DragonBall Z Abridged

[coola]

I cannot wait for Part 2. Popo vs Trunks and Kakatot have been literally talked about since the beginning of DBZA.

You mean Popo vs Trunks and Goten?

As for episode...I've always wondered what Trunks was thinking "I'm gonna help him when he lose consciousness, so he won't know I'm now stronger than him" and how he planned to explain what happened to Cell after Vegeta wake up?

Also, fact Geets could still blabber about pride and "i don't need your help" shows in terms of thickhead, he is Katchinhead...

[DB1984]

DBZA managed to make Vegeta's atonement even better than the original.

[Scsigs]

Buu bits in chronological order. I hope TFS uploads their own compilation of them after the next part of the review drops in 2 weeks.
https://youtu.be/y4v9oT5eUkQ?si=e3DLxiBuo_ECJk21

Not gonna lie, some of the moments come off similarly to how the DB Super Abridged clips they did back in 2016 did because of how shotgun &/or first draft some of the comedy comes off. The rest, though, feel like they've been cooking for a while. Glad the "best buddy" bit came through after hearing Lani do a demo recording of it a few years ago on Twitter.

...Now hearing it again, I believe it's Kaiser voicing Dabura with a vocal effect deepening his voice. The person playing Buu might be the chick who played Zeno in Super, but not sure.

[kemuri07]

Dragon Ball Z: The Ultimate Review (ft. Team Four Star) - The Buu Saga (Pt. 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJizHx9G3uQ

Yeah I think Mark mentioned that he only asked for a couple minutes of material, and TFS gave him a whole bunch of shit. Considering the effort being done for what is merely a review video (though Mark has put tremendous effort into these vids, so I'm not taking away from them) this feels like a definitive "We are not doing the Buu saga; this is all you're getting" from Team Four Star.

Which, you know--fair enough.

[DestructoDisc]

They didn't change one bit since the Cell arc. Even when doing shorts, they still feel like a redub rather than a funny parody. I remember bursting out laughing when watching their DBZ abridged up until Cell came into the picture, now I'm just cringing at how unfunny everything is. There's no gag character like Guru, Nappa or 16, everyone's personalitiy is mostly the same as it is in the original, it's just nothing. I get that Vegeta's sacrifice was a great moment everyone adores but isn't this supposed to be a parody? Where was the funny during that whole thing? Him calling Goku his best buddy is the only thing resembling comedy, and it's nothing noteworthy. It's literally just a redub and you're better off just watching the original than it's "supposedly" funny abridged parody version.

[Scsigs]

They didn't change one bit since the Cell arc. Even when doing shorts, they still feel like a redub rather than a funny parody. I remember bursting out laughing when watching their DBZ abridged up until Cell came into the picture, now I'm just cringing at how unfunny everything is. There's no gag character like Guru, Nappa or 16, everyone's personality is mostly the same as it is in the original, it's just nothing. I get that Vegeta's sacrifice was a great moment everyone adores but isn't this supposed to be a parody? Where was the funny during that whole thing? Him calling Goku his best buddy is the only thing resembling comedy, and it's nothing noteworthy. It's literally just a redub and you're better off just watching the original than it's "supposedly" funny abridged parody version.

...I don't know how much you were expecting them to change. With how they did season 3, I'm not surprised at all.
I mean, in the short clips, there's no room for a gag character. They're mainly doing the hits & bigger moments that they probably had brewing before they cancelled the series, or thought of afterwards & what they believe the fans would want. These are "Buu Bits," not an adaptation of the whole arc proper, sadly.
And, on top of that, what character would you suggest they make a gag character? The only one I can think of is Kibito, but he's way too serious in the original that I don't know what they'd do with him & when he fuses with Supreme Kai, he ceases to be. The arc really doesn't have a character they could do that with, imo. Maybe Mr. Satan, but they, admittedly, didn't really change him enough from the original that it'll matter.
I mean, a parody, yes, but they've kept moments serious before when they mattered. On top of that, they've worked the character development from the original into Abridged before. Vegeta's character arc comes to its climax in the Buu Saga that I don't know how you properly comedically adapt it without making it feel like it's shallow. My assumption is that there'd be comedy before, during, & after it around his sacrifice, but Vegeta himself wouldn't be made into a gag character. There's more that goes into a parody than just making fun of every scene & the same can be said about comedies. This isn't, say, Monty Python, this is more Shrek in regards to the parody & comedy. I know people have different standards or definitions for parodies or comedies, but you need to set appropriate standards &, tbh, if they're not gonna go out of their way to make it a total farce, I'd rather the more serious moments that matter be kept serious in between the more comedic bits than not. People need to know restraint when it comes tot hat shit & I hate when comedies that have serious moments ruin it immediately with a joke. Granted, TFS does that sometimes too, but meh.

