Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
Moderators: General Help, Kanzenshuu Staff
Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
My kid loves Minecraft as every other kid, he was watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSxhTuoqh3I which I thought was kinda cool, but then he found actual DBZ clips on the suggested videos and now he wants to see the entire DBZ series. However I am concerned with letting him watch it because if I recall correctly, there are some pretty violent scenes in DBZ, like when Tien Shinhan gets his arm cut and there's a lot of blood, that may be too much for a kid... I saw DBZ myself when I was a kid but I was wondering what would you do? Should he start with DBS maybe? it's pretty light compared to DBS, but the timeline would be backwards... what about the original Dragon Ball series? That was ages ago, I can't really remember the tone of it. I think it was Dr Slump type of humor and not too much violence at least compared to DBZ, but I actually wonder if the original was more hardcore than DBS which I wouldn't be surprised since I think I didn't even see a single red blood being dropped in DBS. Anyway if you have any ideas let me know.
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
Oh come on. No offense but do all of you Americans just think "DBZ" as soon as you think of Dragon Ball? Why not introduce your kid to Dragon Ball, since you know, it's the beginning. I would never, ever, introduce someone to the Dragon Ball series by starting with Dragon Ball Z. I guess that's the difference between you guys who grew up with Dragon Ball Z in the US and the rest of the world.
- OmegaRockman
- Patreon Supporter
- Posts: 802
- Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2011 4:16 pm
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
The original Dragon Ball had a good bit of sexual humor in it, so you may not want to let him watch it uncut if you're concerned with that sort of thing. You may want to look into getting this edited DVD set of the first arc (dubbed using the Ocean cast) or maybe this edited DVD of the Path to Power movie (which combines the first arc with the Red Ribbon Army Arc). These edited DVDs have a good portion of the objectionable content edited out, so they should be safe for your kid to see. I believe there are edited DVDs and VHSs of later portions of the series, but these are the easiest to come by, I think.
As for the Z portion of the series, you could always look into Kai. While Kai has some blood and cursing, many of the most violent scenes have been lightly toned down. I believe uncut Kai is rated TV-PG, though I may be mistaken. You may want to pre-screen the Kai versions of scenes that concern you first.
You could also seek out recordings of the edited Nicktoons broadcast of Kai, which had no blood and cursing, though there are no home releases so you'll have to seek the episodes out though less than legal means. Also, Nicktoons only ever aired through the Cell arc, meaning you'll have to watch Kai: The Final Chapters (the Boo episodes) uncut.
When it comes to Super, blood is far less common. There is some cursing, though, so watch out for that if it's a concern. If by some chance you happen to live in Australia, I think there's a channel airing a lightly edited version with toned down language. Overall, though, I think the uncut version will be fine.
Hope this helps!
As for the Z portion of the series, you could always look into Kai. While Kai has some blood and cursing, many of the most violent scenes have been lightly toned down. I believe uncut Kai is rated TV-PG, though I may be mistaken. You may want to pre-screen the Kai versions of scenes that concern you first.
You could also seek out recordings of the edited Nicktoons broadcast of Kai, which had no blood and cursing, though there are no home releases so you'll have to seek the episodes out though less than legal means. Also, Nicktoons only ever aired through the Cell arc, meaning you'll have to watch Kai: The Final Chapters (the Boo episodes) uncut.
When it comes to Super, blood is far less common. There is some cursing, though, so watch out for that if it's a concern. If by some chance you happen to live in Australia, I think there's a channel airing a lightly edited version with toned down language. Overall, though, I think the uncut version will be fine.
Hope this helps!
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
ssj5 wrote:My kid loves Minecraft as every other kid, he was watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSxhTuoqh3I which I thought was kinda cool, but then he found actual DBZ clips on the suggested videos and now he wants to see the entire DBZ series. However I am concerned with letting him watch it because if I recall correctly, there are some pretty violent scenes in DBZ, like when Tien Shinhan gets his arm cut and there's a lot of blood, that may be too much for a kid... I saw DBZ myself when I was a kid but I was wondering what would you do? Should he start with DBS maybe? it's pretty light compared to DBS, but the timeline would be backwards... what about the original Dragon Ball series? That was ages ago, I can't really remember the tone of it. I think it was Dr Slump type of humor and not too much violence at least compared to DBZ, but I actually wonder if the original was more hardcore than DBS which I wouldn't be surprised since I think I didn't even see a single red blood being dropped in DBS. Anyway if you have any ideas let me know.
