REAL Reasons to Dislike the Original Japanese Version

[Fizzer]

That "macabre circus" effect actually does strike "scary", "twisted" and "disturbing" more than "ridiculous" or "childish" to me, so it really seems quite fitting for Gohan hopelessly getting the crap beaten out of him by freaky demons or super-powerful evil Androids destroying a city. Still, it's certainly not the best track of the US score. That would probably be Goku's Spirit Bomb or the last section form Imperfect Cell Theme

[Piccolo Daimao]

I don’t think the problem is a woman voicing a man – at least, for many people here. It’s just that Nozawa’s voice doesn’t fit teen Gohan or Bardock’s personalities. Just because they look like him or are related to them doesn’t mean they should have almost the same voice. And yeah, it’s pretty damn obvious that, despite the differences in inflection and whatnot, it’s still the same person behind all three. And that can be jarring.

So, child through adult Gokuu, child Gohan, Goten, and Tullece (he was basically envisioned as “what if Gokuu didn’t hit his head and stayed evil?”): that’s fine. But her teen Gohan and Bardock just doesn’t work. It’s good acting, but the voices are too similar.

[Insertclevername]

Goten,

What's your opinion of her teen/adult Goten? For some reason I don't see anything too wrong with it.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Goten,

What's your opinion of her teen/adult Goten? For some reason I don't see anything too wrong with it.

I haven't heard it, but I'm guessing that I'd be fine with it. Compared to Gohan, Goten's a fairly insignificant character in DB and, besides, he's only a teenager for that last part of Z (yes, I'm ignoring GT).

The thing is, Gohan is nothing like Gokuu. Like, at all. They're stark opposites. Apart from that offhand comment by Blooma in the Boo arc (although I still don't get how Gohan slipping up once and allowing Videl to deduce his secret identity as the Great Saiyaman means he's "as dumb as Gokuu"), I've seen nothing to show that Gohan shares any personality traits with his father beyond looking a bit similar and having great strength. Gohan's never been a fighter at heart like Gokuu, nor does has ever had that much self-confidence in his abilities (compare Gokuu refusing to give up against Daimaou despite all but one of his limbs broken, and Gohan giving up as soon as Cell broke one of his arms and requiring his father's help to destroy him), and even though he's still kind of the same shy and awkward character he was as a child, it's not as if he's practically a manchild like Gokuu. He's still evidently grown up, in both mind and body.

That's why I don't think he should have such a similar voice to Gokuu. Yeah, it's different, but it's still obvious that it's the same person voicing the two characters, which makes it jarring. They should've gotten a different voice actor to portray him, and Bardock.

Also, listen to Nozawa's future Gohan in the Trunks TV special. He sounds just like her adult Gokuu.

Again, I'm not saying Nozawa's a bad actor, or that she played any of these roles poorly. Just that the voices themselves aren't varied enough to justify her voicing all characters that are even remotely connected to Gokuu, with Raditz being the exception (probably because he looks nothing like Gokuu, and it might've weirded the audience out if this new space villain sounded like Gokuu).

[Gyt Kaliba]

Also, listen to Nozawa's future Gohan in the Trunks TV special. He sounds just like her adult Gokuu

Definitely. That was the part where I had the hardest time dealing with her playing every male Son character ever, because it just sounded like Goku in complete battle mode. She got a bit better at it later in I felt, when she played Gohan in the Buu material...but still I wouldn't have minded Gohan getting re-cast as he aged.

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet or not, but is it possible that using Nozawa on all of these roles and keeping her on despite them growing up was partially a money-saving thing? I've heard it said a lot that Toei is a rather cheap animation company compared to some other studios, so it makes me wonder if maybe that was a factor too.

[JulieYBM]

As for Trunks, I assume keeping Kusao Takeshi was more an issue of convenience and his being prolific. Kusao was basically already coming in day and day out for other Toei properties, not to mention he had spent years building a chemistry with the other Dragon Ball cast members.

