Who remembers the Dry Era (The Gap)?

[Oniman]

Anyone remember remember the dry era? To elaborate on the era I am talking about when I say the Dry Era I'm talking about the time in the DB fanchise where there were no new movies at all, and even other things like manga or anything official was scarce. Back when we were dry out of Dragon Ball content. You could say that the Gap was from 1997-2013 with Battle of Gods being the first major thing in the series since 1997. I feel like the real dry era was 1997-2007 because I feel like the Son Goku OVA was something new and same goes with the Bardock OVA in 2011. I was remembering how this era was full of desperation on the part of the fandom, given how there was little to no new things of interest to discuss. I stop caring about Dragon Ball during that time because I got bored with the series and move on to other stuff.

In College around 2005, I give up on the series and I was watching stuff like Gantz, Black Heaven, Paranoia Agent, The Galaxy Railways, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, Bible Black and the remake of The Guyver that came out at the time. Even the orange DVD sets did nothing to me when I try to revisit the series. I just felt like dusting off of my old Anime VHS tapes of the Devilman OVAs, Genocyber, Venus 5, Kimagure Orange Road, Karasu Tengu Kabuto, Ninja Scroll, and Street Fighter II V instead. DB to me at the time, felt nothing for me anymore. While I got into anime around 1994, it was not until 1998 when I got into DBZ and collected everything pump by Funimation up until 2004.

Eventually we got the Son Goku Special and Kai, in 2008 and 2009. But still, people at first embraced it, because it was new. In 2011-2012, Kai was over and the video game sales drop like a rock. So it seemed like Dragon Ball might have been dead again. The Spike games kept coming out and it wasn't till around 2012 we got news of Battle of Gods. Now things have changed since 2013 and no signs of slowing down.

[WittyUsername]

The “dry era” seemed to primarily consist of dub vs sub debates, in addition to large number of fan videos on Newgrounds. This era of course marked the point where I got into the series for the first time, so I do have some nostalgic feelings towards it, but I can only imagine that the people who were already fans of the series beforehand must’ve gotten tired of the primary source of DB related news being the FUNimation dubs.

[90sDBZ]

As far as the UK is concerned I remember the "dry era" all too well. Once DB/Z/GT were taken off the air in 2005 we had literally nothing apart from the videogames until we finally got a home release for Z and Kai on TV in 2012. For those 7 years it was almost as if it had never aired here at all and was just a dream. Thank god for the videogames because all we had outside of them was Dragonball Evolution.

Still I never lost interest and put countless hours into the Budokai and Tenkaichi games, and imported the US releases of the show and movies whenever I could afford it (not very often). I remember for a long time not even being able to watch Youtube clips because of my old computer being crappy.

[PFM18]

God don't ever make me go back. Having the same stale conversations about the same shit with nothing new for years on end. That was awful

[Gyt Kaliba]

The 'dry era' was definitely an interesting time for me as a fan, and while I admit that I am enjoying (to varying degrees) basically everything that's been coming out since we started to get new stuff again, there is a certain something lost from when it was all completed, done, and over.

I'm rapidly approaching 30 years of age now (it's coming for me next August, dear god ), but I can still easily remember being 17 years old in my senior year of high school, back in 2007, with the release of the first orange brick season set. For a lot of fans it was a time to be extremely angry (and in a lot of ways, rightfully so, but I'm not bringing that up to debate it) with the release, but for me, it was a glorious time, because it meant I was finally going to be able to own the entire series. I'd been collecting various single VHS tapes and DVD's for the longest time, as well as having a good chunk of episodes taped off of TV, but that was always going to be either nigh impossible to complete, or just be extremely tedious to have on a shelf. The season sets allowed me, for the first time, to feel like I had a real chance of owning the entirety of even a part of the series, and I absolutely loved that. So for every month that a new season set came out, I bought it. Same with the Double Feature steelbook releases. And then, as those came pouring out, came the GT sets, and I bought those as well. And then, finally, at long last FUNi was able to secure the rights to re-release the first 13 episodes of the original Dragon Ball (and Curse of the Blood Rubies), and I was able to FINALLY buy the entire franchise! It was an amazing thing to me then.

