New to Dragon Ball, needing some help please.

[Eire]

This is a reference to town that appear in another Toriyama's work- "Doctor Slump".

[caejones]

This is a reference to town that appear in another Toriyama's work- "Doctor Slump".

Yes. Toriyama (the author of Dragonball) was mostly known at the time of the series for his work on Dr. Slump. Most of the cast there lives in a place called Penguin Village.

...

[Gaffer Tape]

If you keep watching, you'll eventually get some first-hand experience with Penguin Village. But, yeah, it's the setting of Dr. Slump.

[Pandorica]

Sounds cool, looking forward to it. Do you think I'll need to watch/read Dr Slump first though?

[Eire]

No, but if you like that sense of humour it's worth reading on it's own.

[The Tori-bot]

Sounds cool, looking forward to it. Do you think I'll need to watch/read Dr Slump first though?

It's not really required, though there are some jokes that will make more sense if you've seen it. I wouldn't go out of my way to read it all just for a couple of episodes of Dragon Ball.

For now though, go and watch some more Dragon Ball. Immerse yourself in it, bathe in it. Basically... seal the Pandorica! With Dragon Ball!

[TripleRach]

In episode 3 a voice says something along the lines of "This is not Penguin Village". Could someone shed some light on that as I'm not sure what it meant.

Others already explained what Penguin Village is. But it's worth noting that the little robot character that says the line is one of Toriyama's self-depictions that pops up throughout the series (especially in the manga). Most people have nicknamed it the "Tori Bot," and it's where a certain forum member gets his username and avatar from.

[Pandorica]

In episode 3 a voice says something along the lines of "This is not Penguin Village". Could someone shed some light on that as I'm not sure what it meant.

Others already explained what Penguin Village is. But it's worth noting that the little robot character that says the line is one of Toriyama's self-depictions that pops up throughout the series (especially in the manga). Most people have nicknamed it the "Tori Bot," and it's where a certain forum member gets his username and avatar from.

I wondered what that thing was, neat. Does it appear again?

[caejones]

In episode 3 a voice says something along the lines of "This is not Penguin Village". Could someone shed some light on that as I'm not sure what it meant.

Others already explained what Penguin Village is. But it's worth noting that the little robot character that says the line is one of Toriyama's self-depictions that pops up throughout the series (especially in the manga). Most people have nicknamed it the "Tori Bot," and it's where a certain forum member gets his username and avatar from.

I wondered what that thing was, neat. Does it appear again?

I think it shows up in crowd shots on occasion, and in the manga, it shows up toward the end... there might be others I don't know of.

[Makaioshin]

In episode 3 a voice says something along the lines of "This is not Penguin Village". Could someone shed some light on that as I'm not sure what it meant.

Others already explained what Penguin Village is. But it's worth noting that the little robot character that says the line is one of Toriyama's self-depictions that pops up throughout the series (especially in the manga). Most people have nicknamed it the "Tori Bot," and it's where a certain forum member gets his username and avatar from.

I wondered what that thing was, neat. Does it appear again?

He shows up on a Wanted Poster in a salon later on(not that far away).

[Gaffer Tape]

I think you mean "saloon" there.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Sounds cool, looking forward to it. Do you think I'll need to watch/read Dr Slump first though?

You won't understand who the characters are in those two episodes if you don't. But, it's just two episodes, so don't bother. Dr. Slump is really not that great of a series. Dragon Ball is so much better in comparison.

[ACCloud]

Piccolo Daimaoh, I've got to disagree. Dr Slump is a great, fun, nicely paced series (well, the manga anyways). Pandorica, if you enjoy Dragon Ball (which you obviously do ), I suggest taking a look at the Dr Slump manga later on. Whilst it's not as good as Dragon Ball, it's got some great humour and was what initially propelled Toriyama's career as a manga artist. But for the Penguin Village episodes, I wouldn't worry. You're a fair way off from them, and if memory serves, there is an explanation on the characters/setting.

Have fun with the upcoming episodes, and welcome to Dragon World

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Pandorica, if you enjoy Dragon Ball (which you obviously do ), I suggest taking a look at the Dr Slump manga later on.

That's fine if you like Dr. Slump, but I really have to refute this point. Dr. Slump is not that similar to Dragon Ball (especially in the later volumes). If you like Dragon Ball, there's no guarantee that you'll like Dr. Slump. They're pretty different.

