New to Dragon Ball, needing some help please.

[Pandorica]

Hello everyone this is my first time posting on a forum, I’ve never really had the motivation to register for one until now.

Just this past Tuesday I watched my first episode or rather episodes of Dragon Ball Z.

I’ve never really had much experience with anime, to me they’re just cartoons that are drawn different and well cartoons are generally aimed at kids which is rich coming from a 16 year old. But as luck/fate would have it my cousin had some episodes recorded on his Sky box.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Idiot_Abroad would be a good phrase to describe me so instead off heading out into the town I thought why not check out American T.V (I’m from Britain you see). There wasn’t a lot to suit my interests so I found said show and thought why not watch it, after all it’s for kids, I could do with a laugh.

But I was pleasantly surprised; sure I didn’t really get what was going on as there appeared to be a large gap between 2 of the 3 episodes but despite that I enjoyed myself, it’s perhaps the most fun I’ve had watching a programme in a good while.

My cousin was only able to tell me so much when I asked him about it, he’s only just started watching the show himself as off May but what wisdom he was able to impart was enough to make me want to watch more.

So I managed to get Season 1 at the local Wal-Mart. I’ve watched the first 4 episodes so far (subbed) and I can certainly say I am impressed with just about everything, the voice acting, the music, the art and design are all top notch.

It seems a little weird that there seems to be some sort of established connection between the characters, I gathered certain elements from the flashbacks but I daren’t not venture into the world of Wikipedia to find out the answers as I’m sure it will all be explained in due course.

So you’re probably wondering why I came to a forum just to tell you that, well I thought it would be kinda fun for me to share the experience with you long term fans as I progress through the series.

As the thread title suggests I could also do with some basic information, how long does this series last, where can I watch it at home (can’t seem to find it on NickToons), the basic stuff. Thanks to anyone and everyone who may reply.

[NUDEoctopus]

The "connections" between characters would'nt seem so strange if you saw the previous series Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball Z is actually the sequel series. Dragon Ball is more focused on comedic adventure, while Dragon Ball Z takes a more serious action and fighting tone. You may want to look into seeing Dragon Ball first, but if you don't you'll be okay. I was actually exposed to Draogn Ball Z before Dragon Ball.

Oh and by the way, welcome to the world of Dragon Ball!

[Pandorica]

The "connections" between characters would'nt seem so strange if you saw the previous series Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball Z is actually the sequel series. Dragon Ball is more focused on comedic adventure, while Dragon Ball Z takes a more serious action and fighting tone. You may want to look into seeing Dragon Ball first, but if you don't you'll be okay. I was actually exposed to Draogn Ball Z before Dragon Ball.

Oh and by the way, welcome to the world of Dragon Ball!

Ah I see, thanks for clearing that up. I guess that’s one of the reasons why you don’t go to a 12 year old for advice.

So will I be fine progressing with Z or rather “Z Kai” as I am or should I check out Dragon Ball first?

Also thanks for the warm welcome.

[Metalwario64]

It seems a little weird that there seems to be some sort of established connection between the characters, I gathered certain elements from the flashbacks but I daren’t not venture into the world of Wikipedia to find out the answers as I’m sure it will all be explained in due course.

That's because you've just skipped about 150 episodes by starting with "Z". Those prior episodes are titled simply "Dragon Ball", and I, along with many others would recommend you watch them before you start with Dragon Ball Z. If you skip them, you will miss on lots of character back story and development. Many English speaking fans missed out on Dragon Ball first, but that was only due to it's initial unavailability in many English Speaking regions. At this point, all of Dragon Ball is readily available, so that is no longer an issue. The whole series would feel much more complete if you start from the beginning.

Dragon Ball is more focused on comedic adventure, while Dragon Ball Z takes a more serious action and fighting tone.

That's not entirely true. I'd hardly call the Piccolo Daimao arc a comedic adventure.

So will I be fine progressing with Z or rather “Z Kai” as I am or should I check out Dragon Ball first?

Oh, it's Kai you're watching? Anyway, I'd definitely recommend you give the original a watch first. I wish I could have, and as I progress through it, I feel much closer to the characters. Without the original Dragon Ball, an event in Z which I won't spoil becomes meaningless, especially in Kai.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

I'd personally always go in chronological order with the series, you'll get better acquainted with the characters, understand the story progression, and save some surprises for later.

[B]

Definitely find a way to catch the first series, and then continue on with "Z Kai."

[SuperSaiyan3Goku]

Welcome to the World of Dragonball, new guy!

