Stephanie Nadolny previously missed out on Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero and Fighterz too
Dragon Ball Z is probably the most nostalgic anime in the West for people who grew up in the ’90s and 2000’s with each region featuring its own iconic voice cast, and English speakers are about to get back one of the most recognizable actors that we haven’t heard from in a while.
The Dragon Ball Daima anime is set to debut its English dub via a special theatrical release starting this weekend, and one beloved actor is returning for a leading role for the first time in 15 years.
While Sean Schemmel is back to voice Goku along with most of the rest of the regular Funimation cast, we won’t be hearing him as Saiyan hero from Earth most of the time.
Instead, Stephanie Nadolny is back in the booth voicing Goku (Mini) in Dragon Ball Daima’s English dub.
Nadolny is of course most famous for portraying young / teen Gohan in Dragon Ball Z as well as kid Goku in the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT with her very distinct sound.
She also carried on those roles across a number of early Dragon Ball Z games in the West, but we haven’t heard from her in a long time.
The last time Nadolny was credited in the series came back around 2009 or 2010 with Dragon Ball: Raging Blast and Dragon Ball: Origins 2.
Every since Dragon Ball Z Kai, Colleen Clinkenbeard had effectively taken over those roles of young Goku and Gohan.
And that includes Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero too.
So it’s interesting to see Nadolny return in Daima after missing out on the fanservice-filled Sparking Zero.
But many dub fans appear to be happy that she’s back in action again.
“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,” she said after the announcement.
Daima takes place after the Majin Buu Saga of DBZ with the new king of the Demon Realm wishing for all of the Z Fighters who fought Buu to turn into kids as to not pose a threat to him.
The series is putting more of a focus on the adventure to turn everyone back on top of the fights you expect from Dragon Ball.
Its first four episodes have also dropped some interesting new lore regarding the Namekians, the Demon Realm and fusion, so it’s not just about trying to make the world of Dragon Ball more kid-friendly again.
This release of the new anime comes during a somber year for Dragon Ball since series creator Akira Toriyama passed away as well as the iconic English narrator for Dragon Ball Z more recently.
The English dub premiere will come to select theaters in North America from November 10–12 with tickets on sale through Fathom Events.
Following dub episodes will presumably launch on Crunchyroll and potentially Hulu afterwards though that information doesn’t appear to be revealed yet.
You can hear Nadolny as Goku again along with the rest of the English cast for Dragon Ball Daima in the trailer below.