Here at CBR we think that both the subs and dubs of the Dragon Ball franchise have their merits, some parts working better in the original Japanese vocals, while others are better in English. But, of course, this is just what we think, so don't let the following list ruffle any feathers. Dragon Ball is for everyone to enjoy however they want, but we do recommend giving different versions a try, as you might find something to love about both subs and dubs.
So which epic moments in the franchise do we think worked better in dubs, and which worked better in their original format? There are definitely a few voices we prefer in the English dub over the Japanese cast and vice versa. The original Japanese version of the entire franchise also had some advantages in terms of production and release over the dub's early days of syndicated airing. At the end of the day, both versions of Dragon Ball have their ups and downs, and fans' preferences are different all across the board. So, without making any official proclamations, here are some our favorite things about the dub of the Dragon Ball franchise, and a few things we thought the original Japanese version did better.
20 BETTER DUBBED: GOKU GOES SUPER SAIYAN
Starting off, we have one of the most iconic moments of the series, Goku's first Super Saiyan transformation, which we think worked better in the dub, specifically the Kai dub of Dragon Ball Z. When comparing the English version with the Japanese version, we found the dub to be more appealing.
Our reason for this is both because Sean Schemmel really nailed the acting in this scene, and because the original Japanese version doesn't feel all that angry, it feels more painful, like Goku is choking, which, for a transformation that hinges on anger, led us to choose the dub over the sub.
19 BETTER SUBBED: DRAGON BALL FIGHTERZ
This one is a bit unfair, we'll admit, since dubbing Dragon Ball FighterZ apparently didn't work quite like dubbing the series. With the anime, the dub team is given the visuals to match their voices too, while with FighterZ, the dub actors were only given translated dialogue, which was added in later.
As unfortunate as this was for the English version of Dragon Ball FighterZ, it still means that the original Japanese dialogue syncs up better. That said, the mismatched voice and mouth movements don't hinder how great the game is otherwise, so this doesn't matter too much at the end of the day.
18 BETTER DUBBED: KING KAI'S VOICE
On top of voicing Goku, Sean Schemmel also provides the English voice of King Kai, and we think his cotton-cheeked-sounding performance works much better for the character than his original "old-man voice." Part of the reason this works so much better in our eyes (or is it in our ears?) is that it kind of fits with King Kai's face antennae.
The silly voice Schemmel puts on mirrors the character's overall silliness, since he's a deity who acts like anything but a god, caring about material things and cracking jokes, all of which sound better and funnier in the dub.
17 BETTER SUBBED: ZERO CENSORSHIP
Dragon Ball Z had a strange history in America, one of the main factors in this was the censoring it was subjected to. The Japanese version of the series didn't experience this in the least, partially because it wasn't marketed as a kids series, just as an anime.
Thus, the original Japanese release of Dragon Ball Z didn't have edits or changes made, which we think gives it something over the early releases of the English dub, which were lousy with ridiculous and silly censorship, like the infamous "Home for Infinite Losers," to fit kids network standards. Luckily, we eventually got the uncensored release of Z, but the damage was still done.
16 BETTER DUBBED: ZAMASU CASTING
We're not sure if there's any kind of redemption story behind the casting of Zamasu's Japanese voice actor, but we know for a fact that there's one behind his English voice actor, James Marsters. The fact that Marsters wanted a role in Dragon Ball Super to redeem his part in the live-action Dragon Ball Evolution is so heartwarming and wonderful, and something that the sub can't boast about.
Of course, that's a strange reason to choose the dub's version of Zamasu over the Japanese version, but Marsters also happens to be, in our opinion, the better voice actor for the character, since he brings years of villain-portraying experience to the role, playing Zamasu as subtle and nuanced.
15 BETTER SUBBED: JOKES AND PLOT POINTS
This one ties in with the lack of censorship of the original Japanese release, since some of the gags in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z had to be cut for their graphic content. However, a lot of the times, the reason that jokes doesn't work well in an anime dub is simply just translation issues.
A pun that works in one language doesn't always translate to another, despite the efforts of hard-working translation script writers. The same goes for certain plot details that some early dubs might have dropped due to translation issues, a problem that the original version, obviously, wouldn't have had.
