Why Dragon Ball gets such major attention?

[Paulo Gabriel]

Simply put, you don't see forums of Rurouni Kenshin, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, or any other series as active as Kanzenshuuu is -- at least that I know of. Is it because Dragon Ball is the most popular out of all manga/anime series out there? Why do you think this forum is so active, and after so many years?

[PacificOceanDub]

There’s just something about it... Chris Sabat once said in an interview that he thought Dragon Ball has some sort of bizarre “visual drug” in it that made it so addicting. As silly as that sounds, I totally get what he’s saying. And that’s not to discredit the other anime out there.

[KBABZ]

It stands similar to Star Wars, Mario, Mickey and many others as being THE anime for many people, by which I mean the first major example for them that really clicked and took over the public consciousness (Kunzait will be the first to tell you how utterly, utterly incorrect that idea is and I agree with him, but I'm not talking about me!). One Piece and Naruto and Bleach and so-on could be considered the successors to what Dragon Ball started, so while they may be great and in many areas greater than Dragon Ball, DB wins in the hearts of many for being there first and starting the trend.

[Cure Dragon 255]

Why this forum so active: I think its because Vegetto EX doesnt allow discussion of anything if its not related to Dragon Ball somehow. I used to want off topic to be allowed but now I see its for the best because this keeps it from turning into Arlong Park aka the forum where no one likes One Piece for real and bleeds posters to boot.

Why Dragon Ball is so popular. I really dont know.

[KBABZ]

Why this forum so active: I think its because Vegetto EX doesnt allow discussion of anything if its not related to Dragon Ball somehow. I used to want off topic to be allowed but now I see its for the best because this keeps it from turning into Arlong Park aka the forum where no one likes One Piece for real and bleeds posters to boot.

It also helps that Kanzenshuu is very much about discussing Dragon Ball rather than just merely talking about it. We can dissect it, criticize it, and still love it at the end of the day, and I feel like it's very much fueled by the "let's inform you of the OG Japanese side of the franchise" angle of the main site.

[ZodaEX]

It stands similar to Star Wars, Mario, Mickey and many others as being THE anime for many people, by which I mean the first major example for them that really clicked and took over the public consciousness (Kunzait will be the first to tell you how utterly, utterly incorrect that idea is and I agree with him, but I'm not talking about me!). One Piece and Naruto and Bleach and so-on could be considered the successors to what Dragon Ball started, so while they may be great and in many areas greater than Dragon Ball, DB wins in the hearts of many for being there first and starting the trend.

Which trend did Dragon Ball start that you are referring to?

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I definitely agree Dragon Ball is addictive. Apart from Star Wars I don't have the same level of interest in it as I would for other franchises so I wouldn't find posting on a forum about other series appealing.

Also, Dragon Ball is a cultural phenomenon unlike any other anime. The art style, humour, action, everything is so uniquely Toriyama and something that many a Mangaka have been inspired by and tried to create something like it. Even amongst anime it stands on its own as something that many people even passively involved in nerd culture can recognize, and I think there's a natural curiosity as to what makes it so distinctive that leads to all the discussions we have.

It's also a series that you can watch as a kid, rewatch as an adult and still appreciate the themes of striving to be the best that you can be, overcoming adversity and all obstacles no matter what the challenge. These are all powerful messages that stay with us throughout our lives, and Dragon Ball facilitates that desire for self improvement by allowing us to explore it. I think you could use this to explain why sports fans love to talk to death about their preferred sport, and lets not forget martial arts is one.

[8000 Saiyan]

It's one of those shows that has a little bit of everything.

[Shaddy]

Besides the fact that internet culture is made up of adults about the age of kids who watched Z in the 90s (hence most discussion of the series having rock-stupid rose tinted glasses on everything), Dragon Ball is influential beyond influential. There was nothing quite like it at the time that it was popular, Toriyama's art style for the series is unparalleled, and it's stories, while not the most elegantly-told, are inspiring and relatable on a level that most people would love as kids and romanticize as adults (which is what they did).

