Are most people Hesitant to get into Dragon Ball because....

[ABED]

I don't like abridge (it's not funny, and I have no idea why anyone likes such an amateurish production)

<br abp="728">That's funny. The last time you were speaking of how "bad" abridged was, you kept referring to the fact that you hadn't watched very much of their material, and pretty much none of their current stuff. <br abp="729"><br abp="730">You might get an idea if you actually took the time to watch it.

That would be like me eating beans until I liked it. Until that point, I can't keep it down, and 20-40 minutes of content is more than enough to get an idea of whether you like something. It's not like I watched the first episode or so and nothing else. I've watched 5 minutes here and there of their later stuff and it still does nothing for me. This is common. It's called sampling. I'm not going to keep watching something I don't like on the hopes that it gets better after I've spent more than enough time getting a good idea if I'd like it or not.

maybe you should learn to accept that people have subjective tastes compared to you. It sounds as if you don't like it, nobody should like it.

I do accept that, I just don't like that so many like it. Some things I don't like but are more or less benign, but this irks me because it's constantly thrown in my face in the fandom.

So you're the bar of it things are good or not? Well then I should run everything I watch by you now! In all honesty it sounds like you think "I don't like this! So no one else should!" and I must say that's rather fitting for the character whose name you've chosen to use. From personal experience, I find TFS funny!

Must we do that? I should be able to voice my opinion that I find other people's tastes ridiculous? I'm not making fun of people who do, but TFS is so terrible I just can't fathom why people think it's funny. It's not even comedy that's not my taste. I never got into Daniel Tosh, but I can see why some would find it funny even if he doesn't make me laugh. I find nothing TFS does remotely clever, and don't understand why any grown up would. What jokes do they find funny?

One things that grinds my gears is when people lump them in with professional VA's. Like when there are lists of favorite VA's for voices like Goku, TFS "actors" are often put on the list!

To keep this on topic, why would a parody get someone into a show. Afterall, all they seem to do is poke fun at the show. If you like the show, you can see it for what you think it is, if you don't know the show, or don't like it, how is the parody going to get you into it?

[Gonstead]

Must we do that? I should be able to voice my opinion that I find other people's tastes ridiculous?

Yes, you can do that. But you should then be ready for someone to be critical of said opinion and any potential backlash.

[voltlunok]

So you're the bar of it things are good or not? Well then I should run everything I watch by you now! In all honesty it sounds like you think "I don't like this! So no one else should!" and I must say that's rather fitting for the character whose name you've chosen to use. From personal experience, I find TFS funny!

Must we do that? I should be able to voice my opinion that I find other people's tastes ridiculous? I'm not making fun of people who do, but TFS is so terrible I just can't fathom why people think it's funny. It's not even comedy that's not my taste. I never got into Daniel Tosh, but I can see why some would find it funny even if he doesn't make me laugh. I find nothing TFS does remotely clever, and don't understand why any grown up would. What jokes do they find funny?

One things that grinds my gears is when people lump them in with professional VA's. Like when there are lists of favorite VA's for voices like Goku, TFS "actors" are often put on the list!

To keep this on topic, why would a parody get someone into a show. Afterall, all they seem to do is poke fun at the show. If you like the show, you can see it for what you think it is, if you don't know the show, or don't like it, how is the parody going to get you into it?

Yes, you can totally voice your opinion that you think someone has bad taste BUT you should actively be prepared to handle the backlash of that, you should be prepared to hear that they think you're wrong, that you may have bad taste yourself or have the bar set too high. There is no one way street with this. If you tell someone they have bad tastes or they are wrong for liking something you don't then prepare yourself cause you've entered the thunderdome! Taste is subjective, one man's trash is another man's treasure. That's it plain and simple.

To answer your second question, like I said before, this fandom is toxic. Something like TFS' parody shows that even though the fandom is toxic, there are members who can have fun with it, that can drop the super seriousness with it and laugh at it. That alone can make it feel even slightly welcoming when compared to the In-universe discussion thread where you'll find people loudly yelling at eachother over power levels! So yeah again, showing a side of the fandom that can poke fun at the thing it loves is a great way to show that no...the dragon ball fandom isn't all dicks and assholes. We're cool sometimes.

[Takkun]

I think there are a lot of factors as to why people don't feel like getting in to Dragon Ball. Length is certainly a cause, but then again why do people bother getting into One Piece, Naruto, Bleach (etc.) when they have more episodes?

I think that there is a generation gap between the Dragon Ball fans and the fans of the newer shonen series' out there. When I talk about it with some of my manga/anime loving friends, they think that Dragon Ball is too old school, and that the newer shows have more depth and are just overall better reads/watches. So in turn they never really attempt because they are too into what they think is cool. And on the opposite side, we have a bunch of Dragon Ball fans who think that One Piece or Naruto sucks without ever giving it a chance, and they hail Dragon Ball is the greatest thing anime of all time without actually getting into alternatives.

I also think a bunch of the hesitation into Dragon Ball is it's mainstream appeal. Back in the day it was one of those shows like Pokemon and Sailor Moon that all of a sudden started showing up on American TV. To "true" otaku, or fans of Japanese culture, of course they knew that Dragon Ball was indeed an anime and that it came from Japan. But to the average viewer, most likely they thought it was some rad cartoon and praised the heck out of it. In turn, when anime started to become more mainstream and we started seeing newer shows from Japan come through, there came this divide among fans of anime and dubbed Dragon Ball as too mainstream and over played, and that if you were a "true" fan then you would watch "real anime" (death note, neon genesis evangelion, cowboy bebop). It's sort of how some indie rock bands are generally loved by an audience, then when all of a sudden they become popular to the general consumer all of a sudden they become "lame" or "trash" to those same fans or to fans of the indie genre.