Well there’s always Dragon Ball which came first and stats out much less violent. The humor is a lot more sexualized (but nothing past a PG-13 rating by US standards) so not sure how you feel about that.
If you must start with DBZ you may try to seek out the original Ocean dub. It’s better acted and edits out the blood and more violent moments.
You may also try to find the Nicktoons edit of Dragon Ball Z Kai which also removes the blood but doesn’t go too exteme with the censorship
But honestly DBZ isn’t that violent. Many kids around your son’s age were watching it only mildly edited on Toonami back in the day or even the “uncut” version on home video. But that’s your call as your son’s parent
Plenty of us in the US start with or recommend starting with Dragon BallJaetinh wrote:Oh come on. No offense but do all of you Americans just think "DBZ" as soon as you think of Dragon Ball? Why not introduce your kid to Dragon Ball, since you know, it's the beginning. I would never, ever, introduce someone to the Dragon Ball series by starting with Dragon Ball Z. I guess that's the difference between you guys who grew up with Dragon Ball Z in the US and the rest of the world.
Last edited by MasenkoHA on Mon Dec 24, 2018 11:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
I don’t see why you shouldn’t, if he wants too. I don’t want to debate your parenting, as that’s entirely up to you if you consider these kind of stuffs to be too violent for a 9 years old kid, but I know many people, myself included, who have grown up watching DBZ and we all turned out fine.
You could always make him watch Dragon Ball Kai, especially if your son is going to watch it dubbed (which I assume he is), as it is more censored, faster and true to the manga, and there’s also a very censored version in the USA if I remember correctly which eliminates a lot of the blood and the few cases of extreme violence (such as Freeza piercing through Krillin).
Making your son skip the first serie is your decision. I don’t suggest doing it, and I would suggest buying the manga to read through the first part of the serie if your son wants to go through it faster.
There’s some sexual humor, though, but otherwise it’s generally more light hearted than Z and it’s still half of the story, so it’s needed to understand what happens later on.
Once he gets to Super, you are in safe territory. The violence is really toned down compared to Z, and you can count the instances of someone bleeding on one hand. Watch out for episode 88, though, as that’s a very weird episode for a kid to watch considering Master Roshi almost rapes a girl.
You could always make him watch Dragon Ball Kai, especially if your son is going to watch it dubbed (which I assume he is), as it is more censored, faster and true to the manga, and there’s also a very censored version in the USA if I remember correctly which eliminates a lot of the blood and the few cases of extreme violence (such as Freeza piercing through Krillin).
Making your son skip the first serie is your decision. I don’t suggest doing it, and I would suggest buying the manga to read through the first part of the serie if your son wants to go through it faster.
There’s some sexual humor, though, but otherwise it’s generally more light hearted than Z and it’s still half of the story, so it’s needed to understand what happens later on.
Once he gets to Super, you are in safe territory. The violence is really toned down compared to Z, and you can count the instances of someone bleeding on one hand. Watch out for episode 88, though, as that’s a very weird episode for a kid to watch considering Master Roshi almost rapes a girl.
Last edited by emperior on Mon Dec 24, 2018 11:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
悟 “Vincit qui se vincit”
What I consider canonical
What I consider canonical
Spoiler:
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
I'm not American, in fact I have pointed out before at how the American OST in my opinion is pretty bad and a disgrace to replace the original one with it. I'm just saying that because he wants to see DBZ specifically because it's the clips he saw, the original one has a very different tone. I would start with that one myself, (I watched original -> dbz -> gt -> dbs as it should be) however as someone else pointed out, Roshi being a total perv doesn't help.Jaetinh wrote:Oh come on. No offense but do all of you Americans just think "DBZ" as soon as you think of Dragon Ball? Why not introduce your kid to Dragon Ball, since you know, it's the beginning. I would never, ever, introduce someone to the Dragon Ball series by starting with Dragon Ball Z. I guess that's the difference between you guys who grew up with Dragon Ball Z in the US and the rest of the world.
Maybe I'm over reacting. I think I was around that age too when I started watching DB but I'm not sure.
- Robo4900
- I Live Here
- Posts: 4386
- Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 2:24 pm
- Location: In another time and place...
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
The sexual humour is nothing harmful, I think you'll find.
But even then, if you're concerned about this stuff, my worry would be how brutal the fights got in Z much more than some jokes in the original that arguably kids find much funnier than adults.
