Your introduction to Dragon Ball

[dudearnav]

Hi there. This is my first post so I thought it’d be interesting to know what was your introduction to Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball is fairly big here in my country and I grew up with our dub of Dragon Ball Z on Cartoon Network, which was based off the Funimation broadcast dub, which was also present as a second language track with the Faulconer music. I grew up with both but preferred my language’s dub because it used the Kikuchi music, which I found to be better. Anyway this was 2015-16 when they were re-airing the Frieza saga, and besides the Z Anime and the movies, including Battle of Gods and the 2008 OVA, I remember I also caught up with Super’s Goku Black Arc through unofficial subtitles of the Japanese broadcast. Anyway two years later I also read Dragon Ball up to the part where they introduced Baba, and bought VIZ’s releases of Dragon Ball Super volumes 4 and 5, covering the Goku Black arc, and then I revisited the full 42 Volume run of Dragon Ball, translated by VIZ, which has been my preferred way of revisiting Dragon Ball since then, though I did rewatch the Buu Saga subbed in 2024, which now made it even harder to go back to the Z dub by Funimation. I had also seen 2018’s Dragon Ball Super: Broly after its theatrical run had ended and is my second favorite Dragon Ball film. Currently, I’ve been planning on a full-on rewatch of the series which means I’ll be watching the original Dragon Ball anime for the first time, since I’ve always read it, and watch the Super 17 Arc from GT, which I’ve always skipped whenever watching the series. I also have been collecting Dragon Ball manga, but so far have only gotten the two aforementioned Super volumes and two Full-Color volumes for the Freeza Saga, a bit of a shame that line was never completed by VIZ. That about sums it…

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

It was in 1999, shortly before Dragon Ball premiered on Cartoon Network UK I moved to America with my family for a few months due to my dad's work commitments.

I saw Dragon Ball on the Toonami block in the US. I remember thinking it looked very violent from the OP and not thinking it would be my cup of tea. Suffice to say I was pleasantly surprised that was not the case. I don't know how many episodes I saw when I was in the States but I definitely remember seeing the episodes Goku was travelling down and fell off Snake Way, I also recall seeing the episode Freeza was defeated.

A few months later I'm back in Ireland, I see commercials for this new show coming out called Dragon Ball Z, which I of course knew of by that point. I remember watching from those early episodes when Goku fought Raditz and watching the show throughout the years, not just on Cartoon Network, but also its sister channels short-lived CNX and Toonami. I especially loved the Westwood dub when that started as I really enjoyed the music, although I understand it may feel a bit too Saturday morning cartoony for some people, it just always got me pumped for seeing the next episode, particularly when The Army Theme played.

While I was initially exposed to the Ocean Studios cast I did eventually become fond of the Funimation cast as well, particularly Sean Schemmel as Goku when Kai came around. The Japanese scores took some getting used to, even though I had heard them in the Blue Water dubs of GT and original Dragon Ball as well as the Big Green dubs of the movies and specials, but now I love them and the Japanese cast as well.

In my teenage years less people were interested in Dragon Ball, although I had some close friends I still talked to about it, this was during the 2005-2011 draught period when it looked like the series was over forever, although Kai came along I didn't see it as anything new at the time.

Then ever since 2012 the revival came into full swing with the announcement of Battle of Gods, the three movies that followed, Super, Daima and I'm happier than ever to be able to watch a new Dragon Ball series as its airing with the rest of the world, get used to the Japanese cast who I hadn't heard much of up to that point, and I look forward to that continuing with Super Beerus in October.

I've never read the manga in full, but I've read large chunks of it over the years, one year I will. I've rewatched the series from Goku meeting Bulma to flying off with Shenron multiple times, especially Dragon Ball Z, and am in the middle of another rewatch with Seed of Might's colour correction, as of lately I'm on the driving test episode but look forward to getting back.

[The Dark Knight]

Welcome to the site.

So, I was introduced to bits and pieces of the franchises before watching it in a regular order. My earliest memories of it include a handful of episodes from Z (Goku and Vegeta's fight before he turned into an Ozaru, Piccolo and Cell's fight after fusing with Kami, and Gohan teaching Videl and Goten how to fly). I also saw the the Trunks and Goku Jr specials, as well as a handful of Z's movies (5, 8, 9, & 12). I played a bit of Budokai 2 and 3, but I had no idea what was going on and I was terrible at them.

