What makes a female actress appropriate to voice a male character?

[DragonBallKing]

In anime both English and Japanese female actors are often used to voice male characters under the age of 12 with the exception of a few cases(Sasuke, Trunks), but they often voice teenagers aswell(Naruto, Edaward Elric, Luffy, and Kurama), and even adults in some cases (Goku, Kenshin, and Komatsu from Toriko). So in your Opinion what makes a female voice actor more fitting for certain characters? How do casting directors decide?

[TheGreatness25]

Well, it's hard for a male with a deeper voice to bring that voice down to play a kid. They don't want to get kids because if the series is long-running, the kid would simply grow out of it within a couple of years (if that). So they get females, who are talented enough to create a range in their voice where it really sounds like a male child or teenager (i.e. Saffron Henderson, the actresses for Rugrats, etc.; don't know about Japanese voice actresses a lot, but I'm assuming the same). As for voicing adult characters, I don't know; I can only speak for Goku's Japanese voice where the actress did such a great job portraying the iconic character that it was the only voice one could think of when imagining Goku.

[Meshack]

I think dubs should follow what the Japanese do.

[Dbzfan94]

I think dubs should follow what the Japanese do.

No. As long as the voice fits, it shouldn't matter.

[DragonBallKing]

I think dubs should follow what the Japanese do.

No. As long as the voice fits, it shouldn't matter.

I'm also asking what makes a voice considered "fitting", because that differs depending on the person. The only reason I consider Nozawa's adult Goku "fitting" is because DB came before DBZ and she gradually ages him up. This also works because Goku's mostly the same person throughout the series. If the series started with the Z portion and Nozawa still voiced adult Goku I would not consider it fitting.

I'm also wondering If male and female actors try out for the same parts for boys ranging from ages 12 to 17.

[DragonBallFoodie]

Usually female actresses are hired to voice young boys

Nancy Cartwright has voiced Bart Simpson, Christine Cavanaugh voiced Dexter, and Tara Strong has voiced Ben Tennyson/Timmy Turner. (I don't know who could voice Goku though)

With Masako Nozawa, she naturally grew into adult Goku.

[DragonBallKing]

Usually female actresses are hired to voice young boys

Nancy Cartwright has voiced Bart Simpson, Christine Cavanaugh voiced Dexter, and Tara Strong has voiced Ben Tennyson/Timmy Turner. (I don't know who could voice Goku though)

With Masako Nozawa, she naturally grew into adult Goku.

She also voices Bart as an adult in Flash-forwards and such https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C5kpsNr_R4

[Baggie_Saiyan]

I think dubs should follow what the Japanese do.

No. As long as the voice fits, it shouldn't matter.

I agree, for example a female voicing adult Goku would not work in English at all it just won't heck even in Japanese a female other than Nozawa voicing Goku probably won't work either, Nozawa is just Nozawa she's on another level. Plus following the Japanese castings will 100% restrict the dub, Japanese is not English they are two completely different languages as you can get.

[MozillaVulpix]

If we're talking about Nozawa here, I think the reason as to why even though her voice still fits for Goku even if it isn't the 'expected' voice based on Goku's appearance alone is because Goku isn't necessarily that masculine. He's very child-like. He doesn't really think of the consequences of his actions, he displays no shame towards things like getting naked or having to pee, and he's not good at being overly-formal and polite. Yeah, sure, he may have big muscles and punch people really hard, but his 'default' state is that of a child who never properly grew up and nobody thinks that's a bad thing. So Nozawa's higher-pitched voice that's associated with her roles as young male characters is actually kind of appropriate there.

And to touch on the other examples; Naruto still has some of that child-like innocence and idealism when he's grown up, Luffy has a lot of similar immature characteristics to Goku, Kurama is quite feminine design and personality-wise (which also applies to Kurapika in HxH), and Edward...I think that might have something to do with the whole fact that he's short. Even though he's the older brother, he's the shorter, hot-tempered, somewhat less-mature one, so he doesn't really feel like the expected older brother with the deep mature voice. Although all these actresses can pull that off.

[Soppa Saia People]

The gender of the VA doesn't really matter if the voice fits the character.

[DragonBallKing]

The gender of the VA doesn't really matter if the voice fits the character.

Your right gender does not matter, but what I'm trying to figure out Is what characteristics make a female actress fitting for a male character to a Japanese audience and how casting directors choose.

