Contemporary fan discourse is divided. "Purists" revile the original dub as unwatchable, citing the replacement of the original 153 episodes with a heavily truncated 53-episode cut (season 1) that jumped from the Pilaf saga directly to the Tien Shinhan saga, skipping the entire Red Ribbon Army arc. However, "Nostalgia Goggles" fans defend it as a formative experience. Notably, the original dub’s dialogue for the Dragon Ball Z "Rock the Dragon" intro became a cultural touchstone. The 2010 "remastered" dub by Funimation attempted to correct these errors, but the original remains available on some legacy home video releases as a historical curiosity.
Let’s talk about the theme song. The Japanese original is a poppy, cheerful J-rock anthem. The Ocean Dub intro is a screeching electric guitar riff over a man screaming, "DRAGON! DRAGON! ROCK THE DRAGON! DRAGON BALL Z!" Dragon Ball Original English Dub
In the late 1990s, the popularity of Dragon Ball began to wane in the West, and the series fell out of syndication. However, with the rise of the internet and DVD, fans began to rediscover the series, and demand for a new, more faithful English dub grew. Contemporary fan discourse is divided
Today, the original dub is still remembered fondly by fans, who nostalgically recall watching the series as children. The dub's influence can also be seen in modern anime dubs, which strive to be more faithful to the original Japanese versions. Notably, the original dub’s dialogue for the Dragon
: One of the most defining features was the replacement of Shunsuke Kikuchi’s original orchestral score with a synthesizer-heavy, industrial soundtrack composed by Bruce Faulconer for Dragon Ball Z .
To understand the OED, we have to travel back to 1995. Anime was a niche market in the West. When Harmony Gold attempted a pilot for Dragon Ball in the late '80s, it flopped. It wasn’t until the syndication boom of the mid-90s that Dragon Ball got a second chance.
The most transformative element was the script adaptation by Terry Klassen and Ward Perry. Key examples include: