Why does Colleen Clinkenbeard get SO much hate?

[matt0044]

Out of anything in Dragon Ball Z Kai's dub, no aspect of it has been hated or underrated by the Nostalgia Fanboys so much (at least from my point of view) than Son Gohan's new voice actress before the Buu Saga as well as Android 18's, Colleen Clinkenbeard. If a video on DBZ Kai containing Gohan speaking with Clinkenbeard's voice for him, I can guarantee that there'll be a 1 in 5 chance that the comment section will contain a comment along the lines of:

1. "Gohan sounds like a girl."
2. "COLLEEN SUCKS! I WANT NADOLNY BACK!"
3. "God, Gohan sounds so annoying! His voice is so HORRIBLE!"

And that's just to name a few of the lighter responses. This VA change has sparked one of the many controversies Kai has brought to the entire English-speaking fandom with fans incredibly divided on the matters. For this topic, all I can do is roll much eyes, groan and facepalm as I read such harsh, fanboyish drivel. I'm well aware that everyone has an opinion but I simply feel that all this hate is uncalled for and is resulting from the wrong reasons.

For one thing, Colleen's Gohan voice sounds like a little boy WHICH HE IS BEFORE THE BUU SAGA! Therefore, it fits his age and youthful personality then. I tried mentally applying Gohan's new voice to a little girl but I honestly couldn't put two and two together. Colleen's Gohan voice is well suited for young boys LIKE GOHAN! Also, as the series progressed, I could hear and feel Gohan growing up and maturing with Colleen's voice. Nadolny just sounded the same throughout her run and also sounded way too deep for a young boy prior to friggin' puberty.

Another thing is that I NEVER found Colleen to be annoying as Gohan. Okay, he occasionally sounded a bit too high pitched with those screams of his but I found those moments to be very natural to his character and age. I NEVER found him to be completely annoying in Kai's dub and all the hate about Colleen being "annoying" is greatly exaggerated and blown out of proportion.

That's all for now. Feel free to tell me your thoughts on this matter.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Why does Colleen Clinkenbeard get so much hate? Well, it depends on where you look. On Daizex, pretty much everyone loves her performance. The only place you'll find nasty, vile words about her performance are on YouTube, and the people who give those comments hate her performance for no other reason than the fact that she's not Stephanie Nadolny. She's not what they're used to. Their reasons begin and end there.

It would have been interesting to see what Nadolny could have done with Gohan in Kai, though. Pretty much every performance from the returning dub actors improved tremendously, so who knows how good a job Nadolny could have done. Still, it's not a huge deal to me. I guess I'm one of the rare people who would be content with either Stephanie Nadolny or Colleen Clinkenbeard. I think they both did great jobs.

[NitroEX]

Pretty much the same reason why they senselessly bash Ocean dub, Blue Water dub or anything else that's different from what they grew up with.

[Hades]

For me, I just think that her performance reminds me too much of Superman-Prime. It got to the extent that I was expecting some of his lines from Countdown to Final Crisis being uttered in the Cell Games. But by no means does that mean I prefer Nadolny, and I feel that they don't get it right. Nadolny's too harsh, while Colleen's too high-pitched.

And for the record, MasakoX is my favourite Gohan. He nails his role in ways that Colleen or Nadolny fail to.

[KingofWisdom]

Nostalgia. She does a good job of sounding like a young boy. I dislike when actresses think they need to gruff up their voice when boys don't actually sound like that.

[dbboxkaifan]

Colleen's my preferred English Gohan, on YouTube they say she makes Gohan sound like a kid during the Cell Games then again he's a KID on the Cell arc.

They also say Gohan sounds like a girl, well, the same can be said for the other English Gohan VAs (Ocean & Old FUNi Dub).

Remember, when kids don't hit puberty they may have a girly-ish vocal.

[medvedenko2009]

To me she's the main reason why I hate Kai. I have never heard a boy sound like that. I have a lot of little cousins around the age of 4-9 and none sound like that.

[VegettoEX]

To me she's the main reason why I hate Kai. I have never heard a boy sound like that. I have a lot of little cousins around the age of 4-9 and none sound like that.

What do they sound like? Do they sound exactly like Stephanie Nadolny's interpretation of the character from that age range?

[DBZAOTA482]

Nostalgia's a powerful thing, more so than the Saiyans themselves.

BTW Colleen makes a better Gohan than Stephanie, at least she has reach unlike Stephanie's emotionless smoker voice.

[matt0044]

To me she's the main reason why I hate Kai. I have never heard a boy sound like that. I have a lot of little cousins around the age of 4-9 and none sound like that.

Well, I'm sorry to say that SOME kids have high pitched voices like Colleen's Gohan. I've heard kids who sounded like that on TV shows AND real life. Maybe not every little kid have such voices before puberty but a lot do. Honestly, you may as well hate Gohan for being a kid (before the Buu Saga).

