The history of “Dragon Ball” in Latin America is even older than is often thought. Before voice actors like Mario Castañeda, René García, Lalo Garza, and others make it to the anime, there is a first version of the project, one that could have changed the vision of this shonen in our region.
In 1993, Bandai, at that time owner of the transmission rights of “Dragon Ball”, decided to break through in Latin America with the plot of Akira Toriyama. This is how he gives the mission to the Video dubbing SA studio to adapt the program.
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- The dubbing of “Dragon Ball” that did not become popular
The Mexican company based its work, at least the first five chapters, on what Harmony Gold had done before in the United States, in 1989, a project that at the time did not gain followers.
With said company modifying the names of the characters, Video dubbing maintained the theme and presented the protagonists in this way:
Japan | Mexico | USA |
---|---|---|
Goku | Zero | Zero |
bulma | bulma | Lina |
olong | mao mao | olong |
yamucha | yamucha | Zedaki |
puar | puar | Squeakers |
Krillin | a bit | Bongo drum |
Mai | Female | – |
Launch | Launch | marily |
Ten Shin Han | Ten Shin Han | Shinto |
Arale | sandy | sandy |
Master Karin | Master Karin | Whiskers the wonder cat |
Pilaf | Martian | – |
Doragon Boru | fire spheres | – |
Mutenroshi Kamesennin | Master Roshi | Master Roshi |
With the US version, which came heavily censored and the soundtrack replaced, the Mexican company decided to continue their work using the unedited masters of the Japanese episodes. Of course, he kept the name change and the opening of Harmony Gold.
“The job was presented to the client and they said it was fine. We hired the voices and the program came up with that name “Zero and the magic dragon”. One of my translators went to Spain and told us that anime was famous there, but they already had the name of Goku“, Rafael Rivera, who was director of dubbing for anime in 2015, told Radio DBZ Latino.
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- Why didn’t the first version of “Dragon Ball” (“Zero and the Magical Dragon”) succeed?
“Zero and the Magical Dragon” was broadcast for the first time in Mexico in 1993 on Channel 5 of Televisa. Of all the chapters that it had to broadcast, it only aired 60, out of a total of 153. The failure was attributed to the low promotion of the program and the plot that initially did not catch viewers.
Given this, in 1994 Bandai would request another dubbing from the Mexican company Producciones Salgado, who had previously dubbed “The Knights of the Zodiac”. This version would not be the definitive one, since for chapter 60 Inter Track was hired, who completed the project until “Dragon Ball GT”.
When Inter Track assumes the dubbing, it also made modifications, the same ones that would remain until today. For example, he returned the original name to the Kame Hame Ha and eliminated the Glacial Wave, as this power was first known. So too, he stopped calling the dragon balls as “fire balls”.
But some of the legacy of “Zero and the Magical Dragon” has remained, such as the name he gave to Kame-Sen’nin, who in Latin America is known as Master Roshi, and that of Gyūmaō, Ox Satan.
It is true that it is not the first time that a dubbing does not convince the followers of Goku and company. In 2011, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” was brought to television, another error in the franchise that is broadcast to this day and was not liked, basically because it did not initially have the original voices of the Latin dubbing.
Although there were good performances in “Zero”, such as that of Ricardo Brust, who years later would give life to Cell and Mr. Satan from the Buu saga, it is up to the fans if “Dragon Ball” would have had the same impact as has today in our region with the first proposed modifications. For the moment, the adventures of Zero and Cachito will remain in the memory.
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