Best Freeza dub voice?

[Kakacarrottop]

Linda Young, while severely miscast as Freeza IMHO

Pauline Newstone was severely miscast as Freeza, Young was just hired to help keep consistency with the old cast. A lot of people seem to talk of Young as if she was the one responsible for making Freeza sound like a grandmother. Unlike say, Sabat's Vegeta, she never evolved past being an Ocean imitation, which is probably why she wasn't retained for Kai, seeing as FUNi wanted to correct old casting blunders from the Saban era. Same applies for Volmer and Nadolny.

[Lord Exor]

Another thing I would like to mention: Frieza's Kai dialogue is overwrought to the point of forcing Ayres to recite his lines with enough celerity to match the mouth flapping. The corollary of this is a meter that is quite unnatural for a majority of English speakers, leading a great deal of his lines to come across as rushed. Now, this is a flaw shared by everyone in the dubbing industry, regardless of talent--it's simply the nature of the beast. That notwithstanding, the scriptwriters for Kai certainly didn't do Ayres any favors in that regard, what with its literal (and sometimes embellished) translation.

I can certainly comprehend why Young may not have been capable of making this sound natural enough to be sufficient, which seems to be the official explanation for her dismissal.

(You all must have some rather eerie grandmothers if they sound like Linda Young's Frieza.)

[Skar]

I want to address that last bit: Of course I'm presenting personal opinion as fact from time to time. Otherwise I'd spend half of this conversation saying "In my opinion." or "To me." I'm also relying on the opinions of the people dubbing Kai (who all have expressed feelings of delight and positivity over this new dub compared to their older efforts, including Christopher Sabat, who's been working on the series since Funimation started their own in house dub) and the general consensus of the forum at large. not to mention, it's undeniable that the acting is miles ahead of what it used to be, as is the script. Nobody can deny that, and those who do (in my opinion) are stuck with their nostalgia goggles or lack an idea of quality

I agree with you about the "nostalgia goggles". When I first watched DBZ Kai I didn't like the voice acting because it was different than how I remembered it. I remembered Grandma Freeza, Australian Jeice and how Piccolo and Vegeta had scarier deeper voices. It's been over 10 years since I've watched the series so when I actually watched some comparison videos on Youtube I saw the big difference! The voice acting and dialogue were much better. When you're that young you don't notice how corny the dialogue was like Frieza wanting to caress the balls.
Frieza: You're certainly on the ball today, Captain Ginyu. If you were a dog, I'd scratch your belly. If you were a cat, I'd give you warm milk until you started to purr. But since you're neither of these, I'll just say thanks for a job well done.
Captain Ginyu: It was my pleasure. You know how much I enjoy serving your horned highness.
Frieza: Having these balls makes me feel something that resembles joy, I think. I want to caress them.

[Kakacarrottop]

The voice acting and dialogue were much better. When you're that young you don't notice how corny the dialogue was like Freeza wanting to caress the balls.
Freeza: You're certainly on the ball today, Captain Ginyu. If you were a dog, I'd scratch your belly. If you were a cat, I'd give you warm milk until you started to purr. But since you're neither of these, I'll just say thanks for a job well done.
Captain Ginyu: It was my pleasure. You know how much I enjoy serving your horned highness.
Freeza: Having these balls makes me feel something that resembles joy, I think. I want to caress them.

Give the Kai actors material like that to work with and you'll say they're bad as well.

[Kamiccolo9]

"Your horned highness"



So many conflicting emotions.

[Valerius Dover]

Those lines weren't even from Linda Young and aren't even in the dub. That's Pauline Newstone in the Ocean edit.

[Skar]

Those lines weren't even from Linda Young and aren't even in the dub. That's Pauline Newstone in the Ocean edit.

You're absolutely right! It really has been a while since I watched DBZ. Sorry about that.

[VegettoEX]

Those lines weren't even from Linda Young and aren't even in the dub. That's Pauline Newstone in the Ocean edit.

Which was still a FUNimation production, which was being overseen by Barry Watson (who continued overseeing DB stuff into the DBGT days), and scripts were still being punched-up by outsourced folks like Terry Klassen (yes, Krillin from the Ocean cast) into season four.

FUNimation's treatment of Freeza didn't end with Pauline Newstone, and it didn't begin with Linda Young.

[Skar]

Those lines weren't even from Linda Young and aren't even in the dub. That's Pauline Newstone in the Ocean edit.

Which was still a FUNimation production, which was being overseen by Barry Watson (who continued overseeing DB stuff into the DBGT days), and scripts were still being punched-up by outsourced folks like Terry Klassen (yes, Krillin from the Ocean cast) into season four.

FUNimation's treatment of Freeza didn't end with Pauline Newstone, and it didn't begin with Linda Young.

I see. Thank you for the clarification Mr. VegettoEX.

[GS7X7]

Oh yeah, Neil Bligh outsourced scripts too from Canada.

The fact that Funimation kept them on as script writers- despite the added inconvenience of having them write from several thousand miles away from another country- does say that Funimation was a fan of their earlier work and felt they were important to keep on to maintain earlier consistency.

[ABED]

Another thing I would like to mention: Freeza's Kai dialogue is overwrought to the point of forcing Ayres to recite his lines with enough celerity to match the mouth flapping. The corollary of this is a meter that is quite unnatural for a majority of English speakers, leading a great deal of his lines to come across as rushed. Now, this is a flaw shared by everyone in the dubbing industry, regardless of talent--it's simply the nature of the beast. That notwithstanding, the scriptwriters for Kai certainly didn't do Ayres any favors in that regard, what with its literal (and sometimes embellished) translation.

