Favourite Year as a Dragon Ball Fan?

[DragonBoxZTheMovies]

In terms of Dragon Ball, were there any years that really stood out to you?

My favourite years were:
- 2006: In 2006 Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z both returned to Cartoon Network (NZ) which pretty much revived my interest in the franchise. I started renting Dragon Ball Movies and purchasing the Budokai games as well as beginning to explore the Dragon Ball 'Community' online.
I think I'd kinda forgotten about the franchise when I was 6-8 years old, but I'm pretty sure I was still interested in it. I know for sure that I was a fan when I was 5 due to a questionnaire-type thing we had to do with the 10 year olds in which I responded to the question:
- What's your favourite TV show?
with Dragon Ball Z, because it has good episodes.
I always enjoyed reading over that since it makes me realize how long I've enjoyed this franchise.

2009: Holy crap, what a huge year. There was something new every day due to the 20th Anniversary of DBZ; from Dragon Ball Kai, to Raging Blast, to the Dragon Boxes, I started to become a well-informed Dragon Ball fan since I was constantly checking the Youtube channel WolfClawStudios (which now that I think about, probably got all of their information from Daizex). It was at this time that I was also becoming a frequent visitor at the MyFavouriteGames forums as well as beginning to collect Dragon Ball merchandise.

2010-Present: These years pretty much defined me as a fan. The new dub of Dragon Ball Z Kai began coming out- the first release that I would actually be able to keep up with. I was now a fan of the Japanese version, but most importantly, I joined the Daizex forums, started listening to the podcast and overall became the Dragon Ball fan I am today (cheesy, I know). Nearly everything I know has come from DaizenshuuEX and Kanzentai (both are now known as heaven, a.k.a Kanzenshuu).

[samuraix123]

In terms of Dragon Ball, were there any years that really stood out to you?

Probably when I first heard Funimation was releasing the Orange Bricks. I thought ''Wow this is going to be the first time I will be able to own the entire Z series uncut'' but then I learned of the cropping and the over saturation of colors.
But I don't think there has ever been a big moment for me. I've watched it sense I was a kid and every new movie/special that comes out I get real excited about it. but that's about it for me

[Raithos]

2011, when I bought Dragon box 1-7 in one fell swoop ^^, for 29.99 each too!

[dprez]

Probably when I first picked up the manga back in 2007. I had never seen the original anime, and had never read any of the manga prior. All the Dragon Ball I had under my belt was from the Toonami days...

It was great experiencing Dragon Ball in its purest form. I would make every volume read through like an event. Reading the manga helped make me aware of the anime filler for the first time, as well as the terrible dialogue of the FUNi dub. After completing the manga I vowed to watch the anime in Japanese all the way through. It gave me such a greater appreciation for the Dragon Ball world. When you read the manga, you understand it and you respect it more, for its realism, if that makes sense.

[OzzyApu]

2010 or 2011. Obviously I remember my 1998/1999-2002/2003 years as dub nostalgia, but I remembered how infuriating those years were to not find anything. I remember drawing my own DBZ inspired fights with friends and all that, and how I went to Pakistan and did the same thing to pass the time.

However, 2003-2010 I grew out of it and hated DBZ, until 2010 when Kai got me in a little bit before I took a break. 2011, though, was when I went all in, and got my sister back into it. Also watched Dragon Ball and all of the Japanese episodes. That and this year opened up a new plateau for me as a fan that wasn't there when I was a kid.

[Drabaz]

I believe it was 2004 when I had got a crap ton of money for a birthday or something. It was maybe around $1000. I told my parents I only got around $500 so I could spend a lot of it on whatever I wanted without them knowing how much I actually spent. That's when I found Ebay. In that year I bought all the DBZ DVD Singles that were released at that time. Which was almost all of them except the Gt. Saiyaman Saga and a few DVD's from the Cell Games Saga. Those darn DVD's were so expensive at the time.

