Dragon Ball’s Masako Nozawa Reveals How She Differentiates Goku From Other Roles

There are plenty of Dragon Ball fans who have been with the series since day one, but there are a few who backed the anime before it dropped. Sure, creator Akira Toriyama was one of those supporters, but he was joined by voice actors like Masako Nozawa. Since day one, the actress has been the embodiment of Goku for fans everywhere, and her legacy is closely intertwined with the Saiyan. Still, Nozawa has gigs outside of Dragon Ball, and the star has revealed how she keeps Goku separate from her other roles.

Recently, fans everywhere gathered to celebrate the voice actress on her birthday. Nozawa turned 83 years old, and she celebrated with fans. On social media, an sound bite went live from an interview Nozawa did about Dragon Ball, and fan-translator Herms98 was kind enough to share a bit of it in English.

When talking about her desire to keep all of her characters distinct from one another, Nozawa said she had a trick for Dragon Ball.

“Goku grew up in the mountains not knowing where his next meal would come from, while Gohan got a totally different upbringing thanks to Chi-Chi, and Goten has a slightly mischievous side. I keep those differences in mind,” she explained.

Of course, such a split in upbringing would change the pair. Goku’s wild childhood turned him into the stubborn if not reckless man he is today. For Gohan, he has less desperation given his comfortable upbringing, and he has been pushed in other ways to succeed. All of these factors come together to shape a voice, and Nozawa knows how to make it work. With so many characters under her belt at this point, Nozawa does what she can to keep everyone straight, and it is good to know how important the Dragon Ball crew is to her.

Which Dragon Ball performance from Nozawa ranks as your number one…? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block on Saturday evenings, and 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’s big movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.