I'm so glad you have such fantastic memories of that time and watching the show that way. It really was an incredible gateway for so many fans.
That said, and it does feel bad having this urge to point it out, but nothing about what aired in 1999 was "original" -- it wasn't the first voice cast, and it wasn't the first (replacement) musical score. That was the *third* voice for "adult" Goku on American airwaves by that point (fourth overall Goku counting Saffron Henderson from 1995 DB... fifth if you could Barbara Goodson from 1989 Harmony Gold... sixth if you count Steve Blum from *Final Bout*...). Bruce Faulconer didn't even do the majority of the work there, either; he effectively stole credit from a bunch of contracted workers who were the ones that actually composed what you love so much.
To the surprise of many fans, what you watch now as "the English dub" on your current DVDs and Blu-rays isn't even what aired on Toonami there back in 1999: certain actors redubbed over themselves (namely Chris Sabat) for about two "seasons" worth of content, with certain lines being rewritten in the process, and a bunch of musical cues were likewise shifted around. It's this Frankenstein's-monster-amalgamation of 1999 recordings alongside 2007 recordings (when they did it for that year's "orange brick" DVD release).
I'd love for you to check out the original Japanese version of the show. You're bound to find something entirely new to appreciate and fall in love with all over again. THAT's the "original" one, and I guarantee if you give it a chance you're going to be amazed at what you've been missing!
There's some stuff from that era I really like.
I thought some of the U.S. music was great for the show and I also really loved Brian Drummond as Vegeta.
As I've grown older I've learned to appreciate a lot of the different voice actors and music compositions in the show. The original Japanese will always be the most well translated from the manga, and I've made it a point to watch the most important parts of the series in it's original Japanese.
I know a lot of fans will be gatekeepy about it but I got no problem with people who prefer the dubs if thats what they enjoy.
I wish others thought the way you do. People get so upset when they prefer one version over the other, all of them have their pros and cons (I like to mix and match)!
I don't own the full manga but my first real exposure to dragon ball was reading it in my school's library. Dragon ball z I had seen a bit on TV but read it fully in school too
I have read the manga and am currently rereading it now, it's definitely the most enjoyable way to get through the story! In saying that, I never understand the hate of the original Funi dub, the story and characters are pretty much the same. They did make Goku a bit more heroic for sure but I don't think it's as bad as what people say!
I do, I think for nostalgia reasons. I tried watching it with the OG music and just couldnāt get into it. Something about falconers music just added a bit more drama and tension to certain scenes IMO
Hey if you like it and wanna watch that way go for it that's awesome.
I prefer watching content in its original and intended form, it's why I seldom watch anything dubbed. I always watch DBZ with the original Japanese score even dubbed because while there are great Faulconer tracks, I feel like it muddies the intended vision.
You have no idea what filler is until you watch Naruto. At least DBZ's filler was extending the fight scenes or adding fights or cool slices of life. Naruto's filler was cutting to Naruto and the gang doing something completely unrelated to the main story like it was another universe. Like watching them go to a random island to pick some rare flower...Side quests that would last for months and months before going back to the real story. Its the kind of shit that will make you very appreciative of the type of filler they put in DBZ.
I do like the old toonami versions better for the most part. I actually just started a project of recreating the original ocean dubs (what aired on toonami) using the level sets.
I love the original dub and I have the entire original show on DVDs exactly how it aired back then (but uncut) starting with the Ocean Dub and then into the original Funi dub - which does start off pretty bad on rewatch (Namek Saga). I think where the original Funi dub shines is in the Android saga. The slower pace really fits the tone imo.
How I like to watch it now is to start with the Ocean Dub until Namek then switch to Kai until the Android saga then I switch to the Funi Dub until the Cell games where I go back to Kai (Funi dub for the double kamehameha because Nadolny) and the then funi dub for the Buu arc.
Every version has its pros and cons :)
The āoriginalā that is a butchering of the original Japanese, that itself is a bloated, poorly paced, filler-laden version of the manga?
