Linda Young not to voice Freeza in the Dragon ball Kai dub?

[desirecampbell]

I'm a bit mixed on this one. I really liked Linda's Freeza. Simultaneously, I have a lot of faith in Chris Sabat as the director to give us something really solid. Plus, based on Sean's comments, it sounds like they have the right idea.

I can honestly say I cannot disagree more to everything you just said.

So... you didn't like Linda's Freeza, you don't have faith in Sabat as a director, and you think Sean's reaction signifies that this interpretation of Freeza is wrong?

'Right', 'right', and 'pretty much' - I don't quite buy the 'she couldn't talk fast enough' excuse. I think they're using that as an excuse that would garner the least anger from dub loyalists.

And to clarify the first two points: Young's Freeza was terrible. I defy anyone to reason otherwise.

Secondly, as we hear in the video, their description of the new Freeza is nothing to inspire confidence with. They're still trying to make Freeza sound like a woman, and seem to be focusing on nothing else. The actual performance given through the voice seems of absolutely no consequence to Sabat.

[RazorX]

Did you... not even listen to what was said in the video? Or are you twisting things around to suit your own preferences? That's what I'm seeing.

I did watch the video. He says its because she couldnt read lines fast enough, then he says its because the script is trying to portray the character a bit different than before, so which is it? Too slow line reading or too different a character.

The above may have been plausible except for one thing, Sabat and Schemmel hyped up this "big surprise that everyone will like" as if it were going to be something like using Japanese insert songs in the dub or a DVD extra showcasing Toei's behind the scenes production of Kai.

Hyping up a "surprise that everyone will like" only to have the so called surprise a Freeza recast is flat out wrong because not everyone will like it and its insulting to Linda Young, not even counting the fact that she was credited to play the character from the start. Its not the same as the other recasts because they were changed from the start and they didnt have an "in your face" type hype from Sabat.

Linda's laugh on episode 1 alone gave me the impression that she's upped her performance on Freeza since her DBZ dub.

They make it sound like they even tried to push forward with the voice from Young (which makes me unhappy as someone who wanted them to make the tough decisions from the start), so the clingy fans at least have that to keep them warm at night.

I'd classify myself as an Ocean fan, not a Funimation fan. I'm very critical of the Funimation dub, but Linda Young's performance stood out to me as memorable. If Funimation didnt add the voice filter to deepen her voice, I'd be with you, but they did and that combined with Linda's performance, gave what I thought was a decent dub of Freeza.

I'm much more critical of Funimation's voice for Cell and especially their Fat Buu voice, and if they are recast, Ill be happy about it.

And to clarify the first two points: Young's Freeza was terrible. I defy anyone to reason otherwise.

I already have.

[Amigo Ten]

Where was it said they were still trying to make Freeza sound like a woman? All I remember is that they said you wouldn't be able to tell from the voice if it was a man or a woman, which sounds perfect. That's exactly what his Japanese voice is like. I've seen people defending Funi's choice to have a woman play Freeza because they though he was played by a woman originally. Apart from the second form, Freeza's voice is very androgynous.

[RazorX]

Interesting, I've never come across someone defending Linda's voice for Freeza based on the assumption that the original Japanese voice is played by a woman.

But if Funimation are trying to make Freeza sound like a woman, it negates the whole point they made on the recast and more than likely it wont be anywhere near as good as Linda's performance.

[Brakus]

With the talk of Freeza being recast to sound more undiscernable about being a man/woman, my guess is the role is going to go to Wendy Powell, who voiced Envy in both versions of FMA. Apparently Envy is supposedly androgynous in FMA, so maybe she's the new Freeza?

Still, I'd want someone with a lower voice range with that mostly "uppity" voice that Ryuusei Nakao gave Freeza.

[Gaffer Tape]

Hyping up a "surprise that everyone will like" only to have the so called surprise a Freeza recast is flat out wrong because not everyone will like it and its insulting to Linda Young, not even counting the fact that she was credited to play the character from the start. Its not the same as the other recasts because they were changed from the start and they didnt have an "in your face" type hype from Sabat.

