Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.

Moderators: General Help, Kanzenshuu Staff

Bianju
Newbie
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2016 3:00 pm

Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by Bianju » Sat Jan 28, 2017 8:16 pm

We've got a lot of options now. I'm curious what voices from other dubs really stand out among the best to the Kanzenshuu Community.

In my opinion, the voice for Toonami India's Kaioh is way better than Sean Schemmel's. It keeps the character humorous while also adding a fair bit more dignity than the FUNi dub (who I always think sounds like the Justice of the Peace from The Princess Bride).

Of course there's a ton of Ocean Group cast members whom I vastly prefer; Peter Kelamis, Scott McNeil (as Piccolo anyway; his Boo is just grating), and Lalania Lindbjerg, for example. I think Onalea Gilbertson's Lunch is vastly superior to Meredith McCoy's, as well.

I actually think Harmony Gold's Roshi, under better direction, could be something great, same with Edie Mirman as Lunch (as her performance as Fujiko in the Streamline 'Castle of Cagliostro' convinced me).

How about you all?

User avatar
Soppa Saia People
I Live Here
Posts: 3062
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 11:26 pm
Location: Minnesota

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by Soppa Saia People » Sat Jan 28, 2017 8:23 pm

Pretty much all of the Ocean dub actors, besides a few.
I have borderline personality disorder, if my posts ever come off as aggressive or word vomit-y to you, please let me know.

🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

Vijay
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1423
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:48 am

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by Vijay » Sat Jan 28, 2017 10:01 pm

I really admire Peter Kelamis. His has this....really genuine, man-child & grounded voice acting resembling Nozawa

Just watched Ep 276: Where is the exit?! Escape frm collapsing Buu body & found his performance to be borderline amazing. Truly a stark contrast to Sean's Supermanish portrayal.

User avatar
8000 Saiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 2841
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:03 am

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sat Jan 28, 2017 10:02 pm

Vijay wrote:I really admire Peter Kelamis. His has this....really genuine, man-child & grounded voice acting resembling Nozawa

Just watched Ep 276: Where is the exit?! Escape frm collapsing Buu body & found his performance to be borderline amazing. Truly a stark contrast to Sean's Supermanish portrayal.
Kirby Morrow played Goku during the Boo Saga, not Kelamis.
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.

Vijay
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1423
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:48 am

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by Vijay » Sat Jan 28, 2017 10:11 pm

8000 Saiyan wrote:
Vijay wrote:I really admire Peter Kelamis. His has this....really genuine, man-child & grounded voice acting resembling Nozawa

Just watched Ep 276: Where is the exit?! Escape frm collapsing Buu body & found his performance to be borderline amazing. Truly a stark contrast to Sean's Supermanish portrayal.
Kirby Morrow played Goku during the Boo Saga, not Kelamis.
Oh really? I must've meant Morrow instead of Kelamis cuz I dont find much difference in their voices. But I watched in Youtube a vid comparing Funi & Ocean Dubs which clearly mentioned Sean vs Kelamis in that specific episode.

User avatar
huzaifa_ahmed
Regular
Posts: 573
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 2:58 pm

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by huzaifa_ahmed » Sun Jan 29, 2017 2:20 am

I pretty much prefer all the Mexican voices, aside from Pioneer dub Kelamis, to the early FUNi voices. I like the general casting of the LA dubs over FUNi's dubs, actual Japanese producer involvement unlike Toei's FUNi dubs which were entirely outsourced. The performances are not as good as recent FUNi ones, but I would have preferred them to begin with, so to speak. Also - the Texas/in-house FUNi voices are based on Saban/FUNi's dub by Ocean. It's intended to be the same production, just much cheaper (FUNi's current dubs are still much cheaper than the old Ocean dub btw.)

Off TOMH, I like these better:

Bang Zoom: Videl, Gohan, Goten, Vegeta & Bulma (hopefully), Kaio (easily!), Piccolo, Yamcha.

I also like Jamieson Price & John DeMita as Beerus (tough call here). Gok Freecs as Trunks isnt bad. I'm anxious to see who voices Tenshinhan, Trunks (hope it's Kyle McCarley or Ben Diskin), Freeza (I can guarantee itll he Frost's VA too), & all the new characters.

