A question of preference.

[Eire]

1. What was the first version of Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z you watched or read?

Polish overdub of the French version in early 2000s, simultaneously with Polish edition of the manga (very good, translated from Japanese)
2. Which version is your favourite?
Question like: you love more daddy or mammy?
Polish rips are my anime comfort food, Japanese have absolutely adorable high-pitched Goku, USA is a nice variation, Spanish help me to carry on my lessons. I love vaitey, so I'm glad that DB was made in time where dub was more like interpretation, than simple translation

3. Do you think what I've said holds any truth? Would you agree that your first exposure heavily influences your preferences? Not just for Dragon Ball but for all franchises?

Have you ever been on forum based on developed franchrise? Even if you accept the fact that Han Shot First is a canon, the first exposition will always be dear to you, the dearer the strongest emotions it brought at first. Maybe Old Star Wars are superior in everything to new ones, but it was The Phantom Meance watched from the operator room in cinema that made my frist truancy and no remastered Old Trilogy will ever bring that memories.

[TripleRach]

1. What was the first version of Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z you watched or read?

Technically, the first version I saw was FUNimation's dub with the Ocean cast. But I didn't watch the show regularly until a few years later, when they'd switched to the in-house Texas cast.

2. Which version is your favourite?

The Japanese manga. Original 42 tankoubon, specifically. It's the only version of the manga I own, and the only version I've read completely. I love Toriyama's art and writing styles, and it's overall a much more coherent and consistent story than the anime.

For the anime, I also enjoy the 80s/90s anime with the original Japanese cast. For any flaws with filler or alterations, the production values and overall quality still trump Kai by far, never mind the English dub(s). I do tend to be a purist about these things, but I've seen enough of each of the aforementioned versions that I can say my preference is also objective.

3. Do you think what I've said holds any truth? Would you agree that your first exposure heavily influences your preferences? Not just for Dragon Ball but for all franchises?

I believe nostalgia is a strong feeling, and I assume that a lot of people are close-minded about these things due to that nostalgia or even environmental factors. But I also believe that anyone can change their mind if they're willing to leave their bubble and truly experience something new. A couple of Youtube clips is not a proper experience, though.

There are plenty of things from my own childhood that I now recognize as terrible, and in some cases I still get a kick out of them despite that. But I couldn't honestly tell another adult or even teenager that these things are genuinely good.

[Super Gazellian]

First of all, allow me to apologise for such a late reply - I had actually written out a reply on either the same night or the night after I created the topic but my internet connection messed up and I lost everything that I'd written, I didn't feel like writing it all out again and I haven't been back here properly until now. It's so annoying 'cuz I had quotes in here and everything haha

But the gist of what I was saying is that I probably should give the other versions more of a chance, and thanks to encouragement here, I will It's been really fun to see so many differing opinions, and I'm glad to see that I wasn't right, I'd hate to think the capability to enjoy something would be by definition: 'Whatever you saw first'. Though I'm also glad there are some people who don't think I'm talking complete nonsense

I do have to explain myself with some things though, for instance the specials in Japanese, I'll watch them happily It's not that I don't like the Japanese version, I just prefer the Funi dub. However, I would agree that this is probably down to sentimental attachment from my childhood, other versions just don't feel right. But then I contradict myself by preferring the Japanese score on the orange bricks though I did like me some Funi score back in the day (Cell's theme anyone?)

I don't know whether anyone's still interested in this topic, but I'm happy with the response I got and I'll take everything on board. I honestly don't think I will prefer the Japanese version, 'coz although I love my vizbig I still prefer my orange brick, but I'll give it a go with an open mind and hopefully tap into more of that emotional depth you guys say the voice actors have, I'm actually kind of excited