Speak of the Devil, Kanzenshuu just added the Daizenshuu 5 interview. Re-casting Trunks was considered, it seems.

In the same way, both teenage Trunks and young Trunks are handled by Takeshi Kusao-san, right?

It was difficult to decide on young Trunks’ voice. Apparently, the producer at Toei Animation consulted with the editorial department, saying, “Perhaps it would be better if we just went ahead and changed the voice actor.” At that time, the serialization was still on-going, but maybe it would continue to the point where young Trunks had grown up to be around the same age as the teenage Trunks who had gone back to the future. So, if we changed the voice, it would be weird. It was finally settled on letting Kusao-san do the part. By the time I’d heard it two or three times, I felt, “this is just fine”.

[Gozar]

I don’t think the problem is a woman voicing a man – at least, for many people here. It’s just that Nozawa’s voice doesn’t fit teen Gohan or Bardock’s personalities. Just because they look like him or are related to them doesn’t mean they should have almost the same voice. And yeah, it’s pretty damn obvious that, despite the differences in inflection and whatnot, it’s still the same person behind all three. And that can be jarring.

So, child through adult Gokuu, child Gohan, Goten, and Tullece (he was basically envisioned as “what if Gokuu didn’t hit his head and stayed evil?”): that’s fine. But her teen Gohan and Bardock just doesn’t work. It’s good acting, but the voices are too similar.

These are my general feelings as well. I'm in the midst of watching through the Japanese version through from beginning to end (All 508 episodes) for the first time as a whole. I've begun moving my way into Z and truly enjoy Nozawa's Goku. It works with who Goku is, but with my somewhat familiarity with her work as older Gohan (via the Trunks Special and Video Games) as well as her Bardock, it just doesn't work.

I think Penguintruth said it best once regarding Goku. To paraphrase him, he essentially said that Goku's child like and hick nature is a quality about him that doesn't really change. Although he does go through some minor developments as a character, Goku is essentially always Goku. The fact that he's a muscular man-child just makes his voice all the more perfect for him.

This evaluation rings very true for Goku. But not for Gohan. Gohan makes a lot of changes over the 7 year time skip and really is much more mature than his father. I feel that having Nozawa portray older Gohan actually takes away from some of the charm that makes Goku, Goku. Especially if they talk to one another. It just makes Goku's voice and personality seem less special and unique.

As for Bardock, I think that one's a bit more self explanatory. I feel that if they wanted to have some familial similarity for Bardock, then casting Chiba would have been the better choice.

[Piccolo Daimao]

I don’t think the problem is a woman voicing a man – at least, for many people here. It’s just that Nozawa’s voice doesn’t fit teen Gohan or Bardock’s personalities. Just because they look like him or are related to them doesn’t mean they should have almost the same voice. And yeah, it’s pretty damn obvious that, despite the differences in inflection and whatnot, it’s still the same person behind all three. And that can be jarring.

So, child through adult Gokuu, child Gohan, Goten, and Tullece (he was basically envisioned as “what if Gokuu didn’t hit his head and stayed evil?”): that’s fine. But her teen Gohan and Bardock just doesn’t work. It’s good acting, but the voices are too similar.

These are my general feelings as well. I'm in the midst of watching through the Japanese version through from beginning to end (All 508 episodes) for the first time as a whole. I've begun moving my way into Z and truly enjoy Nozawa's Goku. It works with who Goku is, but with my somewhat familiarity with her work as older Gohan (via the Trunks Special and Video Games) as well as her Bardock, it just doesn't work.

I think Penguintruth said it best once regarding Goku. To paraphrase him, he essentially said that Goku's child like and hick nature is a quality about him that doesn't really change. Although he does go through some minor developments as a character, Goku is essentially always Goku. The fact that he's a muscular man-child just makes his voice all the more perfect for him.