[kemuri07]

They didn't change one bit since the Cell arc. Even when doing shorts, they still feel like a redub rather than a funny parody. I remember bursting out laughing when watching their DBZ abridged up until Cell came into the picture, now I'm just cringing at how unfunny everything is. There's no gag character like Guru, Nappa or 16, everyone's personalitiy is mostly the same as it is in the original, it's just nothing. I get that Vegeta's sacrifice was a great moment everyone adores but isn't this supposed to be a parody? Where was the funny during that whole thing? Him calling Goku his best buddy is the only thing resembling comedy, and it's nothing noteworthy. It's literally just a redub and you're better off just watching the original than it's "supposedly" funny abridged parody version.

I'm sorry but TFS has absolutely moved past the lowest common denominator of internet humor, and has become all the better for it. I don't think anyone needs another "Nappa" randomly sprouting internet memes.

The "abridged series" has been dead for awhile, and TFS' slow transition into more sincere character based humor (a la Archer) is a reflection of that. The only series of the old days that's still around is Yugioh the abridged series and that barely gets updated nowadays.

[DestructoDisc]

They didn't change one bit since the Cell arc. Even when doing shorts, they still feel like a redub rather than a funny parody. I remember bursting out laughing when watching their DBZ abridged up until Cell came into the picture, now I'm just cringing at how unfunny everything is. There's no gag character like Guru, Nappa or 16, everyone's personalitiy is mostly the same as it is in the original, it's just nothing. I get that Vegeta's sacrifice was a great moment everyone adores but isn't this supposed to be a parody? Where was the funny during that whole thing? Him calling Goku his best buddy is the only thing resembling comedy, and it's nothing noteworthy. It's literally just a redub and you're better off just watching the original than it's "supposedly" funny abridged parody version.

I'm sorry but TFS has absolutely moved past the lowest common denominator of internet humor, and has become all the better for it. I don't think anyone needs another "Nappa" randomly sprouting internet memes.

The "abridged series" has been dead for awhile, and TFS' slow transition into more sincere character based humor (a la Archer) is a reflection of that. The only series of the old days that's still around is Yugioh the abridged series and that barely gets updated nowadays.

Funny because after many years Abridged Nappa is still remembered as one of the funniest and best things ever done by TFS. I would much rather watch an abridged version that is actually funny, than what esentially just feels like a redub of the original series. Abridged Nappa and many other jokes done up until Cell will forever be remembered and quoted by fans online, nobody's gonna remember these "Buu bits" by next week because they're insanely forgettable due to how unfunny they are.

They didn't change one bit since the Cell arc. Even when doing shorts, they still feel like a redub rather than a funny parody. I remember bursting out laughing when watching their DBZ abridged up until Cell came into the picture, now I'm just cringing at how unfunny everything is. There's no gag character like Guru, Nappa or 16, everyone's personality is mostly the same as it is in the original, it's just nothing. I get that Vegeta's sacrifice was a great moment everyone adores but isn't this supposed to be a parody? Where was the funny during that whole thing? Him calling Goku his best buddy is the only thing resembling comedy, and it's nothing noteworthy. It's literally just a redub and you're better off just watching the original than it's "supposedly" funny abridged parody version.

