Interviewing The Cast Of ‘Dragon Ball Super: Broly’: Monica Rial- The Voice Of Bulma
This is part four of our ‘Dragon Ball Super: Broly’ interview series.
Click here for our interview with Jason Douglas, the voice of Beerus.
Click here for our interview with Ian Sinclair, the voice of Whis.
Click here for our interview with Sonny Strait, the voice of Bardock.
Dragon Ball Super: Broly, the continuation of the DBS anime that re-imagines the fan-favorite villain from the perspective of series creator Akira Toriyama, will be releasing in theaters nationwide on January 16. To count down to the release of the film, we will be posting a round table interview conducted alongside Sean at VRV, with voice actors from the movie each day leading up to the release date, culminating with a full review of DBS: Broly itself!
Today’s interview is with Monica Rial, who has voiced Bulma since the remade Dragon Ball Z: Kai was dubbed in 2010. As the one character who has been part of the series as long as Goku has, Bulma is perhaps the character that has changed the most throughout the series. Starting off as a shallow teenager who wanted to use the wish making powers of the Dragon Balls to wish for a boyfriend, fans have watched her grow into the brains behind the brawn of Goku and his friends, oftentimes serving as the motherly figure to the rest of the group as well as the only person that can keep her husband, Vegeta, in check. Outside of Dragon Ball, Monica has had lead roles in series’ such as Panty and Stocking with Garderbelt, Senran Kagura, and recently began voicing Sakura Kinomoto in Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card.
Josh- So Monica! With the Broly movie approaching, what can you tell us about Bulma’s role in the film?
Monica- Bulma’s role is in the film is she KICKS BROLY’S A… No, I’m kidding, I wish! (Laughs) I’m still waiting for the day that she to fight! But I’d say Bulma’s role in this film is supporting her friends, but also comedy. She’s got a lot of comedy in this one. And I think it’s just that it’s such an action packed, hardcore film. There’s a lot of drama, there’s a lot of action, so I feel like they needed some comic relief and they were like, “Bulma!” So that’s kind of my role in this one. Which I’m not gonna complain about. I love comedy, so I’m all about it!
Josh- Bulma has the habit of bossing around some of the strongest beings in the universe, so are we going to come to the point in the film or beyond the film where she’s going to be pulling Broly by the ear and telling him what to do?
Monica- I hope so! I really, really hope that will be the case because at this point, I’ve done it to all of them. Calling Frieza ugly to his face and slapping Beerus… if she didn’t die then, then surely she can handle Broly or at least put him in his place.
Sean- Is she going to be the one that actually forces Vegeta to fuse?
Monica- Oh… I can’t tell you that! (Laughs) But that’s got to be weird! You know, the more I think about the fusion, it’s like your best friend and your husband… Do you really want them turning into one person? Probably not.
Sean- Yeah, what would Bulma say to that?
Monica- I think she’d be a little weirded out. At the same time, I think she’s one of those people who’ll do whatever you got to do to get the job done. But at the same time, yeah… It would be a little strange.
Josh- She’s been around from the very beginning, so she’s seen her fair share of strange things already.
Monica- Right! I think she’s just jaded at this point. She’s like, “Whatever, that’s weird but oh well, it’s just another Tuesday!”
Sean- Was there any point where the animation was just so breathtaking that it stopped you in your tracks while you were recording?
Monica- Yeah! In fact, I got to watch it before we recorded it. Jason Douglas and I actually sat down in Colleen Clinkenbeard’s office, (longtime voice actor and director at Funimation who currently plays Mai and the entire young Goku family tree in Dragon Ball), and sat with the script because they were very cautious about it not leaking or anything. So we had to go into her office and watch it on her little Mac with our little scripts… And I will say that there were several times where we looked at each other and were like, “Oh! Yes! That’s intense!” And we weren’t even looking at the final version, we were looking at a version that was still in progress, so you had a lot of storyboards and still animation, which was so cool for us because we never get to see that behind the scenes kind of stuff. So it was really neat to kind of see. There was a point where Bulma’s space ship takes off and it’s like, a picture… a picture… a picture… a picture, before they had the motion put in. It was really, really cool! But yeah, it’s absolutely gorgeous, and I can’t WAIT for everybody to see it! I feel like I’ve got the biggest secret in the world and I can’t tell anybody and I can’t wait for you all to see it so I can finally talk about it! (Laughs)
Josh- I know, the wait’s been killer!
Monica- Yeah, it’s the worst! It’s absolutely the worst. And people keep asking, “Why are the trailers giving away so much information?” And I’m like, “Nah you’re good. There’s still a whole lot more!”
