Does the franchise/fandom pre-2013 (pre Beerus and Super) now feel like a distant memory?

[coola]

While weekly content helps discussion, i remember there were tons heated discussions, especially when Evolution and Orange Bricks were released (That one user review, that ended with picture of box of 1st OB with Vegeta on it tossed outside window )

[Cipher]

No.

In fact, it's still weird to think of it as a current, ongoing series. That's not my default mode for thinking about Dragon Ball even to this day.

Dragon Ball is a series that ran in manga and on TV from 1984-1996, and then some other stuff happened.

[LowRyder2005]

Yeah, it was a much less frustrating landscape back then.

But let's be real, new content can only improve sites like this one where people are actually pleasant. Without it, the site would naturally lose steam faster.

Without it, the Wiki's completion might still be a feasible goal.

Sadly, this.

[MajinMan]

It's weird. While I do consider Super to be the official continuation of DB, I still seperate it when I talk about the original manga/animes. It's like my mind hasn't become fully accustomed to Super being a thing that exists. When you have this big of a renaissance so long after the series has been over, it's bound to create a weird disconnect, no matter how hard you try to include it with the original.

[RoarkVegeta]

I would say so. The movie and it's follow up re-introduced so many fans back into the series and even brought in some new fans. During the pre-Kai era, it was difficult for someone to just get into the series.

It's nice to look back on, however.

[Bryesque]

It's weird. While I do consider Super to be the official continuation of DB, I still seperate it when I talk about the original manga/animes. It's like my mind hasn't become fully accustomed to Super being a thing that exists. When you have this big of a renaissance so long after the series has been over, it's bound to create a weird disconnect, no matter how hard you try to include it with the original.

Yeah, I get that. Super is 100% canon, I have no reservations about that. But the original run was all one big series that flowed from beginning to end with no real breaks, and Super's creation is obviously separate from that, so it's pretty normal to think of it as "separate" on some level. Doesn't mean I think less of it, but it's still an after-the-fact addition.

Then again, Toriyama wanted to end the manga at several points and was convinced to keep going and come up with more story, so there's an argument this was sort of a time-delayed version of the same kind of thing (minus him producing the full manga, of course).

[Bardo117]

Of course we ALL expected something to be released at some point... Last movie was literally in 1997 and it was for GT.... Maybe not a series, but at least a couple of movies/specials.


But I do miss those pre-2013 times.... Probably because that year coincides with the last year FUNI released anything worth buying or collecting (Rock the Dragon Set)

[Baggie_Saiyan]

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=34500&start=2520

But it really started with these:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=20803

viewtopic.php?t=27729

The second one, especially. There is a huge tonal shift in most of the sections of the forum, pretty sharply delineated by the Resurrection F thread.

I'm failing to see toxicity. Sorry, don't know what you're going for here

The Resurrection "F" thread was pretty horrific. Borderline embarrassing at times, thankfully it was all under one roof in that thread and not like DBS where there was an entire sub forum, but yeah ResF was a sign of things to come. It was full of over-reactions etc and at times there was very little actual discussion it felt like the admin team had to do a lot of clean up, posts ended up constantly getting deleted, at times it really did feel like comments section of a video instead of a quality Kanzenshuu thread. Sadly things haven't changed much with DBS.

[VegettoEX]

I take issue with this bizarre assertion or even implication that somehow we wouldn't be able to survive as a website — either from a community discussion standpoint or more importantly from a content generation standpoint — without new material.

This shows such a gross, naive, and quite frankly ignorant viewpoint about just how much stuff was already out there for this franchise*, and was out there long before even the Jump Super Anime Tour special ran in 2008, nevermind Battle of Gods / Resurrection 'F', and especially nevermind Dragon Ball Super. This wasn't some flash-in-the-pan one-shot series. This was muthafuckin DRAGON BALL.

We haven't even scratched the surface. Is anyone actively keeping up with the content we actually post? Literally just this week we posted a quote and design sketch from the February 1993 V-Jump where Toriyama designed an arcade cabinet. Last month we published a Q&A with Takao Koyama from Dragon Box: The Movies. The day before that, we posted promotional Dragon Ball material from the end of Dr. Slump's publication.

That stuff goes from the pre-revival literally back all the way to the series' inception, and most of this stuff has never seen the light of day in English before. And we're still doing that in 2017 even amidst current-events coverage. To think that there's nothing left to dive into, to translate, to cover, to document, to explore, to analyze... that it's all been done... That's just patently absurd.

Don't misunderstand: this isn't about patting ourselves on the back for how great a job we're doing. (Yeah, we are, but that's not the point here!) The point is that there's so much stuff you don't know about and NEED TO know about!!!

We were getting along just fine before Dragon Ball Super, thank you very much!

Anyway, it weirds me out to have 10 year anniversaries of things that I've actively covered not just on the website, but on the podcast, which I still consider the "new" baby of our content production.




