Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

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Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by Professor Freeza » Tue Nov 20, 2018 6:50 am

Its so damn awful. It felt like he isnt talking or singing but doing both at the same time and failing miserably.

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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by VegettoEX » Tue Nov 20, 2018 6:57 am

Totally disagree. I loved Yanami’s performance and while I’ve certainly read this take before, I’ve never once connected with or remotely understood any explanation of said opinions to the contrary.
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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by Professor Freeza » Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:11 am

VegettoEX wrote:Totally disagree. I loved Yanami’s performance and while I’ve certainly read this take before, I’ve never once connected with or remotely understood any explanation of said opinions to the contrary.
Really? You like a VA with no depth on the voice of the character?

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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by VegettoEX » Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:31 am

Professor Freeza wrote:Really? You like a VA with no depth on the voice of the character?
Saying things that aren't true doesn't suddenly make them true.

You cited the sing-songy nature of his performance as a negative; to me, that's a net-positive, setting it apart from other roles (particularly his Kaio), and fits right in with Boo running around humming to himself all the time.

Also, if there's no depth, how is there a sing-songy nature to his performance, anyway?

While he's not a particularly important character in the long run, I find Bobbidi's voice and performance from Joji Yanami to be a fitting, appropriate match that I enjoy listening to. I can't speak to Shimada's performance in Kai, as I don't think I've ever seen it.
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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by Mosaic » Tue Nov 20, 2018 9:10 am

I really didn't like him as Babidi. Mostly because at that point his voice was so overused in Dragon Ball. I would've preferred Isamu Tanonaka or Kosei Tomita as Babidi.

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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by Gaffer Tape » Tue Nov 20, 2018 12:08 pm

Wow. It's been so long since I heard this one I actually forgot this was a thing. But like Mike said, it's a complaint I've never understood. I absolutely love Yanami in the role, and it's probably one of the most delightfully memorable performances in the entire series... which is saying a lot in a cast of that caliber.
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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by SpiritBombTriumphant » Tue Nov 20, 2018 12:22 pm

I'm perfectly fine with his VA. I like it.

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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by Gyt Kaliba » Tue Nov 20, 2018 1:35 pm

Personally, I'm on the side that doesn't like Yanami's performance as Babidi, but I don't hold it against him nor do I dislike Yanami as an actor. I love him as the narrator and Kaio (and definitely miss him now that he's retired from the roles it seems). The manic nature of the Babidi character just isn't something I feel Yanami, even in his younger days, was quite equipped to pull off properly. Everything I've ever known him for anyway has been much more low-key - even his spazzing out moments as Kaio are done in a much more low-key manner than like say how Schemmel does them.

So for me, there's no question - I greatly, greatly prefer Duncan Brannan in the role, especially in Kai (where I was so relieved to see him return rather than them using Bill Townsley like they had in a few games). Again, it's nothing I hold against Yanami though - I just feel it was a bit of miscasting on the Japanese side of things.
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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by WittyUsername » Tue Nov 20, 2018 3:29 pm

Joji Yanami’s performance as Babidi is pretty much one of the only times I can think of where I actually prefer the dub performance over the original. That doesn’t mean I think Yanami is bad in the role per se, but I think Duncan Branan does a better job of making the character sound like a maniacal and sadistic little coward.

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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by Forte224 » Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:02 pm

I agree that he's not my favorite casting choice. Brannan does a good job of portraying a cowardly and maniacal little weasal, which is essentially how Babidi acts. Opinions are opinions, and I'm first and foremost a fan of the Japanese version of Dragon Ball, but that doesn't mean the casting and performances were 100% flawless.

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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by 90sDBZ » Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:44 pm

While I wouldn't call Yanami's performance a terrible one, I do think Babidi is a character who sounded better in Funimation's dub from day 1. The fact that the Japanese performance is sing-songy feels like a superficial attempt to differentiate from Yanami's other roles, rather than a creative decision meant to do the character justice.

I get that Babidi can be a comedic character at times, but it's usually when things aren't going his way and we see him pissed off. What makes the Babidi-Buu dynamic funny is that one is an intelligent evil scheming Wizard with a short fuse, and the other is a childish idiot who obsesses over candy. The contrast between them makes them funny to watch together. Having Babidi sing his lines in an attempt to sound funny alongside Buu hurts this dynamic in my opinion. It's a bit like watching Tommy Lee Jones trying to upstage Jim Carrey in Batman Forever.

