New Freeza Talkback

[Rory]

It's really nice! Though I was really shaking my head at the start, I have to stay, Ayres does a great job at not only losing the rasp, but also gaining the gentlemanly charm Freeza is so well known for, yet at the same time, I can totally see this Freeza losing his shit when he's frustrated too.
I called the "Same old shit" card far to quickly.
I hold my hands up, new Freeza is pretty fucking great, and I can't wait to hear more.

[Bura]

I'm glad they got rid of those foreign accents.

[MR.Mark]

I hold my hands up, new Freeza is pretty fucking great, and I can't wait to hear more.

Indeed, I sensed potential greatness and happily I was not disappointed. This fucking rocks, it's Freeza, in English!

[Taku128]

I absolutely hated the one line we heard of Freeza on Thursday, but in those clips Aryes does a really good job. My interest in picking up FUNimaion's Kai Blu-rays has gone up again.

[desirecampbell]

Geez, just listened to all of the clips of the new Freeza, and... it seriously sucks. I really, really, really, really do not get what everyone seems so happy about. It's completely and utterly boring and generic.

These people have set the bar pretty low. I mean, they have to if their opinion of the dub isn't "it's terrible". Getting a passable voice for a major character is a huge accomplishment for the dub.

Anyway, my take on the voice: Ayers' Freeza is the poster child for Funi's DBZKai dub; inconsistent, clinging too closely to the old dub, and the improvements aren't as good as they should be.

Ayers is doing a passable job, probably because he's being directed terribly. If Sabat let him just focus on acting instead of sounding like Newstone we'd probably get a lot more emotion out of the lines (as it stands, there's a lot of "I'm bored"-monotone and too little "I'm bored"-rising anger). His voice itself shifts from very high to medium low inexplicably, it's incredibly distracting.

Meh. I give it a 6/10. Completely acceptable, but completely forgettable.

[omegacwa]

After watching episode 20, and the clip from 21, I think the voice actually sounds pretty good.

I am happy that the voice, although still androgynous, doesn't sound flat out like a woman like it did before, which I think was the main complaint of most people.

[LeprikanGT]

I'm glad they got rid of those foreign accents.

We haven't really gotten to the characters with the most noticeable accents, have we?

I'm going to be sad to hear the Ginyu force without them. They ARE foreign, so why wouldn't they have accents? We are beyond lucky that they all even speak the same language.

[Suupaa Gohan 2]

This is her PLAYING an Old Woman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLQXEwxSK6Y

*bookmarks channel for YYH nostalgia*

I always liked Linda's Genkai. She put a lot of feeling into the character, and though I always wished they got someone else to voice Young Genkai (because again, Linda is an old woman, and she sounds like an old woman trying to not sound like an old woman), she was superb as the old lady. The reason that her as Freeza is so terrible is that even if she was directed properly (as she would have been for Kai), she's still an old woman trying to do a different voice. The fact that her Genkai and Freeza voice are identical, the only difference being direction, attitude, and a voice filter, is the entire point here. She needed to be cut loose from that role, and FUNi made the right decision.

As for Ayers vs. Newstone, yes, there is a similar voice quality. There's two key differences, though. 1) Newstone is a woman trying to sound like an androgynous cartoon alien male (personally the direction always made me think they were going for something like Rita Repulsa from Power Rangers...wow, that statement makes me feel old). Ayers is a man trying to sound like a somewhat androgynous, polite, male alien tyrant. The 'cartoon' aspect is gone from Freeza as it is from most of the characters in the Kai dub, due to proper directing. He can be taken seriously. 2) The voice may be similar to Newstone's, but what sets it apart is the acting. Again, Newstone, like everyone else in the Ocean dub, was directed to have this corny, Saturday Morning Cartoon quality, and it showed. Ayers isn't hamming it up to sound like 'a cartoon character'. Add to that an accurate script and we've got something substancially different than Newstone's performance. In short, yes, the voice is similar, but the portrayal is absolutely nothing like Newstone's, so people need to stop treating this like a bad thing. If you don't like it, that's perfectly fine, but it doesn't mean FUNi made a horrible mistake in doing this just because there is a vocal similarity. Ayers is worlds better than Linda for the role, and his portrayal of the character is still unlike anything we've seen in any English dub, FUNi or Ocean or otherwise. That's the key thing here - performance, more than voice itself.

