25 years after it aired, I watched Gohan turn SSJ2 for the first time in original Japanese

[thewienke]

There are only a few bits of the Faulconer soundtrack that I consider to be an all time classic like Vegetas theme. That one is so good that it should be purchased and incorporated into the show for all time in every version. Also love Cell's theme.

But Gohan's SSJ2 transformation ain't one of them. It's also one of the few instances that not even nostalgia goggles can make me think that it's better than the original.

 

[Tanerian]

I prefer the Japanese version. The Oozaru roar in the background is amazing and the song is great.

I like the falconer score to be fair, and Dubbed Gohans scream, but Gohans internal dialogue being added is absolutely awful. Its literally funimation thinking the audience is too stupid to understand what's going on. So over the top and on the nose. Yuck.

TFS's version is far better than it has any right to be, being a parody and all.




And a personal side note I can never let go of in these Ssj2 threads.

Gohan does not go SSJ2 in that scene. He just let's out his rage and begins to tap into his power. He goes SSj2 in the next episode, and gets the trademark extra spikey hair and electricity effects.

Always hated that the scene is referred to as Gohan going Ssj2, though I think it's because it is in the manga.

The actual Ssj2 scene has been posted in this thread.

 

[A Pretty Panda]

 

[FernandoRocker]

Man, Americans are truly awful at any kind of dubbing.

 

[RochHoch]

All of the Falcouner worship is embarrassing. What show do you think Japan was watching and loved?

I especially love the TFS version, and it's so good largely because KaiserNeko doesn't give a flying fuck about how the dub handles anything. He knew all along that he wanted a cover of that song, and couldn't fathom using anything else for that scene.

 

[Infcabbage]

I've never really understood the hatred toward Goku's Japanese voice. Like, Sean Schemmel is good too, but that doesn't make Nozowa bad at all. I honestly think the TFS voice for Goku isn't a bad english Goku either and something similar would work in an actual serious dub.

The dub really wasn't good until Kai, and Kikuchi's score was always better than Falcouner.

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It's hard to look at things objectively behind years of nostalgia for a very specific thing. The dub has gotten really great though, I will admit.

 

[Lee Chaolan]

Love the dub, but Original Japanese is the way to go.

So blessed that I've seen Kageyama Hironobu perform live in concert!

 

[FernandoRocker]

I love the Mexican Spanish dub and damn they knocked it out the park.

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Yeah, Mexican dubs (of any kind of media) are most of the times top-notch quality. Just compare for example Breath of the Wild in Latin America Spanish vs English and the difference is laughable.

Same with Dragon Ball or any other anime.

 

[TheChits]

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Thank you. I am upset it took this long for Mega 64's version to be brought into the mix

 

[ErichWK]

Dragonball and Z are examples where the dub is better. So i vote original dub

 

[Instro]

All versions of the show have problems in this regard honestly.

I don't see the point in stanning for the original Japanese audio. Unless you heard it broadcast in Japan back then, the audio quality for re-releases has been varying degrees of dogshit, and will likely never be fixed unless Toei finds the masters in a dump somewhere. Beyond that, I've never felt that DBZ's original OST was particularly note worthy in terms of composition or sound, nor do I care for any of the insert songs like the one used here. Most of the main cast VA is unenjoyable too, but the villains were great, like Wakamoto as Cell.

Funi/Falconer has it's own issues, but the show was largely better for the work they did, with the exception of the work done to redub what Ocean did at the beginning of the series. A lot of the VA phoned it in for that stuff, and I don't think they used Falconer for the music.

Kai has its ups and downs as well, but I'd probably watch that if it didn't cut so much content.

 

[Serpens007]

I love the Mexican Spanish dub and damn they knocked it out the park.

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"None of the above"

The Latin American version is the best.

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I'm biased, but this is the correct answer

 

[Sephzilla]

There are only a few bits of the Faulconer soundtrack that I consider to be an all time classic like Vegetas theme. That one is so good that it should be purchased and incorporated into the show for all time in every version. Also love Cell's theme.

But Gohan's SSJ2 transformation ain't one of them. It's also one of the few instances that not even nostalgia goggles can make me think that it's better than the original.

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• Both of Vegeta's themes
• Perfect Cell's theme
• Goku's SSJ3 transformation theme

Those are perfect

 

[Maligna]

Not gonna lie.

Team For Star Goku is the perfect middle ground between Dub and Original.

Not super high voiced for the people who hate that, but also possess that sense of childlike naivete that the original voice encapsulates so well.

 

[thewienke]

• Both of Vegeta's themes
• Perfect Cell's theme
• Goku's SSJ3 transformation theme

Those are perfect

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This is super nerdy but I would put this into my music rotation when I was lifting weights

 

[JetBazooka]

The Japanese version of this scene is better but overall fuck a subs version of DBZ. The voices are way too high pitched and feminine

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yep. DBZ is the only anime I cant stand the Japanese voices.

 

[Davey Cakes]

Abridged did this SO well.

 

[Listai]

Japanese easily.

FUNimation's Z dub is atrocious on so many levels with embarrassing writing, terrible acting and a miserable replacement score.

 

[Aaron]

Japanese easily.

FUNimation's Z dub is atrocious on so many levels with embarrassing writing, terrible acting and a miserable replacement score.

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Yup.

Real talk if Funimation had dubbed the show straight from the beginning, no one would be bothered by the Kikuchi soundtrack and the Faulconer soundtrack would sound stupid as hell to your ears. The main reason it has such a following is because it's what they happened to hear first. Like yeah, DBZ was this worldwide phenomenon well before America even got the show, but somehow we were the only ones who figured out how to make it "good" because the characters were given (like you said) stupid voices, groan-worthy dialogue (seriously the trash talk throughout most of the original dub is grade school level, along with the stupid little kid fight noises they added in because any time a character is on screen they need to be making sound) and unfitting music that never shuts up. I don't even think the Faulconer score is bad on its own, but the way it's implemented is just atrocious and distracting.

Anyway, the version that has Spirit vs. Spirit, easily.

 

[Gunny T Highway]

Here is the original dub with the Japanese ost and the narrator removed. I feel this is the most superior imo.

 

[-Le Monde-]

Back when Gohan mattered. ;_;

 

[Avitus]

Don't care for the Japanese version at all. Faulconer soundtrack is DBZ to me.

 

[Trejo]

I love the Mexican Spanish dub and damn they knocked it out the park.

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"None of the above"

The Latin American version is the best.

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Not to be that guy but actually, the Mexican version, as it originally aired, didn't have any background song at all and it relied instead on the voice performances and the sound effects to carry the scene. It creates this more shocking and unpredictable feeling and gives the whole thing a different vibe altogether and is, in my opinion, the superior version out of them all.

 

[Deleted member 4869]

Not to be that guy but actually, the Mexican version, as it originally aired, didn't have any background song at all and it relied instead on the voice performances and the sound effects to carry the scene. It creates this more shocking and unpredictable feeling and gives the whole thing a different vibe altogether and is, in my opinion, the superior version out of them all.

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Oh I agree. I love the song, but as I mentioned previously, it's Laura Torres' amazing scream that really makes the scene.

Another great scream from her is when Goku sacrifices himself during the same fight.



That woman is the Queen of Scream.

 

[Avitus]

English Vegeta is best Vegeta.

 

[DanarchyReigns]

Japanese, then original Kai, then replacement Kai (damn it Yamamoto), then Funimation.
Abridged is different but oh so good.

Man, Americans are truly awful at any kind of dubbing.

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We got better. A lot better.
For one thing, we don't replace the music with buttrock anymore. Keeping the spirit of the original.
I think the only ongoing anime dub that replaces the music is Pokemon, but I haven't kept up on that in a long time. I just remember seeing a comparison of a battle from X & Y where the Japanese version had a killer image song and the English version had lameass MIDI music.

All of the Falcouner worship is embarrassing. What show do you think Japan was watching and loved?

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Yeah I really don't get it... Most of the dub score is ill-fitting crap that drones on and on and on.
What's funny is that the more memorable Faulconer tracks weren't even composed by him (Super Vegeta, Cell, Super Saiyan 3 Goku), he just took credit for them.

 

[Stryder]

Hardcore DBZ fans seem to hate Bruce Falconer's score, but that's the music I grew up on.

I have a lot of reverence for his music and the funimation dub, because that's how I first experienced DBZ

 

[Manu]

LatAm version is the best. Laura Torres should've received an award or something for that scream.

 

[Brazil]

Man, Americans are truly awful at any kind of dubbing.

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It's really all that I can think of every time someone makes me watch one of these videos.

 

[Deleted member 4869]

LatAm version is the best. Laura Torres should've received an award or something for that scream.

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Agreed, but the vast majority of the Latin American actors and actresses really can scream. Mario Castañeda, René García, Carlos Segundo, Lalo Garza. Those guys also have throats of steel.

 

[King Fossil]

I remember in the 90s as a kid stumbling on the Cell vs Gohan original Japanese fight while flipping through the channels on TV. I was fucking ecstatic I found that on TV, considering I was previously watching bootleg VHS tapes my cousin would buy.

I wish I remember what the station was but I vaguely remember the logo. See poorly drawn image below:

 

[Deleted member 4869]

So wait, are you guys saying that the US version did not have this amazing theme?

 

[Marvo Pandoras]

why does that comparison video not have the falcouner music, it's silent, Falcon Man DBZ is never silent.

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Not a fan of the original OST. Give me dubs with falcouner music anyday.

Sidenote: I am a fan of the Spanish subs. Used to watch it cause they were a few episodes ahead even though I couldn't understand a word they were saying.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

This dubbed inner monologue is about as subtle as a sack of bricks to the nuts

Y'all crazy

 

[FernandoRocker]

Not a fan of the original OST. Give me dubs with falcouner music anyday.

Sidenote: I am a fan of the Spanish subs. Used to watch it cause they were a few episodes ahead even though I couldn't understand a word they were saying.

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Latin America Spanish or European (Spain) Spanish?

Because if there is a country/language with worse dubs than Americans, it would definitely be Spain; truly absolutely awful (in everything... anime, games, movies).

 

[EVIL]

The dub transformation from the next episode is far better to be honest, it uses the Gohan Angers theme perfectly.

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I always loved the little music bit at the end there.

 

[Deleted member 437]

I agree with everything in the OP.

 

[roflwaffles]

This is one of the few scenes where I think the Japanese version is superior than the American. The American one does have the awesome narration at the cap-end of the episode though that gives me goosebumps.


They didn't even use Gohan's Anger as the song in the American version, which I found weird. That song is fire.

 

[Chaotic-Strike]

Japanese followed by Kai. The rest are fandub tier level.

 

[inner-G]

No falconer music + terribly shrill voices make the Japanese version feel subpar to me.

 

[Freakzilla]

Definitely funi with faulconer. I only watch episodes 50+ with funi dub and faulconer score.

 

[Marvo Pandoras]

Latin America Spanish or European (Spain) Spanish?

Because if there is a country/language with worse dubs than Americans, it would definitely be Spain; truly absolutely awful (in everything... anime, games, movies).

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Latin America of course. Watched it on telemundo.

 

[Yourfawthaaa]

Back when dial-up was a thing.

took a whole day to download just to watch that original japanese scene....it was worth it.

 

[Chaotic-Strike]

So wait, are you guys saying that the US version did not have this amazing theme?

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The US does have the original score now. It's just legions of it's fans are still too stubborn to actually listen to how DBZ's OST was originally intended to sound. The Remastered DVD's may have shit video quality, but they do include the English dub with the original Japanese score and the dub with the English music.

 

[Sephzilla]

The US does have the original score now. It's just legions of it's fans are still too stubborn to actually listen to how DBZ's OST was originally intended to sound. The Remastered DVD's may have shit video quality, but they do include the English dub with the original Japanese score and the dub with the English music.

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Or maybe, just maybe, they prefer the dub score?

 

[Chaotic-Strike]

Or maybe, just maybe, they prefer the dub score?

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Most aren't even aware the music was changed much less watched an entire episode with the Japanese score.

 

[Sephzilla]

Most aren't even aware the music was changed much less watched an entire episode with the Japanese score.

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Bruh its 2019, they know

 

[Scavenger]

I remember in the 90s as a kid stumbling on the Cell vs Gohan original Japanese fight while flipping through the channels on TV. I was fucking ecstatic I found that on TV, considering I was previously watching bootleg VHS tapes my cousin would buy.

I wish I remember what the station was but I vaguely remember the logo. See poorly drawn image below:

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Fuji Television

 

[A Pretty Panda]

 

[Abu]

damn breh. gohan still living in his fathers shadow. some folks in here talking about his pops when this thread is about him