Expected to like "adult" cartoons over DB?

[Polyphase Avatron]

I personally have never had these problems. In fact most people that I know believe that DBZ is actually a Western cartoon.

That's odd. Why do they think that?

[ekrolo2]

I've gotten a few laughs thrown at me when I said I watched anime and read manga, but I never got laughed at when I said I read "comic books" or "cartoons". I wonder why.

Comic books, at least from the big two have been a part of pop culture for a long time in various forms of media across the decades. Its been more or less a foregone conclusion that you will, at one point or another in your life read or watch a comic book or comic book related thing. Dragon Ball, despite its popularity in the west is no Superman, Batman or Spider-man level thing despite it having large fanbases in Japan and Latin America from what I hear. The day manga & anime becomes something ingrained into western pop culture is when say an animated DB movie starts making Batman 89 levels of money.

[samuraix123]

I'm 26 and still love watching cartoons like Dragonball Hey Arnold, Aahh Real Monsters etc and I don't care what anyone says. I have a friend who would say shows like that are kiddish and cartoons are for kids but they never miss an episode of the simpsons and will argue till their dying breath that it's different. I stopped caring a long time ago what people thought about me and I think I'll make a real good hermit one day. I don't want to use the word ''Hate'' but I don't like Family guy at all...I don't like when they get in talking and all of a sudden they say stuff like ''It's just like that drive we took to this mall or whatever'' then we get the scene flashback scene of them going to mall lol I'm weird on that. But yeah, I'm gonna keep on keeping on watching what I want too and I recommend everyone else do the same.

Does anyone else feel kids grow up too fast today? I remember when I was younger watching stuff like Dragonball and other things used to be THA THANNNG man haha

[Eire]

Speak for yourself, here kids are expected to watch movies showing impalment/wild animals ripping children apart/tortures by Gestapo/three people decapitated with one move/woman turning face of her her would-be-rapist into bloody pulp/ men failing into XIX century cotton machine that process to throw away bloody chunks of meat - with all gruesome details. But all of this actually happened so I guess it doesn't count as a violence.
And Dragon Ball was still criticised for it's brutality.

[Froggy]

i dont know how old you are but a person my age is definitely too old for these cartoons. and yes, anime ARE cartoons, they're just happen to be created in japan.
so i stopped watching cartoons and anime except for DB because i always liked it.
but when a person tells me I'm too old for this, i just tell that person "i know, but i like this show and anyway its more mature than you think. also it bothers me when you tell me this so stop" and thats it. that person respects my request and stop bothering me.


but now that super is out and extremely childish, i feel i have to endure it just because its DB... (i wonder how long i can endure it).

*i still watch south park. family guy is not funny, although the chicken fight and Liam Neeson fight is entertaining.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

I've gotten a few laughs thrown at me when I said I watched anime and read manga, but I never got laughed at when I said I read "comic books" or "cartoons". I wonder why.

Comic books, at least from the big two have been a part of pop culture for a long time in various forms of media across the decades. Its been more or less a foregone conclusion that you will, at one point or another in your life read or watch a comic book or comic book related thing. Dragon Ball, despite its popularity in the west is no Superman, Batman or Spider-man level thing despite it having large fanbases in Japan and Latin America from what I hear. The day manga & anime becomes something ingrained into western pop culture is when say an animated DB movie starts making Batman 89 levels of money.

Well I think it is on it's way, first Marvel did a collab with AoT and then did Manga variants for a few months and now several comic book writers such as Scott Snyder are penning stories for the upcoming AoT anthology. Not to mention the several different anime films being released theatrically. Also you can't compare animated DB to live action Batman, a better judge would be to compare an animated Batman/superhero film to an animated DB film.

[Hellspawn28]

Well Japanese pop culture has had a impact on US popular culture since we have several western animated shows inspire by anime like The Boondocks, Teen Titans, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aeon Flux, and several others. Pokemon has been spoof and been referenced in many American tv shows and Pokemon is a anime too. Not to mention Japanese characters like Godzilla have a found a home in US popular culture for decades and is the most famous Japanese character in the west.

