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[tariniel]

I watched the Toonami version when I was growing up so I actually prefer the english voices and what not. It's also hard to watch without the Faulconer music in some places. I love the show overall even with it's problems and I watch a few episodes now and again or catch someone streaming the whole series.

I'm excited for the next movie because I hear Vegeta will finally be the protagonist? I've been wanting him to actually win for a long time...

 

[WrenchNinja]

The original English dub of Z made it sound like gohan was a big softie who suddenly no longer had the heart for fighting (despite his years and years of training with piccolo and goku for the saiyans, the androids, and in the room of spirit and time, and Android 16 was like "Just do it." And then Gohan felt bad about letting android 16 die so decided to stop holding back.

In the original story/dub, it was more that Gohan was unsure of himself, but mostly, he was terrified of his own power. He knew the kinds of feats he could perform in a rage against the saiyans, and against freeza. Now that he was a super saiyan, if he went berserk, would he destroy the planet in a fit of rage? Would he accidentally hurt his friends? 16, in his dying moments, told gohan that he was a kind and gentle person, and pleaded with him to protect the world he loved. And then Cell killed him and called him trash right in front of him. That triggered gohan's sadness/rage

This sounds exactly like his speech in the original English dub.

I'm a purist, the original is always better. Saying America's version is better, is like saying a spiderman made in Japan is better than original. Its wrong.

The original of everything is always better? Really?

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

The Funimation dub is the only way I'll ever watch DBZ outside of Abridged. Kai dubbed was good, but a few of the voice actors changed and the lack of the original Funimation music made it inferior to the original dub.

 

[massoluk]

Japanese or Western, I recognized when I was a kid that DBZ was a terrible adaptation of an excellent manga. One panel of Goku powering up streched to half an episode of looping music and panning shot.

 

[giga-ganon]

Yeah, good job about not watching kai, the original music are way better! In french they keeped them, and they are now part of my childhood, some of them are so epic! The US music are really bad in my opinion, yeah i didn't grow up with them but still....

About the voices, in french, they're not that bad, there are some pretty good voice, like vegeta and goku (but some like picolo are ridiculous), but i still prefere the original jaapnese voice, i always watch anime in japanese, except for some old anime in french, for pure nostalgia! Didn't like the english voices, especially vegeta!

 

[Mr. Smiley]

At least we can agree Freiza's English dub voice in Kai is good right?

Right?

 

[genjiZERO]

OP, that's precisely why I can't watch things that are dubbed and have heavy localizations - it's completely changes the atmosphere. Also, the JP VAers in DB specifically are amazingly professional and you can hear how it's an artform.

I haven't seen it in ages. My youngest brother and I watched the whole series on HK bootleg rips (from VHS tapes copied over to CDs which I bought off of Ebay (and even then it was dodgy because Ebay pulled the guy's listing and I contacted him to do the transaction off-site). It was a great experience.

 

[GaimeGuy]

At least we can agree Freiza's English dub voice in Kai is good right?

Right?

Right.

Linda Young makes Frieza sound like Rita Repulsa

 

[Branson]

At least we can agree Freiza's English dub voice in Kai is good right?

Right?

I loved it personally. That with the better translation/acting made the dub pretty fantastic to watch. I stopped right as cell got there though. I need to go back and actually finish the Kai blu-rays I bought.

I actually bought the US Dragon Boxes a year ago or so to watch the original English dub again. Couldn't stand it anymore. Kai was a great way to re watch it. At least I have the Dragon Boxes for the Japanese version if I ever want to watch that.

 

[PhantomHound]

At least we can agree Freiza's English dub voice in Kai is good right?

Right?

Sure but they ruined cell

I know it's the same voice actor but his voice acting is awful in kai. The delivery of his lines are laughable.

 

[jwhit28]

I also rather have the US voices and music. I think that is why I never cared much for the movies or GT. I originally saw them all as subs.

 

[Zee-Row]

I like some of the filler like when Gohan meets the orphan children and the robot while training and Goku and Piccalo and Goku getting their drivers licenses. Fake Namek and Garlic JR filler episodes can fuck off though.

 

[IAmRandom31]

My favorite so far has been the entire set that I own now, the original DVD box sets ( where the spines form the dragon when set in a row ) but turn on the english subtitles and use the original japanese voice acting and mono

Thats about as close to the original show as you'll get and it is a phenomenal watch.

