Which Goku Is A more likable Character: Funimation Goku Or Original Japanese Goku:

[ABED]

I also disagree with the notion that Goku is Superman in the dub. I never felt that at all, his actions don't even sound like Superman. I mean even his one liners about justice aren't Superman at all.

People really don't understand Superman in the Dragon Ball fanbase.

It sounds like Superfriends/golden age Superman.

[WittyUsername]

I also disagree with the notion that Goku is Superman in the dub. I never felt that at all, his actions don't even sound like Superman. I mean even his one liners about justice aren't Superman at all.

People really don't understand Superman in the Dragon Ball fanbase.

Well, Goku’s old portrayal in the FUNimation dub wasn’t exactly a perfect knockoff of Superman, given that Superman is almost always depicted as being an intelligent and quick thinking individual who dislikes fighting, whereas even in the old dubs, Goku was still generally portrayed as a simple minded and goofy man who does enjoy fighting to a degree (though not to the extent of his Japanese counterpart), but he was definitely more akin to Superman than Toriyama or even Toei ever intended.

[Thanos]

Well, I prefer the character as he was written, rather than some guys in Texas trying to piece together who they thought he might be based on limited information and a decidedly superhero slant. Even ignoring this, the American interpretation is simply the original character without the characteristics that make him unique and interesting. I'm genuinely fascinated by the perspective that the American version of him is better "because he's less childish, more caring and believes in justice" or some version of that. Does that not describe every other single main character ever? Where's the fun in that? His deep flaws are what make him interesting. I remember hearing people in the states describe what they like about Goku, and it's usually some form of, "He fights for his friends and is a lover father" or something like that. It's like, that's not him at all.

I also disagree with the notion that Goku is Superman in the dub. I never felt that at all, his actions don't even sound like Superman. I mean even his one liners about justice aren't Superman at all.

People really don't understand Superman in the Dragon Ball fanbase.

Eh, I think when people say "Superman" they just mean 'generic muscleman heroic justice person' without any depth. Which is certainly an accurate characterization; at least, early on in FUNimation's dub.

[DragonBallFoodie]

I'm good with either, but I think Funimation Goku is more likable to me.

This debate isn't going to end IMO, since the Dragon Ball saga is loose enough that Japan and the West managed to put their own interpretation on the story and that both have their good and bad points.

[coola]

I'd say Japanese Goku, but only in two instances:
1. From beginning of Dragon Ball to Piccolo Daimao, innocent and adorably dumb, but also ready to kill bad buy if they harm him or his friends
2. Movies Goku, "I'm gonna give you a chance, leave this planet, no? Then die!"

[Ssjcell]

Goku is a hero point blank period. By the Buu arc he had already saved the world a handful of times.

[Forte224]

Goku is a hero point blank period. By the Buu arc he had already saved the world a handful of times.

He's never first and foremost a hero in his own mind. If that were the case, he wouldn't have let Vegeta go, wouldn't have let Freeza go full power or escape, wouldn't have let Gero create the androids, wouldn't have fought Vegeta instead of stopping Boo's awakening, etc.

Sure, he's saved the earth, but he's not the symbol of justice FUNimation made him out to be. If he were, he'd be wearing his very own Great Saiyaman costume like Gohan. Just think how much crime and murder there is in their world Goku could stop but he doesn't.

[ABED]

I'm good with either, but I think Funimation Goku is more likable to me.

This debate isn't going to end IMO, since the Dragon Ball saga is loose enough that Japan and the West managed to put their own interpretation on the story and that both have their good and bad points.

FUNi's mangled dub isn't a valid interpretation. It's not like an adaptation done from scratch. All they had to do was create the dialog track, but his actions are still his actions. Superhero Goku would never let Dr. Gero create the cyborgs, but he has to because the original did.

[Lord Beerus]

I don't see why likability in a character needs to be factor, with regards to Goku. What makes Goku such a unique specimen is how alien and unorthodox his mentality and priorities can be be. And no version captures that better than how Goku was originally written in the Japanese version.

[TheGodfather93]

Goku in the dub being a beacon of light and hope didn't just happen all of a sudden. It was 100% consistent with how he'd been portrayed in the dub since episode 1.

Is that why he agreed with the selfish decision to not use the Dragon Balls to search for the location of De Gero after receiving Future Trunks' warning? Had he done that, they could've stopped the androids before they were even built, and by doing so they wouldn't have risked both their own lives, as well as the lives of all the innocent people on the planet.

