Will Dragonball ever truly die?

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 1:52 am

Domon wrote:Well, in all fairness, many fandoms do refer to themselves with odd names. Star Trek fans call themselves "trekkies/trekkers" (or in the case of Deep Space Nine; "Niner")

Actually, Star Trek fans prefer to be called just "Trekkers". They find "Trekkies" offensive and insulting.

Dayspring · Post by **Dayspring** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 2:18 pm

DB won't die. It's to Japan as the Flinstones, Jetsons or Looney Toons are to North America.

Panda · Post by **Panda** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 9:23 pm

It will if it hasn't at this point. There are a couple factors pointing to this:

1.) None of the Dragonball/Z/GT movies have ever been released in American theatres.
2.) The series has ended unlike Poke'mon or Yu-Gi-Oh!
3.) Their isn't much as far as collectors merchandise goes for it to really keep growing in popularity.
4.) The show is over twenty years old, it can't breathe fresh air for much longer.

~Panda

askani son · Post by **askani son** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 9:25 pm

Uh Oh...Change the avatar quick! WAAAAY TOO BIG!!
(It makes the page go all extended...)

Panda · Post by **Panda** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 9:31 pm

Sorry 'bout that, didn't realize it was so big

We need a name to call the FMA fanboys/girls. It's a good show but it's never great without a pen-name.

lost in thought · Post by **lost in thought** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 9:38 pm

Panda wrote:It will if it hasn't at this point. There are a couple factors pointing to this:

1.) None of the Dragonball/Z/GT movies have ever been released in American theatres.
2.) The series has ended unlike Poke'mon or Yu-Gi-Oh!
3.) Their isn't much as far as collectors merchandise goes for it to really keep growing in popularity.
4.) The show is over twenty years old, it can't breathe fresh air for much longer.

~Panda

It doesn't really have to have any new additions to keep the fan base going. Look at novels, like Huckle Berry Finn, Oliver Twist, and David Copperfield, they're all countless years old, and yet they aren't 'dead', and often times you still read them in school.
Granted, these are novels, but such stories aren't much different than manga, which is an illustrated story.

I think, as long as there are fans, DragonBall will never truely die.

Oh and to elaborate on what Askani Son was saying, max avatar size is 80x80.

Panda · Post by **Panda** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 9:40 pm

Yes, but these are classics here. I understand it still being a big thing to the Japanese but as far as America goes it will never be a classic.

lost in thought · Post by **lost in thought** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 9:48 pm

Panda wrote:Yes, but these are classics here. I understand it still being a big thing to the Japanese but as far as America goes it will never be a classic.

It doesn't have to be a big thing to not die. All it takes is one person who still enjoys it.
That holds true for anything.

DB_Fan · Post by **DB_Fan** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 10:17 pm

At least for me, will never die, it will always have a place on my heart

laserkid · Post by **laserkid** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 2:01 pm

It will if it hasn't at this point. There are a couple factors pointing to this:

1.) None of the Dragonball/Z/GT movies have ever been released in American theatres.
2.) The series has ended unlike Poke'mon or Yu-Gi-Oh!
3.) Their isn't much as far as collectors merchandise goes for it to really keep growing in popularity.
4.) The show is over twenty years old, it can't breathe fresh air for much longer.

~Panda

1) True but then do we really WANT the DBZ movies in theaters? They aren't exactly the best the series has to offer. Also let us not forget there was never a theatrtrical screening of the GI Joe movies (there have been a few recent CGI movies) - yet it lives on to this day.

2) You know what they say, "To all good things, an end". Ultimately even Star Trek ended and it remained popular enough to spawn sequel series that even after death some remained popular still. TV shows often get love even more after they die then while alive.

3) Uh dude are you blind? New toys, new games, new everything all over the place are both here and in Japan. So do your research before you say something like that.

