Kaio's great DBZ sub/dub comparison! (Completed!)

Gawd that is SO dumb

DBZ episode 80

Japanese title: “The Tide Suddenly Turned!! Piccolo, the Warrior Who Came Late”
English title: “Piccolo the Super-Namek”

Krillin shouts Destructo Disc in the dub when he sneak attacks Freeza. Not exactly something you’d when you try to surprise someone. >_> In the Japanese version no name of an attack was made.

Freeza: What?! It’s that guy! But how? He was shish-kebabbed!

No comment.

Freeza: You cut off my tail and now I’m going to eat you for dinner!

OSHI-

Dende: Wow, they didn’t tell Piccolo was a Namek!

Except that Dende was there when Krillin talked with Guru about Piccolo THE NAMEK. GG Funi.

DBZ episode 81

Japanese title: “Piccolo’s Self-Confidence! I Will Be the One to Defear Freeza”
English title: “Déjà Vu”

This episode is okay.

How strange....

DBZ episode 82

Japanese title: “Attack, Goku!! An Enraged Freeza’s Second Transformation”
English title: “Freeza’s Second Transformation”

Kuririn: It ain't over till the fat lady sings!
Vegeta: Well, I'd say she just hummed a few bars.

Oh christ...

Piccolo fires off a ki blast volley

Vegeta: It’s over!

What is wrong with this line. Well, the fact that Vegeta says it when he is looking RIGHT AT AN UNHARMED FREEZA. Japanese Vegeta says “Look there”, but of course Funi has to show their enormous stupidity and fuck everything up. I MEAN HOW CAN YOU MESS UP A LINE LIKE “LOOK THERE”. HOW FUCKING STUPID CAN YOU GET?!

Japanese Krillin: Now getting married is completely out.
Dub Krillin: You know, it’s times like this I think to myself: why didn’t I just become a shoe salesman?

Quick! It’s a line where Krillin talks about his dream of getting married! Change it to a ridiculous line immediately!

Freeza: I may not win any beauty contest, but I’ll beat your tail!

Line speaks for itself.

Vegeta also calls Krillin by his name again in this episode. Twice.

DBZ episode 83

Japanese title: “Fear Me!! Freeza Does Battle With a Third Transformation”
English title: “Another Transformation?”

Dub Gohan again calls out Masenko in this episode, while clearly doing a different attack.

Japanese Freeza finds out about Gohan being a saiyan in this episode. Dub Freeza knew it all along though, looking at the way he talks about it. Yep.

DBZ episode 84

Japanese title: “The Death of Dende... Come Forth! Intense, Wide-open Power”
English title: “Dende’s Demise”

In this episode it’s Piccolo who screams Masenko while doing a random attack.

DBZ episode 85

Japanese title: “How I’ve Waited for this Moment!! Son Goku Revived”
English title: “The Renewed Goku”

One of those episodes where I can't really say anything.

Well maybe Freeza's line where he says "piece de resistance". That made me cringe a little.

DBZ episode 86

Japanese title: “Such Regret! Vegeta, Pride of the Saiyans, Dies”
English title: “The End of Vegeta”

Bardock: Don’t be afraid of him, men!

Who are you talking to again? Oh yeah that’s right, you’re talking to Freeza’s men. FREEZA’S MEN. FUNI FUCK YOU FOR NOT DOING EVEN A LITTLE BIT OF RESEARCH. OR WAIT, HOW ABOUT YOU STAY TRUE TO THE SCRIPT FOR ONE FUCKING TIME?!

Freeza: Nice move, but your shoe came untied.
Goku: I’m not going to fall for that. I don’t even have shoelaces!

I laughed so hard at this incredibly funny dialouge. It’s a good thing that Funi uses silent moments in tense situations to prove how well they do humourous dialogues.

Since I don’t feel like making a long rant about just how much Vegeta’s death is ruined, I’m just going to put up both versions of his death (done by Tsukento) and post up Chris Psaros’s words about it, since he explains it quite clearly.

