Dragon Ball fanbase get screwed over the most?

[CyberpunkCentral]

So in the recent years we had badly remastered DVDs, censored mangas, a terrible live-action film adaptation, Kenji Yamamoto's score being removed from Kai, Kai ending without the Buu saga due to poor ratings, and now cancelled Blu-ray sets. And I thought Star Wars fans had it bad.

[Dandroid17]

I dunno, I'd still say Star Wars fans have it worse lol. George Lucas' decisions are mind-boggling. Guy is King D-Bag if ya ask me.

[samuraix123]

You forgot about the ultimate uncut editions being canceled back in the day Also I wouldn't say we get screwed over the most. If anything we're pampered to death.
We've had 13 movies, 2 specials, Then we got. Episode of Bardock, Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans Remake. 4 original Dragonball movies
Ultimate uncut - canceled
Orange Bricks
All of the Dragonball Z Dragon-boxes
Dragonball Z Kai
Now 34 episodes on Blu-ray - canceled
I do believe the pro's defiantly outweigh the cons. And as far as Hollywood making Dragonball Evolution. That wasn't the first time that there was a live action movie.(Don't you dare go looking for Dragonball: the Magic Begins) Keep your chin up, I'm just as depressed about those Blu-rays as you

[Innagadadavida]

Absolutely not. When we limit ourselves to outlets like this one to discuss our hobbies, we tend to lose perspective. Just because things aren't perfect, does not mean they aren't good. We complain about botched releases, censorship, inaccuracies, ext... But all in all, this stuff doesn't matter. The manga is slightly censored... So what? We have it. In full, at an affordable price. Blu-rays getting canceled. So what? That's like the 10th home release.

I'm a big fan of Space Adventure Cobra. This is a series that, in the US, only had a small manga run in the early 90s. No anime release. No dub. No fan community to speak of. DBZ is the holy grail when it comes to being a fan. So many options in terms of DVDs, manga, games. There are hundreds of other shows that can only dream of the treatment DBZ gets.

[Dandroid17]

Absolutely not. When we limit ourselves to outlets like this one to discuss our hobbies, we tend to lose perspective. Just because things aren't perfect, does not mean they aren't good. We complain about botched releases, censorship, innacuracies, ext... But all in all, this stuff doesnt matter. The manga is slightly censored... So what? We have it. In full, at an affordable price. Blu-Rays getting canceled. So what? That's like the 10th home release.

I'm a big fan of Space Adventure Cobra. This is a series that, in the US, only had a small manga run in the early 90s. No anime release. No dub. No fan community to speak of. DBZ is the holy grail when it comes to being a fan. So many options in terms of DVDs, manga, games. There are hundreds of other shows that can only dream of the treatment DBZ gets.

Always wanted to get into Cobra. It looks very up my alley. I'm a big fan of cyberpunk/sci fi anime.

(Also,) I agree... I wish Fighting Spirit and/or Slam Dunk got the DBZ treatment... (it's a) shame really.

[Innagadadavida]

Dude. It's so awesome. In that old 80s anime kind of way. Not condining piracy. But... Fansubs.

The 80s were the best decade for anime... Dragon Ball, anyone?

[Dandroid17]

Dude. It's so awesome. In that old 80s anime kind of way. Not condining piracy. But... Fansubs.

No region free DVDs anywhere?

[VegettoEX]

99% of the time, "region-free" DVDs are Chinese bootlegs, and you are basically supporting criminals with their purchase. At least with traditional fansubs, no-one's making any money.

But individual types of "Cobra" release availability has little to do with anything here (though I do understand why it was first brought up), so please try to keep it on-topic.

When we limit ourselves to outlets like this one to discuss our hobbies, we tend to lose perspective.

Sums it up in a nutshell.

[Dandroid17]

99% of the time, "region-free" DVDs are Chinese bootlegs, and you are basically supporting criminals with their purchase. At least with traditional fansubs, no-one's making any money.

But individual types of "Cobra" release availability has little to do with anything here (though I do understand why it was first brought up), so please try to keep it on-topic.

When we limit ourselves to outlets like this one to discuss our hobbies, we tend to lose perspective.

Sums it up in a nutshell.

Ah, I didn't even know those were illegal bootlegs when I see them lol oops.

