For dub fans, how much of a deal breaker is Nozawa's Goku?

[Hades]

It's a common refrain among fans of the English Dub that they "would watch it [in japanese] if Goku didn't sound so girly".

How much of that statement is an accurate reflection of the Dub Fanbase?

[TheBlackPaladin]

It's a common refrain among fans of the English Dub that they "would watch it [in japanese] if Goku didn't sound so girly".

How much of that statement is an accurate reflection of the Dub Fanbase?

If we're talking about kid Goku, then it was never a hang-up, and I have yet to hear a dub fan complain about Nozawa's voice for Goku as a kid. If we're talking about adult Goku, however...then I know it certainly was (the keyword here being "was") for me. I'm sure it must have been for a lot of dub fans as well. Every single time I showed my friends the Japanese version, they were always fine with it until adult Goku started talking.

I've said this a few times before, so I don't want to bore anyone by saying it again. In essence, though, Nozawa's voice for adult Goku never sounded realistic to me, any of my friends, and a lot of dub fans. To me, it still doesn't, but I have come to love it for that reason (Goku is a strange guy, so it fits that he has a strange voice--one with wonderful acting at that).

[Dbzfan94]

It's not nearly as jarring as it used to be for me.
I just can't get used to Nozawa as Adult Goku, possibly because I've heard Schemmel my whole life and I just can't get used to such a difference.

Kid Goku there's no issue for me, I just still prefer the dub

[Valerius Dover]

I wouldn't put us all in the same group or anything, as I don't really find anything really off-putting about Goku's voice, based on the clips I've seen. I've already decided I'm going to see it in Japanese after finishing the English version and then Kai in English.

However, those screams kind of bother me a little. No disrespect intended at all, I'm just really sensitive towards high-pitched sounds in general. Couple that with the mono-sound, and it comes off as a little irritating.

The other thing that bugs me is the fact that Gohan and Goten are given the exact same voice, making them feel even more identical. Yes, I'm aware of Stephanie Nadolny being both Goku and Gohan, and I personally think she should've only been the former. However, it wasn't as off-putting there since they didn't have the same voice at the same time. Maybe I'm looking too much into this, and judging too much by just a few clips, so my opinion might change when I give it an actual watch-through.

[Videlphia76ers]

Huge deal breaker. A woman voicing a grown man's voice is a literal joke to the average westerner.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

I don't watch any anime subbed unless it is the only option, so I would not watch DBZ in Japanese regardless of what Goku sounds like, but BoG was my first real exposure to the Japanese dub and whilst I did find Nozawa's Goku irritating, I did enjoy her screams for the most part.

Also, this man-child argument doesn't really work, as Valerius Dover says Gohan sounds exactly like Goku, it is just bad casting imo. A grown adult should have a grown adults voice regardless of mentality, for example Billy Batson is a kid, yet when in his Shazam form he has an adult voice to match his adult body.

[samuraix123]

As a Dub fan...I never once had a complaint about the Japanese voice actors! especially Nozawa.(compared to my other friends)Actually I'm being honest when I say this, I think the Japanese Goku sounds muuuuuuuuuuuuch better than ours(Funimation. Sean) but that doesn't mean I don't love our voice actors(In my opinion they put just as much passion into the voice acting as the Japanese) But I have zero problems with any of the voice actors both in the English and Japanese. I love Funimation's original Ocean dub of Z as well.

[Gaffer Tape]

Couple that with the mono-sound

It's not because the sound is mono. It's because it's low-quality. The two aren't related in any way. Mono only refers to how many separate channels the sound is mixed to (in this case, one).

[TheBlackPaladin]

Upon further reflection, it seems to me that there are always two complaints that come up among the more stubborn dub fans who refuse to even listen to the original version:

1) Nozawa's voice as adult Goku. Which I don't agree with, but I can understand.
2) The original score. Which I don't agree with, nor do understand it. Some parts of the Japanese version took getting used to, but the music was not one of them. I fell in love with Kikuchi's music when I first heard a note of it, and never watched any Dragon Ball product with an alternate score again.

[NitroEX]

As someone who grew up with Nozawa Goku in the video games alongside the various English Goku voices in the series I don't recall ever thinking the Japanese voice was so jarring that I couldn't take it seriously. I do remember around that time I was quite infatuated by Japanese culture so I think I just accepted and enjoyed the differences rather than nitpicking it.

It seems like most of the hate generally comes from American fans who grew up with Z during the days when Funimation tried to hide as much as possible the fact that what they had was a Japanese show. When you go from say, Funimation's version of the first Broly movie with US rock bands blasting and everybody sounding like a pro wrestler to the more restrained Japanese version with a woman voicing Goku it's like night and day. To the average US fan it would be too jarring and I can see why they'de hate it in comparison. Thankfully I can enjoy both.

[Valerius Dover]

Couple that with the mono-sound

It's not because the sound is mono. It's because it's low-quality. The two aren't related in any way. Mono only refers to how many separate channels the sound is mixed to (in this case, one).

