Has TFS damaged the reputation of the franchise in the U.S.?

[rereboy]

So at this point I've watched everything, its great and all but one thing bothers me. They made Goku just a little too stupid & naive. I understand all the characters are suppose to be exaggerated versions of themselves, but after a while it really started to annoy me lol. Am I alone here with that statement?

We all know part of Goku's charm is his optimism and innocence. But when the time comes to get serious, he looks his opponent dead in they eye scared of nothing. I always took that as his way of letting everyone know he is the baddest mofo on the block and he knows it.

I know its satire and suppose to be funny, and it is. But hearing Goku sound half retarded started to make me cringe.

I did watch it all in 2 sitting so maybe I over dosed on the show. But yeah, I just wanted to share that.

TSF's Goku is brilliant. He's very unique and not at all retarded-like. The genius in his humor is very different than retarded humor is like and it fits the naive nature of the original character incredibly well.

[Super Sonic]

I wouldn't say it's damaged it, but if there are kids who watched Abridged before seeing the series, it might make it seem strange kind of how Harvey Birdman and Space Ghost: Coast to Coast fans who never really watched the original versions find them odd.

[xXInfinite026Xx]

From my experiences, TFS really has helped acknowledged the world of Dragon Ball Z into the general masses of people who just enjoy a good laugh or those who keep up with amateur comedy series such as ones featured on newgrounds. Of course, most of these individuals I'm talking about are the ones who generally do not have an appeal towards DBZ or anime at all. I know back in 2008 when they were first coming out, I had spread the word all through my high school classes and most of my classmates found it absolutely hysterical. Even their early fan-based jokes poking fun at the days of TV censorship were funny to them because of how hilariously random it seemed (even though I felt they were jokes only I truly understood). Parody or not though, it actually got some people curious about the original series as well since some of them didn't grow up with it. That was always a pro with me.

But with every pro, there is always a con. After several years of TFS popularity, yes, it can be annoying to hear random Ghost Nappa quotes and other TFS jokes out of the blue on every internet-based medium that relates to DBZ. Yes, it can be annoying for me to have a DBZ discussion about whatever topic derail into having Krillin being a "space duck". But that's the catch to being popular. I don't think it's TFS's fault for having some of their rabid fans act the way they do sometimes. Kaiser and them make quality work is all, so there's no reason to hold that to them. All we can really do is point those people that there's an outside world of Dragon Ball that doesn't always relate to DBZ:A, and if they can't keep that out of the discussion, then maybe they should talk somewhere else that DOES relate to that.

On another note, Kaiser and co. always put on a hilarious show during their panels. My girlfriend and I have gotten to see them at A-kon in Dallas, TX the last couple of years, and if we all can make it to A-kon again this year, no doubt I will go see them again. I know I'll definitely be there for their panel at San Japan this year. It's always a pleasure to watch, especially as an amateur voice actor who can appreciate quality voice work.

[Attitudefan]

THat's the thing though, how can people, who have never witnessed Dragonball, understand the humour? I mean, a lot of the jokes play off of quirks in the series including small trivial facts such as with "THE CARGO WAS PEOPLE!!" line. The newer episodes are aimed more towards the mainstream with more pop culture references and gay jokes than the first half, but to really understand the humour of the characters and their motives in the parody, one has to understand what the parody is based off of.

[KentalSSJ6]

THat's the thing though, how can people, who have never witnessed Dragonball, understand the humour? I mean, a lot of the jokes play off of quirks in the series including small trivial facts such as with "THE CARGO WAS PEOPLE!!" line. The newer episodes are aimed more towards the mainstream with more pop culture references and gay jokes than the first half, but to really understand the humour of the characters and their motives in the parody, one has to understand what the parody is based off of.

Ehh, I'm not so sure about the humor of their current stuff. The redub of Dead Zone reminded me a lot of their early work and in a good way. Loved the "Oh god your father's Goku" part and the pears line still cracks me up.

For some reason though, I have no idea why, the "Imma Break Ya Butt" line puts me in tears every time.

