How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.

Moderators: Kanzenshuu Staff, General Help

User avatar
AliTheZombie13
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 493
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2023 3:29 am

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by AliTheZombie13 » Sat Feb 10, 2024 9:24 pm

If I had a kid, I would ONLY show them Dragon Ball if they were old and mentally mature enough to understand a few things.
I wouldn't want them to grow up thinking sexually abusing 16-year olds is a perfectly fine and funny thing to do, along with a number of other issues.

User avatar
GhostEmperorX
OMG CRAZY REGEN
Posts: 750
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:53 pm

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by GhostEmperorX » Sat Feb 10, 2024 9:35 pm

Cure Dragon 255 wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2024 8:18 pm I know I will probably be saying something stupid, but is Tao Pai Pai a Japanese name? I thought it was Chinese.
桃白白
Yep, looks Chinese to me.
Actual pronunciation of the words in Chinese is a little different from the Japanese approximation though.

User avatar
Hellspawn28
Patreon Supporter
Posts: 15360
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:50 pm
Location: Maryland, USA

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by Hellspawn28 » Sat Feb 10, 2024 11:14 pm

As a kid, I was exposue to worse stuff than what I see in anime like DB. I had to read the Bible at a young age because my family was Roman Choathic and the stuff that read was truly shocking and disturbing.
She/Her
PS5 username: Guyver_Spawn_27
LB Profile: https://letterboxd.com/Hellspawn28/

User avatar
MasenkoHA
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6699
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:38 pm

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by MasenkoHA » Sun Feb 11, 2024 12:29 am

Hellspawn28 wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2024 11:14 pm As a kid, I was exposue to worse stuff than what I see in anime like DB. I had to read the Bible at a young age because my family was Roman Choathic and the stuff that read was truly shocking and disturbing.
When I was growing up most kids had seen or at least knew of Freddy, Jason, and Chucky. South Park and Family Guy were super popular in 6th grade. It was also pretty common for middle schoolers to have seen American Pie movies and Eurotrip and other teen sex comedies.

I'm not big on trying to get your kids/nieces and nephews/younger cousins/children you held ransom for money to watch what you liked as a kid but I don't think sheltering them is doing them any favors.

User avatar
Tian
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1289
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2015 10:21 pm
Location: Argentina

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by Tian » Sun Feb 11, 2024 1:58 am

I'd rather let kids to discover the stuff by themselves, because that's the way I did.

Here's one particular experience I fondly remember:
When I was growing up, there was this programming night block on Nickelodeon called Nick@Nite (I know it still exists in the U.S but it does not longer here) and that block had some good old stuff like Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Kenan & Kel (although I already knew the duo from the Good Burger movie) and ALF.

Just imagine it, an 8 year old kid (my age when I started watching the block. I'm currently 23.) watching those shows on his own (While Kenan & Kel and ALF aren't that adult, I recall the Fresh Prince had some serious topics in some episodes.)

Nobody else told me to watch them, it was just my curiosity which told me to do so.
9 years on Kanzenshuu! :D

User avatar
JulieYBM
Patreon Supporter
Posts: 16970
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: 🏳️‍⚧️

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by JulieYBM » Sun Feb 11, 2024 3:04 am

Kids also have more forms of entertainment outside of television today, so I think that that is important to keep in mind, too.
SHE/HER
THE CUTEST GIRL YOU KNOW

User avatar
MasenkoHA
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6699
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:38 pm

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by MasenkoHA » Sun Feb 11, 2024 3:07 am

JulieYBM wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 3:04 am Kids also have more forms of entertainment outside of television today, so I think that that is important to keep in mind, too.
In general most of them really don't watch much tv. It's almost all YouTube, TikTok, Fortnite and Minecraft

Dragon Ball Ireland
I Live Here
Posts: 4254
Joined: Thu May 21, 2015 9:09 am
Location: Sligo, Ireland

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Sun Feb 11, 2024 3:53 am

MasenkoHA wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2024 7:44 pm
Dragon Ball Ireland wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2024 10:59 am I
[*] Tao being referred to as a "General" even though he was merely an assassin hired by Commander Red to defeat Goku
This was only in the Z dub. The original Dragon Ball dub "fixes it" by changing his name to Mercenary Tao. While that's not really correct either it was closer to the intent
and removes the implication he was a member of the army.
Fair enough, I got the two dubs mixed up there. Along the same lines I was going to mention Roshi's line about Dr Gero being the head of the Red Ribbon Army, but then I remembered that was a Z dub change. I know Dr Gero didn't appear in original Dragon Ball, but as I said Funimation had no problem with spoiling aspects of Z in original Dragon Ball so it wouldn't be out of character for them to have written a throwaway line about him. Thankfully they didn't as that dub had enough errors as is.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

Check out my blogs https://dragonballireland.wordpress.com/ and https://dragonballinternational.wordpress.com/

User avatar
NeoZ Duwang
Not-So-Newbie
Posts: 70
Joined: Fri May 15, 2020 7:56 am

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by NeoZ Duwang » Sun Feb 11, 2024 5:38 am

Hellspawn28 wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2024 11:14 pm As a kid, I was exposue to worse stuff than what I see in anime like DB. I had to read the Bible at a young age because my family was Roman Choathic and the stuff that read was truly shocking and disturbing.
Same here, some religious stuff scared the fuck out of me when I was young, so all of those japanese things I watched (such as Dragon Ball) always felt tame in comparison.

