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Wow. It’s amazing how many of today’s biggest animé and miscellaneous cartoon shows all seem to sound alike… Well, maybe that’s because they’re all using the same voice cast. Yes, through some twisted plan of a company in Vancouver, British Columbia, we’ve managed to hear nothing but the same 40 or so voice actors and actresses for the past couple of years. Just for the hell of it, I’d like to explain this weird, multi-faceted plan of the Canadian company, The Ocean Group…
BIG CORRECTION: Sorry, big mistake. Many sources confirmed that Jennifer Darling did the voices for Freeza, Aeka, and (the only decent sailor scout) Ami. But, thanks to an e-mail from Susan DeMoore, things have been cleared up. Paulina Gillas did the voice of Freeza (DBZ) and Karen Bernstein did Ami (SM). Aeka's (Tenchi Muyo) info was correct.
Allow me to use the first set of Dragon Ball Z dubs (before the voices changed) as a base for all these vocal multi taskers. The voice of Goku (not the high pitched Goku from the last few episodes of the first dub) was Ian James Corlett. He then went on to do the voices of Cheetor (Beast Wars/Beast Machines), Bob from season three of Reboot, and our beloved blue bomber in Mega Man. Of course, he’s had other jobs, but these are the ones that you may recognize him for. And, Goku’s rival, Vegeta (Brian Drummond), became Ian’s rival again as Jet Storm in Beast Machines, MainFrame Inc.’s darkest CG venture yet. He also played another evil villan role as Zechs Merquise in Gundam Wing. And of course, he’s had other voice jobs, just like any other worker. "What about Piccolo?" you ask. "I’m sure I’ve heard his voice somewhere else". Well, you probably have. Scott McNeil voiced Duo Maxwell (a.k.a. The God of Death >=D) from Gundam Wing and had miscelaneous credits in Digimon (please note: Digimon ranks up there with Pokémon and Sailor Moon on my list; they should all be sent to hell). And, don’t give up hope on Krillan and Mr. Popo. They have steady jobs as Asaka and Kamadake in Tenchi Muyo. So, let’s review...
Goku (Ian James Corlett)
Vegeta (Brian Drummond)
Gohan (Saffron Henderson)
Krillan (Terry Klassen)
Mr. Popo (Unknown)
Piccolo (Scott McNeil)
Matrix (Unknown)
Want to check on a name you saw rolling by in the credits? Check out The Dub Seiyuu page and look at their extensive list of actors and actresses.