*And we see it as our job to show you just how much stuff is out there!

[Forte224]

I take issue with this bizarre assertion or even implication that somehow we wouldn't be able to survive as a website — either from a community discussion standpoint or more importantly from a content generation standpoint — without new material.

This shows such a gross, naive, and quite frankly ignorant viewpoint about just how much stuff was already out there for this franchise*, and was out there long before even the Jump Super Anime Tour special ran in 2008, nevermind Battle of Gods / Resurrection 'F', and especially nevermind Dragon Ball Super. This wasn't some flash-in-the-pan one-shot series. This was muthafuckin DRAGON BALL.

We haven't even scratched the surface. Is anyone actively keeping up with the content we actually post? Literally just this week we posted a quote and design sketch from the February 1993 V-Jump where Toriyama designed an arcade cabinet. Last month we published a Q&A with Takao Koyama from Dragon Box: The Movies. The day before that, we posted promotional Dragon Ball material from the end of Dr. Slump's publication.

That stuff goes from the pre-revival literally back all the way to the series' inception, and most of this stuff has never seen the light of day in English before. And we're still doing that in 2017 even amidst current-events coverage. To think that there's nothing left to dive into, to translate, to cover, to document, to explore, to analyze... that it's all been done... That's just patently absurd.

Don't misunderstand: this isn't about patting ourselves on the back for how great a job we're doing. (Yeah, we are, but that's not the point here!) The point is that there's so much stuff you don't know about and NEED TO know about!!!

We were getting along just fine before Dragon Ball Super, thank you very much!

Anyway, it weirds me out to have 10 year anniversaries of things that I've actively covered not just on the website, but on the podcast, which I still consider the "new" baby of our content production.




*And we see it as our job to show you just how much stuff is out there!

How many times do I need to clarify? Once more: I never meant the site wouldn't survive without new content.
I meant it can only stand to gain more activity with new content being released. You want more activity on your website don't you?

[Bardo117]

I think the only point I should quickly make is that a franchise with a consistent flow on content attracts a lot more fans than a franchise that is out of syndication.


The same group of people can sit for years and years uncovering newly exposed and previously untranslated material from 1984-Present day, and that was very satisfying for all the years I've been on this website. But now that there is new content, I feel like our community is expanding and new fans are getting the experience they would've otherwise never gotten had it not been for a new series.


We don't need a new franchise to have content to talk about or to have an active community, BUT its very refreshing to have it.

[VegettoEX]

Your point/statements were not the only ones being made, and they are not the only ones I'm addressing.

Furthermore, site growth (post-dot-com-crash recovery when we relaunched in 2003) was steadily rising and was super-healthy all the way up through our Daizenshuu EX / Kanzentai merger in 2012, and boomed from there even before the Battle of Gods announcement.

Obviously there will be more eyes (and more different eyes) now because of new material in the form of Super, but any implication that traffic would have stagnated or content would have run dry is verifiably false. That all said, my underlying point continues to be less about us as website personally, and more about the disgusting wealth of unearthed material still yet to bring back to the public eye, which already more than rivals anything even a new product could bring to the table.

[Forte224]

Your point/statements were not the only ones being made, and they are not the only ones I'm addressing.

Furthermore, site growth (post-dot-com-crash recovery when we relaunched in 2003) was steadily rising and was super-healthy all the way up through our Daizenshuu EX / Kanzentai merger in 2012, and boomed from there even before the Battle of Gods announcement.

Obviously there will be more eyes (and more different eyes) now because of new material in the form of Super, but any implication that traffic would have stagnated or content would have run dry is verifiably false.

Sorry I just don't recall any other posts even similar to mine in this thread so I assumed it was towards me. My well intentioned post about the site being even better because of new content turned in to people accusing me of saying the site would be dead without BoG/Super which would obviously be a dumb thing for me to imply. Guess i just feel a tad ganged up on over what was a poorly worded post that didn't explain my true intentions

[Bardo117]

Well to be honest, there's only so much content worth exploring or discussing.... So eventually activity might've dropped... Take a look at the IGN Boards for Dragon ball, activity there use to be even higher than on these forums... Those forums consisted of pretty much 'General Fans' but it was still booming for years... Lack of content made it die out, and since then it hasn't recovered.


Here we have very very loyal fans who want to break down all of the franchise and examine all details, but there's only so much to discuss before topics become redundant or before the content left to translate becomes uninteresting.


I typically read every article this site has posted, and even during days when I wasn't posting here anymore I would read your articles. We're very lucky to have such an involved website owner who has kept this community from dying out. It's you who's kept us here, and now you've got some help with a new series.

[Forte224]

Well to be honest, there's only so much content worth exploring or discussing.... So eventually activity might've dropped... Take a look at the IGN Boards for Dragon ball, activity there use to be even higher than on these forums... Those forums consisted of pretty much 'General Fans' but it was still booming for years... Lack of content made it die out, and since then it hasn't recovered.