Josh- Okay, good!
Sean- It’s not quite 100% certain that we’ll get that we’ll get more Dragon Ball animation beyond this. If it does keep going, are you absolutely down for more and where do you think it will go?
Monica- 100 percent! In fact, I would be very unhappy and very sad if we DON’T have more! I would hope that would be the case! I think that a lot of people have speculated [and] Akira Toriyama has said that if this film does well, that he would consider the possibility of doing more. So I’m like, “Everybody go see this movie! Go! Now!” (Laughs) But yeah, I would love for there to be more, and if I were going to guess as to where I would like the show to go, I would love for either Vegeta or Goku to become a Destroyer. I kind of see that whole aspect of it, and people always ask, “Well then, what’s going to happen to Beerus?” And I’m like, “I think Beerus is going to be the new Piccolo!” As much as he hates it, I think he’s gonna be the dude that sits around and eats food and hangs out with Bulla! And that’s how it’s gonna be!
Josh- And he raises other people’s kids!
Monica- Right, exactly! We all know Piccolo is the best dad in Dragon Ball! Well… Vegeta is catching up because of what he’s done recently, but not in the beginning.
Josh- Yeah! Him and Piccolo are fighting for a close first and second right now. (Laughs)
Sean- Kind of a silly question, but do you think if Broly is the one Bulma encountered, would they be together too?
Monica- Oh gosh! I don’t think so! I don’t know… No! No, not THIS Broly. This Broly… I think that that she would be like… She’s become much more maternal as the show has gone on I think, especially in Super. She’s kind of the mom of the group. She’s like telling people what to do and making sure she’s on every mission because she’s like, “You can’t go by yourself, I have to be there!” She’d probably just mom Broly. Broly would be like her kid where she’s like, “Now shush, drink your milk! Okay, you have to finish your homework before you go to bed!” Like I really think that would be her take on Broly.
Josh- On the subject of Bulma’s role shifting over the years, it’s somewhat understated, but next to Goku, she’s the character who has been there the longest and gone through the most growth and change throughout. So going from the selfish teenager up to the mom role, where would you like to see Bulma go past this movie?
Monica- Oh goodness… I would love to see her take a more commanding position. Like maybe… Become the mayor of the town or do something that’s more involved with what’s happening in their world. Either that or I would like to see her fight! (Laughs) I’d love to see her come out with an outfit… Not and outfit, but like a suit. Like an Iron Man type suit where she can actually go out there and help them more than just by flying the spacecraft, you know what I mean? I think that would be kind of fun to see. She might like… Scream and run away! But you know, it would be worth a shot! Just to see!
Josh- That doesn’t sound too hard compared to building a time machine a couple of times.
Monica- If she could do that, she can surely build an Iron Man suit!
Sean- Robotics suits used to be a big part of Dragon Ball.
Monica- Right!? Yeah! And then it’s been gone, so it’s like, “Bring them back!” (Laughs) That would be fun! So who knows? But yeah, I think she’ll continue to mom everybody, that’s for sure.
Monica- I was just talking to the other gentleman who was hosting [the interviews]. He was saying that, “You know, a lot of Japanese people watch the dub,” and I’m like, “… They do?” I guess we just assume that you know… You guys watch the dub, everybody in the US watches the dub, but nobody else anywhere… Ever watches the dub!
Sean- I interviewed Sean [Schemmel] at Comic Con and he said they heard back that you guys got the seal of approval from the Japanese crew.
Monica- That was recent! That wasn’t that long ago. So it was kind of interesting to see how it’s kind of changing over the years. But yeah! To think that people are watching internationally that don’t even speak English as a first language, that’s really impressive! That’s really, really cool! And kind of intimidating and scary all at the same time! (Laughs)
Josh- But I think that’s just a testament to how great of a job you all do because for me at least, it’s really hard to even watch it in any other version. You guys are the voices that I’ve been listening to for so long.
Monica- Thank you! Well, we love it. I mean like… That’s the thing. We’ve kind of become a little family. Like, anywhere we go, I look forward to seeing [everyone]. I just put a picture up and tagged it as, “Doing press with my boys!” Because it’s literally how it feels! You’re just like a little happy family!
Sean- Chris [Sabat’s] work wife?
Monica- Yes! Oh my gosh! My birthday dinner was with my fiance and Chris! So both of my husbands!
We’re in Saiyan territory now! Check back tomorrow for our interview with Vic Mignogna, the voice of Broly!