 

[MrSaturn99]

Guys, I don't think the Japanese music for Gohan SSJ2 is that great a fit. It sounds like credit music to me, not the moment when Gohan lets go and uses the potential power - a moment the show had been building up to since the beginning of Z.

Better than the techno crap they used in the dub.

BANANANEENEEEE. BANANANEENEEEEEEE.

At least we can agree Freiza's English dub voice in Kai is good right?

Right?

Yup, not even a contest.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Not sure why Frieza being voiced by a woman bothers people so much. He's an alien, so I don't see why that bothers people so much that he doesn't adhere to human voice standards. I sort of wish more shows did stuff like that.

8]I like some of the filler like when Gohan meets the orphan children[/B] and the robot while training and Goku and Piccalo and Goku getting their drivers licenses. Fake Namek and Garlic JR filler episodes can fuck off though.

I just watched that episode!

It was sort of odd. I guess because of how "normal" a plot it was, especially for Dragonball Z, it feels a bit weird. You know, there's this really human-focused plot, and all these characters probably got blown up anyway when Vegeta and Nappa blow shit up when they arrive. Also, that Pigero dude had such a cool design he looked like a main character---but the ending of that was really abrupt. He drops Gohan off, cries, and then drives off haha.

I really like the other Gohan in the wilderness episodes though. Love that one saber-tooth tiger who follows him around.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Not sure why Frieza being voiced by a woman bothers people so much. He's an alien, so I don't see why that bothers people so much that he doesn't adhere to human voice standards. I sort of wish more shows did stuff like that.

It has nothing to do with him being voiced by a woman.

Frieza is supposed to sound like this refined nobleman that, despite his formal manner of speech, is a psychopathic, sadistic killing machine. Linda Young makes him sound like a sarcastic old woman slightly detached from reality.

 

[Anth0ny]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezrbyf6t9mY

easily the best thing kai brought to the franchise

 

[MikeMyers]

That's one thing that annoys me about the old FUNi dubs. They took out the awesome insert songs like Wolf Hurricane.

 

[way more]

This has been on my bucket list for a while and I'll get to it some day.

 

[HeelPower]

The music by shunsuke kikuchi is amazing in the Japanese version

Such an incredible ost.Probably one of the best I've ever heard.

The american one is absolute trash by comparison.

This difference alone makes the Japanese dub far superior.

 

[Wazzy]

Original English version is my favourite and it's rare for me to prefer dub versions. The music is fantastic as is the voice acting.

The closing theme is just too good. Bruce did such a great job.

 

[Hunter S.]

American version is superior.

 

[Erigu]

The original of everything is always better? Really?

It's a decent rule of thumb.

 

[Boss Doggie]

You should check out DB too when you have the chance.

Also you can never ever top CHA LA HEAD CHA LA

 

[Toparaman]

Good luck OP. I've watched the first DB series twice-over fully (in Japanese), both times with the intention of going through DBZ right after. The farthest I've gotten in DBZ is the end of the Garlic Jr. saga. The Saiyan Saga is pretty damn good, and even some of the Namek stuff is good. The battles are prolonged but bearable if you're marathoning episodes (since you don't have to wait as long to see the outcome). Then the series goes, pardon the phrase, full retard.

Think about this: the fight between Goku and Frieza should be epic and intense right? I mean Goku goes fucking Super Saiya-jin for the first time, and Frieza is an awesome villain, so it should be great, right? WRONG. It is a 19 episode, literally 4 hour long borefest of repeated animation and false climaxes.

So then this awful battle finally finishes and you're ready to move on to the next major plotpoint. NOT SO FAST THERE. First you have to go through a 9 episode filler saga that no one could possibly give a fuck about, because it's obvious that none of this has any impact on the main plot.

That was it for me. I love the first DB series. It's charming (especially in the original language, since humor and cuteness are so dependent on good delivery), unique, genre redefining, and has genuine character and tonal development. I cannot stand DBZ. It is an obscene waste of time.

And the thing is, Kai is so much better, but even it got screwed up in the end because of the music debacle and subsequent switcharoo. So now there's no definitive DBZ anime. I'll just have to read the manga sometime.

