Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

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CantThinkOfAUsername
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Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by CantThinkOfAUsername » Mon Mar 29, 2010 10:53 pm

Just in case you're wondering I'm 17 years old. My girlfriend knows that I'm a big Dragonball fan and she's totally fine with it. We were in a bookstore together and I decided to purchase the DBZ Vol. 1 manga (I've never collected the manga before). I asked her if she wanted to give it a read and see if she likes the series and she says she'll try it, as she is already familar with manga. Should I perhaps let her watch the anime first? Has anyone else turned a girlfriend into a DragonBall fan? The day I sit down and enjoy an episode of DragonBall with a girl will be a fine day indeed.

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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by Kendamu » Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:01 pm

DBZ? You're starting her in the middle? Treat your lady right and treat her to DB Vol. 1 first!

And, as for anime vs. manga, I say manga first. Anime later.
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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by PatPat » Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:19 pm

Kendamu wrote:DBZ? You're starting her in the middle? Treat your lady right and treat her to DB Vol. 1 first!

And, as for anime vs. manga, I say manga first. Anime later.
I dont see what's wrong with starting her off at Z. Thats how most fans in america got into Dragonball.

I'd say either the anime or manga are both fine to start off with. it just depends on her preferance.
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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by Rory » Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:26 pm

I've said it somewhere before on this forum, but I'll just re-type, instead of looking for it (this worked for me).
1.Firstly, make it clear it's a large interest of yours, talk about it every now and then, bring it up in conversation, get her acquainted with the series.
2.Let her join in with a video game or two when you've got some time to kill, let her see the characters, and get accustomed to the style (make sure she has fun, this is a pretty vital moment).
3.Show her a few scenes in the anime (well animated fights did it for me, Goku vs Cell :P )
4.Once her interest has peaked, offer to lend her your manga.

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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by Metalwario64 » Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:27 pm

PatPat wrote:Thats how most fans in america got into Dragonball.
Not like they had much of a choice...

Starting from Z is like starting a novel from the middle. You miss out on a lot of back story and you won't have as great an understanding of it.
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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by PatPat » Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:33 pm

Metalwario64 wrote:
PatPat wrote:Thats how most fans in america got into Dragonball.
Not like they had much of a choice...

Starting from Z is like starting a novel from the middle. You miss out on a lot of back story and you won't have as great an understanding of it.
Well it's not like DB is very deep or complex so theres not really a whole lot to get confused over. I'm sure if little children can follow along starting from Z then his gf shouldn't have any problems.
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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by ShiningMoon » Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:39 pm

I'm trying to get my boyfriend more interested in DB as well. But he's expressed much more interest in starting from the beginning, rather than from Z -- I think because of the humor.
(A girl wishing wishing her boyfriend would be more into DB. I suspect I represent somewhat of a minority...)

Maybe you could tell her a little about the general feel of both of the segments and let her choose? Doesn't seem to be a reason NOT to start from the beginning, really (unless she actually is only interested in Z). I got into Z first so now is the first time reading from the start for me. I wish I had gotten to earlier!

Anyway, I'd say the manga would be a better starting point, just generally speaking. I mean, I was lucky when I started watching it that I had the kind of time to sit down and watch an episode every afternoon and get into it, but if I had just started today I might lose interest. (Then again, if my significant other were asking me to watch it, I might give it more consideration?) The manga would be a good way to the real meat and heart of the story, to prove it actually has substance (as opposed to the stereotypical, "and in THIS episode, something actually happens!"). Then you can go back and say, "Wanna watch that one really cool fight?" Maybe that applies more to the Z part though.

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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by Sprite Satan » Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:41 pm

Just make it a deal breaker. "You watch DBZ with DB-Me or its splitsville, baby." This almost never works and leads to a lifetime of loneliness and hentai (case in point: me from 18-22. Second case in point: me from 22 to present) but I have a good feeling about this one.

I'd say let her read the manga from the start if she's interested. So much of the animé is, well, bad if you don't have rose-tinted glasses on (I always keep mine on since I downloaded Final Fantasy VII on the PSN but that's not here nor there).
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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by Bussani » Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:49 pm

PatPat wrote:I dont see what's wrong with starting her off at Z. Thats how most fans in america got into Dragonball.
I wish I could go back in time and read it from the start, personally. I think anyone who hasn't read it yet is lucky for having the option to start from the beginning. Seems a waste to start in the middle if you have that choice, if you ask me.
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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by PatPat » Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:59 pm

Bussani wrote:
PatPat wrote:I dont see what's wrong with starting her off at Z. Thats how most fans in america got into Dragonball.
I wish I could go back in time and read it from the start, personally. I think anyone who hasn't read it yet is lucky for having the option to start from the beginning. Seems a waste to start in the middle if you have that choice, if you ask me.
Well I guess if I had the choice then I would definatly start from the beginning. But at least if you do start at Z then your not screwed as far as wtf is going on like you are with other animes. DB is just the type of show you can sit down and enjoy no matter what part of the series its on.
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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by CantThinkOfAUsername » Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:14 am

Well when I lend her the first DBZ manga, I'm going to give her a little backstory and character history. I'll make sure she has a basic idea of the characters. And the reason I'm not starting her off on DragonBall is because I'm not really interested in spending money on it until I've completed my Z collection (DVDs and manga). As of now I don't own any part of the DragonBall series, only Z and GT.