What I like the most about it is that he noticeably shifts into a more masculine sound when he gets angry (such as the clip where he's demanding the Dragonball from Muuri). This is promising for when it gets to be transformation time, because we'll already be somewhat used to him shifting tones and it'll feel natural, and final-form Freeza will probably get a more suitably masculine voice. Ayers has proven he can drop the feminine tone, which is something neither Newstone nor Linda would be capable of as, well, women. Obvious filter was obvious when it came to Linda's Freeza, and even with a good script and direction in Kai it'd still be obvious - I think that's the reason Sabat decided she had to go, even if he could have been less of an asshole about recasting her so suddenly and then hyping up the new voice. Linda was not an appropriate voice for the character and the fact that she needed a filter is kinda proof of that, don't you think? Like him or not, you can't deny that Ayers feels more natural with the general direction the Kai dub is going in.

I personally am very pleased with this voice. I wasn't expecting this much-hyped 'English Ryuusei Nakao'. I have always been and will always be a fan of the Japanese version, and when I think of Dragonball that is always what I will think of. That is and always will be my version of the series, and it's certainly not going anywhere. I don't have to be thrilled with the dub and I probably won't ever be 100% - I will always hate Sabat as Vegeta and Schemmel as Gokou, but through Kai most of the other voices are growing on me. The dub isn't something I need to abhor anymore, and it feels good to let go of that age-old hatred...I've come to love FUNimation for their spectacular dubbing work in recent years and it feels like a weight is being lifted knowing that they're trying to make as respectable a dub we'll ever get from them out of Kai (I mean let's be realistic, millions of Americans know and love Sabat as Vegeta and Schemmel as Gokou, things like that just couldn't ever be recast even if they should rightly be for a perfect dub, and I've come to accept that...they really do seem to be doing the best they can to act better, so I'll take what I can get). There will never be a perfect FUNimation dub of the Dragonball series. It's been ten years and too much damage has been done to have them completely change that.

I think for what it's worth, even if it's their own fault they fucked up the series to begin with, they are doing a fantastic job of getting it right this time around, as right as they possibly can (if only Schemmel would have @#$% let go of Kaioh). I don't cringe while watching it. I don't cringe knowing that I'm discussing the series with a fellow fan who is only familiar with the dub cast. I can rest easy knowing that the series should hopefully have some closure in the US now, and not have to be written off as the worst English dub in history (thanks, Yu-Gi-Oh! and One Piece). And I can only hope that FUNi, loving to beat their dead horse of a cash cow as they do, will go back and once more redub the original Dragonball Z series once Kai is finished, with their new cast, script, original music and everything else they've done right in Kai. Then we can remove that blemish of a dub's stain on our souls for good.

TL;DR I'm really liking Ayers' Freeza and think the role fits in perfectly with the direction of DBZKai.

[Blue]

I'm glad they got rid of those foreign accents.

We haven't really gotten to the characters with the most noticeable accents, have we?

I'm going to be sad to hear the Ginyu force without them. They ARE foreign, so why wouldn't they have accents? We are beyond lucky that they all even speak the same language.

Erm wha? Only Jheese had an accent right? For some strange reason I never minded Aussie Jheese.

[G1Ravage]

I'm glad they got rid of those foreign accents.

We haven't really gotten to the characters with the most noticeable accents, have we?

I'm going to be sad to hear the Ginyu force without them. They ARE foreign, so why wouldn't they have accents? We are beyond lucky that they all even speak the same language.

Erm wha? Only Jheese had an accent right? For some strange reason I never minded Aussie Jheese.

Back in season 3, Chris Sabat originally gave Reacoom a bit of an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent, and Dale Kelly's Ginyu had some Texas in it.

[Budogenkai]

Yeah, everything bad I said a while back.

Taking that back. Yeah, new Freeza kicks ass. Best not to judge a 10 second clip.

