What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by lancerman » Thu Jun 23, 2022 7:44 pm

Probably 7 or 8. Most of the Roshi stuff is going to go over their head or be played for laughs to the point where I don't think it woul cause much issues. Maybe 10 for the later uncut Freeza arc stuff. But even then I don't think I wouldn't let someone watch the show because at the end of one fight there is a pretty bloody finish.

I mean ultimately gradeschool kids saw bloody wrestling matches and those were still marketed to kids, DB is really not different in that respect.

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by Ashur » Fri Jun 24, 2022 4:34 am

I started watching it regularly at the age of 10, these days younger kids are into violent stuff anyways, i have a very young cousin who is 8 and has seen and loved Naruto, so these days, depending on the personality of the child, it could be anywhere from 7-12.

The best answer is always that it depends on the kid.

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by UltraInstinctRorikon » Tue Jul 05, 2022 8:00 am

MasenkoHA wrote: Thu Jun 23, 2022 2:38 pm
UltraInstinctRorikon wrote: Wed Jun 22, 2022 6:38 pm 16. Unless you show them the censored version.
The uncensored version was made for grade school children.


I dunno I think little Timmy in Ohio is just as equipped to watching Krillin getting repeatedly impaled by Freeza as little Takuya in Kyoto.
I don't set my standards to Japan's consensus or any nation's general consensus. Violence is far worse than sexualization to me. Kids don't need to see body mutilation to have a good time.
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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by MasenkoHA » Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:21 am

UltraInstinctRorikon wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 8:00 am . Kids don't need to see body mutilation to have a good time.
And yet they clearly had a great time seeing it happen.


I don't know why so many of y'all get hung up on stuff like that. The impalement scene was about as far into the realm of cartoon fantasy violence as you can get. Short energy blasting kung fu man gets impaled by evil alien horned demon overlord on alien planet isn't something that's going to show up on the 6 o'clock news.

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by Koitsukai » Tue Jul 05, 2022 12:51 pm

I've seen much worse on my daily life, as a kid even, than I've seen on cartoons. Definitely got more traumatized by seing a boxer die on the ring than some animated piece of paper impaling another piece of paper.

I remember when kids found out that the manga was much more crude, they were dying to get ahold of it and see the guts of those villagers Babidi killed. Kids like blood more than sharks do.

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by Adamant » Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:18 pm

Just gonna drop this here because it will never not be hilarious.

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On a serious note though, I really don't think it's very healthy for kids to be denied access to anything more "adult" than Sesame Street before they're legal adults and suddenly get exposed to the entire world at once. There are some very questionable parenting practices being brought up here.
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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by Lukmendes » Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:40 pm

DBZAOTA482 wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 12:12 pm I can't imagine a 12/13 year old boy being insecure about liking DBZ.
I mean, if other kids think it's lame, then a 12/13 year old kid could end up being ashamed for liking it lol.
WittyUsername wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 5:55 pm America has always been stricter than Japan when it comes to what’s acceptable for children, and judging from the outrage over the new Buzz Lightyear movie, it looks like that hasn’t really changed.
What happened in that?

Either way, I'd say that it's fine for kids to watch it, at the end of the day, DB is just a cartoon about punching people, if a kid can play a fighting game that isn't modern MK (The fatalities are too much), or even a shooter, they can watch this.
jjgp1112 wrote: Sat Mar 12, 2022 12:08 am My man, all Goku had to do was go SSJ3 and shock Vegeta so much the M on his head would have turned into an L and Buu would have never happened.

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by MasenkoHA » Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:59 pm

Lukmendes wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:40 pm .
WittyUsername wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 5:55 pm America has always been stricter than Japan when it comes to what’s acceptable for children, and judging from the outrage over the new Buzz Lightyear movie, it looks like that hasn’t really changed.
What happened in that?



A same sex kiss scene between two adult women that lasted less than a second on screen caused the "We love free speech and liberty America is the freest country in the world" conservatives to lose their collective shit and start throwing toddler esque temper tantrums all over the internet.

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by Lukmendes » Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:13 pm

MasenkoHA wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:59 pm A same sex kiss scene between two adult women that lasted less than a second on screen cause the "We love free speech and liberty America is the freest country in the world" conservatives to lose their collective shit and start throwing toddler esque temper tantrums all over the internet.
Man I expected at least something stupid happened in the movie that people decided to whine about, this is nothing.

Kinda funny that "land of the free" there has those people kinds of people, with gay representation living rent-free in their heads lol.
jjgp1112 wrote: Sat Mar 12, 2022 12:08 am My man, all Goku had to do was go SSJ3 and shock Vegeta so much the M on his head would have turned into an L and Buu would have never happened.

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by Aim » Wed Jul 06, 2022 3:21 am

MasenkoHA wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 8:16 pm
Aim wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 8:12 pm
DBZAOTA482 wrote: Wed Jun 15, 2022 7:21 pm Dragon Ball is filled with violence, nudity, suggestive themes, and mild language but it turns out that stuff is not as big of a deal in Japan as in the west and honestly, it's quite tame compared to a lot of anime/manga out there. At the same time, I can't see myself letting a 5 year old watch/read the series especially uncut.