You really should watch the original Dragon Ball first. You'd miss a lot of Character development if you just watch Z first.

All of Dragonball is available in "Season sets". (1-5) These are readily available, the last few sets came out this year. I'd advise you to buy those to start out with.

Again, welcome to Dragonball! Enjoy your stay!

[Pandorica]

I'd personally always go in chronological order with the series, you'll get better acquainted with the characters, understand the story progression, and save some surprises for later.

I’ll definitely have to look into that then, I’ll have a quick search on Google and see what I can find.

Welcome to the World of Dragonball, new guy!

You really should watch the original Dragon Ball first. You'd miss a lot of Character development if you just watch Z first.

All of Dragonball is available in "Season sets". (1-5) These are readily available, the last few sets came out this year. I'd advise you to buy those to start out with.

Again, welcome to Dragonball! Enjoy your stay!

Thanks for the welcome

That's good to know (that all 5 sets are out), they aren't blue by any chance are they? I saw a few of them in the Wal-Mart I went to but wasn't sure if I should pick them up as Z Kai was the one I watched so Z Kai was the one I got.

[Makaioshin]

I'd suggest the comic over the animated series. Pacing wise(not really that big of an issue if you are watching Kai) and art wise it is far better.

[VegettoEX]

That's good to know (that all 5 sets are out), they aren't blue by any chance are they? I saw a few of them in the Wal-Mart I went to but wasn't sure if I should pick them up as Z Kai was the one I watched so Z Kai was the one I got.

Yep, the five "blue bricks" are the most recent release of the first TV series from FUNimation (the franchise's North American distributor). Lots of episodes at a cheap price.

It's an incredibly convoluted history when it comes to DVD releases of the series. In terms of stuff for the English-speaking world, our "DVD Guide" should hopefully cover it for you. We do the best we can with the constant re-releases . I've gotta update a bit of text about the blue bricks (they're all released as-of this past July), but the info's all there for ya'.

[desirecampbell]

Since you're new to the series it's probably a good idea to prep you with names of the different series:

• "Dragon Ball" (DB) is a cartoon based on a (then currently running) weekly comic called "Dragon Ball", it started airing in 1986 and ran 153 episodes.
• "Dragon Ball Z" (DBZ) is the sequel cartoon that started airing the week after the last episode of "Dragon Ball" in 1989 and ran for 291 episodes. This series is also based on the same weekly comic "Dragon Ball". Other than the name change there's nothing different about these first two cartoons: they are in continuity with each other and DBZ references DB often. DBZ ends where the comic ends.
• "Dragon Ball GT" (DBGT or simply GT) is a sequel to DBZ that started airing one week after DBZ ended in 1996 and ran for 64 episodes. This series was not based on a comic, it was an original production from the cartoon-production team.
• "Dragon Ball Kai" (DB Kai or simply Kai) is a "refresh" of DBZ. It takes the original animation and cuts it down considerably. It also uses a new score and re-recorded voices (some actor changes, but mostly the original script). It started airing in 2009 and continues to air weekly. This series is currently being released by FUNimation and airing on Nick and CW channels as "Dragon Ball Z Kai" (often abreviated as DBZ Kai or Z-Kai).

I think the consensus you'll get here is "watch Dragon Ball first". Almost all English speaking fans were first introduced to Dragon Ball Z first, and missed out on getting to know the characters. You can simply ignore or assume from context what the characters are like and their relationship to each other from just DBZ, but a lot of what happens in early DBZ doesn't make any sense without the previous series.

The biggest question I have for you is if you're watching the English dub or the original Japanese. And if 'dub', then which dub? What exactly are you watching right now? There have been at least a half-dozen different English dubs, and only a few have done all the series consistently.

[linkdude20002001]

So I managed to get Season 1 at the local Wal-Mart. I’ve watched the first 4 episodes so far (subbed) and I can certainly say I am impressed with just about everything, the voice acting, the music, the art and design are all top notch.

You had me very confused. Kai wasn't released in the season format, and if you'd purchased the DBZ "season" one set, I doubt you'd be saying the voice acting is top notch. The acting in Kai is quite great, though, so you should certainly continue to buy it.

