Voices sounding age appropriate?

[DragonBallKing]

One thing I've come across in the online anime fandom is that people are super nitpicky about characters sounding age appropriate. So how do fans of dragon ball the japanese version in particular feel about voices being age appropriate. This really seems to be an anime only complaint as I've never heard complaints about Ben Diskin's Nigel Uno sounding like 30 year old man for example. I personally don't see it as important as either fitting the characters appearance well or suiting there personality well as in Nozawa's case. What do you think?

[8000 Saiyan]

One thing I've come across in the online anime fandom is that people are super nitpicky about characters sounding age appropriate. So how do fans of dragon ball the japanese version in particular feel about voices being age appropriate. This really seems to be an anime only complaint as I've never heard complaints about Ben Diskin's Nigel Uno sounding like 30 year old man for example. I personally don't see it as important as either fitting the characters appearance well or suiting there personality well as in Nozawa's case. What do you think?

Characters sounding older or younger than their age doesn't bother me since there are people that sound older than their age in real life.

[JulieYBM]

Japanese animation is one of the most abstract forms of film and television. Not everything is literal and more often than not, someone that's done is done to be intentionally contradictory or as part of a mix of various aspects. Japanese characters are not about subtlety or realism, even if pieces of their characters are subtle or realistic. Japanese characters are about being flamboyant and easily understandable or recognizable. Japanese storytelling is mostly code-based, by mixing various codes together in different patterns or rhythms you get an entertaining--pleasurable--and easily recognizable experience. Once you learn enough of these codes you won't even notice anymore, the transition to various levels of characters and contexts will be seamless. Right now I'm watching the animated Hokuto no Ken film. In Kenshirou you have the stoic loner, but that's offset by a genuinely caring heart. In the same film you have Lin, a prototype to the cute, earnest moe girl, who supports Kenshirou and understands his warm heart even when everyone else cannot see past his reserved exterior. In fact, this reminds me of a lot of moe anime in how there's always that one cute girl who can see past the exterior of the eccentric beta male lead character.

What I'm getting at, really, is that voice casting and performances are just as abstract as visuals. Let's look at Sakigake!! Otokojuku. None of those high school boys look or sound like high school boys, but we accept that they are because the narrative tells us so. Next, take sight of the Generation of Miracles from Kuroko no Baske. They're all the same age, but they're designed and cast to reflect their personalities. The refine, but ultra-masculine Midorikawa is voiced by Ono Daisuke, know for his refine and ultra-masculine voice...all this despite being only fifteen years old. The more boyish Akashi and Kuroko receive higher voices, but are still notable being voiced by adults who can project a sense of charisma.

Paintings and illustrations are not the only forms of art that are abstract.

[MozillaVulpix]

I think Nozawa manages to nail the young boy voice really well. That's sort of what she was typecast as even before Dragon Ball, and there's a reason for it. If you want to think of the voices as being appropriate to their age, you've got to accept that the Son families' voices didn't exactly break like everyone else's when they reached adulthood. But with Nozawa also voicing Bardock, you could almost argue it's a genetic thing. (And Raditz didn't get the gene for whatever reason.)

The only other person I can think of where the voice doesn't sound precisely age-appropriate is Takeshi Kusao's Kid Trunks. Oh, and Stephanie Nadonly's Gohan, at least in the earlier parts of the story. I don't think there's any possible way a 5-year-old would realistically have a voice that deep. But they never really get so bad that they take me out of the story. And you can always use the excuse that they're not completely human, so they can follow different logic as to how their...vocal chords work.

[Vijay]

I think Kid Goku's Eng Dub voice to supremely raspy which "disconnects" me from the character. Forget the character, or the dialogue or lines. The voice itself irritates me forcing me to hate Goku

I think almost every Jap voices are spot-on EXCEPT Omega Shenron/Yi Xing Long's voice by Hidekatsu Shibata. Holy f*** sounded like 70 year old grandfather suffering from Nasopharygeal Cancer. Detestable to the core. I knw he voiced for Hokage & Wrath, but darn Omega was utterly garbage work frm him

[DragonBallKing]

I think Kid Goku's Eng Dub voice to supremely raspy which "disconnects" me from the character. Forget the character, or the dialogue or lines. The voice itself irritates me forcing me to hate Goku

I think almost every Jap voices are spot-on EXCEPT Omega Shenron/Yi Xing Long's voice by Hidekatsu Shibata. Holy f*** sounded like 70 year old grandfather suffering from Nasopharygeal Cancer. Detestable to the core. I knw he voiced for Hokage & Wrath, but darn Omega was utterly garbage work frm him

Nadolnys kid goku is more nasally than raspy, her gohan is the raspy voice.

