What you DON'T like about the Actors

[Duo]

I don't see why people expect the characters to sound like real people. I mean sure, it was cool that that's what the Japanese version went for, but at the end of the day, this is a show full of battlemaniacs with hairstyles that look like the could be taken from a palm tree, green aliens, ridiculously arrogant pricks with comically huge foreheads, a group of space pirates named after refrigerated foods with various colors and shapes, etc.

In which people are brutally beaten to death, ripped apart, and hunted by monsters who absorb human flesh for power.

So what? Why can all the Saiyans sound like people you might meet on the street, but Nappa has to sound...so fake?

[jjgp1112]

I don't see why people expect the characters to sound like real people. I mean sure, it was cool that that's what the Japanese version went for, but at the end of the day, this is a show full of battlemaniacs with hairstyles that look like the could be taken from a palm tree, green aliens, ridiculously arrogant pricks with comically huge foreheads, a group of space pirates named after refrigerated foods with various colors and shapes, etc.

In which people are brutally beaten to death, ripped apart, and hunted by monsters who absorb human flesh for power.

So what? Why can all the Saiyans sound like people you might meet on the street, but Nappa has to sound...so fake?

You're making the show sound more mature than it actually is, though. At the end of the day, it's still incredibly cartoony with your typical Cartoon caricatures.

[Duo]

You made it sound overly silly, and I made it sound overly serious. I did that on purpose because the show holds both sides of the coin.

So does real life.

So why shouldn't they sound like people you'd find therein?

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

You made it sound overly silly, and I made it sound overly serious. I did that on purpose because the show holds both sides of the coin.

So does real life.

So why shouldn't they sound like people you'd find therein?

Both versions capture the Serious/Cartoony element in their voices. While there are incredibly silly sounding characters in the Dub there are also serious ones. Just like there are also Silly sounding Japanese characters in the series as well. Recoome is a bumbling idiot and he sounds just as retarded in Japanese as he did in American.

They all shouldn't sound like real people because at the end of the day it is just a silly cartoon with big haired people running around killing each other. I know, its like you said, at the same time everyone shouldn't be silly, because there are serious elements to the story as well. Still though, part of the charm in the characters come from the fact that they are so out of this world bizarre sounding(and looking).

Akira Toriyama has always had goof ball characters with potty humor in every story he writes, and in all honesty if the Dub had more normal or serious sounding characters some of the humor might have been lost.

It is a hard balance to find and I think both companies did their best to try and find it. I liked the Juxtaposition that came with King Kai's voice in the original sub but at the same time there are moments were his silly behavior is lost with the deeper voice(The whole joke thing with Goku wasn't as funny for me in Japanese, but that's just my opinion).

I'm not trying to start a war so don't think of it as that. I'm trying to present a balance and understanding between two similar(but different at heart) things.

That's another thing I don't like about the actors collectivity. It's almost as if the Japanese version did a beautiful job capturing the drama of Dragonball while America did a great job capturing the humor. I'd like to see a balance from both sides.

[NeptuneKai]

Basing your voice acting on the characters appearance alone is really asking for an inappropriate voice. The V.A's should take into consideration the character's personality too. Of course Funi probably did give a summary of the characters personalities to the V.A's but knowing them it was short and incredibly base. "King Kai is a radical little blue dude who makes jokes." Which would undoubtedly lead to the voices we have today. "Trunks is a dude who came back from future he has a sword and a go get em' attitude!" Then Eric Vale gave him this gritty throat cancer voice not taking into consideration the politeness and shy attitude he is supposed to have.

There is absolutly no reason the characters should sound like they popped out of Spongebob. The Dragonball universe in itself is wacky sure but you're still supposed to take it seriously and suspend your disbelief. The Japanese voice cast did a great job at conveying humor too even with natural speaking voices.If you're seriously relying on your character's voice alone to get laughs you're doing it wrong. Then again with the magnificent "jokes" that Funimation thought up I wouldn't doubt they have a loose understanding of what humor is.

You made it sound overly silly, and I made it sound overly serious. I did that on purpose because the show holds both sides of the coin.

So does real life.

So why shouldn't they sound like people you'd find therein?

....and this

[Rocketman]

Then Eric Vale gave him this gritty throat cancer voice not taking into consideration the politeness and shy attitude he is supposed to have.

So nobody with a rough voice can be polite?

[Kunzait_83]

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[Sebastian (SB)]

Wow, Kunzait, I couldn't have said it better myself. Being at my early 20s and Dragon Ball being a "fad" long in the eyes of the majority, people often have asked me why? Or rather like, "Yeah, that show on Toonami". It's just the international presence the series has that goes beyond the English voice acting. There's just so much material of it out there, that I stopped with the English dub/"reversioning" altogether. I agree that that the English dub, as a whole, is a contributing factor to its "fad" status. How cool it was to watch everyday on Toonami just because it was cool. Dragon Ball had long stayed in my mind because it was unlike anything I had seen at the time, and in most cases, it still is. I discovered this community and now I can keep up to date with the global Dragon Ball news, without hearing nonsensical dub vs. sub arguments with incoherent spelling and grammar. It's a safe haven.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

Recoome is a bumbling idiot and he sounds just as retarded in Japanese as he did in American.

