Unpopular DB opinions

[Lionel]

3. Besides just Yamcha who is commonly asked about for making a return, I wish Chaozu could be given some meaningful development. The full team roster hasn't been present since the Saiyan arc.

I have no idea how everyone seems to struggle with giving Chiaotzu things to do. He's a psychic. The whole point of psychics is that they bypass physical strength. Have him blind enemies or see things that aren't there. Have him throw "force" punches that are totally invisible and undetectable. The fact that he's physically weak makes him even more useful from a writing perspective as all your villain needs to do is get in one or two solid hits to make him go down.

At least fanfic writers like Chiaotzu

You would think. Concepts like psychokinetic powers, telekinesis, biokinesis -- all of that could in theory make Chaozu a force of nature. Imagine him manipulating either his anatomy or the anatomy of his allies to make them physically stronger or react faster by increasing their muscle density or hastening neural-electrical transduction in the brain to make them react far more quickly.

His psychokinesis could be honed to the point where he's able to create a potent improvised tool from the topography around him with the density of a neutron star or edged down to a yoctometre's dimensions.

All of that next to what the Daizenshuu explains about his telekinesis which sounds biology oriented to begin with. Chaozu's multi-various aptitude with his psychic abilities would make him one of the most valuable members of the team. It's a shame Toriyama doesn't seem to have much of those types of concepts in mind.

[GhostEmperorX]

3. Besides just Yamcha who is commonly asked about for making a return, I wish Chaozu could be given some meaningful development. The full team roster hasn't been present since the Saiyan arc.

I have no idea how everyone seems to struggle with giving Chiaotzu things to do. He's a psychic. The whole point of psychics is that they bypass physical strength. Have him blind enemies or see things that aren't there. Have him throw "force" punches that are totally invisible and undetectable. The fact that he's physically weak makes him even more useful from a writing perspective as all your villain needs to do is get in one or two solid hits to make him go down.

At least fanfic writers like Chiaotzu

Somewhere along the line Dragon Ball abandoned any pretense of raw power not being the only thing that matters. That may be the reason why. Even with diversity of abilities, power always seems to rise above it.

[It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips]

Somewhere along the line Dragon Ball abandoned any pretense of raw power not being the only thing that matters. That may be the reason why. Even with diversity of abilities, power always seems to rise above it.

For the most part, Dragon Ball has always been dismissive about skill and strategy. During the Budokai arcs the best signifiers that someone wouldn't advance very far is that they demonstrated actual martial arts skills or that they were named Yamcha. But yeah, early on, even up until the Saiyan Arc, there was some lip service given to technique and ability. Everything after Vegeta's attack on Earth tho hasn't even bothered pretending.

And I'm exactly angry at that. Dragon Ball has always been upfront about being the WWE of shonen. It exists to sell merchandise and not because anyone involved has any particular themes or ideas they're interested in exploring. People who care about that stuff aren't really Dragon Ball's target audience. If you wanted to read a manga about martial arts and the lives of martial artists you'd probably be reading Hajime no Ippo or Teppu.

Still, as someone who grew up with these characters and loves so many of them, I really wish Dragon Ball could have made more room for them.

[Scsigs]

Is there any specific reason why Nozawa voices Goku's whole line (except for Raditz)? Like is there some kind of theme behind it? Sorry if this is a stupid question but it's just weird to me that one person is called on to voice every character in a single family.

As far as I can tell, other than maybe the casting director of the series back during Z's production wanting to give her more work, no. Goku's doppelgängers I kinda get, they're supposed to be "evil Goku" & having Nozawa flex her acting muscles by playing them is fine there, imo. However, there's no legitimate reason why his entire family line sans Raditz would sound like him, even the 3 that look like him. I mean, the Japanese dub didn't have Horikawa voicing King Vegeta or Tarble. He voiced Vegeta Jr, but that was for a cameo in the last episode of GT. He also doesn't voice Trunks. There's not even an in-universe explanation like Yajirobe sounding like Krillin being stated by Goku in the manga either.
Don't get me wrong, the dub also having kid Goku & Gohan voiced by the same person is also kind of annoying, but it's only when they're kids. They actually have their balls drop when they get to their later teenage years in the dub.

It seems the dubs have different mindsets on either side of the Pacific. Japanese dubs of shows made in Japan generally go more respectable in regards to casting certain actors in certain roles, especially if they love an actor/actress, even stretching beyond the point of believability. English dubs cast base more on if a voice fits a particular character, especially in regards to their ages & if they're exactly like another one. Like, mostly to differentiate between characters who're related & their designs.
Like, Ben 10 had Albedo, an alien that accidentally transformed himself into Ben when he made a duplicate Omnitrix that synced with Ben's, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal like Ben when he's 15/16 year old Ben & Tara Strong when he's de-aged to 10/11 year old Ben, who voices the character at that age in every Ben 10 show & game he appears in. Yuri also voiced a lot of alternate universe Bens in Omniverse & Tara voiced Ben 23 in the same series since he was still ~12. Yet other shows would rather have alternate versions of the same character be voiced by different actors regardless of if they look the same & are roughly the same age. Like Ultimate Spider-Man having multiple Peter Parkers in some multi-parters, but only 1 was voiced by Drake Bell & it was the one from the series we've been following the entire series at that point. It's not always bad, but it's just a casting decision. Sometimes it's cool like the Shattered Dimensions Spider-Man game having the 3 Peter Parkers voiced by 3 veteran Spider-Man VAs, 2 of which were widely loved by the fanbase & considered definitive voices of the character. I know that's entirely off topic, but I got on a tangent, sorry.

Which, let me say this, there were people in the Super dub thread that, for reasons I cannot fathom, legitimately thought they would cast Peter Kelamis in the role of Goku Black...even though that logically wouldn't make sense in-universe & Sean Schemmel had already voiced him in Xenoverse 2. Brian Drummond voicing Copy Vegeta was able to be done because it was an alien goop taking on Vegeta's form. Even the Japanese dub did it with Tarble's VA, who also voices Whis, voicing him. Goku Black is literally just Goku's body inhabited by Zamasu's mind. Why would his voice change? Yes, I know Ginyu's body change made them switch voices, that was stupid, but it was also different than how Zamasu did it. So, it made sense Schemmel still voiced him.

[MasenkoHA]

English dubs cast base more on if a voice fits a particular character, especially in regards to their ages & if they're exactly like another one

Guess that explains why they gave a prepubescent boy a chain smoker voice.

[Scsigs]

English dubs cast base more on if a voice fits a particular character, especially in regards to their ages & if they're exactly like another one

Guess that explains why they gave a prepubescent boy a chain smoker voice.

I disagree on the chain smoker part, but Nadolny got cast because she sounded mostly like the Canadian VA & they needed that at the time.

[MasenkoHA]

English dubs cast base more on if a voice fits a particular character, especially in regards to their ages & if they're exactly like another one

Guess that explains why they gave a prepubescent boy a chain smoker voice.

I disagree on the chain smoker part, but Nadolny got cast because she sounded mostly like the Canadian VA & they needed that at the time.

Nadolny sounds like Saffron Henderson if Henderson forgot how to voice act and then smoked twenty packs a day for a month.


As for Nadolny not sounding like a chain smoker as Gohan

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JzB4zEcRkBw


https://youtu.be/k_vrt6Vr3Uk

[Scsigs]

Guess that explains why they gave a prepubescent boy a chain smoker voice.

I disagree on the chain smoker part, but Nadolny got cast because she sounded mostly like the Canadian VA & they needed that at the time.

Nadolny sounds like Saffron Henderson if Henderson forgot how to voice act and then smoked twenty packs a day for a month.

As for Nadolny not sounding like a chain smoker as Gohan

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JzB4zEcRkBw

https://youtu.be/k_vrt6Vr3Uk

At least you're not saying she had a Southern accent she didn't have & sounded like Bobby Hill. That pisses me off whenever TFS does that.

[8000 Saiyan]

I guess my unpopular opinion is that I think Toriyama's modern artstyle is way better than his old style. I'm not a fan of the Artificial Humans>Boo-saga designs where everyone is super sharp and musclebound.

His more cartoony art is just flat out more appealing to me.

Also, I can't staaaaand Goku's gi from the Artificial Humans->Boo arcs without the 悟 kanji. It looks incomplete to me. This is less of an unpopular opinion than a pet peeve, though I do think in general the fanbase loves the kanji-less look. At least if fanart is any indication.

