DBZ, Most Popular Anime in the US?

Sun_Wukong · Post by **Sun_Wukong** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 1:41 pm

DBZ was popular from 1998/9-2003/4-ish, Pokemon was introduced to the US when Toonami first aired the Freeza saga.

I remember both being extremely popular when i was 13.

I dont know how kids get into DBZ these days with it not being on tv anymore.

SSJ2bardock · Post by **SSJ2bardock** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:27 pm

Super Sonic wrote:There are also a lot of guys in their 20s who still love and can sing to this day.this song to this day.

I think it's pretty funny that I'll know this song by heart till the day I die. It's just a really cool song.

saiyanprincess · Post by **saiyanprincess** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:40 pm

That song sort of fits Dragonball and Z... Listen to the lyrics carefully...

I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was.
To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause...
I will travel across the land, searching far and wide,
These Pokmon to understand, the power that's inside.
Pokmon...gotta catch 'em all!!
It's you and me...
I know it's my destiny
Pokmon...Oh..you're my best friend,
In a world we must defend.
Pokmon...gotta catch 'em all!!
A heart so true--our courage will pull us through!
You teach me and I'll teach you!
Pokmon!
Gotta Catch 'Em All!
Gotta Catch 'Em All!
POKMON!

Now for my untimely five second thought of some Dragonball lyrics...

(Goku singing)....

I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was...
To find them is my real quest... To train harder is my cause...
I will travel across the land, searching far and wide,
These dragonballs will grant a wish unlock the power thats inside...
Dragonballs gotta find them all!!!
(Bulma, Krillin and him) It's you and me...
I know its my destiny...
Oh Krillin you're my best friend,
In a world we must defend.
Dragonballs gotta find them all!
A heart so true! -- Our courage will pull us through!
Master Roshi teaches me and I'll eat food...
In a world we must defend.
Dragonballs gotta find them all!!
Dragonballs!!!

Nikkolas · Post by **Nikkolas** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:03 pm

The Pokemon Theme is legendary.
If you have free time, I suggest typing in Pokemon Theme con in YouTube. You'll see dozens of vids of people singing/playing it at various conventions. It's fun.

But nothing beats metal covers of the Pokemon Theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpznANLhhs8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C80XEqAzj1g

caejones · Post by **caejones** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 3:45 am

"Dragon balls! Gotta find them dragon balls! And the hardest task of all, is to find that seventh ball!"
... Can I push rewind, now?

*perplexed*
*unsure about Pokemon*
*ponders what impact could have on North American DB/Z if went back in time and tried to do... well... anything*

Hao_Kaiser · Post by **Hao_Kaiser** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:11 am

SSJ2bardock wrote:
Rocketman wrote:
SSJ2bardock wrote:I see what your all saying, but I just don't think it's the most recognizable.

If you had a picture of Goku and a picture of Pikachu and asked random people on the street who each character was odds are that more people would know Pikachu.
Do answers like "That guy from Dragonball Z" count?
I don't think so, because although you do have a point I still think that people would actually know who Pikachu is.

DBZ - huge in the US in the late 90's and early 00's

Pokemon - Epically huge across the world in the late 90's and early 00's

At the same time, I think we're overlooking how insanely popular the video games and the card game are.

The Pokemon anime was really big for a while, but I think it began to die, popularity wise late-Johto, along with the rest of the Pokemon fad. These days, the anime is, in my opinion, the least popular of the three tiers of the franchise in America.

Dragon Ball, on the other hand, was pretty popular up until the dub was finished. However, I found that with the release of the current boxsets, Dragon Ball Z has become the big thing again (while Naruto has more or less become the niche title unlike last year, when you couldn't step foot in my school without hearing a super-serious "BELIEVE ITZ!").

I'm 17, mind you, so maybe I've got a slightly different view on the whole thing. However, just on the basis of my personal experience and my high-school piers, Dragon Ball has definitely resonated more so than the Pokemon anime did.

Uh... I think I went off on a tangent there. Anyways, back to my original point, I always watched Dragon Ball because it was, y'know, Dragon Ball. I never would've watched Pokemon had I not been a fan of the games. I wasn't watching Dragon Ball because I was really big into Budokai 2, or anything like that. Based on it's own merits, Dragon Ball was probably more popular... I think any popularity that Pokemon enjoyed can be attributed just as much to the games and the card game.

Though, I guess that's kinda irrelevant... *sigh*

Kid Trunks · Post by **Kid Trunks** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:52 am

SSJ2bardock wrote:Ya know now that I think of it I don't even really know why pokemon was so popular.

The collecting and trading. For me and everyone at school it was the card collecting and trading.

Rocketman · Post by **Rocketman** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:18 pm

Kid Trunks wrote:The collecting and trading. For me and everyone at school it was the card collecting and trading.

Haggling over exactly how many Stage-1 Evolution cards equals that holofoil Charizard if you throw in some Pixie Stix. Then you bet the other guy a Yankee Doodle quarter that he can't shove ten Warheads in his mouth at once.

Ah, those were the days.

SSJ2bardock · Post by **SSJ2bardock** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:05 pm

Rocketman wrote:
Kid Trunks wrote:The collecting and trading. For me and everyone at school it was the card collecting and trading.
Haggling over exactly how many Stage-1 Evolution cards equals that holofoil Charizard if you throw in some Pixie Stix. Then you bet the other guy a Yankee Doodle quarter that he can't shove ten Warheads in his mouth at once.

Ah, those were the days.

Charizard card = unattainable via trade of other cards.

Seriously, how many people do you know that didn't hold onto those things like a family heirloom?

Then again, I did once trade a kid a Valkyrion Magna Warrior for his Jinzo when Yu-Gi-Oh was still in.

For those of you who don't know, Valkyrion was a "promo" card that was pretty easy to get and although he was very powerful he required 3 other specific monsters to be sacrificed in order to summon him which made him extremely difficult to actually get into play on the field.

Jinzo on the other hand while not as powerful physically, allowed you to disabled your opponent from using traps, which made him substantially more useful. Not to mention he was one of the rarest, and I'm talking the rarest cards in the original booster packs (which is why I'm still pissed to this day that they released it with a tin set, but I digress).

Wow, I've gotten way off topic

I guess I'm just saying stranger things have happened

Kid Trunks · Post by **Kid Trunks** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:25 pm

SSJ2bardock wrote:
Rocketman wrote:
Kid Trunks wrote:The collecting and trading. For me and everyone at school it was the card collecting and trading.
Haggling over exactly how many Stage-1 Evolution cards equals that holofoil Charizard if you throw in some Pixie Stix. Then you bet the other guy a Yankee Doodle quarter that he can't shove ten Warheads in his mouth at once.

Ah, those were the days.
Charizard card = unattainable via trade of other cards.

Seriously, how many people do you know that didn't hold onto those things like a family heirloom?

I knew a kid with 3 meowth cards and it took me forever to get him to trade with me for one, he just loved having one-up on me.

And I'll trade a Charizard with you if you want

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:32 pm

Freeza Heika wrote:
Super Sonic wrote:There are also a lot of guys in their 20s who still love and can sing to this day.this song to this day.
Like this? I think that is originally form the most subscribed poster on Youtube. Goes to show its popularity.

I remember in like 95 or 96 when they sent out a promo VHS for the show before it aired. I think I still have it; that was pretty badass at the time since I was only 5 or 6. The show was very popular for the first few years, then quality went down hill.

Is it really that popular in U.S. anymore? I haven't heard anything about it in years. I'm in high school and I look around I still see some people still wearing Dragonabll merchandise, but never any Pokemon stuff. (Wow, even the spell check on the forum is against Dragonball. It says that Pokemon is a word and Dragonball isn't)

Well, also a lot of people still like the games, they don't like the anime as much since 4Kids lost it. Have to agree, as I still consider Veronica Taylor to be the true Ash and think the post-Advanced Battle themes aren't very good. Then again, 4Kids was known for doing better dub themes than actual dubs, so...

DevilKingBaal · Post by **DevilKingBaal** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:38 pm

Naruto has become the most popular, sadly. I'll give you proof too.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-r ... naruto.com

January 2nd, Naruto.com will post the first 8 episodes of Shippuden (Subbed) and release 8 more every Friday till they catch up to JP

January 15th, they'll also post the latest Ship episode, and then will do so every Thursday after

And starting in February, Viz will be releasing 11 Volumes of Manga over 3 months, which means they'll be up to Volume 44 by April.

bkev · Post by **bkev** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:41 pm

watch how the rest of their manga is ignored, with each other respective series getting two or three volumes a year.

DevilKingBaal · Post by **DevilKingBaal** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:43 pm

Series like One Piece and Eyeshield 21 will be ignored.

And Viz has already ruined Dragon Ball.

Both DB and DBZ.

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:44 pm

How did they ruin DB? If you got the entirety back when they were first released uncut, it's not hacked so no big deal for us.

DevilKingBaal · Post by **DevilKingBaal** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:45 pm

I didn't even know Manga existed back when they were releasing the original uncut DB & DBZ.

But look at it now. See how watered down it is?

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:48 pm

I have, but since I had the last volumes of DB in 2004, and got a few of the earlier bigger versions in 2005 and 2006, it didn't really matter to me what changes they made since I already had the uncut.

DevilKingBaal · Post by **DevilKingBaal** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:51 pm

Lucky you. I'm not quite as fortunate.

But the fact is if you compare the original publsihed manga to the current manga then you can see what they did.

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:02 pm

Super Sonic wrote:How did they ruin DB? If you got the entirety back when they were first released uncut, it's not hacked so no big deal for us.

Vegerot, "Djinn", and I believe some editing out of the middle finger along with some gun-erasing.

I mean, its not really ruining so much as it is improper translations with unnecessary edits, but still it does muddle the experience somewhat when you're trying to read the books.

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:07 pm

I was referring to Dragon Ball. I know Z had those weird things. Will admit that while I prefer Vegetto and Majin, if foreigners don't mind about name changes in imported American comics, why do we care so much? Yes, they do change American comic characters' names in at least France and Mexico.

Kanzenshuu

DBZ, Most Popular Anime in the US?

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