What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by Ronin » Fri Nov 25, 2022 11:59 pm

I heard of Dragon Ball Z in 1st grade before I watched it. Everyone was talking about it, people had shirts of it and were pretending to do kamehamehas and stuff at recess and I had no idea what they were doing or talking about. Then after watching a scary movie late at night on another day, I wanted to watch cartoons to make myself feel better before going to bed and Cartoon Network was my favorite channel. Since it was so late, Toonami Midnight Run was on (never had seen Toonami or heard of Midnight Run before) and it was the episode where Goku was trying to catch Bubbles on Kai's planet. I still remember the exact scene where Goku's in the tree and then tries running the opposite direction to meet up with him head on instead running after him. I had no idea why this guy was trying to catch a monkey and what that tiny planet he was on was either. I looked at the name of the show and recognized the name and wanted to watch more, but my mom told me I had to go to bed. I was able to watch it another day and have been a fan since.

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by Kaboom » Sat Nov 26, 2022 1:37 am

There's no way I could remember my literal first ever exposure to the Dragon Ball franchise... my memory's not too great to begin with and I would have been way too young. I was already vaguely aware of "DBZ" through most of my childhood and preteen years before I actually became a fan.

The two earliest specific memories I have are seeing a random Androids-arc Z episode (wherein Gero/20 is sneaking around evading the heroes) on Toonami at my grandparents' house, and flipping through some Freeza vs Goku issues of Viz's super-old, single(?)-chapter, western-comic-books-format releases of the manga.

If anyone else has details on exactly when either of those things would have been current, then maybe that would at least narrow down which of them is most likely the first exposure that I can actually remember.
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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by XenoSaiyan » Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:38 am

The first time I saw DragonBallZ was on Saturday mornings in 1997 when the show was running in syndication before Toonami. The first time I saw DBZ in Japanese was in 2000 through bootleg VHS tapes.

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by PurestEvil » Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:38 pm

I have seen some DBZ clips on TV here and there as a kid but couldn't get into it. I really got into Dragon Ball through TFS's Abridged series about 3 years ago.
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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by MetaMoss » Wed Nov 30, 2022 6:45 am

I was your bog-standard Toonami kid starting with Funi DBZ from '98, with the added twist that I was a literal toddler and was really watching with my parents. My dad was what you could call an earlier American anime fan, with him really latching onto Star Blazers and Robotech back in the 70's and 80's. That plus the early Toonami lineup having stuff like Space Ghost and the Herculoids, stuff he ate up as a kid in the 60's, means that I can easily say that he was already an avid Toonami watcher from the jump, and the airings of stuff like Sailor Moon and Z caught his eye from there.

The rest, as they say, is history. Though my father may have passed before Battle of Gods came around, I can still have a nice chat anytime with my mom about all the stuff from this new era.
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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by Pride9000!!! » Thu Dec 08, 2022 6:23 pm

I am probably one of the more younger people here but hey I'll share my story.

It was back in 2009. my uncle introduced me to Dragon Ball at the time I was 7-years old. He told me it was a martial arts type cartoon or something like that, he also told me that there were 2 series original/Z he as a kid did watch Z on VHS tapes subbed but never OG.

So we started from the beginning with OG DB, we watched it dubbed on a old website back in the day (it was the bluebrick DVD version I am still very much nostalgic for that DVD). Everyday before bed we would watch 2 episodes. Episode by episode we were watching the series and it was a really fun time we made jokes with each other like: kamehameha waves, Mercenary Tao killing general blue with his tongue, him throwing pillar and then jumping on it, the sound that the eye catcher wood make https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sZGbMxxmY8

"in like 2010 i think" after finishing the original Dragon Ball we were going to watch Z but we didn't know which one to watch we had a choice between the original z and Kai. We didn't know what was the difference at the time but we ended up watching Z because it had more episodes lol. The version we watched was the Dragon box version with the English dub but with the kikuchi score, and around that time he bought a ps2 so we ended up playing a lot of budokai tenkaichi 3.

in between this time I also love watching YouTube videos of DBZ AMV kids my age will know, just to give you an example of a few which i remember 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swEoiraOM6A 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5PRBDBfO20 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng8-RW8qabQ

2013 - 2018 ish

my dad got me a copy of DBGT (it was the English dub with the Japanese music), never was really that impressed with GT even as a kid even kind of disappointed (with the story) but liked the music though. Later on I watched the movies, tv specials and started watching Dragon Ball Z abridged, sometime later I watched the super movies they were great. Also love watching lore videos on YouTube and the WAT IF or vs power scaling...

it was 2019 and I decided it was 10 years it's time to rewatch everything (I rewatched OG DB). but since I like to watch things in the best quality possible I went down the Rabbit Hole of the various home releases, dub vs sub, which one has which score...