I'll give you that it can come across as unnatural, but Ayres is so good at it, that you can just chalk it up to a quirk in an over the top series.

[Singh is King]

Linda Young, while severely miscast as Freeza IMHO

Pauline Newstone was severely miscast as Freeza, Young was just hired to help keep consistency with the old cast. A lot of people seem to talk of Young as if she was the one responsible for making Freeza sound like a grandmother. Unlike say, Sabat's Vegeta, she never evolved past being an Ocean imitation, which is probably why she wasn't retained for Kai, seeing as FUNi wanted to correct old casting blunders from the Saban era.

You're right, but that's one role I wish they hadn't attempted to maintain continuity with from Ocean: Pauline was already miscast, and Linda was as well because FUNi tried to keep consistency with Ocean.

Those lines weren't even from Linda Young and aren't even in the dub. That's Pauline Newstone in the Ocean edit.

Correct: also, speaking of Ocean dub:

"Having these balls makes me feel something that resembles joy, I think: I want to caress them."

[WittyUsername]

I'd definitely go with Chris Ayers as the best English voice for Freeza, although his performance wasn't without it's flaws. Ayers certainly had a more accurate portrayal than Linda Young, though I think the writers went a bit overboard with some of his dialogue in the Kai dub. I know that Freeza is supposed to sound snobbish and refined, but at times it sounded like Ayers was trying to sound like a Shakespearean actor. Other characters like Bulma and Vegeta had that problem in the Kai dub as well, but Freeza seemed to be on a whole other level with the Shakespearean dialogue.

Still, Ayers did a good job as Freeza for the most part, and I have no doubt in my mind that he will reprise his role as Freeza for the dub of the upcoming film, which I'm looking forward to.

[Hades]

To expand the portfolio of dubs, I was wondering what the Latin American Freezas are like compared to Ayers/Nakao

[Pgirts]

Might not be official but I fucking love this guy's Freeza. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSiP7QjfDVI

Thank you much! I was wondering why that video's views increased so much.
I also just made a new one featuring his other forms, check it out here if you'd like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDQ_wl-DOQI

As for my opinion on Freeza's best dub voice, I honestly think he's a character that none of the official releases have gotten right, and part of the blame goes to the scripts. Kai's script, while truer to the manga, is overwrought. The original Funi script on the other hand is just poorly done overall.

If I had to pick one, I'd go with Linda Young. She's miscast, but at least her voice was pretty unique. I find Ayres to be quite generic in the role. It's a typical high-pitched British bad guy voice. Very stock. Furthermore, I think he overacts quite a bit, and never succeeds in making Freeza sound like the truly monstrous being that he is. His Freeza has no presence and has no weight to his words.

Just my two cents.

[SSJ4Vegito]

Linda Young's dub is hands down my favorite. I think Linda Young's Freeza sounds more sinister and creepy than Chris Ayres dub, which I'm not to keen on. Plus, I loved Freeza's sense of humor in Linda Young's dub.

[Singh is King]

Plus, I loved Freeza's sense of humor in Linda Young's dub.

What was funny about anything Freeza said, though? Could you point out some examples? I personally think he had some of the most cringe-worthy lines in the entire dub back then, honestly.

[Lord Exor]

"Ya gettin' tired up there big fella?"
"Don't be so glum guys, you haven't lost your king for good. Wherever he is, you're about to join him!"
"Sometimes you just have to put your foot down when it comes to kids." Note: Kai had similar dialogue.
"You never meant to fight, you're trying to buy some time aren't you? Transaction cancelled! You can't outsmart me, I'll be long gone before this planet blows up, and you--you will be dead!"
"Basically I'm trying to kill you."
"There ya go, I was just checking your reflexes and they seem to be fine. Let's try it again just to be sure, shall we?"
"My my, what do we have here? A fallen prince--oh dear."
"The chamber is dead, my good man, and so are you if you don't tell me that password!"
"Poor baby got a boo boo? Well I'll make it better."
"Don't worry, everyone gets a turn."
"You don't seem to be having any fun. Loosen up, no one likes a sore loser."
"Your speeches put me to sleep, but everyone has to have last words--before they're shredded into a million little pieces!"

I don't know about you, but personally, I found the dissonance between his brutality and the mordant quips that accompanied it rather darkly amusing.

And then there are some absolutely splendid tidbits of dialogue, such as, "You saiyans are like a stubborn virus, and now the virus has mutated to preserve itself! But I know how to treat it! I know how to blot it out for good!"
"Well, aren't ya gonna keep running, monkey? Aren't ya? Heh heh heh! Like a little circus chimp! Come one! Come all! See the spectacular chimp in a maze! Where will he run today? You don't have enough time to get back to your spaceship and Vegeta destroyed mine. But just for my sake, don't stop running--it's far too entertaining!"

You want cringe-worthy dialogue?
"I've had about enough of you-ou-ou!"
"Now you will know the HORROR FRIE-ZA!"
*Piccolo's post-fusion "speech"*
*Everything Bulma says*
"Great scooooooooott!"

I'm not beguiled by nostalgia; I know the FUNimation dub has a plenitude of imperfections. However, there's more for me to personally enjoy in it as a whole than its Kai counterpart. To be perfectly honest, as a child, I was mostly apathetic toward Frieza. It was only after I rediscovered the series circa 2008 that Frieza quickly ascended toward becoming one of my all-time favorite characters.

[Vegitofaxx]

Chris ayres.

[fadeddreams5]

It's refreshing to see people prefer Linda Young for reasons besides nostalgia.