I don't know if the majority prefers Goku with or without the kanji on his Gi. Personally, I don't care what he has, since it's rarely brought up or important in the material itself & just serves as a patches on a piece of his clothing. And, if you don't speak Japanese or do a bit of research, it means nothing to you. Eventually, Goku just sort of became his own teacher anyways, so I think it's ok if he doesn't have it.

Bardock and Goku should have been voiced by Akira Kamiya in the Japanese version.

I just think Nozawa shouldn't voice anyone in DB but Goku because her voice can be kind of annoying & there's barely any differences in how she plays then unless you watch the show very closely or multiple times, or if you're fluent in Japanese.

Not sure why someone would need to be fluent in Japanese to tell the differences in her voice. There are differences in how she plays the Son family, they're just very subtle ones. I for one, can pick her Kid Goku apart from her Kid Gohan and Goten voices.

[Soppa Saia People]

i mean you can make an argument for goten but i don't get why nozawa wouldn't voice gohan ? he's introduced as a mini goku, the story makes constant references to how he looks like goku, and he eventually takes over as the main character (as brief as that may be), so yeah i don't see the issue with nozawa voicing him. bardock i also really just think it was a audience comfort thing, the bardock tv special was so different from the rest of the series at that point, there's almost no returning characters at all, so nozawa voicing bardock does like, let the audience know that, hey, this IS dragon ball. at least that's how i see it.

[MasenkoHA]

From what I can tell having at least Goku and Gohan sharing a voice actress as kids is standard across the board in most dubs not just English and Japanese.


And Nozawa’s Goku as a child sounds nothing like her Gohan as a child or her Goku as an adult for that matter. I do think her teenage and adult Gohan sounds a tad too much like Goku as an adult though.

[Scsigs]

Not sure why someone would need to be fluent in Japanese to tell the differences in her voice. There are differences in how she plays the Son family, they're just very subtle ones. I for one, can pick her Kid Goku apart from her Kid Gohan and Goten voices.

I was mainly talking about nuances in the language like accents or parts of speech or something. Best the subtitles can to is try to translate it into equivalents. But if I'm listening to someone speak Japanese, I can't really tell much in terms of that.

From what I can tell having at least Goku and Gohan sharing a voice actress as kids is standard across the board in most dubs not just English and Japanese.

And Nozawa’s Goku as a child sounds nothing like her Gohan as a child or her Goku as an adult for that matter. I do think her teenage and adult Gohan sounds a tad too much like Goku as an adult though.

Yeah, that's the main problem. It's the exact same voice tone, just with subtle nuances you wouldn't notice off the bat.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

From what I can tell having at least Goku and Gohan sharing a voice actress as kids is standard across the board in most dubs not just English and Japanese.


And Nozawa’s Goku as a child sounds nothing like her Gohan as a child or her Goku as an adult for that matter. I do think her teenage and adult Gohan sounds a tad too much like Goku as an adult though.

That's what great about Nozawa's performance in that she can make and has always made Goku and Gohan's child and grown up selves (and also Goten's) sound distinct from one another with enough subtleness in the deliveries that they don't all sound exactly the same.

[MasenkoHA]

Not sure why someone would need to be fluent in Japanese to tell the differences in her voice. There are differences in how she plays the Son family, they're just very subtle ones. I for one, can pick her Kid Goku apart from her Kid Gohan and Goten voices.

I was mainly talking about nuances in the language like accents or parts of speech or something. Best the subtitles can to is try to translate it into equivalents. But if I'm listening to someone speak Japanese, I can't really tell much in terms of that.

From what I can tell having at least Goku and Gohan sharing a voice actress as kids is standard across the board in most dubs not just English and Japanese.

And Nozawa’s Goku as a child sounds nothing like her Gohan as a child or her Goku as an adult for that matter. I do think her teenage and adult Gohan sounds a tad too much like Goku as an adult though.

Yeah, that's the main problem. It's the exact same voice tone, just with subtle nuances you wouldn't notice off the bat.

