Aspects of Dragonball Fandom that Piss You Off

[Rocketman]

Y'know what I mean, though.

Buy me dinner first.

[jjgp1112]

However, I'd never buy a fansub. I'm at least respectful to copyrights.

Copyright shmopyright - who buys fansubs? That's just stupid.

That's a reason too. I'm apathetic about video quality, but I draw my limits there. The subtitles are horrible, too.

[desirecampbell]

That's a reason too. I'm apathetic about video quality, but I draw my limits there. The subtitles are horrible, too.

'Horrible' how? This isn't 1998, most fansubs are pretty decently translated, and almost everyone's using styled subs now. So they're not 'horrible' in either visual quality, nor are they 'horrible' in translation quality. Is there another quality I'm missing?

[jjgp1112]

That's a reason too. I'm apathetic about video quality, but I draw my limits there. The subtitles are horrible, too.

'Horrible' how? This isn't 1998, most fansubs are pretty decently translated, and almost everyone's using styled subs now. So they're not 'horrible' in either visual quality, nor are they 'horrible' in translation quality. Is there another quality I'm missing?

Well I haven't seen one since I bought a GT fansub 6 years ago, so I'm a little bit behind the times.

[MajinVejitaXV]

Corey,have you "remastered" the footage with music that sounds like it came from Japan? If so,I'm completely sold.

Fuck the Dragonbox,i'm buying the CoreyBox. Its the way Dragonball Z was meant to be seen. Cheap and low buget.

FUCK YES. I got together with Quiet Riot and recorded a little thing we like to call "Cum on Feel the (Head Cha La)." It rocks. Axl Rose checked it out, and he said he wants to include it as a B-side on Chinese Democracy. We're working on a tie-in with Duke Nukem Forever. Look for it soon!

Well, in this instance, 'better product' is entirely subjective.

Not really. Whether the Japanese or English version is better is subjective, but the DVD's themselves are not. From a pure standard of "visual and aural presentation vs. video and aural presentation," (read: the point of DVD's) the R2's kill the R1's.

They're cheap

Can a single defending post about these releases ever not bring up the price? I suppose not

-Corey

[Rocketman]

Can a single defending post about these releases ever not bring up the price? I suppose not

-Corey

It's pretty much the entire hook. I never bought any of the DBZ anime prior to the orange boxes because it cost too much. But $30 and I get a whole 'season' with English voice actors? Hell yes!

[Acid_Reign]

I hate annoying Dragon Box elitists (AKA 85% of this board) that thinks that anyone who buys the Season Set instead of the Dragon Box is an idiot. Can some of you guys pull your heads out of your ass and realize that some of us can't afford the Dragon Boxes, some of us don't feel like learning Japanese, and some of us don't even have multi-regional DVD players. A lot of us who buy the set just want the episodes at an affordable price and don't care about 25% meaningless footage at the top and bottom gone, or how accurate the color looks, or how many lines are present during a shaking scene. So don't get pissy about people "playing into Funi's hands" or "keeping you from getting a proper release by giving them money." You guys have to realize that you Dragon Box buying fans make up only about 25% of the US fanbase, and the other 60 or 70% aren't anal about the picture quality.

I like how respecting the source now translates into "anal about picture quality."

Honestly dude, if you really don't care about Dragon Ball, why are you even a fan? Why are you making such a big fuss over these "Dragon Box elitists" (whom as far as I know, do not exist) if you're so apathetic? Why even bring any of this up? Shouldn't you be at home, watching the 75% of DBZ you payed for, and be content with your life?

What amazes me about all this is how often, even when individuals like Corey and myself have expounded our views as anti-OrangeBoxists, people mistake this for a Dragon Box vs. Season Set debate. It isn't a Dragon Box vs. anything debate, because we all [should] know that the quality achieved from a proper digitization + cleanup of a zeroth generation film source is unparalleled. The only way it could get any better for us here in the U.S. would be to see it subtitled. That's it.