Late 2004/early 2005 was when I started watching Z in order, as a shop I lived close to started getting "legitimate" copies that used Dragon Box footage that were being sold for the "retail" price of $2.5 a disc, with each disc containing 6-8 episodes, for a total of 40 discs. Following that, I moved on to GT, specifically the Funimation dub; I bought their original 15 disc singles that skipped the first arc, so I went from Buu to Baby. Finally, the shop I got my "licensed" Z discs from started getting equally "licensed" copies of the original DB, which also used the dragon box footage, thus for the very first time, I had seen the entire run of the classic era. As for the movies, I watched them and the Bardock special mixed in as I went along.

While I was getting through the series as detailed above, I played the original Budokai trilogy in proper order before the release of the first Tenkaichi game, with that and its two sequels being my main gaming experience as I watched the series. Growing up with the original DB trilogy, as well as those PS2 games, are by far some of my fondest memories. I of course also grew up with the DC animated universe, the 2003 TMNT series, the original YU-GI-OH series, and Naruto, to name but a few. Growing up in the 2000s is an experience kids today will unfortunately never be able to experience for themselves.

[dudearnav]

Thanks for the response, Dragon Ball Ireland! I’ve seen some of your work documenting the different dubs of Dragon Ball, impressive stuff! You documented dubs in my own country which I was not aware about, for the most part! I do relate with not being interested in Dragon Ball at first… Earlier on I did catch DBZ as a friend of mine liked talking about it, but it wasn’t until 2015-16 (hard to remember) which is several years after I first heard of it that I finally saw Vegeta in Planet Namek and got hooked. Speaking of Battle of Gods, it happens to be my favorite movie, I just love it a lot.

[dudearnav]

While I was getting through the series as detailed above, I played the original Budokai trilogy in proper order before the release of the first Tenkaichi game, with that and its two sequels being my main gaming experience as I watched the series. Growing up with the original DB trilogy, as well as those PS2 games, are by far some of my fondest memories. I of course also grew up with the DC animated universe, the 2003 TMNT series, the original YU-GI-OH series, and Naruto, to name but a few. Growing up in the 2000s is an experience kids today will unfortunately never be able to experience for themselves.

Love the Budokai and Tenkaichi games. My first games were Shin Budokai and Tenkaichi Tag Team for the PSP, and Dragon Ball Final Bout… I remember playing Budokai 3 a few years later and really loving it. Still play it from time to time. And Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is my favorite Dragon Ball game of all time. The amount of characters it has is a bit crazy. Also the only game where I can have Namu or Taopaipai defeat Baby Vegeta if I want to, lol… trying to finish Xenoverse, as I always wanted to play them and I did dabble into them but I never got too far. It’s a fun experience.

[Kid Buu]

It was in 1999, shortly before Dragon Ball premiered on Cartoon Network UK I moved to America with my family for a few months due to my dad's work commitments.

This post is so shockingly similar to my own experiences I actually seriously thought I wrote this post.

While visiting US around 1999, I remember seeing the episode on TV where Goku rescues Gohan from Nappa. A year later the UK starts broadcasting it and I got hooked.

One funny childhood experience is around the time Piccolo was fighting Freeza, someone in my class was having a birthday party and invited the whole class. Not wanting to miss DBZ, I asked his mum to put the episode on and everyone at the party started watching DBZ too.

Also remember around the time Trunks first showed up, a classmate went to either France or Portugal and he came back with a magazine that talked about Movie 7 and showed the Androids there. I was shocked when I saw 19 and 20 with entirely different designs to 13-14-15. Then Trunks came back and said these aren't the right Androids, I was like YES now this all makes now. Then I was shocked again when 16-17-18 were different designs too.

[The Dark Knight]

Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is my favorite Dragon Ball game of all time. The amount of characters it has is a bit crazy.

I highly recommend you play Team BT4's Tenkaichi 4 mod; it adds all the new characters, stages, stories, etc. that we've been getting since 2007; the game has well over 250 characters at this point, with updates being released every year or so that add more.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Thanks for the response, Dragon Ball Ireland! I’ve seen some of your work documenting the different dubs of Dragon Ball, impressive stuff! You documented dubs in my own country which I was not aware about, for the most part! I do relate with not being interested in Dragon Ball at first… Earlier on I did catch DBZ as a friend of mine liked talking about it, but it wasn’t until 2015-16 (hard to remember) which is several years after I first heard of it that I finally saw Vegeta in Planet Namek and got hooked. Speaking of Battle of Gods, it happens to be my favorite movie, I just love it a lot.

