Toriyama's decision on the voices of DB

[OWmyDragonBallz]

Was Masako Nozawa the only one that Toriyama picked for the voices, or did he also choose the entire cast for all the main characters? I was trying to find the interview of him saying that, but I forgot where it was on here.

[Gyt Kaliba]

I've never heard anything about him choosing 'all' of the main cast, and I can't imagine he was that involved...but I do want to say I remember reading he also chose Mayumi Tanaka as Kuririn. I have absolutely no idea where it was I read this though, other than being fairly certain it was from somewhere on this site.

[Herms]

It's from his Daizenshuu 3 interview:

Do you directly participate in any work on the DB anime, Sensei?
There are times when a colored version of a character will appear sooner than in the serialization; times like those, I send my responses and such to Toei Animation through the editorial department. I also listened to the voice actors’ audition tapes, and worked on deciding who would play each role. In deciding Goku’s part, I listened to the voices of five or six people, and chose Masako Nozawa-san from among them.

What was your impression on hearing Goku’s voice in the actual broadcast?
“Ah, so that’s what Goku’s voice sounds like.” After that, while writing the comic, even I would sort of have that voice come up in my head. At those times, Goku’s voice would always be Nozawa-san’s voice, so I thought, “she’s good”. Even now, I can’t separate Goku from Nozawa-san.

Did you pick out [the voices for] other characters as well, Sensei?
I was there for the selection of the major roles. Also, Kuririn’s was the only voice where I specified the actress, Mayumi Tanaka-san, by name. When I saw Night on the Galactic Railroad1, I mentioned, “this voice is really good” in reference to the main character, and a friend knowledgeable about voice actors told me, “that’s Mayumi Tanaka-san“.

Have you ever visited the animation studio or the recording booth?
Two or three years after the start of DB’s serialization, I visited the recording studio. I observed the performances, and my honest opinion was, “that’s tough work”.

It seems Toriyama only selected voices for the initial main cast, and that auditions weren't held for all the characters who debuted later, as discussed in TV Animation Part 3's "Super Voice Talks""

Were the voice actors cast through auditions?
Nozawa: I was.

Tsuru: So was I.

Horikawa: I was just told, “do it”.

Furuya: I didn’t audition.

Nozawa: Lucky you. (laughs)

Furuya: That’s because it’s a supporting role. (laughs)

Horikawa: It’s because Vegeta appears partway through. Maybe that’s why there wasn’t an audition?

Furuya: The show didn’t have very many auditions. The reason is because they used nothing but veteran voice talent.

[Kid Buu]

Wasn't Yajirobe also Toriyama's decision?

[Tyro]

Wasn't Yajirobe also Toriyama's decision?

MistareFusion/Gaffer Tape touched on that in this DB Dissection video (time skipped to relevant part). I'd love to see some more evidence for either side.

[TheOverlyMadHatter]

This may be off topic, but I once came across some dude who SWORE Toriyama preferred the FUNimation cast over its Japanese counterpart. Linda Young, Chris Sabat, Dale Kelly, etc were ALL personally handpicked by Akira Toriyama himself, who thought the Japanese cast's voices were too screechy, he would firmly insist. Needless to say, his story was worth a good laugh.

As for which characters were actually picked by Toriyama, it's hard to say. I wouldn't think he would have picked anyone but Goku, which despite not coming across sources that said, I could believe he would do so for the voice of his main character. I'd would also like to see more evidence as to him choosing Yajirobe to be the "new Kuririn".

[Valerius Dover]

^ This I've got to see. As much as I like Chris Sabat and Linda Young's roles, it's pretty clear Toriyama never had any hand in the dub, if he's even aware of its existence. Dale Kelly's roles have all been replaced, so I can't comment on him.

[UltimateHammerBro]

I find it likely that he picked Yajirobe, since one of the first things we hear about him is the fact that he sounds like Krillin. It could have been a note to Toei saying "Same voice as Krillin", or maybe Toei decided to give the role to Mayumi Tanaka when they read that line in the manga (making Toriyama indirectly responsible for the decision).

[tinlunlau]

As far as I know, Ryo Horikawa has never even met Akira Toriyama in person. Toriyama did give Horikawa a sketch of Vegeta which he still keeps to this day. And from what he said in Toronto, he did have to audition for Vegeta.