TheGreatness25 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 10:24 pm
I've got some really unpopular opinions lol
I'm not sure if I shared before (I definitely did
somewhere, just not sure if it was in this thread), but here are some of mine:
1. BRING ON THE INACCURATE ADAPTATIONS
I don't mind at all. Make them weird! Make bad choices! Name changes? Sure! Replacement score? Yes, please! I'm not saying that I'd like just anything, but the more, the merrier. It's just another reason to get excited to watch the same thing for the 300th time. One of the most joyful things that happened to me regarding this series, is finally getting to watch the Blue Water and Westwood dub of the series. It just reinvigorated my curiosity and desire to watch the series again. Just don't screw with the original Japanese version and I'm good. Other than that, it's like having different versions of the same material.
I know that this could create confusion and more causal fans might not get the "true" story, but I think it's like any of us--those who are interested enough will find out.
2. I LIKE GOKU AS A CLICHÉ SUPERHERO
When I was a kid, I was really turned off by the squeaky clean image that Funimation presented Goku as. I gravitated toward Vegeta the same way that I gravitated toward Batman over Superman. But, somewhere along the way, I grew out of that and started to really enjoy the idea of just a hero who chooses what's right over anything else.
I'm not saying that Goku should be all "ally to good, nightmare to [evil]!" but I don't think he should be all "ba-ha-ha-ha-ha; I guess I accidentally saved the universe because I really wanted to fight that guy; ba-ha-ha-ha-ha!" either. Somewhere in the middle is nice. Gohan is nice.
3. I DON'T GET THE FATHER-SON RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOHAN AND PICCOLO
Whenever I see someone posting this, it just seems like such a cookie-cutter, shallow analysis. Why? Why is Piccolo a "better father" to Gohan than Goku? In fact, how is Piccolo's relationship to Gohan "fatherly" at all?
Goku was with Gohan for the first five years of his life. Then, stuff happened, Goku died, and Piccolo kidnapped Gohan to train him because Piccolo saw that Gohan could be of use against the Saiyans. Yes, they got close. Yes, Piccolo felt something for Gohan... in the (almost) year that he knew him. Yes, Piccolo sacrificed himself for Gohan. Yes, Gohan wanted to bring Piccolo back. And... that's pretty much it, right?
So this "father-son" relationship lasted a year? Because since Piccolo was wished back on Namek, we don't really get anything else between Gohan and Piccolo. Yeah, Piccolo trained with Goku and Gohan for the androids. Yeah, Gohan wanted to wear Piccolo's gi. Sure. But how is that a "father-son" relationship? That's more of a friend or master. Then, Piccolo lives with Dende and Popo.
We never really get anything else heartwarming between Piccolo and Gohan until Resurrection F/Super, with Piccolo babysitting Pan (after years of fans hyping up this "relationship" between Gohan and Piccolo).
On the other hand, Goku has a ton of heartwarming moments with Gohan. Their training for Cell, Goku's belief in Gohan to beat Cell, Goku's sacrifice and goodbye to Gohan. Goku's return from Other World. Goku interacting with Gohan on Old Kaioshin's planet.
Piccolo's only interactions with Gohan after Namek are kind of "Oh, hey!" and telling at Goku when Goku believed that Gohan could beat Cell.
4. GOTEN AND TRUNKS ARE POINTLESS AND KINDA SUCK
Future Trunks was awesome! Very, very cool character. And clearly, to have a future Trunks, there must be a present Trunks. And I think Goten was just kind of shoved into the story to have someone for Trunks to bounce dialog off of. There was clearly no real plan or interest in making them compelling characters.
5. FUSION SUCKS
The biggest cop-out in the series and creates a lot more questions than necessary. Never liked fusion--they weren't real characters.
6. I THINK THAT THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING FINAL BOUT VOICE ACTORS WOULD BE GREAT (FOR THE MOST PART)
I'm a very nostalgic guy. But, I realize this and can pass judgment on something that's bad. It's just that I do kind of constantly think of things that bring me back to my childhood... like the terrible Final Bout video game that I had so much fun with because I didn't know any better.
Yes, this is something I still think about. And I like going back and listening to the terrible performances of the English-translated version. But was it that bad? I often thought that the voice acting was terrible, but now, I think that this actors could definitely do a great job with a proper dub. I find myself wondering how they'd sound like when they had some real dialog with good directing behind it, not just one-off lines for a video game.
I thought Steve Blum is amazing, but he's no Goku... but why not? I found myself thinking that there's nothing that someone like Sean Schemmel brings to the performance that Blum couldn't do. Yeah, he sounds awkward as Goku in Final Bout, but I know his chops, I know his range. He's be great! And honestly, the rest of the cast was pretty great! I really liked Trunks's and Gohan's voices. The others are generally good based on their other works. Kind of felt like Daniel Woren would make a better Vegeta than Piccolo, Tom Wyner's Cell was bad (though he could be good in other roles), and I wasn't feeling Milton James's Vegeta, but again, how would they fare if they were given a real shot?
This is the nutty crap I think about: how 1997 one-off-cast voice actors for a terrible video game would do with a real shot at dubbing the series.