The general opinion on the Japanese casting (mainly Nozawa).

[huzaifa_ahmed]

So I've been lurking BTVA, r/anime, toonzone, & the like, & it seems to be that while the DB enthusiast crowd digs the female voice for adult Goku as it was creator-cast, both the dub-dismissive crowd of r/anime & the dub-happy crowds of BTVA & toonzone...prefer the English versions.

R/anime I understand (i.e. "PKMN, Bebop, Lagoon, Baccano, & Alchemist are te only good dubs; dub is not cool")...

But, BTVA & toonzone, folks that constantly rummage through comic book voices, compare Yuichi Nakamura & Daisuke Ono to Brian Bloom & Matthew Mercer for Christ's sake...as well as Christopher Sabat recently, all confuse me on the general opinion.

I've heard "Toriyama is no casting director" as much as I've heard "silly dubbies".

I'm not really sure what makes "the right voice", anyhow, especially considering cultural differences. Personally, I generally prefer following the original version (in timbre) to a T, which is why (IMO) Vegeta should be a high tenor, Piccolo low t(or high b), Yamcha in between, & Tenshinhan a bit lower than Piccolo (think he was Koichi Yamadera?)

I have no opinion about Goku (or Kuririn for that matter), but I'd like to have a separate "dream casting" thread, as those are fun. I am highly perplexed, though, as to what exactly is "right" in this case.

Because, while I understand that barely-a-company that FUNi was ATT...could not & did not replicate the Japanese at the time (no reference audio) - & I know they now attempt Japanese-accurate casting, for this show, at least - now, I can agree that perhaps every OG casting isn't perfect.

I don't understand quite what makes THE voice, though.

I'd really like to have light shed on this topic.

[Vijay]

Y'know. Masako Nozawa, Tanaka Mayumi, Ryo Horikawa, Toshio Furukawa, Tsuru Hiromi & a handful of other seiyuus are considered "Dream Team" of anime industry.

Which speaks volume when compared to butchered, unfaithful & unprofessional dubs (Funi, Speedy, Mandarine etc)

I'm avid Jap voice hater. At least during my initial viewings. Felt Goku's squeaky, girlish voice as embarassing, Veggie's coarse voice as evil, red eyed Tribal fighter, Piccolo's raw grunts as distracting, Mr. Popo's weird diction adding more to his "weird" attributes....the list goes forever

But true beauty lies in how all these shortcomings are brushed aside by pure magical & unrestrained talent of Japanese powerhouse seiyuus. Now dats called acheivements!

[Herms]

It's almost too obvious to mention, but the whole thing doesn't seem to be an issue among Japanese viewers. If the Japanese audience likes Goku's Japanese voice, I think that counts as good casting, pretty much by definition. People in other countries aren't obligated to like it, but they should at least keep in mind that cultural differences are a factor, and the Japanese cast was selected based on Japanese tastes.

Also, the US is one thing, but what about other countries? Is this a big controversy among, say, the French or Latin American fan bases?

[Iberian_Saiyan]

It's almost too obvious to mention, but the whole thing doesn't seem to be an issue among Japanese viewers. If the Japanese audience likes Goku's Japanese voice, I think that counts as good casting, pretty much by definition. People in other countries aren't obligated to like it, but they should at least keep in mind that cultural differences are a factor, and the Japanese cast was selected based on Japanese tastes.

Also, the US is one thing, but what about other countries? Is this a big controversy among, say, the French or Latin American fan bases?

I can remember reading comments on a Portuguese forum about Japanese episodes of DBZ in which users said "Is this the one where Songoku sounds like a woman?", "I can't stand listening to my Songoku with a female voice" and "Songoku is a male so he needs a manly voice". This is something that a lot of Funimation DBZ fans think alike too.

Personally, I love Masako as the voice of the Son family and wouldn't want to have it any other way.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Also, the US is one thing, but what about other countries? Is this a big controversy among, say, the French or Latin American fan bases?

I don't know about France, but I've been told that there's plenty of "Goku sounds like a girl!"-complaints among the Latin American fan base at least.

[Esfír Dedragón]

People in Japan are just like other human beings around the world: They either like it, are indifferent, or dislike it.

At best, Goku's Japanese voice represents a cultural difference in the expectations as to how a male protagonist in a shonen anime can/should sound like.

Everyone is free to like/dislike any voice for any reason, but what I don't accept is a reason that is simplified to it being "it's from Japan, therefore it is superior to any Western/Non-Japanese counterpart".

It's a fair assumption that Japanese voice-actors are capable of as much unprofessional conduct, such as miscasting and poor audio direction, as did FUNimation and other international dubs. You are not guaranteed perfect quality just because it's "Japanese"...

However, If you ask me, I'm okay with the Japanese voices (I actually like the voice of Cell and Trunks).

As for Nozawa's take on it, I don't expect Goku to have a voice similar to the Big Green dub, but neither do I expect it to be what my thought was when I heard it the first time: an old, cat-lady hybrid. The same goes for Gohan (less so), Adult Goten and Bardock.

