The Power of Nostalgia

[rereboy]

I'm like "this is a fascinating thread, why have I not posted in it" and then I see it's a year old and was mostly going on around the time I was busy recovering from almost-dying. That explains it.

The all-encompassing love affair with nostalgia that's gripped pop culture is something I feel exempt from because what I want more than anything right now is move forward and make a future for myself that I can be happy with. I don't see the past as a better or worse time than the present. It's both; it's just different.

Maybe those who are in love with nostalgia were lucky (or unlucky depending on how dependent on it they are) to have a brief period of their lives where everything seemed perfect and everything was going well. Maybe their present pales in comparison to that. The whole "peaked early" concept.

The past was hard. The present is hard. Life in general is hard and the challenges you face are ever-changing. The only reason I would ever want to go back to the past is if I could do so with the knowledge I've gained due to what I've experienced and make more informed choices to see if I'd get a better result; but that wouldn't be fair. The me I am now only exists because of the choices my younger self made, and while my situation isn't yet where I want it to be, I still like who I've become as a person. It's what drives me to try as many new and different things now as I can in hopes for the future. If there's one piece of advice I could give 11 year old me and have that me take it to heart, it'd be that.

You almost died? From what?

I felt like I was going to drown in a room full of air.

Below's an abridged version; to explain all the details would be to write a grimly comedic novella involving strawberry pop-tarts, Yoshi's Island, and "beautiful veins" (which someday, somewhere I might, but not here or today).

I was in an accident last June; I fell, hit my neck and unbeknownst to me injured my left vocal cord. The swelling in my throat made breathing incredibly difficult and I took my first and hopefully last ambulance ride to the ICU where I stayed for 6 days before transferring to a regular hospital room for 4 more days. Then I went home and it took all summer to build my strength back up. For 8 weeks I had a temporary trach and it was hell. The trach was removed after that and all that's left is a small scar. The scar took several months to fully heal. It took almost an entire year for my voice to heal. I still sound a little scratchy due to the scar tissue on that cord, but I've got my volume and about 95% of my vocal range back (there's a few super high notes I can no longer hit, but have old recordings of that prove I once could). The way it is now I could voice "generic shounen jump protagonist" real well, haha. (I laugh because comedy is what helps me cope.)

I don't usually bring real life stuff into online postings, but at the time since there actually was a chance I was going to die (from asphyxiation I suppose), I posted about it at the time on my deviantart (though they don't archive status updates so that message is gone now) and a shorter version on my tumblr about having to go to the hospital for a while.

I was gone for 5 days straight from this forum last June; that's rare for me. I vaguely recall checking in on my phone from the hospital, but I kept myself from posting because they had me pumped all full of drugs. My family brought my laptop to me in the ICU and I watched episode 48 of Super in the hospital; unfortunately the drugs I was full of wiped my memory of the entire episode and I realized that when I went to go re-watch it several months later. I recalled the event clear as a bell, but none of the episode's contents. Only three posts I made from in the hospital and miraculously only one of them reads like there's something wrong with me:

Yay ssjg!! That was a great hospital treat! Can't wait to buy the tankoubon.

Only three hours later from the same hospital room:

i misssed ssjg goku and was thrilled to him in the f and Champa dougi. when i get out of here there will be mini comics.

I'm shocked no one called me out on that mess of a post at the time. Grammatical horrors aside, I never talk about my deviantart/tumblr stuff on kanzenshuu because this isn't the place I post my fan-art.

Wow I get a fake/imitation vibe from Gokû Black in Toriyama's drawing. Very threw a wig on him.

This one's 5 days after the first two posts; I was out of the ICU and in the regular hospital room by this point so it sounds the most like a normal post I'd write.

Glad you're better now.

[Chuquita]

Thanks! Me too.

[Soppa Saia People]

Yeah, that sounds crazy, glad you're okay.

[KBABZ]

Hear hear! Good to hear you're doing alright!