[VegettoEX]

1996 was probably one of my favorite years, but I don't remember much . It started everything off for me, so it had to have been great...!

1999 was a very dark year. 2001 likely rivaled it. Memories purged. Reboot. Initialize sequence programming operations.

2003 was a super exciting year -- Daizenshuu EX re-launched (and with Julian in tow), Dragon Boxes were coming out, we were a year into the big revival in Japan (kanzenban, new video games, etc.).

Since then, I don't know that I could pick any particular year that I could exactly pinpoint and say, "Yes! This was the year that brought me the most smiles because of Dragon Ball...!" Lots of good times all around in there.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Hmm...I honestly dunno how I'd pick an early year, from back when I was watching the show on TV, since it was all so great getting to see the show originally. So I'll have to go with something a bit controversial probably - 2007. At least, I think that was the year the Season Sets started coming out, right?

Before everyone starts flinging things at me for bringing those back up, you've got to understand - my collection up to that point was like...3 DVDs, a crapload of official VHS, and a handful of taped-off-of-TV VHS tapes. Very unruly. And looking into the DVD singles at the time, it was going to be just as head-ache inducing to collect the show there as well, and then no guarantee of owning the entire franchise like I wanted to. But then came the Season Sets for Z, and as they trickled out, so came the Double Features for the movies, then GT sets, and shortly after that, sets for the original Dragon Ball.

Say what you will about the quality of them, just from the perspective of realistically being able to buy every single piece of the series? That was a godsend to me.

[Codarik]

2010, the English dub of Kai and Raging Blast 2. Also the year I joined this community. Great year.

[eledoremassis02]

1996 when I was introduced to the series
1999 when new episodes were coming out (seemed like out of the blue!). Surprised with a whole new cast/music,etc. Although the first in-house Funimation dub is quite funny now...it was refreshing, though a bit shocking, after seeing Saiyan and Namek sagas for the 1,000th time!!

[NitroEX]

Definitely 2001 or 2002 (can't remember exactly which) back when Dragonball Z was on Cartoon Network and I was rushing home to watch it everyday after school and talking about it with friends.

Second best would be around early 2005 when I moved country and discovered the Funimation DBZ movies. During that time I was also playing Budokai 3 constantly with friends. Both were very memorable years of my childhood.

[The Time Traveller]

2009, English Dragon Boxes, English Daizensuu #1, Dragon Ball Evolution, Dragon Ball Kai, and loads more, it was a great year to be a part of the community too.

[dbboxkaifan]

2009-2011 for the Dragon Boxes Z of FUNimation, because they're subbed.

Eh, 2010 to 2012 is all right because of the Dragon Ball Kai FUNimation Blu-rays but nothing fancy.

[Snail]

Don't exactly have a favourite year, but I suppose I'll give a quick overview of my fandom throughout the years.


1997 - Dragonball/Z had always been a staple in my household. My uncle who was in his 20s always had a couple of figures, trading cards, and old tapes lying around. Curious as I was, I had always wondered how these yellow spiky haired characters were at all related to the first thirteen episodes that were aired back in 95/96-ish.

1998 - A friend lent a tape of Movie 8 (Broly) to me. The tape included the cantonese dub, and the japanese dub. It was amazing. I remember telling the rest of my classmates/friends that they have no idea how much the series was going to evolve from the Saiyan saga and onwards.

Fall/Christmas of 2000 (or was it 99'?..) - The ocean cast was replaced by the current FUNi cast and had made it's way onto television. Flipping through the channels, I noticed that Dragonball Z was on. I ignored it, instantly assuming that it would have been yet another re-run of the first 52 episodes. With nothing else interesting on TV, I decided to flip over to YTV. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a new episode. There were new voices & music. It was so fresh, and very exciting. I was jumping around the couch like a maniac. Happy times.

2001 - 2003 - The remaining years in which my friends and cousins still gave a crap about discussing Dragonball in-universe issues Haha.

2003 - 2005 - Awesome video games (Budokai 1, 2, 3) saw their release. Funtimes lurking through Daizex.

