Does English Dragon Ball need higher profile actors?

[TheGreatness25]

I actually think that the dub has weathered the storm and this argument is moot. DB never needed high-profile actors, it needed good actors. As proven by its ridiculous success in the US (and other English-speaking countries, but I cannot speak to its popularity there), the story and marketing has survived the handicap of the terribly inexperienced voice acting, directing, producing, etc. I don't think that a big name celebrity would make any difference at all.

Now, the series got to a place where it's been around for so long, that it's originally-no-name actors are now the high-profile actors in the voice acting world.

At this point, I doubt it matters. You could've never told me who voiced Zamasu, and it wouldn't matter to me.

[MasenkoHA]

I wouldn’t call any of the Funimation actors high profile actors of the voice acting world. Dubbing sure. But general voice acting I think of actors like Tara Strong, Jim Cummings, Billy West, John Dimaggio, Mark Hamill, Seth Macfarlane, etc

[Kuwabara]

Nah. If the Ghibli english dubs prove anything, it's that successful actors talents do not always translate into voice acting. It is a different beast altogether. With the exception of Spirited Away, most of the Ghibli Dubs are mediocre.

Not to get too off-topic, but what makes you think so? Spirited Away's dub lead is so bad that it's hard to watch, and it has other problems in terms of casting and script adaptation. Any other Ghibli dub I've seen ranges from good to excellent.

[Robo4900]

Honestly, in terms of acting chops, Linda Young gave one of the better performances of season 3, but they gave her some downright terrible lines. but yeah, I can’t argue with the notion that she was miscast in general.

She's by no means a bad actress, she just didn't fit the character and had nothing to work with. Even the best in the industry can't turn sh*t into gold.

I think this is ultimately the thing many fans have to remember about the "season 3" cast; even the best performers among them were miscast, and/or directed very poorly, and all were working with very poor scripts.

By Kai, the miscast actors largely changed up their performances a bit to be a lot more like their own more natural take on the original character (Sean Schemmel as Goku and Chris Sabat as Vegeta particularly shine in this regard, when you compare "season 3" of Z to how they did in Kai), and the direction and scripting were far better, giving the actors a lot more to work with.

I criticise Funi Kai -- in fact, many would rightly say I've been very unfair to it in the past, largely because I'm an Ocean fanboy who has trouble enjoying the non-Ocean casts, even if I do occasionally raise a good point here or there -- but ultimately, Funi Kai is a solid piece of dubbing, whereas Funi Z is a really shit piece of dubbing. A majority of the actors are the same (as I recall, at least), and yet there's this huge level of improvement...

My point is: I don't think the actors were ever to blame. They took the work they were given, read the lines written for them, delivered them according to the director's direction, and performed in the roles assigned to them from their auditions. Even the actors who were very green probably could have been used infinitely better in 1999 if Funi had had better direction, and had more in mind for the casting than just saving money and not being all too distracting to kids who'd seen the first two seasons on repeat the past ~3 years.

[Super Sonic]

Nah. If the Ghibli english dubs prove anything, it's that successful actors talents do not always translate into voice acting. It is a different beast altogether. With the exception of Spirited Away, most of the Ghibli Dubs are mediocre.

Not to get too off-topic, but what makes you think so? Spirited Away's dub lead is so bad that it's hard to watch, and it has other problems in terms of casting and script adaptation. Any other Ghibli dub I've seen ranges from good to excellent.

Daveigh Chase? I thought she was fine as Chihiro. Prefer her Lilo or Ring ghost girl I take it? I haven't watched everything, but I did like the ones I did, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa, Spirited Away, (which deserved that Oscar it got), and Ponyo. (Only saw a little of the new Totoro dub, but know they did go for more Japanese pronunciation of the older girl's name). Will say to you, turn your anime senses off and you'll be fine.

[Shaddy]

Well, not in Japan, it's got all the talent it can get there.

In America, I wouldn't say it needs actors with more notoriety, so much as it needs better direction and to leave behind the cartoonish performances and a lot of the weaker talents behind.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I love everyone here who is against Star Talents as we call them in Latin America. That they are famous or good live action actors doesnt always translate to good voice acting.

[jjgp1112]

Honestly, in terms of acting chops, Linda Young gave one of the better performances of season 3, but they gave her some downright terrible lines. but yeah, I can’t argue with the notion that she was miscast in general.

She's by no means a bad actress, she just didn't fit the character and had nothing to work with. Even the best in the industry can't turn sh*t into gold.

I thought she did a pretty decent job as Frieza in The Ultimate Uncut episodes without all those wacky comedy lines and direction...but it still is nothing in comparison to Ayers.

[Aim]

This is never going to happen, since the vast majority of anime dubs are non-union, but do the English versions of the franchise require more union “Hollywood” actors like James Marsters, in order to be of acceptable quality? Again, this will obviously never happen, but I do sometimes find myself wishing that Willem Dafoe would somehow voice a character like Beerus.

