What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball sound like?

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huzaifa_ahmed
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What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball sound like?

Post by huzaifa_ahmed » Tue Aug 30, 2016 5:25 am

Imagine Viz (or Bandai, I guess) had gotten rights to Dragon Ball in the early 90's, & dubbed it ala Ranma 1/2. It'd either be dubbed at Ocean in Vancouver with the best VA's there, or rather meager at Animaze (better than current dubs tho) or perhaps Studiopolis. Definitely union if post-2002. Geneon'd be the same except they wouldn't dub union in LA.

Anyhow (use animation names if you want to, I guess):

There are way too many characters, so I'll cast by the Japanese actors

Japanese VA, characters played - Animation actor, dubbing actor/Canadian actor

Masako Nozawa, Goku, Gohan, Goten, Bardock - EG Daily, Mona Marshall (duh)/Janyse Jaud
Daisuke Gori, Ox-King, Turtle, King Yemma, King Cold, Mez, Vinegar - KMR, Joe Romersa/David Sobolov
Kenji Utsumi, Shenlong, Senbei Norimaki, World Martial Arts Announcer, Reccoome, Porunga - Clancy Brown, Richard Epcar/Paul Dobson
Banjo Ginga Colonel Silver, Bora, Giran, King Vegeta, King Moai, Toolo, Amond- KMR/Paul ST. Peter
Joji Yanami, Narrator, Lord Kaio- Bob Bergen/French Tickner
Mayumi Tanaka, Kuririn, Yajirobe - Nancy Cartwright, damn idk/Cathy Weseluck
Toshio Furukawa, Piccolo - Cam Clarke/Michael Donovan
Takeshi Aono, Demon King Piccolo - Neil Ross, Michael McConnohie/Scott McNeil
Hiromi Tsuru, Bulma - Jennifer Hale!, Wendee Lee/Venus Terzo
Last edited by huzaifa_ahmed on Wed Sep 07, 2016 2:26 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball look like?

Post by VejituhTheWarriorGuy » Wed Aug 31, 2016 12:42 am

Not to be rude but the title of this thread is a little unnecessary. "Proper"? Implying that the actors at FUNi aren't real actors? That's really low man, the people at FUNimation work their asses off to the point where people who don't even like the dub can respect the work put into it. Stop acting like the FUNi dub actors are people off the street with no acting experience at all, this isn't 1999 dude.
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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball look like?

Post by huzaifa_ahmed » Mon Sep 05, 2016 9:55 pm

VejituhTheWarriorGuy wrote:Not to be rude but the title of this thread is a little unnecessary. "Proper"? Implying that the actors at FUNi aren't real actors? That's really low man, the people at FUNimation work their asses off to the point where people who don't even like the dub can respect the work put into it. Stop acting like the FUNi dub actors are people off the street with no acting experience at all, this isn't 1999 dude.
You're missing my point. I'm not dissing the decent quality of the current DBZ dubs - a lot of them are decent actors (although Texas isn't nearly as competitive as anything like, say, the Japanese VO of DBZ, & a lot of ppl refrain from LA due to the competition & living cost).

I'm imagining what'd have happened if an established company with decent money had respectfully dubbed it from the start.

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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball look like?

Post by ShaneisMC » Mon Sep 05, 2016 10:10 pm

If it were still Pre Kai era Funi I couldn't really tell ya. Modern English Dragon Ball though is really good. Not perfect but id give em an A.

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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball look like?

Post by fadeddreams5 » Mon Sep 05, 2016 10:12 pm

I'm not too familiar with the name of VAs, but all I know is I'd want a man to voice the Son family. I think the Japanese version is one of the only versions that has them sounding all strangely high-pitched. It's iconic because... that's how they've sounded for decades over there, but I don't think western fans want their muscular heroes sounding like they had their balls pinched. =P

That said, I think the current English VAs are both nostalgic and sooooo much better than back in the '90s. Wouldn't trade 'em.
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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball look like?

Post by Hellspawn28 » Mon Sep 05, 2016 10:33 pm

It would be interesting if we got popular English voice actors at the time like Frank Welker and Michael Dorn. Frank Welker could easily voice someone like Shenron.
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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball look like?

Post by NitroEX » Tue Sep 06, 2016 7:50 am

In recent years I've come to think that Joshua Seth would have made a fine Goku if given the right direction, Had Kelamis not been available, I'd have probably gone with him. As far as the other characters go I really wouldn't stray too far from Ocean's casting choices as I think the majority of their voices were on point. Even during the Westwood dub I still think their casting decisions fit the characters very well but of course those who are used to the Funi voices probably won't agree.

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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball look like?