I guess you don't get how marketing works. Do you really expect them to go, "Sigh... well, we have this casting change, and some of you might like it and some of you might not. I hope you guys aren't mad at us, but we had to change Freeza's voice. I'm really, really sorry." Of course not! They're going to hype it up like it's the best thing ever! There's going to be backlash regardless but might as well act like it's awesome to deflect some of the criticism.

[Blue]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this isn't the first we've heard of Young having a hard time doing her Freeza voice for an extended amount of time.

[Kaboom]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this isn't the first we've heard of Young having a hard time doing her Freeza voice for an extended amount of time.

Her age might have something to do with it. She was already somebody's grandmother back when she started with the voice, so she must really be getting up there in years now.

[Xyex]

And to clarify the first two points: Young's Freeza was terrible. I defy anyone to reason otherwise.

Young's Freeza was awesome. Why? For the plain and simple reason that it sounds awesome.

[JulieYBM]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this isn't the first we've heard of Young having a hard time doing her Freeza voice for an extended amount of time.

Her age might have something to do with it. She was already somebody's grandmother back when she started with the voice, so she must really be getting up there in years now.

John Burgmeier was already a dad at 24? O.o

I think you might be confused, as we knew that she was Burgmeier's mom.

[Blue]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this isn't the first we've heard of Young having a hard time doing her Freeza voice for an extended amount of time.

Her age might have something to do with it. She was already somebody's grandmother back when she started with the voice, so she must really be getting up there in years now.

Not to sound overly morbid but I sincerely hope the tears weren't because she realized her age was catching up with her in terms of her voice acting work. The parallels to the Daisuke Gouri situation are incredibly unnerving if that's the case. I really, really hope that's not the case though.

[RazorX]

I guess you don't get how marketing works.

If you think what they did constitutes marketing, then you dont know what marketing is.

Do you really expect them to go, "Sigh... well, we have this casting change, and some of you might like it and some of you might not. I hope you guys aren't mad at us, but we had to change Freeza's voice. I'm really, really sorry." Of course not! They're going to hype it up like it's the best thing ever! There's going to be backlash regardless but might as well act like it's awesome to deflect some of the criticism.

They said a few words to conform to what some people on message boards want. They could have done it in a more ethical way if they chose to.

[VegettoEX]

If you think what they did constitutes marketing, then you dont know what marketing is.

As a marketing professional, I can tell you that... wait for it...

It was marketing.

You don't seem to like it, but it's marketing, none-the-less.

Can you contribute something that isn't just endless and snotty contradictions? It's wearing a little thin.

[Kaboom]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this isn't the first we've heard of Young having a hard time doing her Freeza voice for an extended amount of time.

Her age might have something to do with it. She was already somebody's grandmother back when she started with the voice, so she must really be getting up there in years now.

John Burgmeier was already a dad at 24? O.o
I think you might be confused, as we knew that she was Burgmeier's mom.

Oh, right. Duh.

[Xyex]

John Burgmeier was already a dad at 24? O.o

I think you might be confused, as we knew that she was Burgmeier's mom.

You act like being a dad at 24 is strange. I could have been, if I'd gotten off up to Canada by then. >.>

Though I think the whole 'grandmother' thing comes from her voicing Genkai in YYH.

[JulieYBM]

John Burgmeier was already a dad at 24? O.o

I think you might be confused, as we knew that she was Burgmeier's mom.

You act like being a dad at 24 is strange. I could have been, if I'd gotten off up to Canada by then. >.>

Though I think the whole 'grandmother' thing comes from her voicing Genkai in YYH.

I suppose I shouldn't be entirely surprised. Eric Vale has a sixteen year old son and he just turned thirty-six.