Except he’s not a bumbling idiot. He’s only one in the dub due to some dialogue changes and his voice. In the Japanese version, he never says a damn thing that makes him come across as a “bumbling idiot”. He’s a big sentai parody, yeah, with all the goofy poses. He’s weird and he’s crazy. But weird and crazy =/= idiot. His level of intelligence is always portrayed as normal in the original.

Yea, your right. He doesn't say anything below average in his dialog but he does sound a lot like Stalone and Schwarzenegger. With that and the way he's drawn its easy to see why Funimation made the choice they did for him in the dub.

You are right on so many counts and there is no arguing that Funimation and Toei were operating on two different intellectual levels when casting. For me though, as an artist when I want to convey the attitude of a person I "type cast" and this is common with many artist as well. For example the big strong fighter is going to look like he has all muscle and no brains while the smarter guy is going to be more slender and reserved. Which is why I can't get mad at Funimation for doing what they did.

I understand why so many people get pissed off at the dub based on things that go against the original, and its completely justified. Toei handled the dub in a mature manner and as I went back to watch the Japanese scene again listening and watching King Kai again was more than amusing. Toei did an excellent job giving everyone in the show more character.

We will never really know what Toriyama was thinking when he first drew King Kai(In terms of how he would sound). Hell I don't even think he bothered to imagine what King Kai would sound like. The joke was He is an all seeing God yet he's a short stubby alien with sunglasses who at times likes to think hes funny. That was the humor, not the Juxtaposition(can you tell I love that word?) that Toei presented. Toei's move was brilliant, however the fact that he was a comic character first leaves his voice open to interpretation no matter how simple or shallow it may be.

Its a good reason to not like the Voice actors(from either side), because much like going from books to movies, the director isn't going to cast based on what you imagined in your head but rather what he imagined. Hey, if you like it great(why wouldn't you Toei did a great job) but not everyone will be satisfied.

[caejones]

without hearing nonsensical dub vs. sub arguments

*Looks around* ... What?

with incoherent spelling and grammar. It's a safe haven.

Oh.

Actually, I think the "adapted best for American audiences" argument got shot down in Kunzait's post rather well.
I wouldn't call something that turned the popular view of the series into a ridiculous fad anywhere near as successful as an eleven-year run with new episodes almost every week, and then some...

... Well, it sells...?

Well, I guess while I'm in a voiceactors thread...
Watched the episode after "Transformed at Last" the other day (well, the first half or so of it, anyway...). Aside from being distracted by how little was happening (and how the recap rendered the previous episode pointless)... I was surprised at how Stephanie Nedolny's Gohan mostly sounded better than it did earlier in season3. Even Young's 'Frieza' wasn't too incredibly bad in terms of acting (not that the writing or voice did much to help. -_-).
Sean Schimel in season3 clearly sucks, though.
I found myself thinking, though, that some of his 'hero' lines were somewhat awesome if in the right context... but completely and utterly inappropriate for Goku.

(Did Freeza mention the Super Saiya-jin at all before Goku anounced this status in the original? Am I missing which episode the "Ally to Good!" speech was in the dub? ).

[Pitzu]

Freeza mentioned it a few times, but only to mock the legend and say that it doesn't exist.

[jjgp1112]

The thing is, I really don't see any of these deep themes in the characters. All I see with King Kai is a goofy Blue guy who knows what he's talking about. Not some multi-faceted character who has a bunch of interesting contrast in his personality. To me, DBZ is only a little bit more high-brow than you're typical cartoon, which is why I think it's asking too much to expect anything more than cartoony voices. Sure, it's cool that Toei chose the direction it chose, but at the end of the day, it's still a cartoon, and nowhere close to anything resembling realistic.

[Sprite Satan]

Freeza mentioned it a few times, but only to mock the legend and say that it doesn't exist.

Nappa actually uses the term too, comparing it to the strength shown by Gohan during the battle with Raditz.

Now, that's anime only but it's still an interesting choice of words from Nappa. He doesn't say "chou Saiya-jin" or anything like that but the term "Supaa Saiya-jin" itself.

This episodes originally aired May 24, 1989. I don't know how far the manga was ahead compared to the anime at the time but I don't believe the manga had yet to bring up the Super Saiyan legend by this point.

[Kunzait_83]

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[MCDaveG]

Then Eric Vale gave him this gritty throat cancer voice not taking into consideration the politeness and shy attitude he is supposed to have.

So nobody with a rough voice can be polite?

We are talking about pretty bad actors then.....