Harmony Gold: Goku, Roshi (actual older dude), King Gurumes.

Yamcha, Chaozu, & Puar not too shabby either.

Final Bout: Trunks, Piccolo (wish he did the BZ dub, w/more tech/equipment/time), Vegeta & Freeza (over the early FUNi voices).

I like Gohan's performance, but he sounds too manly here.

So the Boo arc dubs by Ocean werent conducted by FUNi, so they dont count as "FUNi voices". Here are the ones I like better: adult Gohan, Scott McNeil in general blows most VA talent, especially FUNi's early "talent", out of the water, same here. Likewise with young Trunks (although Laura Bailey eventually grew into a huge talent).

Don Brown was miscast as Satan though. Mark Gibbon would have been far better.

User avatar
NitroEX
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:21 am
Location: Not America

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by NitroEX » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:03 am

The Kelamis era Ocean cast (1997-2001) would be my ideal for most characters. So Kalemis as Goku (preferably directed like the Pioneer movies), McNeil's Piccolo, Drummond's Vegeta, Saffron Henderson's Kid Gohan, Klassen's Krillin, Ted Cole's Yamcha, Alec Willows' Oolong, Doc Harris as the narrator etc (although I would also be open to Sam Vincent potentially playing Krillin, as was rumoured for the Kai dub). Out of the Bulma VAs I tend to favour Maggie Blue O Hara most and for older Gohan I still think Brad Swaile is the most fitting and age appropriate voice. He sounds the most sincere of the other actors, as Gohan should. For Goten and Trunks I'd go with Jillian Michaels and Cathy Weseluck, both were great casting choices and still remain my favourite.

Out of the Blue Water group of actors I've always liked the sound of Dave Pettitt's Shenron. The core cast of their GT dub (Pan, Trunks, Kid Goku & Gill) were also really well cast. I'm not sure if I can say Matthew Erickson is the best voice for Trunks but he could certainly give Eric Vale a run for his money as the two takes are very similar. I'm personally more partial to Alistair Abell. Another noteworthy voice from Blue Water was Pilaf, I especially liked his performance in GT.

For the Final Bout English actors I can only really say that I like Steve Blum's Adult Goku, Daniel Woren's Piccolo and Jonathan Cook's Perfect Cell, none of them are ideal castings though. Brianne Siddall is a great voice actress but she unfortunately felt very miscast as Kid Goku. Kevin Seymour's Freeza is alright I suppose, although it really needed extra time to be fleshed out into more than just a caricature. If Ayres isn't on the table for Freeza then I'd probably take a chance with Lee Tockar's Kai voice (whatever that may be) or just go back to Pauline Newstone.

Haven't heard a whole lot of the Harmony Gold cast to have a strong opinion on it. I do think Barbara Goodson is probably the best Kid Goku voice we'll ever have though. She'd be a fitting match for a younger version of Kelamis Goku too, more so than Saffron Henderson or Zoe Slusar.

For the Bang Zoom cast I really enjoy Erika Harlacher's Videl's as well as John Demita's Beerus. Michael McConnohie's King Kai and Chris Hackney's Gohan are also well cast although I'm yet to be convinced they're the absolute best for the roles, the script in the BZ dub is unfortunately very flawed and it's clearly hindering the actors performances. Aside from Kaiji Tang's Vegeta, Ray Chase's Piccolo, lex Lang's Goku and Prike Spencer's Majin Buu I think all the other voices are varying degrees of great so far. I would still probably default to many of the Ocean cast for a few of the minor roles (I still prefer Scott McNeil's Majin Buu, Laara Sadiq's Chi-chi, Enuka Okuma's Android 18) but for now the BZ cast is serviceable.

When it comes to Master Roshi I don't have a strong preference either way.
huzaifa_ahmed wrote:Don Brown was miscast as Satan though. Mark Gibbon would have been far better.
That would basically just be a voice match of Chris Rager, much like the Bang Zoom dub. Don Brown excels in comedy roles, plus he gives a much more energetic performance. Perhaps too over the top for some but it's fitting for the character in m opinion.

User avatar
8000 Saiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 2841
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:03 am

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:45 am

The Ocean voices.
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.

