Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by Cure Dragon 255 » Mon Sep 11, 2017 7:12 pm

KBABZ wrote:I see you've had a lot of time to think about this subject! Thanks for the information, I feel enlightened. The mix of traditional Chinese (which you've identified for me as Wuxia, I think? Did I understand that correctly?) with futuristic themes like capsules and hoverplanes and spherical buildings is for me one of the cornerstones of Dragon Ball, and my favourite arcs tend to be the ones set on Earth where we get to explore and discover that world; even the Android arc and the pre-Perfect Cell stuff had this stuff going on. Namek is cool and all, but the singular, empty environment does get boring and is little more than an open battlefield for which the fights take place, at least to me.

When I said that Kikuche is an intrinsic part of the Kid Goku stories, I was also meaning to my own experiences; being someone mainly interested in the dub side of the franchise (but the lore of the original japanese side), I simply haven't had the exposure to the rest of his work, and can only go off of what was imprinted on my when I watched the show when I was twelve back in 2002. And for me music like what I linked you to is inseperable from the show because goshdangit, that's what I listened to for those stories all these years!

Regardless, it definitely sounds like Kikuche has an enormous range. It's fascinating to learn about this stuff, and it now makes a lot of sense why, after doing both serious stuff and Dr. Slump, that he'd be picked for Dragon Ball; when the anime was announced the manga was wrapping up the 21st WMAT, and by that point there was a fair amount of both silly and serious (or rather, dramatic?), so sticking with Kikuche along with the rest of the crew was an obvious no-brainer. I wonder why his past work is never brought up or discussed? I would have totally expected there to be a Kanzenshuu podcast detailing the Discography of Kikuche by this point, right?

Another question then: what did Kikuche do after the Buu saga finished and they chose another composer for GT? Did he do anything else since, or did he retire from making music? Reminds me a lot of David Bergeaud in the R&C series; he's widely considered the best and fans clamour for him to return with each new game that's released, yet he hasn't composed any music since 2011 and is all but retired.
Its Kikuchi, Not Kikuche, in Japanese the "E" doesnt work like it does in english and its really irritating lol.
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90sDBZ wrote: Mon Jul 01, 2019 2:44 pm19 years ago I was rushing home from school to watch DBZ on Cartoon Network, and today I've rushed home from work to watch DBS on Pop. I guess it's true the more things change the more they stay the same. :lol:

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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by KBABZ » Mon Sep 11, 2017 8:48 pm

Cure Dragon 255 wrote:Its Kikuchi, Not Kikuche, in Japanese the "E" doesnt work like it does in english and its really irritating lol.
Oops, tyop!

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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by Kokonoe » Tue Sep 12, 2017 3:03 am

sintzu wrote:Yes. The cast, music, marketing, timing, etc. were critical in DB's massive success in America. You could say another company could've done it but you could say that about anything so it shouldn't take away from what Funi did for the franchise.
Agreed. All of my friends and people at the school I went to use to rant and rave about the OST all the time.

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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by ABED » Tue Sep 12, 2017 5:33 am

so it shouldn't take away from what Funi did for the franchise.
It did some good things, but given how cheap in cost and quality their product was, it's a sure bet that the show was bound to be a success. They were so damn cheap, the box covers for their VHS and DVD's were screenshots!
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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:35 pm

theoriginalbilis wrote:I'm fairly confident saying that if FUNimation never got the rights to the series in the mid-90's, Viz or Pioneer would've most likely snapped up the rights.

They were pretty much the only US anime distributors releasing longer-running anime on VHS (uncut and dubbed) around that mid/late 90's timeframe.

DiC could've been a contender, having success with Sailor Moon... but who know what kind of product that would've been. Probably similar to the original FUNi/Ocean/Saban production in terms of edits/rewrites.
I get the feeling that if DiC had produced the dub, we would have gotten Cal Dodd as Piccolo. And yeah, it likely would have been like the Saban dub since DiC is not one of those companies that would produce an uncut dub.
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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by Super Sonic » Tue Sep 12, 2017 10:19 pm

Cure Dragon 255 wrote:I dont think so. I'm grateful for their hard work and their improvement over the years. But like mr Kunzait said DB was such a mega property it would have eventually found success elsewhere and or with someone else.
Not necessarily. Just because someone else could've done it, doesn't mean they would have done so. Three words: Age of Apocalypse.

