Do you take Dragon Ball seriously?

[Nex Carnifex]

As in debating about it and discussing it regularly. This is the main dragon ball forum after all.

[VegettoEX]

Define "seriously".

I mean, you could look at any discussion here (or any other message board on the entire Internet), take every post out of context, and assume that whomever made each individual post has all the time in the world to sit around on their fat ass and take said discussions to an unhealthy degree.

But is that true? Doubtful.

Do people on THIS PARTICULAR forum strive to be comprehensive with their posts and construct them in a way that shows at least a moderate understanding of basic grammar and tact? Sure, usually. Is that taking it "seriously"...? Well... I... guess...?

It seems like you're digging at something deeper. What exactly do you want to discuss?

[Super Vegito]

I think he means if we're passionate about it.

I like DB, I like discussing it... debating... but at the end of the day, I'm not going to have a heart attack over it.

[Kendamu]

Nope, but I do like it a lot. It inspired me to take martial arts training to another level in terms of skill and conditioning.

[Castor Troy]

It changed my life. Literally, it has.

[StarRot]

I don’t know. Maybe a little?
This series has affected my life in some excellent ways, I’ve made very good friends through our mutual enjoyment of it, started to learn to draw “seriously” and a few other things …
I’m also considering getting some Dragonball related tattoos, so I guess I take it seriously enough to permanently alter my body.
But at the end of the day, it’s just a series I enjoy. It only makes up a little fraction of my life when compared to my other passions, it isn’t all encompassing.

[MetaMoss]

I really enjoy the series, and if I have an opinion that is challenged, I will debate it. Debating on these here forums is fun for me, especially if I try to debate somewhere else, especially at school, most people start to insult me for my opinion (i.e. "You're stupid that you like Nintendo. Their graphics suck ass. You must be a faggot to think that any Nintendo game can compare to the shittiest Xbox game. Your sister must be lesbian then too." After which I give the guy a beatdown for insulting my sis.) While I enjoy debating Dragon Ball, I don't obsess over it too much.

[Cipher]

As a pop culture series which still holds potential to be analyzed in terms of its characters and place within the genre? Sure.

But as a piece of tightly woven fantasy/sci-fi with its own internal logic? Not at all.

Usually, though, it's neither of those. It's just a fun all-ages franchise I happen to still enjoy.

[Nex Carnifex]

Id say I take it seriously, otherwise I wouldn't have watched the whole series in uncut japanese. The characters are all really "fun" and colorful unlike characters in most shows which have no clear image or role. Like I want a Perfect Cell action figure because I think he is just an amazing character in conception, and he looks cool and memorable. And if there was ever a movie made I feel it could be transformed into a deep physiological drama by building on things already there.

[kaialone]

A bit? I mean I wont start an "ALLCAPSRAEG" just because someoen disagrees about an aspect of it with me, but I do tend to get nitpicky about it sometimes.

[LeprikanGT]

I take it serious as I bought the VHS, the season singles, the UUE, the orange bricks, the Dboxes, and working on Kai still.

But also in the sense that I KNOW it is fake but I really dislike that htere are no more pure blooded Saiyans left and the DBO took the Super Saiyan power and just gave it to any 'human' all willy nilly.

[Nex Carnifex]

Yeah but everything after Dragon Ball manga doesn't exist in terms of fantasy land, everything else exists in the fake fantasy land.

[AgitoZ]

Yeah but everything after Dragon Ball manga doesn't exist in terms of fantasy land, everything else exists in the fake fantasy land.

Wha? Do you mean they are not in continuity? Everything after the manga is as real as it, since, you know, it actually exists.

[Nex Carnifex]

Yeah but everything after Dragon Ball manga doesn't exist in terms of fantasy land, everything else exists in the fake fantasy land.

Wha? Do you mean they are not in continuity? Everything after the manga is as real as it, since, you know, it actually exists.

Like GT and Dragon Ball Online are both contradictory and fake interpretations of post Buu Saga.

[thedarkuniter]

Nope. Its really hard to take it seriously. Its very lighthearted and laid back. However, that's like asking if I take a series like Fist of the North Star seriously. All forms of art have many ways to interpret things. Since all art is a work of fiction depending the creation, its hard to take anything seriously.

[Nex Carnifex]

It's doesn't have a deep meaning it just has its moments, but that isn't really what I meant.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

As a pop culture series which still holds potential to be analyzed in terms of its characters and place within the genre? Sure.

But as a piece of tightly woven fantasy/sci-fi with its own internal logic? Not at all.

Usually, though, it's neither of those. It's just a fun all-ages franchise I happen to still enjoy.

Spoken like a true Buu arc fan. And my sentiments exactly.

A favorite observation of mine; can you think of another universe that requires as much background knowledge to understand as Dragonball, but only becomes more shallow once you obtain this understanding? We have the guidebooks and fan analysis examining and standardizing the universe that, in the case of Daizenshuu 7, flabbergast even the series' own creator, but when enjoyed the way it was written, it's a simple, formulaic shonen fighting manga. I think that's part of the charm, that a series with so much meta, both in it's real-life production and in-universe history- particularly when in-universe history only becomes important halfway through- is actually quite straightforward and simple when read or viewed. I'd say it's the opposite of, say, Star Wars, which begins simple, is built upon and made more complex (And in the minds of skeptics and distance fans is still simple even then).

[Shiyonasan]

Not at all. I am sort of passionate about Dragon Ball in that I do like to watch it, read it, and browse these forums. I wouldn't say I take it seriously though. I mean, I'm not going to cringe on the inside if someone says the FUNi dub name for a character or if someone says that Broly is the greatest Dragon Ball character in the history of mankind.

I mean shoot, even the own author of Dragon Ball doesn't take Dragon Ball seriously most of the time.

[AgitoZ]

Like GT and Dragon Ball Online are both contradictory and fake interpretations of post Buu Saga.

I still don't quite get what you mean. How are they "fake" interpretations? Is their a "real" interpretation of post-Boo arc content? Is it because it contradicts? Well it's not like the actual doesn't do that.

I just realized I still haven't answered the actual original post. The series itself isn't very serious in tone. It can turn that way, but over all it's pretty light-hearted and goofy. So I guess I don't. But, that doesn't mean I don't love the series and am pretty passionate about it.

[Codarik]

Well, I think about the series every day of my life and spent a ton of money on merchandise, yeah I take it seriously.