Of course around that same time was when we got the Jump special, and while we still aren't able to easily buy that here in the US, it was made legally available to watch for even us fans in the US when it came out, so at least for a time, there was easy access to that as well. All that was left for me to do was get the rest of the manga (which I only had in extremely sparse pieces at the time) and catch up on some of the video games I'd missed out on eventually when I had the systems to play them on...

...and then Kai happened.

I wasn't even originally going to be that interested in Kai. 'I already own DBZ now, what do I need to buy it again for?' was my thought at the time. It's the same thought that kept me from getting the Dragon Boxes, something I regret now (but definitely wasn't feasible for me at the time anyway, monetarily speaking - I did end up getting Box 1 and 5 at least though). But then came tell of the new dub, the more accurate dub. I think by this point in time, I had already begun to check out the original Japanese version of the franchise, and while I still had no problem watching the dub even at it's worst (...usually), I was definitely interested in a newer dub with better, more consistent acting, from a cast I knew and loved. So I had to buy Kai as it came out as well. But then I was going to be done, save for finally getting all of the manga! My collection was comple-

...and then Battle of Gods happened. And then Resurrection 'F', which was IMMEDIATELY followed by Super, which has now basically led right in to it's own feature film. There were various other things that came out along the way (most of which we haven't gotten), but my point is that, as the resurgence began, and there were more and more things to get, my collection rapidly went from 'complete' to 'am I ever going to own the entire franchise again?'. Again, don't get me wrong, by and large, I am ecstatic to still be receiving new material this long after the series initially stopped. But that lingering question is still going to remain in my mind until it eventually stops again - am I ever actually going to be able to sit back and again state that I own the entire franchise? At this point, the chances of that seem...incredibly slim. And while I'll keep buying, that does make me a little, melancholy, I guess would be a good word for it? Or maybe I'm just getting old too.

And for what it's worth, while I did eventually get all of the manga (including buying Super's manga and will get the Yamcha one soon enough), I'm still drastically behind on a crapload of the games. Basically everything (with a few exceptions) from the PS3 era and the post-GBA era. IT WILL NEVER END.

[ABED]

I'm fine with a continual stream of video games coming out, but I wish the story hadn't been revived. A good ending is worth its weight in gold. I'm fine with Kai, but wish that and the movies hadn't lead to a full time revival. What's wrong with letting things end gracefully? I love Breaking Bad, and a big reason is because it had a great ending and the series knew how to not pull on the taffy.

Of course I remember that time, but revivals were VERY rare. It never even dawned on me that it could come back and I was more than okay with that fact. Things end.

[Forte224]

Calling it the "dry era" seems to indicate it was never supposed to end in the first place. But it was supposed to end.

Anyway, I honestly think current talents are being wasted on Dragon Ball. Look at how beautiful the Broli movie is, and then think how that talent could be used on an entirely new franchise with a new story and new characters.

Granted, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited when Dragon Ball made its big comeback with BoG, but in hindsight I would've been totally happy had the show just ended, like all shows are supposed to do, and we could just look back on it with fondness.

So, to stay on topic, my answer to this question is: I do remember this period of time. I still loved Dragon Ball and still took it in on a regular basis in one way or another. I never felt lacking that there wasn't a stream of new content coming out.

[ABED]

Calling it the "dry era" seems to indicate it was never supposed to end in the first place. But it was supposed to end.

... in hindsight I would've been totally happy had the show just ended, like all shows are supposed to do, and we could just look back on it with fondness.

Bless you, sir. I am in 100% agreement.

[WittyUsername]

Calling it the "dry era" seems to indicate it was never supposed to end in the first place. But it was supposed to end.

Anyway, I honestly think current talents are being wasted on Dragon Ball. Look at how beautiful the Broli movie is, and then think how that talent could be used on an entirely new franchise with a new story and new characters.

Granted, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited when Dragon Ball made its big comeback with BoG, but in hindsight I would've been totally happy had the show just ended, like all shows are supposed to do, and we could just look back on it with fondness.

So, to stay on topic, my answer to this question is: I do remember this period of time. I still loved Dragon Ball and still took it in on a regular basis in one way or another. I never felt lacking that there wasn't a stream of new content coming out.

Nothing ends these days. That’s not how entertainment works anymore. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the truth.

[ABED]

Calling it the "dry era" seems to indicate it was never supposed to end in the first place. But it was supposed to end.

Anyway, I honestly think current talents are being wasted on Dragon Ball. Look at how beautiful the Broli movie is, and then think how that talent could be used on an entirely new franchise with a new story and new characters.