Thing is, we're not even advocating that. We, those most commonly referred to as "videophiles," do not have such ridiculously-high expectations that we would anticipate a U.S. release to look as good as the D.Box does. It's an ideal. What we do expect, though, is something that comes as close to the ideal as possible, and FUNi happens to deviates from it A LOT.

Just imagine the reaction from fans if this kind of a stunt was pulled with a classic like Citizen Kane. Or The Godfather. Or Star Wars (though to an extent, this has happened). People would be furious. They'd demand a better release. They wouldn't buckle under the pressure of cheap thrills. Why should Dragon Ball fans be any different? Why should we be at the helm of dubbing companies and blindly purchase whatever they put out? Shouldn't we be spending our money wisely, not recklessly?

The answers to these questions define what kind of a fan you are (and how good you are with personal finance).

[Rocketman]

Why should Dragon Ball fans be any different?

Money. 391 episodes, it's not going to get any better than $1 an episode. The Godfather, Citizen Kane, Star Wars, they end. They end very quickly and are easy to get all of.

The answers to these questions define what kind of a fan you are

Hey, I'll have you know I'm a good-

(and how good you are with personal finance).

Welp, I'm boned.

[Adamant]

The entire Star Wars 6 episode series in the new Super Widescreen with frame-by-frame expertly remastered footage, revealing never-before seen edges of film! Also includes newly refilmed footage always meant to appear in the movies, with continuity-oriented script edits including Obi-Wan explaining the midichlorians to Luke, as well as new scenes centered on Jar Jar Binks in the 3 final episodes to make the movies flow better, not making you wonder where he went after episode 3, and a newly redubbed R2-D2 to make it clear to the audience what he's saying at any given point! Now only 5$ for the entire set. Special space-saving technique allows the entire series to be presented on a single DVD! The way it was meant to be seen! In fact, it's so perfect you'll never ever consider another version, so we're discontinuing all other editions these fims have ever been presented in. Buy today!

[Rocketman]

The way it was meant to be seen!

One fatal flaw there. Star Wars belongs to George Lucas. If that's what he wants his movies to look like, that is the way they were meant to be seen.

And anyway, hey, it's $5. Why not.

[Kendamu]

Y'know what I mean, though.

Buy me dinner first.

Can it be a cheap dinner? I don't get paid until next week.

And, to be on topic, fuck the Dragonboxes and fuck the Orange Bricks. They all suck! I'm stepping up to the plate as a "mangaphile." Black & white still pictures with no music from the source himself for the win!

Actually, even though I love the manga, I'm not an asshole like that. I know VIZ has their flaws, too.

[Super Sonic]

That's a reason too. I'm apathetic about video quality, but I draw my limits there. The subtitles are horrible, too.

'Horrible' how? This isn't 1998, most fansubs are pretty decently translated, and almost everyone's using styled subs now. So they're not 'horrible' in either visual quality, nor are they 'horrible' in translation quality. Is there another quality I'm missing?

There are still some that mix up the Japanese words for "death" and "pain", as well as those who mistake male characters for being female.

[Captain Awesome]

And, to be on topic, fuck the Dragonboxes and fuck the Orange Bricks. They all suck! I'm stepping up to the plate as a "mangaphile." Black & white still pictures with no music from the source himself for the win!

I'm so horny for Dragonball manga that I preordered both the DB and DBZ Viz big books today , I say fuck you to the anime!, I won't buy anymore dvd's!

Aside from the three remaining movie boxes I need, and the rest of GT...and whatever else I can find on ebay...

...dammit.

[Acid_Reign]

Money. 391 episodes, it's not going to get any better than $1 an episode. The Godfather, Citizen Kane, Star Wars, they end. They end very quickly and are easy to get all of.

So if I want to decorate my windows, should I immediately drive down to the thrift store and buy curtains with faded colors and 25% of the original fabric shredded off just because they're 99¢?