Personally, I say pick up the Blue Bricks(Or Yellow Bricks if you're a Brit, or... Uhh... Whatever the hell those Australian boxes are called), and see what your kid thinks. I would say 9 is a perfectly fine age to get into Dragon Ball, and I think if they aren't ready for the more intense stuff in Z, since the show slowly eases you into that if you watch the whole run, you'll be able to tell if they're ready by watching through DB and seeing how they feel at the end of the Piccolo Jr. arc. If they have a good time with DB, honestly my advice would then be to go to Kai, since the home releases are better than Z, and the pace is better, it's a better lead-in to Super, and it does tone down the violence a bit. Plus, the dub gels better with DB's dub, and it's a better dub overall.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
If you're concerned about the tone, and Roshi's antics, you could start off with Curse Of The Blood Rubies, and then jump in at episode 14 of the show. Or do a double feature with Sleeping Princess and start off at episode 16. Remember, DB and Z are not two different shows, they are one continuous run of about 500 episodes that had a renaming at episode 154 to coincide with some of the staff having a routine switch-over, and the one of many timeskips in the manga. Just tell the kid the truth -- the story starts here, has always started here, and skipping it is just screwing yourself out of 150 episodes of this classic series.
As for Roshi's pervishness... He doesn't go anywhere in Z, he's just less present in general than he was in the first couple of arcs of DB. His first appearance, in episode 2 of Z, has him try to poke Bulma's breasts. And, just like with all of Roshi's antics, he's heavily punished and frowned on for his pervishness.
But even then, if you're concerned about this stuff, my worry would be how brutal the fights got in Z much more than some jokes in the original that arguably kids find much funnier than adults.
Personally, I say pick up the Blue Bricks(Or Yellow Bricks if you're a Brit, or... Uhh... Whatever the hell those Australian boxes are called), and see what your kid thinks. I would say 9 is a perfectly fine age to get into Dragon Ball, and I think if they aren't ready for the more intense stuff in Z, since the show slowly eases you into that if you watch the whole run, you'll be able to tell if they're ready by watching through DB and seeing how they feel at the end of the Piccolo Jr. arc. If they have a good time with DB, honestly my advice would then be to go to Kai, since the home releases are better than Z, and the pace is better, it's a better lead-in to Super, and it does tone down the violence a bit. Plus, the dub gels better with DB's dub, and it's a better dub overall.
The original does not have a different tone. The first 13-ish episodes have that to an extent, because it's the first 13 episodes of a 500-episode run. Of course it has some early installment weirdness.ssj5 wrote:I'm not American, in fact I have pointed out before at how the American OST in my opinion is pretty bad and a disgrace to replace the original one with it. I'm just saying that because he wants to see DBZ specifically because it's the clips he saw, the original one has a very different tone. I would start with that one myself, however as someone else pointed out, Roshi being a total perv doesn't help.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
If you're concerned about the tone, and Roshi's antics, you could start off with Curse Of The Blood Rubies, and then jump in at episode 14 of the show. Or do a double feature with Sleeping Princess and start off at episode 16. Remember, DB and Z are not two different shows, they are one continuous run of about 500 episodes that had a renaming at episode 154 to coincide with some of the staff having a routine switch-over, and the one of many timeskips in the manga. Just tell the kid the truth -- the story starts here, has always started here, and skipping it is just screwing yourself out of 150 episodes of this classic series.
As for Roshi's pervishness... He doesn't go anywhere in Z, he's just less present in general than he was in the first couple of arcs of DB. His first appearance, in episode 2 of Z, has him try to poke Bulma's breasts. And, just like with all of Roshi's antics, he's heavily punished and frowned on for his pervishness.
Last edited by Robo4900 on Mon Dec 24, 2018 11:50 am, edited 2 times in total.
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
Oh come on. No offense, but do all of you non-Americans assume ONLY Americans think of DBZ first and not DB? Even Japan has shown this mentality to be true. Stop blaming everything on Americans. I'm not even patriotic (like, at all), it's just annoying shifting of blame. DBZ is clearly more popular around the world than DB.Jaetinh wrote:Oh come on. No offense but do all of you Americans just think "DBZ" as soon as you think of Dragon Ball? Why not introduce your kid to Dragon Ball, since you know, it's the beginning. I would never, ever, introduce someone to the Dragon Ball series by starting with Dragon Ball Z. I guess that's the difference between you guys who grew up with Dragon Ball Z in the US and the rest of the world.
- Robo4900
- I Live Here
- Posts: 4386
- Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 2:24 pm
- Location: In another time and place...