So far I've got:
1. Young bellow age 12 or 13
2. Short
3. Childish personality and appearance
4 Feminine appearance and personality

Of course there are also exceptions to these, Griffith from Berserk is very androgynous looking and both his voice actors have been males, or Koichi Hirose(very short young looking teen) from JJBA is voiced by Yuki Kaji in the anime and by Romi Park in the video games, and of course from Dragon Ball we have Trunks and Vegeta still voiced by Horikawa and Kusao despite being under 10.

[Meshack]

I think dubs should follow what the Japanese do.

No. As long as the voice fits, it shouldn't matter.

Why’re you saying no to my opinion? Lol

[Meshack]

The gender of the VA doesn't really matter if the voice fits the character.

Your right gender does not matter, but what I'm trying to figure out Is what characteristics make a female actress fitting for a male character to a Japanese audience and how casting directors choose.

So far I've got:
1. Young bellow age 12 or 13
2. Short
3. Childish personality and appearance
4 Feminine appearance and personality

Of course there are also exceptions to these, Griffith from Berserk is very androgynous looking and both his voice actors have been males, or Koichi Hirose(very short young looking teen) from JJBA is voiced by Yuki Kaji in the anime and by Romi Park in the video games, and of course from Dragon Ball we have Trunks and Vegeta still voiced by Horikawa and Kusao despite being under 10.

Ummm, isn’t Monkey D. Luffy voiced by a female? Turlece, Barduck, Gohan, and Goten are all voiced by a female.

[Meshack]

If we're talking about Nozawa here, I think the reason as to why even though her voice still fits for Goku even if it isn't the 'expected' voice based on Goku's appearance alone is because Goku isn't necessarily that masculine. He's very child-like. He doesn't really think of the consequences of his actions, he displays no shame towards things like getting naked or having to pee, and he's not good at being overly-formal and polite. Yeah, sure, he may have big muscles and punch people really hard, but his 'default' state is that of a child who never properly grew up and nobody thinks that's a bad thing. So Nozawa's higher-pitched voice that's associated with her roles as young male characters is actually kind of appropriate there.

And to touch on the other examples; Naruto still has some of that child-like innocence and idealism when he's grown up, Luffy has a lot of similar immature characteristics to Goku, Kurama is quite feminine design and personality-wise (which also applies to Kurapika in HxH), and Edward...I think that might have something to do with the whole fact that he's short. Even though he's the older brother, he's the shorter, hot-tempered, somewhat less-mature one, so he doesn't really feel like the expected older brother with the deep mature voice. Although all these actresses can pull that off.

I doubt it has anything to do with not being “masculine”. Gokuh is as masculine as you can get. Gohan, Turlece, and Barduck are voiced by Nozawa despite being masculine and not childlike.

[MozillaVulpix]

If we're talking about Nozawa here, I think the reason as to why even though her voice still fits for Goku even if it isn't the 'expected' voice based on Goku's appearance alone is because Goku isn't necessarily that masculine. He's very child-like. He doesn't really think of the consequences of his actions, he displays no shame towards things like getting naked or having to pee, and he's not good at being overly-formal and polite. Yeah, sure, he may have big muscles and punch people really hard, but his 'default' state is that of a child who never properly grew up and nobody thinks that's a bad thing. So Nozawa's higher-pitched voice that's associated with her roles as young male characters is actually kind of appropriate there.

And to touch on the other examples; Naruto still has some of that child-like innocence and idealism when he's grown up, Luffy has a lot of similar immature characteristics to Goku, Kurama is quite feminine design and personality-wise (which also applies to Kurapika in HxH), and Edward...I think that might have something to do with the whole fact that he's short. Even though he's the older brother, he's the shorter, hot-tempered, somewhat less-mature one, so he doesn't really feel like the expected older brother with the deep mature voice. Although all these actresses can pull that off.

I doubt it has anything to do with not being “masculine”. Gokuh is as masculine as you can get. Gohan, Turlece, and Barduck are voiced by Nozawa despite being masculine and not childlike.

I think it was part of a reason as to why they didn't recast Goku's voice for the 23rd Budokai. Turles and Bardock (and Goku Black) feel like they mostly have Nozawa's voice to keep the connection between them and Goku. And Nozawa was cast for Gohan because of that familial connection and the fact he was introduced as a young boy, which is the entire voice Nozawa is normally type-cast as. In all honesty, I would have been perfectly fine with Gohan getting a new voice when he grew up, because he does properly mature into an adult. But since the franchise at that point seemed to have the idea that each character has the same voice actor no matter what age, I can understand them wanting to keep consistency with Goku and Krillin and Gohan and Trunks.

