Movie: Dragonball

[Munsu]

Lol, so you have a beef with the casting of Dragonball for not having enough Asians... and having Goku played by a white kid? A series that has no real setting on Earth, the main character is an Alien, characters with green, purple, blue hair are abundant, some characters with Green skin, etc... Please, go whinne about something else. Nothing really wrong with casting white people for the roles, especially for a movie being released in the US, not by any stretch of the imagination.

If there's something to complain about is for the actual plot and story changes... but to complain about the casting solely because they have a couple of white kids playing leading roles is kinda dumb.

[XanBcoo]

Gonna echo Munsu. Dragonball isn't even set in our universe. "Asians" don't exist, and Bulma has always been white.

In a perfect world, I would have loved for the guy who played Lui Kang to be Goku, but I got no beef with some white guy playing him. I don't see why anyone should, aside from holding on to some sort of irrational ideals.

[Animeniax]

Who says there's no Asians in the DB world? The writing on the back of Goku's gi-s are Chinese kanji aren't they? And the colorful hair thing is just an anime standard. They use the different hair colors to represent different personality types. Some fans of anime you guys are, to not know that.

Like I said, what are they going to name the white guy who plays Goku? If the name was less ethnic like Bulma, I wouldn't see so much of a problem. And how about a white Chichi or Gohan? I'm betting they Americanize the names too. It'll be George and his son Geoffrey and wife Cindy, and their feisty friend Barbara. Vegeta will become Victor, Master Roshi will become Mr. Rogers. It's madness I tell you.

[Munsu]

Who says there's no Asians in the DB world? The writing on the back of Goku's gi-s are Chinese kanji aren't they? And the colorful hair thing is just an anime standard. They use the different hair colors to represent different personality types. Some fans of anime you guys are, to not know that.

Like I said, what are they going to name the white guy who plays Goku? If the name was less ethnic like Bulma, I wouldn't see so much of a problem. And how about a white Chichi or Gohan? I'm betting they Americanize the names too. It'll be George and his son Geoffrey and wife Cindy, and their feisty friend Barbara. Vegeta will become Victor, Master Roshi will become Mr. Rogers. It's madness I tell you.

Again, Goku is an alien... it doesn't matter what Goku was wearing, what his name is, or the symbols on his clothes say. He's not from Earth, so it doesn't matter. Also, I bring up the hair colors because it seems that the adaptation WILL keep the hair colors. The rest are baseless assuptions on your part that currently have no merit nor worth discussing. If they do infact fuck up the names, which I very much doubt at this point, then go shit everywhere then... not now.

Dragonball is not some unknown crap that they can get away with having too much creative freedom like changing the characters' names. This is a huge franchise, and they won't fuck it up by changing the characters' names.

Remember Beverly Hills Ninja? Chris Farley was called Haru... so there, deal with it.

[Animeniax]

Space aliens can be Asian. Why not? Think about it, on another planet at this very instant, if life existed, it would most likely evolve in the same manner as it did on this planet. So there could very well be Asians on alien planets, except they wouldn't be called Asian because the continent they live on probably isn't called Asia. But they'd still have the black hair, brown eyes, yellowish skin, etc. So even if Goku isn't literally an Asian, he is most definitely from the same genetic stock as what we refer to as Asians here on planet Earth. So the best way to represent him would be to let an Asian play his role in the movie.

My assumptions aren't baseless. They follow a clear line of thinking. If they are going to Americanize the characters, why would they leave the names alone? White characters with Asian names? Doesn't make sense. And the Beverly Hills Ninja reference? That was the entire idea of the movie, a white guy raised in Asian arts living in the US. Changing his name would make no sense. In this DB movie, if they're going to remove the Asian heritage of the characters, why would they not change the names?

[David75]

My assumptions aren't baseless. They follow a clear line of thinking. If they are going to Americanize the characters, why would they leave the names alone? White characters with Asian names? Doesn't make sense. And the Beverly Hills Ninja reference? That was the entire idea of the movie, a white guy raised in Asian arts living in the US. Changing his name would make no sense. In this DB movie, if they're going to remove the Asian heritage of the characters, why would they not change the names?

Sorry but Goku isn't the same species as humans, although he is compatible for making children with human females.

[XanBcoo]

I remember when people thought Viz would change Naruto's name in the English. The fanboys were livid that an American company would be touching something Asian. Your assumptions are baseless, Animeniax. The cast is multiracial and there's no good reason for them to make any radical changes based solely on the actor's ethnicity.

Also Goku's gi had kanji on it because it was written for a Japanese audience, not because he himself was any particular ethnicity.

Also Also I really want to discuss how homo sapiens would evolve on different planets now. Could they have ethnicities that we don't?? Does Eugenics exist on another world? How are the Space-Black People treated?

[Animeniax]

I checked the cast and only the main characters are Caucasian, besides Roshi. The minor characters like Chi Chi, Mai, and Yamcha are cast as Asians. So the official count is: 3 white people, 2 Koreans, 1 Japanese, and 1 Chinese. I shake my head at yet another case of typical Hollywood pandering.

I remember when people thought Viz would change Naruto's name in the English. The fanboys were livid that an American company would be touching something Asian. Your assumptions are baseless, Animeniax. The cast is multiracial and there's no good reason for them to make any radical changes based solely on the actor's ethnicity.

