Having bought and watched the first set, I applaud FUNimation for finally giving a Dragon Ball series a good, respectable dub. But not "great" or "perfect." There's a disappointing amount of things retained from the old dub that simply shouldn't have been.
- Dumb character and attack names. They're making an "accurate" dub, but still using the names "Tien" and "Tri-Beam?" Really? I wouldn't mind if they just used "TienShinhan" or something. If they want to keep their extra little 'I' then sure, just stop rejecting the entire second half of the character's name in the process. Which reminds me, Goku has a family name: "Son." It exists, FUNi, so use it. And for Dende's sake, they need to start saying "Ki" already, instead of horribly generic terms like "energy" and "power." Both "Son Goku" and "Ki' have been getting used quite often in things like the video games, so why not in the actual series?
- A handful of random, silly line changes. Nappa's "I hate the media!" is the most glaring example, but there were a few others. Like Kami blabbering on about Goku being Earth's last hope or something, instead of talking about how Piccolo is no longer the bloodthirsty demon that his sire was, which is a HUGE part of Pic's character development.
- And of course (and this totally deserves its own spot), effin' Freeza's grating, horrible, hellishly inappropriate dub-voice. This is the ONE aspect that more than anything else needed and still needs to be changed for Kai. Don't get me wrong; I have nothing personal against Linda Young, and she does great in roles that are actually meant to sound like elderly women (such as Baba and YYH's Genkai). But her voice for Freeza has always been an inexcusable blemish on the entire production, and unfortunately it looks like it will continue to be so for Kai.
Hopefully some of these things might still change in the future (especially that last bit, if nothing else). They're really what keep this dub from being the perfect, awesome answer to the good-dub dreams of every long-suffering fan who knows better.
Okay then. I got the few big negatives out of my system. Now for the positives, and why this dub is "good and respectable." While a few somewhat-major, old-dub-inspired flub-ups remain, there's a LOT of other problems that have been fixed.
First and foremost... It actually has an accurate script. I know this aspect should be expected in ANY dub, but it's just SO good to finally be able to watch "DragonBall Z" in English and NOT be disgusted by an outright disregard for the content of the original story, that I don't care. Kai was the perfect opportunity for FUNimation to redeem themselves for their past sins with Z's dub, and, aside from a few slip-ups like those listed above, they've certainly done so with gusto.
I watched these first 13 episodes of Kai entirely via the dub, but with the subtitles for the Japanese version on. I was happily flabbergasted to discover that for at least 95% of the time, the two languages were actually saying the same thing! This is something I once never thought I'd see happen, and I'm glad I was wrong. If the dialogue continues to stay this faithful, then there's about a 5-10% shining chance that it might let me put up with Linda Young's "Freeza" voice for its sake.
Next, there were some names and terminology that were thankfully adjusted for the better. Like the "Makankosappo" (which is WAY more complicated to say than "Kikoho," by the way) and "Kienzan," though hopefully the pronunciation for the latter will be more carefully minded in the future. Finally and most blessed of all, "Kaio-Ken" is at long last being pronounced RIGHT. Now if only they could start doing the same for "Saiyan."
Last but certainly not least, the cast. Oh, the cast. I've said all I've need to say about Freeza, so no more comments on that.
First off, Sabat is really at the top of his game in this. His Piccolo voice is cool, commanding, and deep. His Vegeta is more regal and relaxed, and less raspy. His Yamcha finally sounds just like a confident macho man, instead of a jock-ish douchebag. His direction skills are to thank for a lot of the good things in Kai's dub, and I excitedly look forward to whatever he's got planned for the Ginyu Force.
Mr. Sean Schemmel is really standing out, too. I notice he's toned down the lispy goofiness on Kaio, which is certainly welcome. But I agree with whoever enthusiastically remarked on his Goku earlier. Back in the Freeza arc of Z's dub, when the cast switch from Ocean happened... Schemmel's Goku sucked. Out loud. It was obnoxious, untrained, and had little to no grounding in Goku's actual character.
But now, in Kai, after years of practice and fine-tuning... he's the shining star of the whole production. Schemmel's become a pro at delivering a good balance between the happy, carefree Goku, and the serious, pissed-off-because-you-hurt-his-friends Goku. The character is there, the proper tone is there, and when it's now coupled with a good script that no longer has Goku spouting off heroic speeches with way too many big words...
I won't declare my admiration for his work by saying, "he IS Son Goku" or anything, because that expression will always be reserved for Masako Nozawa alone. But I couldn't possibly think of anyone in FUNimation's talent pool who could pull off the job better. That's a mighty big compliment coming from someone like me who almost always prefers the Japanese version.
Next, some of the replacements. The more minor ones didn't really affect my experience one way or another (though Oolong's new voice was a bit jarring), but the major ones definitely left an impact.
Monica Rial's Bulma voice is much, much, MUCH better than Tiffany Volmer's. The tone is extremely similar, but Rial's far more relaxed and natural, instead of making Bulma sound like a shrill, screechy, annoying b*tch. Bulma was always another voice that often caused me to quickly switch away from the dub, but no more. Bulma as voiced by Monica Rial is one of my favorites.
I also have nothing but good things to say about Colleen Clinkenbeard's Gohan. I can hear a little bit of Luffy in there, true (and I'll expect the voices to be quite similar whenever she ends up voicing young Luffy). But it's not at all distracting. The best part of it is that the voice finally sounds appropriate for meek little 4-year-old Gohan.
Stephanie Nadolny's voicework for him always sounded too deep and old. At best, it was only kinda appropriate for kid Gohan at his oldest, being 11 during the Cell Games (and on that note, works great for 12- to 15-year-old Kid Goku). But it was totally unfitting for him as a 4-year-old. Ms. Clinkenbeard's rendition is FAR more believable given Gohan's age, and hopefully she'll cleverly age it a bit as Kai gets further into the story, until Kyle Hebert eventually takes over after the timeskip into the Boo arc.
So all in all, I agree with the DaizEX review's sentiments that while a lot was changed for the better, FUNimation really should have just gone all-out and not omitted the few remaining major aspects that needed change just as much, if not more. Those few things certainly don't ruin the product as a whole, but it's disappointing that they weren't addressed like they should have been.
For comparison, DBZ's original dub is a definite F for its majority, but capping out at maybe a C for a few rare, well-handled things like chunks of the Boo arc and one or two of the movies. In contrast, I give the Kai dub a solid B+. It's a very good dub and a MASSIVE step up from that of DBZ. But a few glaring, shouldn't-exist problems keep it from being "perfect."
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