As for watching DB be DBZ... Do it! Though, I recommend watching it in Japanese with English subtitles, since the English dub censors the dialogue, including the hilarious, perverted dialogue of the Immortal Master (Turtle Hermit). Sadly, the dub was made back when FUNi didn't feel the need to create a censored dub for broadcast AND an uncensored dub for DVD.
Also, the English dub removes the insert songs and has some rather unfunny jokes replacing funny ones.
PLUS, if you ever feel like watching DBZ, you'll most certainly want to watch THAT in Japanese, since the entire script was made up, and has nothing to do with the original dialogue (and the voices/voice acting sucks depending on the character).

[Pandorica]

Yep, the five "blue bricks" are the most recent release of the first TV series from FUNimation (the franchise's North American distributor). Lots of episodes at a cheap price.

It's an incredibly convoluted history when it comes to DVD releases of the series. In terms of stuff for the English-speaking world, our "DVD Guide" should hopefully cover it for you. We do the best we can with the constant re-releases . I've gotta update a bit of text about the blue bricks (they're all released as-of this past July), but the info's all there for ya'.

Blimey that’s a lot of DVDS!

I’d like to thank whoever wrote the guide, it was very informative for a new fan like myself. In fact the whole website looks to be fantastic and I can’t wait to explore it once I’ve finished the series.

The blue bricks seem like the best option to go with for the Dragon Ball series, I found them for a reasonable price so it’s not a matter of if I buy them it’s a matter of when. I get paid for my paper round this week so maybe towards the end of the week or the start of next I’ll buy it.

The biggest question I have for you is if you're watching the English dub or the original Japanese. And if 'dub', then which dub? What exactly are you watching right now? There have been at least a half-dozen different English dubs, and only a few have done all the series consistently.

Thanks for the info

I watched the dub on NickToons so whatever version that is but when I bought the DVD I’ve been watching the sub from there on out as that’s what was recommended to me.

So I managed to get Season 1 at the local Wal-Mart. I’ve watched the first 4 episodes so far (subbed) and I can certainly say I am impressed with just about everything, the voice acting, the music, the art and design are all top notch.

You had me very confused. Kai wasn't released in the season format, and if you'd purchased the DBZ "season" one set, I doubt you'd be saying the voice acting is top notch. The acting in Kai is quite great, though, so you should certainly continue to buy it.

As for watching DB be DBZ... Do it! Though, I recommend watching it in Japanese with English subtitles, since the English dub censors the dialogue, including the hilarious, perverted dialogue of the Immortal Master (Turtle Hermit). Sadly, the dub was made back when FUNi didn't feel the need to create a censored dub for broadcast AND an uncensored dub for DVD.
Also, the English dub removes the insert songs and has some rather unfunny jokes replacing funny ones.
PLUS, if you ever feel like watching DBZ, you'll most certainly want to watch THAT in Japanese, since the entire script was made up, and has nothing to do with the original dialogue (and the voices/voice acting sucks depending on the character).

Whoops, meant Season One Part One.

That’s a shame on the censored front, and really making up their own script?! Ok I appreciate the fact that there might have to be some changes but still that’s ridiculous, I think the original version and what I’ve seen of it so far is amazing so why they’d feel the need to rewrite it from scratch is beyond me. But what I saw of the Z Kai dub looked pretty good however.

The same goes for replacing the songs. I’d guess I could slightly forgive them for the voice acting as it’d be hard to match the original version but if it’s as bad as you say it is then it makes me wonder where on earth they got the people from, the street? But again for the Z Kai dub I did like the voice acting for the most part, there were a few voices that sounded a little hard on the ears but the rest was good.

[Adamant]

You had me very confused. Kai wasn't released in the season format, and if you'd purchased the DBZ "season" one set, I doubt you'd be saying the voice acting is top notch. The acting in Kai is quite great, though, so you should certainly continue to buy it.

He said he's watching the series subbed, in which case the voice acting in DBZ is definitely superior to the acting in Kai.

I’d guess I could slightly forgive them for the voice acting as it’d be hard to match the original version but if it’s as bad as you say it is then it makes me wonder where on earth they got the people from, the street?

More or less. The original English Dragonball dub was extremely cheaply done, and they just dragged in whatever local, inexpensive "talent" they could get their hands on. Many of them hadn't ever acted before, and a bunch of them just got hired due to being friends or relatives of the staff. It was an absolute disgrace.

[cRookie_Monster]

You only really need to watch a little bit of Dragonball the original series. I never watched the whole thing, the first 5-10 or so episodes got me up to speed. I had rented one DB tape I think when I was first introduced. That was all that was available at the store at the time. I've seen\read more since then of course.

[linkdude20002001]

Whoops, meant Season One Part One.

