Favorite Goku Voice?

[Soppa Saia People]

it has been and likely always will be Nozawa and the rest for me, but i'm pretty fond of ian james corlett and peter kelamis. i really don't like schemmel, i just don't like his voice, and i don't really think i ever will, he has some good qualities but ehhh i just don't like it.

[TheGreatness25]

Oh, come on. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. And much like people could not like a trait or a story arc, people can simply not like Nozawa's portrayal. Personally, I'm used to it and find it appropriate, but I understand not liking it. Why is it a more sensitive topic than saying something like, "I didn't like Yajirobe's character?"

Not looking Nozawa's voice or performance does not make one uncultured or ignorant or closed-minded or anything like that. It's an opinion.

[OmegaRockman]

Nozawa's the best, no question. Not a particularly thrilling answer around these parts, but she's the greatest living voice actor period IMO so I can't really argue otherwise lest I lie to you.

If you wanna ask me my favorite English voice, though, it's probably current Schemmel. He's gotten really good in the role since Kai. His earlier stuff not so much (though he did steadily improve), but that doesn't really matter to me since he's gotten so good.

I love Kelamis as well, but for all his great deliveries he also has some pretty awkward and stiff ones. I think direction might've been a factor there. Overall, though? Solid stuff, love his work in the movies.

Saffron Henderson and Colleen Clinkenbeard come next. I'd rank Clinkenbeard higher, but she simply hasn't had enough time to really stretch her legs in the role as of now. I think she'd really kill it in a full DB redub, though; she was really good in Curse of the Blood Rubies, bringing that childish goofiness to the character while also being able to actually act (unlike Nadolny) and sounding distinct from her mouth raspy Luffy voice. Seriously, actually listen to them side-by-side: while you can tell it's the same performer, the voices are distinct from each other. I think if I had more than a single movie and some clips here and there to go off of she'd easily be my favorite English Goku, even moreso than Schemmel.

Ian Corlett was good in the role, but he didn't really leave much of a lasting impression on me. He's just a good hero guy voice but nothing really grabbed me outside of that. Morrow was pretty great from what I heard, but I wish we could've heard what he could do with a more accurate script. Such a great talent taken from us too soon, even if he wasn't in DB anymore.

I actually find Lex Lang's performance to be a bit underrated. His voice type may seem a bit off at first, but he did a good job at incorporating the more goofy side of Goku's personality and the Bruce Lee/Kenshiro yells were a really nice touch that made his Goku distinct. I think his big problem is that he always felt like he was holding something back, like he really wanted to really let loose on his reads but never quite could. Consequently, it feels like there's this sort of reserved quality to his performance. With time and better direction I think his Goku really could've become something special.

I have a lot of love for Zoe Slusar's Kid Goku, and Jeremiah Yurk wasn't too bad in GT, just a little flat. Sadly, Jeffery Watson in OG DB, however, failed to impress me with his extremely wooden performance. I don't even much like Schemmel's take on that arc (again, I really like him these days, but those early years were rough), but I'll take it over Watson. (Watson had a better script, though.) At least Watson was good as Axl in the Mega Man X games he did?

Barbara Goodson was good, but I still like Clinkenbeard and even Henderson much, much more. I also can't get over that dub's name changes and weird scripts for the TV episodes. At least it sounded professional, unlike early in-house Funi.

Brianne Sidall wasn't bad at all, but having nothing but a few clips in a forgotten video game dub means her performance simply has no way to get a foothold. Steve Blum is in a similar boat, but with the added disadvantage of being miscast. I think he would've made a better Vegeta. As-is, it's not the worst.

Ceyli Delgadillo was much less grating in Nadolny but was also incredibly stiff. Maybe time and experience would've ironed that out like it did with the others, but Nadolny got put on Kid Goku so we'll probably never know.

The Creative Products Corp. Goku (Nesty Ramirez?) in the Cooler films was pretty decent if a little hammy (like most of that dub really), but God did that script suck. I think it was the same guy in the early TV series dub, but while he was one of the almost competent actors in that, but it still amounted to pretty awful there.