The excuse the OG Funi dub made him use to justify this selfish behaviour didn't make sense either. Dr Gero hadn't done anything bad yet? Do his past actions in the evil Red Ribbon Army count for nothing? What about the fact that he was already in the process of building killer androids who would one day go on to kill all of Goku's friends and family, and basically enslave the planet?

[DBZAOTA482]

Pre-RoF Japanese Goku.

[WittyUsername]

Goku in the dub being a beacon of light and hope didn't just happen all of a sudden. It was 100% consistent with how he'd been portrayed in the dub since episode 1.

Is that why he agreed with the selfish decision to not use the Dragon Balls to search for the location of De Gero after receiving Future Trunks' warning? Had he done that, they could've stopped the androids before they were even built, and by doing so they wouldn't have risked both their own lives, as well as the lives of all the innocent people on the planet.

The excuse the OG Funi dub made him use to justify this selfish behaviour didn't make sense either. Dr Gero hadn't done anything bad yet? Do his past actions in the evil Red Ribbon Army count for nothing? What about the fact that he was already in the process of building killer androids who would one day go on to kill all of Goku's friends and family, and basically enslave the planet?

In all fairness, part of his rationale for letting Dr. Gero go in the Japanese version was that tracking him down and killing him seemed excessive. It just took a backseat to his primary motivation for letting him go, which was wanting to fight some strong guys.

[ABED]

Why is it always assumed that the only thing they can/would do if they found Dr. Gero is kill him?

[ekrolo2]

Why is it always assumed that the only thing they can/would do if they found Dr. Gero is kill him?

Because admitting alternatives exist is an acknowledgment of how stupid the reasoning we get is.

[RedRibbonSoldier#42]

"Funimation Gokuu" isn't even a thing anymore. As they've gotten better the English dub has gotten closer and closer to the intention of the Japanese script. Only people like us who discuss the subtle implications of every line would even notice a difference between the two versions of say, Resurrection F.

[90sDBZ]

Goku in the dub being a beacon of light and hope didn't just happen all of a sudden. It was 100% consistent with how he'd been portrayed in the dub since episode 1.

Is that why he agreed with the selfish decision to not use the Dragon Balls to search for the location of De Gero after receiving Future Trunks' warning? Had he done that, they could've stopped the androids before they were even built, and by doing so they wouldn't have risked both their own lives, as well as the lives of all the innocent people on the planet.

The excuse the OG Funi dub made him use to justify this selfish behaviour didn't make sense either. Dr Gero hadn't done anything bad yet? Do his past actions in the evil Red Ribbon Army count for nothing? What about the fact that he was already in the process of building killer androids who would one day go on to kill all of Goku's friends and family, and basically enslave the planet?

Because even though he was heroic in the dub he also still loved a good fight, which was also something that was outright stated early on during his fight with Vegeta and also his fight with Frieza.

And I think the excuse he gives about Gero in the dub works fine to maintain his heroic portrayal. Your points about the past of the RRA and Gero already working on the Androids are true, but Goku even in the dub is a simple minded guy who just wouldn't look that deep into it. Remember that Goku in the dub was willing to let Frieza live twice immediately after all the horrible things he'd done on Namek just because he didn't like killing. If he let Frieza live and even saved his life the same day he'd murdered Krillin then I can totally buy him not wanting to kill Gero in cold blood based on stuff that happened over a decade ago.

[ABED]

Goku in the dub being a beacon of light and hope didn't just happen all of a sudden. It was 100% consistent with how he'd been portrayed in the dub since episode 1.

Is that why he agreed with the selfish decision to not use the Dragon Balls to search for the location of De Gero after receiving Future Trunks' warning? Had he done that, they could've stopped the androids before they were even built, and by doing so they wouldn't have risked both their own lives, as well as the lives of all the innocent people on the planet.

The excuse the OG Funi dub made him use to justify this selfish behaviour didn't make sense either. Dr Gero hadn't done anything bad yet? Do his past actions in the evil Red Ribbon Army count for nothing? What about the fact that he was already in the process of building killer androids who would one day go on to kill all of Goku's friends and family, and basically enslave the planet?

Because even though he was heroic in the dub he also still loved a good fight, which was also something that was outright stated early on during his fight with Vegeta and also his fight with Frieza.

