Why Goku should be Asian (in a live action adaptation)

[i'mfuckingevil]

So first off, I know the very first natural argument is that Goku is an alien, and thus he cannot just be Asian. I understand this, but there are a few things to go with it. First of all, his alien genetic makeup at least the phenotypes are very closely close to that of humans. Hair on the head, variations of brown skin tone, two arms, two legs, and their bodies appear just at the peak of human physical condition. That's the first thing, and second is, we have no alien actors in real life to portray these aliens, so we have to obviously use actors belonging to an earthly heritage.

I'm going to use the kryptonians as well as the saiyans in this explanation because bluntly put: they are both (superpowered) aliens that look like humans.

In a real world scenario, if we are to believe that kryptonians and saiyans would look nothing like any race of the humans on earth, then there's absolutely no way to fathom what their facial structure would look like other than knowing that they'd have two eyes, a nose made of cartilage, two ears, lips, and hair on their head. With this being said, here is my logic. When Superman was discovered by his foster parents in Kansas, that race of people (white Americans) were the first people to feast their eyes on this humanoid alien infant. Because of that, they are the first humans to interpret the Kryptonians' likeness to the humans and thus, that is why it is appropriate to cast a caucasian as Superman.

Goku on the other hand, was discovered by an elderly Asian man in his universe. It's quite clear that DBU's earth is different than ours, but it's also quite clear that there is a western world and an eastern world in it as well, made up of black, white, Asian, brown, and Native American peoples in made up versions of the real earth's countries. With that being said, elder Gohan was an Asian man and since he is the first human to be exposed to the alien humanoid race that is the saiyan, he is the first to interpret their likeness to humans, and thus should be seen as an Asian man.

all this said and I've said this in the film franchise thread, I've found the perfect (in my opinion) person to play our Goku: Fizo Omar

[Ketchup_Revenge]

Why not a mixed race person?

[i'mfuckingevil]

Why not a mixed race person?

I explained why already but it just so happens that Fizo Omar is of mixed ethnicity but clearly you can tell he's Asian.

[TheGmGoken]

Why not a mixed race person?

I explained why already but it just so happens that Fizo Omar is of mixed ethnicity but clearly you can tell he's Asian.

I'm Asian and I thought he was a Mexican honesty

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

The thing with a live action dragonball for me is that it will never be done right. DBZ more certainly won't mesh at all with real-life physics or real-world costumes. Trying to modernize it just ruins the atmosphere, trying to westernize it destroys the series entirely. (Not to mention EVERYONE in DBE was a huge miscast) the actors don't even respect the series at all, the thought the original source material was dub. Surely most of hollywood wouldn't see it any differently. Though a white Goku to me is always a mistake. The name is a dead give-away Chatwin wasn't right for the role even before I say how terrible an actor he was.

As logical as it would be to have an Asian Goku, it wouldn't matter unless they weren't doing DBZ. Not to mention Saiyan hairstyles, especially Goku's hairstyle is physically impossible to sculpt. It just won't work.

A CGI DB makes more sense to me.

[Polyphase Avatron]

Just as long as it's not Justin Chatwin again

[sekzee]

Chris Hemsworth tier and above should play Goku. Only then would I be fully satisfied.

[Friezacooler]

that kid from Journey to the west conquering the demons would be the perfect Goku goofiness and all except another elder oriental version would have been perfect. still movie was to goofy at certain points and to dark at certain points describes dragon ball pretty much lol.

[Logan]

The Saiyans are conquerors, so maybe a subtle bit of Mongolian to play up the connection? Nothing heavy-handed.

[deadguy366]

Your logic doesn't quite do it for me. If superman didn't actually look like a white american, then they wouldn't have cast a white dude and they would've made him look more alien somehow. He would've never been able to fit into society perfectly and hide his secret identity if he didn't actually look like an american. The fact that white people discovered him has nothing to do with the way he's shown. Same goes for Goku except it would've been even easier to draw him more as an alien. It just so happens that saiyans look asian/white.

I don't find it hard to believe at all that kryptonians and saiyans could look EXACTLY like races we have here on earth.

Other than that I agree. Goku should be played by an asian, but not a full asian.

I also agree with whoever said that guy doesn't look asian at all.

[Captain Sauza]

What if he was Asian most of the time but when he turns Super Saiyan they replace him with some roided Scandinavian for the fight scenes?

[i'mfuckingevil]

Your logic doesn't quite do it for me. If superman didn't actually look like a white american, then they wouldn't have cast a white dude and they would've made him look more alien somehow. He would've never been able to fit into society perfectly and hide his secret identity if he didn't actually look like an american. The fact that white people discovered him has nothing to do with the way he's shown. Same goes for Goku except it would've been even easier to draw him more as an alien. It just so happens that saiyans look asian/white.

I don't find it hard to believe at all that kryptonians and saiyans could look EXACTLY like races we have here on earth.

Other than that I agree. Goku should be played by an asian, but not a full asian.

I also agree with whoever said that guy doesn't look asian at all.

The fact of the matter is, Superman is an American hero and he's pretty much always depicted as white, in the cartoon or big screen. Goku on the other hand I will say started off as a Japanese hero and that's where his likeness originates too.

I don't think saiyans look both Asian and white, just mostly Asian. Or at the very least, how white is the majority race or just seen as the average default man for the human species, then yellow/Asian/oriental is the majority race of the saiyans with other races appearing here and there. That is the way I have lookedat it.

And believe it or not Fizo Omar is Asian. He's from Malaysia.

[Ringworm128]

I'd rather them cast a black guy with a deep voice who can get the character right than an Asian who has no idea what he's doing. Also it's worth mention that Toriyama mentioned Yajirobe was supposed to be Japanese and he looks pretty different.

[Gokuden]

Goku looks Korean in DB-DBZ to be honest. Big eyes, light skin.

Then he looks malaysian in GT.

[i'mfuckingevil]

I'd rather them cast a black guy with a deep voice who can get the character right than an Asian who has no idea what he's doing. Also it's worth mention that Toriyama mentioned Yajirobe was supposed to be Japanese and he looks pretty different.

[Ringworm128]

Broli has a fairly slim build. He only goes full roid rage when he goes LSSJ. And CG simile to the Hulk in the MCU would be needed.

[Gokuden]

I'd rather them cast a black guy with a deep voice who can get the character right than an Asian who has no idea what he's doing. Also it's worth mention that Toriyama mentioned Yajirobe was supposed to be Japanese and he looks pretty different.

Or another steroid user...

I don't know, I would just go with a tall Scandinavian for Broly.

[Rockman X]

ASIA Is not a Race! Ugh.. its a geographical term which includes India and other middle eastern countries,if you want to say "Oriental race" just say so don't use geographical terms colloquially to denote particular races.

This is "ASIA" and yes middle east&India is a part of it.

[TheGmGoken]

He said Asian not Asia. Meaning anyone(even an Indian) can be Goku as long as he's Asian(his point of view).

[Cetra]

I think Goku should be Chinese if we go for the Origins of the Origins. Goku himself does not look very Asian, however.