Who could replace Nozawa & Schemmel?

[ABED]

Maybe you think that he should sound like a pouty 4 year old but it's anger, and Sean's acting is fine. I don't see how Nozawa somehow plays his anger like a pouty 4 year old, Goku isn't having a temper tantrum. The problem isn't Sean, it's the writing and directing.

Goku on a normal day wouldn't sound like this

What's the line in Japanese? It doesn't matter anyway, the line is the issue, not the acting.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Mayumi Tanaka could replace Nozawa as goku.

She definitely could, but the problem there is that she's already Kuririn. She could probably separate the two voices fairly well, but...it'd still be fairly noticeable. And also be an issue anytime more Dragon Ball/One Piece stuff is made, when the two leads have the same voice.

I would be insanely curious to hear what Tanaka's take would sound like though. Or Nozawa's take on Kuririn for that matter.

[B]

I thought about throwing out Tanaka's name, and of course she could do it, but... She is Kuririn. Plain and simple!

ABED, the line is mostly the same, it's just not worded or delivered quite as eloquently as the dub, which is the main problem.

[Cold Skin]

The replacement will have to happen someday, and I sure hope fans will be open-minded about it and not spitting on the face of the poor guy/woman that replaces the legendary Nozawa.
People can get really aggresive when touching the original, even when it's necessary because "the original" was a living person who is not in any position to do it anymore.
So yes, Nozawa is irreplaceable, but it's not a reason not to welcome Goku's new voice with open arms as long as they do a decent job.

It would be unfair to be like "you're not as good as Nozawa so it hurts me even to listen to your voice - by the way, it was impossible to be as good as her in the first place so you lost by default and I will spend my time saying you suck by default".

The question is more about what kind of replacement you guys want: do you want a new voice that tries to mimic Nozawa as best as possible even if it can't be exactly the same ("we may have lost Nozawa's voice, but even though it can't be the same, it has to give the illusion as best as possible!"), or would you rather have a voice that's a totally new take ("it can't be Nozawa's exact voice and we'll undoubtedly hear it, so rather than trying to mimic the impossible and souding close but weird, give Goku a new kind of voice altogether!").

Which is better according to you? Mimic at the maximum even if it's not exactly it and "try to limitate the damages on the character(s)", or try something all-new since "authentic new is better than false copy" or "trying to mimic Nozawa without nailing it perfectly would be an insult to her work"? (those are not my opinions, just examples of justifications you could bring to either solution)

[ABED]

ABED, the line is mostly the same, it's just not worded or delivered quite as eloquently as the dub, which is the main problem.

That's a script issue, not a performance issue.

Who could replace either, I'm sure someone could. Not saying they would be better or worse (in Nozawa's case, it's all but certain to be worse), but it will definitely not be the same. Bond can be replaced, but that doesn't necessarily mean someone better will take the previous actor's place. Still, I'd rather have a new 007 than none, just like I'd rather have a new Goku than none.

[Gyt Kaliba]

For me Cold Skin, it would be about having that balance. Ideally they'll get someone who sounds remotely similar, as in they have a similar kind of range and can deliver lines in a similar manner at least - again, thinking of Kurita's Lupin as compared to Yamada's - but if they focus too much on sounding the same, the acting may suffer. They need to be a good actor able to capture the performance before anything else, IMO.

[Mewzard]

Honestly, going for a person's unique take is best, because a mimic at best can come close to being what was done before, but a new actor's only ever going to truly shine if they make it their own.

That's what eventually happened with Schemmel as Goku. Over the years, he not only got better at acting, but gradually made his Goku performance more and more his. Hell, by the point of Kai, Schemmel was taking it as far as insisting on pronouncing Kaio-Ken right and slipping in "Son Goku" into that famous scene in the Freeza fight. Listing to that scene back to back from Z's old dub to Kai's dub is like whipflash at this point.

Comparing the old Z Dub's version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPUvkfZiN9k

To the Dub of Kai's version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov0sx1-NrMg

It's a world of difference (and his voice at the start of the Ginyu stuff was even more of a mimic of the Ocean guys from what I recall).

In the end, I'd hate to see either replaced...but if someone has to take up the reigns, I'd prefer a great original take to a good imitation.

[TheBlackPaladin]

I think if Sean Schemmel's Goku uses dialogue that isn't as childish as it should be, that's more of a writing problem, not really an acting problem. Honestly, I completely bought every line that Schemmel delivered in the Kai dub. Any problem I had along the lines of "Goku wouldn't say that" seemed to me to be a shortcoming in the writing department.

Interestingly, I'm not sure how I would go about portraying the more hick-like aspects of Goku's character in an English dub. Maybe dropping the "g" in some of the "ing" suffixes (again, a writing problem), but I go back and forth over whether adding a southern accent would be going too far or not. In any event, from the research I've done--and I'm not saying this makes it OK--but from the research I've done, it doesn't seem that there is any international dub whatsoever that portrayed Goku as "hick"-stupid, just, "normal person"-stupid.

[Gyt Kaliba]

As far as the 'hick' thing goes for the dub, I'd say giving Goku more use of the word 'ain't' at least would be a good step in that right direction. It's a pretty hick word, but is also recognizable enough in regular English that it wouldn't be going too far either. I like the dropping g idea too.

Actually, I think he did say ain't somewhere or another in Kai, didn't he?