Every popular shonen has something to owe to Dragon Ball, and tons of western stories do as well. It may have more competition now than it used to, but it created that competition by being stylish and enjoyable and inspiring them to do the same. It became popular because it did things most other series of it's type didn't, and it stayed popular because it never strayed too far from those things to make anyone hate it (and when it did, it was GT). It's gotten a huge resurgence of popularity since Super because it's Dragon Ball, and new Dragon Ball was unheard of after years of the series being conclusively "over", and Super hasn't done what GT did to piss so many people off yet, so it still gets to be popular even though it's quality is all over the fuckin' place.

[MasenkoHA]

Why this forum so active: I think its because Vegetto EX doesnt allow discussion of anything if its not related to Dragon Ball somehow. I used to want off topic to be allowed but now I see its for the best because this keeps it from turning into Arlong Park aka the forum where no one likes One Piece for real and bleeds posters to boot.

It also helps that Kanzenshuu is very much about discussing Dragon Ball rather than just merely talking about it. We can dissect it, criticize it, and still love it at the end of the day, and I feel like it's very much fueled by the "let's inform you of the OG Japanese side of the franchise" angle of the main site.

It is true Kanzenshuu is about the only DB forum that is about actual Dragon Ball discussion. Literally every other Dragon Ball forum I’ve come across is hypothetical in-universe versus topics and people posting what they think the characters power levels are.

[JohnnyCashKami]

It's one of THE most popular anime series in the West, even moreso than Rurouni Kenshin, Saint Seiya, Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto or One Piece.

Saint Seiya sure tried to be the new Dragon Ball Z series for Westerners but that didn't really work out.

[VegettoEX]

There are two angles to this question: (1) why does Dragon Ball itself remain popular/important/prevalent, and (2) why does this forum continue to receive consistent traffic and engagement?

Besides the fact that internet culture is made up of adults about the age of kids who watched Z in the 90s (hence most discussion of the series having rock-stupid rose tinted glasses on everything), Dragon Ball is influential beyond influential. There was nothing quite like it at the time that it was popular, Toriyama's art style for the series is unparalleled, and it's stories, while not the most elegantly-told, are inspiring and relatable on a level that most people would love as kids and romanticize as adults (which is what they did).

I'm sure Kunzait could roll on in with more on the "nostalgia" bent, and I'd of course welcome it, but this sums things up pretty well and succinctly on a bunch of different levels already .

Why do you think this forum is so active, and after so many years?

Why this forum so active: I think its because Vegetto EX doesnt allow discussion of anything if its not related to Dragon Ball somehow. I used to want off topic to be allowed but now I see its for the best because this keeps it from turning into Arlong Park aka the forum where no one likes One Piece for real and bleeds posters to boot.

It also helps that Kanzenshuu is very much about discussing Dragon Ball rather than just merely talking about it. We can dissect it, criticize it, and still love it at the end of the day, and I feel like it's very much fueled by the "let's inform you of the OG Japanese side of the franchise" angle of the main site.

It is true Kanzenshuu is about the only DB forum that is about actual Dragon Ball discussion. Literally every other Dragon Ball forum I’ve come across is hypothetical in-universe versus topics and people posting what they think the characters power levels are.

I've always felt very strongly about having a specific goal, sticking to it, doing it as best as we can do it, and being confident in the results. I'm very appreciative when other people recognize that.

I know I often get singled out as the most prominent face of this forum in terms of the administrative team, but everyone does a lot of heavy lifting alongside me, and I hope you can extend that recognition to them. My fellow dudes in Heath and Julian do more for the website as a whole than anyone can possibly imagine, which enables me to do what I need/want to do, which enables me to leave a lot of the additional-behind-the-scenes work to our small-but-tight forum moderation team, who likewise don't get the recognition they deserve (and rightfully so, since a lot of what keeps things greased up is silent work). None of these people get anything in return for anything they do other than (hopefully?!) the self-satisfaction of contributing to a greater good. It's hard to get people on board for something like that as you age on up, and that I've been able to surround myself with like-minded people who love the same things I do and want to contribute back in the same way I do and share basically all the same values as I do? I never take that for granted, especially as that group now expands into our wiki administrators and contributors.