14 BETTER DUBBED: VEGETA'S VOICE
This is where we get into some of the bolder opinions, but once again, these aren't hard-press declarations. In our opinion, Vegeta's english voice actor, Chris Sabat, is the superior voice actor for the character.
All props to Ryō Horikawa, as well as Brian Drummond, the original voice of "It's Over 9000," but Sabat really perfected his interpretation of the character over the years, finding the right amount of deepness in his voice to fit Vegeta's hard nature, with a slight British accent added in to create a sense of regality to fit his royal origins. At the end of the day, it's hard for us to imagine anyone else in the role, which shows just how iconic Sabat's interpretation of the character is.
13 BETTER SUBBED: GOHAN'S SS2 TRANSFORMATION
A lot of people love the Cell Saga, and with good reason, since it contains one of Gohan's greatest character moments, when he breaks past his limits and goes Super Saiyan 2, a scene that we feel works better in the original Japanese version than the dub. All credit to the two voice actresses who have portrayed Gohan, Stephanie Nadolny and Colleen Clinkenbeard, but Masako Nozawa nailed this particular scene.
Nozawa brought her A-game when it came to the scream that Gohan let out during his transformation, which hits so hard, shaking us to our core as we felt both Gohan's anger and pain as he pushed Super Saiyan to a whole new level.
12 BETTER DUBBED: SON FAMILY VARIETY
Masako Nozawa is a very talented individual, both because she's been in the voice acting game for quite some time, and because she consistently voices Goku and his two sons. However, as great as it is that Nozawa voices Gohan and Goten on top of voicing their father, it can get kind of confusing when trying to differentiate between them.
Now, this could very easily be due to hearing the voices in another language, but at the end of the day, hearing variety between Goku, Gohan and Goten ends up working a lot better for the characters, something that the dub has over the sub.
11 BETTER SUBBED: TOP'S VOICE
Top recently made his debut in Dragon Ball Super's dub, and in comparison to his Japanese voice actor, we have to say we prefer the latter. No disrespect to Ray Hurd, but knowing where the character is headed, we gotta side with Kenji Nomura, who brings a combination of power and pride to the character.
Of course, we haven't seen that much of Top so far to make a proper judgement, so let's just say that we thought the character's entrance hit harder in Japanese.
10 BETTER DUBBED: VIDEL'S VOICE
Videl was quite the fierce girl in her teens, and in the English dub, she had a fierce voice to go with it: the vocals of Kara Edwards, who is the most well-known English voice actor for the character. We think she's also the best person to have portrayed Videl, since she brings the perfect mix of toughness and energy to the character.
Videl is tough, especially in the Great Saiyaman and World Tournament Sagas, and her Japanese voice actresses play her a bit too delicate, whereas Edwards has a tough and fiery energy behind Videl's voice, matching the character's personality.
9 BETTER SUBBED: RELEASE
We mentioned earlier that the release of Dragon Ball Z's dub was shoddy at best; a lot of issues prevented it from getting a steady release, including the syndication-driven episode order and its violent content. Additionally, the series aired in America before the original Dragon Ball got a full release, leading to even more confusion.
Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z's Japanese broadcasts didn't have these issues, airing without fail every week. In fact, Dragon Ball Z aired one week after the last episode of Dragon Ball, perfectly transitioning fans into the new series where it would be years before the original series would air in the US.
8 BETTER DUBBED: SOUNDTRACK
This is sure to be the hottest of our hot takes, but hear us out. While both the original Japanese soundtrack and the initial dub soundtrack both have their merits, we gotta say that the latter is way more fitting to the content of Dragon Ball Z. We're not saying that "Rock the Dragon" was a perfect song or anything, but the metal soundtrack of Dragon Ball Z's original dub was freaking awesome.
What better way to accompany superhuman fights of epic proportions than with awesome guitar riffs and metal-influenced scores? Honestly, while we're glad the original score was restored in later dubs, Bruce Faulconer's tracks will still have a special place in our hearts.