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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by ShiningMoon » Tue Mar 30, 2010 1:12 am

CantThinkOfAUsername wrote:Well when I lend her the first DBZ manga, I'm going to give her a little backstory and character history. I'll make sure she has a basic idea of the characters. And the reason I'm not starting her off on DragonBall is because I'm not really interested in spending money on it until I've completed my Z collection (DVDs and manga). As of now I don't own any part of the DragonBall series, only Z and GT.
Giving some history sounds like a good idea. I wish I'd had that, haha!
I think she can still enjoy it starting from Z (though I can still say personally I wish I could've started at DB). Goodness knows I came in at the worst point ever (Cell arc ish; more specifically, the first things I saw were Vegeta vs. Cell and then a rerun of Trunks' appearance, so I just assumed for a while that everyone could "turn blonde like that," and didn't get why it was such a big deal XD) so just about anywhere sounds like a good starting point in comparison! When I started the manga from the beginning of Z things made a lot more sense (though it probably helped that I had seen some of DB by then).
For a while, at least as the anime goes, I vastly preferred DBZ to DB. But that was when I really liked Vegeta's character and had yet to become attached to Goku's, so I just spent all my time watching DB wishing Vegeta would show up already...haha.

Well, if/when you do decide to get DB, you can get a pretty good deal with the VizBigs (three volumes in one, and I think they're $12 or so on Amazon -- probably cheaper elsewhere and I've seen some sold "used" through Amazon for ~$6). It was a lot less expensive than I thought it was going to be.

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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by Kendamu » Tue Mar 30, 2010 1:55 am

I never said, "You can't enjoy Dragonball if you start at Z, you poopy-pantses!" We all still enjoyed it starting at Z and it seems that, in both the US and Japan, Z is the most popular portion of the series. She can very easily enjoy it starting with Z, too.

I'm just saying that if she has the opportunity to start it at the beginning, which a lot of us who got into it a decade and some change ago didn't, maybe you should help her take advantage of that opportunity.
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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by hunterxhunter21 » Tue Mar 30, 2010 3:42 am

I started my wife on the anime of Z, and she hated it. But I later talked her into watch dragonball she liked it a little more but didn't really stick with it. She did make it 4 or 5 volumes into the manga. But her the biggest problem she had with the anime was it taking to long from the filler.

Since you said she has had history with manga in the past, was that fighting manga or more of a comedy style? You don't want to start her off with Z if she doesn't really like fighting manga. But if she likes more of the comedy stuff get her dragonball.
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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by Piccolo Daimaoh » Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:06 am

All this talk of girlfriends is making me jealous and lonely. :cry:

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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by Bura » Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:10 am

Or here's another one.. how to turn a potential love interest who claims he HATES DragonBall into a fan?
That guy was really interested in me but that comment just REALLY turned me off. I never spoke to him again.

Maybe I should just date a Daizex member... plenty of guys here :lol:

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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by rereboy » Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:19 am

Who cares if your girlfriend/boyfriend likes Dragon Ball or not? :roll:

Me and my girlfriend have been in a relationship for almost 4 years and there is tons of things I like and she doesn`t, including Dragon Ball (and manga and anime in general). And there is also tons of things she likes that and I don`t like.

I respect our differences so I won`t even try to make her interested in what I like. She can find out for herself if she likes or not if she has any remote interest in it. She doesn`t need me to do that.

And I find her and our relationship far more interesting and engaging with our differences than I would if we shared every little interest.

What is important is that we like each other, support each other and have chemistry together. In short, that we love each other and are able to make our common lives work wit both of us being as happy as possible and satisfied.

So unless you need to have a boyfriend/girlfriend which has the same interests or very similar interests to yours, which I would find disturbing, the fact that they like Dragon Ball or not couldn`t matter less.

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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by The Time Traveller » Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:54 am

Start with Dragon Ball volume 1, it's cheeky, funny and cute so it'll act as a hook. You should ALWAYS start with Dragon Ball the manga, the anime should come after but either way is fun.

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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by ShonenKnife » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:24 am

I've lost girlfriends before in this endeavor, gotta be careful. Just think, is it actually worth the risk? :P

The chick I'm seeing now has already had a fairly clear warning that I am a total nerd, who'll go hungry to read a comic, see a movie or listen to some great tunes. I don't even want to think about converting her at this point.

Besides, it's probably easier just so hang around your nearest comic store all day every day until some talent walks in. :lol: But Forbidden Planet is a 45 minute bus ride from my place so, meh.
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Re: Turning the girlfriend into a fan?

Post by Bura » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:32 am

rereboy wrote:So unless you need to have a boyfriend/girlfriend which has the same interests or very similar interests to yours, which I would find disturbing, the fact that they like Dragon Ball or not couldn`t matter less.
Well, I don't think someone who hates DragonBall could even put up with me. But there's a difference between not sharing each others interests or hating each others interest.

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