New to Dragon Ball, needing some help please.

[Pandorica]

I would suggest not hanging out around here if you're going to watch Dragon Ball. Spoilers are common knowledge here and are treated as such. Come back when you're done!!! Not that we wouldn't want to talk to you, its just that we wouldn't want to inadvertently spoil any part of the story for you.

I don’t intend to venture outside this thread, I’ve got it saved in my favourites bar so hopefully as long as people are kind enough as to not spoil anything then I should be fine.

Yeah, the dub's certainly not the best (though, probably not the worst)... But It's only DB that gets screwed over by FUNi, so other shows by them are great to watch. Kai's the DB exception to this rule, however. Though, it's still got the incorrect names, and, while some pronunciations were fixed (Kaioh-ken), others they refused to fix (Saiyan) thanks ti their fear of angering dub fans (which they've done already with Kai).

If you watch DBZ's English dub, what I would consider the bad stuff is from episode 68 (54 [going by the original Eng. dub's ep. no.]) to episode 194 (179). Though, FUNi did redo some of the early awfulness... But there's still plenty of it. If you want to hear true awfulness, look for the old DVD singles which tend to have about three episodes per disk. That's the only release of the original crappy dub before they went and re-did the voice work that was inconsistent to the re-dub of episodes 1~53.

I don’t want to bash the dub too much as for one I haven’t even seen it but I don’t think I’ll watch it, not for the meantime, my main priority is the sub as that seems to be the most accurate and frankly best version. Though I may scout out the old dub but my main issue is price as no doubt if they’re old they’ll be expensive.

Speaking of price I was looking at how much the Dragon Boxes (the sets recommended to me) would cost and I don’t know if I’ll be getting them for a while yet. I’m sure they’ll be worth it but I’m not prepared to spend about £83 ($117) for one. I’d much rather pay the used price of about £40 ($61) for one except I don’t want it used.

[Adamant]

FUNimation really do baffle me, so for 46 episodes it’s just bulls**t coming out of the character’s mouths more or less and then they figure that kids wouldn’t want to hear a (I’m presuming) better script. But hey at least they saw sense a little later on.

Actually, no, that went on for the entire series. They didn't have a translator for the first 54 episodes either, and even after they got one, they mostly disregarded his script and kept making up their own dialogue because they assumed that was what their fans expected from the series. The properly translated scripts were for the most part only used as a subtitle track on the DVDs.

[GizmoKSX]

Speaking of price I was looking at how much the Dragon Boxes (the sets recommended to me) would cost and I don’t know if I’ll be getting them for a while yet. I’m sure they’ll be worth it but I’m not prepared to spend about £83 ($117) for one. I’d much rather pay the used price of about £40 ($61) for one except I don’t want it used.

Where are you shopping? FUNi's Dragon Boxes (regions 1 & 4) are only $30-50 apiece in the US. Can you find them cheaper?

[Pandorica]

Speaking of price I was looking at how much the Dragon Boxes (the sets recommended to me) would cost and I don’t know if I’ll be getting them for a while yet. I’m sure they’ll be worth it but I’m not prepared to spend about £83 ($117) for one. I’d much rather pay the used price of about £40 ($61) for one except I don’t want it used.

Where are you shopping? FUNi's Dragon Boxes (regions 1 & 4) are only $30-50 apiece in the US. Can you find them cheaper?

I saw those prices on amazon uk, I'll have more of a in depth search nearer the time but for now my priority is the blue bricks.

[linkdude20002001]

I don’t want to bash the dub too much as for one I haven’t even seen it but I don’t think I’ll watch it, not for the meantime, my main priority is the sub as that seems to be the most accurate and frankly best version. Though I may scout out the old dub but my main issue is price as no doubt if they’re old they’ll be expensive.

Speaking of price I was looking at how much the Dragon Boxes (the sets recommended to me) would cost and I don’t know if I’ll be getting them for a while yet. I’m sure they’ll be worth it but I’m not prepared to spend about £83 ($117) for one. I’d much rather pay the used price of about £40 ($61) for one except I don’t want it used.

