Why is Bardock's voice high pitched in Japanese?

[songohan619]

Yes pitch is what I'm referring to. I'm aware that it deepens but it still reflects that of a child.

Well... No. It reflects a WOMAN, not a child.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Nozawa's voices for adult Bardock/Goku/Gohan/Goten/Goku Jr./Tullece never felt as male, female, or childish voices. They just sound weird. While it's obviously a woman's voice, I never felt when hearing Goku talking that he was actually a woman, or a child.

[JulieYBM]

Even when she voices women in other series' she doesn't sound like one. "Why the Hell is Lupin fighting Bardock/Tullece?!"

[Sanity's_Theif]

Part of the reason I can't stand the japanese voices, Goku and Bardock's screaming makes my ears bleed

[VegettoEX]

Part of the reason I can't stand the japanese voices, Goku and Bardock's screaming makes my ears bleed

That's fine and all to have as an opinion, but I don't think that has any real relevance to the discussion at hand. Do you have something to add about Nozawa's performance as Bardock and whether or not you feel he is portrayed as a child?

[dbzfan7]

Part of the reason I can't stand the japanese voices, Goku and Bardock's screaming makes my ears bleed

It's one thing to dislike something, but the way you put it insults the people who like Goku ad Bardocks voice.

[Saiga]

Part of the reason I can't stand the japanese voices, Goku and Bardock's screaming makes my ears bleed

It's one thing to dislike something, but the way you put it insults the people who like Goku ad Bardocks voice.

I don't see how that insults people who like the voices. It takes the insult of the voices a bit far, but it's not insulting the fans.

[Thanos]

Although I don't think it was all necessary for Masako to voice any adults other than Goku, I dunno, maybe I'm retarded or something, but I don't think she even sounds all that female when she does adults... especially Tullece. He actually sounds like a dude with a high voice to me. Even Goku. I don't get that female energy from the voices.

That said, adult Gohan, Bardock and maybe Tullece should've had male voices. Personally, although I like the character, I find Gohan to be pretty bland. So, there wouldn't be any loss of nuances in the performance like it would if they had adult Goku a new, male voice. I'm sure everyone would've accepted it as, *shrug* "It's Gohan, but older."

But, if Goku got a new voice, it would've been, I think, quite a loss. Adult Goku in Japanese is DEFINITELY the grown version of kid Goku, but honestly, the difference in the dub with performances is actually quite dramatic to where the two stages are basically different characters. American adult Goku = Grown, but inept. Japanese adult Goku = Same old Goku...

[dbzfan7]

Part of the reason I can't stand the japanese voices, Goku and Bardock's screaming makes my ears bleed

It's one thing to dislike something, but the way you put it insults the people who like Goku ad Bardocks voice.

I don't see how that insults people who like the voices. It takes the insult of the voices a bit far, but it's not insulting the fans.

Personally no one likes to have what they enjoy insulted. If I said The Titanic movie was bullshit, then people will take offense. That kind of critique doesn't insult people. It insults something you enjoy. You ever been told that dbz was garbage and you should never watch it. It doesn't insult you, but insults what you like.

Personally people seem to forget standards are different between North America and Japan. What may sound weird here is normal there and vise-versa.

[Saiga]

Personally no one likes to have what they enjoy insulted. If I said The Titanic movie was bullshit, then people will take offense. That kind of critique doesn't insult people. It insults something you enjoy. You ever been told that dbz was garbage and you should never watch it. It doesn't insult you, but insults what you like.

Personally people seem to forget standards are different between North America and Japan. What may sound weird here is normal there and vise-versa.

I know that, but you said it was insulting the fans when that isn't the case.

[dbzfan7]

Personally no one likes to have what they enjoy insulted. If I said The Titanic movie was bullshit, then people will take offense. That kind of critique doesn't insult people. It insults something you enjoy. You ever been told that dbz was garbage and you should never watch it. It doesn't insult you, but insults what you like.

Personally people seem to forget standards are different between North America and Japan. What may sound weird here is normal there and vise-versa.

I know that, but you said it was insulting the fans when that isn't the case.

Oh, okay then I see your point.

[Kendamu]

I think Nozawa voicing Bardock is cool in the same sense that Nozawa voicing Tullece is cool: It shows a sort of "alternate Goku" to the one we've known and loved for awhile. Tullece was pretty much the "Goku who never bumped his head." While Bardock was also those things, he had an additional intelligence to him that allowed him to outwit stronger opponents or groups that would otherwise put him away. Having Nozawa do the voices there really drives the "Goku as an average Saiyan" thing home.

As for any comments made about Gohan and Goten, Gohan can also be
Considered an "alternate Goku" in that he's super smart and doesn't enjoy fighting while Goten is pretty much a Goku clone. In both cases it wouldn't make sense for them to be voiced by anyone else.

[Ringworm128]

As much as I like Nozawa as Bardok and Tullece I have to say that I prefer their English dub voices. They should have cast Raditz voice actor for Bardok. As for Tullece people always use the "Tullece is Goku if he didn't hit his head" argument but Tullece is what Goku would be like, NOT Goku himself.

I dunno, maybe I'm retarded or something, but I don't think she even sounds all that female when she does adults... especially Tullece. He actually sounds like a dude with a high voice to me. Even Goku. I don't get that female energy from the voices.

I feel the same way about Linda Young as Freeza.