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
DB had consistently higher ratings in Japan than Z did. The idea that people in Japan consider DB to be in the lesser, "Skippable" standing it has in the English fandom is nonsense people come up with to justify this attitude the English-speaking world in general has of skipping 153 episodes of the series.Forte224 wrote:Oh come on. No offense, but do all of you non-Americans assume ONLY Americans think of DBZ first and not DB? Even Japan has shown this mentality to be true. Stop blaming everything on Americans. I'm not even patriotic (like, at all), it's just annoying shifting of blame. DBZ is clearly more popular around the world than DB.Jaetinh wrote:Oh come on. No offense but do all of you Americans just think "DBZ" as soon as you think of Dragon Ball? Why not introduce your kid to Dragon Ball, since you know, it's the beginning. I would never, ever, introduce someone to the Dragon Ball series by starting with Dragon Ball Z. I guess that's the difference between you guys who grew up with Dragon Ball Z in the US and the rest of the world.
Blaming it purely on the Americans is rather silly, though. It's only America's fault in so much as America is where Funimation is based.
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
Regardless of how the ratings were, it's clear that TODAY, all emphasis goes to DBZ even in Japan. Look at Kai, look at the Full Color Manga, look at the recent movie releases, they all start with Z. Kai didn't even cover DB, and the FC Manga backhandedly called it all the "Boyhood Arc". And even look at marketing. Toys, promotional material, etc. all usually focus on Goku, Vegeta, and their Super Saiyan transformations/fusions first, and everything else second. The references are clearly things that started in DBZ.Robo4900 wrote:DB had consistently higher ratings in Japan than Z did. The idea that people skip and ignore DB in Japan is nonsense people come up with to justify this attitude the English-speaking world in general has of skipping 153 episodes of the series.Forte224 wrote:Oh come on. No offense, but do all of you non-Americans assume ONLY Americans think of DBZ first and not DB? Even Japan has shown this mentality to be true. Stop blaming everything on Americans. I'm not even patriotic (like, at all), it's just annoying shifting of blame. DBZ is clearly more popular around the world than DB.Jaetinh wrote:Oh come on. No offense but do all of you Americans just think "DBZ" as soon as you think of Dragon Ball? Why not introduce your kid to Dragon Ball, since you know, it's the beginning. I would never, ever, introduce someone to the Dragon Ball series by starting with Dragon Ball Z. I guess that's the difference between you guys who grew up with Dragon Ball Z in the US and the rest of the world.
Blaming it purely on the Americans is rather silly, though. It's only America's fault in so much as America is where Funimation is based.
Anyhow, I'M not saying DBZ should be watched without DB, I'm just saying that it's getting really annoying around here seeing people shift all the blame to American/English speaking communities when the blame is pretty clearly consistent around the world.
-
- Beyond Newbie
- Posts: 148
- Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2016 1:18 pm
- Location: Germany
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
Personally i would recomend you showing him the original Anime Series the way it was made with all it´s 444 Episodes (Plus the Bardock & Trunks Specials), including the Kikuchi Score with it´s original Placement, that way it will consistenly feel like one Series. Kai might have the better Dub, but it woulden´t really fit that much together with the 153 episodes of pre Z DB, and the developement of the Kikuchi Score the Series had up to that Point, would suddenly Stop and be replaced by a very reduced Kikuchi Score consisting only out of a limited amount of Z era Pieces, only to be replaced by a completly different Soundtrack once the Buu Arc rolls around. Nostalgic moments like hearing the Goku & Krillin Training theme ( https://youtu.be/eMKeiMoQQgU?list=PLACB ... 8DE487&t=9 ) from way back into the Series again near the End of the Series, when Goku and Goten have a Sparring match, won´t happen in a mixed watch of the original & Kai episodes, and it would be a shame to lose stuff like this in my opinion. The english Z Dub has it´s Problems and is at points not that acurate, but i still think it fits nicely together with the English pre Z Dub, which isen´t that perfect either. There is also some Nice Filler stuff in the original z era episodes, like Gohans Adventures in the wildernes, the driving Episode, or the Afterlife Tournament etc. And in Terms of pacing the original should be fine until the Freezer Arc and switching to Kai should only be necessary, if the pacing there becomes a dealbreaker for him, which may also not happen if he enjoyed the Series up to that Point.
-
- Banned
- Posts: 439
- Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2015 10:07 pm
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
Just show it to him/her. I started watching DBZ when I was five. Granted, it was the Saban dub, but I wouldn't have minded blood or anything. When I was 8, I saw scenes like Trunks being killed in Goku's dream. Nothing bad. Show it.
- JohnnyCashKami
- Temporarily Banned
- Posts: 1597
- Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2018 11:16 pm
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
Parents nowdays are either too loose or too tight when it comes to what their kids can watch, see or hear. I watched Dragon Ball (all three series) as a kid and I loved it, the violence? It didn't really matter because it was part of the action and the big dramatic scenes only lasted a couple of seconds at a time or so.
