Ideal English Goku Voice?

[Shaddy]

What seems important to me in Goku is range. Goku is at one point or another a dimwitted hick, a confident martial arts student, a hotheaded warrior, a brokenhearted child (rarely) AND the cold fury of the Super Saiyan. Obviously I'm very used to Schemmel's performance at this point...but I'm not crying if he were to be replaced. He is good at sounding goofy, and can sometimes pull a good strongman performance, but that's about it.

Nozawa is honestly so great I'm not sure anyone in mainstream English anime dubbing can compare, certainly not Mignogna. Even besides the creep shit, he got progressively worse at screaming over the course of the Broly movies and FMA, to the point where he's pretty unenthusiastic in FMAB's final episodes and his entire performance in Super's Broly film is just robotic, they even have to artificially loop his weak screams.

MasakoX, as people have suggested, does bring across the tone of Goku's voice very well, but I'm not sure I really love his performance. He doesn't come from an industry background, it happens! With more work and proper direction it could maybe sound alright, but I think it's worth looking for someone who can pull it off more naturally.

Kelamis can certainly bring the high-pitched screaming, but I haven't seen enough of Ocean's dubs to have a more concrete opinion than that (not a fan of the heavy editing jobs).

...I dunno, I think you'd really need to look more into the upper tiers of western voicework. When I think "range" I think Robert Paulson, Tara Strong -- not that I want them as Goku necessarily, just that there's a pretty sizable difference between them and most of Funimation's cast.

[TheGreatness25]

Not gonna lie, Sean's perfect. It's the voice I grew up with. The way he can go from goofy to Godly is super cool.

"Bring it on. Gohan."

You get a REAL feel for the Journey To The West Son Goku. He's silly most of the time, but he can be an intimidating force, too. I honestly never get that feeling from Nozawa, unfortunately. Her range seems silly to serious, but I never get the feeling Goku's a guy who can blow up a mountain from her.

I just feel like he doesn't sound like a real person. Still sounds like a cartoon voice. And the "silly" moments sound very forced and disingenuous. But, if I sit down and think about it, there's no real quality that Nozawa brings to the character that Schemmel doesn't (even if I don't like how it sounds). Meaning aside from sounding the same (which they obviously don't), Nozawa's Goku doesn't have any characteristics that Schemmel's doesn't hit. So, can't complain too much--it's a decent adaptation in that regard.

Nozawa's Goku is loud and boisterous. Check. Her Goku is silly and laughs a lot. Check. That's pretty much it since I can't judge how natural-sounding Goku sounds in Japanese. Personally, I still prefer the natural and lighthearted delivery of Corlett and serious delivery of Kelamis.

[Cure Dragon 255]

Not gonna lie, Sean's perfect. It's the voice I grew up with. The way he can go from goofy to Godly is super cool.

"Bring it on. Gohan."

You get a REAL feel for the Journey To The West Son Goku. He's silly most of the time, but he can be an intimidating force, too. I honestly never get that feeling from Nozawa, unfortunately. Her range seems silly to serious, but I never get the feeling Goku's a guy who can blow up a mountain from her.

I just feel like he doesn't sound like a real person. Still sounds like a cartoon voice. And the "silly" moments sound very forced and disingenuous. But, if I sit down and think about it, there's no real quality that Nozawa brings to the character that Schemmel doesn't (even if I don't like how it sounds). Meaning aside from sounding the same (which they obviously don't), Nozawa's Goku doesn't have any characteristics that Schemmel's doesn't hit. So, can't complain too much--it's a decent adaptation in that regard.

Nozawa's Goku is loud and boisterous. Check. Her Goku is silly and laughs a lot. Check. That's pretty much it since I can't judge how natural-sounding Goku sounds in Japanese. Personally, I still prefer the natural and lighthearted delivery of Corlett and serious delivery of Kelamis.

This post has singlehandedly proven just being the closest to the idea of a character is not the winner people think it is.

[BeaBumby]

Not gonna lie, Sean's perfect. It's the voice I grew up with. The way he can go from goofy to Godly is super cool.

"Bring it on. Gohan."

You get a REAL feel for the Journey To The West Son Goku. He's silly most of the time, but he can be an intimidating force, too. I honestly never get that feeling from Nozawa, unfortunately. Her range seems silly to serious, but I never get the feeling Goku's a guy who can blow up a mountain from her.

I just feel like he doesn't sound like a real person. Still sounds like a cartoon voice. And the "silly" moments sound very forced and disingenuous. But, if I sit down and think about it, there's no real quality that Nozawa brings to the character that Schemmel doesn't (even if I don't like how it sounds). Meaning aside from sounding the same (which they obviously don't), Nozawa's Goku doesn't have any characteristics that Schemmel's doesn't hit. So, can't complain too much--it's a decent adaptation in that regard.

