What's the best way to experience DragonBall?

JBoogie · Post by **JBoogie** » Mon May 16, 2011 1:04 pm

As a temporary solution, you guys know of any accurate online scans?

SHINOBI-03 · Post by **SHINOBI-03** » Mon May 16, 2011 1:30 pm

JBoogie wrote:As a temporary solution, you guys know of any accurate online scans?

You're asking in the wrong place, you know that?

Eddie · Post by **Eddie** » Mon May 16, 2011 2:00 pm

JBoogie wrote:As a temporary solution, you guys know of any accurate online scans?

Absolutely, man! Here's the hookup for all your manga scan needs.

http://www.viz.com/apps

You're in luck. Dragon Ball's currently on sale.

Buy your manga, kids. Some of us actually like getting official releases. The US manga industry has suffered way too much as of late.

Piccolo Daimao · Post by **Piccolo Daimao** » Mon May 16, 2011 2:02 pm

CatouttaHell wrote:
Rocketman wrote:In all fairness, the beginning of Dragonball is pretty shit. You could try starting from the 22nd Budokai, as it's pretty action-packed and leads right into the King Piccolo arc.
Blasphemy. The beginning of Dragonball was some of the best parts of the whole series IMO.

I actually agree with Rocketman's first point. I rarely read the first two volumes of DB nowadays. But I do think that pre-Z DB is better than DBZ, and one of the reasons is because it has a better story. And you should start from the beginning of DB, even if it is a slog. It's plain stupid to start in the "middle" of the series, rather than seeing where the story began, getting to know the characters, etc. The story gets better around the 21st TB, and the RRA arc's about as good too (although it does have a couple of boring parts), and it really gets exciting by the 22nd TB. So don't give up just because the beginning may not be your cup of tea.

And the best way to experience DB is the manga. A lot of people end up getting bored by the anime's pacing, but the manga's pacing is good, the artwork is sublime and the story is fluid and addictive.

Ashura · Post by **Ashura** » Mon May 16, 2011 4:46 pm

Look at all these differing opinions. Just look at 'em!

That's the best part of Dragonball; there's something for everyone. There's so many tonal shifts and different types of stories that, no matter what kind of fan you are, how jaded you may be, there's likely at least _one_ arc of Dragonball you'll get into. You can pick a part you like and watch that. Personally, I dig the slapstick fun adventure of the very first Pilaf arc over the Freeza stuff, but then tons of people prefer it the other way around. And that's cool.

Anime wise, I think the first 13 episodes are great and fairly well paced if you're looking to check out the original. See what you like. Also, the first few boxsets are super dirt cheap at Wal Mart. You can buy the majority of the series for 60 bucks.

Makaioshin · Post by **Makaioshin** » Mon May 16, 2011 5:02 pm

Kendamu wrote:You know that expression, "The book was better?"

It is.

Read the manga.

This public service announcement was brought to you by JOSH!

He should definitely read the book. http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Ball-Chapt ... 1421529459
Easily the best way to experience the franchise.

Other than that I would say start with the comic. And yeah, start from the beginning.

DBZ Mick · Post by **DBZ Mick** » Tue May 17, 2011 12:09 am

I didn't think the anime's pacing was that bad until the beginning of the Red Ribbon arc (the filler with Silver and Pilaf was terrible). Haven't seen the rest but I'm getting the whole series very soon and watching again.

Casual Matt · Post by **Casual Matt** » Tue May 17, 2011 8:17 am

I always watch the anime.

That being said I fully admit that the manga is probably better. I can overlook the filler and whatnot of the anime because that's how I've always experienced the franchise so it doesn't bother me as, let's say for example, how the ending of the Death Note anime was changed from the manga, since I read the manga first and loved the ending.

My only issue (aside from already owning the anime and having a tight budget) is that I have the DVDs of the anime uncut, Japanese, properly subtitled. I can't legally purchase an uncut version of the manga.

Vegeta1056 · Post by **Vegeta1056** » Tue May 17, 2011 5:59 pm

Honestly for you the manga. It goes very fast paced, and you don't have to worry about the "boring" parts.

Either one is nice though. I'm caught up with the anime and manga together (one a bit farther than the other), and they're both funny, and amazing. I say give the anime another chance, but go for the manga too.