But yeah, for as many screw ups as Funimation has made recently, I'm optimistic about the future for Dragon Ball. I'm eagerly awaiting Dragon Boxes for Dragon Ball and GT because they will make those eventually... right? LOL

[dbboxkaifan]

I'm actually happy Toei brought back the DBZ BGMs to Kai and it ended with Cell's Arc, Boo's arc wasn't really a big deal for me.

Sure it was funny and stuff, but didn't add much the others hadn't already done.

Yeah, Goku went SSJ3, Goten and Trunks Fused, Gohan and Videl had a child, but doesn't feel like it's important as the previous arcs were.

[Dandroid17]

I'm actually happy Toei brought back the DBZ BGMs to Kai and it ended with Cell's Arc, Boo's arc wasn't really a big deal for me.

Sure it was funny and stuff, but didn't add much the others hadn't already done.

Yeah, Goku went SSJ3, Goten and Trunks Fused, Gohan and Videl had a child, but doesn't feel like it's important as the previous arcs were.

To be honest, I personally enjoyed the Garlic Jr. saga more than the Buu saga. It's short but I thought it was highly underrated and also criticized for not being part of the manga. Oh well. *shrugs*

[Rukura]

Poor George Lucas decisions aside, whenever Star Wars gets a new release, they do all 6 movies in one go. Also, nobody has to go "well, this looks good but there's also these other 4 releases etc."

Hajime no Ippo has it a lot worse than Dragon Ball. It stands at an on-going 93 volumes, that will never see the light of day in english. The first anime adaptation, "The Fighter", got a release in singles, as well as the special and movie....but now there was "New Challenger" a few years back with no release in sight.
And I'm not even talking about series that were picked up and got dropped not too long ago.

Dragon Ball isn't doing that bad. It could do better. But it could do a lot worse.

[Dandroid17]

Poor George Lucas decisions aside, whenever Star Wars gets a new release, they do all 6 movies in one go. Also, nobody has to go "well, this looks good but there's also these other 4 releases etc."

Hajime no Ippo has it a lot worse than Dragon Ball. It stands at an on-going 93 volumes, that will never see the light of day in english. The first anime adaptation, "The Fighter", got a release in singles, as well as the special and movie....but now there was "New Challenger" a few years back with no release in sight.
And I'm not even talking about series that were picked up and got dropped not too long ago.

Dragon Ball isn't doing that bad. It could do better. But it could do a lot worse.

Yeah which is sad since Ippo is a great series that, if pushed sufficiently, could do very well in the United States. Same goes for Eyeshield and Slam Dunk.

Dragon Ball will eventually have every form possible for viewing (hopefully) so that's the nice part about it.

[SHINOBI-03]

Screwed up? Let's see...

- DBZ is probably the only, if not only, anime the public wants the poorly made dub with the dub voices and music over the Japanese ones. (In English speaking countries anyway)
- DBZ is getting notorious for multiple releases if the same thing over and over for one reason or another, and only two of them got completed.
- The live action Dragon Ball movie was terrible, but it's not the only terrible Hollywood adaption of an anime or a game or anything not American.
- The games are the same as the anime. Multiple releases of the same thing with minimum differences. The Budokai games were better developed than Spike's releases. Budokai 1 went till the Cell saga, Budokai 2 went till the Boo saga, and Budokai 3 included some GT elements that weren't present in the previous 2 games. But Spike's games had them all together since the first game, and the rest was new characters and new attacks.
- The manga is censored, yes. But what can you do with different standards around the world? Especially if something is old and made when their were more liberties than today's?

Just remember this... Dragon Ball got released here in one way or another. There are other anime and manga that do not have releases at all even if they were licensed. We got bilingual uncut releases. There are other who don't have that and it's just the dubbed,censored versions. We got the manga completely, others got their's cancelled mid-run due to poor sales or expired rights.

Think about it, and you'll realize how fortunate we are.

[Dandroid17]

Screwed up? Let's see...

- DBZ is probably the only, if not only, anime the public wants the poorly made dub with the dub voices and music over the Japanese ones. (In English speaking countries anyway)
- DBZ is getting notorious for multiple releases if the same thing over and over for one reason or another, and only two of them got completed.
- The live action Dragon Ball movie was terrible, but it's not the only terrible Hollywood adaption of an anime or a game or anything not American.
- The games are the same as the anime. Multiple releases of the same thing with minimum differences. The Budokai games were better developed than Spike's releases. Budokai 1 went till the Cell saga, Budokai 2 went till the Boo saga, and Budokai 3 included some GT elements that weren't present in the previous 2 games. But Spike's games had them all together since the first game, and the rest was new characters and new attacks.
- The manga is censored, yes. But what can you do with different standards around the world? Especially if something is old and made when their were more liberties than today's?