You can probably get the uncut DVD box sets (DVD singles inside a pictured box) on eBay for pretty cheap. There doesn't appear to be a whole lot at the moment, but there was a few months ago. In time, there'll be more.

Right Stuf has the first Dragon Box Z volume for $45 (£29), and if you buy it during one of their FUNimation sales, it'll be even cheaper. They tend to have one every few months I believe.
http://www.rightstuf.com/cgi-bin/catalo ... 4587/4/0/0

[B]

Speaking of price I was looking at how much the Dragon Boxes (the sets recommended to me) would cost and I don’t know if I’ll be getting them for a while yet. I’m sure they’ll be worth it but I’m not prepared to spend about £83 ($117) for one. I’d much rather pay the used price of about £40 ($61) for one except I don’t want it used.

Where are you shopping? FUNi's Dragon Boxes (regions 1 & 4) are only $30-50 apiece in the US. Can you find them cheaper?

I saw those prices on amazon uk, I'll have more of a in depth search nearer the time but for now my priority is the blue bricks.

In case you are unaware, the "blue bricks" are a seperate entity than the "Dragon Boxes," strictly speaking of FUNimation releases.

[linkdude20002001]

And in case you don't know, FUNimation hasn't released the Dragon Ball Dragon Box yet, and so far there's been no announcement.

[Pandorica]

Dragon Ball Season 1 came today (punches air, does celebration). I’ll be watching it later as I have to get some dam homework out of the way but definitely looking forward to it. The only negative so far would be the packaging, it’s well a bit crap, but packaging shmackaging, what counts is the show itself.

[The Tori-bot]

The Dragon Boxes are on PlayTrade new + free shipping for £25~ each, just so's ya know...

Clicky!

Oh, look at that, DBox 4's up now! *orders*

[Pandorica]

Episode 1: Bulma and Son Goku

Voice Acting: The success of this episode can be summed up in 2 words: Masako Nozawa. Not to say that the rest of the cast were bad, hell no, Hiromi Tsuru gives a stellar performance as Bulma, Shigeru Chiba is a treat to listen to as Pilaf and Joji Yanami is fantastic as the Narrator. But what sets Masako apart is her character, Goku is full of life, funny and brave and Masako is excellent in bringing that out on so many levels, I’m sure in time the other characters will stretch their wings but for now Nozawa is number 1.

The Soundtrack: Right from the offset as Makafushigi Adobencha began to play I knew I had backed a winner. The song is full of life and I enjoyed listening to it. I’ll review the song in more detail if anyone wants me to but I can safely say I loved it. I’m mixed about the opening, it’s nice to listen to but it’s a little slow for my liking, it’s not the song’s fault, it just wasn’t to my acquired taste. It was a shame there wasn’t more music in the actual episode but what we did hear I liked.

The Plot: A nice simple, fun plot to get the Dragon Ball rolling. The episode offered up a mixture of comedy, action and intrigue that saying I loved it would be an understatement. The general plot premise of the Dragon Balls interested me greatly and the scenes where Goku and Bulma first meet were a joy to watch. Other highlights would be Goku “fishing” and Bulma trying to seduce him. My only criticism would be the way Goku stopped the villain, it would have been better had Goku not used the motorbike to save the day and had thought of another way but really I’m just fussing over nothing.

Additional Thoughts: I was quite surprised at how quick Goku agreed to go with Bulma then again he is naïve so it wasn’t much of a surprise. As much as I enjoyed it the scene with Pilaf didn’t seem that necessary and for me detracted from the plot, they could have always shown him next episode though it was a surprise to see someone else searching for the balls. I have no idea who the remaining characters, especially the giant ape, in the opening were though I’m sure I’ll find out in due course.

Final Opinion: A great way to start a series, I don’t want to keep repeating myself but it was a fun action filled romp and I can’t wait to watch more.

Score: 5/5

I was intending to watch more than just the one but I’m up to my eyes in coursework so I won’t be watching more than 1 or 2 per day until the end of the week when the deadline for the coursework is.

