ChiChi

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Son ChiChi
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ChiChi

Post by Son ChiChi » Mon Jul 05, 2004 9:46 pm

From reading the messages on this board, it seems a lot of people do not like ChiChi or they bash her in some way. I just wanted to express my opinion on her. In the manga, ChiChi is not as quick tempered or overprotective. She’s often quiet and doesn’t say much and when she does gets mad and protective, it’s understandable. Wouldn’t you be upset if your husband kept your four-year-old out all night and he didn’t call or come home when he promised to? (I thought it was disrespectful to Goku that none of his friends told his wife what happened and she had to find them and force it out of them.) ChiChi always calms down and accepts the decision of her husband and sons fighting. ChiChi is often looking out for her family and doesn’t want them to get hurt or worse killed.

I think many people don’t like her because of her temper and protectiveness but the anime over exaggerates ChiChi’s temper and protectiveness (more than likely for comic relief) and the dubbed pushes it WAY overboard. I like the voice actress for ChiChi in the dubbed but I feel they have Cynthia Cranz yelling too loud because the subbed ChiChi doesn’t yell as loud. Also there is the writing. The dubbed writers really do not portray ChiChi in the best light at times, especially when compared to the subbed. They often leave out the times where ChiChi is understanding of the situation of Goku and Gohan fighting. In the Great Saiyanman Saga in the dubbed, Gohan comes home and tells his mother about Goku coming back and him entering the tournament and ChiChi gets angry and says Gohan has to study for college, where in the subbed, ChiChi was ecstatic about Goku coming back and knew Goku and Gohan could win first and second prizes so the family could have money to live off on and ChiChi was encouraging to Gohan that he takes time out of school, saying there’s time for education later. There are so many more examples on the differences of ChiChi in the subbed and dubbed and I will never understand why the dubbed do these things to make ChiChi look bad.

ChiChi is very loyal to her husband, doting over her family. She seems more reasonable and nicer in the subbed than dubbed. Her temper is really for comic relief but it gets lost in translation. Even though she worries over them, ChiChi is okay with Gohan fighting as it was hinted in the subbed. Why the writers of the dubbed bash the wife of the main character, I will never understand.

ChiChi also trained Goten and was much easier on him than she was with Gohan. My guess is since Goku’s death, ChiChi learned that she didn’t need to push her children and she knew Goku would want his son to know how to fight and she honored his memory by training their son.

Someone mention how ChiChi looks older, especially compared to Bulma. They both look young throughout the whole series until the very end and are two very different people. Bulma tries to look younger by changing her hairstyles and wearing tight, revealing clothes that get many young, horny boys watching DB/DBZ excited. ChiChi isn’t like that. ChiChi may appear older because she’s covered up more and only changes her hairstyles three times in the series, but she still looks young and commented on her youthful looks in the subbed more than once. ChiChi is an old fashion woman that doesn’t reveal or show herself off to anyone except her husband. Simple as that. ChiChi’s not trying to get attention like Bulma. ChiChi looks young to me in the tournament at the end of DB and she still looks young at the beginning of DBZ all the way to the Cell Games. I think ChiChi’s hair up in a bun makes people thinks she older than she actually is. Anyone remember that dream Gohan had of his father coming back after Frieza? ChiChi’s comes out of the house with her hair down. She looks young there and much prettier to me. The only time I thought ChiChi looked older than she was is in the Buu Saga when all her hair is pulled up in a bun. How about the time ChiChi looked in “He’s Always Late” where everyone has a reunion at Capsule Corp and ChiChi’s hairstyle is different, her clothes more modern in that pink shirt and white pants? She definitely looks different then. I almost didn’t recognize her because she looked so much younger than she did in the entire time of the Buu Saga. Funny, how Goku called Bulma middle aged in the subbed during the Buu Saga.

At the end of DBZ, both Bulma and ChiChi have winkles, but once again Bulma tries to look younger with her clothes and new hairstyle. ChiChi just kept herself simple. GT doesn’t count but it did make ChiChi appear older than she was. She just didn’t look right with short hair. That’s more of Bulma’s thing but then again everyone didn’t look right in GT and everyone was OOC. It looked as if they got a new animation staff for that series.

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Post by Ben Plante » Mon Jul 05, 2004 10:11 pm

Wow, this seems like a good Message Board discussion for the next Ask VegettoEX. :-)

If it's worth anything, Chichi is my fave female character.
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Post by Deus ex Machina » Mon Jul 05, 2004 10:18 pm

You're very passionate about your favourite character, and that's always nice to see, especially when it's not another Vegeta fan girl. :P

I think you're right though, Chi chi does get a bad rap in DBZ, and probably even more so in the anime vs. the manga. I can't speak from experience, since I don't have many of the mangas, but in the anime Chi-chi is always portrayed in an extremly anal - over protective role. When Goku returns from Namek, Chi chi goes as far to say that she didn't care if the entire Earth was destroyed, as long as Gohan studied.

I'm glad she finally mellowed out after Goten was born, but by then the damage was done, she would be forever labeled the bitch. But atleast she always kept Goku on his toes.

As for "old fashioned vs. Slutty"; I don't think it's quite like that. Yes Chi chi is very reserved, but Bulma is a city girl and incredibly rich, in addition to being vain. It only makes sence that Bulma would be more fashion inclined than Chi chi, who lives out in the middle of nowhere.

Finally, I can't believe you left out the very last look Chi chi has at the end of DBZ, in my opinion her most attractive (ironically, since she's in her mid 40's now). She looks so much more calm and mellow, not having to worry about Gohans studies or Goku fighting.

