Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.

Moderators: Kanzenshuu Staff, General Help

User avatar
shadowmaria
OMG CRAZY REGEN
Posts: 754
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 5:35 pm

Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by shadowmaria » Fri Sep 08, 2017 2:23 am

Hi everyone :wave:

So I'm working on a very extensive project at the moment involving Dragon Ball, and I'm bringing a friend on board as a collaborator.

The only hitch is, he's never seen Dragon Ball! :shock: :o

So I'm going to start him off with the Dragon Ball blue bricks (then orange, and then green, and then Super BD's before moving to CR - it's what I own, don't judge me), but I was wondering on the best order from there?

I was thinking; Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, the Dragon Ball movies, Dragon Ball Z movies and OVA's (including Ep of Bardock, Yo!, BOG, and ResF), and A Hero's Legacy, and then Dragon Ball Super (due to it's on-going nature), but I'm also torn on if I should show him the movies where they likely take place in the timeline (Bojack after the Cell Games, etc.)

And thus I extend my query to the Kanzenshuu community - what's your recommendation?

A couple of things;

- I'll be getting him to watch all of the series, including filler.
- He'll be watching the FUNimation dub for as much of the series as possible, as he's very anti-sub and the dub does a well enough job. I can fill him in on bits he misses or is a dubism
- This isn't the place for a canon debate, GT bashing, dub/sub bashing, or GT vs Super competitions, please leave that to those to the appropriate threads.

Thank you in advance, Kanzenshuu community. :thumbup:

User avatar
sintzu
Banned
Posts: 13583
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:41 pm

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by sintzu » Fri Sep 08, 2017 3:20 am

Start with the original 508 episodes of DB, Z & GT.

After that move on to the 3 TV specials of Bardock, Future Trunks & a hero's legacy.

Finally show him the original 17 movies.

After he's seen the original content, you can show him the new content in the order it was released in so the 2008 OVA, followed by the 2010 remake of Hatchyack, then the Bardock special, after that the 2 new movies and finally Super.

You'd have to explain why the movies don't fit in the timeline and why the new content is so different from the original. Going through the original stuff alone will take a long time so by the time you're done there might be new movies, some OVAs and Super will most likely be above 150 episodes.
July 9th 2018 will be remembered as the day Broly became canon.

User avatar
mute_proxy
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1378
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2017 11:09 am

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by mute_proxy » Fri Sep 08, 2017 3:31 am

