Post
by theoriginalbilis » Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:19 pm
Favorite Japanese VAs:
1) Masako Nozawa: She managed to give distinctive tones to each of her characters. Kid Goku/Adult Goku has a rough, bumpkin-like manner of speech, Gohan always sounded intelligent and mild-mannered, & Goten sounded naive and cutesy like a little kid, even moreso than Kid Goku.
2) Ryusei Nakao: His threats actually sounded threatening, not overtly gay like in the dub; His ability to compliment someone while at the same time have a mocking, condescending tone was great, especially during his fight with the Z-Senshi. His screams are another notable performance, very lizard-like.
3) Norio Wakamoto: Cell's voice, 'Nuff said. I especially liked that "BLLLEEEEEHHH" monster thing he did as 1st-form Cell.
Honorable mention goes to: Ryo Horikawa. He has a much smoother, more "princely" voice, than Sabat, and can pull of a larger range of emotions. I like Sabat's Vegeta but he sounds "grrr...angry" in 90% of his lines.
Favorite English VAs:
1) Peter Kelamis: He's probably the most Masako Nozawa-like voice of Goku out of all the English voices. I actually thought his almost "surfer-dude" styled voice fit Goku's brash yet laidback personality very well. His screams (especially the ones in Movie 2) were very well-done and matches Ms. Nozawa's well. I wish he was still doing Goku... though I like Schemmel as well. Ian Corlett has a good speaking voice, but his Goku screams were flat and didn't convey a sense of intensity to me.
2) Chris Sabat: I think his Yamcha was perfect during the Cell-Buu arcs, and especially good in the DB dub. It's a more natural-sounding voice compared to his "rough" voices. His Vegeta improved greatly since the Freeza arc. His Buu arc, GT, and Saiyan-Namek arc redub voices are much more refined in terms of performance. It's a shame FUNi's scripts still make him do those constant grunts.
3) Dameon Clarke: His Cell voices were great, and he's definitely one of the best voices in the DB dubs. His voice for 2nd-form Cell sucked though. But he pulled off the monster for 1st-form Cell, and the more refined, yet arrogant tone for Perfect Cell. I also thought his voice for Gohan in the Trunks Special was pretty decent as well.
Honorable Mention goes to: Stephonie Nadolny. Her Kid Goku fits like a glove in DragonBall, and DB Movie 4. She doesn't pull off the hick (like Japanese Goku), but she pulls off the naivete side of Goku pretty well. Her GT Kid Goku is pretty good as well, considering she gives him a kid's voice, but her tone and delivery comes off as an adult. Not even Ms. Nozawa pulled that off in GT as Kid Goku.
In spite of FUNimation's wonky-ass script, I thought these folks pulled it off.
- Bilis
Nothing matters (in a cosmic sense.) Have a good time.
