Hoo boy, we got ourselves a doozy here so strap in. Alleged outtake Dragon Ball audio recordings apparently involving a number of popular voice actors – including the one for Son Goku – have leaked online, causing the anime company, Funimation, to trend online and the emergence of toxic fanboys from their basements.
So why is Funimation getting all this attention from toxic Dragon Ball fans? Well, that’s because the stuff said in those leaked audio clips is incredibly offensive.
Put it this way, you won’t look at Goku or any of the other characters in the same light after hearing them say a heap of homophobic, sexist and racist “jokes.” Needless to say that these clips are pretty NSFW.
However, this merely scratches the tip of this whole saga.
This leak happens to coincide with the legal battle Funimation is in with popular voice actor Vic Mignogna, whose relationship with the anime company ended when he was accused of sexual harassment by several fans.
As a result of this leak, we’ve ended up with three camps of fans:
- Those who are decrying the leaks as something that’s ruined their childhood memories of Dragon Ball and Goku, and think the recordings count as fireable offences.
- Those who think these leaks are nothing more than funny jokes between the voice actors.
- Those who are using the leaks as a way to defend Vic Mignogna’s alleged actions and calling out Funimation for double standards.
The reaction from the first camp of fans is perfectly understandable. If you’re Funimation, you don’t want your Dragon Ball voice actors using up company resources to record offensive stuff like this and why they haven’t been fired is a valid question (which is a story for another day).
Things start to get problematic when we get onto the second camp of fans who don’t see the issue with the recordings. “Jokes” that are clearly offensive and inappropriate are being normalised rather than shot down, and it’s this sort of attitude that contributes to the toxicity of online fandoms.
And then we have the third camp of Vic Mignogna defenders and boy are we stepping into some toxic territory here.
While there’s an argument to be made as to why Funimation (understandably) fired Mignogna but not the Dragon Ball voice actors, there are fans who are taking way too far by using the leaks to defend Mignogna and to denounce the women (and the #MeToo movement by extension) accusing him of harassment.
It’s fair enough to be offended by the leaks and for wanting the Dragon Ball voice actors to be fired for sullying Goku. But making offensive jokes and multiple women coming forward with their stories about a guy who allegedly harassed them are two completely different things. Just because one bad thing happen doesn’t mean another worse thing didn’t happen.
Trying to suggest that these two incidents are equal makes absolutely no sense and it just shows the mental gymnastics toxic fans will go through just to prove that their argument is “right.”
So to those who just can’t see just why the Funimation Dragon Ball audio leaks and the Vic Mognogna saga are two different things, the “toxic” people clapping back against you aren’t the problem. You’re the problem.