What's the closest approximation of Gokuu's hick-ness?

[Super Sonic]

Larry the Cable Guy, basically.

That's Chichi.

Gokuu is more subtle, like Bill Engvall or something.

Cynthia Cranz's natural voice, with a bit more country could fit that Chi Chi. Though due to her personality in the Z anime, I see her more with a mixture of New York and Yiddish. To the Americans, you know what I'm talking about.

[johnboy1]

Cynthia Cranz's natural voice, with a bit more country could fit that Chi Chi. Though due to her personality in the Z anime, I see her more with a mixture of New York and Yiddish. To the Americans, you know what I'm talking about.

So... Fran Drescher?

[jjgp1112]

I've never heard Cynthia Cranz speak in interviews, but as someone who's lived in Georgia for the last 8 years, I can recognize that slight hint of "southerness" in her voice, even with it completely suppressed. The way she says certain words; I hear it all the time down here.

[thedarkuniter]

However...let's say that the only reason we'd think that would be silly is because it wasn't what has been done before in the various English dubs. Is that not a good reason?

Well, the question in this thread was about the "closest approximation" in English of the way Goku talks in Japanese. So no, that's not really relevant. If all the English dubs had called Goku "Zero" like in the Harmony Gold dub, a new dub calling him "Goku" would probably likewise raise eyebrows among dub fans. But that wouldn't make "Zero" the closest English approximation of Goku's name.

Well, there's no other way to explain it. Some things can be translatable in the subtitles such as Goku's hickness, but when it comes down to dubbing a show, some things as we all know, gets lost in translation or have to get changed. While Goku having a southern accent might be true to the original, it might leave the wrong impression. Certain cultures have different interpretations on what a character sound like in their mother tongue, and when it comes down to it, the main goal of a good dub is not to be 100 percent of the original, but also interpret the character's personality in the dub. When it comes down to it, all they need to worry about is adjusting the speech pattern for Goku and not worry about him sounding like a southerner. Pretty much Funimaion and every other international dub nail that aspect of Goku. When watching the Japanese version, I didn't get the impression that Goku was speaking like a southerner despite his slang but the funny thing is, most of the Son family ( Ox King, Chi-Chi) speaks more southern than Goku.

[DemonRin]

Some Foke'll never pat a crotch,
But then again, some foke'll.
Like Son Goku the Slack-Jawed Yokel.

But seriously, a Southern accent with some uneducated dialog would be good for him. But you'd have to be very careful, you wouldn't want him to be full-on moronic southern drawl. Like, he wouldn't go "Weww Jee Wheaz Thur! Ahm gawnah go faight that thur Vegeta feller ah plum reckun'!"

There's a fine line between naive and uneducated and flat out drooling monkey-brained stupid. You'd have to be very careful not to cross it.

[thedarkuniter]

The thing is though, Goku is kinda educated by his grandfather, Gohan, if you want to go to technicality. It's not like he was 100 percent uneducated.

[Super Ghost Kamikaze]

"Kind of educated"? He was 12 years old and didn't know what number came after 11. Most 12 year-old kids know that.

[Super Sonic]

Some Foke'll never pat a crotch,
But then again, some foke'll.
Like Son Goku the Slack-Jawed Yokel.

I was thinking that was not what we wanted.

Cynthia Cranz's natural voice, with a bit more country could fit that Chi Chi. Though due to her personality in the Z anime, I see her more with a mixture of New York and Yiddish. To the Americans, you know what I'm talking about.

So... Fran Drescher?

I was thinking more generic Jewish mother stereotype actually.

[Herms]

While Goku having a southern accent might be true to the original, it might leave the wrong impression.

What "wrong impression" would that be?

Certain cultures have different interpretations on what a character sound like in their mother tongue, and when it comes down to it, the main goal of a good dub is not to be 100 percent of the original, but also interpret the character's personality in the dub. When it comes down to it, all they need to worry about is adjusting the speech pattern for Goku and not worry about him sounding like a southerner. Pretty much Funimaion and every other international dub nail that aspect of Goku.

One of the quirks of Goku's first few Super Saiyan transformations (prior to him training in the Room of Spirit and Time) is that he goes from the usual way he talks to speaking in a more "standard" way. Still casual and rough, but without slurring his ai/oi sounds, using Ore instead of Ora for his first person pronoun, etc. Is there any such distinction in the English dubs? Is the way Goku talks there distinctive enough for there to even be any noticeable difference if he started talking "normally"? Because if not, I think they're leaving out an important part of Goku's character.

When watching the Japanese version, I didn't get the impression that Goku was speaking like a southerner despite his slang but the funny thing is, most of the Son family ( Ox King, Chi-Chi) speaks more southern than Goku.

