Least favourite performances in your dub

[ABED]

It's always a pet peeve of mine when it comes to fictional aliens having accents from Earth when they are not even from that planet. Jeece having an Australian accent comes to mind.

Everyone in the universe speaks the same language but you're bothered by an accent?

I feel like there’s a difference between characters speaking the same language for storytelling convenience and an alien character having an accent

I think it's an awfully arbitrary line.

[Robo4900]

Personally, I think the accents aren't so much a flaw in terms of "why do an accent? that's weird/unbelivable!", the problem is that they're generally rather goofy accents, even when they're not outright shit, and it all feels very forced.

It's clear to me that Funi's talent pool back then was way smaller than you'd want for a show like this, so the actors had to put on weird accents, and try other very forced choices to have some variety in the cast. Meanwhile, Ocean and Blue Water in their competing dubs tended to take much more natural choices, so even when those dubs have a weird voice an actor's doing, it's not them trying to force an odd accent that they're bad at to give the cast more variety.

That's my two cents.

[Planetnamek]

Personally, I think the accents aren't so much a flaw in terms of "why do an accent? that's weird/unbelivable!", the problem is that they're generally rather goofy accents, even when they're not outright shit, and it all feels very forced.

It's clear to me that Funi's talent pool back then was way smaller than you'd want for a show like this, so the actors had to put on weird accents, and try other very forced choices to have some variety in the cast. Meanwhile, Ocean and Blue Water in their competing dubs tended to take much more natural choices, so even when those dubs have a weird voice an actor's doing, it's not them trying to force an odd accent that they're bad at to give the cast more variety.

That's my two cents.

I'm surprised they never tried to do a country hick accent for Goku considering that's basically what his original character is, guess they figured that would get old pretty fast(especially judging by all the criticism's 13's dub redneck voice got).

[Dbzfan94]

I'm surprised they never tried to do a country hick accent for Goku considering that's basically what his original character is, guess they figured that would get old pretty fast(especially judging by all the criticism's 13's dub redneck voice got).

I dont see much criticism for 13's dub voice. Sure its a goofy voice and different from the original (god forbid), but it gave the character a lot more personality than the Japanese version ever did

[eledoremassis02]

As much as I love the ocean dub. Terry Klassen's Master Roshi is just horrible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1neBMneWZNA

[MasenkoHA]

I'm surprised they never tried to do a country hick accent for Goku considering that's basically what his original character is, guess they figured that would get old pretty fast(especially judging by all the criticism's 13's dub redneck voice got).

I dont see much criticism for 13's dub voice. Sure its a goofy voice and different from the original (god forbid), but it gave the character a lot more personality than the Japanese version ever did

I don’t remember if it was a good performance or not but Android 13’s character design was asking for a nascar loving cheap beer guzzling banjo playing by the bayou to Garth Brooks music voice anyways.


The closest thing the English dub ever attempted at giving Goku an accent or character quirk was Kelamis surfer dude voice to mixed reception. And that just sounds like they wanted to make Goku cool or appeal to the TMNT crowd “Hey dudes! Goku got some serious tude! He’s cool but he aint rude!”

ETA: Well I guess Ian had a bit of a Canadian accent coming through at times with his Goku

[Robo4900]

I'm surprised they never tried to do a country hick accent for Goku considering that's basically what his original character is, guess they figured that would get old pretty fast(especially judging by all the criticism's 13's dub redneck voice got).

I think it's fairly clear they never cared about actually being faithful to the original, so it's no wonder they never bothered with this. As I say, I think the accents were just a way to force an artificial feeling of variety among their small cast.

[ABED]

It's a toss up between Vollmer, Young, and Nadolny.

[Robo4900]

I do find it mildly interesting how many of the in-house Funi performances people tend to point out as hating the most are women.

Not meaning to imply any sexism on the part of any Kanzenshuuers, and I totally agree with the criticisms raised (IMO, Vollmer and Nadolny between them pretty much killed any potential value in Funi's OG DB dub), I just find it interesting how many of Funi's most hated castings tended to be the women.

[MasenkoHA]

I do find it mildly interesting that the in-house Funi performances people tend to point out as hating the most are from the women.

Not meaning to imply any sexism on the part of any Kanzenshuuers, and I totally agree with the criticisms raised (IMO, Vollmer and Nadolny between them pretty much killed any potential value in Funi's OG DB dub), I just find it interesting that Funi's most criticised castings tended to be the women.

To be fair, it’s really just those 3 that tend to get a lot of criticism and with Young it’s more her miscasting and misdirected performance as Freeza than anything (people seem fine with her Baba, a role she’s actually suited for and her Arale in the DB dub was surprisingly good) and I guess Clinkenbeard’s Gohan is divisive.

People seem to like Merideth McCoy, Kara Edwards (at least as Videl), Monica Rial, and Laura Bailey.

