Was GT Kid Goku even more mature than his adult self?

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:07 pm

I've been watching GT recently, and I noticed that throughout the show, Goku is more serious than he's ever been and comes off as a lot smarter than he did in Dragon Ball and even as an adult in Dragon Ball Z. Hell, Stephanie Nadolny, Kid Goku's dub voice actress, said she had to approach GT Kid Goku much differently than she did with Kid Goku in Dragon Ball as well as Kid Gohan. What's your take on this?

Metalwario64 · Post by **Metalwario64** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:10 pm

From what I remember in the Japanese version Nozawa also seems to portray him differently. She seems to almost use her adult Goku voice when he is a kid in GT.

penguintruth · Post by **penguintruth** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:12 pm

As mature as Goku can be, yeah.

It does come with years of experience. Even Goku isn't completely unable to mature.

Ugh, Stephanie Naldony.

B · Post by B » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:15 pm

I was under the impression Nadolny's take on Goku in GT was all wrong, since she indeed speaks like a child with an adult mindset.

Of course, I've seen very little of Japanese GT. Any confirmation on how Nozawa handled it? Did she sound closer to Goku in original DB or older Goku?

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:17 pm

B wrote:I was under the impression Nadolny's take on Goku in GT was all wrong, since she indeed speaks like a child with an adult mindset.

Of course, I've seen very little of Japanese GT. Any confirmation on how Nozawa handled it? Did she sound closer to Goku in original DB or older Goku?

I haven't watched GT in Japanese in a while, but I do remember listening to his voice expecting it to sound like Dragon Ball Kid Goku but it being deeper instead.

Dr. Casey · Post by **Dr. Casey** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:19 pm

I haven't watched much of Dragon Ball GT, but I was always under the impression that it continued Goku's 28th Budokai characterization of being an obnoxious, obsessive battle maniac rather than just a serious martial artist. Something to look forward to when I do watch GT, then.

Tsukento · Post by **Tsukento** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:33 pm

I can definitely confirm that Goku still acts like his adult self while as a child in the Japanese version of GT.

He does have his moments, though, where he acts his physical age (his fear of needles and hospitals, while acting childish as he fights Freeza and Cell). But then again, Goku has a tendency to act his mental age, even as an adult...

SSJ Helldog · Post by **SSJ Helldog** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:49 pm

I just chalk it up to being out of character in GT. Look at Trunks.

Catterix2006 · Post by **Catterix2006** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:57 pm

B wrote:I was under the impression Nadolny's take on Goku in GT was all wrong, since she indeed speaks like a child with an adult mindset.

Although this was more of a choice of the Director than the actress necessarily. I love Nadolny. Not a scratch on Nozawa, but I adored the voice she used for Goku in Dragonball, it seemed the perfect translation of his bouyancy and spirit to an American audience.

However, I think the OP is onto something here, because even in the Blue Water dub, Byron Whoever, who voiced Goku in DBGT and DB, used a different tone and inflection for the different Gokus.

I daresay this is a mix of Goku still being an adult, despite being a child, so he'd always have a slightly more aged mindset. And then the other contributing factor would probably be TOEI not getting Goku's character 100% correct. Throughout DBZ, TOEI had kept leaning towards a more serious tone than the manga ever did, and even though DBGT was generally lighthearted, there was something much heavier about the humour and tone, one of the reasons why it was so awkward to watch lol

Bussani · Post by **Bussani** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:13 pm

In the manga, adult Goku never acts like a child. His most childish moments are filler, I think. GT Goku feels much more like filler Goku to me (which makes sense when you think about it), which is much more childish than manga Goku.

So funnily enough, I would have said that GT Goku was less mature than the Goku I'd gotten used to. Guess that comes from focusing more on the manga.

MCDaveG · Post by **MCDaveG** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:54 pm

Dr. Casey wrote:I haven't watched much of Dragon Ball GT, but I was always under the impression that it continued Goku's 28th Budokai characterization of being an obnoxious, obsessive battle maniac rather than just a serious martial artist. Something to look forward to when I do watch GT, then.

He was like profi boxer...... That much hits to head, face and all the body balls including (Movie 7), that he was just brainwashed fighting maniac and immature idiot....... but that's only toei's thing, I really missed that martial arts choreography and wasn't much impressed by ATOM BOOOOM to the chest and kamehameha and ki blasts capable of destroying galaxy and again....