...I don't know how much you were expecting them to change. With how they did season 3, I'm not surprised at all.
I mean, in the short clips, there's no room for a gag character. They're mainly doing the hits & bigger moments that they probably had brewing before they cancelled the series, or thought of afterwards & what they believe the fans would want. These are "Buu Bits," not an adaptation of the whole arc proper, sadly.
And, on top of that, what character would you suggest they make a gag character? The only one I can think of is Kibito, but he's way too serious in the original that I don't know what they'd do with him & when he fuses with Supreme Kai, he ceases to be. The arc really doesn't have a character they could do that with, imo. Maybe Mr. Satan, but they, admittedly, didn't really change him enough from the original that it'll matter.
I mean, a parody, yes, but they've kept moments serious before when they mattered. On top of that, they've worked the character development from the original into Abridged before. Vegeta's character arc comes to its climax in the Buu Saga that I don't know how you properly comedically adapt it without making it feel like it's shallow. My assumption is that there'd be comedy before, during, & after it around his sacrifice, but Vegeta himself wouldn't be made into a gag character. There's more that goes into a parody than just making fun of every scene & the same can be said about comedies. This isn't, say, Monty Python, this is more Shrek in regards to the parody & comedy. I know people have different standards or definitions for parodies or comedies, but you need to set appropriate standards &, tbh, if they're not gonna go out of their way to make it a total farce, I'd rather the more serious moments that matter be kept serious in between the more comedic bits than not. People need to know restraint when it comes tot hat shit & I hate when comedies that have serious moments ruin it immediately with a joke. Granted, TFS does that sometimes too, but meh.

They could have done tons of insane shit with Buu, especially now that they're only doing shorts rather than full on episodes. They could've easily changed most of these characters personalities, but literally nobody was changed aside from Sharpener and he wasn't funny, I already forgot all of his lines. I remember how excited everyone was for TFS's take on Mr. Satan, thinking he will be so funny, only for TFS to literally just repeat the EXACT same jokes the OG series did with the character. Insanely disappointing. And ok, fine, they don't want to make any of the new characters funny.. but at least make these shorts funny is all I'm asking. More than half of these just felt like redubs, and the other half was unfunny humor you can easily forget after just a few hours of watching, just like the Cell arc.

[Scsigs]

I'm sorry but TFS has absolutely moved past the lowest common denominator of internet humor, and has become all the better for it. I don't think anyone needs another "Nappa" randomly sprouting internet memes.

The "abridged series" has been dead for awhile, and TFS' slow transition into more sincere character based humor (a la Archer) is a reflection of that. The only series of the old days that's still around is Yugioh the abridged series and that barely gets updated nowadays.

The way Nappa was written was that he was an ADHD off-the-wall character who was a foil to Vegeta. IMO, he was very funny. I agree that. TFS evolved passed just doing random jokes because random, though, & that's how they got better over time. The more character-focused humor helped them remain relevant & stick out in the crowd. They even influenced Little Kuriboh, which helped make Yugioh Abridged better too.
Yugioh Abridged gets updates, but they take a while because LK has depression & other things he does.

Funny because after many years Abridged Nappa is still remembered as one of the funniest and best things ever done by TFS. I would much rather watch an abridged version that is actually funny, than what essentially just feels like a redub of the original series. Abridged Nappa and many other jokes done up until Cell will forever be remembered and quoted by fans online, nobody's gonna remember these "Buu bits" by next week because they're insanely forgettable due to how unfunny they are.

Abridged Nappa is funny.
That's not true. I think people will remember the funnier of the bits. The main problem is that these are just some of the highlights of the more memorable moments from the arc & not a full abridging adaptation. If it was more fleshed out, it'd be more memorable on the whole. There are some really good moments in season 3 that are remembered. I think you're letting your own personal opinions of their evolution of their writing get in the way of objective criticisms here.

They could have done tons of insane shit with Buu, especially now that they're only doing shorts rather than full on episodes. They could've easily changed most of these characters personalities, but literally nobody was changed aside from Sharpener and he wasn't funny, I already forgot all of his lines. I remember how excited everyone was for TFS's take on Mr. Satan, thinking he will be so funny, only for TFS to literally just repeat the EXACT same jokes the OG series did with the character. Insanely disappointing. And ok, fine, they don't want to make any of the new characters funny, but at least make these shorts funny is all I'm asking. More than half of these just felt like redubs, and the other half was unfunny humor you can easily forget after just a few hours of watching, just like the Cell arc.

