Favorite English Goku

Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.
User avatar
Super Sonic
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 5171
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2004 4:45 pm

Favorite English Goku

Post by Super Sonic » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:39 pm

Did search and saw nothing so thought I'd ask who were you guys' favorite English voice of Goku? To keep things civil ask few things in this thread:

1. No comparisons with Nozawa-san please. Might be unfair and unbalanced. Don't hear anyone compare Mr. West's Bugs with Mr. Blanc's.

2. If you don't like the dub, please stay out of the thread. GOt enough language comparisons on here as it is.

Now that's past, for myself, I have to say Stephanie Nadolny in DB, as I thought she portrayed him rather well. Followed closely by Mr. Schemmel as an adult as he is who I most associate with the character. Like Mr. Corlett and Mr. Kelamis as well, as they were the first I heard as really getting into the series. Ms. Henderson also did ok, but due to her not doing it for very long don't associate her as Goku much. Gohan yes, but not Goku.

User avatar
Freeza.exe
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 202
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:10 am

Post by Freeza.exe » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:43 pm

Ian Corlett, he's just a great actor.
My friend broke my PSP just in time for Naruto Ultimate Ninja 5 to come out....WHOOOO!

User avatar
Kaboom
Moderator
Posts: 14506
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2006 6:07 pm

Post by Kaboom » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:45 pm

I rather like how good Sean Schemmel's Goku has become. He can go back and forth between "happy-go-lucky" and "deadly serious" rather well.
[ BlueSky | Bsky: DBS Plots | DeviantArt | Twitter (Depreciated) ]

[PSN/Steam: KaboomKrusader | Switch FC: SW-4304-7361-2824 | ACNH Dream Address: DA-1637-4046-7415 ("SlamZone") ]

Powar Levuls! — DBZ | Movies & Specials | GT

User avatar
jjgp1112
Kicks it Old-School
Posts: 7775
Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:15 pm
Location: Crooklyn

Post by jjgp1112 » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:45 pm

Sean Schemmel, of course.
Yamcha: Do you remember the spell to release him - do you know all the words?
Bulma: Of course! I'm not gonna pull a Frieza and screw it up!
Master Roshi: Bulma, I think Frieza failed because he wore too many clothes!
Cold World (Fanfic)
"It ain't never too late to stop bein' a bitch." - Chad Lamont Butler

User avatar
Saiyaman Prime
Not-So-Newbie
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2009 12:40 am

Post by Saiyaman Prime » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:55 pm

Sean Schemmel is the best IMO.
He portrays Goku well going from serious to goofy. Good thing he landed the role and didn't end up with Ginyu :U.
As for young Goku I'll go with Stephanie Nadolny though I haven't really heard anyone else(English I mean).
Last edited by Saiyaman Prime on Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
.:PoetikaL:.
Regular
Posts: 643
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:59 pm
Location: Pennsylvania
Contact:

Post by .:PoetikaL:. » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:58 pm

Saiyaman Prime wrote:Sean Schemmel is the best IMO.
He portrays Goku well going from serious to goofy. Good thing he landed the role and didn't end up with Ginyu :U.
That was a good panel with him, giving us insight that he at one point wanted to do Captain Ginyu lol.

Anyways, Sean Schemmel, Season 3 I'll give the benefit of the doubt because it was a new voice cast. As he continued, he became to what I consider the definitive Goku voice.
My Deviantart: http://poetikal.deviantart.com
My Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheycallmeBrod

"I beat Toguro, and after that I assumed everything else would just be a big ol' piece of cake. And then some rogue Spirit Detective has to go and open up the freakin' gates of Hell!" -Yusuke Urameshi

I think Tom Dubois of "The Boondocks" said it best for me when FUNimation announced the release of the domestic Dragonbox, after buying all of the Season Sets: "MOTHERFUCK!!! SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT, PRICKS, SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIIIIIIIT!"

User avatar
JulieYBM
Patreon Supporter
Posts: 18600
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: 🏳️‍⚧️🍉

Post by JulieYBM » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:59 pm

I don't like the term 'goofy' being applied to Gokû, but of his eight English speaking child actors and his eight English speaking adult actors, I think I prefer Nadolny/Schemmel, if sheerly for nostalgia and their experience with the role. I just wish they could do a proper dub to truly gauge them.


Also, if I may, Lawrence Simpson's pretty damn good, although he's not official so I guess he wouldn't count.
💙💜💖 She/Her 💙💜💖

User avatar
Saiyaman Prime
Not-So-Newbie
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2009 12:40 am

Post by Saiyaman Prime » Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:01 pm

JulieYBM wrote:I don't like the term 'goofy' being applied to Gokû, but of his eight English speaking child actors and his eight English speaking adult actors, I think I prefer Nadolny/Schemmel, if sheerly for nostalgia and their experience with the role. I just wish they could do a proper dub to truly gauge them.


Also, if I may, Lawrence Simpson's pretty damn good, although he's not official so I guess he wouldn't count.
By that I meant "happy-go-lucky" like Kaboom said. Not like a cartoon character like...Goofy.

