Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

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Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by Cure Dragon 255 » Tue Nov 30, 2021 5:49 pm

You read that right! She just acted at the will of the moment! She wanted to be as surprised as the characters for each scene. She's terrific.

I also read that Mayumi Tanaka ALSO never read the One Piece Manga after she was cast. That way she can do heartbreaking scenes like these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMpd7oD7TQ4

This is notable because she cried so much that the cast members had to comfort her and she did it for long time.
Last edited by Cure Dragon 255 on Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by BeaBumby » Tue Nov 30, 2021 5:57 pm

thats..

really freakin impressive
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Re: Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by TheGreatness25 » Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:08 pm

I mean she's an actress, not a fan.

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Re: Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by jjgp1112 » Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:26 pm

I mean, most actors dont really follow the shows like that. They're doing a job. There's plenty of actors on productions who couldn't tell you anything about the story beyond their own part. For example, Edie Falco, who played Carmella on The Sopranos, never watched an episode and only paid attention to her parts and Wood Harris aka Avon Barksdale from The Wire knows nothing about the show that didn't involve the Barksdale organization even though he was one of the most significant characters.
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Re: Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by Demon Prince Piccolo » Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:31 pm

I never was under the assumption she had read the manga, just the scripts and character notes, maybe.
The story of DRAGON BALL starts from the moment Goku met Bulma. I don't really mind the Z, so long as it's understood that it's not the true beginning of the story.

I actually prefer the Goku vs Tenshinhan and Goku vs Piccolo Jr. rivalries to the Goku vs Vegeta rivalry.

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Re: Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by 90sDBZ » Tue Nov 30, 2021 9:06 pm

This also seems to be the case for the English side of things too. I can remember a number of actors from both Funimation and Ocean saying they originally had no idea what the show was actually about, at least during the early years.

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Re: Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by BootyCheeksJohnson » Wed Dec 01, 2021 12:27 am

I'm pretty sure that she actively avoided it in order to keep her performance "pure" or something along those lines. I feel like I read some interview on this site where she mentioned that she started reading the manga after the anime ended so she could finally enjoy it as a reader and not an actor.
The inverse effect happened to the manga. With Toriyama admitting that because he would leave the TV on in the background while drawing he would "subconsciously" write Goku's dialogue to be more inline with Nozawa's performance.
We need a Steve Simmons retranslation of the manga.

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Re: Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by PurestEvil » Wed Dec 01, 2021 3:14 am

She didn’t need to. She was reading the script, which was in essence a text version of the manga.
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Re: Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Wed Dec 01, 2021 3:41 am

90sDBZ wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 9:06 pm This also seems to be the case for the English side of things too. I can remember a number of actors from both Funimation and Ocean saying they originally had no idea what the show was actually about, at least during the early years.
Dragon Ball was incredibly niche in English-speaking countries before Funimation acquired the rights. Some people had known about it from seeing the Harmony Gold dub, but otherwise both the voice acting community and the general public were almost completely in the dark, and would have had to go out of their way by learning the Japanese language and about their culture to have any familiarity with the series before the dubs we all know and love went into production. The Japanese cast, even if they didn't read the manga had the luxury of it being widely available in their native tongue as it was a huge hit before TOEI started releasing the anime in 1986. By comparison in North America the Viz edition of the manga wasn't available in 2003, a good 8 years after the Texas and Vancouver casts had first dubbed the series.

Nonetheless, if it's true Nozawa didn't read the manga that just makes her performance all the more fantastic as you would swear by her acting she knew Goku so well. Though Toriyama did pick her for the role, so he clearly has a great ear for natural talent.
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Re: Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by MyVisionity » Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:12 am

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 3:41 am By comparison in North America the Viz edition of the manga wasn't available in 2003, a good 8 years after the Texas and Vancouver casts had first dubbed the series.
What? The Viz manga was definitely available prior to 2003.

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Re: Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by VegettoEX » Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:01 am

Viz' release of the manga began in 1998 and pre-dates the in-house/Texas anime production.

Nozawa not reading the manga isn't a "rumor"; we've known about this forever.
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Re: Rumor: Masako Nozawa NEVER Read the Manga!

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:52 am

Thanks VegettoEX, wasn't aware of the 1998 edition. In my country it wasn't available until Gollancz Manga's publication, which was a reprint of the Viz printing of the time.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

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