Thanks, I appreciate it, but I think Derek Padula deserves most of the praise as it was his idea to write a book about the history of Dragon Ball in every country, and I hope he gets to write it as it would be a fascinating read and a great way for fans of this franchise no matter where they were born or grew up to learn about how the series came to their country.

I do have my own website where I'm covering all the new stuff though, so keep an eye on that for updates on Dragon Ball in your country. Hopefully it won't be long until you get Super Beerus.

It was in 1999, shortly before Dragon Ball premiered on Cartoon Network UK I moved to America with my family for a few months due to my dad's work commitments.

This post is so shockingly similar to my own experiences I actually seriously thought I wrote this post.

While visiting US around 1999, I remember seeing the episode on TV where Goku rescues Gohan from Nappa. A year later the UK starts broadcasting it and I got hooked.

One funny childhood experience is around the time Piccolo was fighting Freeza, someone in my class was having a birthday party and invited the whole class. Not wanting to miss DBZ, I asked his mum to put the episode on and everyone at the party started watching DBZ too.

Didn't know your introduction was so similar to mine, but that's neat. Dragon Ball Z was one of the few shows I actually remember seeing promos for at that young an age (I was 8 at the time), I felt I had discovered this really great show no one else in my country knew about.

I think I probably seen some of the fight with Vegeta and Nappa when I was in the US as I recall the Saiyan saga all seeming very familiar when it first aired in the UK and Ireland the next year.

Also remember around the time Trunks first showed up, a classmate went to either France or Portugal and he came back with a magazine that talked about Movie 7 and showed the Androids there. I was shocked when I saw 19 and 20 with entirely different designs to 13-14-15. Then Trunks came back and said these aren't the right Androids, I was like YES now this all makes now. Then I was shocked again when 16-17-18 were different designs too.

Yeah, a classmate of mine had Dragon Ball Z cards from Spain or somewhere like that, even though it was his favourite show he didn't want the cards and gave them to me. I don't think either of us ever found anyone to play the game with as when it came to trading cards everyone was into Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh, with Dragon Ball it was more about the anime and the video games.

[Kid Buu]

Didn't know your introduction was so similar to mine, but that's neat. Dragon Ball Z was one of the few shows I actually remember seeing promos for at that young an age (I was 8 at the time), I felt I had discovered this really great show no one else in my country knew about.

I think I probably seen some of the fight with Vegeta and Nappa when I was in the US as I recall the Saiyan saga all seeming very familiar when it first aired in the UK and Ireland the next year.

Yeah, a classmate of mine had Dragon Ball Z cards from Spain or somewhere like that, even though it was his favourite show he didn't want the cards and gave them to me. I don't think either of us ever found anyone to play the game with as when it came to trading cards everyone was into Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh, with Dragon Ball it was more about the anime and the video games.

I too had some DBZ/GT cards but never really knew how the game worked. As for video games, I did own a Sega Saturn but DBZ Legends wasn't released in the UK, I did manage to find a copy when we visited France. Only people I knew only really got into the DBZ games when the Budokai games came out on the PS2. Budokai 2 is one game I have a lot of memories of playing multiplayer with friends when people weren't playing FIFA/PES.

[TheBigBoy]

An EGM in 1993 that covered Super Butoden 1 was my introduction to the series. The character designs and huge fireball blasts immediately caught my attention. I saw the original DB dub briefly (like for less than a minute) in 1995 then in fall of 1996, I saw on the local listings that "Dragon Ball Z" was airing at 6:30 AM on Saturdays. I knew I had to check it out and I was hooked instantly.

[JulieYBM]

I was hanging out with this older girl that I was friends with. She turned my bedroom television over to Toonami because she noticed that Dragon Ball Z was on and we watched it. It was the original FUNimation dub that used the Ocean Group studio to record the series. Toonami was broadcasting the episode where Vegeta was slaughtering that Namekian village.

From there, I slowly got into the series. I distinctly remember watching the premier of the Tree of Might dub on Toonami a few months later. By 1999, I had learned that new Dragon Ball Z episodes were finally being released on VHS when I was at the dentist office and overheard another girl talking about it. A bit later, I wound up going to the local Sun Coast Video at the mall and finding the two know Ginyu tapes that had been release. Since they were both $19.99, I hedged my bets and grabbed the second of the two because it had four episodes.