And I think the excuse he gives about Gero in the dub works fine to maintain his heroic portrayal. Your points about the past of the RRA and Gero already working on the Androids are true, but Goku even in the dub is a simple minded guy who just wouldn't look that deep into it. Remember that Goku in the dub was willing to let Frieza live twice immediately after all the horrible things he'd done on Namek just because he didn't like killing. If he let Frieza live and even saved his life the same day he'd murdered Krillin then I can totally buy him not wanting to kill Gero in cold blood based on stuff that happened over a decade ago.

He doesn't have to kill him to stop him! The dub character is at odds with Goku's actual actions.

[90sDBZ]

Is that why he agreed with the selfish decision to not use the Dragon Balls to search for the location of De Gero after receiving Future Trunks' warning? Had he done that, they could've stopped the androids before they were even built, and by doing so they wouldn't have risked both their own lives, as well as the lives of all the innocent people on the planet.

The excuse the OG Funi dub made him use to justify this selfish behaviour didn't make sense either. Dr Gero hadn't done anything bad yet? Do his past actions in the evil Red Ribbon Army count for nothing? What about the fact that he was already in the process of building killer androids who would one day go on to kill all of Goku's friends and family, and basically enslave the planet?

Because even though he was heroic in the dub he also still loved a good fight, which was also something that was outright stated early on during his fight with Vegeta and also his fight with Frieza.

And I think the excuse he gives about Gero in the dub works fine to maintain his heroic portrayal. Your points about the past of the RRA and Gero already working on the Androids are true, but Goku even in the dub is a simple minded guy who just wouldn't look that deep into it. Remember that Goku in the dub was willing to let Frieza live twice immediately after all the horrible things he'd done on Namek just because he didn't like killing. If he let Frieza live and even saved his life the same day he'd murdered Krillin then I can totally buy him not wanting to kill Gero in cold blood based on stuff that happened over a decade ago.

He doesn't have to kill him to stop him! The dub character is at odds with Goku's actual actions.

Maybe they wouldn't need to kill him, but at the same time Goku doesn't need to be flawless to still be heroic. He can want to have a good fight while still having every intention of saving the earth, which he fully believed he could do in that scenario. And even heroes can let their pride get in the way of their judgement sometimes. Take Batman for example who sees himself as a hero but often makes questionable choices because of pride or anger or even overconfidence.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Which original Japanese Goku?

What I mean by that question is that, according to Akira Toriyama, not even Toei got his vision of the character completely right.

...Basically, Son Goku from Dragon Ball doesn’t fight for the sake of others, but because he wants to fight against strong guys. So once Dragon Ball got animated, at any rate, I’ve always been dissatisfied with the “righteous hero”-type portrayal they [as in Toei] gave him. I guess I couldn’t quite get them to grasp the elements of “poison” that slip in and out of sight among the shadows.

So really, if we want to be that technical, there's three Gokus: Toriyama Goku, Toei Goku, and FUNimation Goku. What's interesting is that, to hear Toriyama tell it, it sounds like Toei Goku is "FUNimation Goku Lite."

As others have noted, though, "FUNimation Goku" is a thing of the past. Sure, he still has some lines in the dub here and there that perhaps could have been adapted better, but instead of being a completely different character, this time around it's the same character...just with some occasionally questionable script adaptation choices.

Personally? My favorite version is Toei Goku. Just enough goodness in him to be likable without being over-the-top, but still motivated primarily by the will to fight strong opponents and improve himself. I would argue that Toriyama Goku is a little too one-dimensional in that fighting is all he cares about, whereas FUNimation Goku is too one-dimensional on the opposite end of the spectrum. Having a Goku that's occasionally conflicted between protecting the ones he loves and fighting strong opponents--even if fighting strong opponents ultimately ends up being the victor of his internal conflicts most of the time--presents the version of Goku that's the most likable and deep, in my opinion.

[linkdude20002001]

I'd say that Funimation's Gokuh seems more likable on paper, but when it comes down to "reallife", Toriyama's and Toei's Gokuhs both would be far more likable in-person. He's got flaws, but even one's best friend has flaws. The reason he'd be so much more likable is that he's got a very alluring personality (hens why he makes friends so easily). Sure he can be selfish and get on his friends' nerves, but he's just so charming and enjoyable to be around. Funimation tried to remove the flaws, but also removed his strong points too.

Speaking on his "genericness" in Funimation's dub, that can be said for every character. Toriyama tried to write them to sound different from eachother, but in Funimation's script, any line could be from any character. So it's not specifically a Gokuh-problem.