That’s a shame on the censored front, and really making up their own script?! Ok I appreciate the fact that there might have to be some changes but still that’s ridiculous, I think the original version and what I’ve seen of it so far is amazing so why they’d feel the need to rewrite it from scratch is beyond me. But what I saw of the Z Kai dub looked pretty good however.

The same goes for replacing the songs. I’d guess I could slightly forgive them for the voice acting as it’d be hard to match the original version but if it’s as bad as you say it is then it makes me wonder where on earth they got the people from, the street? But again for the Z Kai dub I did like the voice acting for the most part, there were a few voices that sounded a little hard on the ears but the rest was good.

They re-wrote it because they didn't bother to hire a translator till they got to episode to about episode 100 or so, and then they decided fans wouldn't like it if they suddenly switched to using the translation, so they continued to make stuff up. Just so you know, that's only how DBZ was done. DB and DBGT mostly use the translation, but it not always that good, and Kai is very accurate, though not perfect, but oh well.

Actually, yes, the voice actors WERE basically from the street. After 54 episodes of using the Vancouver, Canada voice talents, they decided to save money by hiring sound alikes without acting talent. They got better, and some are amazing now (example: Dragon Ball Kai), but if you go back and watch DBZ... Thanks to them going back and redoing the first 54 episodes with their current cast, and even re-dubbing some old lines (though not all; Goku's lines for example), the acting goes up and down all over the place. And some of the choices made for who voices which character is pretty bad . Though most of that is fixed for Kai, some characters still have voice issues (Kaioh, ReaCoom, and the Ox Demon-King [Gyumao] come to mind).

[The Time Traveller]

Good to see another Brit getting into the Dragon Ball world, unfortunately the only UK releases are the manga, some Euro-english dubbed movies and the games.

I guess since you're getting Kai that means you have a Region Free DVD Player, so it would be totally worth getting the Dragon Ball season sets.

I didn't quite get part of your first post, are you in the USA now?

[skatezeppelin]

You only really need to watch a little bit of Dragonball the original series. I never watched the whole thing, the first 5-10 or so episodes got me up to speed. I had rented one DB tape I think when I was first introduced. That was all that was available at the store at the time. I've seen\read more since then of course.

The first few episodes introduce main characters of that series but do not fill in everything you would need to know. If he is going to watch Dragonball first might as well watch the whole series. I saw Z first but am almost glad because I prefer the original series and it was another adventure to go on. Dragonball is really great, and ironically I enjoy it more as an adult while I loved Z as a kid.

[Adamant]

You only really need to watch a little bit of Dragonball the original series. I never watched the whole thing, the first 5-10 or so episodes got me up to speed. I had rented one DB tape I think when I was first introduced. That was all that was available at the store at the time. I've seen\read more since then of course.

Yeah, just like you might as well just start at the Buu arc instead of the Saiyan arc.
The question is, why would you? There's no good reason why anyone would choose the beginning of the Saiyan arc as a place to start watching the series, and I seriously doubt anyone would even consider it a good starting point if that hadn't happened to be the arc Toei decided to toss a Z onto the title for.

If you really really want to start at some point other than the beginning, the 22nd Budokai is the best place, with the only notable plot point you'll miss being the Great Ape. But again, why would you not want to start at the beginning?

[TheGreatness25]

Here's a bit to clarify the relationships.

Goku and Bulma: Bulma and Goku become friends early in the series

Oolong: Goku and Bulma meet Oolong

Muten Roshi, Goku, and Kuririn: Roshi trained Goku and Kuririn. They become best friends.

Chichi, Gyumao, Muten Roshi, and Goku: Gyumao is Chichi's father. Muten Roshi trained Gyumao. Goku runs into Chichi and she likes him. Then end up getting married.

Yamucha/Pu-erh: Goku, Bulma, and Oolong run into Yamucha and his pet Pu-erh. They end up becoming friends.

Tenshinhan/Choazu: Tenshinhan and Chaozu are met later in the series

Yajirobe: Yajirobee meets Goku late in the series

Karin: Karin is a wise cat.

Kami/Mr. Popo: Kami is the "guardian" or God of the Earth. Mr. Popo is his helper. Kami created the Dragon Ball many years ago.

Piccolo: Piccolo is Goku's rival at the end of the series.

That's pretty much all of the relationships you need to know to watch Z. Know that the majority of the series takes place when Goku is... what could loosely be interpreted as a child. He looks like a kid, but he's not all that old. The adult form of Goku appears in the very last Saga of the series.