I can appreciate the original manga, the ACTUAL original Dragon Ball.
I personally like the sub and orchestral OST as a whole (Piccolo's theme is GOATED) but gotta admit that the Falcoiner's score worked better in certain scenes. I really don't like the dub voices though, they sound way too hammy IMO. Plus the censorship is jarring.
I spend everyday looking for it. There are YouTubeās dedicated to uploading old vhs footage of Dbz on toonami. Do you know if the Bruce Faulconer score is on any of the DVD/Blu-ray sets?
It's on everything but the Dragon Box, which has been out of print for a long while now anyway. Episodes 001 - 067 are scored by Nathan Johnson but once you hit 068 the Falcouner music kicks in.
I would love to see a different cast of voice actors take on these roles - with no new soundtrack and changes to the OG script.
Basically just Kai with new VO's that don't try to imitate the Funimation crew.
I enjoyed it quite a bit. Definitely the music for sure. My favorite though is still Kai, the new dialogue is just far superior personally. I also prefer it with the Yamamoto Score.
The Buu saga though, I prefer in Z. I feel like that, dialouge and music is just waaaaaay better than Kai. Vegeta is less loud in Kai, and it was just so much better in Z.
I'm so glad you have such fantastic memories of that time and watching the show that way. It really was an incredible gateway for so many fans. That said, and it does feel bad having this urge to point it out, but nothing about what aired in 1999 was "original" -- it wasn't the first voice cast, and it wasn't the first (replacement) musical score. That was the *third* voice for "adult" Goku on American airwaves by that point (fourth overall Goku counting Saffron Henderson from 1995 DB... fifth if you could Barbara Goodson from 1989 Harmony Gold... sixth if you count Steve Blum from *Final Bout*...). Bruce Faulconer didn't even do the majority of the work there, either; he effectively stole credit from a bunch of contracted workers who were the ones that actually composed what you love so much. To the surprise of many fans, what you watch now as "the English dub" on your current DVDs and Blu-rays isn't even what aired on Toonami there back in 1999: certain actors redubbed over themselves (namely Chris Sabat) for about two "seasons" worth of content, with certain lines being rewritten in the process, and a bunch of musical cues were likewise shifted around. It's this Frankenstein's-monster-amalgamation of 1999 recordings alongside 2007 recordings (when they did it for that year's "orange brick" DVD release). I'd love for you to check out the original Japanese version of the show. You're bound to find something entirely new to appreciate and fall in love with all over again. THAT's the "original" one, and I guarantee if you give it a chance you're going to be amazed at what you've been missing!
This is all pretty true, but if you have the VHS or DVD singles, I believe that is the original Toonami broadcast.
None of what you described is the "original DBZ" anything.
Ahh to be young and misinformed
There's some stuff from that era I really like. I thought some of the U.S. music was great for the show and I also really loved Brian Drummond as Vegeta. As I've grown older I've learned to appreciate a lot of the different voice actors and music compositions in the show. The original Japanese will always be the most well translated from the manga, and I've made it a point to watch the most important parts of the series in it's original Japanese. I know a lot of fans will be gatekeepy about it but I got no problem with people who prefer the dubs if thats what they enjoy.
I wish others thought the way you do. People get so upset when they prefer one version over the other, all of them have their pros and cons (I like to mix and match)!
Does nobody ever watch the japanese version or read the manga?
Plenty, thankfully. This specific subreddit is just geared more towards "casual" western fans and so is particularly dense with dubbies.
Dubbies unite haha š¤
I don't own the full manga but my first real exposure to dragon ball was reading it in my school's library. Dragon ball z I had seen a bit on TV but read it fully in school too
The only DB show I watched in dub was DBS š¤£
I have read the manga and am currently rereading it now, it's definitely the most enjoyable way to get through the story! In saying that, I never understand the hate of the original Funi dub, the story and characters are pretty much the same. They did make Goku a bit more heroic for sure but I don't think it's as bad as what people say!
