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Dream Con has always made it a point to bring in the best voice actors in the business. In 2019, the convention saw various Dragon Ball Z voice actors including Linda Young (Frieza), Chuck Huber (Andriod 17), John Burgmier (Tien), and Kyle Hebert (Adult Gohan). Post-COVID, it was unclear what kind of guests they would have as Naruto English voice actor Maile Flanagan was announced to only be participating virtually. However, Dream Con 2021 was able to book one of the godfathers of shonen anime, Sean Schemmel.
Sean Schemmel is an American voice actor, ADR director, and screenwriter who has worked for Funimation, OkraTron 5000, NYAV Post, 4K Media Inc., Central Park Media, and DuArt Film and Video. Despite being primarily known as the voice of Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise. Schemmel has also worked as other hit franchises such as Pokemon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Fallout, Beserk, and One Piece among many others.
Although Schemmel did not participate in any interviews with press, he did his fair share of meet and greets as well as giving out autographs and taking pictures with congoers. The highlight of his visit to Dream Con 2021 was certainly his Q&A in the main exhibit hall. Moderated by Fantastic Frankey, Schemmel took an hour to speak to his career in voice acting, the parallels as a musician, and some insight behind the voice acting curtain. Endearing as ever, Schemmel even gave his take on the age-old anime debate on who would defeat Goku in a 1v1 match-up.
Overall, the Q&A was everything I wanted as a fan of Dragon Ball and of Schemmel given all his contributions to anime in the west. As Dream Con grows, I hope they continue to bring in big names like Schemmel to give anime fans of color a chance to meet voices from their childhood.
