Crunchyroll Expo To Feature Ryo Horikawa, Dragon Ball's Japanese Vegeta

There have been quite a few 'Vegetas' in the history of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super. [...]

By Evan Valentine

There have been quite a few "Vegetas" in the history of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super. Specifically, Chris Sabat and Brian Drummond brought the nefarious prince of all Saiyans to life for English audiences, but they may not compare to the OG, Ryo Horikawa. Crunchyroll Expo, the upcoming anime convention from the streaming service, has recently announced that they'll be bringing the voice actor to the masses.

Crunchyroll Expo announced the inclusion of this Dragon Ball anti-hero on their official Twitter Account, promising audiences a meet and greet with the voice of the pint-sized Saiyan warrior:

Ryo Horikawa began portraying the Saiyan prince since 1996, where Vegeta first appeared in the episode, "Goku's Unusual Journey" in Dragon Ball Z. The Saiyan warrior had made his first appearance ever in the Dragon Ball manga in 1988 in the 204th chapter of the series titled "Sayonara, Son Goku". After defeating Raditz at the cost of his own life, Goku traveled to the afterlife but unfortunately, wasn't able to stop his evil brother from conveying the information about the Dragon Balls on earth to his partners in crime, Nappa and Vegeta.

While Raditz had a power level of around 1,200 give or take, Nappa's dwarfed his by several times over, with Vegeta dwarfing his with a power level of around 18,000! Of course, as power levels skyrocketed over time in the series, these levels became chicken feed next to transformations such as Super Saiyan or Golden Freeza to name a few.

Vegeta has one of the most intensive character developments in the series as he changes from space travelling destroyer to stoic, cranky hero as the Dragon Ball Z franchise progresses. In Dragon Ball Super, he has completely embraced earth, having his second child with the Dragon Ball mainstay Bulma as he continues his rivalry with Goku and tries to become stronger with each passing day. His most powerful transformation at present is his Super Saiyan Blue Evolution technique which allowed him to take down Toppo during the Tournament of Power.

Currently, Chris Sabat continues to supply the voice for the English version of Vegeta, but he still has a ways to go to reach the longevity of Ryo's performance as he has over twenty years under his belt.

What do you think of Vegeta's original VA making an appearance at the upcoming Crunchyroll Expo? Who is the best voice actor to bring the prince of all Saiyans to life? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, or why Brian Drummond is the best Vegeta voice actor!

Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block on Saturday evenings. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese-language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. The manga has chapters that can currently be read for free thanks to Viz Media, and Dragon Ball Super: Broly is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

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