User avatar
huzaifa_ahmed
Regular
Posts: 573
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 2:58 pm

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by huzaifa_ahmed » Sun Jan 29, 2017 2:10 pm

8000 Saiyan wrote:The Ocean voices.
NitroEX wrote:
I like a lot of the voices directed at Ocean, but I was considering that, up to Ginyu, those were all FUNi voices. I like Brad Swaile best for the same reasons as Nitro, though. Although I dont think its fair to call Jamieson's Satan a FUNi impression - that's just his normal voice, & it sounds much less Hulk Hogan-y. It's been generally seen that BZ cast off dub JP references, & that's where I came up with Mark Gibbon from, too. Saying these are all impressions of the first is like saying (while these are very different from the source performance) that Kyle Hebert did a Lex Lang impression for Gohan, just because they were similarly cast.

Many fans enjoy FUNi's Satan because it captures everything that Gori's did (& unintentionally so, which is hilarious), & I used Mark Gibbon for the same thing. I'm not considering an impression of that voice, I had that idea because he reminds me of Satan's Japanese performances - a very good reflection of who Satan actually is. For fun, I made a dream cast w/AAA VAs, I used John DiMaggio, Brad Garrett, or Clancy Brown as my choices for Satan, because they all have demonstrated capacity for cluelessly arrogant, gruff guys, not necessarily because they sound like Satan's previous voices (although Clancy sounds the same as Ishizuka).

User avatar
8000 Saiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 2841
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:03 am

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:33 pm

huzaifa_ahmed wrote:
8000 Saiyan wrote:The Ocean voices.
NitroEX wrote:
I like a lot of the voices directed at Ocean, but I was considering that, up to Ginyu, those were all FUNi voices. I like Brad Swaile best for the same reasons as Nitro, though. Although I dont think its fair to call Jamieson's Satan a FUNi impression - that's just his normal voice, & it sounds much less Hulk Hogan-y. It's been generally seen that BZ cast off dub JP references, & that's where I came up with Mark Gibbon from, too. Saying these are all impressions of the first is like saying (while these are very different from the source performance) that Kyle Hebert did a Lex Lang impression for Gohan, just because they were similarly cast.

Many fans enjoy FUNi's Satan because it captures everything that Gori's did (& unintentionally so, which is hilarious), & I used Mark Gibbon for the same thing. I'm not considering an impression of that voice, I had that idea because he reminds me of Satan's Japanese performances - a very good reflection of who Satan actually is. For fun, I made a dream cast w/AAA VAs, I used John DiMaggio, Brad Garrett, or Clancy Brown as my choices for Satan, because they all have demonstrated capacity for cluelessly arrogant, gruff guys, not necessarily because they sound like Satan's previous voices (although Clancy sounds the same as Ishizuka).
Weren't your AAA VA dream casts supposed to be Japanese-based? In one of your casts, you had Dan Gilvezan for Yamcha, but I think he'd be a better Goku.
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.

User avatar
Thanos
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1630
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2007 2:33 am

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by Thanos » Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:34 pm

Peter Kelamis and Brian Drummond were pretty on-point. Aside from being the best English Nozawa adaptation, Kelamis still has an odd, perhaps even somewhat uncultured quality to his voice, which fits Goku quite well. Drummond was great until the switch-over to FUNimation. Originally, he has such a sinister, gleeful voice. It was really fantastic. Though, when they picked up in the Artificial Human arc, he seemed to lose his edge. Maybe that snarl wouldn't have worked as well with the antihero version of Vegeta, but yeah.
Thanos before Thanos was cool.

User avatar
Kerunou
Newbie
Posts: 47
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2013 2:57 pm
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by Kerunou » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:19 pm

I liked some of the Ocean dub voices, Goku and Piccolo are two that I remember liking. Goku, I think I still prefer Schemmel and though I love Sabat, I recall really enjoying the ocean dub of Piccolo instead.

User avatar
The gr
I Live Here
Posts: 2856
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2016 9:58 pm

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by The gr » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:22 pm

Peter kelamis Brian Drummond and Scott freaking mcneill are surprisingly good voice actors from the ocean dub through in some scene they sound off and the bang zoom dub I'm liking king Kai beerus and Hercule voice
Mostly active on discord.