And it's true to an extent, because by now everyone knows what Dragon Ball is or have heard of it. Of course, there aren't that many people who have the same knowledge as the people of this forum but a lot of people get the gist of what Dragon Ball is. Granted, it's mostly misguided, and I think that most people who aren't into the show just think that it's a bunch of dudes who scream real loud and make their hair turn blonde, and that death has no concept because they have magic orbs that wish everyone to life. And in all honesty that's true if you look at the series in general. Dragon Ball isn't the most plot heavy or complicated anime/manga out there. But I think that due to it's mainstream appeal, the series, and Toriyama, don't necessarily get the credit it deserves. It might not be a mind blowing story, but there are moments in the show that are pretty clever and well done. When looking at the series from afar and as a whole, you might not get that. But if you watch it from beginning to the end, and don't spoil it as you go on, it's a pretty incredible journey when one really thinks about it. A journey that most of us here took years to go through, which makes it all the worthwhile. But to most outsiders, they just don't want to give it a chance because they think they know all there is to it. Hey, more power to them though. Cause Dragon Ball is pretty fuckin' sweet in my opinion.

(For the record, I don't think Dragon Ball is the greatest anime ever or even comes close to it. I'm actually a fan of all those different shows I just listed. But Toriyama's work certainly is my favorite!)

[ABED]

I have no problem with potential backlash. I just don't like when things get taken personal. What does that even mean "this fandom is toxic"? There are bad apples everywhere and I don't think TFS is doing some sort of service by poking fun. Maybe it's just me but I don't think laughing at something you claim to enjoy is an inherent virtue.

[NinjaGoku]

I have no problem with potential backlash. I just don't like when things get taken personal. What does that even mean "this fandom is toxic"? There are bad apples everywhere and I don't think TFS is doing some sort of service by poking fun. Maybe it's just me but I don't think laughing at something you claim to enjoy is an inherent virtue.

They are doing more of a service than fans who moan and complain about people who make tributes to the franchise.

At this point I think most people reading this far would agree the bigger reason that people can't get into Dragon Ball because of toxic 'elitist' fans (if you can call yourself a fan) who can't accept the other aspects 'happy' fans might enjoy of the fandom (whether that is bad dubs, parodies, fan comics). It is not because there is a huge fan parody that over 1.5 mil acknowledge is somehow bad and ruining your purist vision of Dragon Ball Z. You can't even appreciate the effort put into huge fan productions, Abridged is clearly getting more people into DBZ through word of mouth yet you are too ignorant to acknowledge.

It's a cartoon, people don't have time to take things so seriously like yourself. If you act like you do nothing to help others get into Dragon Ball and end up becoming a parody of yourself: https://youtu.be/8mQScjlXbBE

[Big Momma]

I've never really understood the "too long" thing. If a series is a good and fun read, why is having a lot a bad thing? Are you on some kind of time restraint? Do you only have a few weeks to read it? More often than not, you've got the rest of your life to read it, so why not just give it a go? There's no rush.

[Cure Dragon 255]

God you guys, why are you so unable to accept that ABED does not like DBZA. You say he is the one being elitist, but you give him such a hard time that it seems like TFS just MUST simply universally enjoyed. No one can not like DBZA. If they are and get annoyed by the fans that constantly hound them, they get called purist and elitist. GOD. I like some of the jokes but the elitist (Yes, this word can be used both ways) DBZA fans just wont let people be.

Also Cure Honey (BTW I love your avatar! So cute) yes, the fans can answer right back at him, but this doesnt make his feelings less valid OR yours more valid, its subjective,its true, he can also voice his arguments again and you can voice yours, neither are more objectively valid. And 1.5 million is nothing compared to the Billion that is ignorant of DBZA, which rides its popularity on an already stablished property beloved by a billion. It doesnt say anything about its value or quality, with that 1 million logic, 2 Girls 1 Cup is a masterpiece. I'm not saying DBZA is worthless, but that Total Views argument is extremely flawed.


I actually like DBZA BTW but I really hate the herd mentality.


I'm not angry and I didnt want to be aggressive but the peer pressure in this thread is just unbearable.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

Yes, you can totally voice your opinion that you think someone has bad taste BUT you should actively be prepared to handle the backlash of that, you should be prepared to hear that they think you're wrong, that you may have bad taste yourself or have the bar set too high. There is no one way street with this. If you tell someone they have bad tastes or they are wrong for liking something you don't then prepare yourself cause you've entered the thunderdome! Taste is subjective, one man's trash is another man's treasure. That's it plain and simple.

Thats the same argument you can make for those who are fans of or more familiarized with the old dub, Ocean Dub, Broly, Bruce Faulconer's team's music, and even aspects of GT. Which anyone who bothers admitting they dont completely hate those things the same way the majority here does, is mocked with sarcasm and never taken seriously on their own merit; as if suddenly their opinions are now voided or irrelevant after it just because they like what the Kai fans don't. Now its on those of us who just don't like TAS and the hypocrisy comes back around where apparently tastes aren't subjective when oppositions are flipped.