I get concerns over the problematic elements of Dragon Ball, but kids are still seeing and learning those same bad things from the internet and people around them regardless. What worries me about problematic media is not the fact that it exists in and on itself, or the effect that it has on society directly, but rather that the world around it is one that believes in those problematic stuff so much, that it becomes perfectly acceptable to write sexual harassment as a joke in a comic made for a young audience in the first place. Sure, Dragon Ball has... "weird" things to put it lightly, but in isolation, it's still relatively easy to tell kids that it's wrong do to the bad stuff you see in cartoons, than it is to teach them how fucked up everything society wants to teach you is.

I won't deny that media helps perpetuate bad ideas, but on an individual level, I don't think Dragon Ball is any more harmful to a kid's development than the world itself already is
she/they.

User avatar
sangofe
Kicks it Old-School
Posts: 7745
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 3:39 pm

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by sangofe » Sun Feb 11, 2024 8:59 am

Dragon Ball from the start. Then DBZ, Super, Gt, Daima
You're thinking exactly like Funimation did.

User avatar
SupremeKai25
I Live Here
Posts: 4289
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2017 9:40 am

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by SupremeKai25 » Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:04 am

Doesn't Super always get criticized for being too "kid-friendly" and not enough "mature/serious/bloody" like the original series?

Well then, It seems rather logical that you would want your kid to watch the kid-friendly series with no blood. Instead of the "mature/serious/bloody" series featuring people's chests getting pierced and penetrated and people getting literally eaten alive by a bug monster.

User avatar
JulieYBM
Patreon Supporter
Posts: 16970
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: 🏳️‍⚧️

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by JulieYBM » Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:05 am

SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:04 am Doesn't Super always get criticized for being too "kid-friendly" and not enough "mature/serious/bloody" like the original series?

Well then, It seems rather logical that you would want your kid to watch the kid-friendly series with no blood. Instead of the "mature/serious/bloody" series featuring people's chests getting pierced and penetrated and people getting literally eaten alive by a bug monster.
There's sexual harassment and sexual assault in Super, so no, it's not particularly child-friendly.
SHE/HER
THE CUTEST GIRL YOU KNOW

User avatar
SupremeKai25
I Live Here
Posts: 4289
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2017 9:40 am

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by SupremeKai25 » Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:19 am

JulieYBM wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:05 am
SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:04 am Doesn't Super always get criticized for being too "kid-friendly" and not enough "mature/serious/bloody" like the original series?

Well then, It seems rather logical that you would want your kid to watch the kid-friendly series with no blood. Instead of the "mature/serious/bloody" series featuring people's chests getting pierced and penetrated and people getting literally eaten alive by a bug monster.
There's sexual harassment and sexual assault in Super, so no, it's not particularly child-friendly.
They are unfortunately present in the other series too. What Super doesn't have, compared to DBZ, is scenes like this, that I don't think a kid would find particularly entertaining or enjoyable to watch:


Image
Image


Now, this is not to say that Super doesn't have violent moments too, but those moments are more implied violence than outright graphic violence. For instance, you can see that Infinite Zamasu is meant to be a terrifying/scary moment, but it is not a gory scene with brutal visuals like the DBZ scenes above. Frieza vs. Toppo or Frieza vs. Broly are also supposed to be violent scenes; but again, they are not as graphic as the DBZ scenes.

Furthermore, do you not think that the upcoming series, Daima, serves as the perfect introduction series for Gen. Alpha? I mean, literally the entire cast is downsized into kids (not just only one character like GT), it seems like a tailor-made series for the Gen. Alpha:

Image

User avatar
MasenkoHA
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6699
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:38 pm

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by MasenkoHA » Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:40 am

SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:19 am too. What Super doesn't have, compared to DBZ, is scenes like this, that [ ] I don't think a kid would find particularly entertaining or enjoyable to watch[/b]:
And yet they very clearly did. It's kind of why Dragon Ball Z was a big deal. Did you think millions of kids in the 90s and early 2000s were crying in fear at those scenes?

User avatar
SupremeKai25
I Live Here
Posts: 4289
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2017 9:40 am

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by SupremeKai25 » Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:45 am

MasenkoHA wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:40 am
SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:19 am too. What Super doesn't have, compared to DBZ, is scenes like this, that [ ] I don't think a kid would find particularly entertaining or enjoyable to watch[/b]:
And yet they very clearly did.
Debatable/Arguable/You can't know that.