Chi Chi and Gyuumao definitely have a much stronger Tohoku accent, but it's certainly there with Goku too in a lesser extent.

I'm not married to the idea of an English Goku with a US Southern accent. Comparing accents across languages is never going to be solid enough for there to be one correct equivalent (not to mention focusing on the US South leaves out other rural accents in other countries). But the opposition to the idea in this thread seems to boil down to people disliking Southern accents and not being used to the idea of Goku talking that way. I see a lot of assertions that it just wouldn't work, without much actual evidence. It seems especially odd in light of all the (often unnecessary) accents Funi did have in the dub.

The thing is though, Goku is kinda educated by his grandfather, Gohan, if you want to go to technicality. It's not like he was 100 percent uneducated.

"Uneducated" means someone hasn't had much education, not that they've never, ever had any education of any kind. Nobody's "100 percent uneducated", except maybe feral children. Which Goku is somewhat cast in the mold of, though the fact that he can speak human language at all and wears clothes disqualifies him from being truly feral.

[thedarkuniter]

What "wrong impression" would that be?

Well, if say someone watches the dub, and hear the new southern accent. They probably wouldn't take the character seriously or get completely lost. I personally think that having the speech pattern is much better than to go 100 percent southern. It's again, one of those things that can't be done due to the large fanbase of the dub.

One of the quirks of Goku's first few Super Saiyan transformations (prior to him training in the Room of Spirit and Time) is that he goes from the usual way he talks to speaking in a more "standard" way. Still casual and rough, but without slurring his ai/oi sounds, using Ore instead of Ora for his first person pronoun, etc. Is there any such distinction in the English dubs? Is the way Goku talks there distinctive enough for there to even be any noticeable difference if he started talking "normally"? Because if not, I think they're leaving out an important part of Goku's character.

Pretty much in the English dubs, Goku's voice in Super Saiyan form does become deeper and deeper with each form. I wouldn't say he speaks normally in Super Saiyan, they again nail that aspect in the dubs.

I'm not married to the idea of an English Goku with a US Southern accent. Comparing accents across languages is never going to be solid enough for there to be one correct equivalent (not to mention focusing on the US South leaves out other rural accents in other countries). But the opposition to the idea in this thread seems to boil down to people disliking Southern accents and not being used to the idea of Goku talking that way. I see a lot of assertions that it just wouldn't work, without much actual evidence. It seems especially odd in light of all the (often unnecessary) accents Funi did have in the dub.

I wouldn't say everyone in this thread is oppose of Goku having a southern accent or disliking a southern accent, but many including myself think it's pretty much too late for that. The deed was done with the English and international dubs. When it comes down to it, it's more a personal preference for those who are used to the way Goku talks in any dub or what the Japanese purists say on the matter.

[Mountain]

I wouldn't say everyone in this thread is oppose of Goku having a southern accent or disliking a southern accent, but many including myself think it's pretty much too late for that. The deed was done with the English and international dubs. When it comes down to it, it's more a personal preference for those who are used to the way Goku talks in any dub or what the Japanese purists say on the matter.

Some might say that "the deed was done" in terms of Linda Young's Freeza leaving out the core elements of the character, but look what happened in FUNi's dub of Kai. Nothing is set in stone. It's sounding, to me, like your personal preference is getting in the way of reality.

[Acid_Reign]

In the manga Goku's speech is comparatively close to standard Japanese. The main characteristics of his speech are his use of improper/impolite first and second person pronouns, lots of contractions, and how he slurs ai or oi sounds into ee. None of these points are exclusively "hick" things (Kuririn, for instance, does the "ai/oi into ee" thing when flustered). Altogether it seems super-casual and uneducated, which I guess fits the "hick" stereotype, but it's not a style of speech specific to any region. In the anime though, Nozawa plays Goku up more as having a vague Tohoku accent. The Tohoku accent has a "country bumpkin" stigma around it, so the closest thing in US English would probably be a Southern accent.

Wow, that’s really interesting! Thanks for the insight.

Out of curiosity of what this might be like, I Googled Asians with US Southern accents and found this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUFZJHAWD5Q

Aside from the incongruity of this combination given the [perceived?] rareness of Asians in the South, I don’t think it’d be that bad. In fact, I think it would make the character much more unique and memorable.

That may partially explain it (and I'd argue that that's a perfectly valid reason), but I would also suggest that it has a lot to do with the way he looks. He's tall, ridiculously fit, and attractive. Hollywood stereotypes have largely relegated people such as this to the neutral, midwestern American accent unless they are explicitly foreign or the setting of the movie requires something different. Someone who sports an outlandishly noticeable nonstandard American accent (Southern, Cajun, Bostonian, Minnewegian, etc.) is often depicted as not being physically ideal, because their speech does not match the colloquial ideal. The southern guy will be obese and neckbearded with broken overalls. The cajun guy will be lanky, unwashed, and prone to eating unusual things. The Bostonian will have male pattern baldness, a bushy mustache and a beer gut. You get the idea.