Videl they wanted to make more of a Rorschach type in regards to her heroism while Gohan took inspiration from more general superheroes, the rest I don't know what they could've done in just short 1-2 minute clips. Sharpner's joke wasn't really funny, making him kind of a gay stereotype who's kinda annoying. I also think that Kaiser voicing him is just distracting because the voice he does for him doesn't fit his character design. I think it'd be better if someone else voiced him. I liked him calling out Videl working with the police, though. THAT joke was funny. More jokes like that would be welcome for Sharpner if they did more. I don't know why you're saying they didn't wanna make the new characters funny because that's definitely not true. Whether the jokes work for you or not is a taste issue, not an issue of the jokes being there at all. The problem here is if the joke lands, not them being there at all.
I mean, the shorts ARE funny to some extent. Like, not always laugh-out-loud funny, but I get a chuckle from them at least. I say some of the jokes aren't as good as they could be & some lack not being in a full episode, which was always gonna be the biggest regret about them existing at all. I personally think if they were, they'd be better.
You need to rewatch season 3. There were more jokes than straight-forward redubs than you're giving credit for. Just because there's not a joke every second, or not all the jokes are bangers doesn't mean they're not there or not all of them are funny because I think they produce more jokes that hit than miss & they're pretty funny. The main problem I have is when they do something that fumbles the writing of certain things, like how they handled Gohan's character arc for instance. If your problem is that it's not more of a straight farce, that's fine, but don't act like the humor isn't there & it hasn't produced some good jokes because it has. It's just more character-focused & situational than just making fun of everything.

[Skar]

They could have done tons of insane shit with Buu, especially now that they're only doing shorts rather than full on episodes. They could've easily changed most of these characters personalities, but literally nobody was changed aside from Sharpener and he wasn't funny, I already forgot all of his lines. I remember how excited everyone was for TFS's take on Mr. Satan, thinking he will be so funny, only for TFS to literally just repeat the EXACT same jokes the OG series did with the character. Insanely disappointing. And ok, fine, they don't want to make any of the new characters funny.. but at least make these shorts funny is all I'm asking. More than half of these just felt like redubs, and the other half was unfunny humor you can easily forget after just a few hours of watching, just like the Cell arc.

I still enjoyed the Cell saga and these Buu bits. I didn't get the feeling it was trying to be a redub since there was still a lot of comedy and didn't mind a few more serious moments. I think the Buu saga would be the more difficult to abridge since it was basically a self parody and had the most comedy in DBZ. A lot of it might end up being a redub mostly because there might not be much comedy to add especially the scenes with Buu and Gotenks.

I respect their decisions for why they didn't want to continue. A fan project likes this requires hundreds of hours of work and constant risk of copyright strikes. The vast majority of fan projects are discontinued without warning and you're left wondering if it might come back some day so I appreciate TFS having a proper conclusion at the end of a saga and giving their reasons.

[Zephyr]

My problem with their attempts at being more serious, poignant, deep, emotionally resonant, etc. in the back half of the Cell arc is that I just don't think they stick the landing that well most of time; at least, not as well as they seem to think they do, judging from their creator commentaries. No shade at them, because it's nice to be able to be proud of your own work, and I wouldn't want to take that away from them, but it's just really not doing it for me.

Rewatching the show for the first time in years vicariously through the commentaries, I'm still laughing at things in every episode, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't less and less bits after Cell's appearance where I'm thinking "oh, yes, this incredibly memorable funny part". I'd say most stuff from Episode 14 to Episode 45 stands well above anything before 14 or after 45. Like, this final stretch is fine, but it's not amazing to me, and certainly not as amazing as they're seeing it during the commentaries. Maybe that's because it's the most relatively-recent stuff, and so I've rewatched it the least. But, well, it's been years, and it can't count for nothing that I've never been interested in rewatching the latter Cell stuff.

