Opinions of Schemmel?

Satan-Sama · Post by **Satan-Sama** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 9:11 pm

jjgp1112 wrote:Yeah, it's good, although it actually sounds a lot more like Yamcha trying to be sexy.

This statement made me laugh and is actually a bit true.

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 12:06 am

Suupaa Gohan 2 wrote:
Captain Awesome wrote:In terms of Sabat's more 'natural' sounding voice...it may be an odd example, but I'm sure many of you are familiar with Shin Chan (I don't care if they totally butchered the show's script, they did it in the opposite way of most dubs, and I think it's hilarious)...the voice of Mr. K, the bodyguard of the rich girl Ai. He's not exactly a huge role in the series, but find one of the episodes he's in...I think that's the closest I've ever heard to Sabat's natural speaking voice in any of the FUNi dubs. If he were to voice Vegeta sounding more like that, I think he'd be a pretty fantastic voice for the part.

I like Mr. K's voice. "Miss, you all right? Want me to punch him in the junk?"

B · Post by B » Sat Jan 10, 2009 12:09 am

Sabat's natural speaking voice is in tons of dubs.

LegendarySSJ7 · Post by **LegendarySSJ7** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:10 am

I'm of the opinion that Schemmel did good voicework as far as sheer ranges of raw emotion go. He had an admirable way of adding emotion to Goku's voice. He shined best whilst his tone was emotional. As far as making Goku sound in character like the original Japanese format (Masako Nozawa) and Ian Corlett of the OCEAN dub (meshing Schemmel's coarse tones with Nozawa's pleasingly youthful tones for an awesome mingling).... not so much. I always felt Schemmel contributed well and never flew into an ire about him, especially praising him in my earlier years without hide nor hair of unctuousness. And Schemmel even managed to switch between his fervent and more dulcet tones well in the anime portions of the RoSaT with Gohan. My only issue is the slightly vexing squeak and undertone I feel his screams have and that he, like most of FUNimation's VAs, gives fruition to his own character while he voices Son Goku rather than trying to adhere to what Nozawa gave the character.

Another peeve I have with the fandom at large and in general is how they chastise Nozawa for giving Goku feminine tone. That throws me for a loop and arrests my attention, especially hearing how in earnest she can get in tone and how well she captures the character (and that she plays both Goku, Gohan, and Goten - an ambidextrous quality in voice acting that holds more merit than Sabat's, with no offense). She gave the character a certain intensity in tones that I felt made her great for the role. But as far as sheer emotion goes, I feel Schemmel does well. He just creates his own "Goku" for me, which deters his performance above all else in my eyes, but it's less the performance and more the mischaracterization and strain. An example is the series run - while Sean did a good job, the difference between say, his inaugural SSj3 transformation and the fight with Chibi Boo? Solely different in a terms of tone to me.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying English VAs can't improve upon the original portrayals. Scott McNeil is an excellent testament to that. Toshio Furukawa was good as Piccolo but a tad too bland for my tastes. Scott McNeil easily improves upon both Toshio's and Sabat's work (who was best accentuated for the calm depth of tone he'd give Piccolo, making him rather good after Piccolo assimilated with Kamisama in the Cell Arc), giving Piccolo a certain merciless edge (though I feel that Scott could have done with a tad less raspy quality to his voice but that's a paltry pet peeve). English VAs can rather bring more out of the characters they voice than the original format's Seiyuus. But I do tend to feel the Seiyuus put a certain terseness of emotion into their voice, especially palpable in the more quiet moods of the anime that were abounded in tensity, that make them most befitting to voice the characters in my opinion. I do feel Schemmel is good. Not quite on, say, Eric Vale's, Chuck Huber's, Kyle Hebert's, Andrew Chandler's, or Dameon Clarke's level IMO. But good nontheless.

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:17 pm

Same here. I always thought that the Japanese Piccolo, as well as Vegeta, both had those generic Japanese villain voices that you hear in every Anime. Sabat's Piccolo in the Ultimate Uncut Seasons 1 & 2, and especially the first 3 movies was awesome.

Mr. Announcer · Post by **Mr. Announcer** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:59 pm

Well, you have to remember, a lot of voices tend to sound the same or generic when they're performed in a foreign language.