[Froggy]

Well Japanese pop culture has had a impact on US popular culture since we have several western animated shows inspire by anime like The Boondocks, Teen Titans, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aeon Flux, and several others. Pokemon has been spoof and been referenced in many American tv shows and Pokemon is a anime too. Not to mention Japanese characters like Godzilla have a found a home in US popular culture for decades and is the most famous Japanese character in the west.

the japanese culture never touched the western world and never will. and if you think the japanese culture is just some animes (cartoons) you are gravely mistaken.
animated shows existed in america since disney, anime culture is basically based on comic books and disney works.
boondocks is just an animated show with higher budget than south park.

[TheGreatness25]

Lots of people think that Japanese culture has come to the U.S. A bunch of people saw some anime and read some manga, coming to the ultimate conclusion that they're in-touch with Japanese culture, especially when they start watching anime with subtitles.

I guess all of the Spanish-speaking countries' culture hit us too, as half of the channels on my TV are in Spanish. And what about British culture? Look at all the British actors that we have! I mean we had a British Batman and Superman! DUN-DUN-DUN!


This post is made in jest. But yeah, I agree, people who never actually read about Japan's way of living or have been there know zero about Japanese culture. The U.S.'s movies are known world-wide, we didn't exactly expand that much.

[Hellspawn28]

if you think the japanese culture is just some animes (cartoons) you are gravely mistaken.
animated shows existed in america since disney, anime culture is basically based on comic books and disney works.
boondocks is just an animated show with higher budget than south park.

I know there is way more to Japanese culture besides anime and manga. Maybe the Japanese culutre won't be super mainstream in the US, but my point is that Japanese pop culture have a spot in pop culture in the US for a while. Samurai films from Akira Kurosawa has taken impact on Hollywood film making since his films later inspire George Lucas for Star Wars. The shows I mention have taken a animation style similar to anime since anime has found a nice spot in the US since the early-mid 90's. Not to mention Godzilla has become a pop culture icon in the US and Godzilla is from Japan too you know . Mario is also from Japan and the Mario games have became a big part of US pop culture too.

[Draconic]

For what is worth, Batman Mask of the Phantasm, probably the best Batman movie ever based on the most popular comic book animated series ever only made 5.6 million dollars at the box office (probably unadjusted for inflation), while the two new Dragon Ball movies made 10 times more than that. The reason comic books are very popular right now is because they have tons of great succesful live action movies based on them. When Dragon Ball and other animes will get to be adapted into live action with such quality as the comic book movies, manga and anime will be looked upon with better eyes.

Hell, the new Akira movie trilogy is rumored to be directed by Nolan (or will at least have his involvement), who, regardless of my own opinions on his movies, is regarded as one of the best directors of all time. There is also a Ghost in the Shell live action movie in production. So, if these projects go well, there will not be long before Dragon Ball will get the proper treatment in live-action. And if THAT goes well, you will see a lot of people turn their opinions around.

[EXBadguy]

I know people are gonna beat me up for this, but I admit, I am one of those assholes who laugh at other adults that watch "kiddie" shows like the new Spongebob, Adventure Time, and whatever show is for kids while I watch DBZ and GT, The Boondocks, Family Guy, American Dad, and some of the old Cartoon Network and Nick shows(CUZ I'M SENTIMENTAL AS FUUUCK!) Why, cuz I worry about my image a lot. I mean, I don't wanna sit on a bus and play Pokemon and have dudes stare at me like "is this kid retarded". Sure, most of yall here wouldn't mind, but me, again, I care about my image.

Yes, there's a lot of learning have to do when it comes to preference, but I still will cringe if I see a 40 year old with a Spongebob shirt on. I don't expect them to care about my reaction though.

[TheGreatness25]

I actually think that what you said is very realistic. I don't exactly go carrying around the Dragon Ball manga. Even in my room, despite having a pretty big collection, I keep it hidden in a closet. I don't bump Dragon Ball music in my car while driving. I don't wear any shirts like Dragon Ball, superhero, or wrestling (despite having all of those for house wear). Why? Because I don't want to be looked at funny. But it says more about them than it says about you really. Do I wish that people weren't so judgmental? Sure, but I think that everybody's judgmental in a certain way. It just takes real courage to admit it. Everybody judges others for something. Whether it be judging some kid with long spiky blue hair or a girl with giant gauges in her ears or a kid wearing preppy clothes or somebody walking around with a Naruto headband, I think every person judges others on SOMETHING.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

That is silly, why do you care what random people think? Odds are you'll never see them ever again in your life. Let them look down on you that is their problem not yours. And if they do look down on your what is the big deal? It is not like most of us are some super duper celebrities with thousand of fans, that we have an "image" to preserve.