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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Tue Sep 12, 2017 11:07 pm

Super Sonic wrote:
Cure Dragon 255 wrote:I dont think so. I'm grateful for their hard work and their improvement over the years. But like mr Kunzait said DB was such a mega property it would have eventually found success elsewhere and or with someone else.
Not necessarily. Just because someone else could've done it, doesn't mean they would have done so. Three words: Age of Apocalypse.
What do you mean by mentioning Age of Apocalypse?
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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by dario03 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 11:57 pm

8000 Saiyan wrote:
Super Sonic wrote:
Cure Dragon 255 wrote:I dont think so. I'm grateful for their hard work and their improvement over the years. But like mr Kunzait said DB was such a mega property it would have eventually found success elsewhere and or with someone else.
Not necessarily. Just because someone else could've done it, doesn't mean they would have done so. Three words: Age of Apocalypse.
What do you mean by mentioning Age of Apocalypse?
Perhaps he is talking about how the show Wolverine and the X-Men was going to have a Age of Apocalypse season but was cancelled due to financial reasons. Though theory is it was because Disney bought Marvel and didn't want it running on Nicktoons. Which iirc was backed up by the fact that the show had good ratings and reviews. Whatever the reason, it never happened despite a lot fans wanting it to. And they never made another X-Men cartoon that could have been Age of Apocalypse even though they have the rights.

Or he is talking about something totally different and I'm just rambling on. But entertainment companies sitting on Intellectual properties, even ones that could be very successful isn't a uncommon thing. Though not sure if its a common things with dubs since a lot of it is already made.
Last edited by dario03 on Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by Super Sonic » Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:03 am

That storyline was kicked off when Prof. Xavier's son Legion traveled back in time to kill a younger Erik Magnus Lehnsherr before he became Magneto so Xavier's dream wouldn't be hindered by him. Unfortunately the time he went back was when the two of them were friends, so Xavier took the lethal blow dying. As this was before he was conceived, Legion poofed from existence and a new timeline came into effect where Xavier didn't found the X-Men. And with no X-Men around to stop him, Apocalypse conquered the Western Hemisphere and much of Europe, making a Hell on Earth. It's been years since I read it, so don't recall if they say why the Avengers, FF or other heroes couldn't put a kink into his plans, but they didn't despite one thinking other heroes could do what others have done. Similarly there are DC stories where there's no Batman, and thus Ra'as Al-Ghul conquers the world, despite many DC heroes being out of his league and could take him down, but don't. That's why I mentioned that just because another company could've done what Funi did, doesn't necessarily mean it would've happened.

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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by dario03 » Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:08 am

Super Sonic wrote:That storyline was kicked off when Prof. Xavier's son Legion traveled back in time to kill a younger Erik Magnus Lehnsherr before he became Magneto so Xavier's dream wouldn't be hindered by him. Unfortunately the time he went back was when the two of them were friends, so Xavier took the lethal blow dying. As this was before he was conceived, Legion poofed from existence and a new timeline came into effect where Xavier didn't found the X-Men. And with no X-Men around to stop him, Apocalypse conquered the Western Hemisphere and much of Europe, making a Hell on Earth. It's been years since I read it, so don't recall if they say why the Avengers, FF or other heroes couldn't put a kink into his plans, but they didn't despite one thinking other heroes could do what others have done. Similarly there are DC stories where there's no Batman, and thus Ra'as Al-Ghul conquers the world, despite many DC heroes being out of his league and could take him down, but don't. That's why I mentioned that just because another company could've done what Funi did, doesn't necessarily mean it would've happened.
You know... I was gonna say maybe it was a in universe reference but couldn't think of exactly what you would have meant. Mostly because as I recall Magneto formed the X-Men to stop Apocalypse but they initially failed. Plus this isn't a Marvel forum or the in universe section :)

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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by NitroEX » Wed Sep 13, 2017 7:04 am