Japanese version:



English version:



Chris Psaros:

Vegeta: "He took me from my father when I was just a little boy!"

And now, it begins. The total and absolute REWRITE of Vegeta's death. He and Goku spend the rest of the episode talking about how everything bad about Vegeta is ultimately Freeza's fault, and how Freeza "made him what he is."

That's a bunch of CRAP. Nothing like this is even HINTED at in the original script.

From what I could gather, here's what's REALLY said:

Vegeta tells Goku about how the Saiya-jin eventually did everything for Freeza, who began to fear their power, and ultimately exterminated them because of it. He also warns Goku not to be so soft and forgiving, and that this characteristic will ultimately be his downfall. This is all in the dub, but there's all sorts of "extra" nonsense, with Vegeta whining about Freeza's threats to kill his father unless he did his bidding, and how Freeza turned him into the cold-blooded killer that he is. Vegeta's final plea to Goku (in the dub) is to destrory Freeza so that he won't be able to "do it to anyone else." In the Japanese version, Vegeta instead begs that Freeza be destroyed "Saiya-jin no te de" (by the hand of a Saiya-jin). This is, no doubt, part of why the camera lingers so much on Vegeta's hand, first as he raises it toward Goku while he's making the final plea, and then as it falls lifelessly to the ground.

Dub Goku then buries him while belching forth some INCORRECT dialogue about how he forgives and pities Vegeta, since after all, he was just led astray by Freeza's influence.

The real Goku says nothing of the sort. In fact, what he actually says here is incredibly important to his character. While he doesn't put it in exactly these terms, he finally understands Vegeta's pride in his racial heritage. Not only that, but Goku is at last comfortable with his origin as a member of a race of planet pirates, something he has been struggling with ever since he found out the truth from Raditz. I personally think that he is able to make peace with that truth because he realizes now that the Saiya-jin may not be intrinsically bad after all, but were instead corrupted by Freeza. He is ultimately the one to blame for soiling their honor. Goku's final declaration is that he is now ready to share in a little bit of the pride that Vegeta felt for his race (Ora mo...sukoshi wakete morau zo...sono hokori o).

I may be reading a bit too much into this based on what's there, but my point remains the same:

The problem with the dub is that while it basically touches upon the same theme of the power of negative influence, it severely limits the scope by focusing on Vegeta himself. In other words, FUNimation emphasizes how Freeza affected just one individual, whereas the Japanese version takes a completely different approach and emphasizes how Freeza affected the Saiya-jin as a race.

That actually reflects some very key differences between Japanese and American culture. With us, it is always more about the individual and less about the collective, while the Japanese are the opposite.

Ultimately, the negative effect this has on the the dub is to make it so that we never see Goku make the revelation that allows him to embrace his Saiya-jin heritage, which is an important step in the growth of his character. This, and the racial component in general, is almost completely swept aside in the dub.

And it's also QUITE out of character for Vegeta to even suggest that anyone but himself "made him what he is." He would NEVER admit that, let alone be capable of realizing and accepting it. The dub makes Vegeta far more apologetic, self-pitying and self-aware than he could ever be, and judging by his actions after being brought back to life later on in the series, it is clear that he is nowhere near the level of maturity that the dub places him at here. His death does noticeably change him in a positive way, but it's a change that slowly and subtly develops over time.

Comments?

All good! I so hate the voices in the Frieza saga

DBZ episode 87

Japanese title: “The Curtain Rises Over the Ultimate Battle!! I Am Going to Defeat You”
English title: “The Ultimate Battle”

Yamcha: That’s wack!

Fuck off.

DBZ episode 88

Japanese title: “The Two Superpowers Collide! A Fistfight Where Both Turn Serious!!!”
English title: “Clash of the Super Powers”

Goku: Hammer time!





Freeza doesn’t talk in his native tongue in the Japanese version. He just chuckles there.

