‘Toriyama and I are connected for life’: Goku’s French voice reacts to Dragon Ball creator’s disappearance

He has been the French voice of Goku (but also Gohan, Goten and Trunks) in Dragon Ball for over 35 years now.

Actress Brigitte Lecordier, who also lends her unforgettable voice to characters such as Oui-Oui, Nicolas in Bonne nuit les petits, or recently in the ranking of Bojji Kings, agreed to return to our microphone on her adventure Dragon Ball, continuing to play. The death of famous manga creator Akira Toriyama at the age of 68.

AlloCiné: How did you hear about Akira Toriyama’s disappearance?

Bridget Lecordier : It was a journalist from Inter France who called me this morning to tell me the news and to do a short message on their show. Because there will be a phone call Tonight on Akira.

“It was a little mind-boggling.”

What was your reaction when you first discovered the character of Goku?

I remember it very well. I tried to play this little character and I remember nobody could tell me if it was a little boy, a monkey or a little animal… (laughs) It wasn’t normal. (…) I had done some manga before, but very little. I had to do it Cathy Little Farmer Or something like that, very realistic. Then we come across this Dragon Ball where all of a sudden the characters have spiky hair, Goku is naked, he’s wiping a woman’s breast, he’s doing things we never do. It was allowed before. So it was a bit disturbing. We didn’t know what world we had entered. It must be said that paper manga did not exist in France at that time. So we had no reference to that culture.

“Akira Toriyama was the master of all mangakas.”

how did you find out

I discovered this culture by going to Japan, invited by Toei to meet my Japanese colleague, and there I learned about this culture. I realized that Dragon Ball was a monument and that Akira Toriyama was and still is the master of all mangaka.

Did you have a chance to meet or cross paths with him?

Unfortunately no, I couldn’t. And when he came to the Angoulême festival in France, the festival didn’t think to invite me at the same time. At the time, the people who did dubbing weren’t necessarily very prominent or very respected. This never happened. I thought I would get there one day. And unfortunately, I’ll have to live with the thought that it won’t be possible.

“Toriyama and I have been linked for life.”

What did this character of Goku bring to you?

He gave me my whole life. My whole life as an actor, the worst and the best. There were terrible years when I was accused of being “Japanese”. I couldn’t work professionally because I did “those Japanese works, and it wasn’t good, it wasn’t pretty, and it was a subculture.” I found it magnificent. I loved these pictures and this way of saying things, with a lot of humor, distance and unusual. Because we must not forget that Toriyama is not only Dragon Ball. He’s always a bit profane, a bit cheeky in what he tells us. So he led in life. It gave me an incredible community. When you see all the messages I got today from all the people who grew up with him, me, us, actually… Toriyama and I have been connected for life.

His characters are very inspiring. Goku gives us strength, he also teaches us solidarity, respect for others, differences. We meet all this in life. I started when I was young and his work has been with me all my life and still is today. I am glad I was able to spend this journey with him.

“I’m glad I was able to go on this journey with him.”

How do you explain the public’s love for these characters and the popularity of this work?

I think that every person, every child – because it was originally intended for children – recognized themselves in this character. Because Toriyama creates characters that are not one-sided. We may be heroes, but we have many flaws. We are superheroes, but we are afraid. We’re superheroes, but sometimes we get it wrong. We are superheroes, but we struggle to work and we get things done in the end. So there we go. It is full of extraordinary examples and so I think every child will identify with these little characters. Also, as far as I’m concerned, I’ve had the chance to play Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, so I’ve raised a whole generation of kids with these little characters. What happiness!

Commentaries collected by Thomas Imbert

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