Nozawa's Goku is loud and boisterous. Check. Her Goku is silly and laughs a lot. Check. That's pretty much it since I can't judge how natural-sounding Goku sounds in Japanese. Personally, I still prefer the natural and lighthearted delivery of Corlett and serious delivery of Kelamis.

This post has singlehandedly proven just being the closest to the idea of a character is not the winner people think it is.

sorry I'm a wee lass uh what do you mean by that

[MasenkoHA]

Kelamis can certainly bring the high-pitched screaming, but I haven't seen enough of Ocean's dubs to have a more concrete opinion than that (not a fan of the heavy editing jobs).

..

I think the 3 Pioneer movie dubs are a sufficient sampling of his performance, and many fans seem to consider it his best work.

But honestly, other than channeling Nozawa in World's Strongest with the way he says Kaio-Ken and his kiaas....I just don't think his take as Goku was very good with a very Totally Radical Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle quality to his Goku voice and a lot of his line deliveries seemed awkward

Dragon. Balls?

Who. Took. Gohan?

Where'd they goooooooooo


I think both Corlett and Kelamis are more "at home" voicing goofier cartoon characters like Coconuts and Rolf but at least Corlett still turned in a more than servicable performance as Goku

[BeaBumby]

Kelamis can certainly bring the high-pitched screaming, but I haven't seen enough of Ocean's dubs to have a more concrete opinion than that (not a fan of the heavy editing jobs).

..

I think the 3 Pioneer movie dubs are a sufficient sampling of his performance, and many fans seem to consider it his best work.

But honestly, other than channeling Nozawa in World's Strongest with the way he says Kaio-Ken and his kiaas....I just don't think his take as Goku was very good with a very Totally Radical Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle quality to his Goku voice and a lot of his line deliveries seemed awkward

Dragon. Balls?

Who. Took. Gohan?

Where'd they goooooooooo


I think both Corlett and Kelamis are more "at home" voicing goofier cartoon characters like Coconuts and Rolf but at least Corlett still turned in a more than servicable performance as Goku

At the risk of disobeying what I said the thread was about, I just wanna say I really like the weird line deliveries. He talks like how a kid would, and I think in a way that fits Goku, he sounds so silly. (edit: of course, if he were ONLY this, I don't think he would fit the more serious moments at ALL. luckily i think he can do serious goku well)

[Majin Buu]

Someone that can make Goku not sound like a typical adult male. Specifically, someone that can capture the boyish tone Nozawa's adult Goku has (Corlett is my favorite English Goku because he was the closest to this- His Beast Wars Cheetor voice specifically would have been perfect on Goku).

A voice actor like Dante Basco that has a naturally boyish sounding voice could probably do it.

[MasenkoHA]

At the risk of disobeying what I said the thread was about, I just wanna say I really like the weird line deliveries. He talks like how a kid would, and I think in a way that fits Goku, he sounds so silly. (edit: of course, if he were ONLY this, I don't think he would fit the more serious moments at ALL. luckily i think he can do serious goku well)

A lot of people like his take on Goku. Not for me, but I respect it.

A voice actor like Dante Basco that has a naturally boyish sounding voice could probably do it.

Holy shit, I think that's the first suggestion on here that I could fully get behind. Not entirely sure about him as Kid Goku but he would kill it as Adult Goku

[Shaddy]

I dunno about that one. I like Dante Basco a lot, but I'm not sure he has the cadence for Goku. I watched that Homestuck dub he was a part of a while back, and even though the character he was voicing was comparatively low-key for that story, it still felt way outside the wheelhouse of what I've come to expect for him.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I just feel like he doesn't sound like a real person. Still sounds like a cartoon voice. And the "silly" moments sound very forced and disingenuous. But, if I sit down and think about it, there's no real quality that Nozawa brings to the character that Schemmel doesn't (even if I don't like how it sounds). Meaning aside from sounding the same (which they obviously don't), Nozawa's Goku doesn't have any characteristics that Schemmel's doesn't hit. So, can't complain too much--it's a decent adaptation in that regard.

Nozawa's Goku is loud and boisterous. Check. Her Goku is silly and laughs a lot. Check. That's pretty much it since I can't judge how natural-sounding Goku sounds in Japanese. Personally, I still prefer the natural and lighthearted delivery of Corlett and serious delivery of Kelamis.

This post has singlehandedly proven just being the closest to the idea of a character is not the winner people think it is.

sorry I'm a wee lass uh what do you mean by that

I mean its more like having a vague idea of what a character is and just filling up a list of character traits and thus can be "fullfilled" by really mediocre actors like Sean Schemmel which shows how flawed this premise is. It's not an attack or criticism of you Bea. It's more like people can like other, much better actors but since they arent the "ideal" of the "idea" of Goku they dont count.