Bart Allen as Fake Goku in Kai TFC sounds like a nice bloke. Wonder how he'd sound doing an actual Goku voice.

I'm sure Stephanie Nadolny is a nice person.

All the rest of the official English Gokus I've heard are varying degrees of awful. Unless, of course, I'm forgetting one.

[90sDBZ]

He really is the closest to sounding like Nozawa, and nails the goofy stuff like the standing in glue scene.

I would like for you to show me the glue thing cuz I got no idea what yer talkin about cuz it sounds funny

I mean the filler scene were Goku has to repair the spaceship from the outside and ends up standing in his own glue. It's from the first episode Kelamis did as Goku. I can't find it on Youtube, but the terrified way Kelamis says "You know that glue? I'm standing in it!" is hilarious.

Schemmel gets across every part of Goku's character perfectly, though I think in the Super era he's leaned too much on annoying like Kelamis used too.

I think this is more a reflection of the way Goku is written in Super than anything. The word annoying often comes to mind when I think of Goku in Super.

[jjgp1112]

Sean 100%, he captures the personality perfectly and he is very similar to latin american Goku, Mario Castañeda who I grew up with and is in my opinion the perfect voice for Goku.
An old lady voicing a grown man will always be a no for me

Ah, I was waiting for someone to do this.

People like you aren’t very good at media analysis, it shows because the only criticisms you have is “this sounds foreign to me thus it’s wrong” and “a WOMAN voices my maculine manly man character?! Unacceptable!”.

Anyways you’re titled to your opinion, I’ve been waiting to point out these kind of arguments from the fandom are stupid.

You projected a whole bunch of nonsense onto him for no reason.

[PurestEvil]

Sean 100%, he captures the personality perfectly and he is very similar to latin american Goku, Mario Castañeda who I grew up with and is in my opinion the perfect voice for Goku.
An old lady voicing a grown man will always be a no for me

Ah, I was waiting for someone to do this.

People like you aren’t very good at media analysis, it shows because the only criticisms you have is “this sounds foreign to me thus it’s wrong” and “a WOMAN voices my maculine manly man character?! Unacceptable!”.

Anyways you’re titled to your opinion, I’ve been waiting to point out these kind of arguments from the fandom are stupid.

How much conceit is within you, to make such an abrasive and inconsiderate comment like this? Have you literally been waiting a long time to start an argument on this subject with that attitude?
Just live and let live, man. There is no need to make accusations of idiocy against someone while discussing this subject.

[Demon Prince Piccolo]

I won't fault anyone if Nozawa's voice for Goku isn't to their tastes. After all, we can't necessarily control what we like or dislike. That said, I wonder if this take is based on an immediate reaction to hearing the voice matched with adult Goku, or just a listen here and there, or if the person has actually listened actively to Nozawa's delivery of her lines and considered it in conjunction with Goku's character. I say this because I had this response when I was younger, yet I grew to love Nozawa over time.

Well I saw the whole series in Japanese.

I don't care about her delivery, her delivery can be perfect and that won't change the fact that physically her voice doesn't suit

Fair enough, man. Just wanted some clarification. Also, I don't think it's fair how you were attacked for stating your opinion. We all have our personal tastes for what does and doesn't work for us, and we can't really force changes on that. As for your opinion, we'll just agree to disagree there.

[Venus]

My favorite voice for Goku has always been Mario Castañeda, but I like Masako Nozawa's performance equally because she is the original voice and it's probably impossible to ever surpass her.

[Cursed Lemon]

I have always been of the opinion that while Ian James Corlett definitely had that westernized "superhero" sound to him, his voice most accurately reflected the spirit of Goku's personality or at least what I thought it to be - a bit of a dunce sometimes (not a moron), but a hero nonetheless and a presence of confident strength. I love Peter Kelamis' rendition too, and I'm not just talking about his Nozawa-esque screams either.

Schemmel has grown on me over the years. Originally I thought he was way too slow-paced and flat, but he's come around nicely and I respect his work now. I just wish the writing for him in DBS had been better.

[Demon Prince Piccolo]

Schemmel gets across every part of Goku's character perfectly, though I think in the Super era he's leaned too much on annoying like Kelamis used too.