As a Bostonian I found your characterization particularly humorous. I see what you mean, but these are, as you say, stereotypes. There are also people like Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck who’re both attractive and have/can do a Bostonian accent. And yet nobody says, “Hey, wait, they aren’t fat, bald, and mustached. They can’t actually be from Boston, can they?” Even if that were the case, why let prejudice be the prevailing narrative?

[Ringworm128]

I would be fine with Sean Schemmel's voice but with ain't instead of isn't and things like that. Also I don't think I can imagine Goku with a hick voice A Japanese hick voice may suit Goku but I don't think an American hick voice would suit Goku (Heck even an Australian hick voice would fit Goku more). Then again a couple of years ago I wouldn't have been able to imagine (Funi) Jheese with a high pitch voice or (Funi) Gohan without a raspy voice.

Some Foke'll never pat a crotch,
But then again, some foke'll.
Like Son Goku the Slack-Jawed Yokel.

Great, now I'm gonna have that stuck in my head all day.

[Fin]

Well, if say someone watches the dub, and hear the new southern accent. They probably wouldn't take the character seriously or get completely lost.

I'm kind of uncomfortable with that reasoning. It may be true that giving the hero a southern US accent would be a little outside some people's comfort zones, but wouldn't it be better to try to overcome stereotyping rather than give into it?

[thedarkuniter]

I wouldn't say everyone in this thread is oppose of Goku having a southern accent or disliking a southern accent, but many including myself think it's pretty much too late for that. The deed was done with the English and international dubs. When it comes down to it, it's more a personal preference for those who are used to the way Goku talks in any dub or what the Japanese purists say on the matter.

Some might say that "the deed was done" in terms of Linda Young's Freeza leaving out the core elements of the character, but look what happened in FUNi's dub of Kai. Nothing is set in stone. It's sounding, to me, like your personal preference is getting in the way of reality.

In Kai, they had a reason to make Freeza to be just like the Japanese original. In the original dub, they completely rewrote the character without any reason at all, Goku unlike Freeza had his personality kinda there.

I'm kind of uncomfortable with that reasoning. It may be true that giving the hero a southern US accent would be a little outside some people's comfort zones, but wouldn't it be better to try to overcome stereotyping rather than give into it?

Maybe. Anyway, that's all I'm going to say on the subject. Agree or disagree, that's how I view the matter.

[kemuri07]

Well, if say someone watches the dub, and hear the new southern accent. They probably wouldn't take the character seriously or get completely lost.

I'm kind of uncomfortable with that reasoning. It may be true that giving the hero a southern US accent would be a little outside some people's comfort zones, but wouldn't it be better to try to overcome stereotyping rather than give into it?

I think you're giving people way too much credit.

With that said, I really would rather not hear Goku with a southern accent. I really don't think it fits that character, and it'd just sound silly.

[caejones]

I can easily imagine Sean Schimmel using a slight drawl in his portrayal of Goku without it being radically distracting. Not something intense and bafoonish (like a lot of the accents that random bit characters get in the FUNi dub), but something slight that might only crop up on occasion, or when the mood is a certain way.

Hm, an example that comes to mind is one of Goku's video game intros, where he's all like, "I'm so excited!" Would it be too distracting if the next generation of games used that line, but with a slight move toward the southernized "i" sound (somehow taking the two distinct vowel sounds and splicing them together in a way that I have no idea how to write phonetically...)? Not to a super intense extent, but just enough that you can tell it's there if you pay attention.

[Rocketman]

In this thread: a bunch of damnyankees scared of making a character they like talk Southern.

Hm, an example that comes to mind is one of Goku's video game intros, where he's all like, "I'm so excited!" Would it be too distracting if the next generation of games used that line, but with a slight move toward the southernized "i" sound (somehow taking the two distinct vowel sounds and splicing them together in a way that I have no idea how to write phonetically...)?

Ah'm excited!

[johnboy1]

I'm kind of uncomfortable with that reasoning. It may be true that giving the hero a southern US accent would be a little outside some people's comfort zones, but wouldn't it be better to try to overcome stereotyping rather than give into it?

When you're trying to make money off of people, it's best to make things go down as smoothly as possible. Trying to overcome a stereotype is taking the path of greatest resistance, and for what? A slight boost in artistic integrity that most people won't notice. No, it's better to give in to the stereotype in this case.