Dragon Ball Z considered "epic" too much?

[Bansho64]

I notice a lot lately that when most fans of the dub of DBZ talk about the show, they never really call the good moments in the show anything else besides "epic" or "awesome". It seems like a lot of people miss the emotion in the show. I don't know if this is because of the music but I think it might be. Anyone else notice this?

[VegettoEX]

"Epic" in fandom discussion about Dragon Ball is the equivalent of "visceral" and such in video game discussions. It's a crutch word, and one that no longer means anything. I basically have no idea what you're saying when you use that word.

Real-talk no-one wants to hear: it's overused by FUNimation-exclusive fans, and specifically with regard to the Faulconer Productions score. Can't lie when I say my eyes roll back out of my head.

I'm a terrible person. We all know this, though.

[Bansho64]

"Epic" in fandom discussion about Dragon Ball is the equivalent of "visceral" and such in video game discussions. It's a crutch word, and one that no longer means anything. I basically have no idea what you're saying when you use that word.

Real-talk no-one wants to hear: it's overused by FUNimation-exclusive fans, and specifically with regard to the Faulconer Productions score. Can't lie when I say my eyes roll back out of my head.

I'm a terrible person. We all know this, though.

The truth is I don't even know what it means. And you're right, that is where I mainly hear it coming from.

[Adamant]

http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=epic

Read and love.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

I think one of the reasons many english-speaking fans feel so alienated by the Japanese version, the pre-Z stories, and a lot of the new material is precisely because they are locked into seeing Dragon Ball as this show quirky-but-dire show about the fate of universe.

The truth is I don't even know what it means. And you're right, that is where I mainly hear it coming from.

As in that is where you hear the word, or you don't know the word's proper meaning? Here I thought "epic" as an omni-word being terrible slang was common knowledge.

http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=epic

Read and love.

The temptation to sig is strong.

[Mythros]

"Epic" in fandom discussion about Dragon Ball is the equivalent of "visceral" and such in video game discussions. It's a crutch word, and one that no longer means anything. I basically have no idea what you're saying when you use that word.

To be fair, Dragon Ball as a narrative could be considered an epic, although that's being slightly hyperbolic too. That is, in the sense of a literary epic, like the Epic of Gilgamesh. The scope of Dragon Ball's story is suitably wide for that description, spanning decades of time and much of the universe including the afterlife; by this point Goku is essentially a god or demi-god protagonist, and the story follows his adventures.

But yeah, I get that people are talking about the misuse and abuse of the word as an adjective. Much like 'awesome'. After all, how many things so described have really left the describer in awe?

[Lord Beerus]

Kids and teenagers throw around the word "epic" whenever they see something visually pleasing, and at times Dragon Ball Z was just that for kids and teeagers, to the point where is doesn't mean anything. I could say that the breakfest I have every morning in "epic" but that's not the case. The word "epic" really carries no value.

[Cipher]

"Epic" is one of my least favorite Internet words. It's so Internet.

Agreed with VegettoEX.

[Ree]

Epic at least isnt as overused as badass.

[Bansho64]

I think one of the reasons many english-speaking fans feel so alienated by the Japanese version, the pre-Z stories, and a lot of the new material is precisely because they are locked into seeing Dragon Ball as this show quirky-but-dire show about the fate of universe.

The truth is I don't even know what it means. And you're right, that is where I mainly hear it coming from.

As in that is where you hear the word, or you don't know the word's proper meaning? Here I thought "epic" as an omni-word being terrible slang was common knowledge.

http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=epic

Read and love.

The temptation to sig is strong.

I know it's bad slang but it's just the way these kids use it that confuses me. It seems that they just acknowledge Dragon Ball as just a "badass metal" show and nothing but that. It's really hard to talk to some fans like that when their perspective of the show is ignoring all the other tones that the show displays.

[Faustus]

Ah, "epic". The process of its fall from grace registerially, as it were -- or its rise into common parlance, depending on how you choose to see things ("awesome" indeed is another one that immediately leaps to mind) -- has fascinated me to no end. And as long as I'm being honest, it must be confessed that I do secretly take a fair amount of ironic delight in the word, in part because it makes parts of ye olde literature totally hilarious in ways its authors would never have anticipated, and not least because it tends to rub folks like all y'all the wrong way and that's a hoot.

