Well, FUNimation's actually doing something that I can say that I approve of without a gun pointed at my head. Allowing the fans to vote on voices is an incredible idea, and ALL OF YOU should vote. This is a rare opportunity to make a difference in the dub, and if you're too lazy to take advantage something this wonderful, then F*** YOU!
That having been said, I think it's time that I examined the polls so far. I have voted in all of them (Well, for some reason FUNi's site wouldn't allow me to vote for Pilaf...) and I think I can say that some of the voice choices do indeed suck out loud, but there's always at least one good one. Let's get right down to the polls, shall we?
SON GOKU-Both Cevli Delgadillo and Stephanie Nadolny were up for this part, and I'm VERY glad that Stephanie won. Her voice sounds much more natural, and much younger too. And if you've heard the Japanese version, you'll notice that Goku sounds VERY young. (Possibly too young) Cevli on the other hand, while she did do decent jobs playing Goku in "Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle" and "Mystical Adventure", her Goku voice sounded much too forced, and at a few points it seemed that Goku had a lisp.
SHAO-All for voices for this role were rather lousy(as a matter of fact, it sounded like the same guy was doing all of them) but I was able to narrow it down to #1. The rest seemed much too cartoony (#4 sounded like Bullwinkle!) and often disgusting. #1 seemed to be a little more realistic than the others. We'll know who won this one shortly.
EMPEROR PILAF-This one was the toughest to call, not one of them sounded right. #2 sounded like a 1940s gangster, and the other 3 were a combination of tolerance and hate. In the end, I chose #4(If ol' FUNi had let me!). Voice#4 was a slight step above the others, and it really reminded me of Dave Ward's original US voice, which I miss so much.
These votes are certainly a good thing, but will they let us vote on really major characters? I for one do not want Chris Sabat playing Piccolo Daimao! In the Japanese version, Kami-sama and Piccolo Daimao had the same voice (which makes sense), but the US Kami-sama would not be appropriate. They're gonna' have to bring in someone new for that role, as none of their current actors are qualified. I'd even like a chance to vote on Lady Annin, Meredith McCoy (Android #18) would be a good choice for her. When it all comes down to it, we should be kissing Funimation's respective asses right now. Let's hope that this ray of hope will continue to shine.
