Do you agree that it's silly to hate something because it has a cringy and obsessive fandom?

[8000 Saiyan]

Yup, I have to agree.

Its a similar thing with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I've always, since the 80s, absolutely loved the original Mirage comics, and still have a genuine passion for them as a wonderful example of the immense creativity of the 80s indie comic scene... however that's largely where my interest in the franchise begins and ends (though the old Konami games are also mostly great). The entire rest of the franchise itself (all the movies, cartoons, etc), and moreover its fanbase (outside of some remaining diehard circles dedicated to the Mirage version) are so beyond ghastly and grotesque as to put me off from making any kind of public display of my fondness for the original comic.

I'm surprised you don't like the 2003 TMNT show since it's far closer to the Mirage comics than the 1987 TMNT show.

[Kunzait_83]

I'm surprised you don't like the 2003 TMNT show since it's far closer to the Mirage comics than the 1987 TMNT show.

Not... really? Its closer than the 80s cartoon by many miles, sure... but being closer to the mark than the 80s cartoon is NOT a particularly high bar to clear, and still leaves PLENTY of room for it to diverge into more than enough of its own nonsense (which it does, by a fairly great deal).

End of the day, you're never going to get storylines like City At War, Sons of the Silent Age, Souls Winter, Return to New York, and many other classic arcs from the comic adapted faithfully in a Saturday morning network cartoon aimed at 6 to 13 year olds, for the simple reason that those comic book issues weren't being written for 6 to 13 year olds, nor were they being written in service to a massive merchandising empire. All the more so especially with a franchise like TMNT which is now forever permanently tainted by the 80s cartoon as needing to ALWAYS be an all-ages property due to pop cultural expectations, as well not undercutting the whims of said-merchandising juggernaut.

The Mirage comic was an incredible bit of lightning-in-a-bottle spark of creativity that came about as a DIRECT result of the more "punk rock" spirit and nature of the underground comics market of the 1980s (and early 1990s). You're simply NEVER going to recapture that rough edge, unpredictable nature, and willingness to offend in something as sanded off and watered down as a cartoon for small children on regular television that exists primarily as a piece of corporate product to sell merchandise, toys, and other such junk to said-children.

I don't want the "happy meal" versions of these particular characters, or ANY other characters from within ANY other property for that matter.

[8000 Saiyan]

Just because something is for all-ages doesn't mean it's a bad thing, nor does it mean it can't be written well.

[precita]

The Mirage comics basically hit its high with City at War and was never really that good again afterward. Volume 2 is a real mixed bag, then after that Volume 4 is basically disliked by most of the Mirage fanbase due to its padding (and besides the fact that PL never finished it), and the second volume of Tales is hit or miss.

The original TMNT cartoon was a product of its time, but for what it's worth it's a very entertaining parody of superhero shows and most of the plots are based on silly 50's sci-fi and B movies. The show made fun of itself and many of the episodes are entertaining to watch for that reason. The 2k3 series was basically the "Batman: TAS" of TMNT cartoons, where it was a darker action driven cartoon, but of course was still on Saturday Mornings so it couldn't be on the level of the comics. Still the plots and action in the show are top notch, City at War was a disappointment in the cartoon, but the episodes and writing are almost on par with the later DC cartoons. Ninja Tribunal was a nice way to mix magic and mysticism with TMNT, and Fast Forward if you can deal with the lighter tone has some great sci-fi plots.

Most of the Nick cartoon was great too. It basically mixed humor and action like the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon (since it has the same director), and had a great sense of darkness. It's generally praised by most of the TMNT fandom.

Besides that the current IDW TMNT comics are up to issue #76 (and it has over 100 issues if you count all the specials/spinoffs), and mixes all the different TMNT universes together in one cohesive vision. It's also heavily praised by the TMNT fandom.

Have you been to thetechnodrome forums? It's basically the TMNT version of Kazenshuu. There's still plenty of Mirage fans there.

[8000 Saiyan]

Another thing that people often ignore about the 1987 TMNT cartoon is that the Red Sky seasons were far much darker than the other seasons.

