Dragonball Kai (FUNimation English) Dub: General Discussion

[ConfusedPhantom]

I like Sean Schemmel's Goku now. He actually made me smile for once in the more silly moments Goku has.

So we're gonna hear the new Freeza tomorrow, right?

[jjgp1112]

Except Nozawa actually emotes, and tones down the "happy-go-lucky cheerful Goku" when necessary, speaks softly when she needs to, and sounds desperate and sad when she needs to, unlike MasakoX and Peter Kelamis. Granted, we haven't really heard MasakoX's Goku outside of parodies, but just because he may possibly be able to get the other aspects doesn't make him automatically the best and I'm not going to say he can't either.

It's debatable whether or not Kelamis and MasakoX get the child-like innocence of Goku down better than Schemmel, but that is the only aspect they get down, leaving the other points in the shadows. Kelamis may be able to scream "like Nozawa", but he sounds pretty forced when doing so, while MasakoX's Goku is always in childlike, happy silly Goku mode which is, as stated before, likely due to the nature of DBZ Abridged, but I don't think that the fact that we haven't heard him properly tackle the other aspects makes him automatically the "best English Goku ever".

Schemmel in Kai is able to tap into all aspects of Goku's character, whether it be happy Goku, angry Goku, or hurt Goku while also sounding natural in terms of voice and delivery.

Except those are the times when Schemmel doesn't sound like Gokuh at all. He can only keep up the Gokuh charade when he's portraying a "happy-go-lucky cheerful Gokuh".

But Goku is happy go lucky cheerful. When he's angry, he's not being his normal self. Therefore, he should change his voice depending on the situation. Even Nozawa has a different voice when Goku is angry or serious. it's called range. I can guarantee that i have a different voice when I'm mad.

[linkdude20002001]

When Nozawa voices Angry Gokuh, he still sounds like Gokuh. Only maybe Super Saiyan Gokuh got such a drastic change in voice. For Schemmel's Angry Gokuh, he sounds like a different character.

[jjgp1112]

When Nozawa voices Angry Gokuh, he still sounds like Gokuh. Only maybe Super Saiyan Gokuh got such a drastic change in voice. For Schemmel's Angry Gokuh, he sounds like a different character.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmA72DFZ_MI

Either we're watching two different shows, or Sean Schemmel still sounds like Sean Schemmel in this clip. It just seems like people are looking for reasons to dislike a certain voice, to the point where even a natural change in voice for a situation is considered "wrong."

[El Diabeetus]

Then you have to learn to live with the fact that the character themself has an annoying voice. That's just how that character is.

Except Nozawa actually emotes, and tones down the "happy-go-lucky cheerful Goku" when necessary, and actually speaks softly when she needs to, and sounds desperate and sad when she needs to, unlike MasakoX and Peter Kelamis. Granted, we haven't really heard MasakoX's Goku outside of parodies, but just because he may possibly be able to get the other aspects doesn't make him automatically the best.

It's debatable whether or not Kelamis and MasakoX get the child-like innocence of Goku down better than Schemmel, but that is the only aspect they get down, leaving the other points in the shadows. Kelamis may be able to scream "like Nozawa", but he sounds pretty forced when doing so, while MasakoX's Goku is always in childlike, happy silly Goku mode which is, as stated before, likely due to the nature of DBZ Abridged, but I don't think that the fact that we haven't heard him properly tackle the other aspects makes him automatically the "best English Goku ever".

Schemmel in Kai is able to tap into all aspects of Goku's character, whether it be happy Goku, angry Goku, or hurt Goku while also sounding natural in terms of voice and delivery.

I don't know. There's nothing wrong with Schemmel's Goku. It's Goku, maybe not up to Masako Nozawa's level. Which is very hard to get close to. But, can you really blame FUNimation for keeping him still? This isn't like Freeza, Gohan and Bulma. After 10 years, you replace Goku, everyone will notice. And with Gohan I think they should bring Stephanie Naldony for Pre-teen Gohan at the Cell games, the voice is appropriate there. But, if Colleen stay there I'm fine with it, I love Colleen's Goahn.

MasakoX is the best NON-professional (fan) Goku I've seen by far. He's as good as Schemmel in my opinion and Schemmel's a respectable actor (in my opinion) so that's not an insult at all. Although it would be nice to see him channel Nozawa more, FUNimation would just have to tweak the nuances of Goku's speaking rather than Schemmel being bad at being Goku. He's one of the most improved and I can feel Nozawa in Schemmel's performance (not all the time; but, it's there) this time around. Accurate dialouge (for the most part) is really helping. Schemmel isn't the noob from 10 years ago who just randomly auditioned and had no idea who Goku even was when he wanted to be Captain Ginyu. He is the English Goku as of now.

