In a Shenron-level granting of wishes, the first trailer for the English dub version of Dragon Ball Daima has confirmed that not only will the upcoming series receive a special theatrical screening, but also that its version of Kid Goku will be voiced by none other than original Funimation dub voice actor Stephanie Nadolny.
Word of Nadolny’s return to the world of Dragon Ball was first broken to the public courtesy of popular YouTuber Geekdom 101, who teased the voice actor’s return on September 12th via his personal Twitter account.
Twelve days later, the YouTuber’s scoop would be confirmed with the release of the first trailer for Daima‘s English dub, wherein Nadolny could be heard once again voicing the series’ miniaturized protagonist.
Long-time English-speaking Dragon Ball fans may remember Nadolny as the original voice actor for Kid Goku in Funimation’s of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT, as well as both Kid and Teen Gohan in Dragon Ball Z.
Last serving as the voice of Kid Goku roughly fifteen years ago during the production of the 2010 Nintendo DS game Dragon Ball: Origins 2, Nadolny would be replaced in the role thereafter by fellow voice actress Colleen Clinkenbeard, who has held the roles ever since.
And though no official reason has ever been given as to why she was replaced, Nadolny alleged during a 2019 interview that it was a combination of both a vengeful ex-boyfriend and Funimation’s ‘clique culture’ that led to her being dropped from Dragon Ball.
“I had been seeing somebody romantically back from like 2003-2009 and when we split he absolutely, completely freaked out and his ego was effected and he said ‘I’m going to ruin your career!’ recalled the voice actress. “So he called all my employers [and] yeah, aired my business or whatever. My personal life, some of it true, some of it wasn’t. And so, I think that’s what kind of led to me not being able to reprise my character, was that.”
Turning to the company’s ‘high school’-esque workplace, Nadolny then noted, “It’s like I said, it’s a clique. Some people run around with these people, some of these people have kids together now, and they play together, they go to the state fair together. It wasn’t on purpose, but over time, I kind of got pushed out of that whole clique. And I was trying to just be professional and make it about business, but there’s a lot of people, from what I understand just from making some appearances and things like that, that are still flat-out doing this, like ‘Hey these are my friends, I’m working with my friends.'”
“I’m happy for them, but I completely feel like I was unfairly pushed out and that my personal life should have had no effect on not being able to come back,” she said. “Because it really hurt, I had no idea what was going on. I was abused and threatened by this man and he said ‘I’m going to ruin your career!’ and ‘I’m going to call everybody you ever worked for and just dog you out and brought you out.’ So I think that’s why, if there’s any other reason, I guess they call that irreconcilable differences.”
Alongside the reveal of Nadolny’s return, the trailer also revealed that Toei Animation has teamed-up with Fathom Events to bring the world premiere of the Dragon Ball Daima English Dub to U.S. theaters.
From November 10th-12th, fans can catch a limited theatrical screening of the dub’s first three episodes, which will be presented alongside a special introduction from Goku’s legendary Japanese voice actor Maseko Nozawa.
President and CEO of Toei Animation Inc.Masayuki Endo and Fathom Events CEO Ray Nutt released statements on the upcoming theatrical event.
“We are thrilled to bring the world dub premiere Dragon Ball Daima to U.S. theaters this November,” Endo stated. “This special theatrical event offers U.S. fans an exclusive opportunity to not only be among the first to watch the never-before-seen English dub of Dragon Ball Daima but also to experience the start of this exciting new story by creator Akira Toriyama on the big screen. Diehard Dragon Ballers will not want to miss it!”
“Fathom Events is excited to be partnering once again with Toei Animation to bring the latest chapter in the incredible Dragon Ball franchise to the big screen,” Nutt declared. “This new series is a masterpiece from Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball fans will love seeing it on the big screen as it takes everyone into this exciting new world.”
Tickets go for this limited event go on sale starting October 11th – the same day of both Dragon Ball Daima’s worldwide premiere (simulcasts for the series will be provided by Crunchyroll) and the release of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero.