Opinion of Sabat?

Nikkolas · Post by **Nikkolas** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:39 pm

Well Chris Sabat did a lot of voices for DB, DBZ and DBGT. I've heard a lot of people criticize this.

Is he a good VA in your opinion? Or not?

The Time Traveller · Post by **The Time Traveller** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:41 pm

He's pretty irritating to me, his voice is too deep for most roles. Him voicing Vegeta, Yamucha and Piccolo is also another reason I don't watch the dub at all.

I love his Zoro though, it's bang on...

Post by **VegettoEX** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:42 pm

I'm gonna throw this out there... no years upon years of experience or anything like that backing up my hypothesis... but I somehow envision this being quite a heated topic.

Keep it civil, cite examples, remember that you are not actually Chris Sabat nor are you personally involved with his life or well-being, and remember that this is the best damn DB message board out there.

Bura · Post by **Bura** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:42 pm

Well, what really bothered me about him was that he did *so many* of the voices, especially of main character such as Vegeta, Yamcha and Piccolo. Everyone started to sound the same. And I also liked their ocean voices better, maybe that has something to do with it too. The japanese voices are the best to me of course!!

Zuhalter2000 · Post by **Zuhalter2000** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:46 pm

I'm not going to lie, I did not know he did so many voices until I read how many he actually did. Then I could kinda tell which one he did. I think he does a great job. I grew up with Sabat Vegeta so I may be a little biased, although I still enjoy a little Ocean Dub Saiyan Saga every once in a while

LeprikanGT · Post by **LeprikanGT** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 4:25 pm

Yeah, he does a ton of voices in the show and video games. I'm sure if they tried hard enough they could have a whole episode with just Sabat talking to himself with different voices.

DBHighDefinition · Post by **DBHighDefinition** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 4:27 pm

LeprikanGT wrote:Yeah, he does a ton of voices in the show and video games. I'm sure if they tried hard enough they could have a whole episode with just Sabat talking to himself with different voices.

Oh, wouldn't that be sweet...

shotkeeper · Post by **shotkeeper** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 4:35 pm

I think he's pretty good; I didn't even know he did so many voices before you guys told me.

Post by **VegettoEX** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 4:43 pm

It's intriguing for me to see how many people are genuinely noting that they had no idea how many roles Chris Sabat had in the series. For those of us that have been following the company for so long, it's just one of those seemingly-common-sense bits of information.

For those who stated such, how old are you? I'm wondering if this falls in line with other examples of used-to-seem-like-minorities, but now-seems-to-be-a-majority (for an additional example, Faulconer music; the online vocal majority during its actual heyday was overwhelmingly negative [and possibly contributed to his drop for DBGT], but I have a hypothesis that the opposite was true in reality and said "true" majority simply didn't have the age or internet access to reflect these opinions, which are only just now getting expressed).

DBHighDefinition · Post by **DBHighDefinition** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 4:56 pm

VegettoEX wrote:It's intriguing for me to see how many people are genuinely noting that they had no idea how many roles Chris Sabat had in the series. For those of us that have been following the company for so long, it's just one of those seemingly-common-sense bits of information.

For those who stated such, how old are you? I'm wondering if this falls in line with other examples of used-to-seem-like-minorities, but now-seems-to-be-a-majority (for an additional example, Faulconer music; the online vocal majority during its actual heyday was overwhelmingly negative [and possibly contributed to his drop for DBGT], but I have a hypothesis that the opposite was true in reality and said "true" majority simply didn't have the age or internet access to reflect these opinions, which are only just now getting expressed).

I had no idea until I checked the cast list. I'm 15. Also, that Faulconer theory is very interesting; I had always wondered why he had so much shit thrown at him, back at DBZ fan websites not updated since the very early 2000s (huh?), but now the majority (of opinions?) seem to be that most people like his score. ( I'm one of them... )

Casual Matt · Post by **Casual Matt** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 5:05 pm

I think Chris Sabat is good at making voices. He has a decent range, and some of his characters sound nothing alike.

As a voice actor, he is okay. He doesn't always convey emotion as well as more experienced actors, but he isn't particularly bad.

And note that all these comments are based only on his work on DBZ, but as a voice director, I don't particularly admire his work. Voice direction on FUNi's DBZ is often sub par, but that may not always be Sabat.