Don't get me wrong, Kelamis isn't bad. I just think he still isn't that right for Goku. Actually, except for Kirby Morrow (and Steve Blum in the English Final Bout), I thought all of Goku's English voices have fit so far.

Well, from what it seems all English Goku's seem to get the Happy side right. But, not the others, (I personnaly disagree but...) is what I'm getting from linkdude's and penguintruth's posts. Not outright saying "Schemmel can go fuck himself, he never fits Goku".

I'm someone who likes Dub (FUNimation), Japanese, Ocean. Plus, I love seeing multiple versions (languages too) of the same thing to see the route the producers went. I'm pretty easy to please. I'm someone who wants to go into Voice Acting; but, ironically I could care less whether English Goku is like Mrs. Nozawa's Goku. As long as the dialouge and acting are Goku and the voice doesn't look wrong coming out of the characters mouth, I'm happy.

[linkdude20002001]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmA72DFZ_MI

Either we're watching two different shows, or Sean Schemmel still sounds like Sean Schemmel in this clip. It just seems like people are looking for reasons to dislike a certain voice, to the point where even a natural change in voice for a situation is considered "wrong."

I had a hard time finding him talking, but of what little was there, he sounds very off. He doesn't sound too drastically deep like usual, but in that particular clip, his acting (or something...) is rather blah. It's not really a very good example...

[jjgp1112]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmA72DFZ_MI

Either we're watching two different shows, or Sean Schemmel still sounds like Sean Schemmel in this clip. It just seems like people are looking for reasons to dislike a certain voice, to the point where even a natural change in voice for a situation is considered "wrong."

I had a hard time finding him talking, but of what little was there, he sounds very off. He doesn't sound too drastically deep like usual, but in that particular clip, his acting (or something...) is rather blah. It's not really a very good example...

Wait, you consider his "usual" voice (I'm assuming before kai) too deep?! His "usual voice" was already more high pitched than the average male as it is, to the point where he would have to be castrated or reverted to his pre-pubescent years to get any higher. I mean, what do you want from him? Why should he try to "channel" Nozawa when her voice isn't the only possible interpretation of Goku's character in existence in the entire universe?

[linkdude20002001]

No, by "usual" I mean his Angry Gokuh in Kai. This is a very different Gokuh than I've heard in Kai. It's kind of annoying. It's the kind of voice that made me dislike Schemmel's Gokuh in the first place.

[jjgp1112]

No, by "usual" I mean his Angry Gokuh in Kai. This is a very different Gokuh than I've heard in Kai. It's kind of annoying. It's the kind of voice that made me dislike Schemmel's Gokuh in the first place.

But how is it wrong, exactly? I mean, a person's angry voice naturally deviate from their usual voice, and their personality naturally deviates from their normal personality? Can you please explain?

And after watching through this set straight through twice...I still have no idea what you're talking about. How does it sound "not Goku?"

[linkdude20002001]

The difference feels too drastic. If Sabat's Vegeta changed that much, it would sound like another character. I feel Nozawa doesn't differ as much, and yet can still sound angry. So, with Nozawa, you've got Happy Gokuh and Angry Gokuh, and with Schemmel, you've got Happy "Gokuh" and Angry Person. Even Kelamis wasn't as good a I'd've liked, but I think he just needs a better voice director to solve that. With Sabat directing Schemmel, he doesn't have that excuse.

Growing up watching FUNimation's dub, I never felt Schemmel's voice sounded like it should be coming out of Gokuh's mouth. Finally with Kai, I can hear a voice coming out of Happy Gokuh and it doesn't feel like one of those voice overs they've been doing for the Nintendo E3 interviews (I wish they'd just subtitle the thing). But Angry Gokuh just brings it back to that awkward feeling that Happy Gokuh had in DBZ.

[jjgp1112]

The difference feels too drastic. If Sabat's Vegeta changed that much, it would sound like another character. I feel Nozawa doesn't differ as much, and yet can still sound angry. So, with Nozawa, you've got Happy Gokuh and Angry Gokuh, and with Schemmel, you've got Happy "Gokuh" and Angry Person. Even Kelamis wasn't as good a I'd've liked, but I think he just needs a better voice director to solve that. With Sabat directing Schemmel, you can't say that about him.