Damn I wonder if Nadolny is a smoker.....

Kingdom Heartless · Post by **Kingdom Heartless** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 9:38 pm

Bussani wrote:In the manga, adult Goku never acts like a child. His most childish moments are filler, I think. GT Goku feels much more like filler Goku to me (which makes sense when you think about it), which is much more childish than manga Goku.

So funnily enough, I would have said that GT Goku was less mature than the Goku I'd gotten used to. Guess that comes from focusing more on the manga.

That's how I saw it... it's part of what makes it hard for me to accept GT as a continuation.

AndoKomando · Post by **AndoKomando** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:00 pm

Dude Goku is Goku. That should answer the question just enough.

TheGreatness25 · Post by **TheGreatness25** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:07 pm

Well GT is a continuation to the anime, not the manga. It's very clear because...there's no manga

Not everyone likes GT. I'm indifferent to it. I'm not going to pretend it doesn't exist. And if I'm going to have 4 versions of the show on DVD, I'm not going to miss out on GT "just because".

I don't see anything wrong about Goku acting like an adult. He is physically 12 (I wanna say, since that was his age when Pilaf saw him, etc), but mentally he's still an adult. He didn't just forget all of the experiences he's had which led to his maturing.

Bussani · Post by **Bussani** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:47 pm

TheGreatness25 wrote:I don't see anything wrong about Goku acting like an adult. He is physically 12 (I wanna say, since that was his age when Pilaf saw him, etc), but mentally he's still an adult. He didn't just forget all of the experiences he's had which led to his maturing.

I really don't think he acts like an adult at all, though. I might even go as far as saying he acts more childish than he did when he was a kid in the manga. He seems more interested in food than fighting in GT, and doesn't even seem very clever in battle. He makes childish mistakes such as almost falling off a roof in an early episode, or spending a whole episode throwing ki blasts at Super 17 when it clearly isn't working -- and then just to make sure it doesn't work, he wastes practically the rest of his ki feeding the guy one final attack. This isn't a Goku who remembers all of the experiences he's been through, if you ask me.

Kingdom Heartless · Post by **Kingdom Heartless** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:57 pm

or spending a whole episode throwing ki blasts at Super 17 when it clearly isn't working -- and then just to make sure it doesn't work, he wastes practically the rest of his ki feeding the guy one final attack

That was the one that has always gotten to me. "Well, I'm pretty sure, but I'll give him god-like power, just to be certain." It's like he lost all of his battle intelligence in GT... he was no longer superpowered martial artist, be fought more like the likes of Freeza, relying on power over technique.

Duo · Post by **Duo** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:01 pm

Kingdom Heartless wrote:
or spending a whole episode throwing ki blasts at Super 17 when it clearly isn't working -- and then just to make sure it doesn't work, he wastes practically the rest of his ki feeding the guy one final attack
That was the one that has always gotten to me. "Well, I'm pretty sure, but I'll give him god-like power, just to be certain." It's like he lost all of his battle intelligence in GT... he was no longer superpowered martial artist, be fought more like the likes of Freeza, relying on power over technique.

Most of the characters in GT suffered from a condition like that, often referred to as "bad writing".

But this isn't a rip on GT thread, so hopefully it ends here.

Kingdom Heartless · Post by **Kingdom Heartless** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:57 pm

Well it wasn't so much a rip on GT as reflecting on how much maturity Goku had lost in terms of fighting style.

Piccolo Daimao · Post by **Piccolo Daimao** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:14 pm

I think he was pretty much the same. Pilaf's wish turned him into a child, but it didn't say that it would change his mindset or personality or anything. I see GT Goku as being Adult Goku in Kid Goku's body, basically.

SparkyPantsMcGee · Post by **SparkyPantsMcGee** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 3:04 pm

I think the reason Goku comes off sounding smarter as a child in GT more than his adult self is because the actors treated him like a child with adult experience. He came off as a super Genius(Similar to Conan Edagawa from Case Closed). He is a Smart child but a below average adult, get what I'm trying to say?

It's either that or Goku was surrounded by people as dumb or dumber than he was in GT.