Was Dragon Ball ever spoiled for you?

Chrono Trigger · Post by **Chrono Trigger** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:55 pm

I was wondering if any of you guys have experienced Dragon Ball without having the story spoiled for you? I was talking to some friends today about how it is waiting for new chapters/episodes of One Piece and FMA and not knowing what is gonna happen next. It made me think about how I wish I could have had that experience with Dragon Ball. I mean seriously think of how great it must have been to grow up in Japan back in the day (when the story was brand new every week) and not knowing what Mr. Toriyama was gonna come up with next. Stuff like Krillin and Roshi dying, Piccolo and Goku teaming up, and Goku being killed must have been huge bombshells for them. They got to experience the show in the proper order, no spoilers, and change of major actors.

Then you have my story. I didn't watch a single episode of Dragon Ball until Funimation started dubbing it and it was on Toonami. Back when all they used to do was re-run seasons 1 and 2 I'd go on websites and read about all the future episodes. I just never was able to watch them. So by the time they started airing them I pretty much knew everything that was gonna happen by then. Then I watched all of Dragon Ball and it was great but none of it really surprised me because I knew all of the major plot twist already. So if I could erase my memory of the show and watch/read it from the start I surely would.

So has anyone ever watched/read the story without everything being spoiled? Or were some of you as curious and impatient as me and just read summaries online? I guess it's my own fault but back then I didn't know about the stuff with Saban and Funi and the show being edited. They re-ran the first 2 seasons so much I thought they'd never get the other to the other episodes so I just read summaries. I'm pretty good for ruining shows for myself like that. The first episode of Bebop I saw was the last one...Anyways back to the question at hand...

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:01 pm

The movies were mostly spoil-free for me (as I come from back-in-the-day-of-56k modems and the pre-YouTube era). The first non-Toomani db movie I saw was Movie 8 in Japanese with subs. Movie 8 Brolli was scary. O_O

Also most of the non-Z portion of the manga remained unspoiled for me as I simply bought the Viz books (those bigger versions, and the "monthly comics" ones too) because scansalations were extremely rare things back then too.

Rocketman · Post by **Rocketman** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:04 pm

I got into it with the Majin Buu Saga, so...

Kid Trunks · Post by **Kid Trunks** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:18 pm

I got into Dragonball Z in 98/99 and, for numerous reasons, didn't finish the series until early 2006, and no, I never had anything spoiled.

laserkid · Post by **laserkid** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:35 pm

Yeaaaaaaaaaah, like you I spoiled myself with summaries during the infinite rerun of dub seasons 1 and 2. *sigh*

SOME of classic DB I hadnt spoiled so I had fun with that, but Z? *groan* I knew way too much ahead of time.

B · Post by B » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:36 pm

I found random images on the internet of things that hadn't come to the U.S. yet, like GT and the movies, but they never really spoiled me. Thankfully, the fanbase way back when was too busy complaining that Japan was already on AF while America was still in Z.

Bura · Post by **Bura** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:42 pm

I saw DragonBall Z completely spoiler-free. Although later on I did read some information in magazines (like the Earth blowing up at the end, Vegeta having a daughter and such). But it was mostly seeing and speculating for me. When we were still stuck at the Cell arc the magazines showed images from the Buu saga and I would always speculate what could've happened and who the unfamiliar faces were. I figured Goku got himself a little clone (Goten)

SSj_Rambo · Post by **SSj_Rambo** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:12 pm

AMVs spoiled a lot for me. There wasn't really anything that I saw very spoiler-free, except for a few movies and the Garlic Jr. Saga.

Smooth Criminal · Post by **Smooth Criminal** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:32 pm

Oh yeah. I had read summaries and the like years and years before I ever actually saw many of the episodes..... Particularly later-saga stuff like Buu and GT.

jda95 · Post by **jda95** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:42 pm

Considering that I watched Z first when it was on TV before I watched the whole thing from the very start, I pretty much knew the general idea of the story.

JAPPO · Post by **JAPPO** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:47 pm

It was never spoiled for me, I watched it from the beginning to the end. Z first, then Dball. I haven't watched all of GT or some of the animated movies but I really don't think I'm missing much.

Kingdom Heartless · Post by **Kingdom Heartless** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:01 pm

I had basically everything in Z spoiled for me. It's really depressing to think about...

It was mostly spoiled from friends on the internet, K-Zone, Disney Adventures and Mania.

Castor Troy · Post by **Castor Troy** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:11 pm

I would constantly read spoilers from websites back in the day about everything. I already knew who Majin Buu was before I knew what he looked like.

Although I would misinterpret the spoilers and I thought Trunks time traveled to Planet Namek and killed Freeza there.

Kunzait_83 · Post by **Kunzait_83** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:12 pm

Kingdom Heartless · Post by **Kingdom Heartless** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:18 pm

I'll also mention that little of Dragon Ball was spoiled for me. I knew that Kuririn would be killed by a henchmen of Piccolo Daimao, but I didn't really know when, so when he found him dead, it was still a big deal for me.

I also knew everything that was spoken about in Dragon Ball Z, such as Goku busting through Daimao, Jackie Chun winning, stuff like that.

I think I knew a few more minor things.

I think that may be what makes some of the sagas my favourite... because it was mostly new to me.

jda95 · Post by **jda95** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:29 pm

Kingdom Heartless wrote:I'll also mention that little of Dragon Ball was spoiled for me. I knew that Kuririn would be killed by a henchmen of Piccolo Daimao, but I didn't really know when, so when he found him dead, it was still a big deal for me.

I remember Kuririn's death was one of the only major plotpoints in DB that I didn't know about, so I was really shocked.

Chrono Trigger · Post by **Chrono Trigger** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:41 pm

Chuquita wrote:Also most of the non-Z portion of the manga remained unspoiled for me as I simply bought the Viz books

I remember when I was younger the little comic books they came out with were my first clues that the show was being censored. Cause I honestly didn't have a clue and wouldn't have found out the truth if it weren't for DBZ uncensored. The stuff on there is what got me interested in wanting to see the Japanese version and find out more about what happens later in the story.

Rocketman wrote:I got into it with the Majin Buu Saga, so...

You know it's funny I know a lot of people who got into the show that late and I never understand why. It had to have been really hard to follow.

laserkid wrote:Yeaaaaaaaaaah, like you I spoiled myself with summaries during the infinite rerun of dub seasons 1 and 2.

I guess what didn't "truly" ruin the show for us was the fact that we hadn't seen what we were spoiling so in some ways we didn't know what to expect. I still wish I could have had some more self control.

Kunzait_83 wrote: *EPIC POST*

Dude I gotta admit I really envy your experience. You're probably one of the only people here that got to experience the story almost exactly the way people in Japan did. They got brand new chapters and episodes almost every week and didn't have anybody to spoil stuff for them or give them little winks and hints. Meanwhile I'm over here watching my "Arrival" tape and I already know that Goku will eventually turn into a Super Saiyan! I had the action figure and everything! The closest I've ever come to watching fansubs was when one of my friends discovered they were showing Japanese episodes on the "International Channel" so I was able to see stuff from the Cell Games before we even got those episodes in America...but I was still spoiling shit for myself. So even though it was really a hassle for you track down info I agree that it all was worth it.

B wrote:I found random images on the internet of things that hadn't come to the U.S. yet, like GT and the movies, but they never really spoiled me.

I used to do the same thing. It was hard to make sense of some of them back then though because hadn't seen the show to know who everyone was. I remember seeing and image of Imperfect Cell and not knowing who the hell he was. I remember a kid at my school would print the images out and try to sell them to people too.

Rory · Post by **Rory** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:55 pm

I played Ultimate Battle 22 before the Boo arc, so I knew ahead of time Vegeta would become Majin.

BlueSky · Post by **Kaboom** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:00 pm

I first got into the show when the early Buu saga stories were on Cartoon Network. Once I was hooked, I kinda purposely spoiled myself... As I watched, I did all kinds of research to figure out who these characters were, where they came from, what their roles were, what had happened to them and what WOULD happen to them, and so on...

I'm STILL learning stuff. There's parts of the manga and anime that I've still yet to read and watch for myself.

B · Post by B » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:27 pm

I guess in a way it was spoiled for me, the first Dragon Ball series that is. Throguh watching Z, I already knew characters before they were introduced, just not how or when.

In a way, it wasn't so much spoiling as it was a different excitement. Instead of "wow, new character!" I was like "Wow, so that's how you came in!"