I think the question being asked is "Does English Dragon Ball need to follow the original source more in terms of voice acting and scripts?".

[MasenkoHA]

Honestly, in terms of acting chops, Linda Young gave one of the better performances of season 3, but they gave her some downright terrible lines. but yeah, I can’t argue with the notion that she was miscast in general.

She's by no means a bad actress, she just didn't fit the character and had nothing to work with. Even the best in the industry can't turn sh*t into gold.

I thought she did a pretty decent job as Frieza in The Ultimate Uncut episodes without all those wacky comedy lines and direction...but it still is nothing in comparison to Ayers.

She just sounded like Rita Repulsa getting plastered in the Ultimate Uncut dub/partial 2007 redub tbh. I guess the UUE episodes didn’t have say anything too stupid but it was still an unfitting voice.

[WittyUsername]

Ironically enough, I think Linda Young would’ve been pretty solid as Berryblue from the most recent movie.

[ABED]

She's awful in any role I've seen

I love everyone here who is against Star Talents as we call them in Latin America. That they are famous or good live action actors doesnt always translate to good voice acting.

It's a skill like anything else and if they have the chops in live action, they just need some experience and a good director to give a good performance in animation.

[Melee_Sovereign]

Doesn't she still voice Baba?

[WittyUsername]

Doesn't she still voice Baba?

Yes, but that’s practically a nonexistent role.

[Super Sonic]

Doesn't she still voice Baba?

Yes.

She's awful in any role I've seen

Didn't like her in "Fairy Tail" or as the narrator in "My Bride is a Mermaid"? Thought she was fine there.

Do find it funny folks keep making references to Rita Repulsa as at one point I could see Ms. Goodson doing Frieza as a slightly more masculine version of her Rita voice. And while I never did it,had thought of doing a DBZ/MMPR amv with Frieza doing the "Ah, after 10,000 years I'm free" speech. And wasn't Rita in that Harmony Gold bit folks keep talking about? For those not familiar with her doing male voices, here's a clip from a classic series when DB was still on CN.

[WittyUsername]

Barbara Goodson (Rita Repulsa’s voice actress) was indeed the voice of Goku (or Zero) in the Harmony Gold dub of DB.

Also, on the subject of high profile actors, does anyone suppose that Neil Patrick Harris would’ve made a good Freeza?

[ABED]

Didn't like her in "Fairy Tail" or as the narrator in "My Bride is a Mermaid"? Thought she was fine there.

I've never heard of either.

[MasenkoHA]

I thought Linda’s Arale from the original Dragon Ball dub was surprisingly good.

[Kunzait_83]

Also, on the subject of high profile actors, does anyone suppose that Neil Patrick Harris would’ve made a good Freeza?

Well, he's had prior experience playing a space nazi at least.

Didn't like her in "Fairy Tail" or as the narrator in "My Bride is a Mermaid"? Thought she was fine there.

I've never heard of either.

This is absolutely the best possible answer to that question

For the record, while I'm at least somewhat familiar with Fairy Tail (and I really wish I wasn't, I have no business whatsoever being in any which way familiar with it in any conceivable sense), I had to literally Google "My Bride is a Mermaid" just to make sure that Super Sonic wasn't just flat out making that title up (he wasn't of course, but I had to be sure).

[Super Sonic]

Didn't like her in "Fairy Tail" or as the narrator in "My Bride is a Mermaid"? Thought she was fine there.

I've never heard of either.

My Bride is a Mermaid (Seto no Hatoyome in Japanese) is a comedy anime where a boy is saved by a mermaid, thus violating Mermaid Law, so he needs to marry her or her Yakuza father will have him sleep with the fishes. Hilarity and other hijinks ensue. One of the episodes does have a DB reference to wishing with the Dragon Balls and features a few cast members.

Fairy Tail is based from the manga by the same name by Hiro Mashima who was known for "Rave Master" before it. It revolves around a world of magic and wizards and wizard guilds. The manga ended a few years ago and while there were a few breaks over time, the anime had a final season that ended last year or so that Funimation had simulcast. Surprised you never heard of it, as it was rather well known as this picture from a few years back shows:

Spoiler:

Also when meeting Mr. Sabat while cosplaying as his character Elfman, he complimented me saying it was how he would picture Elfman in real life:

Spoiler:

He's not the only DB alum as Bulma fights Tien, and Kai Gohan is Erza Scarlet, one of the most badass women in anime. Actually all the Straw Hats are in it, in varying types of roles from major characters to flashback one-shots. Heck, Jaco the Galactic Patrolman is the lead and said if they made it to 100 episodes, he'd get a tattoo of the Fairy Tail symbol. He kept his word.