What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
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- DBZAOTA482
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What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
A lot of people have pointed it out before but it's not just the English dub I notice this problem with. It's also with the original Japanese version.
Chi-Chi's original seiyuu was Mayumi Sho who gave her a very high-pitched and "cutesy" voice which empathises the character's softer traits but it also makes the scenes where Chi-Chi is angry or shows any extreme emotion especially effective. Sho voiced Chi-Chi throughout Dragon Ball and the first two seasons of DBZ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agNnSpZ-axE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuL4cAl9Oxw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exO-ZP9WxVY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9JrsPYa7LM
After episode 66 of DBZ, Mayumi Sho left the show due to pregnancy and was replaced by Puar's seiyuu Naoko Watanabe who gave a somewhat deeper voice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1qQexEdwGY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFoE2bcYFSU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbqIW-c-dZE
This carries on into Kai though she does sound a bit worse than originally... though that's to be expected as most of the seiyuus have declined in comparison to their primes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lavpejvNENk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFkR-0xPIY0
However in Super, the voice has lost the "cutesy" factor and now just sounds like a stuck-up bitch or a middle-aged liberian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U66PNKt7K0k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPbllCV13k8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lmW0UPdE9I
Now about her English voice... who was Cynthia Cranz ever since FUNimation first started dubbing the series. She often got flack for more making Chi-Chi a "raging bitch"... even when she's not raging but I never had a problem with her Chi-Chi in particular:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlKanTnrtTs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJS9KwKASdk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRwHXpnzmQc
Now compare to her work in Kai:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_z7ryk5ASM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7Ad2iXLHQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q636_VJy5Gs
The voice acting has certainly improved but the overall direction I feel has gotten worse. A lot of times she sounds over-the-top for no reason.
It only gets worse with the Kai Boo Saga and Super:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHsnba8-vvI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bwOofDOhfA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYCkQhhTgwE
Cranz just sounds like she's dying here and that's sad because she's only 48.
I just wonder what's going on with the voice actresses....
Chi-Chi's original seiyuu was Mayumi Sho who gave her a very high-pitched and "cutesy" voice which empathises the character's softer traits but it also makes the scenes where Chi-Chi is angry or shows any extreme emotion especially effective. Sho voiced Chi-Chi throughout Dragon Ball and the first two seasons of DBZ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agNnSpZ-axE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuL4cAl9Oxw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exO-ZP9WxVY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9JrsPYa7LM
After episode 66 of DBZ, Mayumi Sho left the show due to pregnancy and was replaced by Puar's seiyuu Naoko Watanabe who gave a somewhat deeper voice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1qQexEdwGY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFoE2bcYFSU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbqIW-c-dZE
This carries on into Kai though she does sound a bit worse than originally... though that's to be expected as most of the seiyuus have declined in comparison to their primes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lavpejvNENk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFkR-0xPIY0
However in Super, the voice has lost the "cutesy" factor and now just sounds like a stuck-up bitch or a middle-aged liberian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U66PNKt7K0k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPbllCV13k8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lmW0UPdE9I
Now about her English voice... who was Cynthia Cranz ever since FUNimation first started dubbing the series. She often got flack for more making Chi-Chi a "raging bitch"... even when she's not raging but I never had a problem with her Chi-Chi in particular:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlKanTnrtTs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJS9KwKASdk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRwHXpnzmQc
Now compare to her work in Kai:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_z7ryk5ASM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7Ad2iXLHQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q636_VJy5Gs
The voice acting has certainly improved but the overall direction I feel has gotten worse. A lot of times she sounds over-the-top for no reason.
It only gets worse with the Kai Boo Saga and Super:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHsnba8-vvI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bwOofDOhfA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYCkQhhTgwE
Cranz just sounds like she's dying here and that's sad because she's only 48.
I just wonder what's going on with the voice actresses....
fadeddreams5 wrote:Goku didn't die in GT. The show sucked him off so much, it was impossible to keep him in the world of the living, so he ascended beyond mortality.DBZGTKOSDH wrote:... Haven't we already gotten these in GT? Goku dies, the DBs go away, and the Namekian DBs most likely won't be used again because of the Evil Dragons.
jjgp1112 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 18, 2020 6:31 am I'm just about done with the concept of reboots and making shows that were products of their time and impactful "new and sexy" and in line with modern tastes and sensibilities. Let stuff stay in their era and give today's kids their own shit to watch.
