Is adult Goku's Japanese voice keeping dub fans away?

[Kaboom]

I don't know about anyone else, but I don't need to know the vocabulary or be able to translate the dialogue or anything. I have trustworthy subtitles for that.

But I can still recognize a good voice when I hear it. When you accustom yourself to it and try your best to appreciate these things on a somewhat deeper level, then the voice becomes more than just the words being spoken.

There's emotion behind it, and that emotion often 'speaks' just as much or more than the dialogue itself. You don't have to crack open the dictionary to still recognize when a character is putting out a scream of anguish, or breaking into joyful laughter, or making a solemn or grim observation, or cracking a corny joke. The language doesn't matter; those type of inflections and tones are universal.

It's in THAT department where, despite the language barrier, I can still firmly attest that I've yet to see any performance that comes even close to that of the Japanese cast.

To better relate to the topic, it's especially true for Goku. I completely agree with Tweaker as to why and how Goku's adult voice is still entirely appropriate, and how I came to see that for myself. Honestly, go read his post on the topic because, aside from some different timing, my experience was practically identical.

[sangofe]

I never thought Goku sounded feminine, but rather alien.

[Dogasu]

I'm only bothering to reply to the people who are actually staying on-topic. Seriously, people; this is not a dub vs. sub thread.

Eh, I don't know. I don't really think many dub fans give the original version much of a chance at all, if any. The more-often-than-not scenario is they saw a couple clips on YouTube and formed an opinion just from that. But, in that regard, if all they saw was 13 seconds of Nozawa's performance and decided they didn't like it, then I would say yes to your original question, if only because the majority of the people with that complaint don't know anything beyond that argument because they haven't cared to actually sit down and watch a couple of Japanese episodes.

I definitely see that as a possibility. Yet at the same time...I would think something like the music, which doesn't require any knowledge of a foreign language to fully comprehend, would stick out more to dub fans. Even in those little thirteen second clips. Yet all I ever hear is "Adult Goku sounds like a girl."


It looks like Saiyan-Professor doesn't like the dub for a number of non-Nozawa Masako related reasons. Fair enough.

I don't know if the voice turns off dub fans though. When I first heard her I already knew the 'pure of heart' sort of character was always voiced by a woman so it wasn't really a surprise. I'd have to hope something like that wouldn't be enough to turn someone away from the original though o_O Seriously. It's such a small thing, and it's not as if she ever puts on a bad performance.

Well, Son Goku *is* the main character. So his voice being "off" to people is going to stick with them.

But yeah, the whole idea behind this thread is that Goku's Japanese voice is turning dub fans away. And my question - which no one's really addressed yet - is whether or not a male VA for adult Goku, in the Japanese version, would have made the Japanese version more "acceptable" to Westerners.

[Velasa]

If they can ignore all of the obvious quality issues because they're confused by Son's voice, I doubt a male VAS would make that much diffrence for them.

[Tsukento]

I've definitely noticed what turns people off from Japanese DBZ are two things:

1) Goku's voice
2) The music

And of course, it's generally basing it all off of the English dub. Unfortunately, some folk tend to take it a step further with the whole "All of the voices are on helium" despite the fact that there's as many male voices as there are male characters voiced by females.

Funny thing about it is how they complain about Goku...yet their Freeza is voiced by an old woman spouting homosexual undertones and really bad puns.

[Tommy]

The music bothers me more than Goku's voice. I just can't get into the show with that soundtrack.

[jda95]

When I first started watching the Japanese, Goku's voice was definitely a shock. Now I can't think of the show without our Son's voice like that.

I can understand the music being a big turn-off for many people, especially compared to the polar opposite Faulconer music that it is contrasted to.

[VenomSymbiote]

I'm not really a fan of the Japanese version. I love it, but to me, it isn't DBZ. I'm a true dubbie. This also applies to Masako Nozawa. Now, I don't nesscarily despise her portrayal of Goku. It isn't that Goku sounds like a woman, but I find that best way to describe it is, compared to Schemmel, who's portrayal of Goku I know and love, Masako's Goku sounds too much like a woman. Not is, just too much like. This is the main reason why Nozawa's Goku will never be the Goku that is Goku to me. Her VA is just... not male enough.

So for you, is Nozawa's voice the main reason you just can't get into the Japanese version? Would the show feel more like DBZ to you if he was voiced by a man?

Probably, yeah. I mean, to me anyway, most of the characters performances in the dub tend to resemble their Japanese counterparts (Hercule, for example. To me, Chris Rager and Daisuke Gori play the character exactly the same). Goku, however, sounds way too different compared to Schemmel. That makes it difficult for me to accept that she is the Japanese Goku.

[MCDaveG]

Today seems to be a hate day..... I hate Sean Schemmel's voice for Goku..... I like most the japanese, german, french (holy cow, in SSJ4 state he's a real killer) and Hungarian

[The Tori-bot]

the Hanna-Barbera/70’s porn background music

What show were you watching?

[desirecampbell]

The first time I heard Nozawa's Goku everything just "clicked" for me. I'd been watching The Ocean dub for years at that point, well accustomed to a deeper, masculine Goku; but the moment I heard Nozawa, there was never any other voice for the character.

