Introducing the younger generation to DB

[Kamiccolo9]

It's possible for American children to appreciate other cultures.

Was that directed at me or Hulkty? Because I fully agree. I was just wondering why he was assuming that the younger generation we're talking about here was going to most likely be American.

[ABED]

It's possible for American children to appreciate other cultures.

Was that directed at me or Hulkty? Because I fully agree. I was just wondering why he was assuming that the younger generation we're talking about here was going to most likely be American.

Hulkty, sorry about that.

[Ajay]

Make them watch the Orange Brick Uncut seasons...and nothing else.
No edited versions...it will ruin their childhood.
No original Japanese background music...only Bruce Falcunor...fits MUCH better and the kids will most likely be American anyway.
(don't care what you guys say...I've tried countless times, but the Japanese soundtrack doesn't fit with the actual showing of DB/Z/GT at all.....only the openings and closing fit sometimes.)

I can't even tell if this is meant to be serious or not?

Is that...real?!

[Dalesy]

It's possible for American children to appreciate other cultures.

Exactly. The same nephew who's now watching Kai walked into the room while I was watching Yu Yu Hakusho. When the attack names came up in Kanji, he said "Where's this from?" I told him Japan, and if anything, he seemed even more enthused about it.

[Big Momma]

If anything, it's better to keep them from the edited/falcouner-ized dub. It'll help them appreciate the differences between cultures, as opposed to them thinking that everything foreign should be changed be more "American"...despite the fact that the US is a melting pot of cultures anyway.

[Hellspawn28]

It's possible for American children to appreciate other cultures.

Yeah its possible. I became a fan of Japanese pop culture because my love for Godzilla at a young age. I remember when I was a kid, I wanted to go to Japan and see all of the cool stuff there.

[Insertclevername]

It's possible for American children to appreciate other cultures.

I can tell you first hand that the apparent Japanese-ness of Dragon Ball (the huge Kanji and outfits) was never a problem. I think I always knew Dragon Ball was from Japan; and that never bothered me.

[Gaffer Tape]

Considering most of us grew up when Nintendo was just becoming a huge powerhouse, and considering Japanese-imported video games are still extremely common, I fail to see how anyone makes the assumption that Japanese music will turn off kids. I spent my entire childhood listening to some awesome Japanese music: Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda anyone?

[Kamiccolo9]

Considering most of us grew up when Nintendo was just becoming a huge powerhouse, and considering Japanese-imported video games are still extremely common, I fail to see how anyone makes the assumption that Japanese music will turn off kids. I spent my entire childhood listening to some awesome Japanese music: Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda anyone?

Exactly. I would love to see some claim, with a straight face, that Nobuo Uematsu's music could turn someone off Final Fantasy. I don't understand the whole "Japanese music won't be popular in America because it's Japanese" mindset.

[Ajay]

Dragon Ball being Japanese fueled my entire obsession with eastern culture. It started with Pokemon, went onto Dragon Ball and onwards to Yu-Gi-Oh before I needed something more mature with much better writing. Went from that to Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop and Tenchi Muyo. At the same time, I'm looking into the wuxia genre of movies and checking out really early Jackie Chan and Jet Li films. I grow up some more and move away from martial arts into drama and check out Wong Kar Wai's work and Park Chan Wook's. I had the Japanese horror phase and dipped into that very heavily for a while. It was those films that ultimately fueled my passion for directing and whilst that's not a path I ended up going down in the end, I still hold those very close to my heart.

As a whole it made me a much more well-rounded person with a greater appreciation for foreign cultures and languages. I was as young as 6 or 7 when I was first introduced to Dragon Ball through Cartoon Network in the UK. I don't consider myself at all damaged but the behaviors I witnessed, nor did I ever wish the show I was watching was more western. I was not once influenced negatively by any of the actions I saw and the only thing I took away from it at that age was - 'this show is fantastic, huge fights, massive spectacle and some great characters'.

As a whole fanbase, I think you could quite easily disprove any theory of the show damaging someone who wasn't already damaged in the first place. Time and time again arguments against violent media come up and time and time again, it is thrown out of debates because 1) there is nothing to suggest the claims are true and 2) because half the time those claiming such a thing don't understand the piece of media in the first place.

But back to the more recent point about kids watching Dragon Ball with the original soundtrack and lines. That version of the show is objectively better - from the caliber of the voice acting, to the script writing and the music. Whether or not you see that as your preferred English version, they've created a western version of the show that is essentially timeless. In many years from now, I think it's safe to say those watching Kai for the first time since their childhood will not look back, like so many of us have, and cringe at the fundamentally flawed performances and cheesy lines but instead look to it as a show of consistent quality with little that would grate on adult ears.

[Ringworm128]

Considering most of us grew up when Nintendo was just becoming a huge powerhouse, and considering Japanese-imported video games are still extremely common, I fail to see how anyone makes the assumption that Japanese music will turn off kids. I spent my entire childhood listening to some awesome Japanese music: Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda anyone?

Yeah, I grew up knowing pretty much all the games I played came from Japan as well as shows I liked such as Yu Gi Oh and Pokemon. Heck Shiguru Miyamoto and Koji Kondo were pretty much my idols as a kid. When I first watched DBZ I loved the Kikuchi score and I had no problem switching to the Japanese version, even things like "san" and "chan" didn't bother me.

EDIT. Got my nephew to play some Burst Limit and then watch some Z Kai. He seemed to like it. I tried him on subs and he did pretty well keeping up considering his age but still had a bit of trouble so I switched back to the Funimation dub. Might try him on Z next.