Posted in: Movies, NYCC, TV | Tagged: Chris Sabat, Dragon Ball Z, entertainment, funimation, NYCC, Sean Schemmel, television

NYCC '15- Is Yamcha Crazy? Funimation Presents Dragon Ball Z And Beyond

By Octavio Karbank

Today was the Dragon Ball Z panel everyone struggled to get into! With a room absolutely packed to the gills, fans of all ages desperately fought for their seats in an effort to see the cast of one of the most beloved anime ever. Swarms of people descended on Room 1A10 like a swarm of Red Ribbon henchman, clamoring for a spot. Unfortunately for some, their efforts were not enough. The room was maxed out to capacity in minutes, and only by the grace of Shenron, the Eternal Dragon, was I able to get in.

We received a look at Dragon Ball Z everyone probably wasn't expecting. While we didn't get much "beyond", as teased in the panel's title, with little to no talk about Dragon Ball Super, seeing as how Funimation hasn't acquired the rights to work on it yet, and rather than going over old clips, the first thing we got was a retrospective sizzle reel of DBZ villain Frieza. With Resurrection F released only a couple months ago in theaters, Frieza remains the talk of the town. Heralded as Dragon Ball Z's most iconic villain, Frieza continues to capture audiences' imaginations to this day.

After the short cinematic vignette, the cast came on stage, or at least Sean Schemmel, Chris Sabat, and Justin Cook did. The voice actors gave their sentiments on Frieza, which ultimately boiled down to how there's a necessity to balance a character as good as Goku with someone who's absolutely evil. However, despite Frieza's general awesomeness as a villain, due to his evil persona and overconfidence, it's always a treat to see him fall on his face.

While the first half of the panel focused on Frieza, the second part dealt with strolling, or in this case flying, down memory lane. Chris Sabat recounted the early days of DBZ back in 1989, remembering being originally cast as Yamcha, which in turn got a hearty laugh from the crowd. Sean Schemmel on the other hand, remembered wanting to play Captain Ginyu, having originally no idea who or what Goku was about and it was only sometime later when he discovered he was the lead of the show!

You could sense the energy in the room. Fans desperately clung to the hope that Schemmel would dish out a Kamehameha or that any of the voice actors would talk in the tongue of their iconic characters. They did. Just not how people were expecting. One of the panel's most entertaining segments, featured Schemmel and Sabat discussing how they've used their Goku and Vegeta voices to get out of fights and/or take on someone head on. Because when it comes to a screaming contest where the Average Joe is pitted against a Super Saiyan, the victor is never in doubt.

On another note, what if Yamacha is totally insane and Puar can't actually talk? What if the Z Fighters just put up with Yamcha due to some mental instability, merely going, "There's Yamcha talking to his cat again"? Or worse yet, what if Chiaotzu is Tien's imaginary friend? He's barely ever around, right?  What if he is just in Tien's  head? These are just some of the questions posed by Schemmel and company, giving us all something to consider.

Octavio Karbank is a writer and bona fide Whovian. Living in Massachusetts, you can find him on Twitter @TymeHunter and his blog www.cozmicventures.com

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