Don't you just hate it when people think DB is for kids...

[Mystic Jack]

I'd say it's more "intended" for kids, but you know, it branched out into other areas that entertain adults as well.

A lot of different things do that, it's not unusual.

[hotrod28]

Sorry guys, I obviously thought wrong.

I had thought that because of the bood, swearing, perverted roshi moments and other bits and pieces that dragonball was in a way, made for adults.

I had thought it was like The Simpsons... in a way. With the simpsons, the show was origionally intended for adults, but its become such a huge hit, the majority of its fans are kids.

I thought this was the same with DragonBall.

Sorry guys!

You don't change your opinion solely because a majority of people disagree with you. As far as I can see, no one has provided any evidence that should have changed your mind, and a major driving point of their argument is "lol you don't want to be labeled as a kid for liking DBZ, that's why you say its not for children." And that's a horribly flawed argument, as it is just a not very well thought out stab in the dark at your personality.

Also, it completely fine to disagree with American concepts/ideals, but It would be wise to know them first. At the age of 13, you are considered a teen. Dragonball was publishes in shonen Jump for ages 10-18 in Japan. If Dragonball is meant for kids a couple of years older than that in America, then it is meant for teens.

[B]

It's meant for kids; stop beating the dead horse. In America, it aired on a children's network, and primarily had an audience of 10-year-olds.

There REALLY isn't an argument here. Cultural divide means diddly squat, and the more "mature" concepts such as death, repentanace of past wrongs, or selfish envy are played down tremendously to that of a child's level.

[NeptuneKai]

It's meant for kids; stop beating the dead horse. In America, it aired on a children's network, and primarily had an audience of 10-year-olds.

There REALLY isn't an argument here. Cultural divide means diddly squat, and the more "mature" concepts such as death, repentanace of past wrongs, or selfish envy are played down tremendously to that of a child's level.

Just leave it be...B. I think it's fairly evident nobody's opinion is being changed here. It's useless to beat a dead horse.

[DBHighDefinition]

Theoretical question: If FUNi would have treated the series perfectly, like with script accurate dialog and completely uncut footage, and decided to air that on T.V, do you think CN would pick it up?

Just sayin'.

[NeptuneKai]

Theoretical question: If FUNi would have treated the series perfectly, like with script accurate dialog and completely uncut footage, and decided to air that on T.V, do you think CN would pick it up?

Just sayin'.

What does an accurate script have to do with it? It's not like this show had some complex dialouge before they made it completely unbearable. If you mean the swear words those could easily be substituted for a tamer yet accurate word.

[DBHighDefinition]

Theoretical question: If FUNi would have treated the series perfectly, like with script accurate dialog and completely uncut footage, and decided to air that on T.V, do you think CN would pick it up?

Just sayin'.

What does an accurate script have to do with it? It's not like this show had some complex dialouge before they made it completely unbearable. If you mean the swear words those could easily be substituted for a tamer yet accurate word.

Yeah, the swear words what I meant. But if it would be accurate, then they wouldn't need to substitute it for a "tamer" word.

[NeptuneKai]

Theoretical question: If FUNi would have treated the series perfectly, like with script accurate dialog and completely uncut footage, and decided to air that on T.V, do you think CN would pick it up?

Just sayin'.

What does an accurate script have to do with it? It's not like this show had some complex dialouge before they made it completely unbearable. If you mean the swear words those could easily be substituted for a tamer yet accurate word.

Yeah, the swear words what I meant. But if it would be accurate, then they wouldn't need to substitute the word.

If you want to get technical you can argue the swear words in Japanese are tame in the culture so "shit" would have the same impact as "shoot" or "blast" over here thus it would be even more accurate to translate it as such. If you want to get even more literal a "perfect translation" for the word kuso which is often translated as "shit" would be "EXCREMENT!"
It depends on how you interpret a "perfect translation."

[B]

A couple episodes of uncut Dragon Ball actually aired on CN back in '07, I think.

I distinctly remember Butta using a swear word. Probably "hell" or "damn."

[JulieYBM]

A couple episodes of uncut Dragon Ball actually aired on CN back in '07, I think.

I distinctly remember Butta using a swear word. Probably "hell" or "damn."

Jheese called Vegeta a crazy bast*rd after he killed Ghurd.

[Bussani]

No evidence? It's SHOUNEN. By definition it's for young boys.

Teen vs kid is just semantics. I'd consider a 14 year old still a kid to be honest. Young-adult, at the most.

[SSJ2bardock]

How did I not see this thread, this is hilarious!

As you were gentlemen.

[Joey Batz]

....Depth? Compared to what? Paper?

Indeed. Dragonballs plot is about as think as the paper it's printed on.



