Your favorite voice for Goku?

[DynasticHunter]

Seriously, though, Masako Nozawa.

Nobody brings such genuine warmth, sincerity, folksy charm, and childlike enthusiasm as Nozawa in her Goku. And at the same time, when her Goku is in combat, when he's angry, when he's being serious, there's also a sharpness and determination that comes through crystal clear. When I hear Nozawa's Goku I smile. You can feel the character really spring to life, a bizarre, but wonderful character she makes somehow believable with her unique sound and delivery.

No English dub VA quite comes close enough to that level of quality. Kelamis, who is Nozawaesque at times, is my preferred English voice of the lot, but he's a bit inconsistent. For every scene he nails, he falters in another. Sean Schemmel has made strides, but still sounds just a little too brawny, and his delivery is paint-by-numbers. Ian Corlett sounds a bit bland and unconvincing as the character. Kirby Morrow sounds too serene. Yurk is just a dime store Morrow. Watson had potential, but his delivery was too raw.

It'll be interesting to hear who Ocean casts as Goku in the Ocean dub of Kahahahahahaha, that's never going to happen!

That was extremely well put, I'm going save this quote in my computer.

[ABED]

Goku first appeared as proud of being a Saiyan when he a made a speech to Freeza about defeating him before fighting him.

Which was similarly as corny as the "Ally to Good, Nightmare to You" speech.

It's nowhere near as corny. Even if you think it's corny, how is it AS corny? In the original he tells Freeza who and what he is, in the dub, he waxes poetic.

[OutlawTorn]

Ian Corlett and Sean Schemmel are pretty much tied for me. I don't mind Stephanie Nadolny for Kid Goku.

[Ringworm128]

If we are listing Kid Goku voices then

1st Stephanie Nadalony and Masako Nozawa.

2nd Saffron Henderson

3rd All the others.

4th Coleen Clinkenbeard.

[TheGmGoken]

Kid Goku huh?

1. Nozawa
2. Steph Nadolony
3. Korean Kid Goku
4. Collen Clinkerbeard
5. Saffron Henderson
6. Latino Kid Goku
7. All the others

[ABED]

Nadolny's Goku is like sandpaper, whereas Clinkenbeards has a smooth voice, I just wish we heard more.

[DB_Fan1991]

This is just my opinion by the way, but

Kid Goku: Masako Nozawa=Stephanie Nadolny > Colleen Clinkenbeard > Saffron Henderson > Ceyli Delgadillo > Peter Kelamis
Adult Goku: Masako Nozawa=Sean Schemmel (DB, GT & Kai) > Sean Schemmel (Z 1-67 & 195-291) > Peter Kelamis > Sean Schemmel (Z 118-194) > Ian Corlett =Jeffrey Watson > Sean Schemmel (Z 68-117) > Kirby Morrow=Jeremiah Yurk

[KentalSSJ6]

I haven't seen the redub of Dragonball nor have seen Dragonball since it was on Toonami so I cant really say much since its been so long but from what clips I have heard, I liked Colleen's Goku. She does a great job conveying emotion and she has a flexible voice, able to sound old and mature like her role as Riza Hawkeye in Full Metal Alchemist. I do however think that Kid Goku and Kid Gohan should have different actors seeing as they dont sound similar as adults. Stephanie did sound a lot better as years passed, sounding less..I wanna say gravel like in her voice as seen in Ultimate Tenkaichi where she can be heard as Gohan here and there (what was up with that by the way?) .

[Ringworm128]

Nadolny's Goku is like sandpaper, whereas Clinkenbeards has a smooth voice, I just wish we heard more.

I don't hear anything smooth about her Goku, all I hear is a kid that sounds like he has ADHD. And the tone of her voice has a rasp/huskyness that's just as apparent as Nadalony's.

[90sDBZ]

What does everyone think of Zoe Sulsar's Kid Goku? I'd say it's definitely one of the better Blue Water dub voices.

[ABED]

Nadolny's Goku is like sandpaper, whereas Clinkenbeards has a smooth voice, I just wish we heard more.

I don't hear anything smooth about her Goku, all I hear is a kid that sounds like he has ADHD. And the tone of her voice has a rasp/huskyness that's just as apparent as Nadalony's.

I'm sorry but no, she doesn't have ANYWHERE near the rasp that Nadolny has. At the very least, Clinkenbeard is a much better actress. Nadolny's inflections are so goofy, it's not Goku at all.

Point me to a scene where the performance comes off as hyperactive or where she's raspy.

[90sDBZ]

I like both Nadonly and Clinkenbeard as Goku and Gohan. In defence of Nadolny she did manage to pull off Goku's innocence and stupidity. Both had really good screams imo.

[LeprikanGT]

Schemmel. I can not stand the sound of Nozawa's voice. I've watched DB-GT in English AND in Japanese and that's still my ranking of the two.