[Pandorica]

Episode 4: The Kidnapping Demon, Oolong.

Voice Acting: Naoki Tatsuta is a mixed Oolong for me, there are times when I like his voice for the character and there are times when I don’t, I do think the voice suit’s the character but it doesn’t mean I like it. Masako was the highlight voice acting wise, her encounter with Oolong was brilliant and I thought Hiromi did a great job as the love at first sight teenager.

The Soundtrack: The music was key in bringing this episode to life, some great tracks helped create the mood perfectly. My only complaint would be the lack of distinct character themes, I’m not sure if it’s standard for Japanese animation but it would be nice to hear a track for Goku or Bulma.

The Plot: I didn’t enjoy the plot of this episode as much as ones that came before it, at times it felt a little too fast paced, sure it’s an adventure series but it would have been nice to have more of a battle between Goku and Oolong. There were some good comedy moments in there as well such as Goku patting women’s areas, the whole Goku dressing up as a girl scenario, Oolong trying to choose between Bulma and the girl and later discovering “her” urinating. The design for “The Soup Monster” was cool and my favourite character design so far.

Additional Thoughts: I’m partly dreading what’ll happen when Goku tries to pat a man. I also sense more disturbing fan fiction on the horizon with an Oolong/Bulma pairing. Didn’t like the abrupt ending to the episode, would have been nice to see a better conclusion. I wish I hadn’t seen the first 4 episodes of Z Kai as I know that Goku is an alien and that kinda ruins the mystery of his super strength and tail.

Final Opinion: An enjoyable episode but something felt like it was missing.

Score: 4/5



Episode 5: The Strong Villain of the Desert, Yamucha.

Voice Acting: Tooru Furuya makes an excellent Yamucha in my humble opinion, as I was reading the subs Tooru captured the personality that I was imagining perfectly. Naoki really impressed me in this episode, I wasn’t his biggest fan last episode but he’s proven me wrong. Masako and Hiromi were nothing less than fantastic.

The Soundtrack: For our first proper battle we got some good music although on a whole the episode seemed to lack tracks which was disappointing, sometimes silence is good but not all the time.

The Plot: A bit of a mixed plot for me, whilst the first half was enjoyable enough it seemed to lack any real purpose and instead of taking several minutes I felt they could have cut it out for the most part but then again that’s what abridged series are for, speaking of which is there one for Dragon Ball? The desert stuff gave the episode a much needed boost and with the battle underway the episode improved tremendously although the ending seemed a bit too cartoony with Yamucha practically saying “I’ll be back” harking back to old cartoon villains of the 90’s.

Additional Thoughts: Glad that Oolong joined. Yamucha’s character design is pretty cool though I have no idea why he has a talking blue cat with him. I think this is the first reference we’ve had to Goku’s grandfather, wondered why he named his son Gohan. This episode also had some good comedy moments with Oolong having diarrhoea and even though it can be considered a cop-out Yamucha being scared of girls was funny was Goku using the dreaded pat technique on Oolong.

Final Opinion: Great episode although the first half was weak in comparison to the second.

Score: 4/5



Episode 6: The Midnight Visitors

Voice Acting: Some strong performances in this episode although there wasn’t much of a chance to stretch acting muscles as there had been before. I personally think Naoki steals the show, sure he features the most heavily but he carries that position terrifically. An honourable nod must also got to Tooru and Masako.

The Soundtrack: I’m not sure what the track is called but the one that tends to play whenever you see Pilaf’s castle is my favourite. I’m glad there wasn’t too much music in this episode as the episode worked better with silence.

Plot:Another fan service style plot although this episode combined it with comedy to great effect. Yamucha accidentally see Bulma naked twice made for some great laughs as did Oolong’s perverted plan. The shape shifting scenario was fun to watch as was the absolute highlight of Shu and Mai screwing up a “simple task” of blowing up the group.

Additional Thoughts: It seems to me that the majority of the good characters are perverts, the being that lives on Mt FryPan sounds interesting, will he be a pervert too? I would have preferred it if Goku and Yamucha’s little encounter be saved for the next episode as for me it didn’t really fit in with the next episode. Also the pre-titles sequences are a bit meh and I’d rather they be saved for the start of the episode. And now that 3 parties are searching for the balls I wonder who will get all 7 first?

Final Opinion: Great fun though there were a few scenes that were a little meh.

Score: 4/5

[Pandorica]

Episode 7: Gyuumao of Mount FryPan

Voice Acting: Some stellar performances all around; I’m glad that with the revelation that Gyuumao isn’t all bad they didn’t make him have a welcoming voice, instead he keeps intact this rough voice which makes him feel reminiscent of Hagrid. Chi-Chi’s voice is a little hard on the ears but it suits her character for the most part.

The Soundtrack: I thought I heard a snippet of the opening theme during this episode but I may be wrong. There were some good pieces that played throughout and the silence was used effectively.

The Plot: There wasn’t a whole lot to interest me, there were a few good scenes such as the discovery that Goku’s grandpa and Gyuumao trained under Kame Sennin and Yamucha telling Chi-Chi he loved her, and some bad scenes which whilst it made me smile Pilaf getting electrocuted seemed a little pointless. Glad that Kame Sennin is back, no doubt he’ll be up to his dirty old tricks, I’m guessing he’ll want something for the fan just like he did for the Dragon Ball in Episode 3.

Additional Thoughts: Not a lot else to comment on as this episode felt really short but as they say time flies when you’re having fun.

Final Opinion: An enjoyable episode though it felt too short.

Score: 3/5

[Innagadadavida]

How much of Z Kai did you watch? Are you recognizing any of the characters?

[Pandorica]

How much of Z Kai did you watch? Are you recognizing any of the characters?

I watched the first 4 episodes and 3 other ones whose numbers I’m not sure of.

I recognize Chi-Chi and Kame-Sennin as well as Goku and Bulma and that’s about it.

[Gaffer Tape]

Wow, I'm really enjoying reading your episode summaries. It's always nice to get a fresh perspective. Glad that Oolong is stealing the show for you. He really is a great comedic anti-hero in this story arc.

As for character-based musical themes, it doesn't seem that Kikuchi uses leitmotif all that much, but there are certainly some characters who have music that seems to be used with them pretty frequently. It's been so long since I've seen these particular episodes that I don't know if they've been made yet. I'm pretty sure instrumentals of the opening theme are often used for Goku. I can think of a music piece for Bulma right off the bat. And there are four characters you haven't been introduced to yet that I can immediately think of as having specific themes for them, so they do exist.

[Pandorica]

Sorry for not logging on these past few days, we’ve moved house and it‘s been pretty hectic. But hooray for new bedroom at least, twice as big as my old one so definitely a plus.

Episode 8: Kame Sennin’s Kamehameha

Voice Acting: Really liking Kame Sennin’s voice, it’s got all the old guy, youthful and perverted qualities that the character displays. It was nice to have a Goku-lite episode for the most part but what we saw of him I enjoyed, Bulma was pretty dam good as well. Oolong and Yamucha feel criminally underused however. Kame’s Kamehameha was epic.

The Plot: Fantastic episode, it was funny and cool to watch. My highlights would be Roshi and Bulma and his pafu-pafu, Roshi in general (laughed when he was talking about what Chi-Chi meant, breasts and father). Also both Kamehamehas and the revelation that Kame got rid of the fan cause he spilt something over it.

Additional Thoughts: Kame said breasts a lot in this episode, by the way what does Kame Sennin mean? Glad that Kame had an active role to play as I was expecting him to give them the fan and depart. One thing I’m not too keen on is the Yamucha storyline as it doesn’t really seem tto be heading anywhere.

Score: 5/5

Episode 9: Boss Rabbit’s Special Skill

Voice Acting: I must admit not too keen on Boss Rabbit’s voice, I thought it could have been either more humorous (cause it’s a frickin talking rabbit) or more violent/eviler (cause he’s a frickin talking rabbit and it’d more funny if he had a darker voice). I smile every time Masako talks and Hiromi is great. Loved the way Tooru delivered the line “We’ve got the carrot back now beat the crap out of him with the nyobo!”

The Plot: Something about this episode I didn’t enjoy that I can’t quite put my finger on, I think was the general feel of the episode, didn’t interest me as much as I would have hoped. I wish Oolong was used more but I did like Puerr playing a key role in saving the day.

Additional Thoughts: Ok why the hell do all rabbits belong on the moon, I have no idea whatsoever. This episode seems to be the changing point in Yamucha’s character although the abrupt ending didn’t really explain much, maybe we’ll find out next episode?

Score: 4/5