Recast Masako Nozawa's Roles

[Kid Buu]

Chris Tucker is the only one who can do her justice as a successor.

Gilbert Gottfried, the only man who can capture the essence of Nozawa's voice acting.

Or him.

Chris Tucker is far too much of an A-list Celebrity to lower himself to playing Goku.

[dbzfan7]

Well Ajay convinced me Romi Park would be at least a good attempt. I kinda wanna see her give the role a shot.

[Lord Beerus]

Romi Park. Hands down.

And if that can't happen, Megumi Ogata.

[TripleRach]

Regarding whether or not to cast a man to replace Nozawa, I see at least a couple of issues with that.

The biggest problem is that video games keep coming out. Most of them include kid Gohan, many of them include kid Gokuu (especially if GT is covered), and adult Goten is practically nonexistent. So there is a need to keep up the kid voices, and Takeshi Kusao doing it for Trunks seems like lightning in a bottle.

There's also the possibility of new animated material including flashbacks, or otherwise involving Gokuu or Gohan's childhood again. Maybe we'll get new compilation movies (either like the DB movies, or the Gundam ones). Maybe we'll get a Kai version of the first anime. Maybe we'll even get an animated version of Minus or Jaco, or some other special side story type of thing set in the past.

And in light of those two situations, double casting a character (female as child, male as adult) who previously only had one voice in Japan would be quite jarring. It would do anything but make the transition smooth and welcoming.

And if that can't happen, Megumi Ogata.

I thought I might be the first to suggest Ogata. I love her, and it's good to see I'm not alone.

Romi Park is awesome too. I would also throw in another vote for Rica Matsumoto. Maybe I'd even suggest Park as Gokuu, Ogata as Gohan, and Matsumoto as Goten, but that would probably be budget overkill.

[Kakacarrottop]

Whoever voices Brandine (Cletus's wife) from the Simpsons for the role of Goku.

[Vegitofaxx]

Whoever voices Brandine (Cletus's wife) from the Simpsons for the role of Goku.

I second that!

[theoriginalbilis]

You're thinking of Tress MacNeille, one of the most prolific American female voice actors of the last 50 years. She has voiced male characters, from childhood to adulthood, so having her as one of the Son family wouldn't be a bad decision.

Am I one of the only people who finds it kind of disturbing that "recast Nozawa" threads are coming up more and more often, while similar threads involving other Japanese or American VAs are much more rare, if ever, posted. The only ones I've read that come to memory involved Linda Young.

Interesting how Nozawa and Young seem to be two of the most controversial VAs in the history of this forum, for similar yet different reasons.

[The Tori-bot]

Chris Tucker is far too much of an A-list Celebrity to lower himself to playing Goku.

Chris Tucker is only an A-list celebrity if you have a time machine.

[Mewzard]

Am I one of the only people who finds it kind of disturbing that "recast Nozawa" threads are coming up more and more often, while similar threads involving other Japanese or American VAs are much more rare, if ever, posted. The only ones I've read that come to memory involved Linda Young.

Interesting how Nozawa and Young seem to be two of the most controversial VAs in the history of this forum, for similar yet different reasons.

I'm pretty sure it's not for her portrayal they think of recasts, but her age. Masako Nozawa is 78 years old, she'll have to leave the role eventually (either through retirement or with her passing). Either way, it's unlikely she'll be voicing Goku 30 years from now (not impossible, it would be impressive if she did...but highly unlikely).

You tend to only think of recasts due to either age, the death of an actor, or a performance that is bad enough to warrant replacement. Of course, the first two are unwanted changes, while the latter is a good situation to replace (getting better actors can be nice when the former one is doing a poor job in a role).

While some might not like her as Goku, this particular topic doesn't seem to be on of criticism, but one just looking ahead to the future.

[Ajay]

Yeah, Linda Young threads pop up because most of us here think she's absolutely dreadful (and she is), but Nozawa threads pop up either because people are being disturbingly morbid or they're just genuinely curious as to what other voices could work for the character. I guess there's also the 'Goku must have an age-appropriate voice' crowd, but that's not too common here.

[SaiyanZ]

Koichi Yamadera please (bias since he's my fav seiyuu ever but I feel like he can do it). Romi Park & Nozomu Sasaki also come to mind. I don't think it'll happen tho since having to play Goku & Beerus might be taxing on him (then again, Nozawa plays Goku, Gohan, Goten & Bardock so he could pull it off too I feel lol)

[SonEric84]

Yeah, Linda Young threads pop up because most of us here think she's absolutely dreadful (and she is), but Nozawa threads pop up either because people are being disturbingly morbid or they're just genuinely curious as to what other voices could work for the character. I guess there's also the 'Goku must have an age-appropriate voice' crowd, but that's not too common here.

I wouldn't say she's "dreadful". Was her Freeza portrayal poor? Yeah, it was bad and it didn't fit the character, but she was definitely okay in Yu Yu Hakusho.

There seems to be a bit of a double standard in this community when "criticizing" VAs. And to clarify, I'm actually a fan of the original Japanese version. Even though I think Nozawa is clearly talented, I do think some of her performances can be a bit grating to listen to after a while when it comes to the screaming.

Just so we're clear Ajay, I'm not calling you out specifically, so please don't think I'm attacking your post or anything of the like. It's perfectly okay to hold the opinion that someone's work is "dreadful", but since opinions are subjective and we all differ in our tastes, it's only natural that some people aren't going to think as highly of the Japanese cast as others.

[Ajay]

There seems to be a bit of a double standard in this community when "criticizing" VAs. And to clarify.

I'm actually a huge hypocrite in this regard. I have no issues with someone disliking Nozawa's voice, but as long as they're respectful, I'm pretty cool with it. Yet here I am, being pretty damn vulgar over Young's performance when I'm actually more angry at FUNi's old business practices that caused her performance to even be a thing. I should probably work on that.

[HG-Project]

I know this would probably be extremely counter-intuitive for a lot of others, but I wonder how someone like Rika Matsumoto (Japanese Ash), who also specializes in boyish voices and as a singer, can handle a good amount of strain on her voice would fare as Goku.
Just a thought as there are a bit of similarities in their (her and Nozawa's) intonations when they talk normally as well as in character, at least to my ears.

I love Paku, but for me, her voice, even under strain or lowered to the point of growling holds this hint of refinement and complexity that doesn't seem right for someone as gritty and simplistic as Goku?
Opinions will definitely vary though, depending on your own cultural context because our backgrounds and first language will play a big part on how we perceive voices and communication. People generally have different perceptions of voices thanks to factors like how we each receive intonations and the emotion/intent behind them.

[Kid Buu]

Chris Tucker is far too much of an A-list Celebrity to lower himself to playing Goku.

Chris Tucker is only an A-list celebrity if you have a time machine.

Dude somehow always get $20 million paycheck even though he rarely makes films.

[SaiyanZ]

I have a new list I guess:

Goku- Koichi Yamadera, Kappei Yamaguchi, Katsuyuki Konishi or Takashi Kondo
Gohan- Kappei Yamaguchi
Goten- Megumi Han
Bardock- Rikiya Koyama or Tomokazu Sugita
Tullece- Hiroshi Kamiya
Goku Jr. (If he's ever brought up again )- Megumi Han