I always side eye the people who say "Now my kids/today's kids can experience what I did as a child!" Nigga, who gives a fuck about your childhood? You're an adult now and it was at least 15 years ago. Let the kids have their own experience instead of picking at a corpse.
- 8000 Saiyan
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
Maybe Cranz isn't being directed well. Which is strange, since from the clips I've seen of The Final Chapters dub, the other actors are being directed well. Anyway, I was never a fan of her performance or voice. I don't think there's one great voice for this character.
Last edited by 8000 Saiyan on Tue Jun 06, 2017 10:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- DrakenballP
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
I have always hated Chi-Chi to begin with. She's too over the top.
"I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!" - Goku.
- Metalwario64
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
Damn... Chi-Chi's already intolerable in Super to begin with, and Cranz somehow makes her 10x worse...
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
I see what you mean, the voice does make her sound even worse than she is and that is astonishing..
Sadly, I am not aware of what's going on with the VA, my guess would be she thinks that's how the lines written for ChiChi will have the most impact.
Sadly, I am not aware of what's going on with the VA, my guess would be she thinks that's how the lines written for ChiChi will have the most impact.
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- DBZAOTA482
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
Poor thing's not gonna make it through Super...Metalwario64 wrote:Damn... Chi-Chi's already intolerable in Super to begin with, and Cranz somehow makes her 10x worse...
[spoiler]And neither are my eardrums.[/spoiler]
fadeddreams5 wrote:Goku didn't die in GT. The show sucked him off so much, it was impossible to keep him in the world of the living, so he ascended beyond mortality.DBZGTKOSDH wrote:... Haven't we already gotten these in GT? Goku dies, the DBs go away, and the Namekian DBs most likely won't be used again because of the Evil Dragons.
jjgp1112 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 18, 2020 6:31 am I'm just about done with the concept of reboots and making shows that were products of their time and impactful "new and sexy" and in line with modern tastes and sensibilities. Let stuff stay in their era and give today's kids their own shit to watch.
I always side eye the people who say "Now my kids/today's kids can experience what I did as a child!" Nigga, who gives a fuck about your childhood? You're an adult now and it was at least 15 years ago. Let the kids have their own experience instead of picking at a corpse.
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
I don't know if it's age for Ms Cranz or it's the way she's being directed. I hope it's something she can sort out.
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
It's been sorted she has been fine post BoG arc.DragonBallFoodie wrote:I don't know if it's age for Ms Cranz or it's the way she's being directed. I hope it's something she can sort out.
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
One of many reasons I prefer Ocean's Chi-Chi(Laara Sadiq); she followed the more soft, motherly sound Chi-Chi used to have in Japanese Z, and while her more intense, angry moments aren't quite as on-point as Cranz's, you actually warm to her much more outside of when she's angry, so her angry moments have a lot more impact.
Plus, you can actually hear concern in Sadiq's Chi-Chi voice when she's talking about how Gohan or Goku shouldn't go into battle; Cranz's Chi-Chi just sounds like an annoying nag, and her portrayal often has me thinking "Why does anyone tolerate this woman?"
Plus, you can actually hear concern in Sadiq's Chi-Chi voice when she's talking about how Gohan or Goku shouldn't go into battle; Cranz's Chi-Chi just sounds like an annoying nag, and her portrayal often has me thinking "Why does anyone tolerate this woman?"
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.
Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
I wish Shou had returned. Her Chichi was so moe. Watanabe was never as cute and now that she's older she is definitely not capable of pulling it off. I can't wait to see who succeeds the role someday. Maybe Hayami Saori could? Or Tanaka Aimi?
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
Shou did return once for Episode 30 of Super.... not my proudest fap though.JulieYBM wrote:I wish Shou had returned. Her Chichi was so moe. Watanabe was never as cute and now that she's older she is definitely not capable of pulling it off. I can't wait to see who succeeds the role someday. Maybe Hayami Saori could? Or Tanaka Aimi?
