Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

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Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Jord » Wed Oct 09, 2024 5:58 pm

After having watched Japanese footage of the new Sparking Zero I have to say that Nozawa's Goku sounds considerably strained nowadays unfortunately. Goku sounds more tired since Nozawa seems to have a bit of trouble with reaching the higher registers of her voice, which of course isn't that peculiar at her age.

It's also certainly not due to a lack of effort but iconic lines like Baka yarou! Kamehameha just feel a bit....flat. It's beginning to sound distracting, something the Japanese comments on the video also reflect.

You can listen for yourself;
https://youtu.be/Kv4ukY7HJik?si=F4wOjr3vl21oEeKF

I'd say say she still sounded pretty well during Super and in the FighterZ game but sounded noticeably worse during the tail end of the Kakarot DLC when performing Kid Goku's voice, which again uses her higher registers.

It's a bummer since she basically is Goku and loves the character but playing a game where you're reminded of the voice actors age instead of the character also isn't ideal.

It kinda reminded me of the start of DB Super with Joji Yanami reprising the voice of both the narrator and Kaio and sounding pretty strained.

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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Yuji » Wed Oct 09, 2024 6:11 pm

Nozawa usually phones it in for the videogames. Even Kai was far from her best work. Saying the same lives constantly gets boring. Daima will be a better judge of her health.

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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Thanos » Wed Oct 09, 2024 8:00 pm

I definitely noticed it with SSJ2 Youth Gohan’s rush in SZ. She sounds like she has a cold. But, she’s nearly 88. I’d still rather have this version of her than anyone else in the roles.
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by FortuneSSJ » Wed Oct 09, 2024 8:58 pm

As someone who doesn't care about the english dub, I can clearly see the difference between Sean delivery and Nozawa.

It's a mistake to keep her after Daima. It already is having her voice kid Goku.. .As much as people love her, we have to be reasonable. It's time to move on. She will be 88 years old in a few days and this is a series that has constant screaming.
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Dr. Casey » Wed Oct 09, 2024 9:25 pm

Yuji wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2024 6:11 pm Nozawa usually phones it in for the videogames. Even Kai was far from her best work. Saying the same lives constantly gets boring. Daima will be a better judge of her health.
Yeah, I'll wait until Daima 1 to judge, though she seemed fine in Kakarot's 23rd Budokai DLC last year. I doubt that she'll be 1:1 identical to her 1986 Goku voice, but she should be more than fine. Toru Furuya voiced a young guy in his 30s during Fluffy Paradise in Winter 2024, and I had no idea that it was a 70 year old and not an actual guy in his 30s. Voices hold up better than most people here believe. Alan Young sounded amazingly similar in the PS3 DuckTales remake to his 1980s self despite being well into his 90s.
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Jord » Thu Oct 10, 2024 3:31 am

Dr. Casey wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2024 9:25 pm
Yuji wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2024 6:11 pm Nozawa usually phones it in for the videogames. Even Kai was far from her best work. Saying the same lives constantly gets boring. Daima will be a better judge of her health.
Yeah, I'll wait until Daima 1 to judge, though she seemed fine in Kakarot's 23rd Budokai DLC last year. I doubt that she'll be 1:1 identical to her 1986 Goku voice, but she should be more than fine. Toru Furuya voiced a young guy in his 30s during Fluffy Paradise in Winter 2024, and I had no idea that it was a 70 year old and not an actual guy in his 30s. Voices hold up better than most people here believe. Alan Young sounded amazingly similar in the PS3 DuckTales remake to his 1980s self despite being well into his 90s.
I do feel it's dependant on the character you have to voice and how similar it is to your own voice.
Alan Young did great indeed and Frank Welker still does a great young Freddy Jones in Scooby Door to name another.

To stay in the Dragon Ball realm, I feel that Toshio Furukawa still does a great job as well. The difficulty with Goku's voice is that it's a very dynamic voice that goes up and down through the registers, which makes it more challenging in general. When hitting the higher registers becomes more difficult, you almost lose a 'part' of the voice.

It will sound more like Goku Black actually.

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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Jord » Thu Oct 10, 2024 11:32 am

As for her supposedly half assing video game appearances, here's a live performance from a few days back. (At the start)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oylN9Tj ... nel=oricon

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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by BootyCheeksJohnson » Thu Oct 10, 2024 8:57 pm

She sounds pretty good to me considering her age. She sounds strained when attempting the young kid voices, but as the adults she sounds about on point as usual. Goku is a very demanding role vocally, and if she can still deliver I don't see a reason to replace her. Unless she's on her death bed like Joji Yanami was during his last few performances (respect, but my goodness I hope he didn't hurt himself), or if the anime gets a full reboot with an entirely new cast doing new interpretations of these characters removed from the originals (the Urusei Yatsura reboot for example) I think she's fine as is.
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by JulieYBM » Thu Oct 10, 2024 9:36 pm

Age unfortunately not only leads to less energy to hit those higher pitches, but also more testosterone to thicken the vocal cords and make one's voice deeper. There's a lot of factors that lead to performances changing over time, but Nozawa having to deal with all of these physical factors in addition to putting up with shit like saying the same goddammed lines for a ten billionth time does not help.
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Tian » Fri Oct 11, 2024 12:30 am

JulieYBM wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2024 9:36 pm in addition to putting up with shit like saying the same goddammed lines for a ten billionth time does not help.
That's true. We can't really expect for Masako to play those dialogues with the same intonations as ten or twenty years ago.
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by TechExpert2021 » Fri Oct 11, 2024 12:35 am