8000 Saiyan wrote: I think Hebert does a good job as Gohan. Sure he may sound older than his age, but then again there are a lot of teenagers who sound older than their age. For example, CDB didn't really sound like he was 19 years old as Spider-Man, but he still did an excellent job.
In response to the Spider-Man example, you're taking things out of context and ignoring the differences in the tone of each show as well as the different personalities of these characters. Christopher Barnes was cast in a version of Spider-Man that takes itself very seriously and aims for a more dramatic tone, in that version, the director clearly wanted a voice that matched the tone of the show and cast a lead actor with more gravitas to their voice. Peter Parker was also drawn to look like a young adult rather than a teenager and have more muscular/heroic proportions so the pitch of his voice was appropriate from a visual standpoint too. In contrast to that, more recent cartoon versions of Spider-Man often portray him as a hero that's more silly and cracks more jokes, these versions aim for a less serious, lighthearted and comedic tone so they naturally go for a younger sounding lead actor. Not only does a younger voice fit the tone of those versions of the show and personality of those versions of Spider-Man but it's also more appropriate for the way the character is drawn, with a more childish art style and more slender teenage frame.

As for DBZ/Kai, it's not comparable to 90s Spider-Man. The are plenty of lighthearted and comedic moments so we know the tone of the show isn't one that takes itself too seriously, the Buu arc is even arguably less serious than many of the previous arcs. Gohan's personality in the story isn't that of a serious or cool superhero either, his future counterpart might fit that role somewhat but his Buu arc portrayal is more of an awkward teenager who's capable of cool feats, but is still pretty naive and gentle at heart. It's only at the end of the arc where the story starts to show him in a more serious, heroic and dignified light, but it's clearly not his baseline personality throughout. So you're essentially comparing apples to oranges with that example and it does nothing to justify Gohan sounding the way he does.

I think Kyle's voice only really fit Gohan in terms of his tall appearance but I think we can all understand that a character's voice shouldn't just be cast based on their appearance alone, their personality should also logically factor in. If a character is high spirited and has a good natured, innocent personality then that's going to influence who the director ends up casting, they're going to want someone whose voice naturally conveys as many of those key traits as possible without having to outright say it. Obviously performance does do a lot to help highlight certain personality traits even more but the natural sound of someone's voice will always invoke certain preconceptions that we all immediately recognize, it can go a long way in giving us the right impression of a certain character and invoke the correct emotional response to them whether it be sympathetic, intimidating to "this guy is cool". A good director will recognize this and use those tools to their advantage. We all recognize a heroic voice when we hear it or an innocent/virtuous one and the same goes for age or maturity, some people will just naturally sound younger than their age while others sound older and wiser. I believe Kyle Hebert falls into the latter, he often excels at older male roles and young adults in their 20s, and he's rarely cast as teenagers. When he is cast in a teenage role, it's often because those teenage characters are designed to be cooler, more mature and masculine in relation to the protagonist (such as with Kamina or Ryuji Suguro). If he was truly as effective at voicing regular teenagers then his percentage of teenage roles would be much higher.
I don't find Hebert's Gohan voice that deep. Like I told Nitro, there are a lot of people that sound older than their age. You should know that.
Also, in regards to this real life argument, I don't think it's a valid one when talking about cartoon and anime casting. Just because real life provides us with exceptions to general rules about casting (and people who have voices that don't necessarily match their appearance or personality) doesn't suddenly justify throwing out the rule book and casting anyone in any role. Film and TV productions are highly controlled environments, they use character archetypes and cast voices in a conventional way as shorthand to get the point across quickly and immerse the viewer in the story. If a character sounds jarringly out of place or unfitting in a cartoon it usually breaks your immersion and takes you out of the story, you can get used to a voice over time but that's not an ideal situation for any director. If it's not appropriate for the purpose of storytelling then it's simply got no place in the project. Exceptions in casting do exist but those are usually done with some sort of goal in mind, sometimes a voice breaks convention for comedy reasons, shock value or to contrast with the rest of the cast. Point is, it usually always feels appropriate for what the director wants to convey and isn't just done for random whims like "well, some teenagers sound older than their age so it must be okay". I'd imagine that type of thing only happens if they can't find a better choice of actor and feel the need to justify a less than ideal casting, they might also just have a bias toward using a less fitting actor who brings more star power and name recognition to the project.

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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by ABED » Wed Sep 13, 2017 7:51 am

The tone of the Spider-Man cartoon doesn't require it to be older. Peter was drawn as older, but still in his early 20s. He's still in college.

