Unpopular DB opinions

[Hellspawn28]

I love you Mr Kunzait, but this is kind of false. The fandom is most definitely not focused on kids stuff anymore.

I'm pretty sure he is talking about the Shonen anime that are popular with the US fandom like Attack on Titan, Naruto, One Piece, Sword Art Online, My Hero Academia, Fairy Tail and several others. Shonen anime is aim to young boys after all. Not to mention, you still have adult nerds that are super into kids American cartoons like MLP, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe and whatever else is popular on kids networks.

[Dbzfan94]

I meant "FUCKING MORONIC EXECUTIVES" kids can handle stuff just fine. Its the cult of dumb executives that still think anime needs to be butchered for kids to enjoy. That's why Glitter Force still exists.

Isn't Glitter Force (I believe Precure is the original name?) a kids show to begin with though?

[Cure Dragon 255]

That's even worse to me. Precure is dumb and childish already, why even more dumbing down?

[Sailor Haumea]

That's even worse to me. Precure is dumb and childish already, why even more dumbing down?

Because we need a shitty version of an already shitty Sailor Moon knockoff.

[Cure Dragon 255]

No we dont.

Anyway. I do agree Funi wasnt really needed for the mainstream acceptance of Dragon Ball.

[8000 Saiyan]

I meant "FUCKING MORONIC EXECUTIVES" kids can handle stuff just fine. Its the cult of dumb executives that still think anime needs to be butchered for kids to enjoy. That's why Glitter Force still exists.

People tend to underestimate kids. As a kid, I was never bothered by violent films.

[Gog]

Design wise I'd say that Saiyans are the most uninteresting species of aliens Dragon Ball has to offer. They're just humans with tails, and even that small, slight, subtle design difference is quickly dropped.

[Kanassa]

Design wise I'd say that Saiyans are the most uninteresting species of aliens Dragon Ball has to offer. They're just humans with tails, and even that small, slight, subtle design difference is quickly dropped.

That's an unpopular opinion? I always thought it was a 'No shit!' type of thing.

[Gog]

Design wise I'd say that Saiyans are the most uninteresting species of aliens Dragon Ball has to offer. They're just humans with tails, and even that small, slight, subtle design difference is quickly dropped.

That's an unpopular opinion? I always thought it was a 'No shit!' type of thing.

Well, then...

[Sexyphobe]

And if nothing else, Power Level debates and arguments are probably one of the single most lasting bits of "damage" that the old dub has left on the series and its fanbase, probably forever.

Lets not try and pretend it's just dub fans who have the power level debates.

Power Level debates started WITH the dub and BECAUSE of the dub. They weren't a thing that happened prior to the dub.

Most of today's sub fans tend to be former dub fans themselves who converted later on, and still have holdovers of the their dub fandom perspective hanging over them, and thus may still engage in PL discussions. The dub and its original fanbase planted the original seed for PL debates that had grown and stuck around to this day. Before 1997/1998, PL debates were NEVER a part of fandom in the U.S. The concept as a whole was BARELY ever discussed.

Before the dub the U.S Dragon Ball fandom was practically nonexistent.

Honestly it feels like some of you are using your hatred of the dub to not give Funi any credit for their role in popularizing DBZ in America.

[Dbzfan94]

That's even worse to me. Precure is dumb and childish already, why even more dumbing down?

I've never seen Precure / Glitter Force so I have no idea what it really is about besudes it being a magical girl show, but I agree with you.

[Wezenheim]

Before the dub the U.S Dragon Ball fandom was practically nonexistent.

Honestly it feels like some of you are using your hatred of the dub to not give Funi any credit for their role in popularizing DBZ in America.

There are people on this very site (including moderators) who prove that this is not the case! There absolutely was a Dragon Ball fan culture before the dub.

I think people should like the dub all they want, and I'm not advocating otherwise, but Funimation as a company doesn't deserve much credit for simply being the first in line to latch onto a product that was already a huge hit worldwide and would've been regardless of Funimation.

[Sailor Haumea]

Before the dub the U.S Dragon Ball fandom was practically nonexistent.

Honestly it feels like some of you are using your hatred of the dub to not give Funi any credit for their role in popularizing DBZ in America.

There are people on this very site (including moderators) who prove that this is not the case! There absolutely was a Dragon Ball fan culture before the dub.

I think people should like the dub all they want, and I'm not advocating otherwise, but Funimation as a company doesn't deserve much credit for simply being the first in line to latch onto a product that was already a huge hit worldwide and would've been regardless of Funimation.

Exactly. Kunzait is a prime example of pre-Funimation US fandom.

[Eire]

That's why you need to read and look at the PRE 2000's detail there. It means that any dub of Dragon Ball (If given a favorable timeslot) can succeed. Funimation or no Funimation.

My point is that Dragon Ball didn't start in the West with the dub. It started in the late 80s/early 90s, with fansubs.

True. But Fansubs arent enough to make anime successful. I'm not saying "Funimation's shitty dub was instrumental in making DB a success". Its the healthy timeslots and promotion that made Dragon Ball a success.

