My Experience Watching Dragon Ball GT

[Valerius Dover]

Well, mesa been looking forward to this for a longo time.

And it's finally time for Dragon Ball GT! After finishing the rest of the DBZ Movies, it was only natural I'd go on to see Dragon Ball GT. Just to clarify, this is on the Green Bricks with the US score on. Here are some notes after seeing the first four episodes.

-Opening is really nice! Pretty cool that that's Broly's VA singing.
-Emperor Pilaf, where have you and your cohorts been? I miss you so much. And he's probably not going to show up ever again.
-Uub, your training is complete and you've been shoved aside. I guess we're not seeing him for a while, huh?
-Those eyecatchers are pretty amusing.
-I like Pan as a character, to be honest. Yes, she's immature and pretends to be mature, but who doesn't at that age, whatever it may be? Seriously, there's no indication made of how much time has actually passed from the end of Z to GT. Goku just says he hasn't seen his family in a few years.
-Videl's been recast. Susan Huber voices her instead of Kara Edwards now. To be honest, I don't mind this change, since Kara's performance as Videl during the end of Z was really awkward.
-Pan's been recast, too, but that's come to be expected.
-New Narrator. After being used to Hebert for so long, it's going to take some adjustment getting used to Chandler. Though, it's not as jarring as going from Armstrong to Hebert.
-Ending is really good, too!
-Mark Menza's music really sets an interesting dark mood for the series in my opinion. It's pretty chill so far, but so is the series.
-Those two guys who kidnapped Goku give off a Home Alone vibe. And one of them is obviously Chuck Huber doing his 13 voice.
-The butler robot that mistook Goku for baggage tells Trunks and Pan to enjoy their honeymoon. So, that's where the shipping started.
-I don't have a problem with Giru either. He seems like a fun sidekick to have around, and I guess they kind of have to have him now that he's absorbed the radar.
-Introducing Don Kee, our first GT villain. This'll be interesting....

[TheGmGoken]

-Uub, your training is complete and you've been shoved aside. I guess we're not seeing him for a while, huh?

You should use episode counter for how many episodes Oob doesn't appear.

there's no indication made of how much time has actually passed from the end of Z to GT

Not sure if you're watching the JPN or English audio but I believe it was made clear in the opening narration that 5(10 Funimation) years has passed. Unless the dub left it out

[Valerius Dover]

there's no indication made of how much time has actually passed from the end of Z to GT

Not sure if you're watching the JPN or English audio but I believe it was made clear in the opening narration that 5(10 Funimation) years has passed. Unless the dub left it out

As I said, I'm watching this in English with the US score, same setup as DBZ. And what opening narration? We don't hear the narrator until the end of the first episode.

[DBZAOTA482]

You a real G if you can sit through the first 16 episodes of GT (Goku Time).

[90sDBZ]

-Uub, your training is complete and you've been shoved aside. I guess we're not seeing him for a while, huh?

You should use episode counter for how many episodes Oob doesn't appear.

there's no indication made of how much time has actually passed from the end of Z to GT

Not sure if you're watching the JPN or English audio but I believe it was made clear in the opening narration that 5(10 Funimation) years has passed. Unless the dub left it out

I'm pretty sure no version ever mentions exactly how long its been. I do remember an old UK commercial for GT that said it was 10 years. Most people believe it's 5 years because the Perfect Files say so.

I'm one of the few who think it's 10 years though because of the way certain characters are portrayed. Take Bulla for example; she drives a car, dresses in a certain way and goes clothes shopping and shows an interest in older guys. There's no way she'd be like that if it was only 5 years after Z because then she'd only be 11. Pan is a similar case in that she goes on dates and such. Her lack of respect for Goku is also like that of a typical 14 year old rather than a 9 year old. At EoZ she clearly respected Goku, while in GT she has none. Plus Uub looks kind of old for 15 and much more like a 20 year old.

[Valerius Dover]

Ok, so now I've seen another 4 episodes. Some guy just showed up and stole the 6-Star Ball. What a jerk.

-Ledgic is a pretty smooth and badass villain. We're probably never going to see him again, are we?
-Imecka took three episodes, so I'm guessing this'll be the average for the longer planet sub-arcs.
-The Giant Planet is a pretty interesting concept, and they actually managed to do a planet in an episode! The pacing in GT really is better.
-The whole Zoonama thing took two episodes, and is clearly a call-back to Oolong's Village takeover over 450 episodes ago. Goku even directly refers to this. That only took one episode, though, ironically.
-Zoonama is delightfully creepy sounding. He has a voice and mannerisms that just scream "MOLESTER".

[Valerius Dover]

Another 4 episodes down, and boy do I have some things to say here. ^_^

-Bon Para Para, Bon Papa! Seriously, this dance / rap combo would give the Ginyu Force a run for their money. Those Para Para Bros. are also really fun characters to have around, and it really sucks to see them die like that. Don't Forget to Smile!
-So, there was a Lion named Leon onscreen for a few seconds. Yep.
-Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy's sudden destruction brings about his true form, Mutchy. Mutchy's actual destruction is really sudden, too. Trunks shows up and vaporizes him instantly.
-Master Dolltaki has to rank as the creepiest villain in the franchise, bar none. He's been duping these people for over 20 years into following his made-up religion. Also, he goes all Pedobear on Pan. He strokes her in doll form, and almost undresses and changes her later on. "I don't know who you are, but hands off!"
-Funimation makes no attempt to cover up the implied pedophilia here, unlike the scene with General Blue WAY back in Dragon Ball with him mistaking a kid for his long-lost brother Samuel. It does seem that it would've been impossible to cover this one up, though.