[Adamant]

As much as I enjoyed it the scene with Pilaf didn’t seem that necessary and for me detracted from the plot, they could have always shown him next episode though it was a surprise to see someone else searching for the balls.

For the record, that scene is anime-only filler. The writers wanted to introduce the idea that someone else were searching for the Dragonballs as well, so they took Bulma's explanation of how the Dragonballs work, gave it to Mai, and wrote a little scene introducing Pilaf and friends around it. But yeah - the reason it didn't feel necessary is simply that it wasn't originally meant to be there.

[Mountain]

Great review, Pandorica! Are you going to continue this for every episode? If so, I'll definitely be enjoying them. Welcome to Dragon World!

[Pandorica]

Episode 2: What the…? No Balls!

Voice Acting: Superb voice acting again, Nozawa and Tsuru continue to impress, the 2 have already struck up a great rapport and the voice actors really bring out that dysfunctional chemistry. Shigeru Chiba does a great job in the role of Pilaf, one minute he’s all polite and nice the next he’s threatening to kill someone for supposedly farting. Kudos must go to Daisuke Gouri for making a turtle epic.

The Soundtrack: There wasn’t a lot of music in this episode which in ways is a good thing as the silence helps the story yet so does the music, what tracks we did get though were pretty good. The eye catch music is also nice but no doubt it’ll get annoying with time.

The Plot: Another simple plot; I guess if I had to give this episode a codeword it’d be fan service for boys and girls. It also had some great comedy moments, Goku discovering the simple things in life and “spying” on Bulma. The Pilaf scenes were immense fun as well and whilst the turtle turning up at the end was random those scenes were enjoyable to watch as well.

Additional Thoughts: Could someone please tell me what a pichi-pichi girl is? I’m assuming it’s a hot girl but not too sure. There also seems to be a lack of main characters, we’ve had Goku and Bulma but when do we get to see them interact with others? Also more than simple plots, not that I don’t enjoy them but I very much doubt this show could survive by using them continuously.

Final Opinion: I know I’ve come across as not the biggest fan of simple plots but this episode had me laughing, some good action and great voice acting so definitely a winner for me.

Score: 5/5

I want to watch more but surprisingly good programmes are on T.V tonight so tomorrow I’ll be watching at least 3 and 4.

[caejones]

Could someone please tell me what a pichi-pichi girl is? I’m assuming it’s a hot girl but not too sure.

I dunno... I was kinda assuming the same thing.

There also seems to be a lack of main characters, we’ve had Goku and Bulma but when do we get to see them interact with others?

Hehehe.
Very soon, though there are occasional stretches of focus on fewer characters, and some that jump around... Eh, you'll see.
I don't think you'll be dissatisfied with this point for much longer.

Also more than simple plots, not that I don’t enjoy them but I very much doubt this show could survive by using them continuously.

The plot gets more complex, certainly, though it takes a while. As far as plots that persist across episodes... arguably there's a little of that early on, but not quite so much until the double-digits and beyond.

Glad that you're enjoying the series so far; hopefully it'll continue to work for you!

[Adamant]

Could someone please tell me what a pichi-pichi girl is? I’m assuming it’s a hot girl but not too sure.

"Pichi-pichi" means energetic, so in this context, it's more along the lines of a "young and fun" girl. It's left untranslated in the subtitles due to a joke where Goku mispronounces it "bitchy-bitchy" in one of the earliest episodes to be released on a bilingual DVD (and the general meaning of the word isn't too hard to get anyway).

Another member will join the group in a couple episodes, so don't worry about the lack of characters.

As for the turtle stuff at the end, blame Toei for choosing a poor point to end the episode. In the manga, the entire turtle story gets a chapter to itself, but the anime tosses the beginning of it onto the end of a largely unrelated plot, and cuts it off right as it starts going somewhere.