[Scsigs]

My problem with their attempts at being more serious, poignant, deep, emotionally resonant, etc. in the back half of the Cell arc is that I just don't think they stick the landing that well most of time; at least, not as well as they seem to think they do, judging from their creator commentaries. No shade at them, because it's nice to be able to be proud of your own work, and I wouldn't want to take that away from them, but it's just really not doing it for me.

I agree with this. I listen to the commentaries &, while they help with making sense of some of their decisions, it doesn't mean every decision was well executed. I mainly have sticking points with a few things still.

1. Gohan hating Goku because he's never around, &/or a bad father.
This one I've seen how they managed to fuck this up through my own watching of the series & their commentaries. They started doing jokes about how Gohan hates Goku on Namek &, while I understand what they were doing, I don't think it was executed in a way that's satisfying, nor is Gohan's character arc paid off in a great way. Goku has only not been around three times in DB; when he died defeating Raditz with Piccolo, after Namek when he was on Yardrat, & after Cell. On top of that, he spends a good amount of time with Gohan when they're in times of piece & he's alive. While I get wanting Gohan to resent some things about how Goku does things or thinks about things, Goku never does anything substantially enough to justify the level of anger Gohan has towards him & they never resolved that. I was hoping the Buu Saga was where they were gonna do that, but we're not getting that, so fuck it.
And Lani trying to justify it saying he reads psychology shit. That's great that he knows a good amount of stuff when it comes to psychology, but that doesn't mean the execution of certain things was that great, unfortunately.

2. Gohan being a pacifist? Since when?
Gohan was never a pacifist before he mentions it in his fight with Cell. That came completely out of nowhere. Gohan's character in both the original Z, the manga, & Abridged before that point is that he was never opposed to fighting. He just had different priorities in life, which has been an ongoing character thing with him since the Buu Saga where he needs to balance training so he can help save the world if needed & his everyday life. I get the message they were trying to send, but it wasn't executed right & came off oddly political (at least to me) since that episode came out during Trump's presidency where that type of shit was rampant in regards to criticism of some parts of the political spectrum.

Rewatching the show for the first time in years vicariously through the commentaries, I'm still laughing at things in every episode, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't less and less bits after Cell's appearance where I'm thinking "oh, yes, this incredibly memorable funny part". I'd say most stuff from Episode 14 to Episode 45 stands well above anything before 14 or after 45. Like, this final stretch is fine, but it's not amazing to me, and certainly not as amazing as they're seeing it during the commentaries. Maybe that's because it's the most relatively-recent stuff, and so I've rewatched it the least. But, well, it's been years, and it can't count for nothing that I've never been interested in rewatching the latter Cell stuff.

I can see that. Season 1 had some decent jokes & moments, but suffered due to their inexperience with doing a series like DBZA. Season 2 took a bit to get going. And the back half of season 3 has less huge jokes that are instantly memorable than before it. The criticism the other guy had was that there weren't any jokes, or at least not funny jokes & that just isn't true.

[Fizzer]

I very much enjoyed the first set of Buu Bits, I could totally see the scenes and characters playing out more or less that way. The way they discussed the Super Hero antics, Vegeta's motivation, the bit of seriousness and menace from Buu himself... Very well done.

[MasenkoHA]

They didn't change one bit since the Cell arc. Even when doing shorts, they still feel like a redub rather than a funny parody.

Videl's over the top Batman esue origin before admitting her mom just died of cancer and Gohan confusing "the big C" euphemism for Cell?

Vegeta calling unpaid interns slaves before Bulma has to correct him?

Sharpner being reimagined as the sassy gay friend instead of a Flash Thompson esque character?

The whole bit about how Vegeta was mandated by the courts to see a psychiatrist because he kept hearing Goku's voice?

The reference to Piccolo's stupid line delivery in the original Dragon Ball dub about vital organs (ALL OF THEM?!) ?

Making fun of Gohan not helping Videl because he'll be disqualified?

Supreme Kai mentioning any evil like "talking during a movie"?

The callback to the "I know you're playing me" gag?