Here we have very very loyal fans who want to break down all of the franchise and examine all details, but there's only so much to discuss before topics become redundant or before the content left to translate becomes uninteresting.


I typically read every article this site has posted, and even during days when I wasn't posting here anymore I would read your articles. We're very lucky to have such an involved website owner who has kept this community from dying out. It's you who's kept us here, and now you've got some help with a new series.

Most sites like IGN boards are normally just similar to only the In-Universe board and the video games board though, correct? I've never seen a board similar to this General Franchise or Fan Works one, etc. where there's so much knowledge about the series

[VegettoEX]

or before the content left to translate becomes uninteresting.

This is what I keep trying to say:

You don't know what you don't know. As someone who does know, take my word for it that there's no end to the amazing stuff still yet to do.

Someone other than me go ask Julian about that "Daimao Fukkatsu" interview translation status...!

[Bardo117]

Well to be honest, there's only so much content worth exploring or discussing.... So eventually activity might've dropped... Take a look at the IGN Boards for Dragon ball, activity there use to be even higher than on these forums... Those forums consisted of pretty much 'General Fans' but it was still booming for years... Lack of content made it die out, and since then it hasn't recovered.


Here we have very very loyal fans who want to break down all of the franchise and examine all details, but there's only so much to discuss before topics become redundant or before the content left to translate becomes uninteresting.


I typically read every article this site has posted, and even during days when I wasn't posting here anymore I would read your articles. We're very lucky to have such an involved website owner who has kept this community from dying out. It's you who's kept us here, and now you've got some help with a new series.

Most sites like IGN boards are normally just similar to only the In-Universe board and the video games board though, correct? I've never seen a board similar to this General Franchise or Fan Works one, etc. where there's so much knowledge about the series

I've never seen a community with so much knowledge either, and I think in part the owner is right. He knows we're a dedicated group of individuals, loyal to the franchise and it's many aspects and that even with lack of content, we would still be here.

[Lord Beerus]

Not really.

We just got new stories attached to a tale that ended in 1995. Everything and anything that people still loved about Dragon Ball before Battle Of Gods is still all there to be accessed and discussed about in length, regardless of what new content may be introduced. People still do that despite Dragon Ball Super being a thing.

[Kunzait_83]

Again, just to reiterate this crucial point here:

Even in this website's earliest ever infancy in 1998, this was a franchise that had already been finished and completed and in some circles even moved on from for more than a year or three prior. Even before its relaunch, long before the podcast and the forums, Dragon Ball was already over with. It was done. People who'd been following it for ages by that point had already moved on from it to other things. This was a gigantic, mammoth series that had, by all metrics, run its course.

And yet shit among U.S. fans persisted. And yet, here we are. Things on this site, and PLENTY of other sites that have come and gone during its entire lifespan, had boomed and thrived. New discussions, new analysis, new whole entire generations of fandom that have come and gone (What are we now on? Generation 6, 7, 8? Something like that?). I'm often, wrongly mind you, cited as part of the oldest generation of fans still active here in any way, and even I don't by any means represent as far back as this series' Western fanbase has gone.

Put it this way: among U.S. fans, there's been almost NO period of "dead air" where there was no real activity with this series among its Western fanbase from its official demise as an active anime franchise in 1997 all the way up through Battle of Gods in 2013. 1997 - 2013: 16 motherfucking years' worth of high end activity, discussions, analysis, new translations, etc. for a franchise that not only had already ended well before that, but was palpably discussed to death and back well before then for roughly a decade prior.

That's fucking insane. I can think of VERY few entities in media that even at all remotely BEGIN to approach this level of constant, non-stop dedication and levels of fan growth over such long stretches of time beyond its total completion and utter blackout of any real content.

This is actually another topic in itself that I've had on my mind a lot over the years that I've kind of poked at the margins of but never fully delved into: just how old the franchise actually is thought of or is treated as in the minds in most current day U.S. fans from 1999 to now. Because I do genuinely think that that's an issue that is, like many others, remarkably skewed amongst a giant swath of the fanbase thanks to how absurdly late in the game (really well long after the game had ended already) so many people here had gotten into the series. It isn't something that's often taken into consideration by far too many people when discussions of this nature crop up.

No.

In fact, it's still weird to think of it as a current, ongoing series. That's not my default mode for thinking about Dragon Ball even to this day.

Dragon Ball is a series that ran in manga and on TV from 1984-1996, and then some other stuff happened.

This for me as well. Exactly. Perfectly summed up.

[precita]

I think a lot of people also forget that traditional forums are dying out due to the rise of social media. A decade ago places like twitter, tumblr, etc. did not exist. I notice nowadays young teens prefer to talk about their favorite shows/movies/videogames on their twitters or tumblr's rather than come to traditional forums like this one.

It feels like forums everywhere are dying out, even big ones like IGN are nowhere as active as they once were a decade ago. I think social media has really killed off forum discussion.