Masako Nozawa, the legendary voice actor who has played Dragon Ball’s Goku in Japan for over 40 years, has called out AI videos using her voice as “unforgivable”.
It’s been over 40 years since Dragon Ball’s anime first debuted in Japan, introducing audiences to one of the greatest and most beloved stories of all time. A lot has changed for the series in those four decades, but there’s been one amazing constant throughout it all – Goku’s Japanese voice actor, Masako Nozawa.
Nozara also plays Gohan, Goten, and Bardock, so she’s an essential part of Dragon Ball as a whole.
Nozawa has been portraying Goku ever since the very first episode of the original Dragon Ball anime, and has somehow kept up with all the screaming and powering up even at 89 years old. She clearly adores the role, so it’s no surprise to hear that she’s not happy about AI videos that steal her voice and have “no heart”.
Goku’s Japanese Voice Actor Says AI Videos Are “Theft”
“It Makes Me Angry”
As reported by Dexerto and originally pointed out and translated by Twitter user DbsHype, Nozawa recently spoke to Japanese broadcaster NHK, where she talked about her viewpoint on AI-generated videos. Nozawa said that AI “has no heart” and that, even if it’s a perfect copy, it’s “no good” without that.
The voice for Goku was even more brutal about videos that specifically replicate her voice, which she compared to theft and called “unforgivable”. Anyone using AI to replicate the Japanese voice of Goku, Gohan, or Goten is making Nozawa “angry”, and you absolutely can’t blame her after 40 years of hard work and, most importantly, heart.
NHK’s interview with Nozawa happened after the Japan Actors Union revealed new guidelines that aim to protect its performers from AI voice cloning. Nozawa is far from the only anime actor having her voice replicated, but she’s undoubtedly one of the most affected considering the popularity of both Goku and Dragon Ball.
Nozawa isn’t even the only Goku voice actor to have a clear disdain for AI, as Sean Schemmel, the English VA, wasn’t happy when he thought a YouTuber had cloned his voice. That turned out to just be a really accurate impression, but it’s clear that every Goku out there doesn’t want anything to do with the tech.
Dragon Ball
- Release Date
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1986 – 1989
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Osamu Kasai, Daisuke Nishio, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Minoru Okazaki, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Yoshihiro Ueda, Yutaka Satoh, Yûji Endô
- Writers
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Akira Toriyama, Keiji Terui, Toshiki Inoue, Takao Koyama, Michiru Shimada, Yasushi Hirano, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Yuichiro Oguro, Miho Maruo, Shunichi Yukimuro
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Masako Nozawa
Son Goku (voice)
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Mayumi Tanaka
Krillin (voice)