[KKZ]

Also, KKZ: you are reacting as if national security has been breached, and in doing so trying to stir up some drama (or, if you will, BAAAWWWW) by ranting about how much everyone sucks and have ruined everything. It is a voice for a cartoon alien. Is it really that high-up on the list of things to be upset about? And I agree with GT, you didn't have to look him up, all you did was ruin it for yourself, so I don't know what you're bitching about.

Obviously it's not like Sabat or Schemmel crashed into World Trade Center with the name 'Chris Ayres' plastered all over the plane. But it's a big deal nevertheless. It's a huge deal. We're talking about a huge announcement made about the best anime, nigh, the best show ever made here (Please don't argue against objective fact). My slandering of the community was somewhat of a hyperbole I'll admit. And I already admitted to Gaffer Tape that I shouldn't have looked Chris Ayres up (But let me reiterate, I looked up the entire list before he was singled out). I do however still stand by my belief that a select few people suck for cockily saying, "this is the actor right here folks lol i am a detective on the internet" though. More likely than not, I my self will completely forget about this whole incident once I hear the amazing new performance, regardless of whether you guys were right or not. I have a lot of faith in Sabat's decisions/directing, I seriously can't wait. But I think this affects the entire community as a whole.

It's disappointing that the secret couldn't be withheld/was found out. I mean, how often are major secrets about huge multi-million properties trusted upon a select group of fans? Unfortunately, said fans went about this the wrong way by dropping more hints than they should have (Or dropping hints at all). But they're not entirely at fault. Why ruin the surprise? You yourself said that the fact that there had to be speculation at all was annoying, so why tackle elitism with more elitism by replying to "I KNOW SOMETHING YOU DON'T WHAT IS IT SPECULATE" with "IT'S PRETTY MUCH CONCLUSIVE THAT IT'S CHRIS AYRES WE'RE SO INSIGHTFUL LOL" and then act is if no one would find that annoying as well? If Freeza's new voice actor does indeed end up being Ayres, wouldn't it have looked better on Daizenshuu EX and the fandom in general if we would have just kept our word to FUNi and not said anything?

[penguintruth]

Actually, what I did was take the hints, and poured over the casts of those shows mentioned and looked at several VAs' ANN entries and finally found one that fit all categories. It took about an hour.

Took me ten minutes.

[The Tori-bot]

It's disappointing that the secret couldn't be withheld/was found out. I mean, how often are major secrets about huge multi-million properties trusted upon a select group of fans? Unfortunately, said fans went about this the wrong way by dropping more hints than they should have (Or dropping hints at all). But they're not entirely at fault. Why ruin the surprise? You yourself said that the fact that there had to be speculation at all was annoying, so why tackle elitism with more elitism by replying to "I KNOW SOMETHING YOU DON'T WHAT IS IT SPECULATE" with "IT'S PRETTY MUCH CONCLUSIVE THAT IT'S CHRIS AYRES WE'RE SO INSIGHTFUL LOL" and then act is if no one would find that annoying as well? If Freeza's new voice actor does indeed end up being Ayres, wouldn't it have looked better on Daizenshuu EX and the fandom in general if we would have just kept our word to FUNi and not said anything?

I never said that. The way certain people were going around saying "I KNOW SOMETHING YOU DON'T etc." was annoying, but I never said anything along the lines of your second example. I think with all the hints being dropped anyone could have figured it out. Yes, it's pretty much conclusive that it's Chris Ayres, but that's just common sense based on what folk "in-the-know" have been saying. I wasn't trying to be elitist in any way.

[Puto]

With the talk of Freeza being recast to sound more undiscernable about being a man/woman, my guess is the role is going to go to Wendy Powell, who voiced Envy in both versions of FMA. Apparently Envy is supposedly androgynous in FMA, so maybe she's the new Freeza?

Still, I'd want someone with a lower voice range with that mostly "uppity" voice that Ryuusei Nakao gave Freeza. :)

Sabat stated that it was a man. Wendy Powell does not qualify as "a man".