Post by MCDaveG » Tue Sep 06, 2016 11:29 am

I sense DUB WAR!
Hahaha, just joking. I think the current actors are OK. What really bugged me about the english dub of Z (Saban and Funimation), is that the acting was part of the hardcore fighting series image.
Beginning with the hard-boiled trucking announcer ''Dragon Baaalll ZEEEEEE'' up to the Australian Jeice or raspy hardcore Vegeta. I am happy for US fans, that the cast moved more into the more natural sounding territory and they are dubbing the characters like a living beings
and not bunch of drunken surfing hooligans, like before.
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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball look like?

Post by Cure Dragon 255 » Tue Sep 06, 2016 12:14 pm

You probably should have said "Sound Like" Topic Creator.
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Re: What'd a proper English VA cast of Dragon Ball look like?

Post by huzaifa_ahmed » Wed Sep 07, 2016 2:12 am

NitroEX wrote:In recent years I've come to think that Joshua Seth would have made a fine Goku if given the right direction, Had Kelamis not been available, I'd have probably gone with him. As far as the other characters go I really wouldn't stray too far from Ocean's casting choices as I think the majority of their voices were on point. Even during the Westwood dub I still think their casting decisions fit the characters very well but of course those who are used to the Funi voices probably won't agree.
Well, they didn't have Japanese audio references, so well several performances & interpretations are really cool, I'm not sure I'd want that officially. I love Scott's Piccolo, but they're clearly going for Fred Tatasciore-esque vibe than that more subtle, snake-ish sort of vibe that the Japanese did. Goku is also cast largely with no understanding of the character (not to diss Corlett etc., tho)...& honestly Vancouver's pool didn't have many basses the likes of Utsumi, Ginga, Genda, Otomo, & Gori.



& what about an LA equivalent? I frequent BTVA so I love doing these.

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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball sound like?

Post by nickzambuto » Wed Sep 07, 2016 2:43 am

If Dragon Ball were dubbed for the first time today, Troy Baker would be Goku, Nolan North would be Vegeta, and Jennifer Hale would be every single female character.

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Re: What'd a proper English VA cast of Dragon Ball look like?

Post by NitroEX » Wed Sep 07, 2016 10:06 am

huzaifa_ahmed wrote: Well, they didn't have Japanese audio references, so while several performances & interpretations are really cool, I'm not sure I'd want that officially. I love Scott's Piccolo, but they're clearly going for Fred Tatasciore-esque vibe than the more subtle, snake-ish sort of vibe that the Japanese did. Goku is also cast largely with no understanding of the character (not to diss Corlett etc., tho)...& honestly Vancouver's pool didn't have many basses the likes of Utsumi, Ginga, Genda, Otomo, & Gori.

& what about an LA equivalent? I frequent BTVA so I love doing these.
Well, there were a few deep voices circulating in Vancouver such as Mark Acheson, Richard Newman, Doc Harris, Campbell Lane, Blu Mankuma and, in recent years, Dean Redman. To my memory David Kaye, Michael Donovan, Garry Chalk, Don Brown and Micheal Dobson were also capable of deep voices. You have to keep in mind that, unlike in Japan, the dubbing budgets in anime are smaller than in the west so they tend to preference a small cast of guys who can pull off a range of voices (high and low) as opposed to an actor who only specialises in one type. The super deep voices tend to only be found in commercials, film trailers and radio.

I'm not hearing similarities in Scott McNeil's Piccolo and Fred Tatasciore. As far as Furukawa being more "snake-ish", I can only assume you mean a more whispery tone along the same lines as Daniel Woren's Piccolo from Final Bout? If that's what you mean then I'm a little puzzled because Scott has dropped into this snake style of delivery on occasion so I'm not convinced he lacks this trait, he's just deeper than the original which... is a perfectly valid casting choice seeing as Piccolo's a tall and imposing character.

I agree with you about lacking understanding of Goku's character but as far as I can tell this is mainly the fault of Funimation's leadership and their misinterpretation of the source material, Ocean had faithfully translated anime such as Ranma prior to working on Z and their work post Z speaks for itself. Basically this was more of a script and translation problem on Funimation's part rather than Vancouver's actors or directors. In fact, I'd go as far as to say Kelamis in particular showed remarkable understanding of the character during his short run as Goku despite the misdirection he was likely getting. The Pioneer led Ocean dubs showed us glimpses of what a more faithfully translated DBZ dub could have looked like and I think the characterization reflected that change somewhat. As I mentioned before though, I do think that Joshua Seth probably could've given Kelamis a run for his money as he sounds naturally child-like, which is what I think the Japanese version was going for with Nozawa, but Kelamis is easily a superior choice in terms of screaming ability, especially considering he can scream in a similar style to Nozawa which in my view is an invaluable trait.

I don't really have any other LA actors in mind for Dragonball characters at the moment.

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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball sound like?

Post by ConfusedPhantom » Sat Sep 10, 2016 1:42 am

I dunno about proper, but recently I've started thinking Spike Spencer would be interesting to take on Goku as well. He's got an interesting high pitched voice, and he can scream pretty well. It'll be interesting to hear if he's pushed into the right direction.