About Schemmel though, never liked him, probably never will. It's not that I don't think he became quite skilled with the character by the end of it all, but for whatever reason be it the writing or his tone of voice, he just never fit as Gokuh for me.

I don't really buy the whole musclemen shouldn't be played by women thing either. I remember watching the original version on television when I was around 9 and of course I never gave it any thought. Couple years later I found out that the actor was a woman and I was like "What? Seriously? Well I suppose that must be true..." I guess what I'm trying to say is that as long as the character is portrayed well, kids will accept whatever voice they're presented with.

Not that this is Schemmel's fault either, but I think doing the voice for Gokuh in the correct chronology from child to adult really adds an extra layer to Nozawa's Gokuh voice. She pretty much shaped the character in the original.

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 3:17 pm

One thing I've never understood though, is why people say Schemmel made him sound like a generic super hero. Too much of an adult male in the Cell saga, I'll give you that, but he never sounded like a generic, 1930's Superman. Hell, none of Goku English VA's sound like a generic Super Hero (sure, Kirby Morrow and Ian Corlett were a little too badass sometimes, but they were good, too) besides whoever played him in the AB Groupe dub.

MajinVejitaXV · Post by **MajinVejitaXV** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 4:16 pm

jjgp1112 wrote:Same here. I always thought that the Japanese Piccolo, as well as Vegeta, both had those generic Japanese villain voices that you here in every Anime. Sabat's Piccolo in the Ultimate Uncut Seasons 1 & 2, and especially the first 3 movies was awesome.

Were irony a power level, my scouter would be exploding into pieces right now O_o;;

-Corey

Metalwario64 · Post by **Metalwario64** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 4:26 pm

LegendarySSJ7 wrote:My only issue is the slightly vexing squeak and undertone I feel his screams have and that he, like most of FUNimation's VAs, gives fruition to his own character while he voices Son Goku rather than trying to adhere to what Nozawa gave the character.

So you think all dub voice actors should imitate the Japanese voices?

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:33 pm

MajinVejitaXV wrote:
jjgp1112 wrote:Same here. I always thought that the Japanese Piccolo, as well as Vegeta, both had those generic Japanese villain voices that you here in every Anime. Sabat's Piccolo in the Ultimate Uncut Seasons 1 & 2, and especially the first 3 movies was awesome.
Were irony a power level, my scouter would be exploding into pieces right now O_o;;

-Corey

I don't see the irony. Vegeta, Piccolo, and damn near all Japanese "Badass" villains sound exactly the same.

Mr. Announcer · Post by **Mr. Announcer** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:37 pm

The point he was making I believe is that in the FUNimation version they literally do sound the same...

DBHighDefinition · Post by **DBHighDefinition** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:41 pm

Mr. Announcer wrote:The point he was making I believe is that in the FUNimation version they literally do sound the same...

You've been SABATISED...we've all been SABATISED...and there was nothing we could do.

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:46 pm

I wouldn't go that far. I can pretty much tell who's talking without even looking.

Captain Awesome · Post by **Captain Awesome** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:25 am

jjgp1112 wrote:I wouldn't go that far. I can pretty much tell who's talking without even looking.

The point isn't that you can't differentiate, it's that Piccolo and Vegeta (and whatever muscular man Chris Sabat is voicing) in the FUNimation dub sound almost identical with a few subtle differences, especially with the way Sabat does Vegeta in the Boo arc, they are all just variations on the same deep gruff sounding voice.

As for the Japanese voices sounding "generic", to me they sound like actual people, where as the dub seems to be more centred around over the top character voices, which in my opinion aren't even remotely convincing.

Pain · Post by **Pain** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:27 pm

Captain Awesome wrote:
jjgp1112 wrote:I wouldn't go that far. I can pretty much tell who's talking without even looking.
The point isn't that you can't differentiate, it's that Piccolo and Vegeta (and whatever muscular man Chris Sabat is voicing) in the FUNimation dub sound almost identical with a few subtle differences, especially with the way Sabat does Vegeta in the Boo arc, they are all just variations on the same deep gruff sounding voice.

