Voice acting seems like it should be a pretty cushy job. You sit in a booth, slip into character, and just, well, talk. Nothing to it right?

Well, for quieter scenes, that may be true, but it’s hard to get a proper performance for a fight sequence without really throwing yourself into the role. So while it may not be as physical as live-action stunt work, when the vocal cast of the newest Dragon Ball Z movie showed up to do their lines, they worked every muscle in their throats and faces, plus a few more, as seen in this video of the recording session.

After a 17-year hiatus, Akira Toriyama’s martial arts anime megahit returned with the 14th Dragon Ball Z movie, subtitles Battle of Gods. While those of us in Japan were lucky enough to see the film more than a year ago, fans in North America had a much longer wait, with Battle of Gods not hitting theatres there until this summer.

Not only is Battle of Gods a chance to once again see good-natured hero Goku, the film also brings back his English voice actor Sean Schemmel. In his latest challenge, Goku faces off against the destructive and cat-like Beerus, voiced in English by Jason Douglas.

In celebration of the film’s release this month on DVD and Blu-ray, North American licensee Funimation has put together a video of the two actors laying down audio for a fight scene between the two superpowered pugilists.

Early on, Goku and Beerus declare they’re done pulling their punches, and if their characters aren’t holding back anymore, Schemmel and Douglas don’t see why they should either.

Since your posture affects your tone of voice, there’s only so much emoting you can do while sitting calm and collected. For Douglas, the solution is simple, as he starts flailing his arms around like he’s about ready to smack someone himself.

By comparison, Schemmel spends more of his time grunting than howling, as Goku takes more than his fair share of licks in the sequence. But when it’s time to go Super Saiyajin, Douglas goes all out.

It looks like a physically exhausting day at the office, and we can’t imagine how long it takes for your vocal cords to completely recover from that sort of workout. Given the positive reviews Battle of Gods has been getting, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Schemmel back again for the next Dragon Ball Z film. The movie is set for a 2015 release in Japan, and assuming a similar one-year time-lag until it makes its way to North America, the actor’s got two years to get his voice ready to become Goku once again.

Source, images: Izismile