[Kinokima]

Just want to point out that women voicing male characters who aren’t children doesn’t seem as common these days as it used to be in Japan.

Obviously they aren’t going to replace established characters but it doesn’t seem like as common a casting choice. Which is a shame because a lot of my favorite female seiyuu roles were of male characters.

[DragonBallKing]

Just want to point out that women voicing male characters who aren’t children doesn’t seem as common these days as it used to be in Japan.

Obviously they aren’t going to replace established characters but it doesn’t seem like as common a casting choice. Which is a shame because a lot of my favorite female seiyuu roles were of male characters.

It just depends on the personality and design of the character, there are still plenty of teenage boys in anime voiced by women examples being Armin Arlert from AOT, and Kurapika HxH. I'm sure both actors both male and female often try out for the same roles.

It's also worth mentioning both HxH anime's have several adult males voiced by women as well.

[Meshack]

If we're talking about Nozawa here, I think the reason as to why even though her voice still fits for Goku even if it isn't the 'expected' voice based on Goku's appearance alone is because Goku isn't necessarily that masculine. He's very child-like. He doesn't really think of the consequences of his actions, he displays no shame towards things like getting naked or having to pee, and he's not good at being overly-formal and polite. Yeah, sure, he may have big muscles and punch people really hard, but his 'default' state is that of a child who never properly grew up and nobody thinks that's a bad thing. So Nozawa's higher-pitched voice that's associated with her roles as young male characters is actually kind of appropriate there.

And to touch on the other examples; Naruto still has some of that child-like innocence and idealism when he's grown up, Luffy has a lot of similar immature characteristics to Goku, Kurama is quite feminine design and personality-wise (which also applies to Kurapika in HxH), and Edward...I think that might have something to do with the whole fact that he's short. Even though he's the older brother, he's the shorter, hot-tempered, somewhat less-mature one, so he doesn't really feel like the expected older brother with the deep mature voice. Although all these actresses can pull that off.

I doubt it has anything to do with not being “masculine”. Gokuh is as masculine as you can get. Gohan, Turlece, and Barduck are voiced by Nozawa despite being masculine and not childlike.

I think it was part of a reason as to why they didn't recast Goku's voice for the 23rd Budokai. Turles and Bardock (and Goku Black) feel like they mostly have Nozawa's voice to keep the connection between them and Goku. And Nozawa was cast for Gohan because of that familial connection and the fact he was introduced as a young boy, which is the entire voice Nozawa is normally type-cast as. In all honesty, I would have been perfectly fine with Gohan getting a new voice when he grew up, because he does properly mature into an adult. But since the franchise at that point seemed to have the idea that each character has the same voice actor no matter what age, I can understand them wanting to keep consistency with Goku and Krillin and Gohan and Trunks.

That’s like saying give Trunks Vegeta’s voice actor and Marron No. 18’s voice actor to keep the connection

[Beerus-sama]

I doubt it has anything to do with not being “masculine”. Gokuh is as masculine as you can get. Gohan, Turlece, and Barduck are voiced by Nozawa despite being masculine and not childlike.

I think it was part of a reason as to why they didn't recast Goku's voice for the 23rd Budokai. Turles and Bardock (and Goku Black) feel like they mostly have Nozawa's voice to keep the connection between them and Goku. And Nozawa was cast for Gohan because of that familial connection and the fact he was introduced as a young boy, which is the entire voice Nozawa is normally type-cast as. In all honesty, I would have been perfectly fine with Gohan getting a new voice when he grew up, because he does properly mature into an adult. But since the franchise at that point seemed to have the idea that each character has the same voice actor no matter what age, I can understand them wanting to keep consistency with Goku and Krillin and Gohan and Trunks.

That’s like saying give Trunks Vegeta’s voice actor and Marron No. 18’s voice actor to keep the connection

Trunks being Vegeta's son was supposed to be a surprise for the audience the first time.


...And I was going to say that this was maybe just a treat for the Son family, but then I remembered Tights ended up with Bulma's voice too.

[MozillaVulpix]

That’s like saying give Trunks Vegeta’s voice actor and Marron No. 18’s voice actor to keep the connection

Trunks being Vegeta's son was supposed to be a surprise for the audience the first time.


...And I was going to say that this was maybe just a treat for the Son family, but then I remembered Tights ended up with Bulma's voice too.

Also Pan having Videl's voice actor, and Bra having Bulma's voice actor. There are more voices that adhere to the rule than exceptions to it.