I think this is more a reflection of the way Goku is written in Super than anything. The word annoying often comes to mind when I think of Goku in Super.

It's equally both, and that's not a diss to Schemmel's acting skills. But since Goku is written to be more irritating and stupid in Super, Schemmel's delivery, while just a good as he's gotten in recent years, can be annoying to listen to.

[Koitsukai]

1) Nozawa.
2) Nozawa today.
3) Mario Castañeda.
4) Laura Torres.

The worse I've seen/heard is the dude that voiced the Z Broly movie for the latin dub. Nothing felt so NOT-Goku than that.

Bonus: I happen to like MasakoX a lot.

[BeaBumby]

Personally since I'm kinda new, I've definitely heard Mr. Schemmel the most, though I've taken quite a liking to Peter Kelamis' interpretation of the character. Corlett too

As for Kid Goku, yeah Stephanie, she's my favorite. To me she captures Goku's innocent personality well, and (this might be unpopular) I actually quite enjoy her kinda raspy screaming, gives the impression Goku's going all out

[PurestEvil]

Bonus: I happen to like MasakoX a lot.

I'm not gonna lie: when reading the Super manga, half the time I read Goku's lines in Sean's voice and the other in MasakoX's.

[Demon Prince Piccolo]

Personally since I'm kinda new, I've definitely heard Mr. Schemmel the most, though I've taken quite a liking to Peter Kelamis' interpretation of the character. Corlett too

As for Kid Goku, yeah Stephanie, she's my favorite. To me she captures Goku's innocent personality well, and (this might be unpopular) I actually quite enjoy her kinda raspy screaming, gives the impression Goku's going all out

To be fair to Naldolny, I think her Goku sounded the most like a young version of Schemmel's current Goku than anyone else. I really wish I could hear her dubbing a "Kai" version with a more accurate script.

[FPSSJ4_Goku]

Maybe they could do the child versions at least.

They should try getting child actors for the roles instead.
[/quote]

That's what the German dub did and it worked pretty well I guess

[BeaBumby]

Personally since I'm kinda new, I've definitely heard Mr. Schemmel the most, though I've taken quite a liking to Peter Kelamis' interpretation of the character. Corlett too

As for Kid Goku, yeah Stephanie, she's my favorite. To me she captures Goku's innocent personality well, and (this might be unpopular) I actually quite enjoy her kinda raspy screaming, gives the impression Goku's going all out

To be fair to Naldolny, I think her Goku sounded the most like a young version of Schemmel's current Goku than anyone else. I really wish I could hear her dubbing a "Kai" version with a more accurate script.

Do you think she could do a good adult Goku, like the japanese voice?

[Demon Prince Piccolo]

As for Kid Goku, yeah Stephanie, she's my favorite. To me she captures Goku's innocent personality well, and (this might be unpopular) I actually quite enjoy her kinda raspy screaming, gives the impression Goku's going all out

To be fair to Naldolny, I think her Goku sounded the most like a young version of Schemmel's current Goku than anyone else. I really wish I could hear her dubbing a "Kai" version with a more accurate script.

Do you think she could do a good adult Goku, like the japanese voice?

It's certainly not impossible, although I'm not sure it would work as well for me. But I'd be curious to hear that, especially if she could work in subtle changes to the voice like Nozawa did.

[BeaBumby]

Anyway, how well do you think Ocean Kai's voice might've been?

[Demon Prince Piccolo]

Anyway, how well do you think Ocean Kai's voice might've been?

Richard Cox was the rumored VA for Goku. Here's footage of Goku cut to match his lines in Inuyasha. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6fvjnHbanc Honestly...hard to say, but I think with a slight change hear and there he could've been a good fit.

[BeaBumby]

Anyway, how well do you think Ocean Kai's voice might've been?

Richard Cox was the rumored VA for Goku. Here's footage of Goku cut to match his lines in Inuyasha. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6fvjnHbanc Honestly...hard to say, but I think with a slight change hear and there he could've been a good fit.

tbh I expected a higher voice, with all the japanese-accurate stuff people were talking about with the dub, though I don't doubt he could pull one off greatly.