No. I've never heard someone say that. That's because the 4Kids dub of One Piece is so notoriously bad that no one unironically likes it or reveres it to the same degree as the original. The amount of cut content, censorship, dialogue changes, & other things that caused serious plot holes & made it a mockery to the point where it even damaged 4Kids' already spotty reputation for dubbing anime saw to that. The 4Kids dub of One Piece was also meant to be the official way people in the English speaking world absorbed the anime's content because Toei gave it to them to specifically get it out on TV rather than give it to a company who could actually produce a good, faithful dub because they really wanted to increase One Piece's popularity outside of Japan & didn't care who they got to do it. Toei approved everything 4Kids did to get the show on TV.Jiren The Alpha wrote: Tue Aug 29, 2023 5:53 pm Have you ever heard someone say, "I can only watch One Piece if it's the 4kids version," or "4kids One Piece is better then the original." 4kids had no lasting impact on how the show is now unlike DBZA that is still to this day being compared to the original show like it was a legitimate alternative dub.
DBZA is a fan project produced outside of Toei's control. It was done by a group of fans who recut & parodied the original material with their own scripts, voice acting, & editing. It is meant to be viewed separately from the original material rather than as a replacement for it. The reason some people do that is because of the quality of the voice acting & the scripts for it. TFS don't claim it to be a dub & view it as the parody they intended it to be. As for how certain people view Abridged, this is a very loud vocal minority. Most people who watch DBZA acknowledge it as a parody. Personally, I believe TFS did some things better than it was originally, like how Cell's backstory was revealed slowly over time rather than right when he shows up & the constant lampshading of the stupider things that happen. However, there are moments that I think they overplayed it, like Gohan's character arc that they didn't even finish, or the end of Cell & the unneeded added aesop that they tacked on to it about pacifism that made no sense for Gohan's characterization. IMO, despite its problems, DBZA is still a fun watch & I still like it.
However, what are its long-lasting effects on the franchise? Outside of those who wrongly see it as a legit alternative dub, nothing they've done has had that much of an impact on the official materials. I compare Goku from Super to the one from DBZA, but that's just because they're flanderized in very similar ways, only for DBZA it's consistent with the rest of the show whereas Super, it's because the writers had no idea how to write Goku correctly outside of battle most of the time. However, it really has never had a significant impact on it outside of more people joking or criticizing the original material more, which was happening anyways as the fandom grew over time & even now, we see more fans feeling free to go against popular opinions like Mistare Fusion. TFS was just coming about as the fandom was reforming itself & more people were coming into it, so they had more of a reach because of it. However, Toei has largely ignored them because they hate them. What I think you're meaning is TFS' effect on the fandom rather than the franchise itself. Your complaint is with a vocal minority of fans who think these things as opposed to the franchise itself.
I mean, I can see people getting into the franchise because of TFS, but I think people give them a bit too much credit with the continued popularity of the franchise. When I heard Totally Not Mark say that TFS were responsible for keeping DB popular when it was off the air & no new material was being produced, I think that's hyper fanboyism & a romanticization of the time. TFS started DBZA in mid-2008. Almost a year later, Toei begins airing DBZ Kai, which FUNimation dubbed a year after that & those continued for 2 years. In 2013, Battle of Gods came out in Japan & a year later in the US. 2015, Res F came out. Later that year, Super & Kai: TFC when the English dub started airing. In 2018/19, Super Broly. If anything, their popularity was boosted by the new entries into the franchise & they capitalized on them at times.Fizzer wrote: Tue Aug 29, 2023 8:13 pm I actually think DBZA was fantastic for Dragon Ball and fed into its continued popularity quite a lot. Yeah, some people have bad opinions because they took it too seriously, but that's not damage. A lot of people came back into the franchise - or into it in the first place - because of TFS. DBZA definitely grew my love of the world and characters of Dragon Ball with it's refreshing alternative take, even if I was a big fan before that.
I'd love, love, love for them to announce Season 4 at the end of the commentary, but I don't think they will. I don't think they want to, and they should only do it if their hearts are in it. I think they'd be more likely to remake season 1, but that's not likely either. They're focusing on original content now.