[Kuririn Fan]

Whenever i hear Goku talking, i hear Goku, not Nozawa. Took some time to get used to it and ignore the haters, and now, she is the real, only Son Goku.

[AnzuMazaki]

Whenever i hear Goku talking, i hear Goku, not Nozawa. Took some time to get used to it and ignore the haters, and now, she is the real, only Son Goku.

Agreed, even though I was raised on the Ocean and then FUNimation dubs of the show, I prefer the japanese voices more these days.
I adore Nozawa as Goku and his kids, Hiromi Tsuru as Bulma, Ryo Horikawa as Vegeta, Mayumi Tanaka as Kuririn, both Hirotaka Suzuoki and Hikari Midorikawa as Tenshinhan and especially Tohru Furuya as Yamcha.

To hear different-sounding seiyuu as these characters would be a nightmare to be honest.
One time this year I had a nightmare that they hired someone who wasn't a seiyuu (a janitor, who was a very horrible deadpan-voiced actor) to play Yamcha in a post-U6 Tournament arc in Super while everyone else had their regular seiyuu because something had happened to Furuya.

Hell I heard the dub version of Evolution's Yamcha and Bulma and cringed at Hisao Egawa's Yamcha even though the Evolution characters are not the same as the originals.
Tohru Furuya is the only Yamcha for me as is the rest of the cast being the only ones for their characters.

The only way I could accept new seiyuu for everyone is that if a reboot anime was made (NOT Kai but a Sailor Moon Crystal to Dragonball)

[Vijay]

While I have utmost respect for Nozawa-san & her flawless performance, I wouldnt say she's irreplacable.

There are some candidates that I could see as Chibi Goku, Gohan or even Goten. Take Megumi Han for instance. Her works as "kind hearted, spirited boy" gives a strong vibe that I usually assocoate with Nozawa's.

Or even Kenta Miyake for Piccolo/Mr.Satan

[B]

I mean... acting is acting, man. I don't understand how people can't hear it.

One thing I'm noticing whenever this comes up is how literal people are. "Goku looks like this; he shouldn't sound like that." "King Kai is a fat-faced fishman, he looks like he would sound like that." Nobody decrying the Japanese cast is giving any thought whatsoever to performance or craft. Not that sound is completely unimportant, but it's not the only thing.

[Iberian_Saiyan]

While I have utmost respect for Nozawa-san & her flawless performance, I wouldnt say she's irreplacable.

There are some candidates that I could see as Chibi Goku, Gohan or even Goten. Take Megumi Han for instance. Her works as "kind hearted, spirited boy" gives a strong vibe that I usually assocoate with Nozawa's.

Or even Kenta Miyake for Piccolo/Mr.Satan

The Son family, Vegeta, Piccolo and Freezanians should remain with their original voice actors/actresses as long as the cast itself permits themselves because once a new cast replaces them it just won't be the same for me or even others who love Masako Nozawa and the rest. Masako Nozawa is Son Goku.

[Quebaz]

I can remember reading comments on a Portuguese forum about Japanese episodes of DBZ in which users said "Is this the one where Songoku sounds like a woman?", "I can't stand listening to my Songoku with a female voice" and "Songoku is a male so he needs a manly voice". This is something that a lot of Funimation DBZ fans think alike too.

Personally, I love Masako as the voice of the Son family and wouldn't want to have it any other way.

I used to frequent Dragon Ball-PT a few years back (from 2009 to 2012 I think? Didn't even post much and had a terrible username that my 12 year old loved) and I really remember the progression of disregarding the Japanese version to it being accepted (and in case of some users, preferred) mainly thanks to members deciding to watch all of Kai (we even had episode threads like here) and later having to accept that it was never going to be dubbed. Whatever happened to that forum anyway, I was never much of a poster there but I also remember seeing a decline in user quality when the Web Master decided to lump every forum he had into one.

As for me, I just see it as the characters and with the exception of some recasts that Kai bought, I never had a problem with anyone.

[floofychan333]

Vegeta's Japanese voice is even better than Chris Sabat's voice and the TFS voice. However, I will always prefer Schemmel to Nozawa as adult Goku, though I did like Nozawa as Kid Goku.

[Hyena_Yamcha]

Overall i like the japanese cast better , well except for nozawa , i only like her when she voiced kid goku

[Draconic]

I can never understand the "Goku shouldn't be voiced by a female cause he needs a male voice" sentiment. Goku doesn't sound like a woman. Goku sounds like a man. A pretty high pitched one, especially when screaming, but a man nonetheless. If you take the preconcieved notion that the actress is a woman and listen to the actual voice you could probably pinpoint that the actress herself is a woman, but the voice itself will sound like a man. Also, this whole "getting used to it after a while" I think is disrespecting. You can't say that it took sometime to get used to it, then it became your favorite performance... It's very inconsistent.