There's always the Toonzai Kai version you can show him.![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
There's always the Toonzai Kai version you can show him.
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
- Hellspawn28
- Patreon Supporter
- Posts: 15206
- Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:50 pm
- Location: Maryland, USA
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
If your 9 years old can handle PG-13 movies, DBZ should be fine. I feel like the violence in DBZ is not much different than what they put out in theaters these days (Look at movies like A Quiet Place for example). I feel like a 9-year-old should handle DBZ just fine since it is rated TV-PG. Last time I check, cartoons these days have that rating like Adventure Time and Teen Titans Go (At least from what people tell me).
She/Her
PS5 username: Guyver_Spawn_27
LB Profile: https://letterboxd.com/Hellspawn28/
PS5 username: Guyver_Spawn_27
LB Profile: https://letterboxd.com/Hellspawn28/
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
I honestly wouldn't look to a Dragon Ball forum for parenting advice, but since you asked, I'd also recommend starting him with Dragon Ball; though, if clips of DBZ specifically are what grabbed him, there's no harm in just showing him DBZ for now. If he really gets into it, he'll go back and watch the earlier stuff eventually anyway.
When it comes to the violent/sexual material, I don't think there's any issue inherently. My position here stems from my own experiences growing up (and not at all from having actually raised children of my own; as such, I may very well have no idea what I'm talking about, so take my suggestions below with a grain of salt). The better your child understands the boundary between fantasy and reality, and that the fantastically violent/sexual actions being depicted are indeed fantastical (eg: in the real world, these actions might be less excusable, may have damaging consequences, etc.), then they're less likely to look at Kame Sennin's gags and think that it's an accurate depiction of the way sexual assault works (no real consequences), or that it's appropriate to imitate them. Likewise, the less utterly saturated your child is in that kind of content, the less normalized it will be to them psychologically, and the less it will shape the way they engage with the world. If media that poorly depicts the realities of things like sexual assault doesn't take up a substantial slice of what they consume, then they're less likely to view it in a trivial manner as a result of what Kame Sennin does (I emphasize poorly, because works that properly depict the horrors of sexual assault, and the like, are definitely important, insofar as they facilitate the developing individual's awareness of the reality of it all).
Same with violence. If I consume nothing but media with glorified ultra-violent imagery, there's gonna be some problems. If I consume all of this media, and the actual realities of violence are never properly hammered into my brain, either beforehand or concurrently, then there's gonna be some problems. Again, it's all about how much of it they're exposed to, relative to other things, and how it's all contextualized. He's likely to seek out arguably damaging media on his own eventually anyway, so the sooner it's all properly contextualized, the better.
Shorter answer: Your child won't be damaged by watching Dragon Ball/Z; they would only be damaged if they were raised on nothing but Dragon Ball/Z. You can plug in literally just about any conceivable piece of media in place of Dragon Ball/Z, and it would still ring true.
When it comes to the violent/sexual material, I don't think there's any issue inherently. My position here stems from my own experiences growing up (and not at all from having actually raised children of my own; as such, I may very well have no idea what I'm talking about, so take my suggestions below with a grain of salt). The better your child understands the boundary between fantasy and reality, and that the fantastically violent/sexual actions being depicted are indeed fantastical (eg: in the real world, these actions might be less excusable, may have damaging consequences, etc.), then they're less likely to look at Kame Sennin's gags and think that it's an accurate depiction of the way sexual assault works (no real consequences), or that it's appropriate to imitate them. Likewise, the less utterly saturated your child is in that kind of content, the less normalized it will be to them psychologically, and the less it will shape the way they engage with the world. If media that poorly depicts the realities of things like sexual assault doesn't take up a substantial slice of what they consume, then they're less likely to view it in a trivial manner as a result of what Kame Sennin does (I emphasize poorly, because works that properly depict the horrors of sexual assault, and the like, are definitely important, insofar as they facilitate the developing individual's awareness of the reality of it all).
Same with violence. If I consume nothing but media with glorified ultra-violent imagery, there's gonna be some problems. If I consume all of this media, and the actual realities of violence are never properly hammered into my brain, either beforehand or concurrently, then there's gonna be some problems. Again, it's all about how much of it they're exposed to, relative to other things, and how it's all contextualized. He's likely to seek out arguably damaging media on his own eventually anyway, so the sooner it's all properly contextualized, the better.