I think something you are missing is the convention of actors not playing their actual age. Case in point, teen dramas usually cast kids in their 20s. It's just something you accept. We accept adult females as young boys not only because their voice has higher registers than men, their voices don't change drastically like boys. This is important in series that last a long time. Not every series does this, but it's common and accepted.
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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by NitroEX » Wed Sep 13, 2017 9:54 am

Being drawn older and going to college was not coincidental, it's all carefully designed towards the same goal, the goal of capturing a more serious tone. The music hints at this too.
I think something you are missing is the convention of actors not playing their actual age.
I understand this just fine but I'm not seeing how that's connected, at no point was I saying that only young actors should voice young characters, I'm talking about actors who sound younger and are thus more appropriate for a certain teenage archetype, and I'm only talking about voiced roles, live action is a totally different beast.

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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by ABED » Wed Sep 13, 2017 10:20 am

But the fundamentals are the same. There are conventions like having actors not playing their own age, so no, it's not a totally different beast. We accept certain conventions like actors not playing their age because it's so common place due to multiple factors such as age related issues like working hours or voices changing.

Tone and age have nothing to do each other.
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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Wed Sep 13, 2017 10:41 am

NitroEX wrote:Also, in regards to this real life argument, I don't think it's a valid one when talking about cartoon and anime casting. Just because real life provides us with exceptions to general rules about casting (and people who have voices that don't necessarily match their appearance or personality) doesn't suddenly justify throwing out the rule book and casting anyone in any role. Film and TV productions are highly controlled environments, they use character archetypes and cast voices in a conventional way as shorthand to get the point across quickly and immerse the viewer in the story. If a character sounds jarringly out of place or unfitting in a cartoon it usually breaks your immersion and takes you out of the story, you can get used to a voice over time but that's not an ideal situation for any director. If it's not appropriate for the purpose of storytelling then it's simply got no place in the project. Exceptions in casting do exist but those are usually done with some sort of goal in mind, sometimes a voice breaks convention for comedy reasons, shock value or to contrast with the rest of the cast. Point is, it usually always feels appropriate for what the director wants to convey and isn't just done for random whims like "well, some teenagers sound older than their age so it must be okay". I'd imagine that type of thing only happens if they can't find a better choice of actor and feel the need to justify a less than ideal casting, they might also just have a bias toward using a less fitting actor who brings more star power and name recognition to the project.
Since when there is a rule? People tend to play older roles all the time in television and movies.
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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by NitroEX » Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:00 pm

ABED wrote:But the fundamentals are the same. There are conventions like having actors not playing their own age, so no, it's not a totally different beast.
This has very little to do with my point about voice casting. If the actor sounds the part then they sound the part, a voice actor's age is not what I'm bothered about.
ABED wrote:Tone and age have nothing to do each other.
According to who? I've already made it clear that all the elements of a show (including visual design, music & casting of a lead actor) all factor into achieving the tone of the show that the director wants, which they do. Now you're saying that one of those elements doesn't play a part at all? I find that ridiculous. A lead actor's voice is what you're going to hear most in any cartoon or dub, their voice will have an undeniable effect on the tone of the show, it's an important ingredient in making the show what it is. If that lead actor's voice sounds too young to fit the tone that the director wants, it's a mismatch. Put Drake Bell's Spider-Man voice in the 90s animated series and it would immediately change the feel of the show, it would sound too young and his lines wouldn't carry the same weight or gravitas that was originally intended. Same thing if you were to have Christopher Barnes in one of the newer cartoons. Casting is important for setting the right tone in animation.

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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:03 pm

NitroEX wrote:
ABED wrote:But the fundamentals are the same. There are conventions like having actors not playing their own age, so no, it's not a totally different beast.
This has very little to do with my point about voice casting. If the actor sounds the part then they sound the part, a voice actor's age is not what I'm bothered about.
ABED wrote:Tone and age have nothing to do each other.
According to who? I've already made it clear that all the elements of a show (including visual design, music & casting of a lead actor) all factor into achieving the tone of the show that the director wants, which they do. Now you're saying that one of those elements doesn't play a part at all? I find that ridiculous. A lead actor's voice is what you're going to hear most in any cartoon or dub, their voice will have an undeniable effect on the tone of the show, it's an important ingredient in making the show what it is. If that lead actor's voice sounds too young to fit the tone that the director wants, it's a mismatch. Put Drake Bell's Spider-Man voice in the 90s animated series and it would immediately change the feel of the show, it would sound too young and his lines wouldn't carry the same weight or gravitas that was originally intended. Same thing if you were to have Christopher Barnes in one of the newer cartoons. Casting is important for setting the right tone in animation.
Does it really change the tone of the show? I don't see it.
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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by ABED » Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:31 pm