[Valerius Dover]

Ok, and now I've finished what is usually designated as the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga.

-Oh, so everyone inside Luud is still alive! The Para Para Bros. torturing Dolltaki is really amusing to see! And that singing....
-Pan and Giru's relationship is an interesting one. Really heartwarming to see her stop hating him so much.
-Planet M-2 has a really cool design and look, actually.
-It's kind of funny how many times a leader is revealed. The Para Para Bros. turned out to be working for Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy, who served for Dolltaki, who answered to Dr. Myuu.
-Giru's betrayal was unexpected to say the least. It'll be interesting to see where it goes from here.

As usual, I'll take a break before moving on to the next batch of episodes. I won't do more than 3 posts in a row, however, so I won't continue the thread without responses.

[Shnuki]

Funimation makes no attempt to cover up the implied pedophilia here, unlike the scene with General Blue WAY back in Dragon Ball with him mistaking a kid for his long-lost brother Samuel. It does seem that it would've been impossible to cover this one up, though.

If he didn't try to kiss that kid, that may have been somewhat believable. FUNi's idea of a change only made things worse. Blue turned out to not only being a pedophile, but also an incestous one...

And Dolltaki... Well, Goku had a long-lost brother on another planet, so why not a long-lost sister?

[Ajay]

How are you finding the dub in comparison to what you watched in Z? I've never seen GT dubbed by FUNi.

[Captain Space]

I'm not one of those who will spew forth an unending stream of abuse at the merest mention of GT, but I tried watching it and got to the end of the first planet (Imecka?) and...ehhh...it kept throwing up these barrages of stupidity that made it really hard to watch (Ledgic is so powerful--where did he come from, where was he all this time? How does he just know they're saiyans instantly when they're about as un-saiyan-looking as you can get? If he's suddenly all honourable and stuff at the end, why did he serve Don Kee for so long? Why do the heroes spend so long running and hiding from people who are no threat to them? Why does the whole vehicle chase scene--which results in the ship getting broken--happen at all when all three of them have super-speed, super-strength and can fly and project energy barriers?).

I'll probably continue it eventually, because it wasn't all bad, and it's a fairly major part of DB, but I just found it something of a chore, personally. (Also just nice to hear Stephanie Nadolny again.)

[Valerius Dover]

How are you finding the dub in comparison to what you watched in Z? I've never seen GT dubbed by FUNi.

Well, just going by the dub itself, I haven't noticed any major difference. Don't know how close it is to the original or anything like that. VA work for the main characters is the usual. But this is coming from someone who has no problem with the Z dub to begin with, barring Sean Schemmel's Nail after Episode 67. The music isn't as memorable as in Z, but it's ok, I guess.

[Captain Space]

It should be fairly consistent, since I'm pretty sure there was less of a gap between Funi dubbing Z and dubbing GT than there was between Z originally finishing and GT originally coming out.

[Valerius Dover]

It should be fairly consistent, since I'm pretty sure there was less of a gap between Funi dubbing Z and dubbing GT than there was between Z originally finishing and GT originally coming out.

Honestly, the only weird transitions happen within Z at times. Going from DB to DBZ is smooth, as is going from DBZ to DBGT. The only wonky transitions are the Captain Ginyu Saga shift for some characters (Goku, Piccolo, and Nail) and the Cell Arc shift for Vegeta.

[SSJ Electric Fury]

Once you get to the Super 17 saga, you'll want to turn on the subtitles. The dub script badly butchers things there.

[Captain Space]

Yeah, given that the Namek stuff is like the first bits Funi did and then they went back and did the saiyan arc and early Namek stuff, so it's a weird effect of them all suddenly getting less experienced for a bit.

What happened with Cell arc Vegeta, then?

[Valerius Dover]

Yeah, given that the Namek stuff is like the first bits Funi did and then they went back and did the saiyan arc and early Namek stuff, so it's a weird effect of them all suddenly getting less experienced for a bit.

What happened with Cell arc Vegeta, then?

Vegeta was redubbed from Episode 68 all the way to the end of the Garlic Jr. Saga. His voice gets noticably higher pitched once he returns to Earth because apparently they figured the old recordings were close enough. Personally, I think he should've redone the Cell Arc and switched to old recordings for the Buu Arc, but it's ok as it is.

[Captain Space]

Huh. I never noticed.

[fdsfgs71]

The music isn't as memorable as in Z, but it's ok, I guess.

As soon as you finish GT, you really should rewatch it with the Japanese soundtrack, as it's really almost like an entirely different (and IMO, better) experience.

Seriously, if there was one thing that made me stop watching GT when it was first airing on Toonami, it was Mark Menza's OST.

[fadeddreams5]

The music isn't as memorable as in Z, but it's ok, I guess.

As soon as you finish GT, you really should rewatch it with the Japanese soundtrack, as it's really almost like an entirely different (and IMO, better) experience.

Seriously, if there was one thing that made me stop watching GT when it was first airing on Toonami, it was Mark Menza's OST.

I need to do this. I feel I may be a bit biased towards the series because his OST is atrocious. That, or just very, very redundant. Same theme plays in like every scene, and it's a very boring theme to boot. Makes the whole experience a drag. Even the narrator sounds bored.