Piccolo lampshading his reduced role when asked to take Goten and Trunks away?

Piccolo mocking Vegeta for asking if he'll see Goku in the afterlife instead of somberly telling him what's going to happen to him?




I'm not saying the jokes land but it was definitely a parody dub and not a sincere redub. Not all parody humor is "lol references and random humor" like DBZA s1 and Yu-gi-oh abridged

[Scsigs]

They didn't change one bit since the Cell arc. Even when doing shorts, they still feel like a redub rather than a funny parody.

Spoiler:

Videl's over the top Batman esue origin before admitting her mom just died of cancer and Gohan confusing "the big C" euphemism for Cell?

Vegeta calling unpaid interns slaves before Bulma has to correct him?

Sharpner being reimagined as the sassy gay friend instead of a Flash Thompson esque character?

The whole bit about how Vegeta was mandated by the courts to see a psychiatrist because he kept hearing Goku's voice?

The reference to Piccolo's stupid line delivery in the original Dragon Ball dub about vital organs (ALL OF THEM?!) ?

Making fun of Gohan not helping Videl because he'll be disqualified?

Supreme Kai mentioning any evil like "talking during a movie"?

The callback to the "I know you're playing me" gag?

Piccolo lampshading his reduced role when asked to take Goten and Trunks away?

Piccolo mocking Vegeta for asking if he'll see Goku in the afterlife instead of somberly telling him what's going to happen to him?

I'm not saying the jokes land but it was definitely a parody dub and not a sincere redub. Not all parody humor is "lol references and random humor" like DBZA s1 and Yu-gi-oh abridged

Thank you! Like I said too him, it's more Shrek than Monty Python & he should set his expectations accordingly because there ARE jokes there & if he doesn't like them, that's fine, but that doesn't mean there aren't jokes in the bits.

[PerhapsTheOtherOne]

Not to mention many of the comedic bits require you to have gotten used to the flanderized Abridged takes on characters and their development in the series prior to the Buu Bits.

Vegeta's parts only work if you know how his relationship with Goku developed in the Abridged series and the fallout of it in the ShortZ.

[coola]

Dragonball Z Abridged Creator Commentary | Movie 2 World's Strongest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLpqWMeLm-I

Yes Kaiser, Dr Uiro was Toriyama design

[PerhapsTheOtherOne]

Makes sense it'd be a Toriyama design.

While he's more well-known for Saiyans and other human-like characters in that iconic style, he's got a real knack for making robots.

[Scsigs]

Dragonball Z Abridged Creator Commentary | World's Strongest
https://youtu.be/GLpqWMeLm-I?si=IxzX_xjSwnnNW7Nh

Talk of the Town | Buu Bits
https://youtube.com/shorts/rzEUFe5tWUI? ... lQlGEkI3mO

First Day of School | Buu Bits
https://youtube.com/shorts/m_teDmk5QxE? ... YUc6ABXNhB

Backstory Buddies | Buu Bits
https://youtube.com/shorts/TRuMD2zPjR0? ... Pawzg7mJQb

Why Didn't You Dodge | Buu Bits
https://youtube.com/shorts/qHLWL7pzIik? ... FZAfY7m5nJ

Long Distance Call | Buu Bits
https://youtube.com/shorts/xh58Ys7PyrE? ... ybQLqEmvdv

What's Her Name Again | Buu Bits
https://youtube.com/shorts/UPYq7SCdIYM? ... eLhzkxz7_H

Turtle Turtle Wave | Buu Bits
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bVDiDO3s5ho

Vegeta's Sacrifice (+ALTERNATE VERSION) | DBZA Buu Bits
https://youtu.be/W4b8w5Y0o4k?si=lWCEJBsLb3hsfy8A

[SonTao]

Dragonball Z Abridged Creator Commentary | Movie 2 World's Strongest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLpqWMeLm-I

Yes Kaiser, Dr Uiro was Toriyama design

God I love Toriyama's mech art. It just looks FUCKING AWESOME. I wonder if there's an alternate timeline where he made mecha manga instead? Would his choreography still bang as hard? Find out next time now, where I say yes. Yes it would.