[ConfusedPhantom]

For the kid Goku, definitely Nozawa. Goodson, Nadolny, Henderson and Clinkenbeard were pretty alright too. I would love to hear Brianne Siddall do Goku again. She'd really kill it.

[Dalesy]

Definitely Nozawa. That voice is so perfect for Goku, and her performance is flawless.

As far as the English VAs go, I would give it to Sean Schemmel, strictly for his performance in Kai. Peter Kelamis, even though he'll forever hold a spot in my heart for playing Rolf on Ed Edd n Eddy, just strikes me as being very goofy. And of course, Goku is a goofy character, but I feel Kelamis pushes it a little too much.

[fogdark]

Hmmm, good question. It's hard to decide since pretty much all of us grew up with a Goku not voiced by Masako Nozawa, so the nostalgia effect can be quite strong. Still, there should be no question that Masako Nozawa IS Goku. I'll admit it's quite shocking when you first hear her, but in my case, I only needed to hear Mrs. Nosawa's voice yelling the Kamehameha, and I was convinced. She's Goku, and the rest are mere imitations

About Sean Schemmel. I only heard him voicing Goku while I lived for a few years in the USA, and I don't have good memories of those performances. He sounded too Superman-ish, too hero-ish, too ...adult. Goku should always be a kid in a adult's body, and his voice needs to show this (which is why Masako Nozawa is incredible as Goku). Mr. Schemmel may have gotten much better, I don't doubt it, since many of you have said as much, but in my case, I'm pretty much done with him (and the english dub in general, to be honest).

So, in my opinion, the one voice that ranks in 2nd place after Nozawa is Mario Castañeda, who many of you don't have any clue on who that is
Of course, he's not a complete unknown since he is Goku's voice for all of Latin America, so he gets mentioned on this forum every now and then. A few users have already named him on this thread, and I agree with them. His performance brings that child-like wonder that is so important for the character. Of course, he doesn't reach the levels of Masako Nozawa, but he does the job quite well.
He was the voice I grew up with, while watching Dragon Ball in my native country, Venezuela, and I remember those days dearly. Back then, when Goku grew up, and his voice changed, I could still hear kid Goku in his performance. He was a kid, he was an idiot, and he was innocent. He wasn't looking to be or to act as the hero, he was just a guy looking for new things to have fun with, new challenges, and new things to get excited for. Nozawa is the one that brings those qualities out of Goku the best, but Castañeda managed to transmit those qualities to me and to many Latin American fans.

And while we're on this topic, the other day, Mike mentioned in twitter how he was in awe at the incredible reaction of the Latin American fandom to the confirmation of the return of Mario Castañeda as the voice of Goku for the dub of Battle of Gods. And that made me realize that, as much as Masako Nozawa IS Goku, Castañeda may possibly be the voice of Goku with the most number of fans in the world, just because he had a larger reach, in many more countries. It's weird how these things go, huh?

[TheMightyOzaru]

Masako Nazawa. I feel Sean's voice is becoming way too forced.

[MCDaveG]

Nonononono no no no, nonononono Nozawaaa Masakooo! Never heard of other Gokus, there aren't any

[Mewzard]

Masako Nazawa. I feel Sean's voice is becoming way too forced.

I really don't get that, his Goku voice is pretty close to his natural speaking voice (certainly far closer to his natural speaking voice than Goku is to Nozawa's own). The man's really gotten down how to do the role, and thankfully, in time for the writing staff at Funi as well. When Goku's happy, you can hear the joy in his tone. When Goku's excited, you can hear the giddiness in his voice. When Goku's mad, you can hear it in his voice, building up before the explosion (I felt Goku really was good at that during the fight with Freeza, like in his speech).

Of course, I do love Nozawa's performance, but trying to say Schemmel's Goku is forced but Nozawa's isn't is a bit much (even if neither really are, she certainly had to change her voice a bit more for Goku than some have had to *I suppose it is easier to miss the little stuff in a foreign language though; bad child actors are the exception...you can tell a particularly bad delivery from some kids...*).

[mister yummy]

MasakoX. He's just so great. He's like a cross between Peter Kelamis and Masako Nozawa. Just captures the personality perfectly.

Ian Corlett. He used to be much loved, but everyone seems to have forgotten about him these days.

Staphanie Nadolny. AFAIAC she's the BEST kid Goku ever. Saffron Henderson just didn't sound right. Strangely enough, I think the opposite is true of Gohan. Henderson captures his personality, while Nadolny just sounds like Goku.

Sean Schemmel. Can anyone on Earth scream like this man? His Goku Voice started as an obvious Corlett impression, but he made it his own over time.

Peter Kelamis also did good work.

And the origional, Masako Nozawa, is really good too.