Just remember this... Dragon Ball got released here in one way or another. There are other anime and manga that do not have releases at all even if they were licensed. We got bilingual uncut releases. There are other who don't have that and it's just the dubbed,censored versions. We got the manga completely, others got their's cancelled mid-run due to poor sales or expired rights.

Think about, and you'll realize how fortunate we are.

what he said! lol

[TripleRach]

There are hundreds of other shows that can only dream of the treatment DBZ gets.

Indeed. You can easily buy all 508 episodes and 17 movies, as well as every chapter of the manga. I guess Kai is a little trickier with the messy home releases, but it's still not that difficult or expensive to get either.

There are countless shows that may never get a complete DVD release like that. Most Disney cartoons had their DVD releases canceled before they were finished (Gargoyles ). Gunsmoke is gradually getting season sets, but DVD will probably be obsolete before they get all 635 episodes out. And Doctor Who can't get a complete DVD release because of missing footage.

Also, I would love to buy every Super Sentai DVD, but it would probably cost me at least $600 just for one 50 episode series (out of dozens). Those shows will never get a cheap Region 1 release; especially not the shows from the 70's and 80's.

I'd say Star Wars definitely has it worse, because purists have to settle for Laserdisc masters. Dragon Ball purists at least get gorgeous DVD releases in the Dragon Boxes, and the kanzenban prints of the manga.

[TonyTheTiger]

The real reason why being a Dragon Ball fan is awesome is because you're always relevant. Even with the various Star Wars debacles, Star Wars and its fans are always relevant. That alone is worth it's weight in gold and is often taken for granted. A few other shows have been mentioned and I'm no different in the sense that I'm a huge fan of old cartoons that will either never be relevant outside of maybe a ghost town of a fansite or got their last hurrah on a Shout! Factory DVD set (made from broadcast Betamax tapes, of all things) and will probably never be heard from again.

The fact that we can be here and read actual news about Dragon Ball on a weekly or fortnightly basis and still get new material in the form of specials and video games fifteen years after the series technically ended, and at the same time have a somewhat direct line of communication with a local company hellbent on milking the everloving shit out the franchise (and lately also interested in appealing to some of the most critical fans) makes me feel like Dragon Ball is one of my interests that gets treated best.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

And Tony takes the gold. This series ended in 1997. Sans nostalgia celebrations like Kai, it shouldn't be having major releases in 2005, let alone 2012.

There are hundreds of other shows that can only dream of the treatment DBZ gets.

Indeed. You can easily buy all 508 episodes and 17 movies, as well as every chapter of the manga. I guess Kai is a little trickier with the messy home releases, but it's still not that difficult or expensive to get either.

Case and point.

After all, are Kai, Orange Bricks and Singles (With the DBoxes on the way out) worse than nothing?

[Adamant]

And Doctor Who can't get a complete DVD release because of missing footage.

Though in that case, there's extreme effort put into recovering and restoring these missing episodes. The Dr. Who fanbase is one of the best treated fanbases in the world all things considered - it's not a lack of care or interest from the license holders' side that keeps stuff out of their hands.

[Master Blaster]

The real reason why being a Dragon Ball fan is awesome is because you're always relevant. Even with the various Star Wars debacles, Star Wars and its fans are always relevant. That alone is worth it's weight in gold and is often taken for granted. A few other shows have been mentioned and I'm no different in the sense that I'm a huge fan of old cartoons that will either never be relevant outside of maybe a ghost town of a fansite or got their last hurrah on a Shout! Factory DVD set (made from broadcast Betamax tapes, of all things) and will probably never be heard from again.

The fact that we can be here and read actual news about Dragon Ball on a weekly or fortnightly basis and still get new material in the form of specials and video games fifteen years after the series technically ended, and at the same time have a somewhat direct line of communication with a local company hellbent on milking the everloving shit out the franchise (and lately also interested in appealing to some of the most critical fans) makes me feel like Dragon Ball is one of my interests that gets treated best.

+++

This.