Who you think would make a better voice for omega?

[Vijay]

I think Kid Goku's Eng Dub voice to supremely raspy which "disconnects" me from the character. Forget the character, or the dialogue or lines. The voice itself irritates me forcing me to hate Goku

I think almost every Jap voices are spot-on EXCEPT Omega Shenron/Yi Xing Long's voice by Hidekatsu Shibata. Holy f*** sounded like 70 year old grandfather suffering from Nasopharygeal Cancer. Detestable to the core. I knw he voiced for Hokage & Wrath, but darn Omega was utterly garbage work frm him

Nadolnys kid goku is more nasally than raspy, her gohan is the raspy voice.

Who you think would make a better voice for omega?

I meant GT Kid Goku.

Its just my view, but as far as the Japanese voice is concerned, I'd suggest Bin Shimada (seiyuu of our Legendary SSJ Broly) or Scar's (FMAB) seiyuu, forgot his name.

[floofychan333]

Masako Nozawa's adult Goku is not a problem in terms of age appropriateness. She pulls it off extremely successfully for a woman.
However, I can't stand kid Trunks still being voiced by Takeshi Kusao because it makes me feel uneasy. You've got Goten with a typical little boy voice then this guy who sounds like he's 25 as his best friend. Nobody else has a problem with this though so taking my opinion into consideration is risky.

[Bansho64]

Masako Nozawa's adult Goku is not a problem in terms of age appropriateness. She pulls it off extremely successfully for a woman.
However, I can't stand kid Trunks still being voiced by Takeshi Kusao because it makes me feel uneasy. You've got Goten with a typical little boy voice then this guy who sounds like he's 25 as his best friend. Nobody else has a problem with this though so taking my opinion into consideration is risky.

How does he sound like he's 25?. At the most, I'd put him at 12. And that's STILL a kid.

[8000 Saiyan]

Masako Nozawa's adult Goku is not a problem in terms of age appropriateness. She pulls it off extremely successfully for a woman.
However, I can't stand kid Trunks still being voiced by Takeshi Kusao because it makes me feel uneasy. You've got Goten with a typical little boy voice then this guy who sounds like he's 25 as his best friend. Nobody else has a problem with this though so taking my opinion into consideration is risky.

I haven't heard a kid that sounds like he's 25.

[JulieYBM]

Old age has done Kusao no favors, either. Now he really has to force that higher voice out. At least on Dragon Ball Z he could play the role off without trying too hard to sound like a kid.

[AgitoZ]

Most people's opinions on Goku's voice tend to be informed by what they were first exposed too. If they were first exposed to any English dub, then they tend to be accustomed to a much deeper voice in comparison to Nozawa's portrayal. If more viewers had been exposed to Goku in his adolescence, as opposed to his adulthood, then I'm sure there would be less people complaining.

No one complains that Bart retains his female voice actor when he's shown to be older. Or if we stick to Japanese animation: no one complained that Naruto kept his female voice actor just like he did in Japan. I don't see why Goku would be any different.

[Ripper 30]

I think almost every Jap voices are spot-on EXCEPT Omega Shenron/Yi Xing Long's voice by Hidekatsu Shibata. Holy f*** sounded like 70 year old grandfather suffering from Nasopharygeal Cancer. Detestable to the core. I knw he voiced for Hokage & Wrath, but darn Omega was utterly garbage work frm him

What's your opinion on the FUNimation Voice of his?
I think it was the same voice of Shenron from DBZ Dub.

[Ripper 30]

I can't stand kid Trunks still being voiced by Takeshi Kusao because it makes me feel uneasy. You've got Goten with a typical little boy voice then this guy who sounds like he's 25 as his best friend. Nobody else has a problem with this though so taking my opinion into consideration is risky.

Lol. I think you kinda over exxagerated on that because his Adult Trunks voice is the one of a Man but I see where you coming from and yes his kid trunks voice was kinda too deep and raspy but still the speaking tone is that of a kid and it's there to show the dominant nature of Trunks between Goten and Trunks just like Japanese Voice of Goku and Vegata.