4) He Man and the Masters of the Universe aired between 1982 and 1985. Yet its retained a strong fan base since the show died. It even survived two succeeding shows (The NEW Adventures of He Man (1990-1992), and He Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002-2003)). Both of which flopped, yet the old shows recent DVD release shows it well alive and well. Perhaps you'd prefer I look at something else, say Voltron. Now, Voltron hasn't remained very financially viable since the sequel series "The Third Dimension" flopped in the late 90s. However for some reason there's STILL an official website( http://www.voltronforce.com ), and it is still updated. Why? Well its because the fans demand have kept World Event Production trying to do something new. I could keep listing shows, but I’d rather not spam this place up. Ultimately classic shows, stories, et all live on; at the very least in the hearts of the fan base.

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 8:20 pm

ANN has the list of what I was talking about DB scoring high on the countdown here:

http://animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=7458

TheLiveActionAnimeBoy · Post by **TheLiveActionAnimeBoy** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 7:44 pm

Yeah, Dragon Ball will live on forever....or for a long time. Dragon Ball is one of the franchises that internationalized anime all over the world. Saint Seiya probably could have done this if it were released in the late 80s to America but Dragon Ball beat the punch to it. Though it tends to get bashed by the "elitists" who didn't become anime fans until like 2000 or in the last few years, they probably wouldn't even watched half the anime they've seen if it weren't for the popularity of DBZ.

Pokemon may have had more popularity, but I don't think it created an established anime fan base. I say it was more of a fad than a cult anime like how Dragon Ball is to a point. Some of the kids in my town who became Pokemon fans didn't really like anime in general. But DBZ pretty much fits more on the lines of a standard anime in comparison to Pokemon.

But Dragon Ball has also influenced some of the anime and manga we read and watch today like Naruto (if you're into that). I'm sure Dragon Ball will influence more anime and manga to come so it will never be forgotten.

Afterall, I could never forget Dragon Ball because it was the show that brought me to anime.

omae no kaasan · Post by **omae no kaasan** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:14 pm

DB 'dying' in Japan would be hard to imagine. Even modern series which topple the kind of numbers its original run boasted aren't as well aborbed by the public as DBZ.

I'm dead serious. You'll be watching a variety show and suddenly DB will pop up in the conversation.

Some day if I ever find the vids, I'll post clips from my favorite reality show Ikinari Ougon Densetsu where comedian Hamaguchi Masaru kneads his noodle dough by HURLING it across his apartment after charging up and screaming Kame Hame Ha.

And the rerelease has just spawned yet ANOTHER generation of fans so it's good for another 20 years or so.

BTW!!!! Someone made an analogy to the Flintstones. BRILLIANT!!!! Very good call. It's something we all know but aren't quite ure of all the details of besides a few major cultural icons. The song, Dino, the car, etc. The nostalgia is another issue ^O^ But still, good call there.

What I AM shocked of is the absence of a celebratory new film. That hurts.

Bejiita · Post by **Bejiita** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 5:05 pm

Zackarotto wrote:Why wait until 13? I know I find more ways to appreciate it as I get older, but a large factor in my love for Dragonball is my nostalgia from the earlier days. If they're old enough to have basic reading comprehension skills, I'd show it to them. But I'm never having kids. ^^

'lo Legends wrote:I know, but what I'm saying is, has Dragonball become a part of Japanese culture? To the point where it can never truly die? (like, for example, Gundam, Pokemon, or Doraemon)
Even more so than those, I believe. It'll never die. Not in Japan, and probably not over here.

My sister is only 8 and she has sat through near enough every episode, except the Frieza and Garlic Jr sagas. She's old enough to watch it and enjoy it too, naturally she likes the episodes with trunks and Goten, but that's because they are like her age.

As for Dragonball dying, I think it will sort of get less popular, but it won't be forgotten. Yes, also with the DVD's re-release it has brang another lot of fans.

Also with video game consoles in the picture, we may see Dragonball go on a long way, they bring in more fans too.