Unique DBZ Related Beliefs and Opinions

[The Time Traveller]

We could break the arcs up depending on their opening animations, and then there's the possibility of calling the three of them the Super Saiyan arc, the Super Saiyan 2 arc and the Super Saiyan 3 arc.

But I just stick to this: Vegeta arc, Freeza arc, Cell arc, Boo arc.

Or Freeza, Cell, Boo, but then again that would be like slitting up Dragon Ball like this: Red Ribbon and Piccolo... which actually makes sense.

[Bussani]

His real name is never revealed as far as I know.

Sorry for sounding ignorant but then why would he call himself Piccolo?

Goku called him something like 'Kamiccolo' at first, which he didn't like, and told them to just keep calling him Piccolo for lack of a better name.

Piccolo was originally the name that Piccolo Daimao gave himself. Piccolo in the Namekian language means 'Another World', and though Kami wasn't sure if Piccolo remembered that, he pondered that he might have named himself that to call himself 'The Great Demon King of Another World'.

The closest thing they have to a name from before they originally split is 'Son of Katattsu', Katattsu presumably being the father of this nameless Namekian.

[Kendamu]

I hear it's actually pretty common for "Kami" to be translated into the local word for "God" in DB translations. The English adaptations are just odd that way.

They referred to him as "God" in Dragonball up until sometime in the 23rd Budokai.

[Herms]

The Japanese guide divisions for the story that Olivier Hague mentioned go like this: Dragonball Search, Kame-sennin's Training, 21st Tenkaichi Budoukai, Red Ribbon Army, Uranai Baba, 22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai, Piccolo Daimao, 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai, Saiyans, Freeza, Androids, Cell, High School, 25th Tenkaichi Budoukai, Majin Boo.

[Kendamu]

I pretty much break it down the way it's broken down on Kanzentai's episode guides. I used to break the Freeza stuff and the Android stuff down into two distinct divisions, though. The former being Namek and Freeza and the latter being Androids and Cell.

I do sometimes clump things into larger arcs, though, when it comes to reading the manga. For example, I sometimes clump everything after the 22nd Budokai together and sometimes I clump the Saiyan and Freeza stuff together. I do this because the manga doesn't always seem so clean-cut between the arcs like the anime episodes are. Heck, sometimes I even clump the 22nd Budokai in with the Piccolo stuff since the roster from that tournament, which happens directly before the Piccolo stuff, is a pretty big plot point at first.

[Velasa]

Outside of a crapload of spellings no one else uses anymore (Neru, Ranchi/Kushami, Burdock, Freezer, Coola, on and on...), I've got a lot of eccentricities in my beliefs on the series.

Like Puar being a girl. 'Boku' or no 'boku', I'm sorry, I just can't see her as a boy.

Technically Nameccians are asexual, but for obvious reasons I simply ignore this one 90% of the time.

Bulma, Trunks Bra and the rest of them have a surname and it's Briefs. I've been calling the family that since day one, it's useful, and common speech here in the states say that Dr. Briefs means Briefs is his last name.

There are dozens of them with Nameccians like the kinds of types they can be born as, the clans that existed before the storms, using 'Daimaou' as a surname despite being a title, but most of these are rather distinctly just fandom stuff and don't weigh on how I look at the series proper.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Well, there are spellings that I seem to stick by. Like, Majin Boo. After reading the Viz manga, from then on I continued to spell Boo's name as "Boo". I disliked the spelling "Buu" because it's the anime spelling. I use Boo because it's the original spelling (I think?) and it goes along with the "Bibbidi-Bobbodi-Boo". So I also use the spellings "Bibbidi" and "Bobbodi" rather than the anime spellings and I use the "Dabra" spelling. A lot of times I use Viz spellings for names, other times I use the Japanese name. I don't use Viz's "Vegerot", though. "Vegetto" has always been spelled "Vegetto", and nothing is going to change that. Furthermore, I use the spelling "Tao Pai Pai", never combined as "Taopaipai", nor do I use the gay anime names "General Tao" & "Mercenery Tao". So yeah, I'm pretty picky with my spellings. And I don't say "Androids", I say "Artificial Humans".

Here's how I normally seperate my arcs. The first arc is Saiyan Arc. You could say it's connected to the Freeza Arc. Maybe it is, since the plot seems to follow on from there and with the introduction of the Saiyan comes the introduction of their evil ruler, Freeza. But for convenience, I use Saiyan Arc and Freeza Arc to seperate them, so when I don't confuse people into thinking that Vegeta transformed into an Oozaru on Planet Namek.

So after Saiyan Arc & Freeza Arc comes the Cell Arc. Then it's the Majin Boo Arc. That's it. Although some fans I've come across like to split the arcs into mini-arcs. Like, from the point Gohan, Kuririn and Bulma arrive on Earth to the arrival of the Ginyu Force is "The Namek Arc". From Ginyu Force to when Ginyu changes bodies with a frog is "The Ginyu Arc". And of course, from Freeza's arrival to Goku's transformation into the Super Saiyan is "The Freeza Arc".
Then there's the Trunks Arc, Artificial Human Arc, Imperfect Cell Arc, Perfect Cell Arc, Cell Games Arc, 25th Tenka'ichi Budokai Arc, Bobbodi Arc, Majin Boo Arc, Fusion Arc and finally the Kid Boo Arc. The mini-arcs.
Though it's really just 4 arcs in my opinion: Saiyan, Freeza, Cell & Boo.

Technically Nameccians are asexual, but for obvious reasons I simply ignore this one 90% of the time.