DBZ episode 89

Japanese title: “Freeza’s Terrible Declaration! I Will Defeat You Without Using My Hands”
English title: “Frieza’s Boast”

Freeza: This way I won’t break my nails.

GO AWAY, FEGHOOT

Oolong: We should forget going to Lizardville and head to the Bahama’s.

DIFFERENT EARTH IS DIFFERENT

Bulma: I could be the next Jane Goodall except with frogs!

Just. Shut. Up.

DBZ episode 90

Japanese title: “That Was No Idle Boast!! Son Goku, an Audacious, Wonderful Guy”
English title: “Bold and Fearless”

Freeza: But I, I’ve only used 1% of my full power!

Lies and slander! The only thing Freeza mentions about his power is that he’s going to use 50% now.

Freeza: Ooh yes, now I’m stoked!

;_;

Freeza: ..and that radical Bartock!

HE CALLED HIM BARTOCK! HOW COULD YOU MISPRONOUNCE HIS NAME WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Freeza: We could’ve been so good together.

ewwww

DBZ episode 91

Japanese title: “Showdown!! The Embodiment of Flame in a 20x Kaio-ken Kamehame-Ha”
English title: “Embodiment of Fire”

Nowhere is it mentioned that Goku was using Kaio-ken 10x throughout the battle (they just call it Kaio-ken), nor does Goku say that he’s using a Kaio-ken 20x with the Kamehameha.

In that hallucination of Goku it isn’t Goku’s friends who are laughing (like in the dub), it’s Freeza’s laugh that is heard when all of Goku’s friends are seen, after which the Earth is seen as it explodes. Now that whole sequence makes a lot more sense, doesn’t it?

*after the Kamehameha fails*

Japanese Goku: Damn it to hell!!
English Goku: [i]You’re mine, Freeza!/i]

Of course the dub dialouge is blatantly wrong again, as Goku is looking STRAIGHT AT AN UNHARMED FREEZA, but Funi is too stupid to realise that. The screw-up is made even more painful by the dub narrator saying that the attack didn’t work. Ouch.

DBZ episode 92

Japanese title: “A Super-Huge Genki Dama – I’m Playing My Last Card!!”
English title: “Trump Card”

In this episode someone finally mentions Goku was using the 20x Kaio-ken.

In Goku’s hallucination V2 (this time with nekkid Vegeta!) it’s Vegeta only who speaks to Goku in the body of all the characters who appear (Vegeta himself, kid Vegeta, king Vegeta, oozaru Vegeta, Bardock), where-as in the dub every character still speaks with their respective VA.

Sabat apparantly didn’t feel the need to redub Recoome, which means he now has 2 VAs, Sabat and the guy who did him during the Namek saga episodes (also the VA for the games).

*sigh*

*sigh* This is so damn annoying how FUNI fucks up everything

DBZ episode 93

Japanese title: “Keep the Chance Alive!! Piccolo’s Suicide Support Strike”
English title: “Keep the Chance Alive”

Bulma: He won every competition he ever entered!

LOL Funi not knowing what they’re talking about again. I remember a 21st and 22nd Budokai where he quite clerly didn’t win.

Recoome: Breath Blast Attack!

Wasn’t it called Eraser Gun earlier, Funi? Oh yeah, I forgot your main policy: inconsistency.

Another stupid Funi moment. In the original Piccolo asks for Gohan and Krillin to donate their energy to him so he can go an stall Freeza. In the dub though Krillin and Gohan give Piccolo his energy so that he can... give it to Goku... WTF?! We don’t even see Piccolo give it to Goku! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!

Freeza: I spy with my little eye one pitiable Namek who got away!

Do I even have to explain why this line is horrible?

DBZ episode 94

Japanese title: “The Incredible Destructive Force of the Genki Dama!! Who Will Survive!?”
English title: “Power of the Spirit”

This episode was fine.

DBZ episode 95

Japanese title: “Transformed At Last!! Son Goku, the Legendary Super Saiyan”
English title: “Transformed At Last”

Japanese Krillin: I just wanted to give it a shot once, y’know. Marriage.
English Krillin: I’m homesick.

