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Author Topic: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)  (Read 2655 times)

Lord Dakoth

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The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« on: November 08, 2011, 12:25:38 am »

Title.

I've been a fan of the show since childhood. Once you grow up with it, it's hard to grow out of it.

This is the thread where we talk about all things Dragonball Z (please Dragonball Z Abridged, from my experience, this is a runaway train and will degrade into a quote-fest.)

Remember, this is a DBZ appreciation thread, and we are not here to be snide and negative about inconsistencies or overly long fights. Try to be positive.

Some discussion starting points:

Who is your favorite character and why? What is your favorite fight sequence? Is there a character that you're secretly rooting for? Who has the coolest battle outfit? Who has the coolest mode of transportation? What do you think the funniest moment in the show was?


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


I'll start off the discussion. My favorite character is definitely Vegeta. The guy just never quits. I feel sorry for him because he loses fight after fight. His identity is completely grounded in his fighting capabilities, and he always feels inferior when he loses a fight, or when Goku consistently outperforms him. I think he honestly deserves to win a few fights, but at least he seems to get some satisfaction out of raising Trunks.

Funniest moment in the show? Goku and Piccolo taking the driving test, or Mr. Satan getting his ass kicked by Trunks.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2011, 04:52:27 pm by Lord Dakoth »
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Vector

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2011, 01:24:47 am »

Come on over to the anime thread--I think people will be more than happy to discuss this with you there =)

That said, Dragonball Z's character arcs don't even make sense without Dragonball to create the grounding for them.  I say this, of course, as someone who has only read the manga, so I'm most used to seeing things that way.  To me, the plot line has never been about the external enemies (often soon to become friends!), but about the internal battles, and why and how they are waged.  Without starting where everything started, it's hard to see how it all fits together.

But sure, I'll bite.

My favorite character... in light of all that, I don't have a favorite character.  I used to identify heavily with Vegeta.  It isn't just that his entire identity is trapped in one thing, or that he constantly loses, but that he can't see his friends treating him well.  He gets angry and thinks they're blowing him off.  He sees other people's love for him and can't deal with it, because the way he sees things doesn't admit it as worthy or important.  And finally, at the end of everything, in order to become whole he doesn't just have to accept his position of constant corporeal self-sacrifice, but also has to toss away everything he once understood.  The Saiyans don't die when he does, or when the planet explodes; it's an end of their ideals that has to occur for their last surviving prince to live well.  In some ways, the story is a classic tragedy, with the hamartia here being pride.  Luckily he got a chance to become something else, but all the same I've always been touched by it--particularly the part at the end when he unexpectedly receives heavenly grace, having abandoned absolutely everything but the unselfish wishes in his heart for the good of all beings.

Secretly, I root for Gohan and Kuririn to be happy in life.  They don't get much in the way of breaks.

Favorite fight is definitely the one with the Potara earrings.  You know what I'm talking about.  That was hilarious.  For the actual fight itself, though, I tend to like all of them pretty well.  I don't have a favorite part for humor, though... I've always thought the entire thing was written in a very tongue in cheek way, so some days the entire thing will seem absolutely hilarious and absurd, and at other times I'll be really saddened by it.

... Battle outfit... ?  I always liked the Kaioshin coat.

The best mode of transportation is definitely Kinto-un, hands down, though Buruma's spaceships are pretty cool, too.
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Caz

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2011, 07:48:56 am »

Only watched until the end of the Cell games. Did anything interesting happen after that?
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MrWiggles

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2011, 07:56:45 am »

Only watched until the end of the Cell games. Did anything interesting happen after that?

Ehh... Buu Saga is overall pretty weak. It has some nice moments, but unless you really like the show, I wouldnt watch it.

It provides some interesting details about what the characters have done after the Cell games, and where they stand now. There are some neat fighting sequences, but there more meh, and cringe moments that out number them. I think it has the weakest story.

I've always been a fan of Krillan and Goku, Its super fucking late for me, so I cant quite articulate why I like them so.

I've been watching or reading this series for 20 years now. I still fucking love it. For myself, Shonen anime, has never quite capture what Dragonball series had. Though One Piece and Naruto are coming close. (Bleach can go fuck itself, so hard.)

My favorite fight sequence... I'd say its a toss up between Goku and Frieza, or the final fight in the movie, "Tree of Might".
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Vector

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2011, 11:15:41 am »

Buu saga tied up a lot of character arcs (after having brought them to a seething head) and went back to more of an early Dragonball flavor--less fighting, more weird humor.  Er... let's see.  One of the new female characters was both cute (with a super-short haircut!) and strong, which is a kind of shocking combination for Toriyama. 