[caejones]

For what it's worth, my cousin (who's basically been into the show since he was born... *recalls once when he was one-ish and Vegeta appeared on the screen, and he slapped him with both hands*)'s only complaint about voices between the two versions that I can recall is with regards to Vegeta... he never seemed to have any issues with Goku (To be fair, having six Japanese games around all the time might have helped there...).

When I first heard Nozawa's (well, umm, credis for Super Butoden 3?) Goku, it was in the opening to Super Butoden 3. All I really thought of it was "Sounds Japanese XD ". Actually, it was more how some of the yells in SB3 sounded more like Dub Dende that threw me off, but nah, never bothered me.

So far as I heard (all back in 1999-2001, mind you), noone said much about Goku's voice (someone did say that in Japanese Goku is a woman, but it didn't sound like a complaint). S'yah, Beats me.
Neah, "Action Fun-ness" and "Extreme Action!" needn't be mutually exclusive, but the transition between the two is apparently rather harsh, given the divisions in the fanbase. I actually kinda think Nozawa's Goku defines Japanese DB, and Sabat's Vegeta defines English DBZ.

[jjgp1112]

...And you guys try to say that Sub fans aren't over-protective of the Japanese version. This proves otherwise.

[Sebastian (SB)]

To partially answer your question Dogasu, yes, I do think that if Son Goku was voiced by a male seiyuu it would be more acceptable to dub fans and even those "hardcore" sub fans. For example, I have a network of friends that I've met with on some occasions that absolutely hate dubs with the common reason of language barriers when dealing with pronunciations (you know since vowels in Japanese are different from English. That's why you end up with ocassional "KAMEEYAMEEYA" and "NUHRUUTO"s). Yet, when I pop in an episode of Dragon Ball Z, watch some of the new DB special, or play some Burst Limit in Japanese voices. That same exact reaction of "Goku sounds like a girl" constantly pops up. How can you claim to hate dubs, yet turn the other cheek around, when it comes to Dragon Ball without any real exposure beyond a snippet of an episode or video game? It's hypocritical in my view to say the least. It's also something that I deal with on an occasional basis.

The only educated response I've ever received from a friend who watches anime subbed, was that he didn't like that the Son family and Burdock had the same voice pitch, which I can understand. He didn't give the same typical response heralded by dub and majority of sub fans alike. He personally doesn't like Goku's voice from what I know, but at least he wasn't stereotypical about it.

I think the original Japanese Dragon Ball as a whole is somewhat of a black sheep of the family when it comes to anime. It's often viewed with the same response from dub and sub fan circles, so I do think having a male seiyuu would help the case by a bit. I personally am open to any sort of rendition of an anime series. While watching anime subbed is my preference, I'm really enjoying FUNI's One Piece dub. I don't necessarily feel like anything's really out of place and as much as I disliked Sabat's vocal performances in Z, I'm really enjoying his take on Zoro.

[Adamant]

language barriers when dealing with pronunciations (you know since vowels in Japanese are different from English. That's why you end up with ocassional "KAMEEYAMEEYA" and "NUHRUUTO"s).

That's not a language barrier, that's the actors/voice director/whatever not giving a shit. English speakers are perfectly capable of pronouncing stuff right, and it's not like it's completely unheard of in dubs, either. From what I've seen of the American Naruto dub, they got the pronounciation right roughly half the time (though that sadly depended on which character was speaking, not which name was spoken, making it more probable it's the actors' fault - I kind of doubt the voice director would instruct half the cast to pronounce names right, and the other half to pronounce them wrong).

Seriously, all it takes is for someone to say "It's pronounced "ka-me-ha-me-ha", not "ka-maya-maya"". It's not hard.

[sbk]

To OP: for me, yes. And not just Goku.

[Saiyan-Professor]

So every voice in the Japanese version except SSJ4 Goku annoys you?

That's just as completely incomprehensible, but okay.

I never said that, the others are okay but since Kakarrot is in everyone’s face all time, I have to hear that annoying voice coming out of his mouth. The Super Saiyan 4 voice is more masculine so I like it because that is what I expect from male (super) heroes.

the Hanna-Barbera/70’s porn background music

What show were you watching?

The exact same show that you are watching, I am used to the Falconer and alternative rock bands that were present in the editions form Funimation. It makes the show seem hardcore in comparison to an ol-skool Saturday morning cartoon. That is one of the reasons why I gravitate towards present-day animes. The current background music makes the shows feel exciting and current. I just heard Orange Hero and I like it because it is reminiscent of a certain manga/anime that everyone seems to hate.

[Dr. Casey]

I never said that, the others are okay but since Kakarrot is in everyone’s face all time, I have to hear that annoying voice coming out of his mouth. The Super Saiyan 4 voice is more masculine so I like it because that is what I expect from male (super) heroes.

Ah. Well, at least you should have no problems listening to the Garlic Jr. Saga in the original Japanese (Which is a good thing since it's one of the better parts of the series).

[jjgp1112]

Oh man, Saiyan Professor, you're about to be in the same role as a bus in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement.

[Velasa]

I grew up on Alternative rock, and unless that definition has changed drastically it doesn't cover 'bands' like Disturbed. And god I use that term loosely because I had the misfortune to see them once when they opened for STP.

Dragonball will never be as 'hardcore' as FUNi and yourself seem to be wishing hon. I hope you enjoy your version but don't pretend that's the way it's meant to be seen.