Pre high-speed-Internet fansubs were VHS, later CDs that you could get if you knew where to find them. Niche in niche. Localisation and good timeslots saved Dragonball from the fate of most "colt classics" that were known only to a bunch of fanzin readers.

[Sailor Haumea]

My point is that Dragon Ball didn't start in the West with the dub. It started in the late 80s/early 90s, with fansubs.

True. But Fansubs arent enough to make anime successful. I'm not saying "Funimation's shitty dub was instrumental in making DB a success". Its the healthy timeslots and promotion that made Dragon Ball a success.

Pre high-speed-Internet fansubs were VHS, later CDs that you could get if you knew where to find them. Niche in niche. Localisation and good timeslots saved Dragonball from the fate of most "colt classics" that were known only to a bunch of fanzin readers.

It wasn't niche. At all. It was well-established before localization. The world exists outside your television and Internet.

[Trickster]

Design wise I'd say that Saiyans are the most uninteresting species of aliens Dragon Ball has to offer. They're just humans with tails, and even that small, slight, subtle design difference is quickly dropped.

That's an unpopular opinion? I always thought it was a 'No shit!' type of thing.

Well, considering that the new warriors of the 11 universes are just variations of earthling animals, like wolves, foxes and boars, that's not bad.

[Eire]

True. But Fansubs arent enough to make anime successful. I'm not saying "Funimation's shitty dub was instrumental in making DB a success". Its the healthy timeslots and promotion that made Dragon Ball a success.

Pre high-speed-Internet fansubs were VHS, later CDs that you could get if you knew where to find them. Niche in niche. Localisation and good timeslots saved Dragonball from the fate of most "colt classics" that were known only to a bunch of fanzin readers.

It wasn't niche. At all. It was well-established before localization. The world exists outside your television and Internet.

The world exists outside your fan circles and the truth is that general population cared about DB fansubs as much as any other hobby for nerds. There are hundreds of fan circles with really good classics you probably never heard about because you were never given a chance because they were never brought into spotlight and you have only so much time.
Even if we strictly adhere to anime: Saint Seyia was aired in Europe and Latin America in best time slots and has a fanbase until today. Nearly unknown in USA. Lady Oscar: one of the best anime ever popular everywhere BUT in anglosphere where it become a star in a niche that basically everyone recommend to newcomers. World Masterpiece Theatre (Princess Sara, Moomins, Dog of Flanders, Heidi)- gain, little gems aired and loved everywhere but in USA.
Had anyone else localized and promoted DBZ in USA he would likely have had succeed, but without exposition it would have been somewhere between aforementioned series.

[Bryesque]

Dunno if it's truly unpopular (or if that's just his skill level of that era), or if it's been covered yet, but IMO this is Gohan's all-time best "look":



The build, the hair, the outfit and the glasses make this very distinctive and uniquely Gohan. Way better than just looking like Goku with a different haircut.

[DragonBallKing]

Dunno if it's truly unpopular (or if that's just his skill level of that era), or if it's been covered yet, but IMO this is Gohan's all-time best "look":



The build, the hair, the outfit and the glasses make this very distinctive and uniquely Gohan. Way better than just looking like Goku with a different haircut.

Really like that look aswell, I really feel like only Goku should be wearing the kame gi at this point just because It's so Iconic for Goku, but I feel Yamcha, Kurririn and Gohan should wear something different to show individuality.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

In fact if it wasn't for Fukunaga and his contacts DB might never have come out in English.

I mean, before 1995, there was the Harmony Gold dub, and despite the fact it didn't do well I'd still argue Dragon Ball would have eventually came to the US and been successful with another company seen as how every other successful anime franchise from Japan got licenced, not to mention with the exception of Pokémon this series is probably the biggest Japanese entertainment brand period.

That is what I mean, that didn't do well and so Toei probably would have been like nah we tried once move over, wasn't it Fukunaga's persistence that got the U.S the Z series to have a second crack? But still at the end of the day it doesn't matter, the past is the past, things have been course corrected now so it really doesn't matter.

The thing is, it wasn't TOEI that tried and failed with Harmony Gold, it was whoever that dub's broadcast partners were, that's who it comes down to at the end of the day. The fact episodes of that dub are next to impossible to come by (other than a clip or two) says it all. The dub failed because of its marketing or lack thereof, very few people in the US knew what anime was, much less Dragon Ball, the idea of a foreign cartoon dubbed into English and what to expect from it was alien to them, and thusly no one was given any incentive to watch it. It took another dubbing company and a huge marketing push to bring Dragon Ball to the level of international stardom we know today. Funimation achieved that, but so could another company, if they pitched a flawless promotional campaign to TOEI I think they would have been willing to give the series another chance, it wouldn't be the first time. I'm sure Fukunaga's contacts helped, but I'm not willing to rule out the chance it couldn't have worked out any other way. After all TOEI could have easily said alternate English dubs in the 2010s weren't worth the effort after the debacle that was the still unreleased Ocean dub of Kai, but then Bang Zoom were given the rights to produce a dub of Super, likely because they realized if the right strategy was in place company B could succeed where company A failed, as could have easily been the case with another company picking up the rights after Harmony Gold.