Nozawa and Sabat's multiple roles

[penguintruth]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4KEX3cprEg

Does Masako voice Riley in J. Boondocks? It sounds kinda like Goku.

It's not Nozawa. It's Keiko Nemoto, Shizune in Naruto.

[Super Sonic]

See, yeah -- I wasn't 12 back then ^_~.

I was also one of those kids who raged at the TV when James Avery wasn't voicing Shredder that particular day.

For me it was worse when Rob Paulsen wasn't Raphael. All of my child rage burst out at once. Whenever I eventually get the DVDs for oldschool TMNT and get to see that show again, it'll be the only time I complain when Jim Cummings voices someone I think.

Met Rob Paulsen last month at local comicon. He signed my TMNT season 1 dvd and Animaniacs vol. 1 and took pic with him. But I know how you felt as I was mad hearing the original Red Ranger's voice being very off and not sounding as he should have. (This was after the actor left and thus someone else dubbed his voice in adr)

But yeah, at the time I can understand how and why Mr Sabat did so many voices. But yeah, complaints might be due to anime senses too, as one of the complaints I never heard about the original He-Man was how many guys sounded similar to Orko. (Producer did a lot of voices on that show, and the first season cast had 3 other people besides him).

[GS7X7]

Shizune as Riley? Lol, that voice doesn't fit him in the slightest!

[MCDaveG]

I wanna see Nadolny voicing adult Goku!!
Well, but fun aside, I saw Naruto's english dub and dammit, Naruto sounds very simmilar to it's Japanese counterpart!
It really striked me as from what I know, only country with Goku voiced by female is Japan.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Yeah, that's true. I don't agree with Nozawa voicing Bardock and Tullece, though, because while the high-pitched voices work for the characters of the Sons, they really don't for the evil and fierce Saiyans that have no real relation to Gokuu other than in appearance and it's just jarring.

I'd say that Bardock has more relation to Goku than just appearance...

And as for Tullece, he was supposed to be a "what-if?" version of Goku, so having Nozawa voice him just reinforces that idea.

You know what I mean. He's his father, but other than that, they're nothing alike, and he almost denounces him until he learns that he'll be the one to defeat Freeza. So I think it was a poor choice to have Nozawa voice Bardock.

And yes, Tullece was intended as a "what-if?" version of Gokuu, but Nozawa's high-pitched voice suits Gokuu's character, not Tullece's, who's an entirely different character except in appearance. I.e. if "Kakarrot" had grown up to be the evil Saiyan represented as Tullece, he would sound nothing like that because it doesn't fit his character.

However, admittedly, I haven't watched the Bardock special and DBZ Movie #3 in Japanese in ages, so once I do that, perhaps I'll get back to you and give my verdicts. But I still think it's a somewhat faulty line of thinking to basically cast Nozawa as "anyone even remotely related to Gokuu".

There's actually a scene in Kai where Vegeta is laughing at Gohan being in pain, and Piccolo was on screen, so I thought it was Piccolo laughing at first... -_-
So, they're more similar than you think.

In Kai? Jeez.

You know, if I had it my way, I'd keep Sabat as Piccolo, because I think he nailed the role, but re-cast Vegeta. But I don't know how to. I've heard some suggestions for Steve Blum, and I think penguintruth proposed Bryan Massey.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Personally, I really like Nozawa's Bardock & Tullece.

[VegettoEX]

Tullece speaks nothing like Goku in tone or accent. He's far more calm, collected, smooth and downright evil sounding than anything Nozawa ever did for Goku. It's a perfect complement to the character's design.

[JulieYBM]

I find it interesting that so much focus is going towards Nozawa when she isn't exactly the only actor to voice multiple roles in the series. Gouri Daisuke voices two dozen, rarely if ever differentiating them. Of course, most of those are bit parts, but it's still enough that you could play a drinking game every time he spoke as a new character. Heck, in the Cell arc he voiced Mister Satan, Gyuumaou, and Umigame (or am I thinking Enma?) all in the same episode.

[Piccolo Daimao]

I find it interesting that so much focus is going towards Nozawa when she isn't exactly the only actor to voice multiple roles in the series. Gouri Daisuke voices two dozen, rarely if ever differentiating them. Of course, most of those are bit parts, but it's still enough that you could play a drinking game every time he spoke as a new character. Heck, in the Cell arc he voiced Mister Satan, Gyuumaou, and Umigame (or am I thinking Enma?) all in the same episode.

Oh yeah, I forgot about Gouri's roles.

You know, I think I'm going to listen to Nozawa's Bardock and Tullece on YouTube, just to form a more accurate opinion.