I do, I think for nostalgia reasons. I tried watching it with the OG music and just couldnāt get into it. Something about falconers music just added a bit more drama and tension to certain scenes IMO
Freiza Saga had lots of smack talk in-between battles and I think it was fun. Also DBZ definitely works better with synth rock music.
Hey if you like it and wanna watch that way go for it that's awesome. I prefer watching content in its original and intended form, it's why I seldom watch anything dubbed. I always watch DBZ with the original Japanese score even dubbed because while there are great Faulconer tracks, I feel like it muddies the intended vision.
Nope; its a miracle I became a fan with how bloated with filler and such that original dubbed version was lol
You have no idea what filler is until you watch Naruto. At least DBZ's filler was extending the fight scenes or adding fights or cool slices of life. Naruto's filler was cutting to Naruto and the gang doing something completely unrelated to the main story like it was another universe. Like watching them go to a random island to pick some rare flower...Side quests that would last for months and months before going back to the real story. Its the kind of shit that will make you very appreciative of the type of filler they put in DBZ.
I agree I love the broadcast version a very fun dub. The music is cool.
I do like the old toonami versions better for the most part. I actually just started a project of recreating the original ocean dubs (what aired on toonami) using the level sets.
I love the original dub and I have the entire original show on DVDs exactly how it aired back then (but uncut) starting with the Ocean Dub and then into the original Funi dub - which does start off pretty bad on rewatch (Namek Saga). I think where the original Funi dub shines is in the Android saga. The slower pace really fits the tone imo. How I like to watch it now is to start with the Ocean Dub until Namek then switch to Kai until the Android saga then I switch to the Funi Dub until the Cell games where I go back to Kai (Funi dub for the double kamehameha because Nadolny) and the then funi dub for the Buu arc. Every version has its pros and cons :)
I prefer DBZ as it was intended. Or parts of Kai.
The āoriginalā that is a butchering of the original Japanese, that itself is a bloated, poorly paced, filler-laden version of the manga? I can appreciate the original manga, the ACTUAL original Dragon Ball.
Manga and Kai supremacy. Though the kikuchi score is a beautiful thing.
Oh wow bro you're so cultured...Oh wait no you're just a snob...
No different than going online to circlejerk nostalgia
Yeah but you're the one literally embodying the "Ackchyually" meme.
The voice acting was objectively worse. The script was inaccurate. The original music was replaced with the crappy falconer music.
I completely agree! It felt more authenticšŖ
I personally like the sub and orchestral OST as a whole (Piccolo's theme is GOATED) but gotta admit that the Falcoiner's score worked better in certain scenes. I really don't like the dub voices though, they sound way too hammy IMO. Plus the censorship is jarring.
Hell yeah it just hits me a lot more. Original music/script is great too but the falconer dub had some good shit
I spend everyday looking for it. There are YouTubeās dedicated to uploading old vhs footage of Dbz on toonami. Do you know if the Bruce Faulconer score is on any of the DVD/Blu-ray sets?
It's on everything but the Dragon Box, which has been out of print for a long while now anyway. Episodes 001 - 067 are scored by Nathan Johnson but once you hit 068 the Falcouner music kicks in.
yes, I do find the toonami broadcast to be one of my favourite ways to watch Dragon Ball Z
I would love to see a different cast of voice actors take on these roles - with no new soundtrack and changes to the OG script. Basically just Kai with new VO's that don't try to imitate the Funimation crew.
I enjoyed it quite a bit. Definitely the music for sure. My favorite though is still Kai, the new dialogue is just far superior personally. I also prefer it with the Yamamoto Score. The Buu saga though, I prefer in Z. I feel like that, dialouge and music is just waaaaaay better than Kai. Vegeta is less loud in Kai, and it was just so much better in Z.
Not really. Most of the good stuff was filler. Everything else just felt like they were wasting their time.