According to who? I've already made it clear that all the elements of a show (including visual design, music & casting of a lead actor) all factor into achieving the tone of the show that the director wants, which they do. Now you're saying that one of those elements doesn't play a part at all? I find that ridiculous. A lead actor's voice is what you're going to hear most in any cartoon or dub, their voice will have an undeniable effect on the tone of the show, it's an important ingredient in making the show what it is. If that lead actor's voice sounds too young to fit the tone that the director wants, it's a mismatch. Put Drake Bell's Spider-Man voice in the 90s animated series and it would immediately change the feel of the show, it would sound too young and his lines wouldn't carry the same weight or gravitas that was originally intended. Same thing if you were to have Christopher Barnes in one of the newer cartoons. Casting is important for setting the right tone in animation.
According to who? I could ask the same question of you. Yes, you did make it clear, but I'm disagreeing with you.

No, I'm disagreeing that age is any factor in the tone of a show. Of course the actor's voice will affect the show, but how does that affect tone? Actors can play multiple tones.

I don't know anything about Drake. I watched Spectacular Spider-Man but a younger sounding voice doesn't preclude the actor from playing a more dramatic Spidey. I don't see how he can't play the role with more gravitas because he has a younger sounding voice. Barnes doesn't sound age appropriate for the role. He's fine if he's playing an older more experienced Spidey.
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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:43 pm

ABED wrote:
According to who? I've already made it clear that all the elements of a show (including visual design, music & casting of a lead actor) all factor into achieving the tone of the show that the director wants, which they do. Now you're saying that one of those elements doesn't play a part at all? I find that ridiculous. A lead actor's voice is what you're going to hear most in any cartoon or dub, their voice will have an undeniable effect on the tone of the show, it's an important ingredient in making the show what it is. If that lead actor's voice sounds too young to fit the tone that the director wants, it's a mismatch. Put Drake Bell's Spider-Man voice in the 90s animated series and it would immediately change the feel of the show, it would sound too young and his lines wouldn't carry the same weight or gravitas that was originally intended. Same thing if you were to have Christopher Barnes in one of the newer cartoons. Casting is important for setting the right tone in animation.
According to who? I could ask the same question of you. Yes, you did make it clear, but I'm disagreeing with you.

No, I'm disagreeing that age is any factor in the tone of a show. Of course the actor's voice will affect the show, but how does that affect tone? Actors can play multiple tones.

I don't know anything about Drake. I watched Spectacular Spider-Man but a younger sounding voice doesn't preclude the actor from playing a more dramatic Spidey. I don't see how he can't play the role with more gravitas because he has a younger sounding voice. Barnes doesn't sound age appropriate for the role. He's fine if he's playing an older more experienced Spidey.
All I can tell you about Drake is that a lot of people hate his Spider-Man voice. It's the same thing with Adrian Pasdar's Iron Man. People hate his voice with a passion. Personally, I don't mind them, but they don't exactly have the best material to work with. Also, a lot of people complain about Marvel reusing those two a lot as Spidey and Iron Man. I can understand people being tired of them playing those two all the time, but frankly I'd be tired if Eric Loomis and Josh Keaton did the same.

And sure, Barnes might not sound his age, but he still did a great job IMO, but to each his own. .
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Re: Did Dragon Ball REALLY need Funimation to thrive?