User avatar
jjgp1112
Kicks it Old-School
Posts: 7775
Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:15 pm
Location: Crooklyn

Post by jjgp1112 » Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:02 pm

Does Big Green dub Goku count too? Because if that's the case, fuck Schemmel, he's the best English Goku :P
Yamcha: Do you remember the spell to release him - do you know all the words?
Bulma: Of course! I'm not gonna pull a Frieza and screw it up!
Master Roshi: Bulma, I think Frieza failed because he wore too many clothes!
Cold World (Fanfic)
"It ain't never too late to stop bein' a bitch." - Chad Lamont Butler

User avatar
JulieYBM
Patreon Supporter
Posts: 18600
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: 🏳️‍⚧️🍉

Post by JulieYBM » Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:03 pm

jjgp1112 wrote:Does Big Green dub Goku count too? Because if that's the case, fuck Schemmel, he's the best English Goku :P
I do wish we could discover that poor chap's name...
💙💜💖 She/Her 💙💜💖

theoriginalbilis
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1908
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 1:33 pm
Location: United States
Contact:

Post by theoriginalbilis » Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:09 pm

Peter Kelamis is my favorite.

For some reason I really liked his almost surfer dude-ish voice for Goku. His voice during normal conversation or fighting didn't change dramatically or unnaturally like Schemmel's does (Schemmel goes from a natural sounding light tone to a forced sounding serious tone during conversations and fight scenes.)

Kelamis' Kaio-Ken shouts were always spot-on and pronounced correctly duting the 3 Movies, and I like that his voice always got high-pitched up there with Nozawa's at times during fight scenes. I dunno, I just enjoyed his voice and tone for the character.

I like Ian Corlett a lot too, but his screams were somewhat unenthusiastic. Which is a shame, because he was fantastic in many of his other roles (Beast Wars, Reboot, Ramna 1/2.)

I also liked Sean Schemmel too, despite my criticisms earlier in the post. His normal speaking Goku voice is awesome and pefect, but his voice/tone for when Goku is angry or fighting sound forced sometimes. I believe that issue could be resolved if Schemmel redubbed his Goku for "Season 3," but that's probably not gonna happen. Schemmel's probably my 2nd favorite dub Goku voice... plus he's been voicing the role for over 10 years now, replacing him would be kind of off-putting to many (including myself.)

I do not like Kirby Morrow's Goku, it just sounds like every other role he's ever done. Not do I like the UK Goku. Badass voice, but ill-fitting for Goku.
Nothing matters (in a cosmic sense.) Have a good time.

RoarkVegeta
Patreon Supporter
Posts: 1635
Joined: Thu May 29, 2008 8:21 pm
Location: TX

Post by RoarkVegeta » Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:14 pm

Masako Nozawa in English. :P

Ian. Great VA.

User avatar
jda95
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1360
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:51 am
Location: 神様の神殿
Contact:

Post by jda95 » Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:23 pm

Stephanie Nadolny.

User avatar
B
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 5563
Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:15 am
Contact:

Post by B » Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:46 pm

jda95 wrote:Stephanie Nadolny.
Her and Big Green Goku are neck and neck for my heart.

Nozawa/Schemmel/Simpson can keep older Goku; Nadolny just makes little Goku for me... and BG2 really inspires me to write more comedy.
Keen Observation of Dragon Ball Z Movie 4's Climax wrote:Slug shits to see the genki

User avatar
Velasa
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1769
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:55 am
Location: Philly
Contact:

Post by Velasa » Sat Aug 29, 2009 1:33 am

Ian Corlett! :D

I love him so much, he's just wonderful and he's the first voice I think of when I think of the character. The voice Ian uses has the lightness and the innocence that the character needs because while he's a strong dude he's not some butch wrestler-type who has to growl all his lines to sound tough to everyone around him. But at the same time he has these gentles parts to him he's also masculine, and I love the way Ian captures the personality of Son Goku as a young man

I will second however, that there's something unexplainably awesome about Peter's Surfer-Goku, and it never fails to make me smile.
[quote="Rocketman"]Rocketman is to ChiChi as Velasa is to _______.

A. ChiChi
B. Piccolo
C. Goku
D. Bulma[/quote]

User avatar
Eddie
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1059
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:02 am
Location: Nowhere. Quite possibly the middle of it.

Post by Eddie » Tue Sep 01, 2009 2:29 am

Schemmel is easily my favorite. He does great with the more comedic moments ("This interview is some sort of lying contest" & his Budokai 2 stuff comes to mind), and I honestly have no problem with his "action" voice, either.

User avatar
Tweaker
Regular
Posts: 519
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:18 am

Post by Tweaker » Tue Sep 01, 2009 2:35 am

Definitely Ian Corlett for me. He was always able to maintain Goku's innocent, naive tone in a way that none of the English actors could ever pull off anywhere near as well. Not only that, but he can just as easily be as serious and threatening as Nozawa. If I ever had to associate an English voice with Goku, it'd be him.

It's just a shame that he only did up to the Namek ark here in the states. :(

User avatar
Rory
I Live Here
Posts: 2777
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:15 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Post by Rory » Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:33 am

At first, I thought Schemmel. He's just an all round great Goku. Then I realized that he has become one.. since the series has ended, almost redundant huh?.
In the video games, it's definatley Sean Schemmel.. and if I compare his voice work in the games to the show, it's still Schemmel.. but he did terribley in the show.
So for the show, I'd say Peter Kelamis. He channels the original spirit of Goku better than anybody before him (or after him).
As for little Goku.. Stephanie Nadolny is an actor who makes me want to tear my ears off almost as much as Linda Young.

User avatar
Bura
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1247
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:30 pm
Location: Netherlands

Post by Bura » Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:39 am

Ian Corlett, I liked his voice the best out of the bunch. I was very sad when that other guy took over. And Sean Schemmel after that.

But I can't stand Stephanie Nadolny...

User avatar
DemonRin
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1390
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 4:50 am
Location: Somewhere
Contact:

Post by DemonRin » Tue Sep 01, 2009 6:35 am

Corlett hands down, though I will say I thought Schemmel did rather well in Burst Limit.

Post Reply