He could watch it in order of release :)
Complete Viewing Order:
[spoiler]• DB Episodes 1-43 - 26 February 1986 to 17 December 1986
DB Movie 1 - Curse of the Blood Rubies - 20 December 1986
• DB Episodes 44-70 - 24 December 1986 to 15 July 1987
DB Movie 2 - Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle - 18 July 1987
• DB Episodes 71-118 - 22 July 1987 to 6 July 1988
DB Movie 3 - Mystical Adventure - 9 July 1988
• DB Episodes 119-153 - 20 July 1988 to 19 April 1989
• DBZ Episodes 1-11 - 26 April 1989 to 12 July 1989
DBZ Movie 1 - Dead Zone - 15 July 1989
• DBZ Episodes 12-39 - 19 July 1989 to 7 March 1990
DBZ Movie 2 - The World's Strongest - 10 March 1990
• DBZ Episodes 40-54 - 14 March 1990 to 4 July 1990
DBZ Movie 3 - The Tree of Might - 7 July 1990
• DBZ Episodes 55-63 - 18 July 1990 to 26 September 1990
DBZ TV Special 1 - Bardock - The Father of Goku - 17 October 1990
• DBZ Episodes 64-81 - 24 October 1990 to 6 March 1991
DBZ Movie 4 - Lord Slug - 9 March 1991
• DBZ Episodes 82-99 - 13 March 1991 to 17 July 1991
DBZ Movie 5 - Cooler's Revenge - 20 July 1991
• DBZ Episodes 100-130 - 24 July 1991 to 4 March 1992
DBZ Movie 6 - The Return of Cooler - 7 March 1992
• DBZ Episodes 131-147 - 11 March 1992 to 8 July 1992
DBZ Movie 7 - Super Android 13! - 11 July 1992
• DBZ Episodes 148-175 - 15 July 1992 to 17 February 1993
DBZ TV Special 2 - The History of Trunks - 24 February 1993
• DBZ Episode 176 - 3 March 1993
DBZ Movie 8 - Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan - 6 March 1993
• DBZ Episodes 177-193 - 10 March 1993 to 14 July 1993
DBZ Movie 9 - Bojack Unbound - 10 July 1993
• DBZ Episodes 194-220 - 21 July 1993 to 9 March 1994
DBZ Movie 10 - Broly – Second Coming - 12 March 1994
• DBZ Episodes 221-232 - 16 March 1994 to 6 July 1994
DBZ Movie 11 - Bio-Broly - 9 July 1994
• DBZ Episodes 233-258 - 13 July 1994 to 1 March 1995
DBZ Movie 12 - Fusion Reborn - 4 March 1995
• DBZ Episodes 259-270 - 8 March 1995 to 12 July 1995
DBZ Movie 13 - Wrath of the Dragon - 15 July 1995
• DBZ Episodes 271-291 - 19 July 1995 to 31 January 1996
• DBGT Episodes 1-4 - 7 February 1996 to 28 February 1996
DB Movie 4 - The Path to Power - 4 March 1996
• DBGT Episodes 5-41 - 6 March 1996 to 12 March 1997
DBGT TV Special – A Hero's Legacy - 26 March 1997
• DBGT Episodes 42-64 - 16 April 1997 to 19 November 1997
Jump Super Anime Tour Special - Heya! Son Goku and Friends Return!! - 21 September 2008
Jump Festa 2012 Special - Episode of Bardock - 17 December 2011
DBZ Movie 14 - Battle of Gods - 30 March 2013
DBZ Movie 15 - Resurrection 'F' - 18 April 2015
• DBS Episodes 1-ongoing - 20 June 2015 to present[/spoiler]

User avatar
szopman
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 142
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2016 9:56 am
Location: Poland

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by szopman » Fri Sep 08, 2017 6:37 am

I would show him DB in this order:
DB -> DBZ Movie 1 -> DBZ [with Bardock Special after Frieza Saga, Trunks Special after Androids Saga, and movies 5,8-10 and 13 + 'Plan to Eridicate...' and "Yo! Goku and Friends..." OVAs] -> GT -> GT Hero's Legacy -> Episode of Bardock. Then I would show him movies 14 and 15 and Super from 28th episode [but I would show him some DBS fillers from DBS between BoG and RoF movies].
And then I would let him watch non-canon movies. I mean, I know that now Broly movies are non-canon but he would understand better Kale transformation easter eggs after watching Brolly's movies.

User avatar
TheBigBoy
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 5:29 pm

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by TheBigBoy » Fri Sep 08, 2017 9:35 am

Unpopular opinion around here, but I'd show him Kai instead of the Z dub. The dub of Kai is a lot better, and the extremely slow pacing of Z is painful nowadays.

User avatar
Fizzer
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1422
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2012 5:01 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by Fizzer » Fri Sep 08, 2017 10:30 am

If I were introducing someone to DB these days I'd start with IAmTheMilkman's DB Recut then Kai with Yamamoto, since the biggest thing that seems to put people off is how slow it can be at times, but Kai's Kikuchi placement is... Not the best the series can be, let's say.

Sometimes it's possible with Kai to reinsert episodes of Z or replace a Kai episode with some Z episodes where desirable without ruining the flow with repeated scenes etc. I like doing this with some of the Saiyan arc filler and the first episode of Kai which undermines the reveal about Goku's origins.