User avatar
NitroEX
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1690
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:21 am
Location: Not America

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by NitroEX » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:35 pm

huzaifa_ahmed wrote: Although I dont think its fair to call Jamieson's Satan a FUNi impression - that's just his normal voice, & it sounds much less Hulk Hogan-y. It's been generally seen that BZ cast off dub JP references, & that's where I came up with Mark Gibbon from, too. Saying these are all impressions of the first is like saying (while these are very different from the source performance) that Kyle Hebert did a Lex Lang impression for Gohan, just because they were similarly cast.

Many fans enjoy FUNi's Satan because it captures everything that Gori's did (& unintentionally so, which is hilarious), & I used Mark Gibbon for the same thing. I'm not considering an impression of that voice, I had that idea because he reminds me of Satan's Japanese performances - a very good reflection of who Satan actually is. For fun, I made a dream cast w/AAA VAs, I used John DiMaggio, Brad Garrett, or Clancy Brown as my choices for Satan, because they all have demonstrated capacity for cluelessly arrogant, gruff guys, not necessarily because they sound like Satan's previous voices (although Clancy sounds the same as Ishizuka).
I'm not saying Jamieson's Satan is an impression, when I said voice match I'm basically thinking of the casting choice being made primarily because the actor possesses a similar voice (in terms of pitch and overall texture). When you threw out Mark Gibbon that seemed to be the direction you had in mind because frankly, he sounds like the type of casting choice you'd get for a Rager or Jamieson replacement, not a unique take. If he was Ocean's Satan, at that point all three studios would have a similar sounding voice for the character. To me, that's just kind of inbred and boring, I like hearing different takes on characters from different actors.

Sure, you can argue that Rager and Jamieson's Satan have a similar pitch to the Japanese original, which in your eyes makes them ideal choices. However other factors should also be considered, such as their ability to deliver in a comedic role. My comment about Don Brown excelling in comedy is generally true based on what I've seen of his past work in goofy roles, as well as his past work as Hercule. Mark Gibbon doesn't appear to be cast in goofy or comedy roles too often which makes me doubt his ability to deliver. As accurate as Jamieson's Satan is to the original it's also starting to strike me as a little dry when it comes to his comedic performance. Maybe that's the script and direction at fault but I would also bet that his speciality isn't comedic characters either.

User avatar
floofychan333
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1377
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:03 pm
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by floofychan333 » Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:09 pm

This opinion is fairly unpopular, but I actually enjoy David Gasman of the Big Green dub's Goku. It's significantly deeper and therefore provides a different insight into the character.
"All of you. All of you must have KILL all the SEASONS!" -Dough (Tenshinhan), Speedy Dub of Movie 9.

"My opinion of Norihito's Sumitomo's new score is... well, very mixed. The stuff that's good is pretty darn good, but the stuff that's bad makes elevator music sound like Jerry freaking Goldsmith." -Kenisu

User avatar
Robo4900
I Live Here
Posts: 4383
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 2:24 pm
Location: In another time and place...

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by Robo4900 » Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:17 pm

The Ocean cast were/are basically perfect IMO. (The only exceptions I can think of at the moment are Android #16, and Mercenary Tao)
In particular...

