Opinion on DBZ Voices, Subbed vs. Dubbed, and the Ominous Girls and DBZ Questions

By Tenley

I have read a lot of these editorials and I always try to see the other person's point of view. In some cases I am brought over to that side and I then start to think my old way of thinking was stupid. When I first started watching DBZ, I had never even heard of anime. I was still calling it "Japimation." But I would still watch it everyday, liking it more and more. Soon I began to like Sailormoon, and then Ronin Warriors (You can tell I'd watch it on Toonami). Soon I was eating and sleeping anime. I couldn't wait to get home to see it. Then I started looking things up on the web. Cell? Trunks? Mr. Satan?! Who the heck are they? It's gotta be some made up story...but wait! More and more I was being taken into this world. I found the Daily Dragonball Chapters and I read every single manga there. But it wasn't enough. I had to have more. Unfortunately I still haven't seen a single episode of DBZ in Japanese, but I'm still looking. My friends now consider me their top authority on DBZ, although they say that it's not a compliment.

I have seen subbed and dubbed anime and even though the dubbed can have hideously outrageous voices at times, you understand them better because you're focus is on the animation and events, not the words at the bottom. I would only have to watch dubbed Evangelion once (and suffer through Shinji's English voice), whereas I'd watch it twice or more when subbed. There is a reason that we don't see subbed anime on TV over here, less people would watch it. Yes, I know there are some hard core subbie fans out there who would stick with it every second, but the average person isn't going to stop to watch some "cartoon" in Japanese with tiny little words at the bottom are they? It all comes down to that money factor again. Hard core fans just aren't enough to make real money. Ya gotta incorporate the masses.

Now a talk on the English voices of DBZ. Now I am not going to even touch the third season. Yeesh! Those are absolutely awful in my opinion. But before all that...unpleasantness, I really liked the voices. I thought Vegeta's voice brought that sinister evilness to him, and it fit him. He's a short guy! He doesn't need a huge manly testosterone filled bellow! Just enough to tell you "I don't like you. I'm evil." Now Goku, his voice took more turns than my brother at puberty. I liked the one at the end of the season, done by Ian Corlett. Nice. Gohan's voice was really good in my opinion, he had that childish high pitchedness that comes with kids. And his voice was loud and powerful when he would get mad too. Innocence and power, a combo well made. I liked Chichi's, very motherly and stern. Bulma's was very nice. I liked it because the voice actress can voice act! She didn't ever sound choppy and could scream very nicely. Yajirobe's (spelling?) voice really captured the Pig/coward in him. I didn't like Oolong's voice, but what do you expect from a pig? Piccolo was good, gruff and reserved. Master Roshi was at times good, at times bad. It depended on his voice actor. You major DBZ subbed fans out there won't like this, but I wish they would bring back the original voice actors for the fourth season. If not, I wish they'd at least get professionals.

And a small note on all those people who get into an uproar on weather girls like anime or not, it depends on the girl, and it depends on the anime. I myself happen to be a girl and I love it all. When people say "DBZ is for GUYS!" just walk away. Not everyone could be equipped with a brain. Hopefully society will eventually stop this kind of thing. Well, I've typed on long enough. Thanks for sticking with it and reading this far!

A humble opinion by Tenley