2005 - 2009 - Went on a collecting frenzy; manga, dvds, figures, gashapons, posters, etc.



Present day - At 22, my fandom is nowhere near the height it once was. Currently, there is no urge to purchase anything else, other than the 7 Dragon Boxes. Also, I've refrained from viewing the remainder of the GT episodes I own due to some weird sense of superstition. Yes, you can call me crazy.

-Snail

[Jackal puFF]

2006 is the time I started to collect anything dragonball related like the movies! I still remember being so excited when those Broly movies came out.

[Insertclevername]

2002, 2003 an 2004 as that was when I was into the anime the most (childhood wise) and the release of the Budokai trilogy.

And I guess I can add 2005 and 2006 since those were my "manga years" and I fondly remember playing the Sparking! (1 and2) series with my friends. Even though the first sucked.....

[Son Satan]

Hmm... I've got a few.
1999-2004: When Dragon Ball Z aired on Toonami, followed by DB and GT. Seeing the moments of Z for the first time defined pretty much my whole life at that point (well, that, and which Pokemon Ash was battling that Saturday).

2006: I buy the Greatest Hits edition of Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3. After hearing the Japanese cast for the first time on the international channel and them still being a mystery to me for the most part, having only seen an episode on DVD, and watching scattered QuickTime and YouTube clips, I swapped the language. At first I'm weirded out by the differences, but after listening to how cool Nozawa's "KAMEHAME-HA!!" cry was, I stuck with it.

2007: I first used DaizEX for information on the movie steelbooks.

2008-2010: This is where my interest in the series came back gradually and then fleshed out here. In the American Shonen Jump, they had a blurb about the VizBigs. Remembering the series and how I never read it because it was too long, I began to pick these up. While online ordering a volume, I saw DVDs, considered buying them, and then Googled whether to get the singles or bricks. Ended up on Daizex, got neither. Watched the JSAT special, and then the Dragon Boxes released, which I bought up, Kai came on Nicktoons, and I joined the forum.

But like Mike, I agree that there's been many fun moments over the years too small or too numerous to recount.

[kidglov3s]

1999-2000: I become a fan of the DBZ dub, I discover fansubs, I watch episodes 1-18 and 113-291 either muted or in the original Japanese either via fansubs or the International Channel, I see episodes 1-42 of Dragon Ball via the Kidmark videos and fansubs, I see a bunch of the movies, I play the hell out of Legends and UB22, I lose interest in the franchise after how much I hate the ending of DBZ.

2010-2011: Dragon Boxes!

[Krycek7o2]

2007 - I bought all the (Japanese) Dragon Boxes. About 2.5k and totally worth it. Twas a fine 20Th birthday!

[Chuquita]

2000-2003 - The beginning of course; Toonami, "92 new episodes" was a mind-blowing statement at the time, Kanzenbans! Discovering and being surprised by the "new" Kanzenban ending by reading the book itself instead of learning about it online. Massive motivation equals huge output of story-writing and meeting lots of fellow writers and artists! Also videogames.

2004 - DeviantART! Finally a place to post my doodles.

2005-ish - Hello broadband non-phone internet connection; such wonderful speed!

2008 - Ossu! special; the even-though-it-stunk lam precursor discussions it was like a train-wreck so bad you couldn't look away. X3
Also TFS began this year!

2009 - Dragon Boxes!

2010 - DBO's reveal about Goku and Vegeta and the bittersweet, tragic end they bring about for themselves.


I think that's all the highlights I got, unless I'm forgetting something (it's possible). Aside from humorous Bardock shenanigans, nothing of interest to me DB-wise happened last year. 2012 is looking equally barren, if not more so as it seems like we won't get any new animation or information at all. I don't really care about new DB videogames anymore since they seem to be stuck in a rut right now. There are other anime and manga series that I follow that are doing stuff this year, but disappointingly DB doesn't look to be one of them.
I'd love Toei to prove me wrong though.