[EXBadguy]

I actually think that what you said is very realistic. I don't exactly go carrying around the Dragon Ball manga. Even in my room, despite having a pretty big collection, I keep it hidden in a closet. I don't bump Dragon Ball music in my car while driving. I don't wear any shirts like Dragon Ball, superhero, or wrestling (despite having all of those for house wear). Why? Because I don't want to be looked at funny. But it says more about them than it says about you really. Do I wish that people weren't so judgmental? Sure, but I think that everybody's judgmental in a certain way. It just takes real courage to admit it. Everybody judges others for something. Whether it be judging some kid with long spiky blue hair or a girl with giant gauges in her ears or a kid wearing preppy clothes or somebody walking around with a Naruto headband, I think every person judges others on SOMETHING.

Exactly, right? In the real world, you'll get judged for whatever you do anyway and it'll never end, cuz people are people. You can either change for yourself or just go with the flow by doing whatever you want. For example, I wear earrings(mostly studs. Once in a while I wear short silver hoops like these), and I didn't care if some boys look at me like I'm gay(though I think it's kinda common that black men...OR men in general wear earrings).

[ABED]

Does anyone remember ThatDBZGuy? I don't want to make this about him, but before he started knocking DB at every turn to get a rise out of people, he started off with the self pity. I'm hoping history doesn't repeat itself.

[EXBadguy]

Yeah, I understood his pain, but he took it waaaay to personal. As I said again, you can either stick to your guns and not have these random people bother you, or just change and not do geeky stuff in public.

[Froggy]

if you think the japanese culture is just some animes (cartoons) you are gravely mistaken.
animated shows existed in america since disney, anime culture is basically based on comic books and disney works.
boondocks is just an animated show with higher budget than south park.

I know there is way more to Japanese culture besides anime and manga. Maybe the Japanese culutre won't be super mainstream in the US, but my point is that Japanese pop culture have a spot in pop culture in the US for a while. Samurai films from Akira Kurosawa has taken impact on Hollywood film making since his films later inspire George Lucas for Star Wars. The shows I mention have taken a animation style similar to anime since anime has found a nice spot in the US since the early-mid 90's. Not to mention Godzilla has become a pop culture icon in the US and Godzilla is from Japan too you know . Mario is also from Japan and the Mario games have became a big part of US pop culture too.

the american people are very proud and are unlikely to accept outsider culture so easily.
so i challenge you, show how much impact the japanese culture had on the US.


I'm saying this because it bothers me when so many anime fans or normal viewers fall in love with japan because of anime to only later to find that there is many interesting things, but many shallow things. especially in their pop culture, which is in my opinion worse than justin bieber.
no offense to the japanese people around here.

and godzilla ? really ? the few appearances it had in america were unsuccessful attempts to destroy cities.
star wars was influenced by many things, mostly by spanish westerns but also some elements from several asian countries.

[Hellspawn28]

and godzilla ? really ? the few appearances it had in america were unsuccessful attempts to destroy cities.

Godzilla is the most recognizable symbols of Japanese popular culture worldwide and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Everyone knows who he is and he has many pop culture references in movies, TV shows and other entertainment for decades. Last year's Godzilla movie was a successful film by grossing over 500 million worldwide and is even getting a sequel. Godzilla has several film historians that wrote many books of Godzilla and how much of a influence the movies had in both in Japan and the rest of the world.

[TheGreatness25]

That is silly, why do you care what random people think? Odds are you'll never see them ever again in your life. Let them look down on you that is their problem not yours. And if they do look down on your what is the big deal? It is not like most of us are some super duper celebrities with thousand of fans, that we have an "image" to preserve.

It's easy to say this, but it is uncomfortable knowing that you're being pretty much laughed at by -- just that, a freaking nobody that you'll never see again. It's more irritating and angering more than anything. Sorry, but I think it's a perfectly normal human behavior to be self-conscious and to get embarrassed when others judge you negatively.