Casting for Dragon Ball Whitewashing?

[giovannigarcia02]

Hello all, i am Giovanni Garcia, newest writer in last resort films, and writer of Sandbox, further down the line when i have more credits to my filmography i am hoping to do a live action version of the dragon ball franchise, now i know Dragon Ball Evolution was a thing and it was terrible. So that is why i wanted to bring up an important question is it disrespectful to cast Goku and Vegeta as any other race outside of asain descent? I know in the manga and anime series the sayians are alien beings from outer space but since Dragon Ball is an iconic piece of Eastern Pop Culture, i do not want to offend anyone by miscasting Goku from his preferred race, thank you.

[Admin]

As far as the studio is concerned, the anime is not specifically set in Japan. It's a fantasy story first and foremost. If you are worried about offending people, you could go with a multi-cultural cast. If many cultures are represented, it would be hard to argue that a film is "whitewashing" the property, even if there is a white actor in the lead role. Also, Goku turns out to be an alien in the anime, so the race of the actor really should be irrelevant.

According to a friend of mine (who gave me most of this information since I'm honestly not very familiar with the property or anime in general), Japanese artists originally drew anime characters the way they do so that the audiences in each major market for the work (Europe, North America and Asia) would all see the main characters as themselves, making the work easier to market and sell. That notion really eats away at the white-washing argument right there.

So far Last Resort Films has released six films based on Japanese anime/manga properties (Akira, Made in Abyss, Perfect Blue, Kite and Steins Gate), all featuring "Western" casts, and nobody has complained to me, or on the board, about any of them. So I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.


Also (from a pure studio perspective), keep in mind that Japan makes up a very small percentage of box office dollars, so don't just focus on pleasing that audience. For example, Avatar is one of the most successful Hollywood films in Japanese box office history, however, Japan barely accounted for 5% of that film's box office gross.

[bunkerdost]

I agree with you Admin:)

[Deleted]

I agree too. Most of the time people complain about whitewashing in anime adaption is to just complain about them. There are cases where it's the wrong thing to do but with cases like Fullmetal alchemist, which is set in Europe, and Dragon Ball, which is set in a fantasy world, you can get away with it

[giovannigarcia02]

Thank you guys for the reassurance, with that out of the way though i have a shortlist of actors who i am thinking of for both Goku and Vegeta, keep in my mind these choices vary in all sorts of different races due to the sayians being aliens

Goku
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Steven Yeun
Donald Glover


Vegeta
James McAvoy
Brian Tee
Michael B. Jordan

[roy]

Taylor-Johnson could make for a decent Goku. Yeung just isn't very charismatic, while Glover seems too slight to be believable in fight scenes.

I don't see McAvoy or Jordan accepting the role of Vegeta, so Tee by default?

[giovannigarcia02]

i also have some additional choices for Goku and Vegeta since my current shortlist has some major issues with the exception of Taylor-Johnson
Goku:
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Dylan o'brien
Andrew Garfield
Chris Pratt
Taylor Kitsch

Vegeta
Tyler Hoechlin
Kit Harrington
Theo James
Tom Hardy, (He probably won't do it though given he is one of the most in demand actors in LRF)

[roy]

Taylor-Johnson and O'Brien seem like the best choices for Goku. The others might be too lofty.

I especially like the choices of Hoechlin and James for Vegeta.

[giovannigarcia02]

I'm leaning towards O'Brien and Hoelchin as my final picks for Goku and Vegeta.

[bunkerdost]

Luke Evans is Vegeta for me O'Brien is a good Goku:)

[Deleted]

Do you plan on going to use Goku's brother for the first villian or Freeza?