I'll agree that the "external" story arc was the weakest for this arc, but it seems that Toriyama had gotten a lot better with his subtext.  I have no idea how it came off in the anime, but the manga became a much, much denser read towards the end of this arc.  Somehow, reading Toriyama's work is to me something like reading "Axe Cop" (fitting, because he apparently never plans ahead >_>).  You don't read it because you expect the story to be coherent.  You read it because it makes a certain sort of sense, but mostly because with every page he is saying "look!  Look what I've drawn for you!  Isn't this great!  Aren't we having so much fun?"

I'm with you on Dragonball's spiritual children not quite making it (especially Bleach, which feels more like the bastard child of Rurouni Kenshin and Yuu Yuu Hakusho anyway).  I think there's something about Toriyama's "well, whatever, I guess I'll just draw something" attitude that works particularly well for shounen manga.
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MrWiggles

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2011, 04:52:21 pm »

*coughs*
Akira didnt write the Buu saga. He was given credit.
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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2011, 04:55:13 pm »

One thing I've wondered about, is there any relation between Goku and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamehameha_I]Kamehameha the Great?
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MrWiggles

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2011, 04:58:55 pm »

One thing I've wondered about, is there any relation between Goku and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamehameha_I]Kamehameha the Great?

If I recall correctly, that was a largely based Akira trip to hawaii.
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Vector

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #8 on: November 08, 2011, 07:49:45 pm »

*coughs*
Akira didnt write the Buu saga. He was given credit.

... Toriyama-sensei didn't write or draw the Buu saga?  Are you... are you kidding me?

He didn't write GT, but it... certainly looks like his work...
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MrWiggles

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #9 on: November 08, 2011, 09:11:32 pm »

*coughs*
Akira didnt write the Buu saga. He was given credit.

... Toriyama-sensei didn't write or draw the Buu saga?  Are you... are you kidding me?

He didn't write GT, but it... certainly looks like his work...

To my understanding, Akira left the series after Cell. Buu and GT onward is just fan fiction.
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Vector

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #10 on: November 08, 2011, 09:12:55 pm »

I'm not exactly sure why they're in the original manga series numbering and sold under his name, then.
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sonerohi

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #11 on: November 08, 2011, 09:39:30 pm »

Favorite person ever was definitely Yamcha. He was just so bad ass, and he managed to be part of the gang on good old fashioned senseless violence, without all this mystical shirt tearing business.
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LordBucket

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #12 on: November 08, 2011, 11:26:19 pm »

I suppose as someone who has all 153 episodes of Dragonball and all 291 episodes of Z on DVD, I should probably check in to this thread. :)

Personally, I appreciated that Dragonball's characters and story were well developed. The villains in particular tended to have personalities and motivations that were explained. Not just "I am bad so I will destroy the universe because I am bad!"

The redemption themes were especially nice. With only a few exceptions, most major villains in Dragonball later became, if not quite heros, at least friendly with them. Yamcha started out as a villain. Oolong was a villain. Piccolo was a villain. Vegeta was a villain. Even Buu, who for a while was an omnicidal maniac, destroying planets and genociding entire races, eventually decided that maybe killing people wasn't what he wanted to do. Why? Because of a puppy and because someone asked him nicely to please stop. And who did the asking? Mr. Satan, who while never quite a villain, had been something an an antagonist in previous seasons.

I generally find the idea of reconciling with enemies more pleasing than destroying them. Dragonball scores well in that regard.

And even villains that were defeated were frequently very cordial about conflict. Captain Ginyu once stopped one of his minions from interfering with a one on one duel to keep the match fair. Cell could have simply destroyed the planet but instead gave the heroes time to prepare and opportunity to defeat him in a fair fight. Emperor Pilaf and Freeza were both courteous and polite.

It's a world where even the villains are cordial and fair. They're villiains, yes...but because they have real motivations, real goals. Not because they've simply been written to be one dimensionally "bad."

Complex, well thought out characterization makes for good stories.






Vector

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #13 on: November 09, 2011, 03:42:16 am »

Alrighty, since there doesn't seem to be much discussion happening and the OP is gone or something, I'll just leave some of the stuff I've been listening to here:

Hikari no will power [the willpower of light]

Unmei no hi: tamashii vs. tamashii [day of destiny: soul vs. soul]

Makafushigi adventure [profoundly mysterious adventure]

^ Nostalgia ... >_<
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MrWiggles

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Re: The Dragonball Z Appreciation Thread (spoilers)
« Reply #14 on: November 09, 2011, 05:49:02 pm »

I have a question. This series is about 30 years old. Why does it have spoiler warnings?
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