However, I am probably biased in this matter, since I am convinced that the only two good voice directors; Susan Blu and Andrea Romano. Seriously, look up any show with good voice acting. There is a very good chance one of them is the voice director.

Li'l Lemmy · Post by **Li'l Lemmy** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 5:33 pm

It was a simple matter of gawdawful copy/paste back in the days when he was just starting out, but somewhere after the redub's premiere in 2004 things changed-- it's not so easy to pick a Sabat voice at random and connect it to every other voice he does. He's refined most of them to become diverse and halfway credible (in terms of the dub, at least), even if they are still cartoony and over-the-top, which seems to be a staple of American DBZ as a whole.

I mean, hell. He's been at this for around a decade, now.

~Da Lemmy

Tatsunoboshi Horoko · Post by **Tatsunoboshi Horoko** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 5:35 pm

I have nothing against the man. (I actually like his acting in other non-DB related projects.) But when stuff like Vegeta having a conversation with Zarbon ensues, yeah...

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 5:58 pm

Is it weird I liked him when he was "imitating" Brian Drummond? I dunno. I liked that, and I liked him during the Buu arc when he smoothed out his Vegeta voice a bit.

Rough-sounding, or "lazy" Vegeta just sounds strange to me; especially since I'm more used to Ryo Horikawa these days.

That said, I do like his Zoro, and his Armstrong (the latter of whom actually made me laugh).

Conan the SSJ · Post by **Conan the SSJ** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 5:59 pm

Li'l Lemmy wrote:It was a simple matter of gawdawful copy/paste back in the days when he was just starting out, but somewhere after the redub's premiere in 2004 things changed-- it's not so easy to pick a Sabat voice at random and connect it to every other voice he does.

Actually, the redub premiered on Cartoon Network in June of 05, which was about two months after the first UUE release. No worries though, Lemmy. I confuse years too when it comes to DBZ releases. @.@

Captain Awesome · Post by **Captain Awesome** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 5:59 pm

First of all, I'm sure he's a nice guy, but Sabat is a terrible character actor, he simply doesn't have the vocal range, or talent, his voices in Dragonball are all pretty interchangeable (Piccolo/Vegeta especially) not to mention his delivery in the show is as hamfisted as it gets.

However when Sabat is cast correctly (which wasn't the case in Dragonball), he can do a fine job, his Zoro in One Piece has grown on me quite a bit.

NeptuneKai · Post by **NeptuneKai** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 5:59 pm

I think Sabats natural voice is the best for characters...as in Zolo.

Conan the SSJ · Post by **Conan the SSJ** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 6:03 pm

Chuquita wrote:Is it weird I liked him when he was "imitating" Brian Drummond? I dunno. I liked that, and I liked him during the Buu arc when he smoothed out his Vegeta voice a bit.

Not really, more like nostalgic and I share the same sentiment. Hence why, like yourself, I'm irked by how the "Faulconer BGM" track on the season sets maintained the redub edits. It's fun listening to how bad, and yet how interestingly awkward-close to the Ocean VAs, Sabat and others sounded. Remind me to see if I can get ya' the Ginyu saga DVDs some time, Chu.

NeptuneKai wrote:I think Sabats natural voice is the best for characters...as in Zolo.

Bad Neptune. *wags index finger*

omegacwa · Post by **omegacwa** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 6:04 pm

I've actually had this discussion before. I personally don't think all his voices sound the same. And I'm 23 and have been watching since the ocean dub back in like 96-97. Now that I know which characters he does, it is apparent that he does similar with some. But to me, Yamcha and Vegeta don't sound similar at all. Piccolo and Vegeta are his too closest voices, and still there is enough difference that I don't mind it. The man has some serious range, and you have to give the dude some credit for doing so many voices without them sounding identical.

Post by **Kaboom** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 6:05 pm

He's a pretty good voice actor in roles he's actually suited for. Roronoa Zoro is a shining recent example, and I really liked his less-gruff, more subdued Vegeta from some of Infinite World's cutscenes I've seen. A lot of people say, "his voices all sound the same, etc..." but I personally tell his Yamcha apart from his Piccolo apart from his Vegeta and all just fine.

Overall though, he's a much better director than an actor. Portions of DBZ he's directed like Movie 8 and the Kid Buu saga are really good.

Kanzenshuu

Opinion of Sabat?

Opinion of Sabat?

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