 

[Mr. Doop]

You should check out DB too when you have the chance.

Also you can never ever top CHA LA HEAD CHA LA

Yeah, I'll second this. In my opinion, the original Dragon Ball is superior to Z in almost every way possible.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Honestly, I'd still recommend DBZ over Kai, just skip over filler.

And yeah, DB feels so mystifying yet satisfying. Goku storming the RRA is very awesome.

 

[Great-God]

The manga is best. You don't really get the scale of the destruction those guys are making when fights last hours of which half the time are fucking stills of characters watching each other in awe. The manga is so much more epic because of that, and because of the enormous difference in enviromental detail and expresiveness in the faces. The Z anime is just terribly drawn. I still enjoy it, especially marathoning, and the OST is damn good, but the manga is the definitive way to get the story.

 

[JackLongRod]

Dragon boxes are the only way DBZ should ever be watched

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Damn, Episode 20...

Does anyone know the name of the song that plays when King Kai tells about the Saiyans? It's a really funky, 80's-song with lyrics. I was surprised when it started playing, was really catchy and made the scene quite cool.

I actually thought I missed something though when I jumped to Episode 21, and the opening "Last Time!" segment mentioned Goku training with King Kai with footage that wasn't in Episode 20. Turns out both the manga and the anime just skipped over the training for Kaio-Ken. :?

 

[GifGafIsTheBestGaf]

im sorry to be the bearer of this news op but you need to begin with Dragon Ball

and doesnt matter how many people bitch about it, everything that Goku did made sense and paid off so it wasnt just padded episodes like in most series on this day and age.

 

[Heroman]

Honestly, I'd still recommend DBZ over Kai, just skip over filler.

And yeah, DB feels so mystifying yet satisfying. Goku storming the RRA is very awesome.

What? Even if you skip over filler DBZ is way to long

 

[entremet]

The original Japanese is what I first and only watched. They were fansubs I got from a local comic book shop of all places, way before the Toonami deal.

Seeing the Toonami version is just so damn jarring to me. I miss the voices, especially Goku's legendary VA, the music, just everything.

It's funny how we all have our preferences. Many Toonami fans hate the Japanese VA/music.

It seems people like whichever version they saw first.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Remember when Yamcha was useful?

 

[Heroman]

Remember when Yamcha was useful?

Not really, The only time he was useful was during the first arc of DB.

 

[GifGafIsTheBestGaf]

Remember when Yamcha was useful?

those were the days, when you thought he was a bad ass lol

 

[Unknown One]

Kai butchered this scene:

http://youtu.be/XebyKpo6A9s

Kai version:

http://youtu.be/xmEqzJYCVl0

 

[angelic]

I marathoned DBZ 5 years ago when I first decided to get into it, I didnt even know the outcome of any of the major events. Every episode in japanese with subs. Soon as I was done, I went back through with the US dub. The japanese dialogue is far superior, a lot more talk of honour, and fighting, general adult conversation and swearing. But the US soundtrack is definitely badass, in particular during the Cell saga and games.

 

[farisr]

Can't watch it in Japanese, especially with all the screaming and powerups for Goku. I initially did, back when the dub kept on going on breaks and I couldn't stand them, managed to find it online and watch through it all in japanese, everything was new, so it was doable. But for rewatching the series on dvd, it basically comes down to a decision between English dub w/ English soundtrack, or English dub w/ original Japanese soundtrack. Depends on my mood and what saga it is. Japanese dub never factors in.

 

[burn this down]

I'll never understand the love for the Faulconer score, and this is from someone who grew up watching the show on Toonami. Like, it never shuts up. There's never a quite moment with the Faulconer score. A show doesn't always have to have music going in the background. Yamamoto and Kikuchi did so much better (though the track placement in Kai leaves something to be desired, specifically when they made the change back to the Kikuchi score).

Also, the original English dub is really bad. I'm so thankful Kai gave Funimation a chance to redo it.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

That's a problem in a lot of dubs, they always got to have music playing, or someone talking. Like watch the Digimon dub, and you'll notice in scenes where they zoom out from the action they always have someone talking off-screen to make a joke or something.

Sort of leads to the idea that American kids have short attention spans, and always need to have something going on.

