Let's start off with my family. My family knows full well that I am a fan of DBZ/anime/manga. They even support it by buying me the DVDs/Manga/etc. It doesn't help that my father is also a fan of the series.(Not as big as a fan. He still wonders why he can't turn Super Saiyan when he picks Mystic Gohan in the video games.
) And my brother is a fan as well. My mother is tolerant of it.AKA, she isn't a fan, but will still watch it if nothing is on and we're watching it anyway. My sister...well, she isn't a fan. She's more of the "OMG High School Musical!" kind of girl...nothing more needs to be said on this >.<.
Now my friends. I have friends in pretty much every social spectrum. Jock, Goth, Skater, and tons of others. I basically have 2 groups of friends, too. Friends from church and friends from school, though there are some friends that fit into both groups.(Although I don't love either one more
) I am very open with my love of Dragonball. I wear the shirts to school/etc. and everyone knows it. In fact, the last few days of school before Christmas break, I took my copy of the first Daizenshuu(Courtesy of VIZ) to school, and my friends even asked to look at it.(And I dont' mean my otaku friends.)
The same goes for church(Except for bring the Daizenshuu...it'd kind of look bad if I accidently forgot my bible because I took that XD). I'm very open about my love for Dragonball, and no one minds. Granted, a few jokes get cracked here and there, but it's not in a mean way at all. I even taught the younger sister of a couple of my friends to do the Kamehameha. (She's no older than 2 or 3). They say she does it all time at home, and that it gets on their nerves.
Basically, my friends/family don't mind the fact that I'm a fan of Dragonball at all. I never get made fun of at school or anything, even though my friends range from every step of the social ladder. They accept it as part of me, and I'm sure they think that I wouldn't be the same if I
weren't a fan of it. I even have some non-otaku friends that have promised to go see the LAM with me in April when it comes out.
All in all, I've learned that there is no need to hide anything like this from your friends/family. If they are already your friends, than they will accept it. I never get made fun of, at all. And trust me, I don't hide it at all.(I even did a speech on the history of Dragonball in my Public speaking class at school, using our beloved Daizex's
Newbie Guide as a reference!) I guess I'm just lucky God blessed me with such an accepting environment.
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Now, with the Otaku friends. They are, ironically, the ones I have the most trouble with. Having moved on to "better'(Haha) things such as Naruto, Bleach, and Death Note, they don't really do much with Dragonball at all anymore. Also, most of them grew up with the dub. So, they either think:
1) Dragonball Z is nothing but sweaty guys fighting and yelling and standing still.(They never knew the original Dragonball)
2) They have watched the original and think that Goku sounds like a girl.
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As with converting people from the dub, I don't really put much effort into it. To be honest, none of my non-otaku friends are interested in Dragonball anymore, and the ones that are otaku I've already explained above.
My brother gets mad at me for putting Dragonball in Japanese whenever we watch it, but it's gotten less annoying to him lately(or so it seems).
I have, however, accostumed my brother to the Japanese Naruto instead of the English. Mostly because my father bought us one of those things on Ebay(205 Episodes of Naruto!!!1!English subtits!!!1!?!) and that was the only way he could watch them, in Japanese. (English was only up to about episode 40 back then)
Anyway, thats about all I have right now on the subject.
