Episode #0284 (08 January 2012)

[VegettoEX]

Episode #0284 (download MP3) (rss feed) (subscribe in iTunes)
61:19; 96 kbps, mono; 42.4 MB

Episode #0284! VegettoEX, Meri, and Jeff dive into our second "DragonBall GT Review of Awesomeness" with episodes 6-10. After some brief battling, we are back to exploration and adventure with a little bit of dancing thrown in for good measure. Are the whimsical episodes enough to propel us through some early foreshadowing, or has the writing already taken a dive? News about the upcoming Saikyo Jump bonus DVD, the winter release season, and a whole lot more rounds out the episode. Referenced sites:

• DragonBall GT "Season One" @ Amazon
• DragonBall GT R2 DVD Vol. 1 @ CDJapan
• DragonBall GT R2 DVD Vol. 2 @ CDJapan
• "Next Info" @ Saikyo Jump
• Nicaraguan DB TV Series Deal @ C21Media
• DBZ Movie Pack Collection Three @ Amazon
• Kanzenban Volume 18 (French) @ Amazon France

And there you have it -- another round of GT reviewin'. I'm beginning to suspect that Julian will conveniently come down with a strange illness each and every time we do one of these.


(see: http://www.kanzentai.com/production.php ... anime#dbgt)

[PuppetDoctor]

Great podcast once again guys. I love these Reviews of Awesomeness.

My opinions differ than you three because I really never have liked the early stuff of GT. I find the adventure part to be very boring and that somewhat reflects in my upcoming notes that I wrote after watching each episode. I remember also not enjoying the upcoming episode which lead up to Bebi (this is based on memory from last watching the whole series in 2008/2009). I actually begin to enjoy the series when it gets to the Shadow Dragons part. However, maybe watching some of the later episodes during this review series my opinion will change. Anyways, here is my thoughts for episodes 6 through 10.

Episode 6:

The beginning of the episode reminded me of the Fake Namek filler. It seemed very predictable that the Dragon Ball would somehow end up in the Giants possession and Goku and the gang would need to retrieve it. The time with Pan in the bee hive didn't amuse me very much either and Trunks continued to be the babysitter.

Episode 7:

This whole episode as mentioned in the podcast harped back onto when Oolong was terrorizing Octagon Village and Goku had to dress as a woman. Instead this time Goku couldn't fit into the clothes so we got to watch Trunks cross dress which I did find entertaining. There were some funny moments in this episode where I laughed such as when Goku and co. ran into Leine's room when they saw the Dragon Ball but when I found out this episode would be two parts I groaned.

Episode 8:

Trunks trying to get Sunama to drink the sake and then getting him drunk by dumping the sake on the food was funny. Otherwise, there were parts of this episode seemed to drag on. The whole twist where Sunama really wasn't creating earthquakes but predicting them once again reminded me of Oolong scaring a bunch of villagers and in truth he was a fraud.

Episode 9:

Why can't Goku and company beat a few worms?!!! We are finally introduced to a new villain and the Parapara Brothers. This was a pretty good episode to introduce new villains and the dolls people are turned into are cute.

Episode 10:

The dancing seemed to be way to stretched out this episode but watching Gill dance was some nice comedy relief.

Overall, these episodes were a mixed bag. Since I don't really remember what happens next aside from knowing these episodes lead up to Bebi I am looking forward to seeing how things play out.

[DragonBoxZTheMovies]

Heh, this was the first episode I listened to live. I must admit, I did feel like a bit of a creeper watching you guys record in real-time but at the same time it was great to see DaizenshuuEX, the "Way it Was Meant to Be Seen!"

[VegettoEX]

Yeah, we ended up broadcasting this one live because it was just the three of us locally together, so there was no external video/audio to worry about and attempt to (poorly) patch in. We do this very rarely, but it's usually a good time when we do. Plus, you get the added bonus of truly understanding just exactly how much/little I edit around/out.

As we said during the broadcast, we were there to do the show and not put ON a show at the same time, so I really have no idea how the chat went. It seemed like we were hovering around 50 people when I would peek in, but I hope the conversation and overall enjoyment was cool.

As cool as watching three people in a basement studio sit still and talk about DBGT for an hour can be, anyway.

[Kaboom]

Explaining how Goku had so much trouble against the Muma worms?

...

... Nope, I got nothing.

[Tanooki Kuribo]

Maybe it's just me, but I thought the ending song to the podcast sounded a lot like the Madonna's "Open Your Heart". Check the sample out on iTunes.

[Akumaito Beam]

One has to wonder how Freeza, Ginyu Special Corps. or the Saiyans were so much trouble if a race of worms that reside in every day meteors (why do I keep wanting to call theese Sand Worms?) were Boo levels of strong. I'm about as anti-battle power comparison, anti-in universe as they get and it still makes me pause for thought.That fight was far too long and boring, BP aside. I love the Para Para Bros. though, that dance attack has to be my favorite special move.

The Tolerance episodes seemed very Pokemonesque to me so far as slapping a new coat of paint on an old episode or concept (Oolong) and changing things around just enough to not be immediately recognisable. A great Funi dub line in this episode was Goku exclaiming "I'm telling you, I tried this already and it didn't work!" to Pan when she was trying to force the dress on him.

That giant island episode was pretty "meh" and just made me want to go rewatch the portion of One Piece I enjoy. There was nothing at risk. The giant didn't seem particularly pissy the bee's didn't have malicious intent and Goku's big moment of the episode was shooting a Kamehameha at a tooth.

