More than a year since the Japanese and Sub versions of Dragon Ball Super made Goku’s Ultra Instinct form one of the biggest milestones in the series, the Dragon Ball Super English Dub has reached its Ultra Instinct debut in the Tournament of Power arc! However, the old saying that ‘good things come to those who wait,’ didn’t prove true in this case: the version of Ultra Instinct that fans got in Dragon Ball Super‘s English Dub was sub-par when compared to its Japanese counterpart.
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If you don’t think so, tak a look at this side-by-side Sub and Dub comparisons of Dragon Ball Super‘s epic first battle between Jiren and Goku in his Ultra Instinct Omen form:
Animation: Yลซya Takahashi, Naoki Tate, Naotoshi Shida
Terez27: “Seriously, what happened? We had people on Reddit saying things like, “Ooof, this is one episode where you’d think they’d bring their animation A-team.” Ooof indeed. The issues are most noticeable in Tate’s punch flurry scenes, but there are issues in Takahashi’s and Shida’s cuts too.”
Dragon Ball fan and translator Terez27 hits the nail on the head with this side-by-side video: Goku’s Ultra Instinct attacks in the Dub version look choppy and cheaply animated when compared to the version Toei animation released on Blu-ray. In fact, what we see in Toonami’s version look like it would be a better fit for the Dragon Ball Heroes promo anime, which has wracked up its own infamous reputation for shoddy animation (see: this latest battle between Jiren and Zamasu).
As stated in the quote above, the most noticeable infraction in the Toonami Dub version of this Dragon Ball Super episode are the speedy Ultra Instinct punches that Goku throws at Jiren. In the side-by-side you can literally see how frames of animation have been removed so that Goku now looks like a rubber-armed man, instead of warrior whose attacks are being thrown so fast, they’re greater than the speed of conscious thought.
Ultra Instinct has always been a risky prospect, in that respect: it requires some spot-on visual composition to really convey the form’s unique powers. Needless to say, fans are hoping this gets improved upon by the time Dragon Ball Super Dub reaches the final battle between Ultra Instinct Goku and Jiren.
Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. The manga has chapters that can currently be read for free thanks to Viz Media. Dragon Ball Super: Broly is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.
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