[Puto]

Additional Thoughts: Could someone please tell me what a pichi-pichi girl is? I’m assuming it’s a hot girl but not too sure. There also seems to be a lack of main characters, we’ve had Goku and Bulma but when do we get to see them interact with others? Also more than simple plots, not that I don’t enjoy them but I very much doubt this show could survive by using them continuously.

Quoting from a manga scanslation I randomly found online while searching for the term...

(*t/l note: pichi-pichi is a Japanese word that is often used to describe someone's skin if it's really clear, tight and smooth -- in otherwords, young-looking. It can also be used to describe clothes if they're really tight and stick to one's body. Put the two together and you get a pretty good idea of what the Turtle Hermit's asking for...)

[Pandorica]

Could someone please tell me what a pichi-pichi girl is? I’m assuming it’s a hot girl but not too sure.

"Pichi-pichi" means energetic, so in this context, it's more along the lines of a "young and fun" girl. It's left untranslated in the subtitles due to a joke where Goku mispronounces it "bitchy-bitchy" in one of the earliest episodes to be released on a bilingual DVD (and the general meaning of the word isn't too hard to get anyway).

Another member will join the group in a couple episodes, so don't worry about the lack of characters.

As for the turtle stuff at the end, blame Toei for choosing a poor point to end the episode. In the manga, the entire turtle story gets a chapter to itself, but the anime tosses the beginning of it onto the end of a largely unrelated plot, and cuts it off right as it starts going somewhere.

Thanks for clearing that up

[Pandorica]

Sorry for not logging on these past 2 days, I’ve had a pretty hectic end of the week.

Episode 3: Kame-sennin’s Kinto-Un.

Voice Acting: Great performances all around, Masako really brings out the energetic and cheerful side of our intrepid hero whilst Shigeru worked wonders as Pilaf in this episode. Miyauchi Kouhei shines as new character Kame-sennin whose perverted nature had me laughing whilst Hiromi is brilliant as Bulma.

The Soundtrack: Some fun tracks accompanied this episode though it would have been nice to hear more, one of the great things about the soundtrack is that it leaves you wanting more and when it doesn’t come you’re feeling a tad bit disappointed. After listening to the ending a few more times it has grown on me though it’s still not (in my humble opinion) as good as the opening.

The Plot: If last episode’s codeword was fan service then this episode’s was comedy. It had some great humour that wouldn’t feel out of place on a sitcom, notable highlights would be Pilaf searching for the Dragon Ball, the Immortal Phoenix being killed by food poisoning, Bulma going ballistic upon finding out Goku removed her underwear and of course the outstanding Kame-sennin. We also got our first attempt at a battle which I enjoyed, so yep great episode.

Additional Thoughts: I spy some disturbing fan fiction between Kame-sennin and Bulma being written where he asks for something more. WTF was a crocodile guarding the house? How will this series last if already they’ve gathered 4 of the Dragon Balls? The Kinto-Un looks to be fun though I can’t help but feel it’ll be a plot device in the future.

Final Opinion: Great fun as always, sure it was another simplistic plot but that doesn’t mean it’s any less good than a complicated one.

Score: 5/5

[TheGreatness25]

Wow you're really getting into Dragon Ball I see lol That's always a good thing. The only negative thing to exposing yourself to the series this way is it could get overwhelming. It will take a lot of time to watch the series, which is why I'm glad that releases came a bit apart instead of all at once. Like I just ordered all of the Seasons of South Park and having difficulty watching it because I feel like I have to watch like 10 episodes per day or else I'll never finish. That could get annoying and you get a little overwhelmed. But hey, hope you are enjoying. Looks like you are. Just wait until it gets to later in the series. I personally loved the show more and more as it went on.

[The Tori-bot]

WTF was a crocodile guarding the house? How will this series last if already they’ve gathered 4 of the Dragon Balls?

1. Animals in Dragon Ball basically act like humans (which will become clearer quite soon): they can talk, walk upright and function just like people do. This is pretty much dropped later in the series aside from a few main characters. There are also dinosaurs, who act like dinosaurs. The crocodile wasn't in the manga though, so... make of that what you will, I guess.

2. Tee hee.