Shorter answer: Your child won't be damaged by watching Dragon Ball/Z; they would only be damaged if they were raised on nothing but Dragon Ball/Z. You can plug in literally just about any conceivable piece of media in place of Dragon Ball/Z, and it would still ring true.
- KBABZ
- Born 'n Bred Here
- Posts: 5180
- Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:38 pm
- Location: The tallest tower in West City
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
And yet the characters still allow him to do it and his behavior around women is not treated as something he should improve. As talked about elsewhere, it's always a "Oh shucks, what a silly old man!" by everyone except Bulma, the victim. The only time he isn't acting that way around her is when something more dramatic is going on, like the Daimao reveal or after the Vegeta fight.Robo4900 wrote:As for Roshi's pervishness... He doesn't go anywhere in Z, he's just less present in general than he was in the first couple of arcs of DB. His first appearance, in episode 2 of Z, has him try to poke Bulma's breasts. And, just like with all of Roshi's antics, he's heavily punished and frowned on for his pervishness.
- Kunzait_83
- I Live Here
- Posts: 2976
- Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:19 pm
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
Personal pet peeve of mine: whenever new parents suddenly get gunshy and worried about showing their kids movies, TV shows, or general media that they themselves partook in gleefully and without the slightest ounce of harm at exactly the same age, if not younger. If you managed to survive watching a three eyed kung fu guy get his arm punched off by a hulking, bald man-monkey from space as an 8 or 9 year old without becoming deeply traumatized and being turned into a serial killer, odds are fairly high that your kid will do just as fine with it.
Again, as a reminder: this show was made specifically FOR 5 to 13 year olds in Japan. There is absolutely NOTHING inherent or intrinsic about Japanese 9 year olds from 1989 that makes them any more innately impervious or resilient to the potentially "psychologically scarring" contents of a children's martial arts fantasy cartoon than an American 9 year old in 2018. Certain particulars may differ, but overall on a basic-enough level, 9 year olds are gonna 9 year old no matter what country (or decade) they're from.
As far as the Muten Roshi stuff goes though: due to the... ill-advised, and unthoughtful way that the show handles it, that stuff can certainly be a tad bit dicier to navigate (at least potentially anyway). The main thing there is that, as has been well said already, that your kid has a firm grasp on not only the difference between fiction and real life, but also the basic realities of how these gender/sexual dynamics work (i.e. it's not particularly cute or harmless to just randomly touch girls on their private areas) and that they aren't somehow constantly inundated by shitty examples of it like in DB.
If your kid at a bare minimum knows that A) TV and real life aren't the same thing and B) groping at girls without their express ok (or before both parties are above a given age range) is incredibly bad and harmful to everyone involved, then honestly, they should likely be totally good to go. Kids are generally a good deal smarter and able to handle a LOT more than many adults often give them credit for, and are plenty capable of being very good learners provided they're at least given the space and opportunity to learn in the first place: the main things that they need are guidance and basic wisdom from their family and loved ones to help them navigate along the way.
As a general rule, going out of one's way to make sure that anything even marginally complex or potentially upsetting be firmly hidden away from kids at all times is, broadly speaking, not usually the most pragmatically helpful or psychologically/emotionally healthy approach to their development. To put it mildly. At a bare minimum, at least give them a chance and the space to actually test their own boundaries with these things, and actually learn what kind of stuff bothers them and what doesn't.
But overall, so long as your child is being raised without unnecessary sheltering and with some general grasp of common sense, there's NO reason whatsoever that a Japanese cartoon about flying martial arts masters - dismemberments and all - would have any serious negative impact on them. Japan isn't exactly getting besieged by a generation of mentally scarred mass murdering psychopaths simply because they all grew up watching Dodoria put his arm through a Namekian's torso.
Now the sex issue is a WHOLE other story... but one mere lone example like Dragon Ball is hardly responsible for that anyway. Again, so long as one's child is generally being raised well and with largely good, positive, healthy examples to learn from (and honestly, even with negative examples that are at least contextually sound enough to show them exactly WHY they're negative), one poorly-handled work like DB is hardly going to make much of a dent.
Again, as a reminder: this show was made specifically FOR 5 to 13 year olds in Japan. There is absolutely NOTHING inherent or intrinsic about Japanese 9 year olds from 1989 that makes them any more innately impervious or resilient to the potentially "psychologically scarring" contents of a children's martial arts fantasy cartoon than an American 9 year old in 2018. Certain particulars may differ, but overall on a basic-enough level, 9 year olds are gonna 9 year old no matter what country (or decade) they're from.