Post by Ripper 30 » Wed Sep 13, 2017 2:07 pm

NitroEX wrote:
8000 Saiyan wrote: I think Hebert does a good job as Gohan. Sure he may sound older than his age, but then again there are a lot of teenagers who sound older than their age. For example, CDB didn't really sound like he was 19 years old as Spider-Man, but he still did an excellent job.
In response to the Spider-Man example, you're taking things out of context and ignoring the differences in the tone of each show as well as the different personalities of these characters. Christopher Barnes was cast in a version of Spider-Man that takes itself very seriously and aims for a more dramatic tone, in that version, the director clearly wanted a voice that matched the tone of the show and cast a lead actor with more gravitas to their voice. Peter Parker was also drawn to look like a young adult rather than a teenager and have more muscular/heroic proportions so the pitch of his voice was appropriate from a visual standpoint too. In contrast to that, more recent cartoon versions of Spider-Man often portray him as a hero that's more silly and cracks more jokes, these versions aim for a less serious, lighthearted and comedic tone so they naturally go for a younger sounding lead actor. Not only does a younger voice fit the tone of those versions of the show and personality of those versions of Spider-Man but it's also more appropriate for the way the character is drawn, with a more childish art style and more slender teenage frame.

As for DBZ/Kai, it's not comparable to 90s Spider-Man. The are plenty of lighthearted and comedic moments so we know the tone of the show isn't one that takes itself too seriously, the Buu arc is even arguably less serious than many of the previous arcs. Gohan's personality in the story isn't that of a serious or cool superhero either, his future counterpart might fit that role somewhat but his Buu arc portrayal is more of an awkward teenager who's capable of cool feats, but is still pretty naive and gentle at heart. It's only at the end of the arc where the story starts to show him in a more serious, heroic and dignified light, but it's clearly not his baseline personality throughout. So you're essentially comparing apples to oranges with that example and it does nothing to justify Gohan sounding the way he does.

I think Kyle's voice only really fit Gohan in terms of his tall appearance but I think we can all understand that a character's voice shouldn't just be cast based on their appearance alone, their personality should also logically factor in. If a character is high spirited and has a good natured, innocent personality then that's going to influence who the director ends up casting, they're going to want someone whose voice naturally conveys as many of those key traits as possible without having to outright say it. Obviously performance does do a lot to help highlight certain personality traits even more but the natural sound of someone's voice will always invoke certain preconceptions that we all immediately recognize, it can go a long way in giving us the right impression of a certain character and invoke the correct emotional response to them whether it be sympathetic, intimidating to "this guy is cool". A good director will recognize this and use those tools to their advantage. We all recognize a heroic voice when we hear it or an innocent/virtuous one and the same goes for age or maturity, some people will just naturally sound younger than their age while others sound older and wiser. I believe Kyle Hebert falls into the latter, he often excels at older male roles and young adults in their 20s, and he's rarely cast as teenagers. When he is cast in a teenage role, it's often because those teenage characters are designed to be cooler, more mature and masculine in relation to the protagonist (such as with Kamina or Ryuji Suguro). If he was truly as effective at voicing regular teenagers then his percentage of teenage roles would be much higher.
I don't find Hebert's Gohan voice that deep. Like I told Nitro, there are a lot of people that sound older than their age. You should know that.
Also, in regards to this real life argument, I don't think it's a valid one when talking about cartoon and anime casting. Just because real life provides us with exceptions to general rules about casting (and people who have voices that don't necessarily match their appearance or personality) doesn't suddenly justify throwing out the rule book and casting anyone in any role. Film and TV productions are highly controlled environments, they use character archetypes and cast voices in a conventional way as shorthand to get the point across quickly and immerse the viewer in the story. If a character sounds jarringly out of place or unfitting in a cartoon it usually breaks your immersion and takes you out of the story, you can get used to a voice over time but that's not an ideal situation for any director. If it's not appropriate for the purpose of storytelling then it's simply got no place in the project. Exceptions in casting do exist but those are usually done with some sort of goal in mind, sometimes a voice breaks convention for comedy reasons, shock value or to contrast with the rest of the cast. Point is, it usually always feels appropriate for what the director wants to convey and isn't just done for random whims like "well, some teenagers sound older than their age so it must be okay". I'd imagine that type of thing only happens if they can't find a better choice of actor and feel the need to justify a less than ideal casting, they might also just have a bias toward using a less fitting actor who brings more star power and name recognition to the project.
This is why Kyle Herbert does a way better job at doing Kiba from Naruto because he is character who tries to act cool but gohan is pretty naive and innocent so Ocean dub voice fits him better.
I prefer Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, DB/Z/GT Movies, Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball GT in Japanese.
For DBZ Kai and two new Movies I like both Dub and Sub. I Prefer Shunsuke Kikuchi Soundtracks over All other Composers.
My MAL profile : https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ripper_30

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