The truth about our petition
by "SSJ Leia"

Originally Posted: 24 September 2000

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This editorial is LONG overdue. In fact, it should probably have been written a month ago, when Greg Werner was kind enough to link to our petition and the signatures started coming in. If you haven’t seen our petition yet, you’ve probably heard about it. Although we have over 3000 signatures, and some nice websites supporting us, we’ve gained a bit of a shaky image due to some comments made by webmasters and several editorials by fans (I’m thinking of a couple I’ve seen at Kienzan’s Edge, and the recent one at DaizenshuuEX). As one of the authors of the petition, I’d like to address some of these negative comments, and try to clear things up a little. We should have done this long ago, and I regret we never took the time to explain ourselves to everyone.

A repeated comment we’ve been hearing is that the petition asks for too much. To summarize our demands, we ask for improvements in the current dub and whatever might come next (GT or DB), and yes, we ask for a redub of at least season 3. (Pioneer owns Seasons 1 and 2, so they most likely are not a possibility.) Improvements would include more direct translations with fewer jokes and less Americanization, the original music if at all possible, and some improvements in voices. We included a number of demands in the petition because, frankly, we didn’t want to leave anything out. Our aim was an inclusive statement of what the fans want…and I think we accomplished that. I believe one of the strong points of our petition is this detail. We ask for several changes, but we also explain WHY these changes would help both the fans and FUNimation. Regarding the plausibility of the redub, I don’t think that anyone outside of FUNimation can really make a concrete assessment of it. The truth of the matter is that a redub WOULD bring an end to most complaints from fans, and many people agree that season 3 needs it most. I’m sure most of us would be more than eager to buy redubbed videos or DVDs…I know I would. This is what the fans want…we shouldn’t be afraid to try for it. There is nothing wrong with trying, and we hope readers will not dismiss us as a lost cause by assuming that such a request is unreasonable. We can’t know that. We can’t read minds. For all we know, FUNimation may already be considering a redub. Unlikely it seems, but not impossible. In any case, let me make this very clear: ASKING FOR A REDUB WILL NOT RUIN OUR CREDIBILITY. Even if it is absolutely impossible for FUNi to do the redub, that does not imply they will reject our other goals as well. The same goes for any demand that turns out to be impossible. FUNi wouldn’t reject an entire petition on the basis of one demand…that wouldn’t be wise and it’s not the way a professional company works when responding to any petition. I seriously doubt Gen will laugh in our faces.

Our petition has been called a “fuming tirade.” This is the last image we’d ever want to convey…and in fact while writing the petition we tried to be painstakingly sure we sounded polite enough. We’re not trying to represent the rabid, hardcore fans; we’re not a minority; we’re not a cult. Rather, like the majority of fans, we are level headed and have open minds. The truth is, we’ve tried to be as polite as possible and to see things from FUNimation’s point of view. We have respect for the company and an appreciation for the hard work they do. I think the best way to say it is this: this is not a petition AGAINST, it’s a petition FOR. For DBZ, for the fans, and for FUNimation’s image and success. We care about the show and want to make it better. We don’t blame anyone, and we don’t threaten. Reread it to see what I mean before you make any judgments. Regarding Sean Schemmel’s reaction, we regret that he was insulted, and we do admit that the paragraph he was referring to (regarding VA’s) sounded harsh and should have been worded differently. We’ve apologized, and we will fix that part before sending it in.

A third comment we’ve heard is this one: FUNimation is already improving, so why are we wasting our time? I want to make it clear now, and maybe this needed to be more clear in the petition itself: we know they’re improving, and we appreciate it. Season 4, although not nearly perfect, is ahead of season 3 as far as dialogue is concerned. There are less kid-aimed jokes, and the translation is much closer to exact. We’re happy about this, and we want to encourage FUNi to continue to make these kinds of improvements. We can’t make a judgment about the rest of season 4 yet, because we haven’t seen it…and FUNi knows this. Thus, they aren’t going to get mad or discouraged if they’ve already made some of the changes we’re requesting. They’ll only be reassured that they’re on the right track.

Lastly, another recurring comment is this one: petitions don’t work. I think this is an awfully big assumption. We can’t make such concrete judgments about how a company will react to us, or the impact we’ll make, unless we’re running that company itself. In the end, it’s up to Mr. Fukunaga to decide whether our petition succeeds or fails. We shouldn’t assume anything. There’s one thing I’m certain of: if we don’t have faith and try, we’ll never even have a chance. Here we have a petition with more than 3000 signatures. Who knows how many more we might get if the big sites (you know who you are) were to support us? We have a petition with thousands of signatures, asking for what everyone wants-a better dub. Please don’t dismiss it all on the basis of one demand you deem far-fetched, or because you think we’re certain to fail. This petition could be a great opportunity for us to once and for all, officially tell FUNimation what we want. Please support us. It’s up to the fans, as well as FUNimation, to determine whether this potential will be actualized.

Thanks to the webmasters who did link to us, and to everyone who has signed so far. Also, thanks to everyone who has shared their opinions with us. And to everyone else, before you form an opinion about all this, please, please read it yourselves: http://members.aol.com/rogosworld/dbzpetition.htm

Contact: Cport7@aol.com