Also, I'd love to see a redub of Dragon Ball with Kai's dub cast. I feel Colleen would emulate Masako Nozawa's young Goku better than Nadolny.

[dbboxkaifan]

Well, I'm sorry to say that SOME kids have high pitched voices like Colleen's Gohan. I've heard kids who sounded like that on TV shows AND real life. Maybe not every little kid have such voices before puberty but a lot do. Honestly, you may as well hate Gohan for being a kid (before the Buu Saga).

Also, I'd love to see a redub of Dragon Ball with Kai's dub cast. I feel Colleen would emulate Masako Nozawa's young Goku better than Nadolny.

Exactly.

There was one time where a kid was singing on a TV show, and I thought it was a girl, and honestly I was wowed it was a boy.

And then when puberty hits, some of those early careers end because the vocal gets frustratingly ruined by the deep voices.

This is my voice ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y1vIqJ420Y ) go on hate it, I don't really like my own vocal neither, but have to accept it. I wish I could have my voice before it got deep.

[Corporate_Nothing]

This is my voice ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y1vIqJ420Y ) go on hate it, I don't really like my own vocal neither, but have to accept it. I wish I could have my voice before it got deep.

Don't sweat it; most people hate their own voices, especially when played back on a recording. How old are you, anyway?

---

To contribute something relevant to this thread, I will say that I vastly prefer Colleen's Gohan to that of Stephanie's. You'll find that the most close-minded fans of Funimation's original dub (with Faulconer Productions' music, of course) make their presence known on public forums such a Youtube and Facebook, so I wouldn't read too much into your findings, matt0044.

[penguintruth]

OPINIONS is why.

Maybe it's a lot of nostalgia, but some people might simply prefer Stephanie Naldony. A person's entitled to have a different preference from you or I (in my opinion, Clinkenbeard is second only to Nozawa herself). Yes, it can be difficult to wrestle with others' (bad) taste, but there you go.

And if you're going by people commenting on YouTube clips, just remember that people can have several accounts on YouTube with little effort.

[matt0044]

OPINIONS is why.

Maybe it's a lot of nostalgia, but some people might simply prefer Stephanie Naldony. A person's entitled to have a different preference from you or I (in my opinion, Clinkenbeard is second only to Nozawa herself). Yes, it can be difficult to wrestle with others' (bad) taste, but there you go.

And if you're going by people commenting on YouTube clips, just remember that people can have several accounts on YouTube with little effort.

I can accept other's opinions whether or not they agree with me so long as they're reasoning is good and acknowledge that others like what they don't even for good reasons. I can't when they're unjustly harsh and have poor reasons for such. A lot of the Youtube Kai haters treats Colleen as if she's some succubus. No one actually said that she was but that's the kind of vibe I'm getting from them.

[Attitudefan]

Colleen's my preferred English Gohan, on YouTube they say she makes Gohan sound like a kid during the Cell Games then again he's a KID on the Cell arc.

They also say Gohan sounds like a girl, well, the same can be said for the other English Gohan VAs (Ocean & Old FUNi Dub).

Remember, when kids don't hit puberty they may have a girly-ish vocal.

Henderson did a better job at a boys voice over Clinkenbeard.

I was a young boy once, and I see kids all the time at school etc. The thing is that Clinkenbeard doesn't get to a pitch where it sounds like a male child before puberty. To me it sounds like... nothing! It doesn't sound like a child nor an adult female or teenage girl etc.

Listen to other VA's who play a male child (does not have to be anime) or listen to a real boy's voice and compare it to Clinkenbeard. I find the problem is that she does not sound appropriate to play a boy. She does not have the pitch at a proper tone and her delivery can be too "mature" for a 4/5 year old boy. I know I may get flack for this but it's how I always felt. Nozawa does it right, listen to her voice for a good child voice. She does the right pitch and delivery! (Henderson actually has great delivery but her pitch can be a little low for a child but to me, especially her performance in Dead Zone, is spot on)

Anyways, that's why I think she is hated.

[matt0044]

Henderson did a better job at a boys voice over Clinkenbeard.

I was a young boy once, and I see kids all the time at school etc. The thing is that Clinkenbeard doesn't get to a pitch where it sounds like a male child before puberty. To me it sounds like... nothing! It doesn't sound like a child nor an adult female or teenage girl etc.

Listen to other VA's who play a male child (does not have to be anime) or listen to a real boy's voice and compare it to Clinkenbeard. I find the problem is that she does not sound appropriate to play a boy. She does not have the pitch at a proper tone and her delivery can be too "mature" for a 4/5 year old boy. I know I may get flack for this but it's how I always felt. Nozawa does it right, listen to her voice for a good child voice. She does the right pitch and delivery! (Henderson actually has great delivery but her pitch can be a little low for a child but to me, especially her performance in Dead Zone, is spot on).