[Deathbringer]

When you compare Goku's Japanese voice the Japanese Bulma or Chi-Chi he sounds like a man with a unique voice although it can't be denied that the voice for Goku is pretty much the same as most anime "old lady" voices in Japan (such as Enya the hag in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, who sounds almost identical to Goku to the point where I had to look up if Nozawa was voicing her)

She still sounds incredibly powerful with her screaming though, in the old dub of DBZ she screams like "uuuAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH" but Sean Schemmel screamed like "HuuuGRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHhnnngggg hnnngggg GYAAAAAAAHH!!", you can tell by his modern performance that he's trying to emulate her screams nowadays.

I won't deny that I get annoyed whenever I read an internet comment that has someone dismissing the entire Japanese voice cast just because of Nozawa or Tanaka, I even saw a comment the other day that said "it's not just that the english dub was so good it's that the japanese dub was godawful one of the worst dubs in history not to mention granny goku" we're talking about an ensemble cast made up of veterans and a dub made up of amateurs here.

[Esfír Dedragón]

In retrospect, it's a bit too subjective to give a "definitive answer" to a question like this. It's all a matter of taste and you don't need to defend it.

True story: I remember how, when I heard Goku's Japanese for the first few times, I was nearly convinced that he had some kind of *throat condition that was explained in the Original Japanese but, for some reason, was never incorporated into the dub.

*There is a personal precedent for this. Years ago, I had a physics professor who, despite being in his late 50s/60s, had a "Southern Mickey Mouse" voice. He had no mid-range and would often give lectures in his high voice and immediately change it to a low, guttural voice. I passed his class, though.

[Kunzait_83]

It's a fair assumption that Japanese voice-actors are capable of as much unprofessional conduct, such as miscasting and poor audio direction, as did FUNimation and other international dubs. You are not guaranteed perfect quality just because it's "Japanese"...

While I'm in no way discounting the existence of genuine "Weaboo-ism" among some folks out there (i.e. this is automatically, intrinsically better for no other reason than BECAUSE its Japanese, the end), I also think its disingenuous to compare the level of professionalism of almost ANY given Japanese anime to what FUNimation was like in the time they were first dubbing the series.

Simply put, from a cultural and economic standpoint, Japan has historically always taken voice acting exceedingly more seriously as a craft than many American studios have generally tended to. There's very often a level of care and polish that goes into the voice talent of even the most low budget nothing of a production that just isn't as commonly found here. Certainly you'll almost NEVER see the level of blatant and cringingly embarrassing amateurism displayed by FUNimation during their earlier years in almost ANY Japanese anime production: or at least not on the voice acting end of things anyway.

To put it another way, oftentimes the voice acting in something anime-related isn't better simply SOLELY because its Japanese: its better simply because the Japanese more often tend to just care a great deal more about this kind of thing and thus have much higher standards (both within the anime industry itself and just culturally in general).

One thing I'm noticing whenever this comes up is how literal people are.

This is just a huge, HUGE problem throughout the internet and in modern day nerd culture in general. Over-literalism has essentially been an ever present bane upon damn near every discussion of this sort I've attempted to take part in for the better part of the last 12-ish some-odd years, and has been something that's been slowly suffocating and throttling the life out of not just a ton of art and media, but the discussion and perception of a lot of it as a whole.

[z_cherub]

I've almost always hated the dub, but Kai has made me soften that stance some.

I still hold that Sabat is a poor actor and a one trick pony (gravel in the throat = "I'm a cool tough guy anti hero!"), but Schemmel has grown on me some. If Son sounded like Nozawa as a boy, I could see his adult form sounding a little like Schemmel post-puberty.

What Schemmel can't do NEARLY as well as Nozawa is nail those classic goofy lighthearted moments that are uniquely Son Goku. There's just a fantastic depth and range to the way that Nozawa handles the character and all his nuances that is unmatched, IMO.

[TheGodfather93]

I grew up watching the original Funimation dub, and when I got older I was somewhat put off by Nozawa's voice for Goku. However, I decided to give the Japanese version of Dragon Ball a chance; starting from DB and watching all the way through to the end of Z. It was one of the best decisions I ever made regarding anime, and I quickly grew to love all the Japanese voice actors' portrayals of their characters, particularly Nozawa. It was amazing seeing how her portrayal of Goku changed over the years - from his childhood, to his teenage years, to adulthood. It truly allowed me to appreciate her talent and dedication. As such, it really saddens me to see the startlingly large number of people hating on Nozawa for her portrayal of Goku, and not willing to give her a chance. She doesn't deserve that shit. If anyone deserves to be respected by the community next to Toriyama, it's Masako Nozawa.

I still have a huge amount of respect for people like Sean Schemmel, Chris Sabat and Sonny Strait, especially considering how much they've improved in Kai. And I will always be thankful for the entertainment their characters gave me growing up (despite the original Funi dub's flaws). But nowadays, I can't watch the series in anything other than Japanese.