As far as the Muten Roshi stuff goes though: due to the... ill-advised, and unthoughtful way that the show handles it, that stuff can certainly be a tad bit dicier to navigate (at least potentially anyway). The main thing there is that, as has been well said already, that your kid has a firm grasp on not only the difference between fiction and real life, but also the basic realities of how these gender/sexual dynamics work (i.e. it's not particularly cute or harmless to just randomly touch girls on their private areas) and that they aren't somehow constantly inundated by shitty examples of it like in DB.
If your kid at a bare minimum knows that A) TV and real life aren't the same thing and B) groping at girls without their express ok (or before both parties are above a given age range) is incredibly bad and harmful to everyone involved, then honestly, they should likely be totally good to go. Kids are generally a good deal smarter and able to handle a LOT more than many adults often give them credit for, and are plenty capable of being very good learners provided they're at least given the space and opportunity to learn in the first place: the main things that they need are guidance and basic wisdom from their family and loved ones to help them navigate along the way.
As a general rule, going out of one's way to make sure that anything even marginally complex or potentially upsetting be firmly hidden away from kids at all times is, broadly speaking, not usually the most pragmatically helpful or psychologically/emotionally healthy approach to their development. To put it mildly. At a bare minimum, at least give them a chance and the space to actually test their own boundaries with these things, and actually learn what kind of stuff bothers them and what doesn't.
But overall, so long as your child is being raised without unnecessary sheltering and with some general grasp of common sense, there's NO reason whatsoever that a Japanese cartoon about flying martial arts masters - dismemberments and all - would have any serious negative impact on them. Japan isn't exactly getting besieged by a generation of mentally scarred mass murdering psychopaths simply because they all grew up watching Dodoria put his arm through a Namekian's torso.
Now the sex issue is a WHOLE other story... but one mere lone example like Dragon Ball is hardly responsible for that anyway. Again, so long as one's child is generally being raised well and with largely good, positive, healthy examples to learn from (and honestly, even with negative examples that are at least contextually sound enough to show them exactly WHY they're negative), one poorly-handled work like DB is hardly going to make much of a dent.
http://80s90sdragonballart.tumblr.com/
Kunzait's Wuxia Thread
Kunzait's Wuxia Thread
Journey to the West, chapter 26 wrote:The strong man will meet someone stronger still:
Come to naught at last he surely will!
Zephyr wrote:And that's to say nothing of how pretty much impossible it is to capture what made the original run of the series so great. I'm in the generation of fans that started with Toonami, so I totally empathize with the feeling of having "missed the party", experiencing disappointment, and wanting to experience it myself. But I can't, that's how life is. Time is a bitch. The party is over. Kageyama, Kikuchi, and Maeda are off the sauce now; Yanami almost OD'd; Yamamoto got arrested; Toriyama's not going to light trash cans on fire and hang from the chandelier anymore. We can't get the band back together, and even if we could, everyone's either old, in poor health, or calmed way the fuck down. Best we're going to get, and are getting, is a party that's almost entirely devoid of the magic that made the original one so awesome that we even want more.
Kamiccolo9 wrote:It grinds my gears that people get "outraged" over any of this stuff. It's a fucking cartoon. If you are that determined to be angry about something, get off the internet and make a stand for something that actually matters.
Rocketman wrote:"Shonen" basically means "stupid sentimental shit" anyway, so it's ok to be anti-shonen.
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
First of all, I agree with the people saying that you should start out with regular DB if possible. Due to the many options for watching DB in English, I'll rank everything in tiers from most kid friendly to least kid friendly. The biggest issues the average American parent might have with the DB franchise include Roshi's antics, the at times excessive violence, and the name of Mr.Satan. Note that the tiers don't necessarily reflect the quality of the options, or their availability. Also, some of the lower tiers might be messy, but I'm typing this while I'm half asleep.
1. US Broadcast TV
-Harmony Gold DB Movie 1 and 3 double feature
-BLT DB Ep 1-13 and DB Movie 1
-Saban DBZ Ep 1-53 (edited numbering) and DBZ Movie 3
-4kids/Saban edit of Funi Kai 1-98
2. Intermediate tier one
-Westwood Z Ep 108-right before End of Z (uses Funimation's footage) (I forgot the point where Funi's footage was no longer used)
3. US Cable TV
-Toonami edit of Pioneer DBZ Movies 1-2
-Edited Funi DB Movies 2-4, Funi DBZ Movies 4-13(?) (4-9 are confirmed)
-Edited Funi DBZ Ep. 54-276, Funi DB and GT
-Edited Funi DBZ Specials 1-2, GT Special
-Nicktoons Funi Kai Ep. 1-98
4. Intermediate tier two
-Westwood Z End of Z (uses AB Groupe footage)
5. Pre-edited AB Groupe tier
-Blue Water DB
6a. Light edits no profanity tier
-Blue Water GT
-Big Green DBZ Movie 9, DBZ Specials 1-2
6b. No edits no profanity tier
-Big Green DB Movies 1-3 (unconfirmed), DBZ Movies 1-8, GT Special (unconfirmed)
-CN India and ABC AU Funi Super (can someone confirm this?)
