In news that seems (if our community across the ‘net is any indication) of interest to just about every type of fan from every walk of life in tons of different areas of the world, FUNimation has officially recast the role of Freeza for their English dub of Dragon Ball Kai (slightly re-named to Dragon Ball Z Kai). The company’s YouTube channel has the third part of an on-going interview with Chris Sabat (Vegeta, Piccolo, as well as the director) and Sean Schemmel (Goku, Kaiō) in which the news is finally revealed. While we are still somewhat hesitant to accept some slight revisionist history going on with the description of their English-dubbed production, these “behind-the-scenes” looks are certainly enthralling, none-the-less. It is fascinating to hear the director note how the previous voice actress was simply unable to keep up with the accurately-adapted script for the character, which heavily factored into a recast voice — one (which happens to be male, unnamed as of yet) that has been pledged to be far more “creepy” than ever before.

Speaking solely for myself, I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have not been more excited to hear a specific character from my favorite series speak aloud in English. To know that some fans will be hearing an interpretation of the character that will finally be even in the same ballpark as what we know him to be… that is very exciting. If it cannot be Ryūsei Nakao right away, this may be an acceptable second-place!

Of course, we reserve all final judgment for when we actually hear the performance. Then again, with the exception of the first Kai release from FUNimation, we typically shy away from even covering that side of their products. Is this something you even want us to cover in the future? Let us know!