How did the re-cast characters turn out (in your opinion)?

[Gyt Kaliba]

I'll listen to Armstrong as any character, but he does sound a little too old for Ginyu. Granted, we don't have an age for Ginyu but I imagine him as sounding like a guy in his 30s, maybe early 40s. The actor who plays him in Kai is excellent.

That's pretty much why I now kind of prefer Elliot for the character. I love Armstrong's work, he's an amazing actor, but even though we don't really know how old Ginyu is, he always strikes me as not really being an old guy. So while Armstrong does the role well, I find him more fitting for Slug in movie 4 than I do Ginyu nowadays.

[ABED]

I'll listen to Armstrong as any character, but he does sound a little too old for Ginyu. Granted, we don't have an age for Ginyu but I imagine him as sounding like a guy in his 30s, maybe early 40s. The actor who plays him in Kai is excellent.

That's pretty much why I now kind of prefer Elliot for the character. I love Armstrong's work, he's an amazing actor, but even though we don't really know how old Ginyu is, he always strikes me as not really being an old guy. So while Armstrong does the role well, I find him more fitting for Slug in movie 4 than I do Ginyu nowadays.

I still can't believe they found someone who is as good a narrator as Armstrong. Doc Morgan might just be better than Armstrong, but both are damn good. I think I've said this before, but Hebert just doesn't have a narrator's voice, although I'd take him over Dale Kelly any day. It's a shame they couldn't have had Armstrong as the narrator from the beginning.

Speaking of recasts, I really wish they had recast Ox-King. Other than Dave Ward, he's never had a good English voice.

[Gyt Kaliba]

I still can't believe they found someone who is as good a narrator as Armstrong. Doc Morgan might just be better than Armstrong, but both are damn good. I think I've said this before, but Hebert just doesn't have a narrator's voice, although I'd take him over Dale Kelly any day. It's a shame they couldn't have had Armstrong as the narrator from the beginning.

I think I've heard something about them wanting each series to have a different narrator for some reason, but I can't remember where I heard that or how true it might be. It'd certainly fit though, since even back in the old days we had Armstrong for DB, Hebert for Z, and Chandler for GT. Going beyond that to the more recent stuff, we've got Morgan for Kai, and I assume that if we ever got anything else for Dragon Ball (another video game specific to the original anime series or something), then the narration for that would be Swasey again (like it was in the re-dub of movie 1). I don't know why they're dead set on each series having it's own narrator, if that really is the case, though. Part of the reason I like the Japanese version so much now is that it's more consistent going from series to series, having the same cast for everyone, including the same narrator as always, as well as closer to the same music (though I guess GT's score is jarring enough coming off of Z, kinda).

[ABED]

I still can't believe they found someone who is as good a narrator as Armstrong. Doc Morgan might just be better than Armstrong, but both are damn good. I think I've said this before, but Hebert just doesn't have a narrator's voice, although I'd take him over Dale Kelly any day. It's a shame they couldn't have had Armstrong as the narrator from the beginning.

I think I've heard something about them wanting each series to have a different narrator for some reason, but I can't remember where I heard that or how true it might be. It'd certainly fit though, since even back in the old days we had Armstrong for DB, Hebert for Z, and Chandler for GT. Going beyond that to the more recent stuff, we've got Morgan for Kai, and I assume that if we ever got anything else for Dragon Ball (another video game specific to the original anime series or something), then the narration for that would be Swasey again (like it was in the re-dub of movie 1). I don't know why they're dead set on each series having it's own narrator, if that really is the case, though. Part of the reason I like the Japanese version so much now is that it's more consistent going from series to series, having the same cast for everyone, including the same narrator as always, as well as closer to the same music (though I guess GT's score is jarring enough coming off of Z, kinda).

I heard the same thing about the different narrators. I heard it from a video of a q and a with Kyle Hebert from some convention. Swasey isn't a good narrator. He suffers from the same problem Hebert does, he doesn't have a narrator's voice. I'm with you on the consistent narrator, but given what FUNi did with DBZ, I don't know if Armstrong would've fit.

Getting back to the recasts, I guess they recast Oolong because the previous actor was unavailable. The new guy is okay, but not as good.

Brina Palencia is good as Chaozu. but Puar still sounds too squeaky.

[Nikkolas]

Armstrong fit the tone of Dragon Ball and Hebert fit the tone of Funi's Dragon Ball Z The former's grandfatherly voice and the latter's EXTREME voice made sense. I can't even imagine Armstrong or Morgan trying to give the opening recap narration than it goes to the rockin' title card music. It be so jarring.

And Hebert did have a few good narrations, such as when Gohan goes SSJ2 in the Cell Games. Well, I liked it at least.
Other than that though, he was kinda not good.

Morgan is a great narrator though. I love having him in Kai. I slightly prefer Armstrong but that could just be because I prefer everything Dragon Ball.

