Did FUNImation irrepairably cripple the fandom in the US?

[Super Sonic]

The music thing has to do with money at times. And it's not always a bad thing. Trust me, the Go-Lion music isn't that good, and Voltron's is much better.

[ABED]

The music thing has to do with money at times. And it's not always a bad thing. Trust me, the Go-Lion music isn't that good, and Voltron's is much better.

The money issue seems like a rationalization by FUNi. It seems more likely that the music was designed to "appeal more to an American audience".

[Straw]

But who watches the show for the music? I don't think the Japanese music would've deterred anyone if that had been the soundtrack.

If the comments on YouTube are any indication, then A LOT of people. For some heads, the show is straight up ruined if Faulconer's score isn't there, and then you have cats like me who consider Kikuchi's score to be a selling point. The only thing that really bothers me today (other than the cropped video), is the fact that FUNimation's take on DBZ is so ubiquitous you meet a lot of people who don't lurk on forums that aren't even aware that there's a big difference between the American and Japanese version.

But we're all here because we love the damn thing, so no, the fandom isn't crippled. Just stalemated.

[ABED]

But who watches the show for the music? I don't think the Japanese music would've deterred anyone if that had been the soundtrack.

If the comments on YouTube are any indication, then A LOT of people. For some heads, the show is straight up ruined if Faulconer's score isn't there, and then you have cats like me who consider Kikuchi's score to be a selling point. The only thing that really bothers me today (other than the cropped video), is the fact that FUNimation's take on DBZ is so ubiquitous you meet a lot of people who don't lurk on forums that aren't even aware that there's a big difference between the American and Japanese version.

But we're all here because we love the damn thing, so no, the fandom isn't crippled. Just stalemated.

I don't think youtube is a representative sample.

Again, I'm saying "just for the music". I never claimed music can't help or detract.

[Straw]

I don't think youtube is a representative sample.

Again, I'm saying "just for the music". I never claimed music can't help or detract.

Well, sometimes I do. Heh.

[Kamiccolo9]

I don't see any reason to solely blame Funimation for the state of the fanbase. I mean, it's not like Funimation made them incapable of accepting other versions of Dragon Ball than the one they grew up with. That's a problem that lies entirely with the fans themselves.

Sure, you can blame Funimation for messing up the show with what they did, but they have no control over the fans.

[Fionordequester]

But who watches the show for the music? I don't think the Japanese music would've deterred anyone if that had been the soundtrack.

I wouldn't say I wouldn't watch any new DBZ adaptation just because it doesn't have Bruce Faulconer, but I definitely WAS thinking about rescoring all of Dragon Ball Z Kai with it (though it seems someone already beat me to that. He didn't rescore the ENTIRE series, but he's rescored all of Goku vs. Frieza and various other fights).

[BluezaBladeNZ]

Years back around the time the Orange Bricks were getting released, I was a complete FUNi dub fanboy if you want to call it and hated on the Ocean Dub as well as not checking out the Japanese version etc. But funny enough, I slowly turned towards the others and began to hate the FUNi dub. I primarily watched the japanese version while still having the Ocean Dub for nostalgia sake. But I had quite a hate for the Faulconer Productions score and just refused to have anything apart of it.

Only since sometime last year, I gave the FUNi dub and even the Faulconer score another try and it wasn't the worst that I thought it was. I've come to accept them for what they are, that they're completely different entities, but if I'm wanting the true viewing, I still stick with the Japanese version through my Dragon Boxes. In some way, the FUNi dub with American score (both Johnson and Faulconer Prod.) is still somewhat entertaining in its own way, but it's not the version I'd want to really engage with the story in.
I guess that's why I ultimately decided to include both the FUNi dub with Kikuchi score from DBOX and FUNi dub with US score from Orange Bricks and volumes (wanting the original '99-'03 version) for my colour corrected DBOX Blu-ray project.

Though with DB Kai, this is different as the dub for that is brilliant and is actually my preferred version since it brought something new whereas the Japanese version was just a re-recording of what they already had.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

I dont think Funimation did anything. Its the Fans who wont accept the source material. Fumimation didnt do anything Dic didnt already do. Though times were different then. The fans are the ones that are stuck on their toonami nostalgia seeing DBZ only the way they want it to in order to fit the meme.

[ABED]

I dont think Funimation did anything. Its the Fans who wont accept the source material. Fumimation didnt do anything Dic didnt already do. Though times were different then. The fans are the ones that are stuck on their toonami nostalgia seeing DBZ only the way they want it to in order to fit the meme.

I'm certain many of the fans would've accepted almost anything they were given.

[Super Sonic]

I dont think Funimation did anything. Its the Fans who wont accept the source material. Fumimation didnt do anything Dic didnt already do.

Except give us some of the best cartoons of the 80s.

On topic, it also might be due with it being 11 years since DBZ ended. Some guys don't care about changes done and move on. Also with nostalgia what one hears first affects them. For example, with the Super Show clip I posted, while everyone loves Charles Martinet, many of my generation if asked who their favorite voice for Mario and Luigi was, they'd reply the late Captain Lou Albano and the late Danny Wells as that is who they heard first, and many saw that before playing the games, like I did. (Didn't get NES until Christmas 1989).