Gaffer Tape · Post by **Gaffer Tape** » Tue May 17, 2011 6:45 pm

Yep. A lot of differing opinions here. I love the beginning of Dragon Ball. Hell, I wish it had continued on the way it had (with the original configuration of characters) for far longer than it ended up being. And I found the pre-"Z" parts more interesting than anything else in the series even when I was just reading Curtis Hoffmann's summaries! That has to tell you something! And the Red Ribbon Arc seems to be the whipping boy arc of the series, but I find I enjoy it more every time I read it. It seems to manage just the perfect amount of action, adventure, and comedy in a way that is never matched at any other point in the series, before or after. The only real complaint I have of it is its lack of the rest of the cast. You can already start to see the seeds of Toriyama's quick boredom with his characters. But of course the problem with that arc is that most of the new characters are just one-offs as well.

Akumaito Beam · Post by **Akumaito Beam** » Tue May 17, 2011 8:00 pm

I have to parrot the opinion of starting at the beginning of the manga. I love the anime despite its flaws but if you want a concise, overall better telling of the story the manga is the way to go. I couldn't disagree more with the people who think the beginning of the story is bad. Personally I'm not incredibly excited by the action scenes a lot of the time and I'm more in it for the bizarre adventures and friendships which the beginning of the story is key to. I think if you're concerned with skipping "bad writing" you should ditch the Boo arc before you ditch the entire first 3rd of the series.

SylentEcho · Post by **SylentEcho** » Wed May 18, 2011 3:57 am

Start with the manga only if you're buying it. Reading scans just doesn't do it justice and it really doesn't look the same. It's like watching Dragon Box on the pc.

If you're not buying the manga, then watch Dragon Ball the anime. It's pretty awesome. The first part has a little less action, but it will keep you entertained. After that it gets insane.

The fights in Dragon Ball are much like the fights we saw earlier on in Z in the first 53 episodes. More hand to hand combat and more unpredictability.

Kendamu · Post by **Kendamu** » Wed May 18, 2011 4:56 am

JBoogie wrote:As a temporary solution, you guys know of any accurate online scans?

There's a Border's on 2015 Walden Avenue, Cheektowaga, NY. If for some reason you can't drive, you can get there by bus.

You can either grab the single Tankoubon-style releases for about $8 each or you can grab the VIZBIG editions, which are basically three volumes in one, for around $18. That's almost "buy two get one free" at the VIZBIG rate.

Eddie · Post by **Eddie** » Wed May 18, 2011 11:05 am

Kendamu wrote:There's a Border's on 2015 Walden Avenue, Cheektowaga, NY. If for some reason you can't drive, you can get there by bus.

You can either grab the single Tankoubon-style releases for about $8 each or you can grab the VIZBIG editions, which are basically three volumes in one, for around $18. That's almost "buy two get one free" at the VIZBIG rate.

You can actually get the manga for a much lower cost online. Amazon has great prices on those box sets of the DB and "DBZ" Graphic Novel releases, and the shipping is free. For anyone looking to buy the volumes individually, Rightstuf generally has their manga 25% off. They also offer free shipping and package their manga with more care than Amazon.

SylentEcho · Post by **SylentEcho** » Wed May 18, 2011 12:06 pm

Yeah someone on Neoseeker bought all 42 volumes in one set for about $130. That's less than half the price I think.

Kendamu · Post by **Kendamu** » Wed May 18, 2011 3:24 pm

Eddie wrote:
Kendamu wrote:There's a Border's on 2015 Walden Avenue, Cheektowaga, NY. If for some reason you can't drive, you can get there by bus.

You can either grab the single Tankoubon-style releases for about $8 each or you can grab the VIZBIG editions, which are basically three volumes in one, for around $18. That's almost "buy two get one free" at the VIZBIG rate.
You can actually get the manga for a much lower cost online. Amazon has great prices on those box sets of the DB and "DBZ" Graphic Novel releases, and the shipping is free. For anyone looking to buy the volumes individually, Rightstuf generally has their manga 25% off. They also offer free shipping and package their manga with more care than Amazon.

True, but I figured just in case he would have to go someplace and get them himself, there's a place nearby to do just that.

Pokewhiz7 · Post by **Pokewhiz7** » Wed May 18, 2011 8:07 pm

I say both are great ways to experience it.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/15541854
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Dragon ... ig+edition

Tanooki Kuribo · Post by **Tanooki Kuribo** » Wed May 18, 2011 8:44 pm

The best way to experience it is to be a kid living in Japan, in the 90's watching it for the first time each week, before the internet existed so that you had absolutely no idea what was gonna happen. Unless you were reading the Manga, but that would have been totally new to you as well.

It must have been great going to school on Thursday morning, talking to all your friends about what happened last night on Dragon Ball.

Kanzenshuu

What's the best way to experience DragonBall?

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