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

This is a tough question to answer because of the nature of ADR. You're always going to be limited to the lip flaps being written for a language that could not be more diametrically opposed to a latin root language like English. So no matter how perfect the writing of the script there will be some moments of stilted delivery due to the nature of the medium.
Also as much as I'd love to "replicate Nozawa's Goku in English" It'd be impossible for several reasons. The big 1, she has many vocal quirks that can't be replicated in English. I'm sure we've all heard people complain that Nozawa's Goku doesn't sound like a man, but Nozawa's Goku also doesn't sound like any woman I've heard before either. It's something entirely it's own that's hard to replicate, and hard for me to explain to people unfamiliar with Dragon Ball, or who aren't big anime fans in general. So I don't know what the "ideal" English Goku would be. As an adult. Personally I believe that Melissa Fahn would make the perfect voice for Kid Goku. She can bring the cheery happy go lucky personality and curiosity/excitement for the big world as Ed in Cowboy Bebop. I've seen her do angry and emotional in other shows. If she were to bring the upbeat nature of her Ed, but with a more boyish voice, (maybe a dash of some of her Gaz from Zim) that would be the perfect English kid Goku voice for me. As for adult Goku I'd love to see an actor that could do both stages of his life, but I'm not sure how or who.

[novashibe]

I think in terms of just, how the voice sounds, the tone, the attitude, etc... MasakoX has it nailed for me. Don't get me wrong, he's playing a version of the character that is incongruent with the actual Goku but even so, I feel transplanting his voice, maybe pitched a teeny bit lower so as to play it less for laughs, on the English script, would yield my favourite English Goku.

Obviously Nozawa is my one and only but we're talking English here.

[Scientist Fu]

I always thought that Ryan Drummond would do a really good Goku (Sonic's voice actor). I think his tone would fit him well and his voice isn't too deep nor too high, the perfect match for Goku.

[8000 Saiyan]

Peter Cullen.

[Cure Dragon 255]

Peter Cullen.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand this one also shows the opposite problem of my previous post. Yes it is a joke post(I THINK) but no, just plopping a talented actor into a character isnt always a good idea, regardless of how much we like them.

[Shaddy]

I always thought that Ryan Drummond would do a really good Goku (Sonic's voice actor). I think his tone would fit him well and his voice isn't too deep nor too high, the perfect match for Goku.

Besides the fact that Drummond hasn't been in that role for twenty years, I cannot name a single performance of Sonic that has fit Goku's character. Drummond, when he's not being overly gruff, is bad at bringing across either sincerity or whimsy. His only real range as Sonic fluttered between "smug prick" and "hip 90s teen". Griffith was better at the more sensitive stuff and Smith is just a flatly more talented actor, but I don't think any of them would be good choices for Goku. Despite what comparisons fans make, I don't think Sonic and Goku are really similar characters, you can't exchange either traits or performances between them.

[Scientist Fu]

I always thought that Ryan Drummond would do a really good Goku (Sonic's voice actor). I think his tone would fit him well and his voice isn't too deep nor too high, the perfect match for Goku.

Besides the fact that Drummond hasn't been in that role for twenty years, I cannot name a single performance of Sonic that has fit Goku's character. Drummond, when he's not being overly gruff, is bad at bringing across either sincerity or whimsy. His only real range as Sonic fluttered between "smug prick" and "hip 90s teen". Griffith was better at the more sensitive stuff and Smith is just a flatly more talented actor, but I don't think any of them would be good choices for Goku. Despite what comparisons fans make, I don't think Sonic and Goku are really similar characters, you can't exchange either traits or performances between them.

If you say so.

[BeaBumby]

Drummond, when he's not being overly gruff, is bad at bringing across either sincerity or whimsy. His only real range as Sonic fluttered between "smug prick" and "hip 90s teen".

.. agree to disagree, i suppose.

[Shaddy]

I mean, if you can point me to an example I'm happy to listen. SA1 mostly gives the guy expository dialogue, and while I guess he brings across the emotion okay in SA2, that's about two scenes total, and Heroes doesn't have much to work with.

I haven't listened to that audio drama, maybe he's better there.

[Scientist Fu]

I mean, if you can point me to an example I'm happy to listen. SA1 mostly gives the guy expository dialogue, and while I guess he brings across the emotion okay in SA2, that's about two scenes total, and Heroes doesn't have much to work with.

I haven't listened to that audio drama, maybe he's better there.

Hard to give you an example that will make you change your mind. I was refering to old Sonic games (SA1 and SA2 mostly). It's just my personal preference. I like his voice and I think his voice would fit Goku, nothing more. If you think that objectively he is not good at all, then I got nothing to say because I'm no expert in that area.