Favorite Goku Voice?

[Cure Dragon 255]

Oh they HATE Nozawa, they always talk about how Goku sounds like a Granny in Japanese. And Mario (WHOM I LOVE DEARLY!!!) is near worshipped. I love Mario, Laura and Masako so I have no problem with any of them... except I hate Edson Matus. I cant stand him. I feel that that he is hated so much but I dont like his acting. Same for Karina Altamirano, despite how sorry I feel for her.

BTW I love that everyone in this thread has remained respecful, no matter what side.

[BeaBumby]

apologies for being immature but

hehe

mario

[Koitsukai]

Oh they HATE Nozawa, they always talk about how Goku sounds like a Granny in Japanese. And Mario (WHOM I LOVE DEARLY!!!) is near worshipped. I love Mario, Laura and Masako so I have no problem with any of them... except I hate Edson Matus. I cant stand him. I feel that that he is hated so much but I dont like his acting. Same for Karina Altamirano, despite how sorry I feel for her.

BTW I love that everyone in this thread has remained respecful, no matter what side.

That's the Kai guy, is he the same that dubbed the first Broly movie?

[Cure Dragon 255]

I dont hate Enrique Mederos, who did Goku in that movie. He did a bad GOKU but he's an awesome actor otherwise. Cant hate him at all.

[FPSSJ4_Goku]

I dont hate Enrique Mederos, who did Goku in that movie. He did a bad GOKU but he's an awesome actor otherwise. Cant hate him at all.

Why didn't they just keep the Z voices in Kai and the movies? Was it time constraints, bad schedules, or monetary issues or something?

[Koitsukai]

I dont hate Enrique Mederos, who did Goku in that movie. He did a bad GOKU but he's an awesome actor otherwise. Cant hate him at all.

Why didn't they just keep the Z voices in Kai and the movies? Was it time constraints, bad schedules, or monetary issues or something?

Maybe Cure Dragon has better info than I do, but there were some VA union issues during the mid 2000s, The Simpsons' VA got shafted and Kai happened a few years later with a new cast, I'm assuming because of the same issue. The original Goku came back for the Buu part of Kai, though.

The Broly movie had a different Goku because it was sold as a real movie, theater and all, the others went straight to video, so I guess the movie wasn't part of the VA's contract and they never reached an agreement.

[dva_raza]

Oh they HATE Nozawa, they always talk about how Goku sounds like a Granny in Japanese. And Mario (WHOM I LOVE DEARLY!!!) is near worshipped. I love Mario, Laura and Masako so I have no problem with any of them... except I hate Edson Matus. I cant stand him. I feel that that he is hated so much but I dont like his acting. Same for Karina Altamirano, despite how sorry I feel for her.

BTW I love that everyone in this thread has remained respecful, no matter what side.

Lol worshiped is exactly right. Although I actually didn't mind Edson Matus now that I was catching Kai on warner channel. Same for Vegeta's actor, never thought I could like someone better than René Garcia and somehow I did

[Cure Dragon 255]

I bet most dont mind... now that Mario Castañeda and the rest came back. Back when Kai Premiered it was INFURIATING.

ALSO you got it all right Koitsukai. You even got the background of the Simpsons right!

[Venus]

It's true that for most of the latin american community Mario Castañeda is Goku, the exact way how Masako Nozawa is Goku for those who grew up with the japanese dub.

Way too many people there hate/dislike Nozawa because they don't like that Goku is voiced by a old woman.

I too, grew up with the mexican dub and for me Mario Castañeda is irreplaceable when it comes to the latin american dub and I only have seen Super so far in japanese but Nozawa is just perfect as Goku and I absolutely like her perfomance.

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

I'm positive this has been done before, but for the life of me I can't find an example (maybe I'm just lazy, idk)
This spreads over all countries and dubs, so feel free to express your favorite and why

Personally since I'm kinda new, I've definitely heard Mr. Schemmel the most, though I've taken quite a liking to Peter Kelamis' interpretation of the character. Corlett too

You are correct. This type of thread has been done many, many times. Even just for Goku's voice. That being said mine is Masako Nozawa.
I've been a big Dragon Ball fan since I was ten years old. I got introduced to the series proper with the Kai dub in 2010. (I think I'd seen Dragon Ball iconography before, but I had no idea what it was from) From there my curiosity grew, and I just kept watching and reading all I could to learn more about the series. From there I became a big fan, then eventually transitioned to primarily watching the Japanese version. I had checked out the Japanese voices through a video game or two, but Super helped me make the plunge into primarily watching the Japanese version. Also getting older, more critical of the dub, and media in general contributed to that.

[dva_raza]

It's true that for most of the latin american community Mario Castañeda is Goku, the exact way how Masako Nozawa is Goku for those who grew up with the japanese dub.

Way too many people there hate/dislike Nozawa because they don't like that Goku is voiced by a old woman.

I too, grew up with the mexican dub and for me Mario Castañeda is irreplaceable when it comes to the latin american dub and I only have seen Super so far in japanese but Nozawa is just perfect as Goku and I absolutely like her perfomance.

For me I can't get over the fact that Goku sounds like a woman in japanese. Like if he had been bodyswapped with some lady. I'm blown away that it's not a joke.
Imagine if Sailor moon had been voiced by a male actor with a masculine voice. I wonder if fans would be as keen about his performance even though the voice didn't match with the physicality.

[VegettoEX]

For me I can't get over the fact that Goku sounds like a woman in japanese. Like if he had been bodyswapped with some lady. I'm blown away that it's not a joke.
Imagine if Sailor moon had been voiced by a male actor with a masculine voice. I wonder if fans would be as keen about his performance even though the voice didn't match with the physicality.