[Valerius Dover]

I'm surprised they never tried to do a country hick accent for Goku considering that's basically what his original character is, guess they figured that would get old pretty fast(especially judging by all the criticism's 13's dub redneck voice got).

I think it's fairly clear they never cared about actually being faithful to the original, so it's no wonder they never bothered with this. As I say, I think the accents were just a way to force an artificial feeling of variety among their small cast.

Eh, I wouldn't say that. The Ocean dub had already given accents to some characters like Zarbon and Jeice (ironically, the former lost his accent later on in Funi's dub). The real truth to it is simply that a lot of these rewritten dubs will give accents to characters either to match a stereotype or just because they feel like it. 4Kids and Saban, among others were known to do this a lot. Nintendo's game translations still do this, too. The reason I point this out is that you almost never hear accents in more faithful dubs, unless it's a foreign character, and sometimes even then they don't have them.

[ABED]

I prefer that there are different accents instead of just Generic North American.

[Robo4900]

Eh, I wouldn't say that. The Ocean dub had already given accents to some characters like Zarbon and Jeice (ironically, the former lost his accent later on in Funi's dub). The real truth to it is simply that a lot of these rewritten dubs will give accents to characters either to match a stereotype or just because they feel like it. 4Kids and Saban, among others were known to do this a lot. Nintendo's game translations still do this, too. The reason I point this out is that you almost never hear accents in more faithful dubs, unless it's a foreign character, and sometimes even then they don't have them.

Well, it is true that sometimes an actor will just come out with an accent when they play a character. Sometimes it just fits to give a character an accent, and that's fine.

But Funi just kinda... They had so many forced choices, including some VERY bad accents... And given the small size of their cast pool... Well, maybe it's just speculation, but I've always thought the weird, forced, bad accents and such were to give an illusion of variety.
Perhaps that's just my bias against Funi showing in my speculations. But IDK.

To be fair, it’s really just those 3 that tend to get a lot of criticism and with Young it’s more her miscasting and misdirected performance as Freeza than anything (people seem fine with her Baba, a role she’s actually suited for and her Arale in the DB dub was surprisingly good) and I guess Clinkenbeard’s Gohan is divisive.

People seem to like Merideth McCoy, Kara Edwards (at least as Videl), Monica Rial, and Laura Bailey.

Fair points.

Though with the depressingly small number of women in the cast of Dragon Ball, it is quite a lot for three of the female VAs to be so heavily criticised. Especially since IIRC McCoy, Edwards, Rial, Bailey, and Clinkenbeard weren't present in "Season 3", so the three who are criticised... I think they were the only women in the cast?
Wait, no there's also Cranz... Though I've always kinda hated Cranz's Chichi, so...

[MasenkoHA]

, so the three who are criticised... I think they were the only women in the cast?
Wait, no there's also Cranz... Though I've always kinda hated Cranz's Chichi, so...

Yeah but in the original broadcast of season 3 were any of the cast really that well liked? Pretty sure Sabat voicing half the cast and not being that talented (at least in 1999) was a joke onto itself. I think some people liked Sean Schemmel better than Kelamis but still a huge step down from Ian Corlett (of course NOW Schemmel is considered the only Goku.

[Planetnamek]

, so the three who are criticised... I think they were the only women in the cast?
Wait, no there's also Cranz... Though I've always kinda hated Cranz's Chichi, so...

Yeah but in the original broadcast of season 3 were any of the cast really that well liked? Pretty sure Sabat voicing half the cast and not being that talented (at least in 1999) was a joke onto itself. I think some people liked Sean Schemmel better than Kelamis but still a huge step down from Ian Corlett (of course NOW Schemmel is considered the only Goku.

The fans that got into DBZ long before Funimation started dubbing the show mostly hated the in-house voices, but a lot of those who had never heard of DBZ before then didn't mind them too much(me personally i'd already experienced MUCH worse voice-acting on some godawful shows i'd seen as a kid like Butt Ugly Martians and Megababies, so compared to that the Funi voices were like a breath of fresh air, but I know for a lot of you that's not saying much ). I know of course there are exceptions to that like GreatSaiyaman777 who started DBZU2 after finding out the show he'd watched and enjoyed for years was being censored and changed.

[TheOverlyMadHatter]

Ceyli Delgadillo as Goku (FUNi DB Movie 2). I liked her as Dende, but she wasn't spunky enough to play Goku. But what elsr can you expect from early in-house FUNimation?

Also, Tiffany Vollmer as Bulma. Not a bad actress, especially as the series went on, but it was a strange choice to have billionaire city girl Bulma sound like a valley girl.

I liked Mayumi Shô a lot more as Chi-Chi than Naoko Watanabe, though it could just be because the recast happened right around the time Toei was really starting to oversell the "nagging crazy housewife" Chi-Chi in filler and movies. Still, I think Watanabe makes Chi-Chi sound too old, especially compared to Hiromi Tsuru's Bulma, who's playing an older character.

