How much was Toriyama involved in casting?

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BootyCheeksJohnson
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How much was Toriyama involved in casting?

Post by BootyCheeksJohnson » Tue Oct 01, 2024 2:34 am

It's common knowledge to anyone on this board that Toriyama personally picked Masako Nozawa as the voice of Goku, but how much further was he involved in the casting of the anime overall? How much pull did his opinion have?
I remember a video by MistareFusion (and they put their due diligence into their research) that explained that Toriyama added Goku's observation of Yajirobe's voice "hey, you sound like my friend Kuririn" because he felt bad about taking Mayumi Tanka's job away, and wanted to give her another role in the anime.
But, are there anymore stories of Toriyama deciding who gets casted?
We need a Steve Simmons' re-translation of the manga.

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Re: How much was Toriyama involved in casting?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Tue Oct 01, 2024 8:10 am

People only seem to talk about the casting of Nozawa, but evidently it was no exception.

Here's some interviews where Toriyama says his role in picking the voices didn't just extend to the Son family:
Akira Toriyama, Daizenshuu 3 interview wrote:
I also listened to the voice actors' audition tapes, and worked on deciding who would play each role. In deciding Goku's part, I listened to the voices of five or six people, and chose Masako Nozawa-san from among them.
Akira Toriyama, Chouzenshuu 4 Interview wrote:Also, I participated in the selection of the voices for the main cast, which is rare for me. I'd listen to the audition tapes and then choose; I remember that I thought that Masako Nozawa-san's voice truly fit Goku to a T.
My guess is that out of respect for the creator TOEI wanted to make sure at the very least the key characters' voices all had Toriyama's blessing.

It also sounds like Toriyama went the extra mile to ensure the voice for Goku was right, which I applaud him for.

Conversely, for characters that appeared later it doesn't seem they had to audition as Tōru Furuya and Ryō Horikawa in the TV Animation Part 3's "Super Voice Talks" said this was not the case for them. So for characters like Yamcha, Charmy Yamada and even Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z Toriyama's involvement (if any) in their casting is unclear:
Were the voice actors cast through auditions?
Nozawa: I was.

Tsuru: So was I.

Horikawa: I was just told, “do it”.

Furuya: I didn’t audition.

Nozawa: Lucky you. (laughs)

Furuya: That’s because it’s a supporting role. (laughs)

Horikawa: It’s because Vegeta appears partway through. Maybe that’s why there wasn’t an audition?

Furuya: The show didn’t have very many auditions. The reason is because they used nothing but veteran voice talent.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

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Re: How much was Toriyama involved in casting?

Post by BootyCheeksJohnson » Tue Oct 01, 2024 8:14 pm

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote: Tue Oct 01, 2024 8:10 am People only seem to talk about the casting of Nozawa, but evidently it was no exception.

Here's some interviews where Toriyama says his role in picking the voices didn't just extend to the Son family:
Akira Toriyama, Daizenshuu 3 interview wrote:
I also listened to the voice actors' audition tapes, and worked on deciding who would play each role. In deciding Goku's part, I listened to the voices of five or six people, and chose Masako Nozawa-san from among them.
Akira Toriyama, Chouzenshuu 4 Interview wrote:Also, I participated in the selection of the voices for the main cast, which is rare for me. I'd listen to the audition tapes and then choose; I remember that I thought that Masako Nozawa-san's voice truly fit Goku to a T.
My guess is that out of respect for the creator TOEI wanted to make sure at the very least the key characters' voices all had Toriyama's blessing.

It also sounds like Toriyama went the extra mile to ensure the voice for Goku was right, which I applaud him for.

Conversely, for characters that appeared later it doesn't seem they had to audition as Tōru Furuya and Ryō Horikawa in the TV Animation Part 3's "Super Voice Talks" said this was not the case for them. So for characters like Yamcha, Charmy Yamada and even Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z Toriyama's involvement (if any) in their casting is unclear:
Were the voice actors cast through auditions?
Nozawa: I was.

Tsuru: So was I.

Horikawa: I was just told, “do it”.

Furuya: I didn’t audition.

Nozawa: Lucky you. (laughs)

Furuya: That’s because it’s a supporting role. (laughs)

Horikawa: It’s because Vegeta appears partway through. Maybe that’s why there wasn’t an audition?

Furuya: The show didn’t have very many auditions. The reason is because they used nothing but veteran voice talent.
I'd imagine that he'd also have final on Bulma since she's the second most important character in the series, glad to have that confirmation. I'd read through Derek Padula's writings that Horikawa didn't audition and that he (or, more likely his agent) was simply approached by the show's producer to play the part. It was stated in the foreword to his "Over 9,000" book. For the other supporting characters I'm sure that his opinion had weight to it (such as with the Yajirobe situation) but I wouldn't be surprised if as time went on the producers picked out the supporting cast by themselves, or picked who they liked and just showed them to Toriyama for affirmation.
We need a Steve Simmons' re-translation of the manga.

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