Funimation

Episode 46, "The Creeping Shadow"



*****SPOILERS*****

 

 

Episode 43, "An Ant's Bite"



 

 

*****SPOILERS*****

 

The late Freeza arc really needed a much more accurate, better acted English dub than Dragon Ball Z's. Some of the worst material of that dub came from this group of episodes, especially with Freeza himself. Making him extremely jokey, playing on his androgyny with sexual innuendo, and just missing the point of his character altogether were big mistakes Funimation made with these episodes. Freeza is a huge part of these episodes, so treating with him respect is a necessity. Dragon Ball Kai did just that, rubbing ointment on the burns of the previous dub. The English dub's script allowed for Freeza to give his haughty, sarcastic (but not sexually charged, like the dub) remarks and feigned politeness and his grand declarations of his power. Chris Ayres lent him a regal-sounding voice and delivery.

Episode 30, "Ishbal Extermination" *****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: Riza Hawkeye relates to Edward, and Marcoh to Scar, the Amestrian military's role in the Ishbal conflict. After the war broke out, it was seven years before Fuhrer King Bradley ordered the State Alchemists into Ishbal to eliminate the population. In a flashback, Mustang meets with Hughes and Hawkeye after a long while, and sees that they all have the eyes of a murderer. Hughes, however, looks forward to a future involving his girlfriend, Gracia, back at home. Zolf J. Kimbley, one of the State Alchemists uses a Philosopher's Stone made up of Ishbalan civillians to kill others. The head Ishbalan cleric tries to exchange his life for the life of his people, but King Bradley refuses the deal, calling him foolish.

Episode 29, " Struggle of the Fool" *****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: The Elrics brothers are brought to Fuhrer Bradley, who threatens to kill Winry if they refuse to cooperate. Edward calls Winry to check on her, and after the call, Greed appears and comments on their predictability. He leaves them a message for Ranfan that Ling wrote in Xingese. Roy updates Hawkeye and Armstrong. Alphonse delivers the message to Ranfan, who wants to get an automail arm. Edward fixes the damage done to the part of town he fought Scar in, and remembers he has to return Hawkeye's gun to her. Comments: I cannot stress just how badly I hate Jerry Russell's Tim Marcoh.

Starting tonight, Funimation will be streaming Dragon Ball Z episodes 1-15 on their website. This is just the first step in what they say will be streaming of all Dragon Ball shows, including Dragon Ball Kai, online, for free. This is an unprecedented feat for the company. The DBZ streaming uses the Funimation "Remastered Season Sets" footage. The "orange bricks" as they're often called have video that Funimation remastered on their own, causing the loss of detail. They also blew up the picture and cropped it for widescreen, so there's also missing bits of the picture. They also messed around with the colors so that it's much brighter than intended.