Growing up watching FUNimation's dub, I never felt Schemmel's voice sounded like it should be coming out of Gokuh's mouth. Finally with Kai, I can hear a voice coming out of Happy Gokuh and it doesn't feel like one of those voice overs they've been doing for the Nintendo E3 interviews (I wish they'd just subtitle the thing). But Angry Gokuh just brings it back to that awkward feeling that Happy Gokuh had in DBZ.

Again, can you actually explain it? Because I honestly have no idea what you're talking about.

[linkdude20002001]

I guess it's not something I can explain any better than that. If you feel like Schemmel's DBZ Gokuh didn't sound awkward coming out of Gokuh's mouth, then there's no way you can understand. It was like watching the show with anything that wasn't the Japanese score; it just didn't feel right (and that was with me not even knowing they replaced the music). I wish I could explain it better. Sorry.

[Mewzard]

I guess it's not something I can explain any better than that. If you feel like Schemmel's DBZ Gokuh didn't sound awkward coming out of Gokuh's mouth, then there's no way you can understand. It was like watching the show with anything that wasn't the Japanese score; it just didn't feel right (and that was with me not even knowing they replaced the music). I wish I could explain it better. Sorry.

There's nothing wrong with that. Some people have different tastes, and like different bits of the characters. To you, Schemmel's voice work sounds awkward, to me his voice work sounds like Goku. That's one of the fun things about DBZ fandom, a variety of fans with a variety of views.

[bkev]

I understand where linkdude is coming from about not being able to explain something, but at least he can admit that he's not good at explaining it. As for me, I keep going back-and-forth. I really thing Schemmel still sounds rather forced as Goku, but I'm not too attached to Masako Nozawa either.

[linkdude20002001]

At least he's trying hard. Since Sabat made the decision to keep him as Gokuh, I'm glad he's at least trying his best. The only thing left I could ask for is for the script to sound 100% like Gokuh rather than just 90%. Would it seriously turn away fans of the DBZ dub to hear Gokuh say "Ain't"?

[B]

Is Sabat still Karin?

[DB_Fan1991]

Is Sabat still Karin?

Yes he still is, but he no longer sounds like Harvey Fierstien. As for the constant bickering going about how better the Ocean, FUNi or Japanese versions are better than one another are giving me a headache. I mean I am a FUNi fanboy granted, but it seems like in every thread there is always a Dub VS Sub debate which is fine, but it then gets out of hand and a fight starts, and then the thread gets locked because of the bickering, so could we please tone down the bickering and get along better I know I'm not a mod nor am I trying to act like one, but still I wanted to have a word about the constant bickering

[Blue]

Is Sabat still Karin?

Yes he still is, but he no longer sounds like Harvey Fierstien. As for the constant bickering going about how better the Ocean, FUNi or Japanese versions are better than one another are giving me a headache. I mean I am a FUNi fanboy granted, but it seems like in every thread there is always a Dub VS Sub debate which is fine, but it then gets out of hand and a fight starts, and then the thread gets locked because of the bickering, so could we please tone down the bickering and get along better I know I'm not a mod nor am I trying to act like one, but still I wanted to have a word about the constant bickering

Well here it's pretty on topic. We ARE discussing the Dragon Ball Kai dub's voice acting and how it stacks up to other voice acting in previous dubs. If we're going to have this debate it may as well be here right?

It's when we get into the
"Yeah huh
"Nuh uh"

one sentence debates things become annoying and messy.

[TheBlackPaladin]

At least he's trying hard. Since Sabat made the decision to keep him as Gokuh, I'm glad he's at least trying his best. The only thing left I could ask for is for the script to sound 100% like Gokuh rather than just 90%. Would it seriously turn away fans of the DBZ dub to hear Gokuh say "Ain't"?

I don't know that that's Schemmel's fault, though. That sounds more like the writer's fault. Then again, I shouldn't be talking because Schemmel is hands-down my favorite Goku ever.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Look guys, all I've been hearing as of recently in this thread is:


Forum poster A: X actor is a good Goku, he captures all sides of his personality well.

Forum poster B: Nuh uh, X actor sucks as Goku and Y actor is ten times as better than X actor can ever hope to be.

Forum poster A: Care to explain why you think Y is a better Goku?

Forum poster B: He just is.

Forum poster A: That's not an explanation.

Forum poster B: Your mother.


I'm no mod, but it's really childish and needs to stop. We're going round in circles and I'm seriously getting dizzy.