[MR.Mark]

Yeah, everything bad I said a while back.

Taking that back. Yeah, new Freeza kicks ass. Best not to judge a 10 second clip.

Predictions coming true!

OOHOHOHHOHO!

http://nicktoons.nick.com/videos/clip/d ... lip-1.html

More Freeza goodness, and some Dodoria namek slaughter censorship.

[Ultimate_DB_Fan]

Where some people really expecting a full on English Ryusei Nakao impression?

Why not? That would've made Sabat's decision for the recast more respectable.

[MR.Mark]

Where some people really expecting a full on English Ryusei Nakao impression?

Why not? That would've made Sabat's decision for the recast more respectable.

Because then the actor would be to focused on doing an impression, and the performance would suffer for it. Besides, if you pay attention to what we've heard so far, there's clearly enough channeling of Ryusei Nakao in Chris's portrayal to begin with.

The chuckling, the inquisitive "oohh?" his polite yet condescending manner toward the Nameks. This is Freeza, in English, and a more than respectable adaption in my mind, and we haven't even scratched the surface. A true testament to a great casting choice, I am thoroughly satisfied.

[RazorX]

YES SHE DOES.

Watch This.

Then try telling us Linda's Freeza sounds like an old woman.

These Newstone comparisons REALLY have to stop.

The fact is Ayres' Freeza sounds almost the same as Newstone's Freeza. Deal with it.

The comparisons are likely to continue because of the huge similarity in the voices.

[KaiserNeko]

YES SHE DOES.

Watch This.

Then try telling us Linda's Freeza sounds like an old woman.

...

THEY PITCHED.

HER DOWN.

That is NOT A GOOD EXAMPLE.

Sorry, but... that is just... What.

[Gaffer Tape]

YES SHE DOES.

Watch This.

Then try telling us Linda's Freeza sounds like an old woman.

Not that I care what gender the actor who plays Freeza is as long as it's good, but it's not really fair to use that as a comparison as anybody can sound like any type of voice with artificial pitch modulation. I could make a Care Bear sound like Batman.

EDIT: Well, Kaiser beat me to it.

[MR.Mark]

The fact is Ayres' Freeza sounds almost the same as Newstone's Freeza. Deal with it.

No, Ayres Freeza sounds almost the same as Dr. Octopus, deal with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb5715XzxeM

No newstone here, move along people.

[Ultimate_DB_Fan]

Where some people really expecting a full on English Ryusei Nakao impression?

Why not? That would've made Sabat's decision for the recast more respectable.

Because then the actor would be to focused on doing an impression, and the performance would suffer for it. Besides, if you pay attention to what we've heard so far, there's clearly enough channeling of Ryusei Nakao in Chris's portrayal to begin with.

The chuckling, the inquisitive "oohh?" his polite yet condescending manner toward the Nameks. This is Freeza, in English, and a more than respectable adaption in my mind, and we haven't even scratched the surface. A true testament to a great casting choice, I am thoroughly satisfied.

Well, while you're satisfied, a lot of others such as myself aren't. I've listened to the voice like everyone else, and I haven't heard ANYTHING that Young couldn't pull off with proper direction. The whole "Young couldn't read the lines fast enough" thing is BEYOND blasphemous and completely showcases Sabat's flawed logic. Sabat's supposed "reason" for recasting the role is just a cowardly cover-up to not hurt dubbies' hearts, as well as that of Linda Young's. Subbies either don't care because they have Nakao, or they pull out the "too little, too late" card.

I don't hate this guy's portrayal, but I'm not having a nerdgasm over it either. It's fine.

[MR.Mark]

I'm sorry but you need to set the nostalgia aside if you honestly think Young could of done what Ayres is doing with the same direction and script. On the flip side certain Japanese voice enthusiasts are equally guilty of having unreasonable standards when adapting characters into English.

I pride myself in being in the "grey area" of my fandom, that happy medium of standards. Despite being a fan for about two decades and growing up with the Japanese cast. I know good acting and good voices when I hear them, plus I find good dubbing a art form in itself, so that helps.