This evaluation rings very true for Goku. But not for Gohan. Gohan makes a lot of changes over the 7 year time skip and really is much more mature than his father. I feel that having Nozawa portray older Gohan actually takes away from some of the charm that makes Goku, Goku. Especially if they talk to one another. It just makes Goku's voice and personality seem less special and unique.

As for Bardock, I think that one's a bit more self explanatory. I feel that if they wanted to have some familial similarity for Bardock, then casting Chiba would have been the better choice.

Yeah, agreed. I mean, don't get me wrong, I can understand why they may've kept Nozawa on for Gohan, at least. Putting aside the possibility of cost, she'd voiced him as a child, and it might've felt more natural for her to continue voicing him through his teenagehood, rather than choosing a new voice actor that might just feel like a different character. But it just doesn't work. It's jarring to hear a voice actor quite obviously play off of herself, no matter how great she can act.

As for Nozawa's Gokuu, the only problem I have with the performance is that she can sound too shrill when she yells. But other than that, I've gotten past the whole "high-pitched voice for a muscular man" thing once I learned to understand Gokuu's character.

And I agree that, if they wanted to form some kind of connection between Bardock and his family voice-wise, they should've chose Shigeru Chiba.

[Gonstead]

I've gained a tolerance towards Nozawa's Goku.

it's when she screams that I can't stand her.

[penguintruth]

I find Nozawa's older Gohan to be fine. Gohan is still a sweet, pretty good-natured fellow, even if he is more thoughtful and self-aware than his father. Nozawa never makes me feel uncomfortable with it, as it's clearly a bit different from her Goku or even her younger Gohan. At the same time, though, I enjoy both Kyle Hebert and Brad Swaile in the role, just as much as Nozawa. Hebert brings out the Saiyaman cheese really well and Swaile can really sharpen his voice when Gohan is going to kick some ass.

Now, I can see not being thrilled about Bardock. I don't have a huge problem with Nozawa in the role, but I think it would have been interesting, and probably more appropriate, if he had a voice more like Raditz's. Nozawa's Telluce is great, though, since it's really Goku if he hadn't hit his head and become good-natured.

The thing about Nozawa's older Goku are the little nuances in the delivery. That's what seperates it from everyone else who's played the role. There's just this oddball charm to it.

[Piccolo Daimao]

I find Nozawa's older Gohan to be fine. Gohan is still a sweet, pretty good-natured fellow, even if he is more thoughtful and self-aware than his father. Nozawa never makes me feel uncomfortable with it, as it's clearly a bit different from her Goku or even her younger Gohan. At the same time, though, I enjoy both Kyle Hebert and Brad Swaile in the role, just as much as Nozawa. Hebert brings out the Saiyaman cheese really well and Swaile can really sharpen his voice when Gohan is going to kick some ass.

But Gohan isn't a manchild like Gokuu. You're right, Nozawa's voice acting still fits the sophisticated nature of Gohan's character, it certainly feels like a natural evolution, and it's just different enough from her Gokuu voice that it's tolerable. But it's not different enough that you can't tell it's the same person voicing both characters.

My personal favourite older Gohan is Brad Swaile, who I believe is marginally better than Kyle Hebert, because he sounds a tad younger.

Now, I can see not being thrilled about Bardock. I don't have a huge problem with Nozawa in the role, but I think it would have been interesting, and probably more appropriate, if he had a voice more like Raditz's. Nozawa's Telluce is great, though, since it's really Goku if he hadn't hit his head and become good-natured.

The thing about Nozawa's older Goku are the little nuances in the delivery. That's what seperates it from everyone else who's played the role. There's just this oddball charm to it.

Yeah, Shigeru Chiba or someone else should've voiced Bardock. The only similarity Bardock has with Gokuu is that they look almost identical to each other, but that's it. Bardock is even less like Gokuu than Gohan is, therefore he should've gotten a more different voice.

And indeed, I'm fine with Nozawa's Tullece, since he is just meant to be an evil Gokuu. And Nozawa's Gokuu is fine too...when she's not yelling.