What does "Hulu hash ad" mean?

edit 2: Just noticed this. Looks interesting...

edit 3: I'm an idiot.

Nobody sang The Bunny Song in years…

Author
Time

The subs on the R1 Dragon Boxes are absolutely complete.

"Right now the coffees are doing their final work." (Airi, Masked Rider Den-o episode 1)

Author
Time
 (Edited)

I just finished episode 68. I can't believe that they managed to sneak a frame of boobs (with no nipples) in a show for kids. How they can show perverts and porn stashes on a show for kids is something i'll never figure out :P.

I also can't believe how much they dragged the destruction of the Red Ribbon base. What took 4 episodes could have easily taken 2 or even 1. Ironically, I felt like Aggressive!Lunch's character development from always hostile to at least showing loyalty went too fast, to the point that I felt like I missed something. Am I right in saying that DBZ is even worse than that with its pacing?

edit: I forgot to talk about the Dr. Slump crossover episodes...why is there living poop? Placed on sticks? Do people eat the poop?

Don't answer that...

Nobody sang The Bunny Song in years…

Author
Time

DBZ's pacing is infamous.

(Does anyone know for sure how far Funi got in the original dub airing with Dale Kelly narrating DBZ? I've heard conflicting stories.)

"Right now the coffees are doing their final work." (Airi, Masked Rider Den-o episode 1)

Author
Time

Molly said:

(Does anyone know for sure how far Funi got in the original dub airing with Dale Kelly narrating DBZ? I've heard conflicting stories.)

 I've been told they cut him at the start of the Otherworld Tournament filler.  I believe I've heard broadcast rips of him narrating the fight against Cell, so that lines up.  I just wouldn't be able to find any immediate proof.

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Dale Kelly's last Episode was 179 Free the Future, and some point around episodes 145-150 on DVD FUNimation started getting Hebert to redub the Narrator ultimately erasing Dale kelly from the product.

Wish they would do a Rock the Dragon release for the original broadcast dub of episodes 54-276, the original single DVDs don't contain every preview, and all of Dale Kelly's hilariously bad but funny Narrator material isn't completely available in a studio quality release.

Interesting fact, a lot of the FUNi previews for Z aren't the same as the original Japanese previews which is why there aren't any dub previews on the FUNimation Dragon box

nobody's real

Author
Time

supervillianx51 said:

Dale Kelly's last Episode was 179 Free the Future, and some point around episodes 145-150 on DVD FUNimation started getting Hebert to redub the Narrator ultimately erasing Dale kelly from the product.

Wish they would do a Rock the Dragon release for the original broadcast dub of episodes 54-276, the original single DVDs don't contain every preview, and all of Dale Kelly's hilariously bad but funny Narrator material isn't completely available in a studio quality release.

Interesting fact, a lot of the FUNi previews for Z aren't the same as the original Japanese previews which is why there aren't any dub previews on the FUNimation Dragon box

Doesn't the Westwood/Ocean dub use the censored Funi release in all but the last four episodes? I'd bet that if a Rock the Dragon style release was given for the rest of DBZ, the Westwood dub would be included in it.

Nobody sang The Bunny Song in years…

Author
Time

Thanks, that's useful to know.  Z's a mess and I've gotten so much conflicting info that I really need to straighten everything out. :/

"Right now the coffees are doing their final work." (Airi, Masked Rider Den-o episode 1)

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Danfun128 said:

supervillianx51 said:

Dale Kelly's last Episode was 179 Free the Future, and some point around episodes 145-150 on DVD FUNimation started getting Hebert to redub the Narrator ultimately erasing Dale kelly from the product.

Wish they would do a Rock the Dragon release for the original broadcast dub of episodes 54-276, the original single DVDs don't contain every preview, and all of Dale Kelly's hilariously bad but funny Narrator material isn't completely available in a studio quality release.