User avatar
MasenkoHA
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6699
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:38 pm

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by MasenkoHA » Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:48 am

SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:45 am
MasenkoHA wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:40 am
SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:19 am too. What Super doesn't have, compared to DBZ, is scenes like this, that [ ] I don't think a kid would find particularly entertaining or enjoyable to watch[/b]:
And yet they very clearly did.
Debatable/Arguable/You can't know that.
Are you being serious? :lol: :lol: :lol:


Yes, the show that was super huge with elementary school students was too intense and terrifying for them and they didn't enjoy it.

I want you to think about that line of thinking for just like 5 seconds

User avatar
SupremeKai25
I Live Here
Posts: 4289
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2017 9:40 am

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by SupremeKai25 » Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:55 am

MasenkoHA wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:48 am
SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:45 am
MasenkoHA wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:40 am

And yet they very clearly did.
Debatable/Arguable/You can't know that.
Are you being serious? :lol: :lol: :lol:


Yes, the show that was super huge with elementary school students was too intense and terrifying for them and they didn't enjoy it.

I want you to think about that line of thinking for just like 5 seconds
Dragon Ball Super is also huge with Zoomers and Gen. Alpha going to school.

Are you saying that DBZ is just more enjoyable to watch for a kid than DBS? That a kid is just going to find DBZ more enjoyable than DBS?

User avatar
JulieYBM
Patreon Supporter
Posts: 16970
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: 🏳️‍⚧️

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by JulieYBM » Sun Feb 11, 2024 12:22 pm

SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:19 am
JulieYBM wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:05 am
SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:04 am Doesn't Super always get criticized for being too "kid-friendly" and not enough "mature/serious/bloody" like the original series?

Well then, It seems rather logical that you would want your kid to watch the kid-friendly series with no blood. Instead of the "mature/serious/bloody" series featuring people's chests getting pierced and penetrated and people getting literally eaten alive by a bug monster.
There's sexual harassment and sexual assault in Super, so no, it's not particularly child-friendly.
They are unfortunately present in the other series too. What Super doesn't have, compared to DBZ, is scenes like this, that I don't think a kid would find particularly entertaining or enjoyable to watch:

Now, this is not to say that Super doesn't have violent moments too, but those moments are more implied violence than outright graphic violence. For instance, you can see that Infinite Zamasu is meant to be a terrifying/scary moment, but it is not a gory scene with brutal visuals like the DBZ scenes above. Frieza vs. Toppo or Frieza vs. Broly are also supposed to be violent scenes; but again, they are not as graphic as the DBZ scenes.

Furthermore, do you not think that the upcoming series, Daima, serves as the perfect introduction series for Gen. Alpha? I mean, literally the entire cast is downsized into kids (not just only one character like GT), it seems like a tailor-made series for the Gen. Alpha:
Yeah, but the point I was making is that the uncritical sexual harassment and sexual assault elements automatically make Dragon Ball unacceptable for kids. Additionally, kids will just find their own things to be into.

Nobody's paying me to shill Dragon Ball to new generations of watchers, but if someone wants to pay me, I could definitely use some healthcare!
SHE/HER
THE CUTEST GIRL YOU KNOW

User avatar
MasenkoHA
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6699
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:38 pm

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by MasenkoHA » Sun Feb 11, 2024 12:30 pm

SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:55 am
MasenkoHA wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:48 am
SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:45 am

Debatable/Arguable/You can't know that.
Are you being serious? :lol: :lol: :lol:


Yes, the show that was super huge with elementary school students was too intense and terrifying for them and they didn't enjoy it.

I want you to think about that line of thinking for just like 5 seconds
Dragon Ball Super is also huge with Zoomers and Gen. Alpha going to school.

Are you saying that DBZ is just more enjoyable to watch for a kid than DBS? That a kid is just going to find DBZ more enjoyable than DBS?
Why are you moving the goal post?

Show me where I said kids wouldn't like Super.

We were talking about the ludicrous notion you presented that kids wouldn't enjoy Dragon Ball Z's more intense scenes. I get Dragon Ball Super is like your schtick but pick a lane

User avatar
NeoZ Duwang
Not-So-Newbie
Posts: 70
Joined: Fri May 15, 2020 7:56 am

Re: How would you introduce Dragon Ball to Gen Alpha?

Post by NeoZ Duwang » Sun Feb 11, 2024 1:44 pm

SupremeKai25 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:19 am What Super doesn't have, compared to DBZ, is scenes like this, that I don't think a kid would find particularly entertaining or enjoyable to watch
I think you're overestimating how sensitive most kids are. Demons Slayer is a show where every single enemy has to be decapitated to die and yet it's very popular with the younger audiences. Action manga can be violent, but your average shounen isn't usually going to be enough to scare the children, I mean, I was the zoomer kid watching action anime on the internet a few years ago, and scenes where something violent happens never made the rest of those shows any less enjoyable to me. The criticism of violence in shows for kids is usually from the parents feeling uncomfortable with what their kids are watching (which is understandable) rather than kids themselves being bothered by it
she/they.

Post Reply