User avatar
sintzu
Banned
Posts: 13583
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:41 pm

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by sintzu » Fri Sep 08, 2017 11:07 am

Fizzer wrote:The first episode of Kai undermines the reveal about Goku's origins.
That's because it was being presented as its own thing rather than a sequel/continuation of DB so they had to find a way to start it without the viewer feeling the need to watch what came before.
July 9th 2018 will be remembered as the day Broly became canon.

User avatar
KBABZ
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 5188
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:38 pm
Location: The tallest tower in West City

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by KBABZ » Fri Sep 08, 2017 11:54 am

TheBigBoy wrote:Unpopular opinion around here, but I'd show him Kai instead of the Z dub. The dub of Kai is a lot better, and the extremely slow pacing of Z is painful nowadays.
This is what I would do too, especially if he's going to watch the Dub only. It saves a lot of time and the performances here really nail a lot of the dramatic and comedic aspects of the story. Obviously I'd also include The Final Chapters as well.
Fizzer wrote:the first episode of Kai which undermines the reveal about Goku's origins.
That's really only true of the opening recap of the Episode of Bardock content. How I would do it is, right after the intro finishes, he pause, ask the friend to look away for a bit, then fast-forward through the Bardock stuff until you get to the shot of Gohan holding baby Goku aloft. Or alternatively, since he'll have just come off of Dragon Ball, skip the DB recap and go straight to the shot of Raditz's ship whizzing past the sun.

DB Recut might also be a good idea to again provide a more concise viewing experience, and while it was primarily focused on the japanese audio, it has the dub in it as well.

User avatar
Fizzer
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1422
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2012 5:01 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by Fizzer » Fri Sep 08, 2017 12:10 pm

sintzu wrote:
Fizzer wrote:The first episode of Kai undermines the reveal about Goku's origins.
That's because it was being presented as its own thing rather than a sequel/continuation of DB so they had to find a way to start it without the viewer feeling the need to watch what came before.
Oh yeah, I understand why, and I actually really like the way that was done, but it doesn't work if you're coming off the back of Dragon Ball, when the mystery of exactly what Goku is has been in the air for so long.

User avatar
KBABZ
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 5188
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:38 pm
Location: The tallest tower in West City

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by KBABZ » Fri Sep 08, 2017 12:22 pm

The other thing it spoils is of course the fact that Frieza blew up planet Vegeta, which would be confusing for when Raditz says in the very next episode that it was struck by a meteor. Although I suppose that might work in the sense that it adds to Frieza's character of being a slimy liar.

User avatar
Baggie_Saiyan
Namekian Warrior
Posts: 10286
Joined: Sat Mar 30, 2013 5:22 pm
Location: Atlantis.

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by Baggie_Saiyan » Fri Sep 08, 2017 6:37 pm

Why would anyone have the nerve to judge you on what you own? If that's happened in the past then I hope you ignored that's really not on, anyway you seem to have things already fine, but like others have suggested if you can show them Kai instead of Z that would be advisable.

User avatar
Duo
I Live Here
Posts: 3221
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:14 pm
Location: West Michigan
Contact:

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by Duo » Fri Sep 08, 2017 11:46 pm

I am here to re-iterate the importance of Kai if you are so set on sticking to the English version.

Honestly, the best way to get this going is to get him to read the damn manga.

User avatar
floofychan333
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1377
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:03 pm
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by floofychan333 » Sat Sep 09, 2017 2:57 pm

I would suggest watching the movies sprinkled in between episodes or skipping the bad ones. The Path to Power can be burned in a scrap heap for all I care while Tree of Might, both Cooler movies, and the first Broly movie are pretty bad.
"All of you. All of you must have KILL all the SEASONS!" -Dough (Tenshinhan), Speedy Dub of Movie 9.