[The Time Traveller]

Nozawa plays Goku, Goku's children, his father and his doppelgänger. That makes sense, except that the voices are slightly different for each character. Sabat plays too many characters that aren't even related.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Nozawa plays Goku, Goku's children, his father and his doppelgänger. That makes sense, except that the voices are slightly different for each character. Sabat plays too many characters that aren't even related.

Yeah, I've listened to Nozawa's Bardock and Tullece again now, and they're all right (although still somewhat jarring when both Gokuu and Tullece are talking to each other in the same scene).

I'd be alright if Sabat played a couple of minor characters, like Gouri. But not numerous major characters. Let him keep Piccolo, and then divvy up his other roles to new actors, those that can suitably differentiate them.

[OutlawTorn]

I really hated watching FUNi DBZ dub clips where there's Vegeta and Piccolo and both have the same damn voices with absolutely no different.

That's not really a fair comment. Even at the beginning of FUNimation's in-house dubbing of DBZ, it was easy to distinguish between Sabat's Piccolo and Vegeta voices. His performance, obviously, got better, but nobody should have any issues distinguishing between his Piccolo or his Vegeta, whether it was the Brian Drummond caricature or his own version.

[Gonstead]

I really hated watching FUNi DBZ dub clips where there's Vegeta and Piccolo and both have the same damn voices with absolutely no different.

That's not really a fair comment. Even at the beginning of FUNimation's in-house dubbing of DBZ, it was easy to distinguish between Sabat's Piccolo and Vegeta voices. His performance, obviously, got better, but nobody should have any issues distinguishing between his Piccolo or his Vegeta, whether it was the Brian Drummond caricature or his own version.

This. It's easy enough to distinguish between the two voices that I've never understood why people say they sound the same. Both of them have different styles and performances to their voices.

[VegettoEX]

This. It's easy enough to distinguish between the two voices that I've never understood why people say they sound the same. Both of them have different styles and performances to their voices.

If people are allowed to say that Nozawa's Goku and Gohan sound exactly the same, we're allowed to say Sabat's early Piccolo and Vegeta (and Kami and every other person he played in 1999) sounded exactly the same.

[Gonstead]

This. It's easy enough to distinguish between the two voices that I've never understood why people say they sound the same. Both of them have different styles and performances to their voices.

If people are allowed to say that Nozawa's Goku and Gohan sound exactly the same, we're allowed to say Sabat's early Piccolo and Vegeta (and Kami and every other person he played in 1999) sounded exactly the same.

I'm not saying that people are not allowed to say that they sound the same, just that they need a basis for their argument for it to have any credit.

Even for the 1999 season 3 dub, Sabat's Piccolo and Vegeta sounded nothing alike. Piccolo had a deep and gritty sound to his voice while Vegeta had a more smooth, higher pitch voice with a slight rasp.

[VegettoEX]

"I think they sound exactly the same."

Again, it's the same spiel we get shot from English dub fans. They can't offer anything else back beyond that, and neither can I.

[GS7X7]

Someone could post audio/video clips of all the roles/voices and write out the differences. Or it might make for an interesting podcast.

[JulieYBM]

I don't think there's any particular credit in rehashing the same discussion fans have been having for over a decade on the podcast. At least, not when so many more interesting topics exist.

[medvedenko2009]

Personally I don't think sabat's piccolo and vegeta sound anything alike. I wouldn't have known he voiced all those characters if it wasn't for the encyclopedia in the Tenkaichi video games. I do think his Kai Vegeta and Kai Piccolo sound too similar (especially when Piccolo fights 17) but that might be due to age.

[KiddoCabbusses]

"I think they sound exactly the same."

Again, it's the same spiel we get shot from English dub fans. They can't offer anything else back beyond that, and neither can I.

As someone who tends to like coming on this site because of how well analysed all sorts of factors of the DragonBall franchise tend to be on this site... I myself tend to prefer well-researched, objective looks into these kind of comparisons than the spiteful, fan-hate-driven contrariness this post implies.

I'm considering taking out my DBox set to get some voice samples of each character with a shared VA, regardless of dub... but on the other hand, perhaps DBox the movies would be better for the Japanese side.
I think Gyuumao and Mr. Satan would probably be the most interesting comparison, both because it's a lot more fair than a comparison with Nozawa's roles (Which are all done to establish character relationships) and because as far as I can hear, I can't distinguish between their voices in the least... Although it's hard to say for sure when I can't recall a single moment in the show where they appeared on-screen in even remotely close proximity.

I myself tend to appreciate a voice actor who can be handed a lot of roles and make them all convincingly sound like different characters, as someone who's grown up on Golden Age Animation.