Why Dragonball?

Anonymous Friend · Post by **Anonymous Friend** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:49 pm

When there are so many other series and franchises that I love so much more, why do I keep coming back to Dragonball? When there are so many better series out there, why do I keep coming back to Dragonball?

There's so many comic books and videogames, and television series and movies that I really like but the only forum that I really frequent on a everyday (besides the occasional visit to the Wii Hareware Board on Gamefaqs) basis is a Dragonball forum.

Why is it that the only television series I've bothered to purchase sets for is the Dragonball series? And aside from Street Fighter DVDs, which I attribute for getting me into the series, Dragonball DVDs are the only ones I really own. And ever since I purchased my Playstation 2, I've picked up every new Dragonball game released on it the day it comes out. I even bought Burst Limit before I even had my Playstation 3.

What about the rest of you guys? Why do we keep coming back to Dragonball? what is it about this series?

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:07 pm

Depending on where your first influence of it was, if you were exposed via the dub (like me), it's sort of the father of the influx of anime into American culture that we see today, and there's a lot of memories with it, I'm sure.

Not to mention I'm a sucker for cheesiness, which Dragon Ball has in spades.

SSj_Rambo · Post by **SSj_Rambo** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:29 pm

For me, I think the main thing that kept me interested is the magnitude of the series. I mean in the beginning it seemed like there was an infinite amount of characters, and that fact that it never seems to end was really a bonus since from day one I have enjoyed getting farther into the series but never want to get all of the way through it. Also, for me Dragonball was the first anime (other than Pokemon for a while) that I ever gave a chance to take seriously, I've always wondered that if I were exposed to a different anime first, say One Piece or Naruto, would I be as obsessed with that as I am with Dragonball?

Pretty much it all boils down to either you love because it was the first show/manga of it's kind that you saw, or it just has some magical element to it that just drew you in. For me, it seems to be a little of both.

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:48 pm

It's the characters.

I find that with any series, if I like the characters and can get invested in them, there's a much bigger chance I'll stick around and watch the show.

Cartman Blues · Post by **Cartman Blues** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:11 pm

Oddly enough the first merchandise of Dragonball I got was the silver Burger King Goku. I was 7 I think and was like, "What the hell is a Goku?"

The first time I watched the series was Goku vs. Vegeta. It was rerun.

StarrDust · Post by **StarrDust** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:00 pm

I got into Dragon Ball Z back in middle school and soon began to obsess with it. The flames of my passion soon died down a bit, but I never stopped liking the series, I just didn't watch the DVDs as much as I used to. Then I got into another fandom, which has recently turned into something I really don't like. The fans have become unberable and there's constant arguing among them. This sort of pushed me back into the Dragon Ball world because even though we're apparently notorious for having annoying fans, the only one I deal with in real life is my older brother, who I can have an intellegent conversation with.

So basically, for me, Dragon Ball has a very warm and fuzzy feel to it, that just keeps drawing me back.

backthen · Post by **backthen** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:48 pm

It was my favorite show as a child, and its just stuck with me!

djkalteraphine · Post by **djkalteraphine** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:26 pm

It's my favorite show. It made me want to be a writer. Son Goku's tale of trying his hardest, doing the right thing, and never giving up infatuated me. His selfless and loyal nature inspires me creatively and as a person. In fact, until I knew that was what it was about, I hated the show. Since I got into Dragon Ball, nearly ten years ago, I've not gone a month without doing something Dragon Ball related. I love this franchise more than any, and I don't believe there is a better one out there.

Big Momma · Post by **Big Momma** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:32 pm

It's because Dragonball is a classic. There will always be new shows coming out and being "better" than things before, but you always go back to the classics.

Well, it isn't exactly the same with American cartoons, because things like Looney Tunes will always be better than things like Ben 10 or any of the other shows that are being thrown out these days.

Raki · Post by **Raki** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:58 pm

Dragonball just simply never gets old to me.