All or most Namekians have masculine builds, despite being asexual. That is why Piccolo is constantly referred to as "he" throughout the series. And Piccolo Daimao means "Great Demon King Piccolo", so presumably, he gave himself that title because he saw himself as male, since he lost his memory of a Namekian. No-one likes to refer to one of the main characters of the series as "it".

[VegettoEX]

After reading the Viz manga, from then on I continued to spell Boo's name as "Boo". I disliked the spelling "Buu" because it's the anime spelling, it's the original spelling (I think?) and it goes along with the "Bibbidi-Bobbodi-Boo".

"Original" what?

Original spelling in Japanese? His name is ブウ.

[Amigo Ten]

No-one likes to refer to one of the main characters of the series as "it".

It did happen with Cell, but that's the only one I remember. Boo was a "He" I think.

[Piccolo Daimao]

After reading the Viz manga, from then on I continued to spell Boo's name as "Boo". I disliked the spelling "Buu" because it's the anime spelling. I use Boo because it's the original spelling (I think?) and it goes along with the "Bibbidi-Bobbodi-Boo".

"Original" what?

Original spelling in Japanese? His name is ブウ.

I mean, I thought "Boo" was his original Japanese name written out in English.

[Herms]

I mean, I thought "Boo" was his original Japanese name written out in English.

Yeah, "Majin-Boo" is the alphabet spelling used on Japanese merchandise.

Piccolo being referred to as a "he" is just a quirk of translating the dialogue into English. Viz would have been equally justified in referring to Piccolo as "it" as they were with Cell, and I do remember them referring to Nail as an "it".

[Kendamu]

I mean, I thought "Boo" was his original Japanese name written out in English.

Yeah, "Majin-Boo" is the alphabet spelling used on Japanese merchandise.

Piccolo being referred to as a "he" is just a quirk of translating the dialogue into English. Viz would have been equally justified in referring to Piccolo as "it" as they were with Cell, and I do remember them referring to Nail as an "it".

So was Piccolo referred to in a clearly genderless sense on a regular basis in the original?

[Bussani]

And Piccolo Daimao means "Great Demon King Piccolo", so presumably, he gave himself that title because he saw himself as male.

Is 'ou' (王), as in king, only used for males? Or is it more gender neutral?

[Herms]

So was Piccolo referred to in a clearly genderless sense on a regular basis in the original?

Well, not specifically genderless, it's just that most pronouns in Japanese are naturally genderless, and pronouns themselves aren't used nearly as much as they are in English. So sentences that in Japanese naturally leave the gender ambiguous would be either impossible or very awkward to translate into English without using gender-specific pronouns.

[Olivier Hague]

So was Piccolo referred to in a clearly genderless sense on a regular basis in the original?

Well, not specifically genderless, it's just that most pronouns in Japanese are naturally genderless, and pronouns themselves aren't used nearly as much as they are in English.

Was there never any "kare"? Or "ojisan"?

(now that I think about it... Toriyama said Shinjin were genderless, right? since the old Kaiôshin is actually a Shinjin who merged with a witch, I guess that makes "him" mostly female...)
(... and mostly lesbian...)

[Adamant]

There were a ton of "Piccolo no ojisan" from Gohan.

So yeah, on-topic, I believe I'm the only one using the spelling "Nameck" and "Nameckian". It doesn't really have anything to do with it being a preferred romanization or getting the pun across best (which it certainly doesn't), it's simply because I can't look at the words "Namek" and "Namekian" and pronounce the words correctly in my head. Adding an extra c, however, does the job, and is the best-looking alternative.

[Herms]

Was there never any "kare"? Or "ojisan"?

I can't think of any off hand, but I can't say for sure that there never were any.

(now that I think about it... Toriyama said Shinjin were genderless, right? since the old Kaiôshin is actually a Shinjin who merged with a witch, I guess that makes "him" mostly female...)
(... and mostly lesbian...)

You know, I was just wondering about that...

There were a ton of "Piccolo no ojisan" from Gohan.

Was that in the manga? I remember Gohan using that in the anime, but I thought he only ever called him "Piccolo-san" in the manga.

[Adamant]

Was that in the manga? I remember Gohan using that in the anime, but I thought he only ever called him "Piccolo-san" in the manga.

No idea, I've read very little of the manga in Japanese, and most of what I've read is from long before Piccolo was even conceptualized.
He does use it a lot in the anime, though.

[Herms]

Ah, OK then. Now I kind of want to read through all the dialogue relating to Piccolo to get to the bottom of all this...Maybe some other time.

Anyway, barring that kind of extensive reading, I guess I did overstate things by saying that (manga-wise) Piccolo being referred to as a "he" is purely a quirk of the English translation. But it is true that many, probably most, of the times Piccolo is called "he" in the English translation, he's not called by anything gender specific in Japanese.

But to get back on topic, I've always liked to believe that Trunks was Freeza reincarnated. Don't ask me why.

[russ869]

All that Freeza stuff really just happens on the characters' trip into space. So it's kind of like the "Trip to Planet Namek arc." All that Jinzoningen stuff is sort like the "Time Travel arc." Although that's definitely not the best name for it.

Gokou is my favorite spelling for "Goku", but ironically enough I rarely ever spell it that way even when I'm off the site because the latter's just too ingrained into me.

I like to use Son Gokuu. Since that's generally how the hiragana pronunciation of his name (そんごくう) is romanized. (So-n Go-ku-u)

I hear it's actually pretty common for "Kami" to be translated into the local word for "God" in DB translations. The English adaptations are just odd that way.

Bizarre parodies of religion? IN MY ANIME?!!?!

But to get back on topic, I've always liked to believe that Trunks was Freeza reincarnated. Don't ask me why.

Sometimes I can't tell when you're joking.