I like the idea of Joshua Seth being Goku as well.

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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball sound like?

Post by DragonBallFoodie » Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:32 pm

Pretty cool thread. :thumbup:

Shenron - Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime)

Goku - Cam Clarke (TMNT Leonardo)

Frieza - Rob Paulsen (TMNT Donatello), Mark Hamill (the Joker)

Krillin - Charlie Adler (Buster Bunny)

Kami/Piccolo – Frank Welker (I consider Welker as one of those distinct but awesome voices who can fit many characters)

Child Gohan/Trunks – Tara Strong (she does children’s voices well)

Adult Gohan – Ian James Cortlett (Beast Wars Cheetor – he had also voiced Goku briefly)

Chi-Chi – Janice Kawaye (XJ9)

Vegeta – Steven Blum (Wolverine)

Bulma – Grey DeLisle (Lady Vambre)

Adult Trunks – Michael Bell (Voltron Lance)

Android 18 – Kath Soucie (Lola Bunny)


That’s all I have for now. May come back later with more choices.
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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball sound like?

Post by floofychan333 » Sat Sep 10, 2016 11:10 pm

DragonBallFoodie wrote:Pretty cool thread. :thumbup:

Shenron - Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime)

Goku - Cam Clarke (TMNT Leonardo)

Frieza - Rob Paulsen (TMNT Donatello), Mark Hamill (the Joker)

Krillin - Charlie Adler (Buster Bunny)

Kami/Piccolo – Frank Welker (I consider Welker as one of those distinct but awesome voices who can fit many characters)

Child Gohan/Trunks – Tara Strong (she does children’s voices well)

Adult Gohan – Ian James Cortlett (Beast Wars Cheetor – he had also voiced Goku briefly)

Chi-Chi – Janice Kawaye (XJ9)

Vegeta – Steven Blum (Wolverine)

Bulma – Grey DeLisle (Lady Vambre)

Adult Trunks – Michael Bell (Voltron Lance)

Android 18 – Kath Soucie (Lola Bunny)


That’s all I have for now. May come back later with more choices.
Didn't Steven Blum voice Goku in "DBGT: Final Bout" and the rumoured Animax Asia dub?
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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball sound like?

Post by OmegaRockman » Sat Sep 10, 2016 11:35 pm

floofychan333 wrote:
DragonBallFoodie wrote:Pretty cool thread. :thumbup:

Shenron - Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime)

Goku - Cam Clarke (TMNT Leonardo)

Frieza - Rob Paulsen (TMNT Donatello), Mark Hamill (the Joker)

Krillin - Charlie Adler (Buster Bunny)

Kami/Piccolo – Frank Welker (I consider Welker as one of those distinct but awesome voices who can fit many characters)

Child Gohan/Trunks – Tara Strong (she does children’s voices well)

Adult Gohan – Ian James Cortlett (Beast Wars Cheetor – he had also voiced Goku briefly)

Chi-Chi – Janice Kawaye (XJ9)

Vegeta – Steven Blum (Wolverine)

Bulma – Grey DeLisle (Lady Vambre)

Adult Trunks – Michael Bell (Voltron Lance)

Android 18 – Kath Soucie (Lola Bunny)


That’s all I have for now. May come back later with more choices.
Didn't Steven Blum voice Goku in "DBGT: Final Bout" and the rumoured Animax Asia dub?
You're correct about Final Bout, but I don't think any info has ever come out regarding the rumored Animax dub, casting or otherwise.
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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball sound like?

Post by Nightmare Wheel » Sun Sep 11, 2016 12:06 am

Steve Blum has never, ever worked for Animax. They're not even based in America. I think you're confusing it with Animaze, the company that dubbed Final Bout.

Goku's Animax voice was a guy named Dave Bridges. He's confirmed this in an interview or two, but no clips have ever surfaced.

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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball sound like?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:03 pm

If DBZ had been dubbed in the early 1990's with American cartoon voice actors (which is implausible), I would have loved to see Corey Burton as Cell, Frank Welker as Buu, Tony Jay as King Cold and Charlie Adler as Freeza. As for Goku, perhaps Michael Bell or Dan Gilvezan.
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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball sound like?

Post by Dbzfan94 » Tue Oct 04, 2016 9:12 am

I don't agree with an English Goku being voiced by a girl. It just wouldn't work as well

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Re: What'd a proper English cast of Dragon Ball sound like?

Post by Baggie_Saiyan » Tue Oct 04, 2016 2:53 pm

Dbzfan94 wrote:I don't agree with an English Goku being voiced by a girl. It just wouldn't work as well
I agree. Nozawa is a really special case, it'd be hard for another female Japanese VA to replicate her let alone English.

Personally I think the way Sean is now is a perfect dubbed Goku we can get, he's still a little too deep with serious Goku but I think at this stage it's negligible.

The way Goku is in Japanese you're just never going to get a perfectly dubbed Goku.

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