Sure, I missed three episodes of story, but that just made coming in to the story at that point all the more fascinating. I was sheltered a ton growing up, so the fact that there was blood on this release kind of blew my mind.

From there, I started collecting a mix of the other uncut VHS from Sun Coast or getting both edited version tapes from the local Target, since those were only $9.99 per copy.

Eventually, I sold off all those old VHS copies for extra cash lol

[bkev]

Hello, and welcome!

I'm afraid my introduction is ultimately uninteresting, I was on vacation and caught "Boss Rabbit's Magic Touch" on Toonami. The combination of goofiness and martial arts captured my 7-year-old heart and I've been hooked pretty much ever since, even if it took a few years for it to really stick the landing and for me to take a deeper dive.

That's probably part of why I hold the original series in higher regard than the rest.

[The Dark Knight]

Hello, and welcome!

I'm afraid my introduction is ultimately uninteresting, I was on vacation and caught "Boss Rabbit's Magic Touch" on Toonami. The combination of goofiness and martial arts captured my 7-year-old heart and I've been hooked pretty much ever since, even if it took a few years for it to really stick the landing and for me to take a deeper dive.

That's probably part of why I hold the original series in higher regard than the rest.

I wish I could've started with the original like you did; my experience with Z would've been far richer as a result.

[bkev]

In fairness, I ended up watching both in tandem only a few years later on Toonami, so I didn't exactly go in order, but still.

[BernardoCairo]

I watched it on Cartoon Network! It was Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters. Of course, I knew what Dragon Ball was before, but I was never really into anime up until that point. I gave it a try and really liked it. The world and the characters in particular. Good times.

[kemuri07]

I can't recall exactly when I started watching Dragon Ball Z, but it likely was a couple of years before the Funimation redubs in 1999, so maybe around 1996/1997. A big chunk of my childhood was spent watching the old Ocean dubs, and I believe I watched them on both Cartoon Network and Upn 9. I do remember being so excited knowing that Toonami would finally be airing the rest of the Freeza saga since I was always bummed that the ocean dubs never went past the fight with the Ginyu Squad.

Boy, I feel old.

[dudearnav]

I do find it interesting that quite a few people saw it on either Cartoon Network or Toonami, that’s how I experienced them as a kid as well. Same goes for the movies.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I do find it interesting that quite a few people saw it on either Cartoon Network or Toonami, that’s how I experienced them as a kid as well. Same goes for the movies.

Yeah, in 1998 Cartoon Network seen how well Dragon Ball Z was doing in syndication and decided to license it for the US because they probably knew it would print money for them. Interestingly it wasn't long after that Cartoon Network began to air the show in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, India, Pakistan and Latin America. Of course in many of these cases it aired on the Toonami block.

[ABED]

I was born in 1985. My dad was a Naval Aviator so we lived in Japan from 91-93 where we got mostly American channels but some Japanese channels. I heard of Dragon Ball and saw a few things here and there, mostly Super Famicom games and a few trading cards, but I didn't actively watch the show when it was on. One day in 96, I was channel surfing for Saturday morning cartoons. One show had a woman yell "Goku!" 'I know that name!' Cut to Goku jumping from tree to tree and knocking a big one down with a single punch. Through sheer luck, I saw Dragon Ball Z episode 1 in it's original airing. I was a fan ever since.

[Tian]

It was one day in 2005, when my older brother and one of my oldest cousins brought a bootleg DVD with episodes from the Namek arc (I definitely know it was a bootleg because there were no official Latin American home media releases of the series at the time) and I happened to be there in the living room drawing stuff. I remember they were watching base Goku vs Freeza fight while I was there drawing doodles like every other kid at that age (I was 5 back then).

That was my first, unofficial and accidental exposure to this franchise.

Now for my official introduction to this franchise, it wouldn't be until some time later when my local Cartoon Network's Toonami started airing Dragon Ball Z and I got into it in the middle of the Saiyans arc (Goku vs Vegeta). I remember staying up late with my older brother to watch it because it was aired at 12am.

And that's how it started. A 20 year long amazing journey of watching every series, every movie and special, playing some of the videogames, collecting tons of cards, looking for dubs of it and meeting a lot of fantastic fellow fans both here and in real life.