All types of people sound different. It's particularly wild in the realm of things like radio when you don't necessarily know what someone looks like and you see them after hearing their voice for dozens of hours and it's nothing like you think.

Also, the go-to response to this is always Mike Tyson.

I never for a single moment had any kind of "doesn't fit" reaction with Nozawa. It was just, "So that's what Goku sounds like"... much the same way it was "So that's what Vegeta sounds like" and "So that's what Freeza sounds like" and so on and so forth. As often as I hear it, I still have an incredibly tough time putting myself in the shoes of people who had any kind of other reaction.

[Soppa Saia People]

the other thing with nozawa that i don't really get with a lot of Woman stuff is that, nozawa's voice for goku doesn't sound like the typical female seiyuu voicing a male character, (like a kurama, a shinji, a alphonse, etc) and it's definitely Not feminine. i think with some of the cadences and tone you can tell that it's a woman voicing him but i don't really get how the performance itself from that is distracting. as much as i love her performances, some of her Bwaak's KEEEECH's and such just aren't gonna mesh with some people and it's a unique performance in that aspect, but i don't get how people just go Voiced By A Woman Doesn't Fit. it's super tunnel visioned and honestly sometimes kinda just speaks to anime fans issues with women (but not so much here).

[dva_raza]

the other thing with nozawa that i don't really get with a lot of Woman stuff is that, nozawa's voice for goku doesn't sound like the typical female seiyuu voicing a male character, (like a kurama, a shinji, a alphonse, etc) and it's definitely Not feminine. i think with some of the cadences and tone you can tell that it's a woman voicing him but i don't really get how the performance itself from that is distracting. as much as i love her performances, some of her Bwaak's KEEEECH's and such just aren't gonna mesh with some people and it's a unique performance in that aspect, but i don't get how people just go Voiced By A Woman Doesn't Fit. it's super tunnel visioned and honestly sometimes kinda just speaks to anime fans issues with women (but not so much here).

I think it's not so much tunnel vision as very basic logic. Which is something relevant in casting. You don't just cast a talented person, you first take into account the physical profile fitting the character (the voice in the case for voice acting). The talent should be a given for any working actor which is why I don't really find relevant here. Everybody who is working is a good enough performer otherwise they wouldn't be working.
I agree that she doesn't sound very feminine but she 100% sounds like a woman and Goku is not a woman so it kind of incoherent for me.
I obviously don't know this but it's my belief the actress was invited to stay for Z more for personal reasons (they already have a bond with her, know she's professional, etc) than creative ones (like actually wanting her voice in particular).

[Majin Buu]

the other thing with nozawa that i don't really get with a lot of Woman stuff is that, nozawa's voice for goku doesn't sound like the typical female seiyuu voicing a male character, (like a kurama, a shinji, a alphonse, etc) and it's definitely Not feminine. i think with some of the cadences and tone you can tell that it's a woman voicing him but i don't really get how the performance itself from that is distracting. as much as i love her performances, some of her Bwaak's KEEEECH's and such just aren't gonna mesh with some people and it's a unique performance in that aspect, but i don't get how people just go Voiced By A Woman Doesn't Fit. it's super tunnel visioned and honestly sometimes kinda just speaks to anime fans issues with women (but not so much here).

This.

Put Nozawa's Goku on an actual female character and it's not going to fit (Especially when she starts getting deep with it like when she's doing Super Saiyan 3 Goku).

Because she doesn't voice him like a woman.

I have a suspicion that there's a vaguely sexist/toxically masculine element to this complaint as well. Like "a woman can't voice a fighting man" or "fighting men can't have soft, boyish voices".

[VegettoEX]

This.

Put Nozawa's Goku on an actual female character and it's not going to fit (Especially when she starts getting deep with it like when she's doing Super Saiyan 3 Goku).

Because she doesn't voice him like a woman.

The counter to this would be that she basically uses the same register to play Dr. Kureha, an older woman doctor, in One Piece.

The counter to the counter is that Dr. Kureha looks like Geddy Lee, and Geddy Lee has a wildly unique voice.

[Majin Buu]

The counter to this would be that she basically uses the same register to play Dr. Kureha, an older woman doctor, in One Piece.

The counter to the counter is that Dr. Kureha looks like Geddy Lee, and Geddy Lee has a wildly unique voice.

This is true, though I haven't encountered any other old lady characters that sound like her.

I don't know if this is the right word, but her voice has a uniquely androgynous quality to it.

[jjgp1112]

My issue with Nozawa's voice isn't that it's a woman, but so obnoxiously weird and childish for and adult that it takes me right out every single time I watch Z in Japanese - I think the absolute limit for me is 23rd TB, where Goku's still kind of boyish in both appearance and attitude, Beyond that, I'm not really digging it. I know Mike Tyson was brought up, but his voice is still that of a grown man - the lisp, the New York accent, and his soft-spoken nature is what really makes him sound goofy.

I mean shit, it's not like Sean Schemmel is exactly the manliest sounding guy anyway but hey, if expecting a baseline level of adult male in his voice is somehow toxic masculinity than mark me with a skull-and-crossbones I guess.

[PurestEvil]

Clearly, Masako is doing one of those "older boy" impressions for adult Goku, which is apt considering how Goku is a child-at-heart-and-mind.

[jjgp1112]

Clearly, Masako is doing one of those "older boy" impressions for adult Goku, which is apt considering how Goku is a child-at-heart-and-mind.

See, I've gone in a few times why I've never really bought this line of reasoning - at the end of the day, Toei continued using Nozawa after Goku grew up because they weren't going to change the voice fans had already gotten used to for 130 episodes (see: Krillin). That they then continued to use that same voice for every adult male relative of Goku save for Raditz I think only further shows how jarring the voice can be, though I think Nozawa's performance as Goku can help mitigate the awkwardness somewhat.