Still haven't rewatched Z or GT, neither super or Broly. Since I want to watch them from the beginning to the end (OG to super). Still waiting for that good home release for Z/GT. Things are looking promising for AB group so there's still hope.

Edit sorry if there is any grammatical errors, or it just sounds like a big rambol.

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by Hulk10 » Thu Dec 08, 2022 9:04 pm

Kai was my first real introduction. But I'd seen it shown in comics.
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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by Saiya6Cit » Fri Dec 09, 2022 4:14 pm

My story is very sad guys

Dragon ball was first aired in mexico in 1995 and did not watch it until 1998.

My mother had strictly forbiden my brother and I to watch it, because it was satanic. One day when my mother was hospitalized I took advantage of that fact and watched it, it used to be at 8:30 PM

The first episode I ever watched was the one when they arrive to the island where the androids were supposed to show up. I was hooked, since day one, although a bit confused and had to learn the name of all of the Z warriors all at once. thankfully in mexico neither original DB neither DBZ went off air at any point during the 90s, so I had a chance to watch the reruns plust talking to other children at school, I could easily catch up.

Before dragon ball chidlren at school would not talk to me cause I was the nerd of the class , dragon ball became my way to connect with my generation.

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by Hellspawn28 » Sun Dec 11, 2022 2:40 am

sammybam88 wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 3:37 pm i think it was maybe when super started in 2015, when i was like 7, then the event in Fortnite got me really interested in it
You make everyone here feel like dinosaurs :lol: .
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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by Geraldo » Mon Dec 12, 2022 6:13 am

Super Butoden 1 and 3. Got them as a gift back in 2001.

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by SuperSaiyaManZ94 » Mon Dec 12, 2022 11:49 am

Hellspawn28 wrote: Sun Dec 11, 2022 2:40 am
sammybam88 wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 3:37 pm i think it was maybe when super started in 2015, when i was like 7, then the event in Fortnite got me really interested in it
You make everyone here feel like dinosaurs :lol: .
I know right, given a lot of people here were introduced to the world of Dragon Ball in either the Ocean/syndicated run or more likely after the in house FUNi dub started on Toonami like me. Seeing much younger people on this site and forum who's introduction was with Kai, Super or the recent movies makes me feel old too in terms of my fandom.
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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by ClutchBangstrip » Thu Dec 15, 2022 12:24 am

Early Saturday mornings Dragon Ball Z use to come on our local Fox station, maybe in 95 or 96. I saw the OG Dragon Ball on UPN at the same time, too.

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by Bajosexto » Sat Dec 31, 2022 5:19 am

I don't remember what might have been my first experience with Dragon Ball. I do vividly remember that in 2000 I was watching Digimon but I don't remember watching Dragon ball at all that year. So my earliest interaction with Dragon ball must have been in 2001. Probably sometime around August when school started because I remember that in recess my friends and I would re-enact the scenes from the show. :lol: I was about 6 years old at the time. And I have been a fan ever since.
SuperSaiyaManZ94 wrote: Mon Dec 12, 2022 11:49 am
Hellspawn28 wrote: Sun Dec 11, 2022 2:40 am
sammybam88 wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 3:37 pm i think it was maybe when super started in 2015, when i was like 7, then the event in Fortnite got me really interested in it
You make everyone here feel like dinosaurs :lol: .
I know right, given a lot of people here were introduced to the world of Dragon Ball in either the Ocean/syndicated run or more likely after the in house FUNi dub started on Toonami like me. Seeing much younger people on this site and forum who's introduction was with Kai, Super or the recent movies makes me feel old too in terms of my fandom.
At this point Dragon ball is really old. I mean back in the early 00's, it was already old. :lol: So yeah... If you were a fan then... you're not so young anymore. My self included. (Time really does fly man)

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by Raki » Sat Dec 31, 2022 8:24 pm

A friend of mine who drew shared an anime magazine that had SS4 Goku. Also a bunch of friends who had Cartoon Network talked about DBZ often. First full episode I saw was February 2002 after Vegeta blew himself up to stop Majin Boo.
The series doesn't start with the arrival of Raditz. Stop being lazy and watch Dragonball.

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by dragonmagico » Sun Jan 01, 2023 3:47 pm

I was watching the WB channel one morning before mom and dad took us to church and the ocean dub episode where they leave for namek was on.

Now 25ish years later the wife and I still watch anime before church on Sunday.

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by TheGreatness25 » Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:03 pm

I always thought it was like 1994 (I associate it with where I was living at the time), but I guess it must have been 1996 (based on when DBZ was airing in the US). It was a weekend and my brother was channel surfing and stopped on what turned out to be the end of the first episode of DBZ. Raditz just told Goku that he was Goku's older brother and everyone's was all tense. Certainly gripped us to watch the next episode that was airing right after.

I would then watch Sundays at 6am (I'm pretty sure) until it landed in Toonami and suddenly, everyone in school was talking about it.

I would record the series on VHS and then sometime in 1999, saw the Dragon Ball VHS tapes at a store and asked my parents to get them. So, I felt all cool having seen 13 episodes and 2 movies of Dragon Ball when my peers haven't. I'm pretty sure most of them thought I was making it up when I would tell them about my exposure to Dragon Ball lol

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by GokuHater » Mon Jan 02, 2023 5:42 pm

As for me, one day I was just switching channels at my TV looking for cartoons and suddenly there it was, a strange - anime was quite new in Poland at the time - episode featuring a man fighting an enormous green giant.
It must have been about 1999 and I was 11.
Like most kids in Poland my age I witnessed Dragon Ball on RTL7 with "polish-french" translation.

Surprisingly what I watched hooked me - I didn't really like the art back then and I didn't care for violence but something made me watch more and come back for more.

Yeah, I started watching at 23 Budokai with Goku vs Piccolo Jr. :)
After the arc I continued with DBZ and then GT.
And only after that I watched the rerun of original DB

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by Wrigglything » Fri Jan 06, 2023 9:04 am

I genuinely forgot that I've posted a response here, but this one's a bit more heartfelt and detailed I feel so here goes anyway:

Back around the late 2000s, early 2010s (?), Cartoon Network was airing DBZ Kai. Weirdly enough, I think it was using the uncut dub as well? Or at least I remember it being that way, considering I remember Krillin saying something like "this sucks" or a variation of it. Or maybe it was from somewhere else, I'm not 100% sure.

Though it wasn't until I watched DBZ Kai years after the broadcast as a teenager, maybe 2015 to 17, give or take, where, alongside the original Dragon Ball, BoG, RoF, and pre-ToP Super, initially made me a fan of the series. It probably also helped it was the first anime that I ever took seriously in finishing the episodes in its intended order, though it doesn't discount Pokemon, Beyblade and other anime with heavy Westernised localisations from my introductions to anime period still. I'm not sure what drew me into that show in particular, maybe it was the prevalence in pop culture but I'm not so sure.

I stopped for a decent while after that, primarily due to comments about Caulifa's rise to Super Saiyan being criticised and me, at the time, blindly agreeing to it. But come around some time ago, maybe about a year ago, that I caught up to the remaining episodes after, weirdly enough, going back to playing DB Legends and my want to know the proper context of the ToP content that brought me back as a fan of this series.

So yeah! I guess this is basically my experience, or experiences, with my introduction, and returns to, Dragon Ball. Its funny how this franchise keeps Trojan horsing their way into my life, but in a way I can't say that I'm particularly unhappy about it.

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by MasenkoHA » Sun Jan 29, 2023 9:05 pm

Wrigglything wrote: Fri Jan 06, 2023 9:04 am

Back around the late 2000s, early 2010s (?), Cartoon Network was airing DBZ Kai. Weirdly enough, I think it was using the uncut dub as well?
Afaik Cartoon Network only ever aired Dragon Ball Z Kai uncut

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Re: What was your first introduction to Dragon Ball?

Post by Yuli Ban » Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:47 am

First memory of it at all? Some time in 2000. My dad was a fan at the time and had VHSes of it (not fansubs). My first memory was of Gohan resting victorious after defeating Cell, though it was just a snippet at most.
My first memory of a full episode was of Boo, but I remember not liking DBZ at all for the longest time throughout 2001 until something clicked. My first memory of Boo was "What the hell is this? This is so stupid."

So to reorganize this:

1999: Probably the first time I had ever heard of it, but I hadn't seen any of it
2000: First time I had ever seen any bit of DBZ, but only a tiny bit of an episode recorded on a VHS
2001: Saw Boo vs Majin Vegeta, didn't like what I saw at all
Later in 2001/early 2002: Finally became a fan and started watching regularly


As I was introduced as a Toonami Dubbie, you can fact check this timeline:
https://toonami.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Z/Episodes
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