[Gaffer Tape]

For example, with the Super Show clip I posted, while everyone loves Charles Martinet, many of my generation if asked who their favorite voice for Mario and Luigi was, they'd reply the late Captain Lou Albano and the late Danny Wells as that is who they heard first, and many saw that before playing the games, like I did. (Didn't get NES until Christmas 1989).

Wait, what? *runs to wikipedia* Damn it! I knew Captain Lou had been dead for a while, but Danny Wells is now too? That's just depressing. They were indeed my favorite voices for Mario and Luigi, and now they're both gone.

[Puto]

The music thing has to do with money at times. And it's not always a bad thing. Trust me, the Go-Lion music isn't that good, and Voltron's is much better.

Big difference being that Voltron isn't trying to pass itself off as Golion, it's just trying to be its own thing while using Golion footage.

[RocktheDragon]

I really don't believe so. I have many friends who enjoy the original Funi dub and there is nothing between us that ever makes things heated. I think it's just the kind of environment a message board can create that makes many conversations so polarized.

So for me, this whole fandom divide in the U.S. is just overstated and overblown. It's easy to think that this message board (or other DBZ message boards) represent the current state of DBZ fandom in America but it's just one microcosmic part of a much larger whole.

[Smochi]

I think it's more of the case that assholes irrepairably cripple the reputation of the fandom.


I prefer the FUNI dub, because it is what I grew up with and those voices fill me with memories that make me much happier than superior acting jobs do. However, I don't think the dub is superior. But even if I did, what right do I have for making someone feel bad for something they JUST said makes them happy? That's just bringing someone down. I've also heard people say things like "I've only seen the dub, I'm sorry...I know..."


How badly do people have to be treated that they apologize in advance like that? I think the rude diehard fans of dubs are equally as bad as those of subs, and both of them make their own peers look bad. On that note, that kind of damage is never irreparable if you take the time to know someone. There are nice people on every spectrum of the fandom, and they can make you forget the mean ones, or at least find the worth putting up with.

[Gyt Kaliba]

I think the rude diehard fans of dubs are equally as bad as those of subs, and both of them make their own peers look bad.

Here here, and that pretty much sums up my opinion on the matter as well. Yes, FUNimation made a LOT of mistakes in the past. Hell, they still make them now, they're not perfect. And maybe if we'd had an accurate dub from the get go, we wouldn't have near as much of an argument between the factions. But, the thing is...it'd still be there in some way, no matter what. I've seen time and again fans of any dub commenting about how they can't stand the original Japanese versions, or how they just don't (or can't) read the subtitles fast enough to keep up; just like I've seen time and again fans of subtitles complaining about how a dub messes everything up. And I'm talking about with shows that are usually regarded to have good dubs, such as Fullmetal Alchemist or Cowboy Bebop, too.

Not to mention the power debates. I don't know if this is a DBZ alone problem or what (as I've never ventured too deeply into some other major fighting shonen fandoms), but good lord are the power debates fierce, and that's something that would most definitely exist no matter what. So when I consider that the fandom would still be pretty fractured just from that alone, I find it hard to place all the blame solely on FUNi. But again, they're not without faults either.

And as far as it being 'irreparable', that's mostly down to the fans as well, as we just can't ever seem to agree to disagree on most things. It almost always has to be this big 'thing', sadly.

[Metalwario64]

I don't know if I'd say cripple, but it's very annoying when you have people unknowingly bring up dub lines in debates and whatnot, and it makes it very hard to have discussions with people who only know of FUNimation's dubs.

[Fionordequester]

Hmm...I thought of something else in regards to ABED's point. As I said before, not having Team Faulconer isn't keeping me from watching DBZ period, but I will say that it definitely drags down my enjoyment every time I'm watching a scene, and thinking "*Sigh*, if only they had played the Time Chamber theme when Goku was encouraging his son to fight Cell", or "If only they had Frieza's theme playing with Chris Ayer's performance", or "Man, this scene was so much more awesome when the 'SSJ Transformation' was playing here", or "Man, Cell's speech here was so much more intimidating when this or that theme was playing", or "I really miss those days when everyone had their own special themes and motifs that would always play when they were in the spotlight", and other things like that.

I have a really hard time turning off the critic mode when it comes to music, so in that way, a lot of the scenes in DBZ lose their impact when they don't have that music that pushed them over the top. I mean, don't get me wrong, my enjoyment isn't bogged down THAT much, since, well, a well dubbed and written anime is still a well dubbed and written anime after all. It just stinks for me, hearing what I deem to be inferior music for my favorite show.

[ABED]

It just stinks for me, hearing what I deem to be inferior music for my favorite show.

I was thinking the same thing, the techno Faulconer music doesn't fit Dragon Ball AT ALL.

For every good theme he ever had, he also did things like "Bulma and the Frog".

[B]

I think the rude diehard fans of dubs are equally as bad as those of subs

There are rude diehard sub fans of Dragon Ball? I mean, we're all here. At times it can seem like the mere existence of this site offends fans of the dub. See the comments on Daizenshu EX's video for the anime's alteration to Piccolo's chest shot on Namek, if that video is still up on YouTube.