[KaiserNeko]

THat's the thing though, how can people, who have never witnessed Dragonball, understand the humour? I mean, a lot of the jokes play off of quirks in the series including small trivial facts such as with "THE CARGO WAS PEOPLE!!" line. The newer episodes are aimed more towards the mainstream with more pop culture references and gay jokes than the first half, but to really understand the humour of the characters and their motives in the parody, one has to understand what the parody is based off of.

Actually, we make less gay jokes and less pop culture jokes nowadays more than EVER. Legitimately, this latest season has only had a handful of references and the gay jokes are usually limited to certain characters.

[Attitudefan]

THat's the thing though, how can people, who have never witnessed Dragonball, understand the humour? I mean, a lot of the jokes play off of quirks in the series including small trivial facts such as with "THE CARGO WAS PEOPLE!!" line. The newer episodes are aimed more towards the mainstream with more pop culture references and gay jokes than the first half, but to really understand the humour of the characters and their motives in the parody, one has to understand what the parody is based off of.

Actually, we make less gay jokes and less pop culture jokes nowadays more than EVER. Legitimately, this latest season has only had a handful of references and the gay jokes are usually limited to certain characters.

I guess a lot of that stuff happened in the Freeza arc, and if that is the case, my mistake.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

I'm getting really annoyed with hearing people on youtube refer to the abridged series as "dub" when its just a parody of some sort of inside humour using the franchise and nothing more. There are people going as far as saying its better than Kai, speaking of it as a legit comparison as a "dub" in their opinion comparison characterizations. Smh. So yes I say they have influenced the fandom but they didnt ruin the series for the west, the fandumb is just not recieving the concept.

[ImmaDeker]

THat's the thing though, how can people, who have never witnessed Dragonball, understand the humour? I mean, a lot of the jokes play off of quirks in the series including small trivial facts such as with "THE CARGO WAS PEOPLE!!" line. The newer episodes are aimed more towards the mainstream with more pop culture references and gay jokes than the first half, but to really understand the humour of the characters and their motives in the parody, one has to understand what the parody is based off of.

Actually, we make less gay jokes and less pop culture jokes nowadays more than EVER. Legitimately, this latest season has only had a handful of references and the gay jokes are usually limited to certain characters.

I will say, as much as you're easily the best Abridged series around, a lot of your work ages really terribly. But I'm assuming this series is more a learning process for those involved than any hard attempt at making a magnum opus, so it's not like that isn't understandable.

[Kamiccolo9]

I'm getting really annoyed with hearing people on youtube refer to the abridged series as "dub" when its just a parody of some sort of inside humour using the franchise and nothing more. There are people going as far as saying its better than Kai, speaking of it as a legit comparison as a "dub" in their opinion comparison characterizations. Smh. So yes I say they have influenced the fandom but they didnt ruin the series for the west, the fandumb is just not recieving the concept.

I don't see the problem with someone saying that it's better than Kai. I mean, the example I always give is that Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a parody of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Men in Tights is much, much better than it's source material.

[ABED]

I'm getting really annoyed with hearing people on youtube refer to the abridged series as "dub" when its just a parody of some sort of inside humour using the franchise and nothing more. There are people going as far as saying its better than Kai, speaking of it as a legit comparison as a "dub" in their opinion comparison characterizations. Smh. So yes I say they have influenced the fandom but they didnt ruin the series for the west, the fandumb is just not recieving the concept.

I don't see the problem with someone saying that it's better than Kai. I mean, the example I always give is that Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a parody of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Men in Tights is much, much better than it's source material.

It's a parody of all Robin Hood movies, and there's a Grand Canyon of difference between a Mel Brooks movie and TFS. I also don't agree about Men In Tights being much, much better than Prince of Thieves. Even if you're right that doesn't preclude them both from being good. TFS is just awful, it's not funny, clever, or well acted at all.

[Kamiccolo9]

I'm getting really annoyed with hearing people on youtube refer to the abridged series as "dub" when its just a parody of some sort of inside humour using the franchise and nothing more. There are people going as far as saying its better than Kai, speaking of it as a legit comparison as a "dub" in their opinion comparison characterizations. Smh. So yes I say they have influenced the fandom but they didnt ruin the series for the west, the fandumb is just not recieving the concept.

I don't see the problem with someone saying that it's better than Kai. I mean, the example I always give is that Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a parody of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Men in Tights is much, much better than it's source material.