[NitroEX]

I grew up with a mish-mash of dubs so there's a lot I dislike.

Funimation/Saban/Pioneer Ocean Z dub:
- Ian Corlett's Master Roshi. I just found it too whiny most of the time and actually preferred it when they cast Terry Klassen later on.
- Don Brown's Elder Moori. It's more or less the same voice he winds up using for Hercule/Mr. Satan and I much prefer it on that character. Lee Tockar sounded much better as Moori in the Westwood dub.
- Don Brown's Master Roshi. You can tell he was trying to do his best to fill in here but the voice is too noticeably forced and comes off like an annoying old man voice.
- Scott McNeil's Oolong. A valiant attempt to impersonate Alec Willows but it still comes off a bit distracting. Richard Newman does a better job as a stand-in.

Funimation In-house Z, DB & GT dub:
- Kent Williams' Mercenary Tao. I've never liked this one, mainly for the voice. He makes him sound like a complete weasel when the character should at least be able to sound somewhat respectable and imposing.
- Stephanie Nadolny as Kid Gohan. The voice devolves into a raspy mess devoid of any innocence or feeling of being age-appropriate (like many Funi DB kid voices) and the grunting sounds can get pretty grating.
- Tiffany Vollmer's Bulma. Wrong voice for the character, doesn't come across like an intellectual woman at all, just sounds like a party girl most of the time.
- Chris Sabat's Recoome. It's pretty evident why it's bad, the voice not only hinders his performance but it's also insulting to the character, it's basically a bad self-parody.
- Chris Sabat's Piccolo. Overly brutish and growly throughout most of Z, comes off unintelligent. Can't scream or yell like his predecessor (often resorting to obnoxious, weird guttural grunts). Misses the mark completely.
- Chris Sabat's Vegeta. Starts off as a bad Drummond impression with laughable line reads, gradually morphs into a voice that sat way too deep for my liking. Features some rather bizarre accent choices and it carries the same non-screaming and grunting issues seen in his portrayal of Piccolo. Not a fan.
- Chris Sabat's Mr. Popo. Insulting, bad and borderline offensive. Just, no.
- Sean Schemmel's King Kai. It gets pretty obnoxious.
- John Burgmeier's Tenshinhan. Totally bland casting and performance. Puts me half to sleep just thinking about it.
- Meredith McCoy's Android 18. Decent performance but, for a petite girl she could often sound a little on the butch side.
- Dameon Clarke's Semi-perfect Cell. I just find this one so awful to go back and listen to. Does he have cotton balls in his mouth when he talks? Who thought this was a good idea?
- Kyle Hebert's Gohan. Overall, as far as casting goes, it sounds too deep for my liking. The inflexions often gave off the vibe that the character was supposed to sound "cool" or heroic when really he should have been playing more toward an awkward teenager, though his vocal range kind of prevents him from portraying that in a convincing way anyway. Some can give this one a pass but for such an important character, I personally can't.
- Kara Edwards Goten. Not a fan of the raspy/croaky delivery, quite distracting and detracts from the character's innocent vibe.
- Laura Bailey's Kid Trunks. Far too gravelly.
- Dameon Clarke's Killa. Some of the most offensive and cringe-worthy racial stereotyping in the whole franchise. Awful.
- Chris Sabat's Omega Shenron. Basically Sabat with the voice filter turned up to 11. Bob Carter was a lot more capable in the role.

Westwood/Ocean dub:
- Michael Dobson's King Cold. We didn't get to really hear much of it anyway due to it only being in flashbacks or scenes with Pikkon but it was the wrong type of voice and performance, too brutish and silly.
- Enuka Okuma's Android 18 (Android & Cell arcs only). She's a great actress who could have done so much better here, as evidenced by her work in Gundam Wing. I think the direction was just off during this part of the dubs production which unfortunately led her to sound too robotic a lot of the time. She sounds great throughout the Buu arc, however.
- Scott McNeil's Android 16. I don't hate it, never have had much of a problem with it in fact (and when your only alternative is Jeremy Inman's abysmally monotone line reads it's actually not such a bad trade-off), but I do think a more fitting casting choice was well within reach of a Vancouver studio and it's a shame they didn't get someone with a naturally more colossal sounding voice.
- Dale Wilson's Olibu - He sounds way too close to Perfect Cell and it's so distracting. They really should've cast someone else especially since this is right after the Cell arc.
- Don Brown's Kibito Kai. Despite having amazing range it's clear Don was being stretched too thin at this point. This is effectively his Shenron voice minus a voice filter and it's clear it hinders his acting at certain points.
- Michael Dobson's Fused Supreme Kai. He only briefly uses a different voice for the fused form, which sounds like his Starscream (an obvious attempt to infuse the voice with elements of Don's Kibito). I'm really not a fan and I'm glad they reverted it back to his regular Supreme Kai voice after a few episodes.