I know, I know; bad example, but really, how many analogies must one make before the message crosses the conceptual barrier here? The "cheap" defense is getting more than a little repetitive. Technically speaking, it's cheaper not to buy these sets than to buy them. No one is making you purchase anything more expensive if you do without. On the other hand, if there were more of a demand for a proper release, we might get more for the same price, or at least a comparable one. Miracles and bargain bins aside, it's never going to be lower than what it is now, and it'll never be higher than what it already was—which is what people were prepared to pay anyway, so any price chosen between those two points should be reasonably reasonable for the average fan. At this point, there is absolutely nothing to lose by getting a better set, only something to gain (the rest of the show).

And, I know it doesn't seem like it at times, but Dragon Ball ends too… it just ends much, much, later. Though to me, the length of a film has very little bearing on how much I'm willing to spend on it. Clearly, as in Lord of the Rings (which seemed to run forever), there are many a fan who would not be cool if the only boxset available contained the fullscreen version of the movies, especially if all of the individual releases before that came out in widescreen. This is the converse of the same issue, and it's both shocking and disappointing that more people couldn't give less of a shit when this is supposed to be one of their favorite animé titles.

[Metalwario64]

Money. 391 episodes, it's not going to get any better than $1 an episode. The Godfather, Citizen Kane, Star Wars, they end. They end very quickly and are easy to get all of.

So if I want to decorate my windows, should I immediately drive down to the thrift store and buy curtains with faded colors and 25% of the original fabric shredded off just because they're 99¢?

So now you are decorating your house with Dragon Boxes?

[jjgp1112]

So if I'm perfectly content with just having episodes, not fighting for a better release, and not caring about video quality, since episode content at a cheap price was the reason why I bought this, I'm a bad fan? OH NOES!!!

[Death-T]

So if I'm perfectly content with just having episodes, not fighting for a better release, and not caring about video quality, since episode content at a cheap price was the reason why I bought this, I'm a bad fan? OH NOES!!!

You can have your season sets. No one ever said you couldn't, but don't try to justify your purchases with "All of you are just Dragon Box elitist". And there's nothing you can do if some of us are honestly ticked off that there aren't more people fighting for a better release.

[Rocketman]

I know, I know; bad example, but really, how many analogies must one make before the message crosses the conceptual barrier here? The "cheap" defense is getting more than a little repetitive. Technically speaking, it's cheaper not to buy these sets than to buy them.

Well, yes, but then I wouldn't have any Dragonball anime.

which is what people were prepared to pay anyway

Not me. I bought one of the old releases on VHS and swore to never do that again. $25 for four episodes of Goku and Freeza staring at each other killed that really quick.

[Artificial Human #887]

And there's nothing you can do if some of us are honestly ticked off that there aren't more people fighting for a better release.

Well, what was really done to begin with? A few letters to Funi?

I have no qualms with fighting for a better release, but something substantial would have to be done for results. Let's face the facts - casual fans who watched the show on CN aren't going to care. They're just shopping at Best Buy and seeing a good deal on a show they liked a few years ago(coming from someone who had to teach their significant other the wonders of the DBox quality).

I think that's my biggest problem with the fanbase. Everyone wants something better, but I don't see anyone going out of their way to fight for it. If it happened, I certainly missed it - which means plenty of other people did. You have to fight for what you want, but nobody seems to do it.

[Kendamu]

And, to be on topic, fuck the Dragonboxes and fuck the Orange Bricks. They all suck! I'm stepping up to the plate as a "mangaphile." Black & white still pictures with no music from the source himself for the win!

I'm so horny for Dragonball manga that I preordered both the DB and DBZ Viz big books today , I say fuck you to the anime!, I won't buy anymore dvd's!

Aside from the three remaining movie boxes I need, and the rest of GT...and whatever else I can find on ebay...

...dammit.

Hilarious!

While you're looking for things, I have Ocean dub Season 1 if you wanna buy it.