7 BETTER SUBBED: ZENO'S VOICE
Japan knows cute, there's no denying that. It's a country that has produced countless mascots and adorable anime characters, so it stands to reason that they would also cast a perfect voice actor to portray the mascot-like god of everything, Zeno. In our opinion, the Japanese Zeno voice works better than his English VA.
Again, we mean no disrespect with these kinds of claims, but hearing the tiny, high-pitched voice of Satomi Kōrogi come out of an all-powerful being just works so well, she really makes the god sound like a little kid, which is as adorable as it is frightening.
6 BETTER DUBBED: GOKU GOES SS3
As it was with Goku's first transformation into a Super Saiyan, we also think that the English dub was superior when it came to the character's first Super Saiyan 3 transformation. Once again, Sean Schemmel brought everything he had to this transformation, resulting in a version that was better than the original Japanese voice track.
Goku's SS3 transformation sounds painful, like he is struggling to maintain his tie to reality as he pushes his power to insane levels, all of which is felt through Schemmel's skillful screams. Additionally, Schemmel deepens his voice when speaking as SS3 Goku, which adds another layer of great acting to his portrayal of the character.
5 BETTER SUBBED: PICCOLO'S SACRIFICE
Piccolo's sacrifice to protect Gohan was a beautiful moment in the series; it showed that Piccolo had a heart, and that the character cared for the boy who treated him like he wasn't the monster he thought himself to be. The moment was powerful, and perhaps more powerful in the original Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z.
All props to Chris Sabat's performance as Piccolo, but something about the original Japanese version of Piccolo's sacrifice just hits harder. Maybe the screams strike a more emotional chord with Toshio Furukawa's voice, maybe it's something else entirely, but we know we like the original version of this scene better.
4 BETTER DUBBED: MR. SATAN'S VOICE
Mr. Satan is, in a lot of ways, a caricature of American pro wrestlers; he's loud, he's brash and he loves the spotlight. Heck, he's even got the Hulk Hogan mustache and the championship belt! Even if this wasn't the inspiration behind the character, the description fits, which is why we love the character's dub actor more than his Japanese voice actor.
The reason for this is that Christopher Rager truly nails the pro wrestler aspects of the character. Rager (who's last name is absurdly appropriate to the character) basically plays Mr. Satan as a martial arts champion version of Hulk Hogan and/or Macho Man Randy Savage, hamming up the macho-ness and bravado to make for a superior performance of the character.
3 BETTER SUBBED: YOUNG GOHAN KAI VOICE
Colleen Clinkenbeard does an excellent job of voicing young Gohan in the Kai dub of Dragon Ball Z, but for a lot of fans, there's no beating the young Gohan they grew up with, Stephanie Nadolny. With all due respect to Clinkenbeard, the Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z Kai earns points in our book for sticking with their original voice.
Masako Nozawa continued to voice Gohan in the recut version of the series, where the dub replaced a long-standing actor. We're sure that the dub had its reasons, but we have to respect Nozawa's commitment to playing Goku and his sons for so long.
2 BETTER DUBBED: ADULT GOKU'S VOICE
Masako Nozawa's voice is great for young Goku, young Gohan and Goten, but when it comes to the adult voice of everyone's favorite Saiyan, we gotta side with Schemmel. Part of this opinion has to do with the fact that Goku's voice actually changes from childhood to adulthood, which makes the character actually feel older.
Another argument is that Sean Schemmel, while providing an older-sounding voice for the adult version of the characters, still manages to evoke child-like wonder from a character who at that point was in his 40s. When it comes to the voice of adult Goku, our choice is for dubs over subs.
1 BETTER SUBBED: CONSISTENT CAST
On top of having no broadcasting or censorship issues, the original Japanese versions of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super earn some credit for maintaining a more consistent cast in relation to the dub of the franchise. The subs have had their fair share of replacements and cast changes, but not as much as the dubs.
On top of the dubbing studio changing after the initial English-language episode order and multiple characters being replaced, there have also been a few cast changes over the years in both the Kai dub of the series and the new movies as well as Super, all of which add up to more cast changes than the original Japanese version.