Do you remember the first time?

[Ryu-Ken Bakuhatsu]

I think it was either late '99/2000, before the UK debut, I was watching Cartoon Network and they had an advert featuring an Asian martial artist talking about his fighting, who then says "And then I watched Dragon Ball Z..." or something like that. That's where it all began for me .

[disturbed001]

I think the very first thing I ever saw was parts of the Dragon Ball episode where Goku goes to Oolong's village. I remember a tree in the middle of a village and a boy with a tail, so I think that's it.

But as for DBZ, the first episode I saw was right after Goku had thrown the Genki Dama at Freeza and made the huge hole in the lake. After that I was interested, but I don't think I picked up on it until the Cell arc.

[DNA]

Yeah... I really like that chick... of course it lasted like 10 seconds and then I cried in the corner for 15 minutes but... Wait what?

Oh Dragon Ball, yeah yeah... Well, to be quite honest I caught the series earlier on, original Dragon Ball even. We didn't have internet back then and cartoons were all the rage, Dragon Ball was just the new fad, but quickly rose to be THE fad that would be stored forever in the hearts of every member of my generation. I remember it in the news, I kid you not, there whole classes that skipped school to watch Dragon Ball, the Freeza saga was the one that actually boost the series to the max. Later on people kept on watching, I mean, it was not only the sheer awesomeness that is Dragon Ball, but also, some characters changed voice actor every now and then, also the voice actors were responsible for a whole new book of silly insults and stupid jokes. People kept on watching because it was hilarious, and the further on it went, the more hilarious it got. There were all sorts of incredibly funny accents by the time of GT. Oh, by the way, we also got movies 12 and 13 in the cinemas, which was pretty kick ass. But returning to the original question, Dragon Ball was that quirky show with funny looking characters. It grew up to be an instant hit. There is no cartoon series that compares to that nowadays, not with all the hype... It's just not the same... Oh the good old days... *snif* *goes to the corner to cry again*

[VenomSymbiote]

the old ocean dub on cartoon network.

the good old days....

i kinda miss that old dub.

[Kid Trunks]

Lets see. My first memory of it was in 99' I geuss. I'm not sure. I saw the orphans episode on TV and said to my friend "Oh yeah, thats some crappy show I saw before" (so I must have seen it at least once before, but I can't remember it). So...yeah, I thought it sucked when I first saw it...

But then a few days later I saw the Goku, Piccolo and Radditz fight, and I remember thinking "Wow, this guy (Radditz) is really strong". And from then on I loved it.

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

The first episode I saw, was the battle against Guldo. I couldn't (I thought Krillin was a kid) believe two kids were able to power-up, fly around, and launch huge energy beams at guys so easily. At first, I would see previews and thought it sucked for some reason, but I was wrong.

[Pain]

I remember seeing it first on TeleMundo when I was flipping channels once. It was in the late 90's. Maybe '98 or '99. But I was a kid flipping channels, and then I saw this short guy fighting some blond girl. My first thought was " Why is he beating up on that girl?" But then I saw her own his ass, and I was like "Girls can fight, too?". I stopped watching Barney and Power Rangers shortly after.

[Forgotten Hero]

My first exposure was the Saga of Goku, as it aired in Denmark.

I didn't become a fan until I saw the Cell arc on Toonami, 2003. I move to the US in 2000.

[Kunzait_83]

b

[Velasa]

golden haired martial arts badasses with ties to a race of space mercenaries who could blow up continents by pointing at them taking on a green insectoid creature and teaming up with a god to fight a giant, fat pink bubblegum demon

the whole post was really cool, but that line in particular just rocked.

[Torque]

My first exposure to Dragon Ball was in 4th grade, in 1998 or 1999. One of my friends told me I should watch this show called Dragon Ball Z on Toonami, so sometime after that I decided I'd have a look at it.

I think the first episode I saw was one of the orphanage filler episodes. The part I remember most is Gohan on a raft, riding out a storm at the beginning of the episode.

However, now that I think about it, the first episode(s) I ever watched might have been FUNi's "uncut" VHS "Super Saiyan Goku". My friend had told me practically the entire story of Goku through the Freeza saga during a car ride, and although I had no idea what a Super Saiyan, Freeza, or Goku was, it sounded really cool.

[Forgotten Hero]

golden haired martial arts badasses with ties to a race of space mercenaries who could blow up continents by pointing at them taking on a green insectoid creature and teaming up with a god to fight a giant, fat pink bubblegum demon

the whole post was really cool, but that line in particular just rocked.

Kunzait is probably one of the best writers on the site! Just as good as EX dare I say!

[rackhami]

Fifth or sixth grade for me, I think. It was still early in the Saiya-jin Saga and I watched a handful of episodes at most, having nothing else to watch at the time. I remember - quite clearly - thinking to myself, "This is the stupidest thing I have ever seen." My brother and I mocked it quite thoroughly, then forgot it.

It wasn't until a few years later that I gave it another shot, this time at a friend's bidding, right before Toonami started serializing the Cell arc. She forcefed me the Freeza Saga and I've never forgiven her for it. (Or thanked her enough, for that matter. *g*)

I still have a box of crummy VHS tapes stashed somewhere in my room. I keep meaning to throw 'em away, but I can't bring myself to do it. Ah, nostalgia!

(Edited to say: Hahaha, wow, I'm sorry for reviving this thread! I don't know why I got the dates mixed up in my head. Honestly thought it was still the twenty-second. Sorry!)

[NeptuneKai]

(Edited to say: Hahaha, wow, I'm sorry for reviving this thread! I don't know why I got the dates mixed up in my head. Honestly thought it was still the twenty-second. Sorry!)

Considering this is a topic from 5 months ago I'd say you were A-okay with the small little revival you did.

[Rocketman]

I don't remember the first time I saw the anime. I somehow missed the DBZ-craze, instead being hooked on Pokemon.

The earliest DB-related thing I can remember was deciding to buy the VHS of the episode where Goku became a Super Saiyan on Namek. I also remember being really pissed that I had spent twenty-five whole dollars for about ten minutes of actual action and resolving to never buy any more of the series.

Budokai 1 was where I got hooked on the series, and was my introduction to everything from Raditz to Cell.

[bkev]

Boss Rabbit's Magic Touch, FUNi dub. I was only five or six, I can't believe it! Thought it was so awesome, but didn't really tune in until around the 2nd Budokai/Piccolo Daimao areas about 3 or 4 years later.
edit: oh wow, I already posted here?

[rackhami]

Considering this is a topic from 5 months ago I'd say you were A-okay with the small little revival you did. :lol:

Haha, well! Good thing I didn't get worked up over nothing. Ahem.

(Thanks. *g*)

...editing, of course, to add:

edit: oh wow, I already posted here?

Sorry! My bad. Accidentally bumped the old thread back up.

[SSj_Rambo]

I've been working on this short essay for three days now so now it's close enough to perfect to be posted here.

*I truly hope that at least one person actually reads this entire manifesto, just so that I can know that I have one person to be able to tell my story to, since in my family and friends there really isn't anyone who cares about what I have to say about this.*

An in depth look into the beginging present states of my Dragonball fandom:

Back when I was in second grade (2000/2001) Dragonball was pretty much in its peak, and yet I was almost completely oblivious to its existence and wonder. Yes, I did watch cartoons in the mornings and afternoon, but my parents usually kept me closer to Disney than the slightly more mature Cartoon Network. I did often watch shows like Justice League and Superman that were on Cartoon Network, so I did occasionally see commercials for Dragonball Z.

Hence I was aware that a cartoon show called Dragonball Z did exist, but still I had no idea how wonderful and amazing it was, or how immensely popular it was among my peers. I can’t remember in what order my next few instances of exposure to the show occurred, but I can remember what most of them are.

One of them comes at a time when I was still in the second grade; I would occasionally see a few kids in my class drawing these cool looking figures with hair twice as big as their bodies (I now know these drawings to be of SSj Goku with abnormally large hair). I remember them telling me that what they were drawing were characters from the show Dragonball Z, but since I had absolutely no interest in the show at that time I didn’t ask anything else.

My next exposure to the show I can hardly remember, but it’s a wonderful memory…now. I was flipping through the channels and when I flipped past Cartoon Network I saw a cartoon character (whom I now know to be Goku) lean into a house and ask if someone was done with their studies so that they could go camping. I continued flipping through the channels and found no shows of my interest, so I started flipping back down and when I came back across Cartoon Network I saw a scene of Goku with a battle torn shirt (I can’t remember if he was SSj or not, but I’m pretty sure that he was) standing over what seemed to be a wasteland. I don’t know if I noticed that the characters where from Dragonball Z at that point, but after my next exposure to the show I knew that that scene had been from DBZ.

Note: I now know that those scenes were from Toonami’s airing of DBZ movie 5, but back then I had no idea and I really didn’t care, because the show really didn’t mean anything to me.

The next time I remember seeing something Dragonball related was another time when I was flipping through the channels and came across Cartoon Network and saw a scene of a person (who I now know to be Yamcha) walking around a city and seeing two people and telling them something along the lines of “There’s two very dangerous androids around here” (I’m sure that now you all know what scene I’m talking about). I don’t know if it was because of the music or because it was kind of obvious but I remember thinking “those must be the androids he’s talking to”, and hey, I turned out to be right! Then when one of the androids (who I now know to be Dr. Gero) picked up Yamcha and thrust his hand through Yamcha’s chest…and then I wasn’t watching the show any more (I don’t know if it was because I changed the channel (I assure you it would’ve been out of boredom or horror from what I just saw) or if it went to a commercial break (which is probably the case since that seems like a good scene to go to a break on)). I don’t remember how I felt after watching this scene, but judging by my personality I’d have thought that I would have been pretty impressed and therefore interested in the show, but I guess I wasn’t.

The only other times I can remember where I saw anything Dragonball related was when I saw a clip of the Garlic Jr. Arc (I know, no big surprise that I didn’t fall in love with the show at that point); the part where the infected people (Chi-Chi and crew) pop out of the ground and grab Piccolo’s feet while on Kame-sennin’s island to be exact. Now I also find myself with the faintest of faint memories of seeing this Buger King figure of Freeza (just the figure, the card and the stand are all knew to me) at one point in my early elementary years (‘00-‘03). I don’t remember where or why or how I saw it, just that I saw it.

***I ‘m sure that in this 2000-2006 period, when Dragonball was cresting it’s peak and I was in no way, shape or form in any position to call myself a fan or even a viewer of the show, my eyes crossed some Dragonball material/products (albeit through the TV, word-of-mouth, toys, etc) somewhere and some how that I can’t remember, but the cases that I have listed up to here are all of the ones that I can remember (pre 2006) to this day. In other words, Dragonball was so popular that I am positive that I encountered it in some fashion more times than I can remember, and these are all of the ones that I do remember (pre 2006).***

For the next six years my awareness and interest in the show remained unchanged. It wasn’t until I was in the 8th grade that my brother (who was in 6th grade) was properly introduced to the show via his fellow classmate and friend. By “properly introduced” I of course mean the classic VHS release’s of the original Funi dub and the VIZ manga. As my brother began talking of the show to me and watching some of the tapes and DVD’s that he had borrowed that I actually looked at the show with an open ear. This was without a doubt one of the most pivotal points in my life, for since then Dragonball has been one of the biggest interests in my life, right behind God and pretty much even with grades, girls and friends. As I saw glimpses of the show when my brother was watching it I noted that it looked pretty cool, but I never really sat down to watch a whole episode.

One time my brother mentioned that the show was on TV on Saturdays at 10:30pm on Toonami. I didn’t intend to watch the show, but I noted it in my head. Then, coincidentally (or as I like to say “by fate”), I found myself sitting in front of the TV that very next Saturday at about 10:20pm with nothing to watch. I then remembered what my brother had said and kind of reminisced on what parts of the show I had seen him watching and for the first time in my life thought “That show actually looks pretty cool”. So I decided to watch the show and I loved it! It didn’t quite feel like love at first site (even though that’s the easiest and simplest way to explain it), it felt more like a love for the show had been found inside of me after waiting there for a long, long time. I know that this probably sounds ridiculous and you probably see the “love at first site” explanation as a much better one but that is truly how I felt as best as I can put it into words.

It has been about a year since that magical night, and my fandom, knowledge and love of the show has increased and grown exponentially. My love and exposure of the show is still pretty recent, so I consider these present days as part of the beginning of my fandom as well, since each day it gets better and I am still getting to the point that so many other fans were at years and years ago.

My involvement of the show has just been recounted from the very beginning, and I hope that you actually took the time to read the whole thing and I hope that you understand (if even only a fraction of) how I felt when my deep and true love for Akira Toryama’s great work was first discovered.

-SSj_Rambo

[Velasa]

Nice essay man. Good to have you in the fandom ^^

I still remember my first year in all of it. It was great stuff- may you be with us much longer.