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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by OhHiRenan » Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:26 pm

I'm shocked at people saying they prefer Brannan's performance over Yanami's under the pretense that the former embodies the character more than the latter. Yanami's Bobbidi has a personality beyond his base appearance. He adds another layer to the character rather than simply giving the audience what they would expect to hear. Yanami's performance is memorable. Brannan's is generic and not particularly impactful in any way, though that's par for course with the Funi dub.

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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by ABED » Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:36 pm

I don't know if Yanami's performance is that memorable beyond it being a Yanami performance and his voice sticking out. Babidi is a very surface level character anyway and I don't think either actor gives him much dimension.
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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by Gyt Kaliba » Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:41 pm

OhHiRenan wrote:I'm shocked at people saying they prefer Brannan's performance over Yanami's under the pretense that the former embodies the character more than the latter. Yanami's Bobbidi has a personality beyond his base appearance. He adds another layer to the character rather than simply giving the audience what they would expect to hear. Yanami's performance is memorable. Brannan's is generic and not particularly impactful in any way, though that's par for course with the Funi dub.
See, that's the thing - I'd say the exact opposite, personally.

It's like, all the accusations a lot of fans throw at Nozawa for playing Goku, Gohan, and Goten, where they claim she sounds exactly the same between them all? I don't see that (they sound similar, but there are vocal tics and quirks and the way lines are delivered between them all that sound different depending on who is speaking, so she's actually able to pull it off), but I do see it with Yanami. He's a fine actor, but his performances as the narrator, Dr. Brief, and Kaio are already nigh impossible to distinguish between all of them, at least to my ears. So once you toss Babidi into the mix as well, that far into the franchise, it just feels like too much. And what you hear as having layers and undertones, I hear as just another Yanami role, and he's just playing the role the same way he plays his other DB roles.

I'd definitely be curious to hear him in other things to see if that's just how his acting style comes off to me or not though, to where it only seems to work for some types of roles for me and not others (like how I've heard the seiyuu for Oob in GT in a few other things and have been left underwhelmed every single time) or what exactly. I think I've heard him in a Lupin III special somewhere once, but I don't recall for sure...
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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by JohnnyCashKami » Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:43 pm

Mosaic wrote:I really didn't like him as Babidi. Mostly because at that point his voice was so overused in Dragon Ball. I would've preferred Isamu Tanonaka or Kosei Tomita as Babidi.
This. His voice was really overused and that kind of took away the uniqueness and originality of the character, in my opinion.
OhHiRenan wrote:I'm shocked at people saying they prefer Brannan's performance over Yanami's under the pretense that the former embodies the character more than the latter. Yanami's Bobbidi has a personality beyond his base appearance. He adds another layer to the character rather than simply giving the audience what they would expect to hear. Yanami's performance is memorable. Brannan's is generic and not particularly impactful in any way, though that's par for course with the Funi dub.
Besides that, it's ridiculous to be comparing a Western VA to a Japanese VA. It's like apples and oranges.

If someone's going to do a comparison then do it in the same language as the voice actor that's in question.

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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Tue Nov 20, 2018 6:22 pm

Nope, I don't agree.

I always liked his sing-songy performance too much for me to hate it.
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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by Gaffer Tape » Tue Nov 20, 2018 6:29 pm

Just like when people complain about Furukawa's Piccolo sounding "too much like a regular dude," I always find myself completely unable to understand when people say that Yanami's Babidi sounds bland or just like his other roles. For example, I love Nozawa. She is my Goku. I don't agree with any of the complaints about the characters she voices. I think the arguments are usually very short-sighted and close-minded. However, I understand all of them. I understand the argument. I see where they're coming from. I get it. But I just flat out have never understood Piccolo "sounds like a regular guy" and Babidi "is the worst voice ever." I honestly wish I could. But no one's ever been able to explain it in a way that's allowed me to grasp where the argument's even coming from. Maybe I never will. But it sure does baffle me.
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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by Gyt Kaliba » Tue Nov 20, 2018 6:37 pm