[Ripper 30]

Masako Nozawa's adult Goku is not a problem in terms of age appropriateness. She pulls it off extremely successfully for a woman.
However, I can't stand kid Trunks still being voiced by Takeshi Kusao because it makes me feel uneasy. You've got Goten with a typical little boy voice then this guy who sounds like he's 25 as his best friend. Nobody else has a problem with this though so taking my opinion into consideration is risky.

How does he sound like he's 25?. At the most, I'd put him at 12. And that's STILL a kid.

I think he was referring to Kusao's Kid Trunks voice in DBZ because he made high pitched in Kai and Super.

[8000 Saiyan]

I think almost every Jap voices are spot-on EXCEPT Omega Shenron/Yi Xing Long's voice by Hidekatsu Shibata. Holy f*** sounded like 70 year old grandfather suffering from Nasopharygeal Cancer. Detestable to the core. I knw he voiced for Hokage & Wrath, but darn Omega was utterly garbage work frm him

What's your opinion on the FUNimation Voice of his?
I think it was the same voice of Shenron from DBZ Dub.

That was Sabat, using his Piccolo voice with a filter.

[Ripper 30]

Most people's opinions on Goku's voice tend to be informed by what they were first exposed too. If they were first exposed to any English dub, then they tend to be accustomed to a much deeper voice in comparison to Nozawa's portrayal. If more viewers had been exposed to Goku in his adolescence, as opposed to his adulthood, then I'm sure there would be less people complaining.

No one complains that Bart retains his female voice actor when he's shown to be older. Or if we stick to Japanese animation: no one complained that Naruto kept his female voice actor just like he did in Japan. I don't see why Goku would be any different.

Sadly that's how Dragon Ball dub fans have Double Standards and if you prefer DB Series in Japanese you will be called a weeb for disliking dub but these fanboys who call the one's preferring japanese dbz a weeb are the same who watch naruto and one piece in Japanese and hate their dubs when in reality those dubs are better than DB Dubs.
I think Nozawa fits Adult Goku very well and Sean's voice is not bad now infact his screams nowdays are awesome but there is some charm in Nozawa's Goku which lacks in Sean's voice

[Vijay]

I think almost every Jap voices are spot-on EXCEPT Omega Shenron/Yi Xing Long's voice by Hidekatsu Shibata. Holy f*** sounded like 70 year old grandfather suffering from Nasopharygeal Cancer. Detestable to the core. I knw he voiced for Hokage & Wrath, but darn Omega was utterly garbage work frm him

What's your opinion on the FUNimation Voice of his?
I think it was the same voice of Shenron from DBZ Dub.

Sorry for late reply. I was not notified hence my delayed response

FUNimation voice of Omega was Sabat no? I could be wrong but I've never been a fan of his portrayal except Piccolo cuz dats the only character that works with cool one-liners, neverminding Sabats "acting"

Since Piccolo's design & stances themselves are cool, his voice never bothered me much

Now, GT Shenron is utterly bland character. Though his Funi voice is great plus the BGM in particular fits whenever he speaks, its cool

But the character itself was excuted lousily & poor design it feelz like wastes attempt

Now Wrath's (FMAB) case is opposite

Hidekatsu Shibata's subtle acting was extraordinary, while Funi voice wasnt masculine enuf for a character of Wrath's stature

[floofychan333]

Masako Nozawa's adult Goku is not a problem in terms of age appropriateness. She pulls it off extremely successfully for a woman.
However, I can't stand kid Trunks still being voiced by Takeshi Kusao because it makes me feel uneasy. You've got Goten with a typical little boy voice then this guy who sounds like he's 25 as his best friend. Nobody else has a problem with this though so taking my opinion into consideration is risky.

How does he sound like he's 25?. At the most, I'd put him at 12. And that's STILL a kid.

OK, when I watched Z it sounded nothing like that. I guess Kusao learned how to pull it off when Kai rolled around?

[Zephyr]

Japanese characters are not about subtlety or realism, even if pieces of their characters are subtle or realistic. Japanese characters are about being flamboyant and easily understandable or recognizable.

Assuming this odd stereotype also extends to manga, in your mind: you should give Berserk a read some time, my man.