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Post by Izlude » Mon Jul 05, 2004 10:19 pm

Chi Chi was hot in the orginal DB, she had those plump legs ^^

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Post by MyVisionity » Mon Jul 05, 2004 10:37 pm

I've always loved ChiChi because she was always sincere and expressed her emotions openly. She seems to have a wide range. I like that while the story progressed she always remained a martial artist at heart and didn't forget her family and origins. Even when she pushes Goku to take some responsibility and for Gohan to study, she's still likely to let loose and do some fighting if the threat is big enough. She just doesn't take crap from anyone. Love the style of clothing and the hair, well at least from the 23rd Budokai forward. It shows some self-respect. My favorite thing about her is that form of dialect she uses like the "ain'tcha" and "fightin'". What exactly is it? Did Ox ever talk that way? That just adds to her depth as a character and gives her some sort of zest in my opinion.

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Post by Jerseymilk » Mon Jul 05, 2004 11:00 pm

The way she talks is just a representation of a more country dialect and I for one have never bashed Chi-Chi. I also like her and feel too that the dub makes her seem very obnoxious and it also downplays how much she really does love Goku. It comes across more in the original. Then again, I tend to find that in the dub, all the females are written as very obnoxious. It's almost like they thought North Americans equated being a strong female with obnoxious, bossy, and insensitive.
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Post by Tuxedo Kamen » Mon Jul 05, 2004 11:09 pm

I like the dubbed Chichi, she seems like a typical mother here in the states, always worried about her spouse and children, cooks a lot, and can scream her lungs out.

I didn't like her younger version in DB though, she just seemed rather dull and whiny.

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Post by SpiritBomb » Mon Jul 05, 2004 11:40 pm

Although it is funny to see Chi Chi be overprotective and be angry all the time, I agree, its just not right to have them change her so much like that just for comic relief when she's actually a pretty cool character.

As for her age, you also have a point. Chi Chi doesent care what she looks like and shes always wearing the same dresses and same stuff wich is cool but Bulma has the red lipstick, her tight dresses, her different hairstyles so she definitely is gonna look younger. I think the youngest Chi Chi looked, well, in her adult years, was the reunion. Well, most different I should say. She wasint wearing one of those dresses but just casual. I thought it was funny when 18 goes to her house and looks through all her clothes. I liked her reaction at all the dresses, how none of them suited her.
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Post by omae no kaasan » Tue Jul 06, 2004 12:05 am

For starters, seeing as how her name is "Tit" I really can't see her as anything than another venting of Toriyama's admitted perversion and sexism through manga. That's what it boils down to essentially.

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Post by Super Sonic » Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:25 am

I like Chi Chi as a character, and yeah the anime does put her more over the top. One guy I knew from Japan who watched US DBZ described her in both the original and the dub as the "stereotypical Japanese wife and mother".

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Post by Son ChiChi » Tue Jul 06, 2004 5:23 pm

Deux es Machina

You’re right. Their backgrounds did help shape them--ChiChi from the country and Bulma in the city. I don’t think Bulma’s clothes were slutty. For the most part, she had good taste in clothing but there were a few times her style in clothing were questionable as her lewdness such as walking around in her underwear in front of a five-year-old boy and a grown man. I did mention ChiChi in the end of DBZ just not much but that was a good look for her with her hair down and it does seem she was happier now that Gohan had finished his education and Goku not fighting anymore enemies but just for fun with their son.

It just that some people here were saying how much older ChiChi looked when she didn’t look old and one person mention how they wished Goku would kill ChiChi. I just had to respond. I thought it was unfair.

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Post by Super Sonic » Tue Jul 06, 2004 5:35 pm

I never thought of Bulma as slutty, except when finding out she would sleep with Vegeta. That was the only time I ever thought of her that way. Other than that time, I never thought of her being slutty.

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Post by Izlude » Wed Jul 07, 2004 4:45 am

Tuxedo Kamen wrote:I like the dubbed Chichi, she seems like a typical mother here in the states
The same kind of mother that wants anime censored and violent video games off store shelves :)

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Post by Super Sonic » Wed Jul 07, 2004 12:13 pm

To each their own. My mom wasn't a crazy crusading soccer mom. She wouldn't let me watch R-rated movies until I was 12, but not a crazy crusader.

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Post by Jodaku » Wed Jul 07, 2004 2:08 pm

ChiChi's the perfect example why I've come to hate the anime, and become something of a manga purist.

Basically everyhting Son ChiChi have said is true, and then you add the dub factor...urgh!

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Post by omae no kaasan » Wed Jul 07, 2004 5:42 pm

you're forgetting that all Chichi's role was, was to be a gag and provide a way for a bunch of male characters to come up with children...the normal way.
Last edited by omae no kaasan on Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Son ChiChi » Wed Jul 07, 2004 8:21 pm

Well, yeah that's true about ChiChi but the anime could've portrayed her in a better and more honest light because so many people read her the wrong way instead of taking her temper and protectiveness in humor.

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Post by Mochi » Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:06 am

I always thought it was funny. When she yells at one person, everyone else in the room gets all flinchy. :lol:
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Post by omae no kaasan » Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:48 am

so many people read her the wrong way instead of taking her temper and protectiveness in humor.
Which country are you speaking for? If you're speaking for America, then why should the animation have taken into consideration what a country it wasn't targeting thought about it?

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Post by Son ChiChi » Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:34 pm

Maybe I said it wrong, but I wasn't meaning that. I was just saying she didn't need to be made over the top at times as it was in the anime.

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