I dunno why Toei won't rehire her.
fadeddreams5 wrote:Goku didn't die in GT. The show sucked him off so much, it was impossible to keep him in the world of the living, so he ascended beyond mortality.DBZGTKOSDH wrote:... Haven't we already gotten these in GT? Goku dies, the DBs go away, and the Namekian DBs most likely won't be used again because of the Evil Dragons.
jjgp1112 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 18, 2020 6:31 am I'm just about done with the concept of reboots and making shows that were products of their time and impactful "new and sexy" and in line with modern tastes and sensibilities. Let stuff stay in their era and give today's kids their own shit to watch.
I always side eye the people who say "Now my kids/today's kids can experience what I did as a child!" Nigga, who gives a fuck about your childhood? You're an adult now and it was at least 15 years ago. Let the kids have their own experience instead of picking at a corpse.
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
Yeah, not a fan of Watanabe's Chi-Chi. She is not a bad actor, she's great as Pu'er, but the cutesy voice which Shou brought to the character was so damn fitting and Watanabe couldn't capture it that well.
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
Satsuki Yukino could do it.JulieYBM wrote:I wish Shou had returned. Her Chichi was so moe. Watanabe was never as cute and now that she's older she is definitely not capable of pulling it off. I can't wait to see who succeeds the role someday. Maybe Hayami Saori could? Or Tanaka Aimi?
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
I definitely agree with this. I really start disliking the character when Watanabe takes over, because Sho had this endearing, almost naive quality to the voice with how cute she sounded when she was angry, but Watanabe just sounds like an angry housewife.JulieYBM wrote:I wish Shou had returned. Her Chichi was so moe. Watanabe was never as cute and now that she's older she is definitely not capable of pulling it off.
"Kenshi is sitting down right now drawing his mutated spaghetti monsters thinking he's the shit..."--Neptune Kai
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"90% of you here don't even know what you're talking about (there are a few that do). But the things you say about these releases are nonsense and just plain dumb. Like you Metalwario64"--final_flash
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
Just checked out the English Dub to Super and OH MAN! Chi-Chi sounds like someone who smokes 40 packs of cigarettes a day!
"I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!" - Goku.
Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
Yeah, definitely. Her work always made me feel like she was both young, but mature and capable of having different kinds of scenes.Metalwario64 wrote:I definitely agree with this. I really start disliking the character when Watanabe takes over, because Sho had this endearing, almost naive quality to the voice with how cute she sounded when she was angry, but Watanabe just sounds like an angry housewife.JulieYBM wrote:I wish Shou had returned. Her Chichi was so moe. Watanabe was never as cute and now that she's older she is definitely not capable of pulling it off.
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
I just took both their declines as Chi-Chi's angry housewife shtick becoming all that was really left of her after the Saiyan arc. Super certainly hasn't changed that.
JulieYBM wrote:Just like Dragon Ball since Chapter #4.Pannaliciour wrote:Reading all the comments and interviews, my conclusion is: nobody knows what the hell is going on.
son veku wrote:CanadaMetalwario64 wrote:Where is that located?BlazingFiddlesticks wrote:Kingdom Piccolo
Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
Always Preferred Sho's Voice for ChiChi over Watanabe's Chichi because she made chi chi sound cute and adorable even if she was Scolding Gohan still her "Gohan Chan" sounded so fitting and her performance in Dragon Ball was already great but Watanabe's Chichi just lacked that adorable quality that Sho had though she sounded fine but I like the first chichi voice though now Watanabe's Chichi doesn't even sound cute but that's because Seeiyus are old now but the dub voice has gotten worse in Kai Final Chapters Dub, now it sounds like how Tiffany Volmer's Bulma sounded like in Z Dub
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Re: What the hell's up with Chi-Chi's voice?
Post BOG, Cynthia Cranz has gotten better as Chi-Chi again compared to how she was at the start of Super and in TFC. I remember someone saying that during the voice work for TFC, Cranz's was sick which was why her Chi-Chi wasn't as good. And for Super, she really hasn't voiced the character since Battle of Gods the film, so I just think she needed to get used to the role again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyHqcizSxdM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyHqcizSxdM