Dragonball and your social circle

IncompetentOverlord · Post by **IncompetentOverlord** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:15 pm

What do your friends think of your interest in Dragonball? How about your family? I'll answer my own question a bit later, but I think it would be interesting to see how Dragonball fares in other's lives

Note: I made this topic after implementing the strategies suggested in the Introducing others to DB thread and seeing my family's reactions after watching it.

NeptuneKai · Post by **NeptuneKai** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:25 pm

I have a few friends who like Dragonball. They started out as dub watchers but I started explaining the censorship and differences between the two versions and got them interested in the original.

My dad thinks Dragonball is insanely long and is just mind numbingly bizarre. The thing is he'll catch me watching GT then movie 3 then a 21st Tenkaichi Budokai episode and think I'm watching the series in progression so he has no real sense of the continuity. He always brings up Freeza though since he watched the Bardock special. For some odd reason he thinks Vegeta is the main character.

My cousin loved the ocean Dragonball Z when it was on Toonami. He said in passing his most despised character was Dodoria. He doesn't really watch it anymore but remembers it in a nostalgic sense.

I brought up the fact that there are 13 DBZ movies in my creative writing class and was met with a confused look from a lot of people. One girl chimed in and said "it's that show like Pokemon". This was particularly surprising since I thought anime was a HUGE thing in America nowadays and most people would know what that art style was by name.

.:PoetikaL:. · Post by **.:PoetikaL:.** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:39 pm

I have a wide selection of friends, ranging from those who like anime, those who don't like it all, and those who know it, watched it, then kinda say things like "Oh that dude with the sword and the eyepatch with the yellow glow" (kudos to those who guesses the guy).

My parents know that I'm a DBZ nut, and they accept it, and sometimes my mom asks what's going on when I watch it.

I converted many of those who had speculations that anime was weird and... in short, gives a sense of a mindfuck. My friends who know that I like anime don't give me any problem, basically because I'm into a whole wide range of topics, like politics, sports...etc.

Within my friends who are into anime, I'm the resident DB expert... and I tell them stuff they wouldn't know.

So basically, I usually convert those who don't like it or are interested to know the show.

Sprite Satan · Post by **Sprite Satan** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:40 pm

My friends aren't as big fans of Dragon Ball as they were but they still like it and visit my blog so theirs is a more casual fandom rather than, say, nostalgia towards the series.

My girlfriend indulges me by watching it with me. She thinks its okay and prefers the Dragon Ball stuff to Z, overall.

My parents have zero interest. My mother has watched a few episodes but she said she hated the voices and found it all very overblown and melodramatic. She likes the abridged series, though.

IncompetentOverlord · Post by **IncompetentOverlord** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:53 pm

Okay, so a few of my friends watched it as kids, and are nostalgic for it. So I picked one of them and exposed them first to the Funi dub with the kikuchi score(which he thought was much cheesier than he remembered) and the japanese version(which confused him to no end. Never have I heard on person whine about "How Goku is voiced by girl" and "Vegeta sounds like your average dork." in my entire life. I exposed it to my dad through the dub, and he said it was kinda like Superman but way too long.

DBZfan29 · Post by **DBZfan29** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:59 pm

All of my "friends" know about my liking for Dragon Ball. They make fun of me for it, unfortunately, even the people who actually like manga/anime. I wish I could meet someone who likes Dragon Ball as much as I do, but that may never happen. For now, I will stay on the forum so I can talk about what I like to talk about.

Recently, I was chatting with someone about Dragon Ball. I was also telling them of how I was fond of the original version than the FUNimation dub. He replied, "oh, they're the same! One says 'ah!' and the other say 'ah!'" Then, he was shocked to find out that Masako Nozawa, a woman, plays Son Goku. I had to explain to him that she matches his happy-go-lucky personality. Like most dub fans, however, he tried to defend the dub.

As for my family, they don't have an interest in the series. They don't make fun of me, but will occasionally wonder why I like the show so much. My cousin used to love the show, but he's grown up and out of it. As for my brother, he sometimes plays the video games with me, but nothing more. I love playing "Sagas," it's always a good laugh, and the one thing we can agree on in that game is that the voices are annoying!

P.S. - I don't know what happened here. Can this message be merged with the first? (ed. done and done.)

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:33 pm

I got my cousins into watching DBZ. Interestingly enough though, they would watch it on International Channel to see more of what happens, while I wouldn't because I didn't like spoilers and needed to know dialogue, but they would later watch on CN or my uncut tapes, and when I started getting dvds, they refused to watch it subbed.

yunzabit · Post by **yunzabit** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:55 pm

All my friends know of my love for Dragonball. Some of them only like Dragonball because I like it. A lot of them love it but they only care about the android saga upwards, whereas I have no interest in anything after Goku and Freeza's fight on Namek.

Even my friends who don't care for Dragonball don't mind me talking about it. I guess that's why they are my friends.

My family knows that I like Dragonball as well. It's not a big deal, it is just a story after all.

Hellspawn28 · Post by **Hellspawn28** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:12 pm

None of my friends enjoy DBZ or anime in general really.

Gogeta 00 · Post by **Gogeta 00** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:20 pm

All of my friends who used to watch the show have grown out of it, but they know I'm still a fan. Whenever I bring it up they kind of just nod along. Basically, I'm alone as a DragonBall fan.