[Cold Skin]

The same voice is needed to make comparison with Goku.
And when you hear Bardack, it's a perfect match, the voice is a much rougher version of Goku, like the character.

If he had a generic "male" voice, it would take away his charm, make him sort of an unrelated Saiyan we don't care about.
The fact that he has that "naturally not strong male" voice used in a "rough strong male" way suits the character, he's what would be just an other warrior without charisma... except that his story and temper brings the charisma and the difference with other Saiyans where there's not supposed to be any.
He is from the Son family, we need not only to see this but to hear this, and yet when he speaks, the difference with his son and grandsons is quite shocking while still being familiar, it's just perfect!

All of this is why Bardack loses a huge part of his charisma when in any other dub than the Japanese one, no matter how good they are.
High-pitched used in a rough way is just the perfect concept for him, but it wouldn't work for any other language than Japanese (just like for adult Goku and Gohan).
He's typically what in reality would be the unmuscular guy that should be naturally not intimidating, and yet for unknown reasons, you feel like you wouldn't want to fight EVER just by the way he is, his intimidating temper and story... He could be another regular guy among the crownd in appearance, but his aura, just the way he speaks and behaves, you know you don't wanna mess with him and better not be his enemy.

Bardack is the ordinary Saiyan no one should notice that ends up being an extraordinary Saiyan that made an impression.
His voice mixes both he's primarly unthreatening and unnoticeable nature hiding a much more threatening and impressive nature.

[Xiao Long Li]

According to some of the logic used in this thread, the fact that I don't exactly have a naturally deep voice means that I talk like a child or a chick.

Adult males can have high-pitched voices, and for Masako's performances for the Son family it isn't as over-the-top as some people make it out to be, although it's understandable given that some ears are accustomed to their English language voices. It's the pattern of speech, inflection, and tone that should determine whether not they're feminine or childlike.

[TheMightyOzaru]

According to some of the logic used in this thread, the fact that I don't exactly have a naturally deep voice means that I talk like a child or a chick.

Adult males can have high-pitched voices, and for Masako's performances for the Son family it isn't as over-the-top as some people make it out to be, although it's understandable given that some ears are accustomed to their English language voices. It's the pattern of speech, inflection, and tone that should determine whether not they're feminine or childlike.

Dude Bardock's voice is very high pitched =/. I'm not saying anyone with a high pitched voice is wierd. I'm saying a high pitched voice of that calibur is odd on a grown male saiyajin.

[Kroni_Hunter]

It's all subjective, of course. I personally don't care for the high pitched voices. I could go into why but would that really change anyone's mind? It's fine if you like it, but I'm really gonna have to call BS on the claim that a high pitched voice on a grown man is not child like. High pitched voices have historically been associated with women/children. Characters like Majin Buu, Stuart (From Mad TV) and Herbert (Family Guy) all have child like qualities. (Or in the case of Herbert, an attraction to children) In Europe, when women were not permitted to sing in church or cathedral choirs in the Roman Catholic Church, boys were castrated to prevent their voices breaking at puberty and to develop a special high voice. It clearly represents a lack of masculinity, which is why I never cared for it on Goku either.

[Zephyr]

It clearly represents a lack of masculinity, which is why I never cared for it on Goku either.

In the context of western society, I guess.

However, if you watch the series in the context of eastern society, the series that was made in the context of eastern society, that should be a non-issue.

[Kirbopher]

Lemme try ground this down to the most understandable way to look at this:

I think Ozaru's complaint stems from the typical (and someone understandable) notion of "In the Japanese version, this adult character SOUNDS like a child because they are voiced by a 60-year old woman." Mike, you and the others acknowledged on the podcast long ago that we as fans uneducated (for the most part) on Japanese as a language simply don't -get- the nuances and real differences between Nozawa's performances, because we don't speak the language. With the exception of when it's either "adult" Goku/Gohan/Goten/Bardock/Tullece or "child" Gohan/Goku, 99% of the English-speaking fans watching the show, CAN'T tell the -actual- difference between any of their voices. To them, it's either Masako Nozawa doing a high-pitched little boy voice, or a slightly older-sounding boy voice that goes as low as a older woman's voice can go for playing a male character. Ozaru may even BE aware of the differences in her performance for all five of those characters, but hearing a older woman playing an ADULT MALE is probably the heart of what his initial post is really about.

[TheMightyOzaru]

Lemme try ground this down to the most understandable way to look at this:

I think Ozaru's complaint stems from the typical (and someone understandable) notion of "In the Japanese version, this adult character SOUNDS like a child because they are voiced by a 60-year old woman." Mike, you and the others acknowledged on the podcast long ago that we as fans uneducated (for the most part) on Japanese as a language simply don't -get- the nuances and real differences between Nozawa's performances, because we don't speak the language. With the exception of when it's either "adult" Goku/Gohan/Goten/Bardock/Tullece or "child" Gohan/Goku, 99% of the English-speaking fans watching the show, CAN'T tell the -actual- difference between any of their voices. To them, it's either Masako Nozawa doing a high-pitched little boy voice, or a slightly older-sounding boy voice that goes as low as a older woman's voice can go for playing a male character. Ozaru may even BE aware of the differences in her performance for all five of those characters, but hearing a older woman playing an ADULT MALE is probably the heart of what his initial post is really about.

Yup.