It's a parody of all Robin Hood movies, and there's a Grand Canyon of difference between a Mel Brooks movie and TFS.

Yeah, but Prince of Thieves in particular, and regardless, it's still the best Robin Hood movie I've seen. I see no problem in preferring a parody over the source material. The purpose of entertainment is to entertain, and if TFS does that better for some people than Z or Kai, well, more power to them.

[ABED]

I can't fathom why people like it. It's so crude.

[Doctor.]

I really get annoyed when I read some of the comments saying that TFS did a scene better than the original source material. I mean, that's just disrespecting Toriyama and Toei Animation. I still love it, nothing against it, but it's the fans that piss me off sometimes.

[Gyt Kaliba]

I can't fathom why people like it. It's so crude.

Some people like crude things. Just look at the success of Family Guy, South Park, even The Simpsons to some degree. Or for a live action example, Two and a Half Men.

For what it's worth though, I don't really find Abridged to be that crude. There's a few jokes here and there, but by and far, there's nothing that I would consider anywhere near going too far.

[Mewzard]

I can't fathom why people like it. It's so crude.

...A lot of people who would see Dragon Ball (especially in its early days) could easily say it's crude. Toriyama writes some pretty terrible jokes at times, and adds some pretty tasteless fanservicey scenes early on.

Just because something's crude though, doesn't immediately make it bad (well, to some people it does, others it does).

I like DBZ Abridged, but I also like the source material. Both can exist fine by me (though I do prefer the acting in Kai, TFS is quite impressive at what it does given it's a fan project).

[Zephyr]

It hasn't damaged it at all. If anything, it's helped. I've been able to turn one of my close friends, as well as my girlfriend, into fans of the series because of the Abridged series.

It's a way for bigger fans of the series to experience a well crafted, joke-filled version of the anime (and a much better parody than the officially licensed one Funimation gave us on Toonami). It's a way for the more casual fan who hasn't seen the series for some time, get back into it, in a way. It's a way for non-fans to experience the story without having to fully delve into it.

And I have to agree with Mewzard. Dragon Ball is built on crudeness.

[coola]

Like i said few months ago, it didn't really damaged, but, it forever changed some characters, i keep seeing Nappa on "Favorite anime characters" and it's more of voting for TFS Nappa, rather than Z/Kai Nappa, i believe he will never be seen as serious character anymore.

[ABED]

I can't fathom why people like it. It's so crude.

...A lot of people who would see Dragon Ball (especially in its early days) could easily say it's crude. Toriyama writes some pretty terrible jokes at times, and adds some pretty tasteless fanservicey scenes early on.

Just because something's crude though, doesn't immediately make it bad (well, to some people it does, others it does).

I like DBZ Abridged, but I also like the source material. Both can exist fine by me (though I do prefer the acting in Kai, TFS is quite impressive at what it does given it's a fan project).

That's not what I meant by crude. I meant "unrefined" or "not well made", I have no problem with dirty jokes. It's interesting that everyone seemed to think that by "crude" I meant "scatological" humor. I can certainly see why, and looking back I probably could've picked another word or been clearer.

It's not a dub, it's a cheaply made poor acting. What "fan service" are you referring to?

I'm fine with both existing, but I hate when people claim it's a DB dub. For instance when people list the actors that have voiced Goku, they list MasakoX alongside actors from official dubs. It drives me bonkers.

(and a much better parody than the officially licensed one Funimation gave us on Toonami).

While the dub was terrible, it wasn't a parody, and Abridged isn't a dub, it WAS a parody.

[EXBadguy]

Anything that's popular gets make fun of, so why are you guys acting like DBZ is the only one, when other anime like Pokémon, One Piece, and Naruto got abridged series too? And if most western people think DBZ is "silly", why was Kai a success in Nicktoons, why did the BoG movie have decent sales? And I don't think it's just because of nostalgia. People are just overanalyzing shit. Don't read the youtube comments. If a DBZ episode or a fight is on youtube and has way more likes than dislikes, that means it's still appreciated.

And if the original DB was super popular like Z was in the US, they would've made an abridged series too, and then the whole franchise would be mocked by the western culture. Seriously guys, relax.