Granted, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited when Dragon Ball made its big comeback with BoG, but in hindsight I would've been totally happy had the show just ended, like all shows are supposed to do, and we could just look back on it with fondness.

So, to stay on topic, my answer to this question is: I do remember this period of time. I still loved Dragon Ball and still took it in on a regular basis in one way or another. I never felt lacking that there wasn't a stream of new content coming out.

Nothing ends these days. That’s not how entertainment works anymore. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the truth.

Most things end. I know it's tempting to say the opposite given how trendy it is to bring shows back, but the vast majority of stories do eventually end.

[Hellspawn28]

It was not that bad when we didn't have anything new to talk about. This site has been going strong since 1998 and I remember lurking the site in 2004-2008 when we still had good topics on things to talk about.

[Super Sonic]

Anyone remember remember the dry era? To elaborate on the era I am talking about when I say the Dry Era I'm talking about the time in the DB fanchise where there were no new movies at all, and even other things like manga or anything official was scarce. Back when we were dry out of Dragon Ball content. You could say that the Gap was from 1997-2013 with Battle of Gods being the first major thing in the series since 1997. I feel like the real dry era was 1997-2007 because I feel like the Son Goku OVA was something new and same goes with the Bardock OVA in 2011. I was remembering how this era was full of desperation on the part of the fandom, given how there was little to no new things of interest to discuss. I stop caring about Dragon Ball during that time because I got bored with the series and move on to other stuff.

In College around 2005, I give up on the series and I was watching stuff like Gantz, Black Heaven, Paranoia Agent, The Galaxy Railways, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, Bible Black and the remake of The Guyver that came out at the time.

You are referencing the right show? On topic, didn't see it as a real gap outside just looking at other things and whatnot at times.

[Lord Beerus]

I can fully relate to the experience of 90sDBZ, being from the UK and all, too. Being a fan of Dragon Ball Z in the land of hope and glory was bloody awful after the show got pulled off the air in '05. The only way you watch the should again before the official UK release occurred several years later down the line, was to buy it from another country, which in itself, was another terrible experience because:

1. Importing the show from another country was very expensive for me at the time.
2. When I was able to afford to import the show, the quality of the home releases ranged from bad to mediocre.

I didn't also help that the yearly Dragon Ball games were starting to become uninteresting to me. I mean, you can only replay the story from Raditz to Kid Boo (with a small helping of GT and the movies) before it gets boring.

[GreatSaiyaJeff]

I guess a dry period for me would be 2006 (When I got the final manga volume released by Viz) to 2013 (when Battle of Gods was released). Even during that period, I was buying the seasons sets and rewatching them. Also rereading the manga several times, making DBZ amvs and playing Budokai Tenkaichi with freinds when we get together. So despite being dry, I was still pretty active with the series.

[Robo4900]

Calling it the "dry era" seems to indicate it was never supposed to end in the first place. But it was supposed to end.

... in hindsight I would've been totally happy had the show just ended, like all shows are supposed to do, and we could just look back on it with fondness.

Bless you, sir. I am in 100% agreement.

I will second(Third?) this. The franchise definitively ended with both the manga ending(Either revised or original, whichever you prefer), and the GT ending. I would be perfectly happy to have no more, and while I am enjoying the Super manga, I'd much prefer it if modern Dragon Ball consisted of weird little pieces of spinoff material like the Yamucha manga and Victory Mission.

However...

The dry era was rather interesting for me. I'd never really watched the show entirely through by the time it fell off TV in the UK, so after it went off the air, I had my dad torrent the whole run for me to watch through(With BLT's dub of DB 1-13, and Saban's dub of Z 1-53), and finished it about in time for Kai to come out. I appreciated Funimation's much-improved dubbing of Kai, but never really got into it. I've always preferred the original run, filler and all, so for me, the dry era didn't really set in until Kai was already about to air, and only lasted until Super got on air.

I didn't watch Battle Of Gods when it first came out, and ResF just looked stupid, so my interest wasn't drawn until Super got on air and I decided "Alright, new Dragon Ball series, I'll give this a look." ... It took me about 100 episodes to realise I wasn't enjoying it, and should devote my energies to something I do enjoy. After hearing a lot of buzz about it, I decided to try the Super manga, immensely enjoyed that, and haven't looked back.