Scott McNeil as Piccolo - This will be quite controversial, but in a lot of ways, I prefer McNeil's Piccolo to Toshio Furukawa's Piccolo. McNeil's has the youthful, kind of evil, but very wise, and perfectly capable of kicking anyone's ass sound you'd expect in early Z, and later on, feels completely natural as a wise father figure to Gohan who'd do absolutely anything to keep him safe. Despite his raspy, badass voice, he completely pulls off a more mellowed Piccolo, and as far as I'm concerned, McNeil's Piccolo is Piccolo.
Brian Drummond as Vegeta - I'd say he's about on-level with Ryō Horikawa, for similar reasons as the above. You hear his voice in the Saiyan, Freeza, or Androids sagas, and you hear an evil snake of a man, slowly mellowing over time, but still very much with a grip on his pride, something he won't let anyone take away from him. Even in the Boo saga, once he's settled into a mellowed, fatherly role, you can hear that he's a much more relaxed person, but his pride is as strong as ever, and he will still do anything to get one last fight against Kakarot.
Ian Corlett, Peter Kelamis, and Kirby Morrow as Son Goku - Kelamis is, without a doubt, the best English Goku voice, and I doubt I'll get much pushback from saying this. Kirby Morrow definitely had some trouble keeping up with the screams and shouts, but did a great job following on from Kelamis, and being the primary Goku voice I grew up with way back when, I have a rather large soft spot for him, despite the flaws in his performance. Corlett, in a lot of ways, sounded very much like Morrow, but with better screams and shouts, and a more serious edge. All of these are great in my opinion, but Kelamis in particular is the best.
Laara Sadiq as Chi-Chi - Cynthia Cranz's Chi-Chi had a rather "Naggy housewife" sound, making Chi-Chi rather unlikeable in some ways. While in the Ocean dub, Sadiq gave Chi-Chi a voice that sounds much more like a concerned mother/wife, with a lot of warmth to her voice. And yet, she could still very much pull off the insane bursts of rage Chi-Chi occasionally has when Goku wants to take Gohan and train him to fight crazy androids, and perhaps get himself killed.
Don Brown as King Kai/Kaio - Like Sean Schemmel, he very much has the silly, jokey side of Kaio's personality. However unlike Schemmel's interpretation, Don Brown's has a very wise tone. Hear him get serious, and you can immediately tell "Okay, this guy really knows what's up." Schemmel did a good job impersonating Brown in the early Funi days, but really, there's no substitute for Brown's. At least, as far as English voices are concerned.
Brad Swaile as Boo-era Gohan - I've always thought Kyle Hebert's Gohan sounded far too old to fit Boo-era Gohan, and I've always thought his more lighthearted tones left something to be desired. Meanwhile, Brad Swaile is much more fitting for the early Boo stuff, and does a great job with the ultimate Gohan/mystic Gohan stuff; sounding serious, but still undeniably Gohan.

And as a side-note, Brian Drummond as Vegetto was great IMO. Since, at the time, it was canon that the Potara were permanent, it made a lot of sense to give him one voice, particularly since Elder Kaioshin and Kibitoshin also had one voice. And, as usual, Drummond knocked it out of the park.

Some other ones I have less to say about are Jason Gray-Stanford's Raditz, and the BLT voices of Bulma and the narrator.
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.

User avatar
90sDBZ
I Live Here
Posts: 2500
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:34 am
Location: UK

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by 90sDBZ » Mon Jan 30, 2017 7:44 pm

Ian Corlett as Goku, Brian Drummond as Vegeta, and Scott McNeil as Piccolo. All around great acting from all 3 during Ocean's earlier work on the franchise. Honourable mentions would be Saffron Henderson as Gohan, and Peter Kelamis as Goku at certain times.

User avatar
TheSeductiveTomato
Not-So-Newbie
Posts: 61
Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2013 1:02 am
Location: United States
Contact:

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by TheSeductiveTomato » Tue Jan 31, 2017 5:52 pm

Overall I enjoyed most of the 90's Ocean dub. The Ginyu Force for example, namely Scott McNiel's Jeice. His Piccolo is unrivaled too, imo. Brian Drummond was pretty good as Vegeta in the Saiyan & Namek sagas. Dr. Kochin's voice is creepy and definitely gives off that mad scientist vibe. Even Yamcha sounds like a badass in Ocean dub.

User avatar
Nightmare Wheel
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 240
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:46 am

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by Nightmare Wheel » Tue Jan 31, 2017 6:09 pm

There are a few Blue Water voices that I thought were really strong in their dub of OG Dragon Ball, which is much better than their GT dub. Zoe Slusar as Goku, Leda Davies as Bulma, Mike Shepherd as Kami, Dave Pettitt as Popo and Dean Galloway as Pilaf are some of my favorites.

DefinitiveDubs
Not-So-Newbie
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2017 3:06 pm

Re: Favorite Non-FUNi English Voices?

Post by DefinitiveDubs » Wed Feb 01, 2017 11:17 pm

I think Peter Kelamis, Scott McNeil and Brian Drummond could've very easily been the better voices for the characters they played, if they didn't have the most incompetent direction in the world.

Post Reply