Blue Water GT dub:
- Roger Rhodes' Vegeta. A bad impersonation of Brian Drummond. It gradually gets better in the final arc but there's just no saving this one.
- Dan Gascon's Krillin. Terrible, terrible, terrible voice. Just sounds like a guy talking on helium, and it's monotone to boot! I despise it.
- Corby Proctor's Majin Boo. Bad impersonation of Scott McNeil's Boo. Sounds reminiscent of Jar Jar Binks at points too which isn't a good thing.
- Jennifer Bain's Freeza. Again, terrible gimmicky voice with no real performance to speak of. Sounds more befitting of a small creature.
- Victor Atelevich's Su Shenron. Bland unimposing voice with unmemorable performance.
- Noah Umholtz's Ii Shenron. The performance isn't too bad but as the final villain of the series, the voice is just woefully disappointing and generic sounding. There's literally nothing imposing or unique about it.

Blue Water DB dub:
- Mike Shepherd's King Piccolo. Similar to the Ii Shenron situation with the GT dub, this is very underwhelming and bland casting for such an important villain. The performance does nothing to save it.

[8000 Saiyan]

Mayumi Tanaka as Baba. Such a grating performance. Don't understand the need to replace Junpei Takiguchi in the role, who reminded me of Ed Asner's Granny Goodness, although it was a comedic performance.

Hiroaki Miura as Zarbon. So bland compared to Sho Hayami's portrayal of the character. Ryotaro Okiayu, Junichi Suwabe or Nobuo Tobita would have been a lot better.

Mitsuaki Madono as Tenshinhan. Madono's a great VA, but he never fit Tenshinhan at all. While not on the level of the late great Hirotaka Suzuoki, Hikaru Midorikawa gets the job done.

Shigeru Chiba as Garlic Jr. Not a bad performance, but Akira Kamiya was a lot better.

- John Burgmeier's Tenshinhan. Totally bland casting and performance. Puts me half to sleep just thinking about it.

Well said. A very bland performance by an usually bland actor who happens to have a rather bland sounding (and rather punchable) name.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Spoiler:

Mayumi Tanaka as Baba. Such a grating performance. Don't understand the need to replace Junpei Takiguchi in the role, who reminded me of Ed Asner's Granny Goodness, although it was a comedic performance.

Hiroaki Miura as Zarbon. So bland compared to Sho Hayami's portrayal of the character. Ryotaro Okiayu, Junichi Suwabe or Nobuo Tobita would have been a lot better.

Mitsuaki Madono as Tenshinhan. Madono's a great VA, but he never fitted Tenshinhan at all. While not on the level of the late great Hirotaka Suzuoki, Hikaru Midorikawa gets the job done.

Shigeru Chiba as Garlic Jr. Not a bad performance, but Akira Kamiya was a lot better.

- John Burgmeier's Tenshinhan. Totally bland casting and performance. Puts me half to sleep just thinking about it.

Well said. A very bland performance by an usually bland actor who happens to have a rather bland sounding (and rather punchable) name.

As far as the Japanese cast goes, Tanaka's Uranai Baba has also never sounded right to me when compared to Takiguchi's given she more or less has always used the same accented performance as Yajirobe so there's virtually no difference in voice between the two. I also haven't really been that fond of Naoko Watanabe's Chi Chi when compared to Mayumi Sho's take, as the latter has a cuter youthful sound to her (having played her since the character's first appearance in the original series through the early Namek arc in Z and movies up to that point) that was gradually lost after Watanabe assumed the role as she gives a more harsher sounding performance that actually does go along with how much they've played up Chi Chi's "tiger mom" education obsessed aspect at times but to me personally Sho just fit the character better as far as actual voice goes. Also agree about Kamiya as Garlic, for Chiba's take in the series makes me immediately think of Raditz because his deeper non high pitched Pilaf-type voice is the exact same as the latter.

When it comes to the FUNi cast, i would have to say my absolute least favorite performance is hands down Linda Young's Freeza which was all kinds of wrong for the character voice wise (Chris Ayres as Freeza in Kai and onward is hands down so much better, it's no contest!!!) though she was actually much better and fitting as Baba in OG DB and Genkai in Yu Yu Hakusho's dub. The runner up would have to be Sean Schemmel's Kaio/King Kai, because as much as he's majorly improved in playing Goku over the past 20+ years his Kaio on the other hand has always been a forced over the top voice that just sounds plain unnatural even in the same amount of time.

[8000 Saiyan]

Honestly, I lost my enthusiasm for her Genkai when she had to play the younger version of her. It just came across as a miscast where as in the Japanese version, they had Megumi Hayashibara voice her.