Anyway, I think the reason most people think that Dragonball isn't a kids show is because they see tons of American kid shows like Ben 10 and then go to DBZ and see something like this.

You don't ever see this kind of thing on American kids shows. Granted, that's a pretty extreme example(Dragonball is rarely as intense as that).

By American standards, Dragonball isn't a show for kids. However, it is a childrens show because it was made FOR children.

Really quick, I think Dragon Ball is deeper than most people give it credit for. It's really what you get out of it. How much thought Toriyama put into it is up for debate, and this isn't exactly Evangelion or Akira, but I really do believe the plot is a LITTLE deeper than "OK let's power up and fight for another 30 episodes". a lot of characters do have some interesting character development, motivation, etc.

As for whether or not it's a kid's show, I think most people on this thread hit the nail on the head. It WAS intended as a kid's show in Japan, so yes it is a kid's show. But the Japanese definition of a kid's show differs from the American definition of a kid's show. Stuff that's geared specifically for 7-10 year olds in Japan is considered to be material for teens and young adults in America.

We've all seen the 4kids dub of One Piece, right? In America, that's what we consider a kid's show. But I don't think Fox would ever be caught dead putting this scene between Yu-Gi-Oh and Power Rangers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwA2-t1YZpE

Yet in Japan, this scene from late into One Piece (spoiler alert for those of you who don't want to know) is perfectly suitable for small children. In America, parents would be freaking out if they even thought their precious little angels were watching something with that much blood, violence, and swearing (and emotion, top notch voice acting, and everything else "soccer moms" hate to see in anime).

So in short, the answer to that question really depends on the context. Is Dragon Ball a kids' show? Yes, as it was intended for a Japanese audience of 7-10 year old boys. Is Dragon Ball (uncut, not censored) a kids' show IN AMERICA? No, I don't think so. The level of violence and swearing in uncut Dragon Ball (and even moreso in shows like uncut Yu Yu Hakusho), not to mention the couple quick nude scenes in the early episodes of Dragon Ball (Egads! Bulma boobies!), would be considered unacceptable for children's programming in America. But in America, such a show would be a bigger hit with a wider audience range rather than a narrow age demographic.

[ImmortalSandwich]

Regardless of the violence, swearing, etc, it's still a show made for kids. As said earlier, it even aired on Cartoon Network. And despite all the extensive editing and everything, I explicitly remember watching Oozaru Vegeta crushing Goku in his hands, hearing a snap, Goku screaming in agony, and Vegeta saying something about breaking Goku's ribs. He then drops his limp body on the ground. DBZ may have been edited for violence, but that's still pretty intense for an 8 year old kid to see. But I still loved it when I was 8 years old, and I still love it today, ten years later.

Weather or not that kind of violence is acceptable by soccer moms is really irrelevant. Soccer moms tend to label a lot of things as being unacceptable for children, when there's really nothing wrong with it at all. It's all about being an over protective parent. Over protective American parents have no bearing on weather or not DBZ is a show aimed at young males.

And the show being aimed at young males also has nothing to do with who can or can not watch it. I know males and females of varying ages who love Dragon Ball, despite it being a Shounen anime. It doesn't matter. Can we give this topic a rest?

[Bussani]

10 year olds love violence and blood. It's their parents that don't.

[Jerseymilk]

For people bringing up the swearing, I assume you are unaware that the concept of swearing is different in the Japanese language. Basically *how* you say something is what is considered rude, not the word itself.

[Bussani]

For people bringing up the swearing, I assume you are unaware that the concept of swearing is different in the Japanese language. Basically *how* you say something is what is considered rude, not the word itself.

NpetuneKai already said something to that effect, but yeah; how you say it, not what you say. Good point to those who bring up swearing.

[NeptuneKai]

For people bringing up the swearing, I assume you are unaware that the concept of swearing is different in the Japanese language. Basically *how* you say something is what is considered rude, not the word itself.

Ah that's a good way to put it. Listen to this man.

[Jerseymilk]

For people bringing up the swearing, I assume you are unaware that the concept of swearing is different in the Japanese language. Basically *how* you say something is what is considered rude, not the word itself.

Ah that's a good way to put it. Listen to this man.

Bussani: Ya I was mainly directing my post to the people using the swearing aspect as an argument that it makes the show more "adult", not those agreeing with me. XD

[Bussani]

For people bringing up the swearing, I assume you are unaware that the concept of swearing is different in the Japanese language. Basically *how* you say something is what is considered rude, not the word itself.

Ah that's a good way to put it. Listen to this man.

Bussani: Ya I was mainly directing my post to the people using the swearing aspect as an argument that it makes the show more "adult", not those agreeing with me. XD

Sorry, yeah. I did understand that's what you meant.