My family knows, they (hopefully) bought me lots of DragonBall goodies for Christmas. But it doesn't really matter to them.

caejones · Post by **caejones** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:10 pm

The closest thing I have to a social circle consists of Dragonball fans, who pretty much came together originally because of Dragonball, so nya. ^_^
And yeah, my dad was into it before me, my sister sorta followed it when it was on Toonami, and my cousin has pretty well lived with it, so... yeah.... XD

dragondyle · Post by **dragondyle** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:23 pm

Most of the people I know either hate Dragon Ball, don't know what it is, or just forgot all about it/lost interest. My two cousins and little brother have somewhat of an interest but not as much as me. I am still a hardcore fan and the only hardcore fan left of Dragon Ball in my social group. It's a shame. I wish I could share the fandom with someone I know personally. But that's why I come on here. I can talk about Dragon Ball here, but it's not the same.

Ununbium · Post by **Ununbium** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:24 pm

Most of my friends watched it when it was on Toonami. It doesn't really come up though other then when we talk about shows from our childhood. Most ,if not all of them, liked it.

Thanos6 · Post by **Thanos6** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:44 pm

My family knows I like it, but have never watched any of it themselves nor have shown any desire to. It's just another weird thing I like.

When I met them, my girlfriend and boyfriend were both adamantly DB/Z based just on what they'd heard about the show, never having actually seen it. I persuaded them to give it a try and now they both love it.

Sebastian (SB) · Post by **Sebastian (SB)** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:30 pm

Most of my friends who do like it, hate the subs. Specifically, the Japanese Goku. I don't really bother to explain the construct or reasoning behind the character voice because I figured I would be wasting my breath. The FUNimation generation is mostly largely absorbed and influenced by the pop culture of the in-house dub. Schemmel is Goku and that's it. Heck, I was the same until my fandom and curiosity of Dragon Ball in its native country brought me to this site. My reaction to this is normally to just continue watching the subs at any leisure of my time regardless of what others think. One of my close friends would often ask why I would play Sparking! METEOR with the Japanese voices with great disgust. He hated how every Son family member had "that same voice". It's a valid argument, especially in the case of Burdock, but I would have nothing to say. Again, the FUNimation cast is just largely ingrained in the minds of the American public.

Luckily, I do have one friend who enjoys watching the subs as much as I do. But he's more of a casual anime fan, leaning towards Fullmetal Alchemist, Ramna 1/2, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Miyazaki. I'm more of the Jump fan. As far as what others think, I don't think they mind it, with the exception of my viewing preference. In the end, it's just something we all enjoy. But nowadays, it's mostly Bleach, Naruto, and whatever Aya Hirano moe pop culture infestation series there is (but I suppose the same can be said for the prior two. lol).

bkev · Post by **bkev** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:52 pm

Doesn't really come up in casual conversation, so it's no big deal. I know my friends don't judge me for it anyway - least, they won't for another 10 years when I'm still clinging to it at 26.

IncompetentOverlord · Post by **IncompetentOverlord** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:03 am

yunzabit wrote:Even my friends who don't care for Dragonball don't mind me talking about it. I guess that's why they are my friends.

Wow. You have great friends. My friends who don't like DB would kick me in the crotch, throw me out of their house, and refuse to see me for several days if I talked about Dragonball for more than 20 seconds.

Kendamu · Post by **Kendamu** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:15 am

My girlfriend likes Dragonball. She's read all of the manga in English, has seen most of Dragonball Z in Japanese, and has seen part of Dragonball in Japanese. I'm glad, too. We probably wouldn't be living together if she didn't like Dragonball because I talk about it too much.

Many of my friends either have a passing interest in Dragonball or they used to watch Dragonball Z on Toonami back in the day, so when I mention Dragonball it doesn't bother them. I do tend to keep Dragonball talk to a minimum, though, because they're not huge fans.

I do know a couple of people who are big Dragonball fans, though. One is a dub fan and he other is a Japanese version fan. The dub fan is a big fan of the show but he's also very casual about it. He didn't even care that the Japanese background music was playing when he was watching the bricks. The other is a bit of a lurker here who is purely into the Japanese version. So, I have a diverse set of things to talk about in terms of Dragonball with either of them.

Overall, though, it's not the Dragonball fans I have the most fun with. It's the non-fans who are martial artists and just fun people to be around that I like the most. When I'm training and hanging out with them, I feel like I'm living the life instead of just sitting around and watching fictional characters do the things I want to do.

Smooth Criminal · Post by **Smooth Criminal** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:22 am

No exaggeration, I know literally ZERO people that currently share an even remote interest in anything Dragonball. I guess that's an odd thing to say, especially considering how large the franchise was, and continues to be. But it's true. I can't even mention the name Dragonball in any forum other than the Internet without feeling embarassment.

There are several reasons why. For most American fans that are my age, DB was a flavor-of-the-month kind of deal that they grew out of. I didn't, obviously.

Another interesting phenomenon is that amongst all of my anime-loving friends and aquaintances, liking Dragonball automatically makes me a laughing stock of sorts, not to be taken seriously.

When the Dragonbox was announed, I felt so excited and ready to share the news, yet I quickly realized that I'm the only one other than anonymous Internet faces that gives a shit. When I posted the announcement as a fb status update, the only response I got was someone asking me what the fuck a dragon box was.

I've come to accept that I will simply remain a closet Dragonball fan for life. But hey, I'm all for those who choose to be vocal about it-- those are some brave, brave souls.

The Time Traveller · Post by **The Time Traveller** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:35 am

I don't really have a social circle any more.

I keep in touch with some of my friends although I haven't seen them in about 2 years, one of them collected the series, another liked the games and watched it a little, and another was an anime fan who didn't really like Shonen series that lasted too long.

Kanzenshuu

Dragonball and your social circle

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