I say the age to start watching/reading Dragon Ball is 9. Kids at that point are easily capable of differentiating fantasy from reality and won't try to replicate what they see the characters do.
The real answer is that it depends. Culture and upbringing are very important factors. In general, uncut Dragon Ball is by far not a series for the average 9 year old. I think my limit would be 13. Though I’d explain to the child before hand that what they are watching is fantasy and not representative of reality.
I guarantee you the average 13 year old could figure that one out on their own.
If this was the case, children wouldn’t be influenced by fiction. It’s no doubt that explaining to kids that you shouldn’t touch others without consent is important, especially when so many people can’t actually keep their hands to themselves.

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by Aim » Wed Jul 06, 2022 3:45 am

jjgp1112 wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:18 pm
Aim wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 8:12 pm
DBZAOTA482 wrote: Wed Jun 15, 2022 7:21 pm Dragon Ball is filled with violence, nudity, suggestive themes, and mild language but it turns out that stuff is not as big of a deal in Japan as in the west and honestly, it's quite tame compared to a lot of anime/manga out there. At the same time, I can't see myself letting a 5 year old watch/read the series especially uncut.

I say the age to start watching/reading Dragon Ball is 9. Kids at that point are easily capable of differentiating fantasy from reality and won't try to replicate what they see the characters do.
The real answer is that it depends. Culture and upbringing are very important factors. In general, uncut Dragon Ball is by far not a series for the average 9 year old. I think my limit would be 13. Though I’d explain to the child before hand that what they are watching is fantasy and not representative of reality.
The average 13 year old is well at the age of watching whatever they want, when they want short of an R-Rated movie in theaters and certainly understands fiction
Media has a considerable affect on people regardless of whether you know it’s fiction or not. Media is what helps shape people and it’s absolutely no lie that media can reinforce certain behaviours.

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by Aim » Wed Jul 06, 2022 4:36 am

Lukmendes wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:13 pm
MasenkoHA wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:59 pm A same sex kiss scene between two adult women that lasted less than a second on screen cause the "We love free speech and liberty America is the freest country in the world" conservatives to lose their collective shit and start throwing toddler esque temper tantrums all over the internet.
Man I expected at least something stupid happened in the movie that people decided to whine about, this is nothing.

Kinda funny that "land of the free" there has those people kinds of people, with gay representation living rent-free in their heads lol.
Americans hate freedom, that’s why they’re individualistic, they believe that the individuals with the most wealth get to dictate everyone else’s fate.


(Obviously generalizing here but the US is a disgrace especially after recently)

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by ankokudaishogun » Fri Jul 08, 2022 7:29 pm

I'd say about 8 years old is the right age to start.

Unless they are USAmericans, then they shouldn't watch it until 80 years old.

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by SorikaiWolf89 » Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:52 am

I’m gonna say 8 , 9, and/or 10 at the absolute youngest for the original uncut versions

For the edited versions that aired on TV back in the day in the US I’m gonna say maybe 7 or 8 at the youngest

It’s rated PG for the most part but sometimes it’s definitely more like PG-13 or TV14
Jump manga is mostly meant for middle school and high school aged boys so in that case it’s mostly meant for 10 to 18 year olds

The original uncut version is definitely PG-13 or TV14 though as it has violence galore which is sometimes graphic especially in the manga, adult humor/jokes mostly with Roshi, occasional nudity mostly with minors ,mature themes about death/rebirth for example that young kids won’t quite fully understand unless an adult explains it to them, plus it can sometimes be very dark/disturbing, and the villains could possibly scare very young children below 8

Not to mention the length of the series and drawn out scenes will definitely not keep most children’s attention for very long especially those who are 6 and under

In my case I was about 7 when I first discovered it on Toonami so I was about the perfect age to have it introduced to me I’d say
But then again I first saw the edited for TV version and didn’t see the original uncut version until I was about 11 or 12 when I started to collect the VHS and DVDs

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by MasenkoHA » Wed Jul 27, 2022 9:25 am

SorikaiWolf89 wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:52 am
It’s rated PG for the most part but sometimes it’s definitely more like PG-13 or TV14
It really isn't.

Jump manga is mostly meant for middle school and high school aged boys so in that case it’s mostly meant for 10 to 18 year olds
This isn't even a little bit true. The target demo is elementary school boys.

But then again I first saw the edited for TV version and didn’t see the original uncut version until I was about 11 or 12 when I started to collect the VHS and DVDs
I assure you plenty of kids did see the unedited version. The unedited version with wall to wall Faulconer music and dialog like "Yeehaw ride em cowboy" but the visually unedited version all the same. Even Funimation understood uncut Dragon Ball would largely still appeal to kids. The violence and graphic nature gets ridiculously overstated on here

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by Soppa Saia People » Wed Jul 27, 2022 1:44 pm

does every response need to be a line by line breakdown, when the original post is not even coming from like a misplaced authority ?
I have borderline personality disorder, if my posts ever come off as aggressive or word vomit-y to you, please let me know.