Strange. To me IMO, Nozawa has a higher pitch than Clinkenbeard or any high-pitched boy in cartoons or Anime period. I like it since it fit Goku and Gohan but I did feel that it was very high for males of any age (again, I don't hate it). Although toddler Gohan was well-suited for it.

Colleen may not be Gohan to you but she is to me and others. As Kai's dub progressed, I could feel Gohan mature. Not to mention that she could actually act and emote very well to me. Most of the hate stems from judgement blinded by nostalgia and the reasons are sometimes ill-founded. I do, however, respect your thoughts.

P.S. Henderson was pretty good too, though.

[medvedenko2009]

It's funny how the majority of you guys say collen's gohan is bettere because he sounds like a little boy, and yet you guys have no problem with goku (a full grown man) sounding like a girl. I dont buy the excuse "he has a child like nature".

[penguintruth]

Nozawa's adult Goku is a natural progression of Goku's child voice. A lot of people simply haven't watched both the original series and Z in Japanese.

Naldony's Gohan is just too rough-sounding and comes off sounding really fake a lot of the time. Clinkenbeard's Gohan always comes across more geniune, with some sincere charm. That, and Clinkenbeard's Gohan progresses, evolves over time.

[Attitudefan]

Henderson did a better job at a boys voice over Clinkenbeard.

I was a young boy once, and I see kids all the time at school etc. The thing is that Clinkenbeard doesn't get to a pitch where it sounds like a male child before puberty. To me it sounds like... nothing! It doesn't sound like a child nor an adult female or teenage girl etc.

Listen to other VA's who play a male child (does not have to be anime) or listen to a real boy's voice and compare it to Clinkenbeard. I find the problem is that she does not sound appropriate to play a boy. She does not have the pitch at a proper tone and her delivery can be too "mature" for a 4/5 year old boy. I know I may get flack for this but it's how I always felt. Nozawa does it right, listen to her voice for a good child voice. She does the right pitch and delivery! (Henderson actually has great delivery but her pitch can be a little low for a child but to me, especially her performance in Dead Zone, is spot on).

Strange. To me IMO, Nozawa has a higher pitch than Clinkenbeard or any high-pitched boy in cartoons or Anime period. I like it since it fit Goku and Gohan but I did feel that it was very high for males of any age (again, I don't hate it). Although toddler Gohan was well-suited for it.

Colleen may not be Gohan to you but she is to me and others. As Kai's dub progressed, I could feel Gohan mature. Not to mention that she could actually act and emote very well to me. Most of the hate stems from judgement blinded by nostalgia and the reasons are sometimes ill-founded. I do, however, respect your thoughts.

P.S. Henderson was pretty good too, though.

Don't get me wrong, Clinkenbeard has great acting but I think the pitch itself comes off too low. It doesn't sound like a young boy or woman or nothing; I don't know what it is supposed to sound like :/
Nadolny= too low and rough
Clinkenbeard= interesting, good for a 14 year old kid but not a toddler

For some reason, I think Henderson nailed it on her first try but maybe nostalgia blinds me. When I listen to Clinkenbeard, I hear a woman behind the voice, something I did not get with the other Gohan VA's. I am not saying that I hate Clinkenbeard, I think she is just miscasted or directed for Gohan. Gohan is supposed to sound sweet, sheltered and innocent. Nozawa, so far to me, nailed it.

Many people complain that Clinkenbeard sounds to feminine and not childlike, I can somewhat attest to that but then again I disagree with that statement too. The voice is better suited for an older child (male).

EDIT: I searched up toddlers to see what pitch they would have, and here's a video in which one could possibly use to compare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD5OJeLeunc

I dunno if it is a good example but I hope you see what I mean...

[VegettoEX]

It's funny how the majority of you guys say collen's gohan is bettere because he sounds like a little boy, and yet you guys have no problem with goku (a full grown man) sounding like a girl. I dont buy the excuse "he has a child like nature".

That's fine and dandy, but we're not talking about Goku -- you were initially talking about Gohan (Clinkenbeard beng "the main reason" you "hate" Kai), and everyone else was talking about Gohan, too.

Near as I can tell, you're just being antagonistic about it and tossing out some red herrings (Goku as an adult), but haven't actually answered the questions folks have asked regarding your opinion. What exactly do your younger cousins sound like? Do they sound exactly like Nadolny's interpretation of the character? Have you heard any young boys with these different types of voices, or do they all sound gruff and raspy?

In other words, do you have anything to validate your opinion, or are you just tossing it out there with no real basis other than "I don't like it"...? Either way is fine, but you're not exactly going to have a constructive conversation with anyone if you just want to spew stuff out there (and if that's what you want to do, this probably isn't the community for you).