Apart from the Big 3 of Shonen anime, Dragon Ball stands in a league of its own. With its exceptional writing and character design, Akira Toriyama’s manga influences several Shonen anime. Besides that, the anime highlighted several voice actors who later worked with Eiichiro Oda. One such voice artist is Mayumi Tanaka.
Before voicing Luffy in One Piece, Tanaka voiced several iconic roles in different anime franchises. Although her career spans fifty years, she reveals the obstacles while voicing Krillin. This included a vicious yet vibrant fanbase that highlighted the anime’s popularity and the generation gap.
The vicious yet vibrant fandom of the Dragon Ball franchise
Mayumi Tanaka voices the role of Krillin in the Dragon Ball series written by Akira Toriyama. Before landing the role of Krillin, Tanaka worked with several anime franchises such as Doraemon, Astroboy, and Perman. Although viewers know her as the voice behind Monkey D. Luffy, her career spans over fifty decades.
While Dragon Ball is a popular anime with a worldwide fanbase, it’s versatile in terms of its viewership and audience. Be it Gen Z or millennial, Toriyama sensei’s manga extends beyond the borders of age and gender. However, fandoms are difficult and Tanaka wasn’t exempted from this.
In an interview that was later published in Dragon Ball Kai Dragon Book, she reveals her experience working with voice actors of all age groups. She quotes:
Those in their 20s especially, they’re the Z generation, so they pick up on really small mistakes (laughs). For instance, there are battle power numbers written in the script, so these young kids will point out that the number is wrong. Then when we check the original story, it turns out that it’s just like the kid said, and we all have to fix the scripts right on the spot (laughs).
The anime premiered in the 80s and has since then garnered a versatile and diverse fanbase. Although the anime has a strong fanbase, it is also among the most hated fandoms that are thoroughly disliked by people in the anime community for its strong views, disregard, and overlooking other popular Shonen anime.
Mayumi Tanaka empathizes with Krillin’s position in the anime
Krillin makes his debut in the original series as Goku’s rival. Along with Goku, he becomes a powerful and talented martial artist under the tutelage of Master Roshi. While he appears as Goku’s sidekick, he proves himself as a great warrior and joins Goku on his journey as his best friend.
Apart from being a great martial artist and one of the strongest characters in the series, Krillin is also the only mortal in the franchise who has died multiple times. While he may be a mortal, his exceptional strength and abilities make him one of the strongest characters.
His mortality isn’t what makes him different, but his zeal to protect others. Krillin’s voice actor shares how she understands the character’s position throughout the series. She quotes:
during the battle on Planet Namek, he took on people vastly stronger than him, like Freeza or Vegeta, and desperately gathered the Dragon Balls until Goku arrived. Even though it could get him killed, he desperately did whatever he could, clinging to the hope that Goku would manage something once he got there.
While Krillin may not be a Saiyan, he establishes himself as a worthy and strong character deserving to be acknowledged. Krillin is a celebrated and loved character who ranked seventh in the popularity polls.
Dragon Ball series are available for streaming on Crunchyroll
