Why Nozawa's Goku makes more sense than Nadolny/Schemmel

[Zephyr]

To start, this is not the place for any sort of sub vs dub debate, it's not about which voice anyone likes or dislikes, or which actor is more proficient at which role, or anything of the sort, so please leave that at the door.

The way Goku's voice, from kid to adult, is treated in the Japanese version makes more sense from an in-universe perspective. Oopa and Bora only ever encountered Goku when Goku was a child, and yet they recognize his voice at the end of the Buu arc when Goku is asking the earthlings for their ki. This makes sense, because Nozawa's adult Goku voice isn't much different than her kid Goku voice, there's only some deepening of it. But it's still instantly recognizable. The fact that Goku's voice itself is abnormal even for a Japanese voice, lends more credence to it's instantly recognizable nature.

Funimation didn't implement such an attribute to Goku's voice in this way. It's not strange or abnormal for an English speaking voice. If you were to meet someone with Nadolny's kid Goku voice, years later you wouldn't hear Schemmel's adult Goku voice and think it was the same individual.

[Insertclevername]

Woah, I kind of forgot about that scene. But yeah, Nadolny and Schemmel's voices for Gokuu don't really feel connected the same way Nozawa's did. The same with Nadolny and Herbert's Gohan for that matter too.

[sangofe]

Sorry, but who is Nadolny?

[Zephyr]

Sorry, but who is Nadolny?

Apologies, I keep forgetting that a lot of folks aren't super familiar with dub actors.

She was the voice for kid Goku, and kid Gohan, in the old Funi dubs of DB and Z.

[NANLIT]

The fact that in the Japanese version, Goku always had the same voice actor does help with old friends not hearing from in a long time, that is true. However, there could be another way around that for the other dub versions. Goku fought against Fat Boo to give Trunks some time to find the Dragon Radar, where he demonstrated the different Super Saiyan forms. Since everyone on Earth was able to see that fight due to Babidi's magic, Goku's old friends could have recognized him as an older version of their friend (when he was in his base form) and became aware of what he sounded like now. Later, when he asked for them to raise their hands, they recognized his voice from the time he fought Fat Boo.

[ABED]

I get what you're saying but I have little problem with how the dub did things. It's like when two actors play siblings despite not looking alike.

[Kamiccolo9]

The fact that in the Japanese version, Goku always had the same voice actor does help with old friends not hearing from in a long time, that is true. However, there could be another way around that for the other dub versions. Goku fought against Fat Boo to give Trunks some time to find the Dragon Radar, where he demonstrated the different Super Saiyan forms. Since everyone on Earth was able to see that fight due to Babidi's magic, Goku's old friends could have recognized him as an older version of their friend (when he was in his base form) and became aware of what he sounded like now. Later, when he asked for them to raise their hands, they recognized his voice from the time he fought Fat Boo.

This makes sense too. Although it would be kinda convenient for Fat Buu to have killed most of the population of Earth, yet somehow missed everyone who knew Goku

[Zephyr]

The fact that in the Japanese version, Goku always had the same voice actor does help with old friends not hearing from in a long time, that is true. However, there could be another way around that for the other dub versions. Goku fought against Fat Boo to give Trunks some time to find the Dragon Radar, where he demonstrated the different Super Saiyan forms. Since everyone on Earth was able to see that fight due to Babidi's magic, Goku's old friends could have recognized him as an older version of their friend (when he was in his base form) and became aware of what he sounded like now. Later, when he asked for them to raise their hands, they recognized his voice from the time he fought Fat Boo.

Ah, very true I didn't think of it that way.

[Dr. Machismo]

Nadolny and Schemmel's Goku both sound pretty similar, with the main difference being in how much deeper Schemmel's is. Just compare their laughs and "Kamehameha" lines.

Peter Kelamis' Goku had a similar effect as Nozawa's. Having voiced Goku as both a child and adult, he gave Goku a recognizable voice throughout his whole life.

[ABED]

Schemmel and Nadolny's Goku sound nothing alike, he certainly doesn't have her Krusty laugh.

Kelamis doesn't sound like Nozawa, to the extent that he does, he doesn't have nearly her talent. I've heard his kid Goku and it's attrocious.

[Dr. Machismo]

Schemmel and Nadolny's Goku sound nothing alike, he certainly doesn't have her Krusty laugh.

Kelamis doesn't sound like Nozawa, to the extent that he does, he doesn't have nearly her talent. I've heard his kid Goku and it's attrocious.

Oh yeah, my bad, he doesn't really sound like Nozawa. It's just his "Kaio-ken!" that does. But his voice acting still had a similar effect as he voiced Goku both as a kid and an adult, thus giving Goku a voice that characters would recognize anywhere.

[ABED]

But his voice acting still had a similar effect as he voiced Goku both as a kid and an adult, thus giving Goku a voice that characters would recognize anywhere.

But it's SO bad. I can get over not having him sound the same if the voice sounds good.

[Kamiccolo9]

But his voice acting still had a similar effect as he voiced Goku both as a kid and an adult, thus giving Goku a voice that characters would recognize anywhere.

But it's SO bad. I can get over not having him sound the same if the voice sounds good.

We weren't talking about the quality though. This thread was about voice consistency in the series.

[dbzfan7]

I don't really have a problem with Nadonly's Goku. I only have a problem with her Gohan and early Schemmel. But I agree that Goku sounds a lot more like an older Kid Goku in the Japanese version and that they probably couldn't tell Goku's completely different voice in the dub.

[ABED]

I get that Kamicollo, but I'm far less interested in consistency of actors than I am of their quality. If someone can do both well, then more power to them.

[Dr. Machismo]

I get that Kamicollo, but I'm far less interested in consistency of actors than I am of their quality. If someone can do both well, then more power to them.

But this thread's about consistency.

[ABED]

I get that Kamicollo, but I'm far less interested in consistency of actors than I am of their quality. If someone can do both well, then more power to them.

But this thread's about consistency.

And my comment is that quality is more important than consistency. Thankfully, Nozawa fulfills both criteria.