Anyway, that's a lot of nonsense to say "thanks". There are a lot of forum administration ideologies out there, and like I already mentioned, I'm pretty confident that what we do here works. In 2019, to have a forum at all is something bizarre, and to have one whose traffic and engagements only ever increase is likewise strange and out of time. Many people would argue it doesn't make any sense to continue with a lot of stuff we do the way we do it; I'd argue that the way we do things is precisely why we're still doing it in the multiples of decades now, with no intention of ever stopping (or having to stop).

[The Time Traveller]

Dragon Ball is so appealing that even if it gets a bad quality translation, an awful dub, filler that goes on for days, an unplayable game, people want it, they come back for more! I bet even Toriyama is confused by it.

[emperior]

First of all, let me thank Kanzenshuu’s administrators and moderators for the work they do and have done on this site. I believe it’s also thanks to the guys who made this site that Dragon Ball is so popular and discussed on the web. It’s an encyclopedia of Dragon Ball’s history and material and I have no idea if other fandoms have such a comprehensive, well organized site.

Surely Super contributed into making Kanzenshuu even more popular, but I remember that back when I joined this site, which coincidentally was just 4 days before Super’s announcement, I found myself immersed in the countless well written and civil discussions over anything Dragon Ball and only Dragon Ball. It was such a breath of fresh air to find such a DB-centric community.

Dragon Ball has a charm, some sort of power that makes it standout compared to other animes, which is why it didn’t take much for it to surpass One Piece’s popularity so much (I remember being confident of this happening, despite some sceptics here). It’s not only nostalgia or DB coming before other animes, or else DB’s international success wouldn’t make sense. The fact it’s been appreciated by a lot of people almost everywhere speaks volumes for how compelling it is.
Sure, it’s not flawless and is far from it, but Dragon Ball’s unique art style, gags, themes, characters and its simplicity make it something everyone can appreciate.

[KBABZ]

I know I often get singled out as the most prominent face of this forum in terms of the administrative team, but everyone does a lot of heavy lifting alongside me, and I hope you can extend that recognition to them. My fellow dudes in Heath and Julian do more for the website as a whole than anyone can possibly imagine, which enables me to do what I need/want to do, which enables me to leave a lot of the additional-behind-the-scenes work to our small-but-tight forum moderation team, who likewise don't get the recognition they deserve (and rightfully so, since a lot of what keeps things greased up is silent work). None of these people get anything in return for anything they do other than (hopefully?!) the self-satisfaction of contributing to a greater good. It's hard to get people on board for something like that as you age on up, and that I've been able to surround myself with like-minded people who love the same things I do and want to contribute back in the same way I do and share basically all the same values as I do? I never take that for granted, especially as that group now expands into our wiki administrators and contributors.

Thank you to everyone on the admin and mod team and wiki team that help make this place great!

Anyway, that's a lot of nonsense to say "thanks". There are a lot of forum administration ideologies out there, and like I already mentioned, I'm pretty confident that what we do here works. In 2019, to have a forum at all is something bizarre, and to have one whose traffic and engagements only ever increase is likewise strange and out of time. Many people would argue it doesn't make any sense to continue with a lot of stuff we do the way we do it; I'd argue that the way we do things is precisely why we're still doing it in the multiples of decades now, with no intention of ever stopping (or having to stop).

Honestly I'm super-glad that this place is a forum. Of all the options available (Reddit, Discord, Facebook) I find that forums offer the greatest opportunity for making really well-thought-out discussions with links, spoiler boxes and, in particular, images. None of the other options are able to combine all these facets in the way that forums do.