Also Goku's gi had kanji on it because it was written for a Japanese audience, not because he himself was any particular ethnicity.

Also Also I really want to discuss how homo sapiens would evolve on different planets now. Could they have ethnicities that we don't?? Does Eugenics exist on another world? How are the Space-Black People treated?

But now you're talking about a cartoon adaptation, where Naruto's ethnicity can be debated, though he is Japanese. I'm talking about a live action adaptation where a white guy with supposedly no ties to Asian heritage somehow has an Asian name. I don't see it happening. Would you have imagined "Hsieu-Wong and Kumar Go to Whitecastle"?

And what's with everyone assuming Bulma is white in the anime/manga? Does that mean Sakura from Konoha is white too? And what about Misa in Death Note?

Also, your argument about there being no consequence for Asian characters on Goku's gis is off mark. I'm arguing against your claim that Asians don't exist in the DB world, when they clearly do, supported by the Chinese character on the back of the main character's outfit.

[Munsu]

Forget it, it's a lost cause... the characters will keep their names, it has been reported everywhere when they were casted, the role AND name of the character they were going to play. There hasn't been anything that suggests any different... as I said, it's a worthless discussion.

[Animeniax]

That's fine, I don't imagine my rant will change anything in Hollywood. It is fun to argue the point though, and maybe change a few minds. I'll probably watch the movie anyway.

I bring up the hair colors because it seems that the adaptation WILL keep the hair colors.

Looking at production photos, the guy playing Goku will have short, light-brown hair, so that's at least one change from the revered (supposedly untouchable) franchise. If live-action Goku doesn't have a freakish stock of black hair like in the anime, what else will they change?

Sorry but Goku isn't the same species as humans, although he is compatible for making children with human females.

Which is evidence that he shares genetic code with humans, and is probably just a more advanced evolutionary form of humanity (given different environmental conditions on his home planet). Which means he could very well be Asian. Which means it would make more sense to cast an Asian for the role.

[animus]

Oh come on, Goku looks as asian as they come even if he's an alien.

[Munsu]

Of course he looks Asian... it was a Japanese series, that's what the mangaka knows how to draw... that's what he's familiar with. It's not uncommon to have foreigners in anime/manga to look similar to asian characters... looking Asian themselves because that's simply their drawing style, their character designs for a particular series.

Even the Androids in the series, who seemed to have western influences... looked Asian. Heck, look at the Code Geass designs and all those Brittish characters that look Asian, including the main character himself.

[Animeniax]

I always wondered what nationality or race Rick Hunter portrayed in Robotech. Roy Fokker and Lisa Hayes were clearly white and Claudia Grant was clearly black. I think Minmay was Chinese or Japanese, I can't say which. But Goku is definitely Asian, same as Chi Chi and Tien and Yamcha and Yajirobe.

Here's a tidbit from IMDB that was listed as a factual error for DBZ:

The series takes place in a universe that is, rather obviously, way different than our real-life universe. Yet there are references to all kinds of things from our Earth (Einstein, Isaac Newton, Humphrey Bogart, Dino, Hitler, etc.)

So it's arguable that these are indeed humans on Earth, with the Saiyans being related to the human species. Therefore, Goku could indeed be Asian, and therefore, it would be best to have an Asian play the role in the live-action movie.

I could understand if they cast a white kid to play Naruto, since that character's race is ambiguous based on how he's drawn, but Goku is definitely Asian.

[Junior]

Oh come on, Goku looks as asian as they come even if he's an alien.

Especially with his hair.

XD

How about a Eurasian?

[Carnage]

Why are we even bitching about the cast? It doesn't matter when the plot will blow ass.....

[Animeniax]

The cast can make or break the movie, even if the plot sucks. Transformers is a good example. Even with the special effects, the plot was pretty straightforward and cliche. Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox made the movie shine.

I don't see why you'd think the plot will suck that bad. It would be like any of the DB movies, kind of random and loosely based on the main plotline of the anime/manga, but occurring just outside of that plotline.

To me, this could be a great movie with special effects and seeing DB in live action. It could be as cool as Transformers or the first 2 Spider-man movies. But if the cast is all wrong and they change too many details (due to the cast), it will fail the DB universe, even if it makes money for Hollywood.

[Junior]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonball_%28film%29

This is going to fail. The Goku fails way too much for me to even comprehend. I mean seriously, he looks like the Green Day singer.

I would've liked to see Jackie Chan in it because he did inspire Dragonball.

He has been the inspiration for manga such as Dragon Ball, the character Lei Wulong in Tekken and the fighting-type Pokémon Hitmonchan.

I can imagine Goku being based on him.

[Shadow Skill]

That Justin Chatwin guy, his hair in no absolute way resembles Goku's hair. Goku's hair is Black and has 3 Pointy spots? Unless in Super Saiyan mode. That Justin's hair is Brown and faggish looking, with most of his hair going downwards.

James Masters looks like he'd be a good Piccolo with the proper makeup.

I am not sure how the director can say Justin's hair looks like Goku's. I swear none of these directors these days research what they create.

[Death BOO Z]

Justin doesn resemble goku, in a sense, they've got the same face (mainly the chin area and smile).

also, if anything, Goku is chinese. not japanese.
that's just how it is.

[Raven]

Some exclusive photos, although I don't know how exclusive they are any more. Not very good quality either.