INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

‘Dragon Ball Super’ English Dub: FUNimation’s Secret Progress, Official Cast, And Another Sneak Peek

By Simon Alvarez
Published on: 20:57 PST, Dec 1, 2016

Dragon Ball Super’s official English dub is coming, and from what could be determined so far, it seems like avid fans of the long-running franchise are in for a treat. The official cast for the characters’ English voices has been confirmed, and numerous names were welcomed by the DB community warmly, with favorites such as Seán Schemmel, who voices Son Goku and Jason Douglas, who voices Beerus, returning to reprise their roles. To top it all off, speculations have emerged in the Dragon Ball community that FUNimation’s dub might get a release date that is earlier than previously thought.

News of developments in Dragon Ball Super’s official English dub have emerged recently, after it was announced that the dubbed version of the acclaimed anime would be airing on Toonami starting January 2017. As much as the news was great, however, the release date for the official DBS English dub was only confirmed for Southeast Asia and India, throwing a notable shadow on the date of the series’ North American broadcast. Though FUNimation did announce that the North American release of DBS would be coming, the entertainment firm was quite mum on the actual date of the adaptation’s release date.

Despite the absence of a definite date, however, DB fans in the United States and Canada remain optimistic, as the entertainment company currently holds full and exclusive distribution and simulcast rights of the Dragon Ball franchise in the region. Apart from this, over the years, Toei Animation, the Japanese distributor of the Dragon Ball anime franchise, and FUNimation, have maintained a very close working relationship. Thus, despite FUNimation not announcing a definite release date for Dragon Ball Super’s official English dub, fans could rest assure that it would be coming soon.

In fact, if leaks and rumors could be believed, it might be possible for Dragon Ball Super’s North American debut to come sooner than fans expect. This is because, just a few months ago, Jason Douglas, who voices the God of Destruction Beerus in the DBS English dub, uploaded an image on Instagram suggesting that work on the English adaptation was already ongoing. Unsurprisingly, the post managed to get numerous Dragon Ball fans very excited, triggering speculations that the anime’s English dubbed version would be releasing soon. The post was eventually taken down, however, but not before it spread through the DB community like wildfire.

Thus, while the official release date of the DBS English dub to the United States and Canada remain unknown for now, all signs are pointing to the adaptation’s airing date in the region to be announced very soon. At this point, it seems safe to say that the North American DB community would not need to wait very long before the rollout of Dragon Ball Super’s English adaptation rolls out.

FUNimation has recently released yet another teaser for the anime’s English dub, too, featuring a brief scene of Son Goku eating a massive bowl of rice as King Kai berates him. This, together with Toonami’s teaser that was released earlier this week, has all but shown avid fans that the Dragon Ball dub everyone knows and loves is coming back.

One thing that fans have noticed in the DBS English cast, however, is that Laura Bailey, who has voiced Kid Trunks for a very long time, would be replaced in Dragon Ball Super by Alexis Tipton, who has filled in for Bailey in some of her past voice acting projects. While Baliey’s iconic Kid trunks voice would definitely be missed in the English DBS adaptation, her retirement from the franchise seemed inevitable, especially after Christopher Sabat, who voices the Saiyan Prince Vegeta, previously admitted that playing Kid Trunks puts a massive strain on Bailey’s voice.

Dragon Ball Super’s official English dub is slowly and steadily gaining form, with updates on the project’s progress and release dates emerging at a pretty rapid pace. As Toonami’s January 2017 release date for the DBS English dub draws nearer, Dragon Ball fans in North America could only hope that FUNimation would be up for the challenge and roll out the anime’s English adaptation in the region as quickly as it could. Considering the quality of the voice acting and dialogue in the recently released teasers, however, it appears like Dragon Ball Super would be in very good hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgQGdY0yjr0

[Featured Image by Marcelo Silk Screen|Filckr|Cropped and Resized|CC BY-SA 1.0]

Share this article: ‘Dragon Ball Super’ English Dub: FUNimation’s Secret Progress, Official Cast, And Another Sneak Peek
anime
More from Inquisitr