Another shaft for Krillin’s dream.

Japanese Freeza: Shall I do the little brat next?
English Freeza: Pop goes the weasel!

So not is Freeza’s original line changed that adds to Goku’s SSJ transformation, it is changed to an incredible silly, lame line. Way to add drama, Funi!

Now for the SSJ transformation. I like both versions. Funi’s music was better than the Japanese version (not a typo!). However, I also love the beastly roar Japanese Goku unleashes when he finally transforms. So in the end they’re both great to watch.

DBZ episode 96

Japanese title: “An Explosion of Anger!! Goku, Avenge Everyone’s Deaths”
English title: “Explosion of Anger”

Goku: Piccolo’s our only chance of bringing the others back to this dimension!

Me = RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE.

Dr. Briefs: Could this be it, Scratch?

Chris Psaros can say this better than I can:
"THE CAT" DOES NOT HAVE A NAME. IT IS "THE CAT." NOW THEY HAVE TRIED TO NAME "THE CAT." AND THE NAME IS REALLY, REALLY STUPID. Sorry, but I love The Cat. And The Cat should not have a name.
Here’s another one of those scenes that are completely ruined and this time it’s dub dialogue that’s quite popular.

Japanese Freeza: W-what the hell are you?!
English Freeza: W-what are you!?

And here we go.

Japanese Goku: As you surely are well aware, I am the saiyan who came from Earth to destroy you. Despite my calm, quite heart I am the legendary warrior, awakened by intense anger.

I AM THE SUPER SAIYAN, SON GOKU!!

English Goku: I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out in peace. I am protector of the innocent, the light in the darkness! I am truth.

ALLY TO GOOD, NIGHTMARE TO YOU!!

Why the dub here sucks:

- It is generic Superman bullshit.
- The dub fails to show just how much Goku has changed after transforming.
- The dub doesn’t mention the pre-requisites for becoming a super saiyan.
- The original dialogue is just plain awesome and the dub is NOT.

DBZ episode 97

Japanese title: “The Destruction of Planet Namek!? A Demonic Flash Pierces the Ground”
English title: “Namek’s Destruction”

Freeza: I can breathe in space and you can't.

Of course you mean SURVIVE in space, right? >_>

Freeza: Five more minutes.

IF THERE WAS ONE MOMENT IN THE ENTIRE SERIES WHERE YOU SHOULD PURPOSEFULLY CHANGE A LINE THEN THIS WAS THAT MOMENT, FUNI. BUT OF COURSE YOU CUNTS DECIDE TO BE FAITHFUL NOW. WELL FUCK YOU TOO.

DBZ episode 98

Japanese title: “I Will Be the One Who Wins... Risking Survival, A Final Attack”
English title: “A Final Attack”

Freeza: Alright, big guy. Whatever turns you on.

Worst line said in the entire dub. I MEAN WHY WAS IT NECCESARY TO TURN FREEZA IN SOME KIND OF SISSY GAY TRANSVESTITE?! I HATE YOU, FUNI.

DBZ episode 99

Japanese title: “Shen Long, Run Yourself Through Space!! The Time of Namek’s Destruction Draws Near”
English title: “Approaching Destruction”

I hate episodes where I can’t complain. It doesn’t turn me on.

DBZ episode 100

Japanese title: “I am Son Goku’s Son!! Gohan Returns to the Battlefield”
English title: “Gohan Returns”

Alright, big guy. Whatever turns you on.
Alright, big guy. Whatever turns you on.
Alright, big guy. Whatever turns you on.
Alright, big guy. Whatever turns you on.
Alright, big guy. Whatever turns you on.
Alright, big guy. Whatever turns you on.
Alright, big guy. Whatever turns you on.
Alright, big guy. Whatever turns you on.
Alright, big guy. Whatever turns you on.
Alright, big guy. Whatever turns you on.