Interesting fact, a lot of the FUNi previews for Z aren't the same as the original Japanese previews which is why there aren't any dub previews on the FUNimation Dragon box

Doesn't the Westwood/Ocean dub use the censored Funi release in all but the last four episodes? I'd bet that if a Rock the Dragon style release was given for the rest of DBZ, the Westwood dub would be included in it.

The Westwood contains a lot of time cuts that the FUNimation broadcast doesn't, like the long pan on Goku's Super Saiyan 3 hair for example. It would require a lot of Seamless branching which would require a lot of effort for a release that would be intended to be simple and cheap, would be easier for them to put the Westwood dub on a separate disc.

If such a release ever happened, I doubt you would see the Westwood dub on it, and if it did, it would be on a separate disc. The only thing they would possibly do is replace the AB Groupe sourced video in those last bunch of episodes with the 2003 FUNimation edited video of the time to match the previous.

Molly said:

Thanks, that's useful to know.  Z's a mess and I've gotten so much conflicting info that I really need to straighten everything out. :/

 
Yes, the english world for this show is just one big joke, it's interesting when you want to learn about the production side of things, but it's not good when you want a good final product in the end.

Ultimately, if FUNimation re-dubbed Z like Kai, got rid of Sabat, and Schemmel, and picked the best talent from the US and Canada, I would be good with a final dub.

This link should be useful in learning about the Westwood production.

https://web.archive.org/web/20030501122316/http://www.ukdb.net/

nobody's real

Author
Time

I dunno, Sabat and Schemmel aren't bad now (actually I think Schemmel was always a pretty good Goku), although as Piccolo and especially Vegeta, Sabat definitely sucked at first.

"Right now the coffees are doing their final work." (Airi, Masked Rider Den-o episode 1)

Author
Time

I can't believe I've managed to miss out on this thread. Well, I'm subscribed now! :o)

I have the Dragon Ball Dragon Boxes with custom English subtitles from ADC. I haven't watched it yet, but I'm looking forward to doing a re-watch soon.

Molly: Have you played with DrDre's color matching tool?

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

Author
Time
 (Edited)

ADC? Who? What?

...and what do you mean by custom? Do you mean a hybrid of the saga set/blue brick subtitles and fansubbed next-episode-previews and translation of the Japanese credits?

Nobody sang The Bunny Song in years…

Author
Time

I haven't, no... I'm not sure this old beast could handle running that thing on the Dragon Boxes, but it'd be nice.

"Right now the coffees are doing their final work." (Airi, Masked Rider Den-o episode 1)

Author
Time

Danfun128 said:

ADC? Who? What?

...and what do you mean by custom? Do you mean a hybrid of the saga set/blue brick subtitles and fansubbed next-episode-previews and translation of the Japanese credits?

PM me for what ADC is.

In this case it's the R2 Dragon Ball Dragon Box release with English subtitles muxed in. I'm not sure of the source, but I imagine the subtitles are just re-timed from the blue bricks.

With that being said, I wouldn't be surprised if something significantly more elaborate was done given how ADC operates.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

Author
Time
 (Edited)

On a different note, I've been listening to clips of the various dubs of DB as I go through the jp subbed version. Obviously the Funi dub is the easiest to find, and honestly I think it would be the worst if it weren't for Hamony Gold's dub changing the names of everyone. The Blue Water dub is bad, but still better than the Funi dub. Of the dubs, the Funi/BLT dub seems to be the best one, but it only covers the first 13 episodes. Of course, I haven't heard a single segment of the Harmony Gold, Animax, or Filipino dub, so as of the dubs I heard even a little of...

Japanese with subs > Funimation/BLT > Blue Water > Funimation

What do you think of this opinion?

On yet another note, is it possible to combine sources to get the best detail of both? Like the DBZ Dragon Box (Funi or Toei, it doesn't matter) and the Level Blu-Rays? Or the Funi/BLT VHS tapes and the first saga set (VHS of course has lower resolution, but the saga sets are poorly encoded)?

Nobody sang The Bunny Song in years…