[ABED]

Armstrong fit the tone of Dragon Ball and Hebert fit the tone of Funi's Dragon Ball Z The former's grandfatherly voice and the latter's EXTREME voice made sense. I can't even imagine Armstrong or Morgan trying to give the opening recap narration than it goes to the rockin' title card music. It be so jarring.

And Hebert did have a few good narrations, such as when Gohan goes SSJ2 in the Cell Games. Well, I liked it at least.
Other than that though, he was kinda not good.

Morgan is a great narrator though. I love having him in Kai. I slightly prefer Armstrong but that could just be because I prefer everything Dragon Ball.

Agreed, Kyle and even Kelly fit the tone with what they did with DBZ, but what they did with DBZ wasn't very good. If FUNi had kept the music and done a quality translation, then I could see Armstrong as the narrator for DB/Z/GT.

[CaBrPi]

Brina Palencia is good as Chaozu. but Puar still sounds too squeaky.

It's not a particularly important role, but I agree. I'd like to hear Tia Ballard in the role.

She's played a blue floating magical cat before, after all.

[Ringworm128]

Ever wonder why Vollmer wasn't in anything besides DB/Z/GT? Probably because nobody wanted her for anything else.

She apparently played a character called Betty in Detective Conan/Case Closed.

[Nikkolas]

I really liked Ms. Clinkenbeard in the Freeza Saga. She was a much better young Gohan than Nadolny ever was.

...however I did not like her in the Cell Games whatsoever. This is supremely subjective topic because people say the exact same thing fro both Nadolny and Clinkenbeard. The criticism? "Her SSJ2 scream just wasn't right." Everyone has their own opinion on that topic and my opinion is that it is Clinkenbeard's scream that lacks the emotion. I just didn't feel the raw, unmitigated anger that I felt with Nadolny.
And it gets even better in the subsequent episode when he actually finishes the transformation and tells Cell to make the Cell Juniors stop it.

Am I biased? Probably. That scene has been my favorite moment of DBZ for years and years and years. Perhaps I'm simply too indoctrinated to judge fairly. But I can't help that. I've been as far as I possibly can be.

Colleen is a great voice-actress but for Cell Games Gohan and Eighteen, I prefer the Z VAs.

[matt0044]

Colleen is a great voice-actress but for Cell Games Gohan and Eighteen, I prefer the Z VAs.

Eh, I'd say Nozawa can't be topped when it comes to that DBZ scene. Not even by herself in Kai...

SSJ scream aside (I felt the other screams were good enough), I did like Clinkenbeard's CG Gohan since I feel Nadolny was a tad bogged down by the direction years back. Better yes but not a huge leap in skill for me (she did get better in the DBZ Season 1 and 2 redub and Dragon Ball dub).

[ABED]

Even if Nadolny's scream is better, that's one moment. I'd still much rather have Colleen.

[Nikkolas]

Eh, I'd say Nozawa can't be topped when it comes to that DBZ scene. Not even by herself in Kai...

SSJ scream aside (I felt the other screams were good enough), I did like Clinkenbeard's CG Gohan since I feel Nadolny was a tad bogged down by the direction years back. Better yes but not a huge leap in skill for me (she did get better in the DBZ Season 1 and 2 redub and Dragon Ball dub).

I should probably specify I won't ever watch the Japanese version and it's nothing against the VAs or the music. It's just that I'm legally blind and I could not possibly enjoy a show like Dragon Ball while having to pause it every few seconds because the subtitles went by too fast for me to read.
This is why I watch the dub and am currently reading the manga.

No doubt Ms. Nadolny was still rough around the edges even then and I think she only finally peaked as Kid Goku in Dragon Ball. That's my favorite role of hers by a country mile.

And while Clinkenbeard did have good screams. they weren't amazingly good screams. I think that describes the Kai Cell Saga for me - good but not amazing.

I loved the Kai Freeza Saga and in all likelihood I'll love the Kai Buu Saga. But the Cell Saga is my baby and I just don't think the few improvements that were gained with Kai make up for what was lost. (McCoy's Eighteen, most of the damn music, some cool filler, etc.)

[ABED]

Eh, I'd say Nozawa can't be topped when it comes to that DBZ scene. Not even by herself in Kai...

SSJ scream aside (I felt the other screams were good enough), I did like Clinkenbeard's CG Gohan since I feel Nadolny was a tad bogged down by the direction years back. Better yes but not a huge leap in skill for me (she did get better in the DBZ Season 1 and 2 redub and Dragon Ball dub).

I should probably specify I won't ever watch the Japanese version and it's nothing against the VAs or the music. It's just that I'm legally blind and I could not possibly enjoy a show like Dragon Ball while having to pause it every few seconds because the subtitles went by too fast for me to read.
This is why I watch the dub and am currently reading the manga.

No doubt Ms. Nadolny was still rough around the edges even then and I think she only finally peaked as Kid Goku in Dragon Ball. That's my favorite role of hers by a country mile.

And while Clinkenbeard did have good screams. they weren't amazingly good screams. I think that describes the Kai Cell Saga for me - good but not amazing.

I loved the Kai Freeza Saga and in all likelihood I'll love the Kai Buu Saga. But the Cell Saga is my baby and I just don't think the few improvements that were gained with Kai make up for what was lost. (McCoy's Eighteen, most of the damn music, some cool filler, etc.)

You judge actors by their screams?

Funny, I can't stand Nadolny as Goku. Her Gohan is okay, but her Goku laugh (she sounds like Krusty the clown) sends shivers down my spine. I don't get the praise.

[matt0044]

I should probably specify I won't ever watch the Japanese version and it's nothing against the VAs or the music. It's just that I'm legally blind and I could not possibly enjoy a show like Dragon Ball while having to pause it every few seconds because the subtitles went by too fast for me to read.
This is why I watch the dub and am currently reading the manga.

Ahhhh, I see.

And while Clinkenbeard did have good screams. they weren't amazingly good screams. I think that describes the Kai Cell Saga for me - good but not amazing.

I loved the Kai Freeza Saga and in all likelihood I'll love the Kai Buu Saga. But the Cell Saga is my baby and I just don't think the few improvements that were gained with Kai make up for what was lost. (McCoy's Eighteen, most of the damn music, some cool filler, etc.)

So you judge actors by their screams? Plus, I really liked Clinkenbeard's screams. They may not've been enough for your but they were good enough.

Also some of the things "lost" weren't there for obvious reasons (the music, for starters).

[TheWhiz]

Eh, I'd say Nozawa can't be topped when it comes to that DBZ scene. Not even by herself in Kai...

SSJ scream aside (I felt the other screams were good enough), I did like Clinkenbeard's CG Gohan since I feel Nadolny was a tad bogged down by the direction years back. Better yes but not a huge leap in skill for me (she did get better in the DBZ Season 1 and 2 redub and Dragon Ball dub).

I should probably specify I won't ever watch the Japanese version and it's nothing against the VAs or the music. It's just that I'm legally blind and I could not possibly enjoy a show like Dragon Ball while having to pause it every few seconds because the subtitles went by too fast for me to read.
This is why I watch the dub and am currently reading the manga.

No doubt Ms. Nadolny was still rough around the edges even then and I think she only finally peaked as Kid Goku in Dragon Ball. That's my favorite role of hers by a country mile.

And while Clinkenbeard did have good screams. they weren't amazingly good screams. I think that describes the Kai Cell Saga for me - good but not amazing.

I loved the Kai Freeza Saga and in all likelihood I'll love the Kai Buu Saga. But the Cell Saga is my baby and I just don't think the few improvements that were gained with Kai make up for what was lost. (McCoy's Eighteen, most of the damn music, some cool filler, etc.)

You judge actors by their screams?

Funny, I can't stand Nadolny as Goku. Her Gohan is okay, but her Goku laugh (she sounds like Krusty the clown) sends shivers down my spine. I don't get the praise.

I think the praise for Nadolny's Goku stems from the performance she gave as Gohan. Or something like that. I agree, her Goku laugh is really bad.

[Nikkolas]

No, I don't judge a VA solely by their scream. I was replying to your statement that Clinkenbeard's screams were decent overall. I feel the same way.

If we get into an overall comparison of their performances in the Cell Games, I don't think either lady really stands out. They were both passable enough. I felt Gohan's anguish at losing his father was well done in both Z and Kai for example.

As for Nadolny's Goku, Kid Goku is my favorite character in all of DB and I attribute that at least somewhat to her performance. I hated Goku as an adult but when I first saw Dragon Ball a couple years ago I was shocked at how much I loved the character. I could watch him just fly around on the Kinto'un and laughing and doing absolutely nothing substantial all day. And when actually important stuff was going down, she always rose to the occasion and made him sound furious.

Dragon Ball was just better dubbed in pretty much every respect compared to Z.

[batistabus]

Colleen is a better Gohan at every level in my opinion. And yes, that includes the scream.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... uPk#t=116s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... zGn4#t=99s

[Nikkolas]

As much as I love the initial scream, my favorite Nadolny scream is later when Gohan Angers is playing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIH9uas-uPk&t=4m40s

It's really weird that he was totally Super Saiyan 2 at the end of the episode in both Z and Kai but in the following episode he is still SSJ1 and won't finish transforming for several minutes.

[matt0044]

It's really weird that he was totally Super Saiyan 2 at the end of the episode in both Z and Kai but in the following episode he is still SSJ1 and won't finish transforming for several minutes.

Ah, Toei. The length they'll go to lengthen Z is staggering.

[Fennekin]

Colleen is a better Gohan at every level in my opinion. And yes, that includes the scream.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... uPk#t=116s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... zGn4#t=99s

I agree. Colleen is an excellent Gohan, a lot better than Stephanie.