Toei plays every fight scene, every conversation, every setting incredibly by the book. Like a paint by numbers sort of thing. Imagine the weird shit that would go down if Toriyama was writing about a giant island. Hell, that single picture is dripping with more life than the entire 20 minute episode. DB(Z) was fun because it was constantly absurd even during "serious" stuff. I can't say the same for GT. Sure it was silly but it wasn't Dragonball silly and I think thats's the lost Toriyama charm Jeff picked up on.

You guys seemed pretty darn bored with theese episodes and I don't blame you.

Edit
You guys didn't sound too bored, I suppose that was just me reflecting. Also worm guys live on a planet that sorta just looks like a meteor, my bad.

[VegettoEX]

Toei plays every fight scene, every conversation, every setting incredibly by the book. Like a paint by numbers sort of thing. Imagine the weird shit that would go down if Toriyama was writing about a giant island. Hell, that single picture is dripping with more life than the entire 20 minute episode. DB(Z) was fun because it was constantly absurd even during "serious" stuff. I can't say the same for GT. Sure it was silly but it wasn't Dragonball silly and I think thats's the lost Toriyama charm Jeff picked up on.

I think this is a fantastic observation.

In the drawing, the giant (actually giants -- there are two of them!) are inquisitive, tapping the spaceship, while the heroes are actively trying to hide. In the show, the "hiding" seemed a bit more passive... like, they were sorta trying to hide, but didn't seem to TRULY care if they were seen or not, since the giant didn't appear to be all that dangerous.

And I'm pretty OK with the giant being a friendly giant without any other characteristics. He doesn't need to be evil-then-friendly (see: Drum Island), and he doesn't even need to talk (as it was in the show).

Maybe it did need to ham it up even more during that and the Zunama episodes. It was cute, but not DragonBall cute. It was silly, but not DragonBall silly. It was fun, but not DragonBall fun. Good way to sum it up.

[Akumaito Beam]

I think this is a fantastic observation.
In the drawing, the giant (actually giants -- there are two of them!) are inquisitive, tapping the spaceship, while the heroes are actively trying to hide. In the show, the "hiding" seemed a bit more passive... like, they were sorta trying to hide, but didn't seem to TRULY care if they were seen or not, since the giant didn't appear to be all that dangerous.

Not to beat a dead horse but at the end of the day this sort of thing really reflects what GT is as a whole. At a glance you see they got in a giant and it's a planet where everything is big, they pretty much nailed it. Something feels off looking back at this picture but maybe it's your imagination. What Toei didn't write in was Goku half heartidly "hiding" behind the glass bottle and by hiding I of course mean partly obscuring what I imagine to be his big signature Goku smile as he "gets really excited about those strong guys". Pan seems to be doing a better job at hiding but the joke becomes apparent when you remember they're ducking behind a tranclucant bottle. Where's Trunks? A foot away from the two 8 year olds hiding behind much more significant cover,Gill holding onto his jacket. Now Goku's probably the strongest here so you can probably assume Gill knows where the brains are. Hey, remember that glass bottle? Wouldn't that imply these giants are somewhat skilled and intelligent? Giant glass bottles don't come from nature but if they didn't make it...who did? Do they share this planet with someone else? Something else? That all came from 1 Toriyama picture, now I may be looking into it a little too deeply but there's at least something to look into. Toei instead chose to tell a story about the gang exploring a giant Earth garden and also I guess there's a big guy hangin' around too making lunch. I'm not saying the 20 minute episode should revolve around this picture, I am saying all those subtle Toriyama touches are lost and instead replaced with something that looks right at a glance but ultimately just feels off.

By the by take a glance at Trunk's face in the Toriyama drawn group shot. If that doesn't scream kid Trunks I don't know what does.

[AgitoZ]

And I'm pretty OK with the giant being a friendly giant without any other characteristics. He doesn't need to be evil-then-friendly (see: Drum Island), and he doesn't even need to talk (as it was in the show).

Giants at Drum Island?! I think I missed that episode.

[VegettoEX]

I have no idea why I said "Drum Island" -- I clearly meant "Little Garden" .

[tinlunlau]

Speaking of the Cantonese VCD release of Dragon Ball GT, I recall it was a home video only Cantonese dub which Cantonese-speaking folks (particularly the ones in Hong Kong and Macau) have a problem with. People were expecting the dub that was aired on TVB to be on the home video releases but that was not what they got. The TVB dub was released on DVD many years later.

[DragonBoxZTheMovies]

Wait...did I miss something? What's this about One Piece coming to a close?

[VegettoEX]

Wait...did I miss something? What's this about One Piece coming to a close?

No, no. By the time we were recording, it was 10 am in Japan, which meant the block of Toriko and One Piece was ending. Realized as I was saying it that the phrasing might be taken the wrong way.

[ThunderPX]

This set of episodes was so boring that I actually forgot I listened to this episode of the podcast and only remembered when I redownloaded it, started listening and realised it sounded kind of familiar. I mean, geez... the only part I remotely enjoyed during this part of GT was the Luud mini-arc, which hasn't even really started yet in the last episode covered here, so yeah.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch very much of the live broadcast. It was lagging pretty badly on my end, and I had a bunch of work I needed to do. Surprisingly, my good sense prevailed for once and I did my work instead of listening to a choppy version of something I could download soon after.

[TrunksTrevelyan0064]

Now people will want Giant Sand Worm of Doom to be a playable character in the next videogame.

[violadude]

So....about that next GT review....in February...

[Zeshen]

So....about that next GT review....in February...

Between the milestones, (Episodes 292 and 300) and the site conversion (April 2012) and the content Mike and the gang have been trying to prepare, things have gotten pushed back. I want the review too, but we shall have to wait.

Personally, I wanna know what Mike has up his sleeve.

Also, while we enjoy sarcasm here, it doesn't help your case when you use it on the site owner for something you want.

Just "Saiyan"