[jjgp1112]

I don't get the argument that Sean Schemmel makes Goku sound like a 'superhero'. Sure, some of the dialogue he had back in the day may have given off that impression, but I think he does a perfectly fine job of handling Goku's goofy personality while also making him sound serious when the situation calls for it. Besides, his voice really doesn't sound as deep as a lot of people seem to make it out to be.

The problem is really summed up best in Kanzenshuu's dub review of the first Dragon Ball Kai set. Happy Goku? Goofy, smiling, laughing, palling-around Goku? Schemmel's got that down, and he sounds the way Goku should sound when he's expressing those feelings. But then the action starts, and Schemmel has to get angry or upset... Goku goes away when this happens. His demeanor becomes deathly serious and his IQ jumps five fold. When Nozawa has to play Goku getting angry, she never lets Goku's simple child-like qualities slip away; my best analogy is that Goku getting angry shouldn't sound all that different from a four-year-old getting angry. There's a bit of a pouty, whininess to it(obviously not as played up as Gohan). It's another of the case of the dub going for the superficial aspects of these characters. Schemmel's Goku sounds like a grown man getting upset, and that doesn't feel right if you're familiar with Goku's overall characterization.

Kanzenshuu didn't review the entire Kai dub(I think...?) but the initial Super Saiyan scene really encapsulates what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeXUgF2qEuk#t=2m12s

"... Before I lose what little sense I have left!"? Goku on a normal day wouldn't sound like this, and this is supposed to be the scene where he's supposedly his most unstable. Yes, at a certain point, scripting comes into play(and then on the Japanese side you have chief writer Takao Koyama's slightly twisted views on Goku) but Schemmel does Goku absolutely no favors in these types of scenes.

Goku's line in the Japanese version is almost exactly the same. Something like, "Before I lose what little sliver of reason I have left."

[TheBlackPaladin]

As far as the 'hick' thing goes for the dub, I'd say giving Goku more use of the word 'ain't' at least would be a good step in that right direction. It's a pretty hick word, but is also recognizable enough in regular English that it wouldn't be going too far either. I like the dropping g idea too.

Actually, I think he did say ain't somewhere or another in Kai, didn't he?

He did "drop the g" a few times, but the only times I caught were all during his fight with Nappa. Or, around that area. Ish.

NAPPA: ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME I'M ALL BARK AND NO BITE!?
GOKU: If that flailin' around was your idea of an attack, then yeah.

GOKU: Whoa! You weren't kiddin', this is much more like it!

Other kinda/sorta/vaguely hickish dialogue...

GOKU: You really are a tough one, huh? The kamehameha should've done at least a little bit o' damage to 'ya. Neither of us are gonna make much headway at this point...

Other than, I can't think of any. I don't remember the word "ain't" being used.

[jjgp1112]

He said "This Super Saiyan stuff ain't easy" or something like that to Gohan in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber

[Gyt Kaliba]

That sounds about right jjgp1112. I just remember there was an ain't somewhere or another, because I remember people clamoring around and liking it at the time.

...Wait, 'gonna' is a hick-ish word? Oh lord. Maybe I'm more redneck than I thought.

[TheBlackPaladin]

That sounds about right jjgp1112. I just remember there was an ain't somewhere or another, because I remember people clamoring around and liking it at the time.

...Wait, 'gonna' is a hick-ish word? Oh lord. Maybe I'm more redneck than I thought.

Ha, yeah well, there's a reason I filed it under, "kinda/sorta/vaguely hickish dialogue."

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

...Wait, 'gonna' is a hick-ish word? Oh lord. Maybe I'm more redneck than I thought.

Contractions that don't (ha ha!) end in an apostrophe and t can come off that way. I would think it depends on the person's disposition and the setting. My parents hear "Fixin'" a lot, another example.

[samuraix123]

That sounds about right jjgp1112. I just remember there was an ain't somewhere or another, because I remember people clamoring around and liking it at the time.

...Wait, 'gonna' is a hick-ish word? Oh lord. Maybe I'm more redneck than I thought.

It's really hard to break myself from using words like ''Ain't'' ''Gonna'' I do have a bad habit of saying ''I reckon'' But I'm from KY I don't know if I could stand Goku having a southern accent. I get laughed at all the time for it

[Gyt Kaliba]

Yeah, I try to speak as correctly as I can, but I think 'gonna' is going to be stuck with me forever. Thankfully I barely ever type it unless it's like...a line, or something. I don't say 'ain't' very often, but I've been known to accidentally say 'ya'll' every now and then, ugh.

I've lived in Arkansas my entire life, so it's just by good grace that I've avoided any noticeable accent at least.

[samuraix123]

I also say ''Yuns'' A-LOT! I would love to hear Goku say that. I don't even know how you'd spell it! and what is ''Yuns''? say like I just roll up and see you guys sitting around talking I'll say ''What are yuns into?'' LOL

[ConfusedPhantom]

I like to see Miyu Irino or Kappei Yamaguchi or an unknown to go at Goku's family. For the English, it'd be interesting to see Ian Corlett with a better director or maybe Mike Sinterniklaas or a newer voice actor.

[JackyBoi99]

Nobody could replace Nozawa

To be honest a lot of people could replace Schemmel. I was thinking Richard Ian Cox,Peter Kelamis and Ian Corlett I'm sure there are others who could replace Sean.

Sorry if I offended anyone who likes Schemmel, but to be honest I really don't like his Goku.