Again for older Goku and Gohan sure. But her adult Goku and Gohan as a child sound like two completely different people

Her Goku as a kid also sounds nothing like either but since she doesn’t have to use that voice along side the others it’s irrelevant

[Soppa Saia People]

her boo arc gohan is mostly way higher pitched then her adult goku, like their definitely similar for sure, but it's not just a tone thing with her performances, the voice is different, and you will pick up the difference if you watch the show all the way thru.

i'll admit though when both characters are supposed to be serious or in serious moments, then it can be a little awkward, but for the most part i never had a issue.

[Scsigs]

Again for older Goku and Gohan sure. But her adult Goku and Gohan as a child sound like two completely different people

Her Goku as a kid also sounds nothing like either but since she doesn’t have to use that voice along side the others it’s irrelevant.

Yes, I got that that was the point. Why do you think I didn't? However, when it's both of them in the same scene as adults, as well as Goten, it is VERY hard to tell which is which unless you look at the screen unless you know the differences already. It's not just me. A friend who also watches the sub at times said the same thing a while ago to me.

Getting back to my point from earlier, it's kinda weird that they cast her in those roles. You'd think they'd cast differently & I don't buy the "Gohan is a mini-Goku" logic. Literally, that's something the anime staff came up with. He & Goku are vastly different characters, even as kids. Like, not often do kids sound like one of their parents.

[It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips]

Yes, I got that that was the point. Why do you think I didn't? However, when it's both of them in the same scene as adults, as well as Goten, it is VERY hard to tell which is which unless you look at the screen unless you know the differences already. It's not just me. A friend who also watches the sub at times said the same thing a while ago to me.

Getting back to my point from earlier, it's kinda weird that they cast her in those roles. You'd think they'd cast differently & I don't buy the "Gohan is a mini-Goku" logic. Literally, that's something the anime staff came up with. He & Goku are vastly different characters, even as kids. Like, not often do kids sound like one of their parents.

Wasn't this a Family Guy gag? The last good meta joke they had?

Any way that's actually a very good point. These characters are going to be frequently interacting and Nozawa seems to be being directed to keep the voices similar. That can pretty quickly erode clarity in these scenes.

[Dbzfan94]

Yes, I got that that was the point. Why do you think I didn't? However, when it's both of them in the same scene as adults, as well as Goten, it is VERY hard to tell which is which unless you look at the screen unless you know the differences already. It's not just me. A friend who also watches the sub at times said the same thing a while ago to me.

Getting back to my point from earlier, it's kinda weird that they cast her in those roles. You'd think they'd cast differently & I don't buy the "Gohan is a mini-Goku" logic. Literally, that's something the anime staff came up with. He & Goku are vastly different characters, even as kids. Like, not often do kids sound like one of their parents.

Wasn't this a Family Guy gag? The last good meta joke they had?

Any way that's actually a very good point. These characters are going to be frequently interacting and Nozawa seems to be being directed to keep the voices similar. That can pretty quickly erode clarity in these scenes.

Exactly. Back in the Black arc I believe the reason Toei gave for nt using Gohan and Goten was because Nozawa was tired? Imo that should be a sign that they need to recast them. Or at least Goten when he's older.

[MyVisionity]

Getting back to my point from earlier, it's kinda weird that they cast her in those roles. You'd think they'd cast differently & I don't buy the "Gohan is a mini-Goku" logic. Literally, that's something the anime staff came up with. He & Goku are vastly different characters, even as kids. Like, not often do kids sound like one of their parents.

I don't think it's weird at all. Gohan is Goku's son. That alone is reason enough to cast Nozawa in the role. Gohan has a leading role in the series. Nozawa already had that kind of experience in DB. Gohan is a child. Nozawa played a child for most of DB.

I'm not saying that casting differently would be unexpected, just that casting the same shouldn't be a surprise.

[Beiga]

Knowing even a little Japanese absolutely does help in distinguishing Goku and adult Gohan.

For one, Goku uses the informal pronoun "ora" while Gohan uses the mild-mannered "boku."

Goku is also pretty loose with using honorifics when talking about other people. He mostly skips them outside of Beerus (sama), Whis (san) and Kaio (sama) and most of his teachers outside of Kamesennin who he just calls "ji-chan" (gramps.)

Gohan, on the other hand, is very formal and uses at least "-san" for most everyone, up to and including his own wife!

But the inflection is also quite different, with Gohan often sounding far less sure of himself than Goku, which makes sense.