Nothing more to add, except a tentative "eh...sure, maybe?" in response to the topic question. With the important caveat, of course, that it can hardly be denied that Dragon Ball does rather often get quite "epic" in scope and scale even in the narrower, more conservative, "proper" (as many would have it), literary sense of the word. You don't need to distort the meaning of "epic" in order to apply it to DB of all things -- although it is possible, I suppose, that the more overtly "epic" portions of the series get more praise or attention than they in fact merit, and that's what's being meant here.

Then again, who am I (or anyone) to declare what is or isn't overrated? Who is it that gets to decide? Urgh, I don't know. End of small ramblings.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

and not least because it tends to rub folks like all y'all the wrong way and that's a hoot.

I was going to raise a stink about this, but then I realized you opened your statement with "common parlance" and ended it with "all y'all" and instead decided to admired your verbal pacing.

In the literary sense, yes, Dragon Ball checks some boxes, and that very question comes up from time to time. Going too far in that direction just raises the usual questions about what you can consider myth-making.

[fadeddreams5]

If we're delving into the semantics of the word, then "epic" is just a misused word with no meaning. Also, people are foolish to say something is "cool," as they are not using it to describe temperature...

If we're actually reading into the context of when that word is commonly used, it's obvious people use it in the same light as "awesome" or "badass". In the case of DBZ or anime in general, it's used to describe visually appealing, over-the-top scenes.

There are several video games that use it and those other words I mentioned whenever you do a trick or get a high score. It's just...slang(?)

[Bansho64]

You guys are right, it's probably just kid's way of describing something appealing. I'm probably just looking into it too much

[Metalwario64]

"Epic" is one of my least favorite Internet words. It's so Internet.

Agreed with VegettoEX.

And it's such a "me too" type of word that people say simply to "fit in".

I've felt that way about lots of things since I was a kid, so it ain't me turnin' into an old codger wanting them darn kids off my lawn.

Still not bad as misused "ironic", which I have at least seen less of these past couple of years, and have even seen some people around the internet making an effort in using it right, while also pointing out is misuse, which always warms my heart.

[Shoryuken]

Similar to what happened to poor old awesome.

[MetaMoss]

The general usage of "epic" and "awesome" really are just another way of saying "cool". Mostly meaningless, generally just a way of saying you liked something. Using this case, I would call Dragon Ball pretty epic.

[90sDBZ]

Well it is a series that largely revolves around big battles with the fate of the universe hanging in the balance, regardless of which version you're watching. I associate the word "epic" with something that is significant, exciting, emotional, and suspenseful. Dragonball is all of these things, and I fail to see how that is a negative thing. The Z era in particular features exciting high-stake battles which, to me, are epic. Even the pre-Z stuff had a similar sort of grand excitement going for it, like the Tournament fights, Goku storming the Red Ribbon Base, and his battles with the Demon Clan.

[Khin]

Like VegettoEX said,most of the people who used that term are those Funi-dub fans.Terms like epic,awesome,badass etc.That's why characters like Broli,SSj2 Kid Gohan,Majin Vegeta,Bardock,Future Trunks etc. are so popular in the western fanbase because they're baddass,awesome,cool or whatever.

[Basaku]

Like VegettoEX said,most of the people who used that term are those Funi-dub fans.Terms like epic,awesome,badass etc.That's why characters like Broli,SSj2 Kid Gohan,Majin Vegeta,Bardock,Future Trunks etc. are so popular in the western fanbase because they're baddass,awesome,cool or whatever.

And these fans get balanced evenly by other fans who only want gag jokes, filler episodes with reunion parties and shopping malls, lots of nothing, zero stakes, tension, drama, who think DB is a phenomenon because of panties/penis jokes and force themselves to laugh at Monaka's nipples and call it brillaint satire.

As always, there's a happy middle too but it gets sidlined far too often when Broly-smash fans and "Ohh classic Toriyama hohoho!" fans clash