[floofychan333]

I'll love Dragon Ball forever regardless of the fans that can be stupid at times (not everyone, but definitely a significant amount). However, if anyone else has been involved in the Homestuck fandom at any point in time, you'll know that cringy fans can very definitely ruin the experience for everybody. Homestuck's not really a great story anyway so the community is what makes it worth being involved in, but once you start following Homestuck accounts on social media, you'll be flooded by 24 posts every hour and cringy Tumblr trash weirdos on your Explore feed. And that's just scratching the surface of the cringe level. I was fortunate enough not to have had too much interaction with cringy fans but I've heard from old friends who were part of the fandom that the cringies were what drove them away. Dragon Ball has not, at the moment, fallen to that level, and I don't expect it to as long as we have a large number of vocally sane people.

[Jackalope89]

Just because something is for all-ages doesn't mean it's a bad thing, nor does it mean it can't be written well.

Very true. Avatar the Last Airbender was a brilliant series that had something for everyone. The sequel, Korra, had a lot more ups and downs (like season 2 being a repeat of season 1), but it was still really good.

Hey Arnold actually gave a lot of insight into social problems and other things, and did it in a way that even kids could understand (Stoop Kid was terrified to leave his stoop until Arnold helped him get over his phobia).

You never know when you'll find those diamonds.

[Robo4900]

However, if anyone else has been involved in the Homestuck fandom at any point in time, you'll know that cringy fans can very definitely ruin the experience for everybody. Homestuck's not really a great story anyway so the community is what makes it worth being involved in, but once you start following Homestuck accounts on social media, you'll be flooded by 24 posts every hour and cringy Tumblr trash weirdos on your Explore feed. And that's just scratching the surface of the cringe level. I was fortunate enough not to have had too much interaction with cringy fans but I've heard from old friends who were part of the fandom that the cringies were what drove them away.

I think Homestuck's story would be great if it wasn't for everything from the scratch up until act 7 being pointless filler. Though I suppose that's hardly a defense.
Anyway, I always found the Homestuck fandom basically entirely impenetrable, and yet I enjoyed reading it anyway(Although Problem Sleuth is better. ). I think the "Bad fandom = I don't want to see this" thing is silly because you don't have to interact with a fandom to enjoy something. Even if you must discuss everything you enjoy, there are often people in other, more reasonable fandoms you can talk to who are fans of the thing in question.

Dragon Ball has not, at the moment, fallen to that level, and I don't expect it to as long as we have a large number of vocally sane people.

If you know anything about the Japanese broadcast audio, you'll know that the Dragon Ball fandom can be downright nasty at times.
Thing is, the Dragon Ball fandom is very good at just rolling over, and doing nothing about a crappy situation. And any time someone pops up to try to do something about it, the overwhelming response is that the person is foolish for trying, and they should just stop. And more often than should be the case, this negative response turns nasty as well.
The Dragon Ball fandom isn't a bad fandom in general, but it can get pretty toxic under certain situations.

[Lord Beerus]

I've always seen my personal opinion on any give story or show, from any type of medium, to be the most important factor to how much I get personally involved in said story and show. Regardless of the type of following or fandom the show may have, as long as I'm interested in the show/story itself, nothing will stop me from enjoying me from hating it until my own rationale comes to the conclusion that the story has offended on a level to which I resent it.

[TheZFighter]

I think its perfectly understandable that somebody may hate something because of the way its fans behave. You'll associate that thing with negativity,

[Hellspawn28]

I do think it is silly to hate something because of the fandom. Sometimes a bad fandom can turn people off from it. I never seen Code Geass because of the crazy fanbase that it had when it was airing. I remember in High School back in 2006, I knew anime fans that would not shut up about it. Same goes with One Punch Man and Death Note, both are good series in my opinion but fans do over hype them way too much. I can see why some people won't want to check them out because of the annoying fandom.

[VegettoEX]

This has very little to do with Dragon Ball, if anything at all, and is a question best served by a community focused around a broader range of items.