"My opinion of Norihito's Sumitomo's new score is... well, very mixed. The stuff that's good is pretty darn good, but the stuff that's bad makes elevator music sound like Jerry freaking Goldsmith." -Kenisu

Dragon Ball Ireland
I Live Here
Posts: 4254
Joined: Thu May 21, 2015 9:09 am
Location: Sligo, Ireland

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Sat Sep 09, 2017 3:17 pm

Start with original Dragon Ball. For Z I'd definitely go with Kai, everyone who is a fan of this franchise should see that dub at least once. After Kai I'd go straight to Super. I'd show him the movies, specials and GT at a later point as bonus curiosities, but not initially because while they are fine they're not essential to understanding the main storyline.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

Check out my blogs https://dragonballireland.wordpress.com/ and https://dragonballinternational.wordpress.com/

User avatar
8000 Saiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 2843
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:03 am

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sat Sep 09, 2017 4:14 pm

He should start with the original Dragon Ball series, then with Z and Kai (for the dub). Then go with Super. After that the movies, the specials and GT.
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.

User avatar
KBABZ
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 5188
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:38 pm
Location: The tallest tower in West City

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by KBABZ » Sat Sep 09, 2017 9:46 pm

floofychan333 wrote:The Path to Power can be burned in a scrap heap for all I care
Aw, can't he at least show him the opening scene where Goku and Bulma meet? IMO it's the best-executed version of that scene, from the animation (that is, the movement itself) to the music.

The rest of the movie? Yes, correct.

Kinokima
I Live Here
Posts: 2005
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 2:02 pm

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by Kinokima » Sun Sep 10, 2017 2:15 pm

Well I can say how my friend got me into DBZ many years ago. She first started with the Saiyan arc and while I loved baby Gohan I can't say the series did much for me early on.

Then later on my friend told me about future Trunks and how he was the son of Vegeta's. I was really intrigued how the villain in the first arc had become a father. That's what ended up getting me hooked.

User avatar
sintzu
Banned
Posts: 13583
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:41 pm

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by sintzu » Sun Sep 10, 2017 2:50 pm

Kinokima wrote:My friend told me about future Trunks and how he was the son of Vegeta's. I was really intrigued how the villain in the first arc had become a father. That's what ended up getting me hooked.
I was introduced to DB through the games but the 1st anime piece I saw of it was Broly's first movie and Vegeta seemingly being a good guy after I thought he was a villain was one of the main reasons that got me into the anime to see how it happened.
July 9th 2018 will be remembered as the day Broly became canon.

User avatar
shadowmaria
OMG CRAZY REGEN
Posts: 754
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 5:35 pm

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by shadowmaria » Sun Sep 10, 2017 9:12 pm

Thank you for your input everyone! There's a lot in here I hadn't considered (such as when to show Bardock or Trunks OVA's)

User avatar
KBABZ
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 5188
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:38 pm
Location: The tallest tower in West City

Re: Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

Post by KBABZ » Sun Sep 10, 2017 9:45 pm

shadowmaria wrote:Thank you for your input everyone! There's a lot in here I hadn't considered (such as when to show Bardock or Trunks OVA's)
For Bardock, I'd put it in after Goku first shows up to fight Frieza after recovering. It's around this time that Frieza recognises Goku to be the spitting image of Bardock; if you do it at the start of the series, before Dragon Ball, it spoils both Goku's alien heritage and the fact that Frieza destroyed planet Vegeta himself, rather than being struck by a meteor as Raditz claims and is later disproved by Dodoria.

For Trunks, the general consensus is to air it after Cell announces the Cell Games, or at least that's when Mike and co. did it for the Manga Review of Awesomeness. That way it's close enough to Trunks going back to his future for the audience to remember it. If you do it around when Trunks arrives, you spoil the fact that 19 and 20 are NOT the Androids from his future, so that's a poor time to do it. Another potential spot is after Dr. Gero flees to his laboratory, because 17 and 18 will be coming up soon and the audience can be introduced to just WHY Trunks is so worried about them.

Post Reply