Ah, my mistake. I was thinking about the low-quality, but wrote Mono instead. I really should know better.

I will point out it's not just that, though, since the Buu Kai clips, specifically those with both Goku and Gohan in them bug me a little, too. It's like I can't even tell them apart. Again, maybe it just takes time and adjustment, but for now, this is how it is for me. The man having a woman's voice doesn't really bother me, really. Several men having the same voice does, though.

Not a dealbreaker for me, of course. In the same way a that I make the most out of the shortcomings of the dub (usually by turning it around and enjoying it) I would probably do the same here. Just enjoy the cheesiness. Is it unrealistic that they all have the exact same voice? Yes. However, I don't look for realism in animation.

[Metalwario64]

It never bothered me. Even when I was 10 on the internet discovering the Japanese version back in 2000. It just sounded like a "Bruce Lee" voice to me back then (I thought Bruce Lee talked in a high pitched voice, the way he shouted. ), and it didn't bother me, since Goku was a martial artist, and he was always a bit "silly". It doesn't even really sound feminine; it's a very unique voice.

Plus, back then, it seemed that most who discovered the Japanese version when the FUNi dub was premiering thought it (the Japanese version as a whole) was "badass". Now, the people who grew up on the dub and are just discovering the Japanese version think it's atrocious and "girly".

I remember talking to some kids in the 5th grade who bought fansubs, and I had seen Japanese clips on the internet at that time, and we would talk about how awesome and "adult" it was in Japanese.

[Rocketman]

Nozawa is 100% the dealbreaker. Not because she's a woman, not because Goku's a man, but because her voice is so fucking horrid.


And it only gets worse as the series goes on and she voices Gohan and Goten too, until you have Nozawa versus Nozawa and Nozawa and then Nozawa blasts Nozawa and Nozawa away and you get the double-dose of BWAAAAAAKKKKKHHH.


"kkkkkkkkkkKKKKKKKKKKkkkkkkkkkkkkKKKKKKKKKKKKK BWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHKH" - Goku

[thomas1up]

I
However, those screams kind of bother me a little.

Oh you're not alone there, I love Nozawa's Goku to death but sometimes those screams can just be a little too much.

I think it's worse in Kai than it was in Z.

[Chuquita]

Nozawa's Gokû was actually one of the points that got me into the subbed, original Japanese version of the show. A friend lent me some subbed Buu arc eps long ago and I immediately liked how cute Gokû sounded (and how cool Vegeta sounded).

Having seen a lot of anime series since, I can say Gokû does not have a girlish voice. It's higher pitched than you would expect by looking at him, but his way of speaking lacks the nuances that are used in traditional female speech patterns in Japanese.
There's word and grammar choices he doesn't use.

[JEFFMAN219]

Her voice irritates me when she screams as adult Goku. They should've replaced her with a different voice actor whenGoku grows up.

[Beerus-sama]

I want to take this opportunity to tell how I reacted when I first discovered the japanese version.
I found the first Broly movie and just skipped to the final part when everyone gives their energy to Goku and kills broly or something because I just wanted to know how it sounded in japanese, since I know some scenes in anime are more epic in japanese than the dubs (in this case, the Mexican dub).

In that scene Goku is all buffed, and then I heard him screaming....

that was so weird watching him being so buffed and mad ... and with that voice

after that I refused watching the japanese version until I decided to give it a try watching it from the first chapter of Z, it felt better, since he wasn't buffed there and I just get the voice was like that because of his funny traits.
That and maybe the reason I also accepted it was because I always loved the Kamehameha screaming in japanese since I played the PS1 DBZ Denzetsu in japanese (also I like how male characters sound with a light voice)

[KentalSSJ6]

It took some warming up but shes grown on me over time. I've only heard her in Kai so I'm kinda curious to here how she sounds in the original dub,

[Kamiccolo9]

It's not. I have yet to sit down and watch the series in Japanese, but she sounded great in BoG. It's definitely different, but somehow it works for Goku's character.

I will agree the sounds she makes during the fight scenes can be a bit odd. Not any worse than the constipated "uuuuugggggghhhhh" noises in the Funimation Dub, though.

[RandomGuy96]

Nozawa is 100% the dealbreaker. Not because she's a woman, not because Goku's a man, but because her voice is so fucking horrid.


And it only gets worse as the series goes on and she voices Gohan and Goten too, until you have Nozawa versus Nozawa and Nozawa and then Nozawa blasts Nozawa and Nozawa away and you get the double-dose of BWAAAAAAKKKKKHHH.


"kkkkkkkkkkKKKKKKKKKKkkkkkkkkkkkkKKKKKKKKKKKKK BWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHKH" - Goku

Ha, I knew Rocketman would be responding within the first page. Yeah, pretty much this. Her voice is hell on my ears, and she voices fucking EVERYBODY, even characters that really, really don't fit, and wouldn't fit even if her voice wasn't godawful. Goku and Goten? Annoying, but fine, if that's what they're going for. Gohan and Tullece? I don't think it fits much, especially since Gohan is basically the anti-Goku. Bardock? What the fuck, why?