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by VegettoEX » Wed Jul 27, 2022 1:48 pm

I agree that it does come across as needlessly confrontational, and is in fact against our community guidelines. Please reconsider how it is you approach your conversations, and what the best way to get across important, relevant, helpful, accurate information may be.
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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by BeaBumby » Wed Jul 27, 2022 7:57 pm

I mean I started it when I was 14 about a year ago, though I've seen clips as early as.. like 7.

Though I was well aware of the show long before that. Kept watchin Sonic DBZ youtube videos that were freakin awesome.
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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by SorikaiWolf89 » Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:17 pm

MasenkoHA wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 9:25 am
SorikaiWolf89 wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:52 am
It’s rated PG for the most part but sometimes it’s definitely more like PG-13 or TV14
It really isn't.

What would you prefer to rate it then?
G or TVY7? Or unrated ?

Jump manga is mostly meant for middle school and high school aged boys so in that case it’s mostly meant for 10 to 18 year olds
This isn't even a little bit true. The target demo is elementary school boys.

I was referring to Shonen Jump manga in general and I said MOSTLY meaning some Shonen Jump manga CAN be for elementary school boys

As for Dragonball/Z specifically the manga is rated T for Teen in the English adaptation
I don’t know about the original Japanese manga’s rating but I don’t think some Japanese parents will be too thrilled with the amount of violence and sexual humor in the manga and in the anime for an audience under the age of 7

The original YuGiOh manga for example had some major backlash from some Japanese parents who disapproved of the sexualized female characters, the amount of violence ,and it’s very dark themes saying that it’s demographic audience should be for teenagers instead of those younger than 13

The same can be said for Dragonball in that it is quite violent for young children and Bulma especially is very sexualized in the original Dragonball which many adults will consider to be inappropriate for those under 13 especially since Bulma is only 16 when she’s shown nude and in sexual situations

But then again I first saw the edited for TV version and didn’t see the original uncut version until I was about 11 or 12 when I started to collect the VHS and DVDs
The violence and graphic nature gets ridiculously overstated on here
Sounds like you’ve been desensitized to it as you’ve grown accustomed to more intense violence from other series meant for teenagers and adults I’m assuming

Remember young kids are not as used to seeing violence in media like adults are so when they see an intense beating of a character or someone get brutally killed that might give them some low key trauma or maybe make them become violent themselves towards others kids their age in school but that is up for debate whether violent anime and manga can make kids more aggressive

There are whole professional studies involving the relation between aggressive behavior in kids and the media they consume
The results are mixed from what I’ve heard as it depends on the specific kid

Anyway I’m not saying that Dragonball is as violent as Berserk or Mortal Kombat for example
BUT it DOES have abundant violence galore throughout its entirety

Many characters get brutally beaten with bloodied wounds, tortured, killed in various gruesome ways, (sometimes very graphically like how Dr Gero killed that one guy in his car or how Cell absorbs his victims) , blown up, sliced and diced to bits, decapitated, have limbs cut or blown off, and have massive holes blown through their bodies which usually end up being fatal

All those examples happen on a regular basis throughout the series proving that it can be quite violent and sometimes even gruesome but just shown in less realistic detail

The manga however is even more graphic which sometimes shows characters internal organs as they blow up such as the Cell Jrs for example

Overall I’d say the original uncut version is rated T and TV14 for a reason but of course that won’t stop young kids from reading and watching it anyway hence why they made the edited version to begin with as it had to be approved for Cartoon Network first which is aimed at kids as young as 4

Don’t think too many parents would be happy to hear “Mr Satan” coming from their kid’s show hence why they changed it to “Hercule” in the edited for TV version as Funimation was afraid of what parents would say as just the name Satan is a very taboo name associated with the Devil obviously
Same with the word “Hell” it’s quite taboo for an anime to air on Cartoon Network hence why they edited it to “Home of Infinite Losers”

When they aired Kai and Super they upped the rating to TV14 as anime and cartoons are not as heavily edited as they used to be in the 90s and early 2000s
But the original airing of Dragonball/Z was heavily edited for a younger audience especially the Ocean Dub making it TVY7 or PG with the Funimation Dub keeping up the censorship but to a slightly lesser degree

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Re: What is the minimum age you would recommend Dragon Ball for?

Post by ankokudaishogun » Thu Jul 28, 2022 8:16 am

SorikaiWolf89 wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:17 pm Remember young kids are not as used to seeing violence in media like adults are so when they see an intense beating of a character or someone get brutally killed that might give them some low key trauma or maybe make them become violent themselves towards others kids their age in school but that is up for debate whether violent anime and manga can make kids more aggressive
Kids are generally able to stop reading, or change channel\turn off television\close the video player if they meet stuff they don't like.

I was able to do so at about 7 when coming across Fist of the North Star episodes on TV(back then I felt it excessively violent), I do not see why other normal kids shouldn't be able to do it as well

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