Would you have ended the franchise ?

[Anime Kitten]

It is skipping. Reading a wikia page or cliffnotes isn't reading or watching the story. You lose a lot. You also lose a lot of the flavor when you watch the dub, especially a bad dub.

1. I don't know what to tell you. I'm not missing out IMO.
2. Not everyone says FUNimation is a bad dub. I like it, a lot better than Japanese. Of course I have to watch Super in Japanese...
To summarize, I'll stick to Z and onward. Now I'd like this topic to get back to the... you know... TOPIC.

[MetaMoss]

I don't know what to tell you. I'm not missing out IMO.

You are missing out, and it's a real shame that the English-speaking fandom didn't get introduced to classic Dragon Ball before DBZ. Most of Goku's character development happens before Raditz shows up, you miss Piccolo's introduction as a cold-blooded villain (same goes with Tenshinhan), and the reasons for many characters even showing up in Z is outlined in DB (Bulma, Yamcha, Puar, Yajirobe, and Karin all come to mind). At the very least, watch/read the Piccolo Daimao and 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arcs. Those two are very similar in tone and have about the same level of action as early DBZ.

[ABED]

It is skipping. Reading a wikia page or cliffnotes isn't reading or watching the story. You lose a lot. You also lose a lot of the flavor when you watch the dub, especially a bad dub.

1. I don't know what to tell you. I'm not missing out IMO.
2. Not everyone says FUNimation is a bad dub. I like it, a lot better than Japanese. Of course I have to watch Super in Japanese...
To summarize, I'll stick to Z and onward. Now I'd like this topic to get back to the... you know... TOPIC.

I don't get what the issue is. Why wouldn't you want to watch the show? It's the same show. You are starting on season 4 when season 1-3 are easy to find.

Now I'll bring this back on topic. If you watch Dragon Ball, you might very well see why I think the end of Dragon Ball would be a great place to end the series.

[Saikyo no Senshi]

Anime Kitten i have a question for you if DBZ episode 1 was DB episode 154 would you still skip the 153 episodes? Would you? Just one letter Z and suddenly everything that came before it becomes unimportant. You can still do whatever you want but you are missing half the story.

I don't want to derail this thread so i will keep it short and simple FUNI's Dragon Ball is an insult to Toriyama's work. I am not saying you shouldn't watch it but you should know how bad it is.

- Travis

[Nejishiki]

Oh, and a little note before you probably continue your futile attempts: FUNIMATION DUB IS #1. I'm sure I'll regret saying that.

Well, I did get a bit of a heart attack from reading that, ahaha. Plenty of the members have already recommended the original version with reasons for you, which these forums are based on, so I won't go over that and I'll instead answer your other question. The least censored version of the Viz Dragon Ball manga are the original 42 volumes or you can settle for the cheaper 3-in-1 VizBigs. Minor note, but Viz changed the numbering of the releases so Volumes 1-16 are Dragon Ball and 1-26 are Dragon Ball Z as far as North America is concerned.

[ABED]

Oh, and a little note before you probably continue your futile attempts: FUNIMATION DUB IS #1. I'm sure I'll regret saying that.

Well, I did get a bit of a heart attack from reading that, ahaha. Plenty of the members have already recommended the original version with reasons for you, which these forums are based on, so I won't go over that and I'll instead answer your other question. The least censored version of the Viz Dragon Ball manga are the original 42 volumes or you can settle for the cheaper 3-in-1 VizBigs. Minor note, but Viz changed the numbering of the releases so Volumes 1-16 are Dragon Ball and 1-26 are Dragon Ball Z as far as North America is concerned.

When I read people claiming the dub is superior, my reaction is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79oXaClf-uc

[Anime Kitten]

Anime Kitten i have a question for you if DBZ episode 1 was DB episode 154 would you still skip the 153 episodes? Would you? Just one letter Z and suddenly everything that came before it becomes unimportant. You can still do whatever you want but you are missing half the story.

I'm not sure. I doubt it though, unless the maturity suddenly decreased at 154. If it stayed the same I'm not sure what would happen...

And about the FUNimation dub, if it weren't for their dub, or any dub for that matter, we might not even know about Dragon Ball.

I don't necessarily recommend "skipping" the original anime, I just don't have any personal interest to watch it. At least yet. Maybe when I get to 14 1/2 or 15 I'll think about it more.

[ABED]

And about the FUNimation dub, if it weren't for their dub, or any dub for that matter, we might not even know about Dragon Ball.

Sure, but that says nothing about its quality. It merely implies that the show would be less visible since American TV channels don't generally broadcast shows with subtitles.

[Bansho64]

I don't think age really has anything to do with seeing the whole series. I'm 14 and I've seen almost everything except some of GT and the OVAs. I think it's a matter of ones personal preference. That being said, that doesn't make me or anyone else better than the other. We're all equal as friends and fans of the franchise

[Anime Kitten]

Well, I do really appreciate the suggestions, but like I said, I'll just wait until I'm a little older to consider it. I haven't watched one TV-14 show to date, but maybe soon. We'll see...

[sintzu]

If DBZ episode 1 was DB episode 154 would you still skip the 153 episodes? Would you? Just one letter Z and suddenly everything that came before it becomes unimportant.

It would be very interesting to know how the franchise would've been handled if DB went from 153 to 154 and finally up to 444 or even 508.

[Kuririn Fan]

Herms nailed in one of his tweets, when he listed the story arcs in a funny way: first arc - what casuals think all DB is like.

[Bansho64]

Herms nailed in one of his tweets, when he listed the story arcs in a funny way: first arc - what casuals think all DB is like.

I'm getting more and more curious by the day of what you particularly think a "casual" is. You're a little condescending about it.

[Kuririn Fan]

Herms nailed in one of his tweets, when he listed the story arcs in a funny way: first arc - what casuals think all DB is like.

I'm getting more and more curious by the day of what you particularly think a "casual" is. You're a little condescending about it.

What do you call a fan that hasn't seen 37% of the story he's fan of, then?
Casual isn't some derogatory term.

[sintzu]

I'm getting more and more curious by the day of what you particularly think a "casual" is. You're a little condescending about it.

Someone who isn't invested in the series, someone who only watched the popular part of it and walked away afterwards.

A hardcore fan on the other hand is someone who's read the manga, watched the whole or most of the anime, knows about it's production and what goes on behind the scenes, is on a forum talking about it with others, buys it's merchandise,ect.

[ABED]

Casual fans don't go onto forums of a show to discuss it if they are casual fans. Even if someone saw every episode, they could still be considered a casual fan if they just saw it once on the initial broadcast and that's it.

[Kuririn Fan]

Casual fans don't go onto forums of a show to discuss it if they are casual fans. Even if someone saw every episode, they could still be considered a casual fan if they just saw it once on the initial broadcast and that's it.

Then i guess there is another name for a fan who hasn't seen 37% of the story he's fan of. I'm sorry if "casual" offended anyone.

[Bansho64]

Then i guess there is another name for a fan who hasn't seen 37% of the story he's fan of. I'm sorry if "casual" offended anyone.

Nah, my apologies man. I took what you said too seriously when it wasn't even meant to antagonize anyone.

[Anime Kitten]

37%

I like that you keep saying that.

[Kuririn Fan]

37%

I like that you keep saying that.

Because it's true, it's 37% of Toriyama's story. Future Trunks is with some random girl called Mai, right?