So... Depending on your point of view, I didn't really have much of a dry era for Dragon Ball. After I finished watching it around 2009, I mostly fell out of it, and I started to really get back into it around 2014, when Boo Kai was airing, and everyone was going crazy about it not getting dubbed yet, and buzz was still going around about Battle Of Gods, and everyone was super-cross about the then-new awful Funimation Blu-Rays, and there was me, trying to make sense of it all to get an idea of how I could buy the show's official releases without getting punched in the dick by Funimation's awful release strategies and MangaUK's moronic re-release strategies. Still never really found a solution to that, though I'm hoping Toei's new HD remasters remedy it all.

[Grimlock]

Yep, I remember. Those were dark times. Tarble's OVA was really a relief, a fine breath that we didn't know we needed so much. Then came its manga version one year later, it was cool to see some differences, like Tarble's hair. A nice comeback if you ask me.

But little did we know that bigger and more "wow!" things were just one year ahead, 2010... That golden year which was when Dragon Ball Online and Dragon Ball Heroes were released. Oh god, I would never imagine those two would expand this franchise this much! Thanks to those we now have wonderful things, concepts, new characters, much more lore, interesting information and epic stories. They both also inspired games to have their own creative story rather than going from Raditz to Buu storyline, also a dark time for the video-game industry of Dragon Ball. They both pretty much saved this franchise from that horrible era.

The rest is history as we know it, Movie 14 was good and it introduced the Multiverse concept into the franchise, but almost everything that comes after that movie... Too bad.

[Oniman]

Anyone remember when people were so strapped for fresh Dragon Ball content you had fans getting to stuff like One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho and even Naruto to get their fix?

Anyone remember remember the dry era? To elaborate on the era I am talking about when I say the Dry Era I'm talking about the time in the DB fanchise where there were no new movies at all, and even other things like manga or anything official was scarce. Back when we were dry out of Dragon Ball content. You could say that the Gap was from 1997-2013 with Battle of Gods being the first major thing in the series since 1997. I feel like the real dry era was 1997-2007 because I feel like the Son Goku OVA was something new and same goes with the Bardock OVA in 2011. I was remembering how this era was full of desperation on the part of the fandom, given how there was little to no new things of interest to discuss. I stop caring about Dragon Ball during that time because I got bored with the series and move on to other stuff.

In College around 2005, I give up on the series and I was watching stuff like Gantz, Black Heaven, Paranoia Agent, The Galaxy Railways, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, Bible Black and the remake of The Guyver that came out at the time.

You are referencing the right show? On topic, didn't see it as a real gap outside just looking at other things and whatnot at times.

Off topic, yes. Bible Black is pretty metal with the themes of demons and dark witchcraft. I was super into it for a long time at the time.

[JohnnyCashKami]

God don't ever make me go back. Having the same stale conversations about the same shit with nothing new for years on end. That was awful

Well, if you spent doing that the whole year you can't blame anyone but yourself. The world is riddled with real life problems but there's also a lot of precious places, people and things worth seeing, doing, hearing and admiring.

It's kinda cool to jump in here and chat, I guess, but not always.

[PFM18]

God don't ever make me go back. Having the same stale conversations about the same shit with nothing new for years on end. That was awful

Well, if you spent doing that the whole year you can't blame anyone but yourself. The world is riddled with real life problems but there's also a lot of precious places, people and things worth seeing, doing, hearing and admiring.

Lol what?

Obviously. This is as it pertains to Dragon Ball and has nothing to do with the real world. You giving me a profound lecture about "precious places, people and things worth seeing, doing and admiring" is not only hilarious but completely irrelevant.

We had the same conversations about Dragon Ball because there was no new Dragon Ball content coming out.

[ABED]

Anyone remember when people were so strapped for fresh Dragon Ball content you had fans getting to stuff like One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho and even Naruto to get their fix?

You make it sound like a bad thing that people stretched and tried something new.

Even if people are having the same conversations about DB because there's no new content, there are always new people, new perspectives, and more to learn. I've been a fan of DB for over 25 years and feel like I've learned more about Toriyama's story in the past five than any 5 year period. A lot of that has to do with interacting with knowledgeable fans who not only knew the series, but also Japanese culture. I wasn't aware of the genre DB belonged to until rather recently. Sad to say that, but better late than never.