6c. Light edits light profanity tier
-Bang Zoom Super
7. No edits light (if any) profanity tier
-Uncut Funi DB, Uncut Funi Z (excluding DBZ Movie 7, 14, and 15), Uncut Funi GT
-Speedy DB Movies 2-4, DBZ Movies 1-13, DBZ Ep. 1-12
-Fillipino DBZ Movies 5-6, 10-11
8. Equilibrium tier
All officially licensed DB subs of the Japanese.
9. Heavier with profanity tier
-DBZ Movies 7, 14, 15
-Uncut Funi Kai Ep. 1-98
-The two serious fandubs of DBZ Special 1
10. As bad as it's ever officially gotten tier
-Uncut Funi Kai Ep. 99-167
-Uncut Funi Super
11. Wash your mouth out with soap tier
-Those old fansubs from Anime Labs
-DBZ Abridged
1. US Broadcast TV
-Harmony Gold DB Movie 1 and 3 double feature
-BLT DB Ep 1-13 and DB Movie 1
-Saban DBZ Ep 1-53 (edited numbering) and DBZ Movie 3
-4kids/Saban edit of Funi Kai 1-98
2. Intermediate tier one
-Westwood Z Ep 108-right before End of Z (uses Funimation's footage) (I forgot the point where Funi's footage was no longer used)
3. US Cable TV
-Toonami edit of Pioneer DBZ Movies 1-2
-Edited Funi DB Movies 2-4, Funi DBZ Movies 4-13(?) (4-9 are confirmed)
-Edited Funi DBZ Ep. 54-276, Funi DB and GT
-Edited Funi DBZ Specials 1-2, GT Special
-Nicktoons Funi Kai Ep. 1-98
4. Intermediate tier two
-Westwood Z End of Z (uses AB Groupe footage)
5. Pre-edited AB Groupe tier
-Blue Water DB
6a. Light edits no profanity tier
-Blue Water GT
-Big Green DBZ Movie 9, DBZ Specials 1-2
6b. No edits no profanity tier
-Big Green DB Movies 1-3 (unconfirmed), DBZ Movies 1-8, GT Special (unconfirmed)
-CN India and ABC AU Funi Super (can someone confirm this?)
6c. Light edits light profanity tier
-Bang Zoom Super
7. No edits light (if any) profanity tier
-Uncut Funi DB, Uncut Funi Z (excluding DBZ Movie 7, 14, and 15), Uncut Funi GT
-Speedy DB Movies 2-4, DBZ Movies 1-13, DBZ Ep. 1-12
-Fillipino DBZ Movies 5-6, 10-11
8. Equilibrium tier
All officially licensed DB subs of the Japanese.
9. Heavier with profanity tier
-DBZ Movies 7, 14, 15
-Uncut Funi Kai Ep. 1-98
-The two serious fandubs of DBZ Special 1
10. As bad as it's ever officially gotten tier
-Uncut Funi Kai Ep. 99-167
-Uncut Funi Super
11. Wash your mouth out with soap tier
-Those old fansubs from Anime Labs
-DBZ Abridged
Robo4900 wrote:Mouse is BRILLIANT SCIENTIST dumb.
CAT LOVES FOOD dumb.
Jack is just kinda dumb.Spoiler:
-
- Advanced Regular
- Posts: 1205
- Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2016 9:08 am
- Location: Earth
- Contact:
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
Dragon Ball's general demo is 15+ mostly in Japan from all the data I have gathered. But, 12 is a good starting point from my observation. There are a few fans in that range. My suggestion would be waiting until then if you want them to have the uncut experience and all that. But, ultimately it is your decision.
Re: Should I let my 9 year old watch DBZ?
No it isn’t. It’s targeted at little elementary school kids even in Japan.Saikyo no Senshi wrote:Dragon Ball's general demo is 15+ mostly in Japan from all the data I have gathered. .
They had a fire safety and traffic safety videos produced in Japan. That should tell you who exactly the audience in mind for Dragon Ball is