Dragon Ball’s Stephanie Naldony Breaks Silence on Returning to Goku After Nearly 15 Years

Dragon Ball Daima is ushering in a brand new era of the anime with a classic star returning to the English dub, and Stephanie Naldony has shared her first reaction on performing for Goku’s voice once again for the new anime series! Dragon Ball Daima is a special celebration of the 40th anniversary for Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball making its debut with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. This has influenced how the new anime series itself has been developed as well. Not only is it going back to the beginning in many ways for Goku and the others, it’s going back to the beginning behind the scenes too.

Dragon Ball Daima kicks off its run with Goku and the other Z fighters being de-aged into children, and that means Goku (now labeled as “Goku Mini”) will be at the heart of a new Dragon Ball story for the first time in a long time. Dragon Ball Daima is going the extra mile for the occasion as well as the English dub will be featuring the return of Stephanie Naldony as the voice of this younger Goku, after previously voicing Kid Goku and Gohan for Funimation and ADV Films’ English dub release of Dragon Ball Z many years ago. With a special message to fans during New York Comic Con 2024, Naldony shared her first thoughts on the comeback.

Kid Goku’s Original Voice Actor Returns for Dragon Ball Daima

“It’s a tremendous honor to once again lend my voice to Goku, and this new chapter, Dragon Ball DAIMA, is filled with exciting adventures that fans of all ages will enjoy,” Naldony shared in a special statement to Dragon Ball fans during New York Comic Con 2024. Following reports of her possible inclusion earlier this year, Naldony’s voice was then very noticeable during the first dub trailer released for Dragon Ball Daima. Fans thought they could recognize her performance, so now it’s finally confirmed that Naldony is returning to the anime.

Naldony is likely the voice of younger Goku that most Dragon Ball dub fans will recognize. Voicing the character in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT in both the anime and manga releases, Naldony’s final recorded performance for the character was back in Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo, which hit shelves in 2009. Colleen Clinkenbeard took over as the voice of Gohan in Dragon Ball Z Kai and other future releases (such as being the voice of Goku GT in Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero), so this will be Naldony’s first return to Goku proper in quite a long time.

Dragon Ball Daima English Dub U.S. Release Date

Along with the confirmed return of Stephanie Naldony as the voice of Goku Mini, it was also announced during New York Comic Con 2024 that Aaron Dismuke (Fullmetal Alchemist, Dr. Stone) will be voicing new character Glorio. He shared the following statement for the announcement, “It’s a tremendous honor to once again lend my voice to Goku, and this new chapter, Dragon Ball DAIMA, is filled with exciting adventures that fans of all ages will enjoy.” As for the English dub itself, it’s going to be hitting theaters soon.

While the streaming release date for Dragon Ball Daima‘s English dub has yet to be announced, Toei Animation and Fathom Events have announced plans to bring the first three episodes of the dub to theaters with a limited screening event from November 11-13. This is being touted as the world premiere for the English dub release overall, so it’s likely that a streaming drop (and a reveal of the rest of the English dub’s cast) won’t be until much later