SuperSaiyan3Goku · Post by **SuperSaiyan3Goku** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:11 pm

Why, even though there is so much more I could be doing right now, do I come back to Dragonball? You'd think that watching one series over and over again on DVD, VHS, and TV would kinda wear it out. Not for Dragonball. It's the kind of show that has such complex and action-packed storylines that grabs you and just drags you in. Even though you see it 1,000,000 times more, you still wouldn't get tired of it.

What got me into it was just clicking through channels to watch something, and I just came across it on CN. The Announcer for the Ads (Peter Cullen) and his voice just made me think "These commercials have such a great voice, the show has to be good!" What have I gotten myself into?

Ah well, Dragonball has me, and I'm lovin' it!

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:47 pm

When I first got into Dragonball it was still airing in syndication. Saturday mornings, ABC, 6:00 and again at 6:30. I usually only saw the second epsiode. But I got interested from the start for two reasons. SPACE! KIDS! They were on Namek and I couldn't tell that Krillin was older than Gohan by.... a couple decades or so. XD

But then I caught the show when CN picked it up and by the end of the Raditz fight the action had me hooked. By the end of the Vegeta stuff I was hooked on the characters. Especially Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo. And then it just grew from there, especially after CN started airing Dragonball.

But it's the combonation of everything just keeps me hooked. The characters, the action, the story, and the mix of fantasy and Sci-fi.

Captain Awesome · Post by **Captain Awesome** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:03 am

When I was first exposed to Dragonball via Funimation's dub in '99 It was the action and art style that hooked me.

Though as I got older my interest began to dissipate a little, and it wasn't until I discovered the original Japanese version that I became truly obsessed.

The music, the characters, the voices, it literally rejuvenated the series in my eyes, I got to discover Dragonball all over again, and to be honest enjoyed it a lot more.

ulisa · Post by **ulisa** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:09 am

Chuquita wrote:It's the characters.

I find that with any series, if I like the characters and can get invested in them, there's a much bigger chance I'll stick around and watch the show.

I have to agree strongly here. It was the characters that pulled me in and made me fall in love with the show because I actually gave a damn what happened to them. Most of the characters on Dragonball I find complex in one way or another which makes them even more interesting to me.

And for myself personally, I love seeing relationships change and develop so I liked seeing the friendships, rivalries, etc. develop over the course of the series and it's still something I love to see. Like, I have seen the Trunks special numerous times so I know how and when Gohan dies but it still makes me tear up.

Not many shows can do that to me after numerous viewings.

Vivisection · Post by **Vivisection** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:45 am

Speaking for myself, the entire franchise is very nostalgic - much like in a well-loved novel, the characters feel almost like old friends to me. I can't help but grin when reading/watching certain parts, no matter how many times I've seen them before.

AnzuMazaki · Post by **AnzuMazaki** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:28 am

Big Momma wrote:It's because Dragonball is a classic. There will always be new shows coming out and being "better" than things before, but you always go back to the classics.

Well, it isn't exactly the same with American cartoons, because things like Looney Tunes will always be better than things like Ben 10 or any of the other shows that are being thrown out these days.

Yeah Ben 10 is the worst show out there, who wants to see a stereotypical American-Manga-toon (My nickname for anime-infulenced cartoons) Kid tranfrom into Aliens if they can see an anthromorphic rabbit trick a hunter in many ways.(I'm looking at you Bugs(
Or see a certain boy robot who saves the world from evil robots and robot haters.

and Goku is so simular to Astro Boy, being a hero of a classic manga and all, so people always come back to him.

SSj_Rambo · Post by **SSj_Rambo** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:50 am

As the Saiya-jin is drawn to combat, I am drawn to Dragonball.

The Time Traveller · Post by **The Time Traveller** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:01 am

It's funny, action packed, with an amazing plot, and cute too.

All of the characters are amazing too, none like them.

mrkaizoku · Post by **mrkaizoku** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:08 pm

AnzuMazaki wrote:and Goku is so simular to Astro Boy, being a hero of a classic manga and all, so people always come back to him.

Not to mention they have the same voice.

I've loved "Dragonball" since they first aired it back in 1995. It used to come on Sundays mid-morning. My brother and I would get so excited about it. Then suddenly they kept showing the same thirteen episodes over and over and over and over again. So we took a break from it for a little while. Then one day (somewhere around a year later I think) I happened to be tuning into the preview channel, and saw the listing for "Dragonball Z". At first I thought that they had made a mistake. So my brother and I decided we would tune in, and we just so happened to catch "Dragonball Z" from the first airing in the US. Everything was different. Goku was grown up, had a son and was married to Chi Chi. It was amazing. From then on my brother and I watched/taped every Sunday. After they would play an episode (which eventually turned into TWO episodes) we would go back and watch the tape from the start. We continued on that way for what seems like forever. Then the show stopped having new episodes for a while, and we stopped tuning in, but I didn't forget. The show was always on my mind. I'd go through the entire week waiting for it. Then heartbreaking disappointment. They were showing Raditz AGAIN. As much as I loved it I couldn't wait to see what happened next. I stopped watching and taping it every weekend for a while.

Then one Monday I went to school and a friend was talking about Goku making it to King Kai's. At first I thought he was lying. He was known to do that. So the following Sunday I'd set the VCR up, and waited for "Dragonball Z" to come on. When it finally did I thought my heart was going to explode. It was NEW! Goku had made it to King Kai's planet! I was shocked. From then on I was hooked again taping every episode (went back and got the episode I missed) until they stopped again. There was something about this time though that was different. It seemed like they were never going to show anything past it. Just a couple of weeks after this (could have been longer) my brother's girlfriend at the time received a few tapes in the mail from a French pen-pal. These tapes were very special. They helped to lead me down a very long path indeed.

The tapes that she had received in the mail were tapes of Dragonball Z movies (WHAT! Dragonball Z has MOVIES!) taken from Japanese laserdiscs. She let us borrow them. My mind was completely blown. I watched those tapes over and over and over again. I started to remember dialogue in a language I didn't understand. It gave me a feeling of excitement (わくわくするぞ!!!) that nothing has given me since. These were the days before the internet. Well, not really before just before most American families had it. So I knew nothing of the stories in these movies other than the visual.

Not terribly long after we got our first computer and internet. Those were times of heady excitement indeed. You could learn ANYTHING! It was like the library, but with easier to access information. Soon after that I became familiar with Manga scans, but our computer (an old IBM laptop) couldn't hold many at a time, and they took forever to download. A four megabyte file would take HOURS. So we would have to read and delete every chapter. It made me feel kind of like a spy having to digest every iota of a piece of information, and then having to destroy it. Things went on like that for another long period.

I had become completely obsessed with "Dragonball". I used to go to a local comic shop every week. My brother and I had the owner (don't want to use his name he should remain anonymous) to order a Japanese book out of Previews. And we waited. And waited. And waited. We stopped going to the comic shop as regularly. Then one afternoon I was out, and happened to be in the area of the comic shop and, on a whim decided to stop in. The owner (still nameless) got really excited. He kept saying "I was waiting for you", and "I have something that you're gonna love". He disappeared into the back of the store and after some rummaging reappeared with a copy of Dragonball thirty-five. My heart skipped a beat. I promptly purchased the book a sped home as fast as I could. I raced through the pages over and over. I knew some of the characters, but not all of them. I couldn't believe what was happening. The Z fighters were fighting against a then unknown enemy. Goku sacrifices himself to save everyone only for the enemy to return stronger than ever.

"Dragonball" thirty-five was the entire reason I learned Japanese. I had to know what they were saying. It moved seemingly slow at first. Just picking up little things here and there. I bought books, and audio tapes, and studied my ass of to learn the language. It was like a puzzle made only for me. I loved every minute of it.

"Dragonball" thirty-five remains to this day one of my favorite books. I've read it and re-read it time and time again. Every time I start the series over it is always the part that I'm most excited to read again.

The reason that I keep coming back to "Dragonball" is the simple fact that it is awesome. Sorry for the novel.

SSj_Rambo · Post by **SSj_Rambo** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 3:45 am

mrkaizoku wrote:The reason that I keep coming back to "Dragonball" is the simple fact that it is awesome. Sorry for the novel.

Don't be sorry, I loved reading it, almost brought a tear to my eye, almost.