EDIT: By the way, status update! I should finish the Saiyan Saga tonight!

 

[Akiller]

I should try the original version, too bad i'm sick of that show.
Why?Only ItalyGAF can understand that.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

I sort of want to watch the films as well (they're all pretty short so it seems manageable), is there really any recommended point in time coinciding with the original series to watch them (Dead Zone before Garlic Jr. saga, of course), or does it not really matter since they're non-canon.

 

[RedTurbo]

Dragon Ball is better than Z but if DB, Z and GT are looked at together as if they were one show from beginning to end then it's a very fun series. OP why start at Z instead of watching it from the beginning with DB?

Plus you're probably better watching it in Japanese. There are way too many English dubs for Z too all saying different things.

1. Funimation Original dub with Ocean Group Voices (Heavily edited)

2. Funimation Original dub with Ocean Group Voices (Unedited for Z movies 1-3 only)

3. Funimation In-house first take (Toonami version. The one most English dub fans are familiar with.)

4. Funimation In-house first take (Unedited version only available on DVD)

5. Ocean Group Dub starting from the Android arc (Only shown in Canada and parts of Europe using the same edits as Funimation's Toonami version. Missing the Freeza arc episodes and pre-Androids episodes)

6. Funimation In-House second take ("Ultimate Uncuts" a redub of the heavily edited Ocean Group voices episodes but no edits.)

7. Funimation In-House Third Take (with Shunsuke Kikuchi BGM or Funimation in-house BGM with reddubed Ultimate Uncut and redubbed lines from Funimation's unedited In-house first take dub. The dub on the Season Sets, Dragon Boxes (only with Kikuchi BGM) and Blu Ray releases. The catch to this dub is that some parts are rescored with different BGM because Funimation lost the rights to the music like History of Trunks or the Cooler Movies or that some lines are changed further.)

8. Funimation Kai Dub (Faithful to original Kai source, but not Z source)

9. Funimation Kai Dub (edited only shown on Nicktoons and Toonzai)

10. Big Green Dub

11. Malaysian Saiyapeople Dub

That's why I just put it in Japanese back in 2002 while waiting for the Buu saga to end on Toonami and never looked back. Still wish that a good faithful Kai-like English dub could be made for DB, Z, GT, and the movies but Funimation seems content enough with Kai being the only good dubbed Dragon Ball series.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Well, I finished the Saiyan Saga.

Really, really, really enjoyed the fight scenes. Also totally forgot the role Yajirobe played during the fight, haha.

The scene where Goku lets Vegeta go was probably my favorite scene so far in the show. Not gonna lie, old school anime "honor" always gets me.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Sorry to bump, but I'd thought I'd update everyone on my progress!

It's been only half-a-month or so, but I have already reached Episode 100, meaning I'm over 1/3s of the way through! Planet Namek is in the middle of exploding! I think...in seven more episodes?

Let's just say, this Freeza fight, as well as Smash and Pokemon ORAS, have slowed me down a bit, but I'm making great progress! The Namek-saga was pretty awesome overall, but I'm looking forward to the Android/Cell Saga, which I've barely watched and aren't too familiar with how it progresses. Hope I can finish the show in time for Xenoverse.

Gotta say, I liked most of the filler in the Saiyan Saga, but the Fake Namek Saga, and the "Misadventures of Bulma on Planet Namek" really tested my patience. The Ginyu Force fighting on King Kai's planet was cool, even though it seems like they should've beaten Yamcha and Tienshan easily. Although I guess being dead, maybe their power was nerfed by King Kai or something.

Also watched Dead Zone and World's Strongest, they were---okay?

 

[munchie64]

Just 5 minutes till Namek explodes, don't worry.

 

[MrSaturn99]

Just finished the Cell Games myself. Soooo good.

 

[LowlySmokeGuy]

Is there a way to watch DBZ Kai with the original Funimation DBZ music? I like the brevity and dialogue of Kai, but the music is pretty boring.

 

[Tanis]

I loved the Christopher Sabat / Sean Schemmel dub of DBZ along with funmation music. It's one of those things that never should have worked because they were changing so much but it comes off as incredible. I still listen the funmation music as exercise music

I watched the subbed Kai and really enjoyed it all. However it did feel a bit flat to me without the music I was used to.