As for the Japanese voices sounding "generic", to me they sound like actual people, where as the dub seems to be more centred around over the top character voices, which in my opinion aren't even remotely convincing.

So you're saying that the character's voices don't sound real?

Satan-Sama · Post by **Satan-Sama** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 3:53 pm

Captain Awesome wrote:
jjgp1112 wrote:I wouldn't go that far. I can pretty much tell who's talking without even looking.
The point isn't that you can't differentiate, it's that Piccolo and Vegeta (and whatever muscular man Chris Sabat is voicing) in the FUNimation dub sound almost identical with a few subtle differences, especially with the way Sabat does Vegeta in the Boo arc, they are all just variations on the same deep gruff sounding voice.

As for the Japanese voices sounding "generic", to me they sound like actual people, where as the dub seems to be more centred around over the top character voices, which in my opinion aren't even remotely convincing.

They sound nothing alike! Just because you are not a fan of the dub, doesn't mean you can say Sabat's voices sound the same... Piccolo has a deep manly voice, Vegeta's voice sounds like an asshole who smoked too many cigarettes. Many of the Japanese voices sound very similar, even if the voice acting is better.

Pitzu · Post by **Pitzu** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:03 pm

jjgp1112 wrote:I wouldn't go that far. I can pretty much tell who's talking without even looking.

Yep.

Piccolo is more of a deep and gruff sounding voice, more angry sounding.
Vegeta is softer and a bit rougher, but with a more irritated tone than angry.

MajinVejitaXV · Post by **MajinVejitaXV** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:05 pm

Satan-Sama wrote:They sound nothing alike! Just because you are not a fan of the dub, doesn't mean you can say Sabat's voices sound the same...

Just because he's not a fan of the dub doesn't render his opinion completely void though. Sabat managed to seperate the voices a bit, however from the time that he took over such a wide variety of roles people have teased that you could tell who he played. And to this day I can very much tell who Chris is voicing.

It's not necessarily a huge blow against him (I can tell who Scott McNeil voices, who Steven Blum voices, etc.), it's just a valid opinion. Vocal range is not his biggest asset.

Piccolo has a deep manly voice, Vegeta's voice sounds like an asshole who smoked too many cigarettes.

Err, both sound like they're on the verge of a bad case of emphysema to me.

Many of the Japanese voices sound very similar, even if the voice acting is better.

Seriously? I don't hear that at all. Can you give examples? It may be that its a foreign language which makes you think they sound similar, or just the great difference in the approach to the characters (i.e. - They sound...err, real. Not overly cartoony, except when desired like with Majin Boo).

-Corey

DBHighDefinition · Post by **DBHighDefinition** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:09 pm

Many of the Japanese voices sound very similar, even if the voice acting is better.

Seriously? I don't hear that at all. Can you give examples? It may be that its a foreign language which makes you think they sound similar, or just the great difference in the approach to the characters (i.e. - They sound...err, real. Not overly cartoony, except when desired like with Majin Boo).

-Corey

Goku, Gohan, Goten, Tullece, Bardock.

...Kaio-sama, and narrator.

Metalwario64 · Post by **Metalwario64** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:10 pm

MajinVejitaXV wrote:
Piccolo has a deep manly voice
Err, both sound like they're on the verge of a bad case of emphysema to me.

...So people with emphysema sound the same as people with naturally deep speaking voices?

Seriously, this is one of the things that makes me mad about so-called "dub h8terz" most of the time I see dub bashing, they bring up examples from when FUNimation started their dubbing.

Seriously, near the end of Season Four, around the episode he decides to become one with Kami, Sabat's voice for Piccolo becomes a deeper version of his speaking voice.

DBHighDefinition wrote:
Many of the Japanese voices sound very similar, even if the voice acting is better.

Seriously? I don't hear that at all. Can you give examples? It may be that its a foreign language which makes you think they sound similar, or just the great difference in the approach to the characters (i.e. - They sound...err, real. Not overly cartoony, except when desired like with Majin Boo).

-Corey
Goku, Gohan, Goten, Tullece, Bardock.

...Kaio-sama, and narrator.

Masako Nozowa is the Japanese Christopher Sabat.