[8000 Saiyan]

I'm like "this is a fascinating thread, why have I not posted in it" and then I see it's a year old and was mostly going on around the time I was busy recovering from almost-dying. That explains it.

The all-encompassing love affair with nostalgia that's gripped pop culture is something I feel exempt from because what I want more than anything right now is move forward and make a future for myself that I can be happy with. I don't see the past as a better or worse time than the present. It's both; it's just different.

Maybe those who are in love with nostalgia were lucky (or unlucky depending on how dependent on it they are) to have a brief period of their lives where everything seemed perfect and everything was going well. Maybe their present pales in comparison to that. The whole "peaked early" concept.

The past was hard. The present is hard. Life in general is hard and the challenges you face are ever-changing. The only reason I would ever want to go back to the past is if I could do so with the knowledge I've gained due to what I've experienced and make more informed choices to see if I'd get a better result; but that wouldn't be fair. The me I am now only exists because of the choices my younger self made, and while my situation isn't yet where I want it to be, I still like who I've become as a person. It's what drives me to try as many new and different things now as I can in hopes for the future. If there's one piece of advice I could give 11 year old me and have that me take it to heart, it'd be that.

You almost died? From what?

I felt like I was going to drown in a room full of air.

Below's an abridged version; to explain all the details would be to write a grimly comedic novella involving strawberry pop-tarts, Yoshi's Island, and "beautiful veins" (which someday, somewhere I might, but not here or today).

I was in an accident last June; I fell, hit my neck and unbeknownst to me injured my left vocal cord. The swelling in my throat made breathing incredibly difficult and I took my first and hopefully last ambulance ride to the ICU where I stayed for 6 days before transferring to a regular hospital room for 4 more days. Then I went home and it took all summer to build my strength back up. For 8 weeks I had a temporary trach and it was hell. The trach was removed after that and all that's left is a small scar. The scar took several months to fully heal. It took almost an entire year for my voice to heal. I still sound a little scratchy due to the scar tissue on that cord, but I've got my volume and about 95% of my vocal range back (there's a few super high notes I can no longer hit, but have old recordings of that prove I once could). The way it is now I could voice "generic shounen jump protagonist" real well, haha. (I laugh because comedy is what helps me cope.)

I don't usually bring real life stuff into online postings, but at the time since there actually was a chance I was going to die (from asphyxiation I suppose), I posted about it at the time on my deviantart (though they don't archive status updates so that message is gone now) and a shorter version on my tumblr about having to go to the hospital for a while.

I was gone for 5 days straight from this forum last June; that's rare for me. I vaguely recall checking in on my phone from the hospital, but I kept myself from posting because they had me pumped all full of drugs. My family brought my laptop to me in the ICU and I watched episode 48 of Super in the hospital; unfortunately the drugs I was full of wiped my memory of the entire episode and I realized that when I went to go re-watch it several months later. I recalled the event clear as a bell, but none of the episode's contents. Only three posts I made from in the hospital and miraculously only one of them reads like there's something wrong with me:

Yay ssjg!! That was a great hospital treat! Can't wait to buy the tankoubon.

Only three hours later from the same hospital room:

i misssed ssjg goku and was thrilled to him in the f and Champa dougi. when i get out of here there will be mini comics.

I'm shocked no one called me out on that mess of a post at the time. Grammatical horrors aside, I never talk about my deviantart/tumblr stuff on kanzenshuu because this isn't the place I post my fan-art.

Wow I get a fake/imitation vibe from Gokû Black in Toriyama's drawing. Very threw a wig on him.

This one's 5 days after the first two posts; I was out of the ICU and in the regular hospital room by this point so it sounds the most like a normal post I'd write.

Glad you're doing better now.

[KorgDTR2000]

I have zero nostalgia for the original dub of the series, it's just too cringe, but I have a ton of nostalgia for the Pioneer dubs of the first three movies. They only played on special occasions so it was very exciting to watch them.