Gaffer Tape wrote:Just like when people complain about Furukawa's Piccolo sounding "too much like a regular dude," I always find myself completely unable to understand when people say that Yanami's Babidi sounds bland or just like his other roles. For example, I love Nozawa. She is my Goku. I don't agree with any of the complaints about the characters she voices. I think the arguments are usually very short-sighted and close-minded. However, I understand all of them. I understand the argument. I see where they're coming from. I get it. But I just flat out have never understood Piccolo "sounds like a regular guy" and Babidi "is the worst voice ever." I honestly wish I could. But no one's ever been able to explain it in a way that's allowed me to grasp where the argument's even coming from. Maybe I never will. But it sure does baffle me.
It may be one of those things where it's just how it sounds to one person's ears differs from how it sounds to another's. For what it's worth, I have no problem with Furukawa's Piccolo (people have actually said it sounds too much like a regular guy? Bwah?). But with Yanami's Babidi, I just...just like you can't get how people don't get and like it, I just can't wrap my brain around how it works either (which is again, not saying I find it bad, just that it's...ill-fitting).
JohnnyCashKami wrote:Besides that, it's ridiculous to be comparing a Western VA to a Japanese VA. It's like apples and oranges.

If someone's going to do a comparison then do it in the same language as the voice actor that's in question.
I don't see the problem with that. You can certainly compare VA's between languages, though it's not as 1-and-1 as comparing same language voice actors I'll admit. It's where a lot of fans end up having an issue watching the dub of a show after having already watched the Japanese version, not because they find the English actor bad (though that happens a lot too), but just that the voice sounds 'too different' from what they expected. It can happen a lot when moving from a dub to a sub as well.

On the matter of how fitting or unfitting Yanami is as Babidi though, looking into it I see that he was replaced in Kai by Bin Shimada. I've never watched Kai in Japanese yet, how was Shimada's Babidi in comparison?
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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Tue Nov 20, 2018 6:56 pm

Gyt Kaliba wrote:
Gaffer Tape wrote:Just like when people complain about Furukawa's Piccolo sounding "too much like a regular dude," I always find myself completely unable to understand when people say that Yanami's Babidi sounds bland or just like his other roles. For example, I love Nozawa. She is my Goku. I don't agree with any of the complaints about the characters she voices. I think the arguments are usually very short-sighted and close-minded. However, I understand all of them. I understand the argument. I see where they're coming from. I get it. But I just flat out have never understood Piccolo "sounds like a regular guy" and Babidi "is the worst voice ever." I honestly wish I could. But no one's ever been able to explain it in a way that's allowed me to grasp where the argument's even coming from. Maybe I never will. But it sure does baffle me.
It may be one of those things where it's just how it sounds to one person's ears differs from how it sounds to another's. For what it's worth, I have no problem with Furukawa's Piccolo (people have actually said it sounds too much like a regular guy? Bwah?). But with Yanami's Babidi, I just...just like you can't get how people don't get and like it, I just can't wrap my brain around how it works either (which is again, not saying I find it bad, just that it's...ill-fitting).
JohnnyCashKami wrote:Besides that, it's ridiculous to be comparing a Western VA to a Japanese VA. It's like apples and oranges.

If someone's going to do a comparison then do it in the same language as the voice actor that's in question.
I don't see the problem with that. You can certainly compare VA's between languages, though it's not as 1-and-1 as comparing same language voice actors I'll admit. It's where a lot of fans end up having an issue watching the dub of a show after having already watched the Japanese version, not because they find the English actor bad (though that happens a lot too), but just that the voice sounds 'too different' from what they expected. It can happen a lot when moving from a dub to a sub as well.

On the matter of how fitting or unfitting Yanami is as Babidi though, looking into it I see that he was replaced in Kai by Bin Shimada. I've never watched Kai in Japanese yet, how was Shimada's Babidi in comparison?
Here's a clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFtEulAS6i0
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Re: Babidi had the worst VA in the entire Japanese Run of DB/Z. Agree?

Post by Gyt Kaliba » Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:00 pm

8000 Saiyan wrote:Here's a clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFtEulAS6i0
Thanks! Just based on that clip alone, I'd have to say I prefer Shimada's take, greatly so. It seems to have the energy appropriate for the character that just seemed lacking in Yanami's Z performance for me.
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