Tian wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 12:30 am
JulieYBM wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2024 9:36 pm in addition to putting up with shit like saying the same goddammed lines for a ten billionth time does not help.
That's true. We can't really expect for Masako to play those dialogues with the same intonations as ten or twenty years ago.
Can't Bandai Namco even bother reusing old voice clips of Nozawa's Goku saying the same intonations from older Dragon Ball games in newer Dragon Ball games?
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Jord » Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:26 am

Tian wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 12:30 am
JulieYBM wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2024 9:36 pm in addition to putting up with shit like saying the same goddammed lines for a ten billionth time does not help.
That's true. We can't really expect for Masako to play those dialogues with the same intonations as ten or twenty years ago.
I think they could but they're aiming for consistency so if she records new lines that sound different in tone or quality, it sticks out.

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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by coola » Fri Oct 11, 2024 9:48 am

Personally, i've been waiting for Vegeta recast since Tarble special and Kai, i can't stand that smoke heavy voice.

But, seems like only hope for complete recast is remake, but Ranma 1/2 showed even that might not be case...
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Dr. Casey » Fri Oct 11, 2024 11:05 am

Ranma's cast is generally in their late 50s to early 60s, so not really an age where recasts are needed much. Seiyuus seem to take their roles very seriously and almost always reprise them.
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Vhanos » Fri Oct 11, 2024 4:08 pm

BootyCheeksJohnson wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2024 8:57 pm She sounds pretty good to me considering her age. She sounds strained when attempting the young kid voices, but as the adults she sounds about on point as usual. Goku is a very demanding role vocally, and if she can still deliver I don't see a reason to replace her. Unless she's on her death bed like Joji Yanami was during his last few performances (respect, but my goodness I hope he didn't hurt himself), or if the anime gets a full reboot with an entirely new cast doing new interpretations of these characters removed from the originals (the Urusei Yatsura reboot for example) I think she's fine as is.
Prior to Daima, Nozawa has been doing work on anime shows other than Dragon Ball. She did roles in Mysterious Disappearances, Go Go Loser Ranger, The Foolish Angel Dances with the Devil, Power of Hope Precure Full Bloom. I guess doing these other anime kept her in shape. She can still do the job.

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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Rory » Fri Oct 11, 2024 5:37 pm

Blah blah blah, it's not anyone's fault, blah blah blah inevitability of aging, blah blah blah incredible actress.
Anyway, I've been saying this for a while. I'm ride or die Nozawa when it comes to the original run of Dragon Ball - GT. I wouldn't consider engaging with the anime in any other fashion. Hell, everything up till roughly the end of the PS2 games, all I heard was Goku, exactly how I've always known him.
Kai was the first time I remember feeling "...huh." when I heard her performance. It's because I knew the way those lines should've been delivered inside and out, and all of a sudden something was off. The screams didn't pack as much of a punch (no real 'voice breaks'), the emotive scenes felt a bit phoned in, the higher pitched characters felt a little restrained. Those factors have only been exacerbated over the 15 (jesus christ) years since then. Upon reflection Kai was the perfect opportunity for a total recast, but they squandered it. Now we've got this weird mixed-cast situation, with half the cast moving on or passing on.
What especially sucks is how I used to be able to really easily dispel people's assumptions about Goku's Japanese voice simply by sending clips. That isn't so easy now, since the assumptions are pretty close to reality.
I'm sure Nozawa still loves voicing Goku and at this point, good for her. I'd personally be happy hearing someone else having the torch passed to them.

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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Thanos » Fri Oct 11, 2024 9:41 pm

JulieYBM wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2024 9:36 pm Age unfortunately not only leads to less energy to hit those higher pitches, but also more testosterone to thicken the vocal cords and make one's voice deeper.
I feel like this is exactly why Goku Black works so well. It’s such an unlikely and unusual situation, having a woman in her late 80’s playing a male villain. I’m not actually even sure she would have had the chops to make it nearly as convincing in the 90’s if the character had existed back then. The deeper and more hoarse her voices is, the more bad ass Black sounds.
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by JulieYBM » Fri Oct 11, 2024 9:46 pm

Thanos wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 9:41 pm
JulieYBM wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2024 9:36 pm Age unfortunately not only leads to less energy to hit those higher pitches, but also more testosterone to thicken the vocal cords and make one's voice deeper.
I feel like this is exactly why Goku Black works so well. It’s such an unlikely and unusual situation, having a woman in her late 80’s playing a male villain. I’m not actually even sure she would have had the chops to make it nearly as convincing in the 90’s if the character had existed back then. The deeper and more hoarse her voices is, the more bad ass Black sounds.
Eh, she did Super Saiyan 3 Gokuu and Super Saiyan 4 Gokuu in the 1990s and those two had deeper voices. I also think she would have leaned more into her Tullece performance, too. It would have been interesting to see how that turned out.
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by FortuneSSJ » Sat Oct 12, 2024 8:07 pm

I've been thinking if Nozawa isn't actually one of the reasons why Gohan often gets sidelined, in order to not overwork her. If that's the reason, that's stupid. Just find someone else to voice the character.
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Re: Unfortunately Nozawa seems to have more and more trouble with Goku's voice

Post by Yuji » Sat Oct 12, 2024 8:20 pm

She sounded fine in episode 1. As fine as her Super work. I'm worried for her child voice next episode, however.

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