[Chuquita]

Glad you're doing better now.

Many thanks!

[Super_Divine_Genki]

When it comes to DBZ, I get nostalgic thinking about: "Stay tuned for Dragon Ball Z... coming next!" from the original early morning syndication run. Also, I have fond memories of watching the first three DBZ movies that were handled by Pioneer. And of course, the Ocean cast performance of the Goku (and others) VS Vegeta battle - particularly the beam clash moment (Corlett/Drummond), and after the mini genki-dama connected because Klassen (Kuririn) really sold that moment, imo.

And, from the original "Season 3" English dub - Jheese: Vegeta! Noooo! Noooooooo!! [Boom!!]

... that last one is a j/k.

[8000 Saiyan]

When it comes to DBZ, I get nostalgic thinking about: "Stay tuned for Dragon Ball Z... coming next!" from the original early morning syndication run. Also, I have fond memories of watching the first three DBZ movies that were handled by Pioneer. And of course, the Ocean cast performance of the Goku (and others) VS Vegeta battle - particularly the beam clash moment (Corlett/Drummond), and after the mini genki-dama connected because Klassen (Kuririn) really sold that moment, imo.

And, from the original "Season 3" English dub - Jheese: Vegeta! Noooo! Noooooooo!! [Boom!!]

... that last one is a j/k.

I always laugh at how Sabat delivered that line.

[MediaFanGirl93]

But does anyone else get really nostalgic about the old dubs from the 90s?.

Right now, I'm 24 and I am still nostalgic about the series. Currently, I'm purchasing and reading the digital manga of the series and I still get nostalgic about the 90s dub as well.

[DragonBallKing]

I have very little Nostalgia for the series baring a few movies and video games as they where my first exposure in 2004. I did see a few random episodes just because I watched cartoon network back in the day, but I never considered myself a fan until 2004 and then stopped caring around 2009. Only recently in 2014 have I become interested in Dragon Ball and anime again. Nostalgia is honestly the only reason I think of to rationalize some of the crazy shit I've heard old Funi dub fans say, like kai's acting and dialogue is bad. My entire reason for joining Kanzenshuu is because this seemed like the only place on the internet that saw the old Funi dub for what it is and recognized the massive improvement of the Kai dub.

[Daimo-Rukiri]

The dub was bad, but like others just watch it because it was Dragon ball and I never got to see that portion in Japanese until later.
I started watching Z during the Buu ark (Japanese broadcast)

[Hellspawn28]

I got into DBZ late into my childhood. I have more nostalgia to the Japanese version of the series since I have more fun memories of me trying to watch the series uncut in Japanese before the episodes aired on CN.

[Daimo-Rukiri]

I got into DBZ late into my childhood. I have more nostalgia to the Japanese version of the series since I have more fun memories of me trying to watch the series uncut in Japanese before the episodes aired on CN.

I have fond memories just saying, saw that 10 years ago I always got the question how, I was like well I lived in Japan at the time

[Bryesque]

My introduction to Dragon Ball was the 13-episode, heavily-edited Ocean dub of the Pilaf saga, and I'll always have a lot of nostalgia for it, even though I recognize its flaws. Saffron Henderson may well always by "my" kid Goku (and Ian Corlett as adult Goku) because those voices are burned into my brain from my first experiences.

I don't think nostalgia's a bad thing necessarily... You can appreciate something for what it meant to you at the time, and still enjoy it while being aware and mindful of its flaws.

[8000 Saiyan]

My introduction to Dragon Ball was the 13-episode, heavily-edited Ocean dub of the Pilaf saga, and I'll always have a lot of nostalgia for it, even though I recognize its flaws. Saffron Henderson may well always by "my" kid Goku (and Ian Corlett as adult Goku) because those voices are burned into my brain from my first experiences.

I don't think nostalgia's a bad thing necessarily... You can appreciate something for what it meant to you at the time, and still enjoy it while being aware and mindful of its flaws.

Yeah, I agree.