What era of DB were you exposed to?

[mecha3000]

Was it the old subs of the 90s, the early Toonami days, the 2005 uncut era, Kai on Nicktoons, or Super currently airing on Toonami? And if so, what video games did you grow up with during your first exposures to Dragon Ball? For example, if you grew up during the Toonami days - You were more likely to play the PS1/PS2 games. If you grew up during the Ultimate Uncut days, more likely just the PS2 games. Or if it was Kai on Nicktoons, it would be possibly the PS3 era of DB games. Then, if you just recently got into it - I imagine the PS4 games are what you are playing.

I'm just curious. I was introduced to DBZ when I was eight years old so I played the PS2 games and watched some of the Ultimate Uncut Edition on Toonami at 10:30pm every day until it eventually reached Goku going Super Saiyan for the first time (my most vivid memory of a first time reaction to Super Saiyan Goku outside of Budokai 1). I imagine a kid who grew up with the Nicktoons' Kai would probably play the PS3 games, but I just want to be sure.

So yeah, thoughts? Like, what did DB mean to you back then and what fond memories do you have of that period? I remember getting A Hero's Legacy and Fusion Reborn DVD's back in '06 for my birthday and somehow being able to watch it in front of my family (If you've seen both movies and come from a religious family, you'll know why this means so much). Playing Budokai 3 was also pretty cool.

[Bullza]

I remember watching a few episodes from when Goku became a Super Saiyan up to the episode before Frieza was chopped in half on TV when it originally aired which might be 1998 or 1999.

Then I just stopped watching altogether until 2007 when these anime streaming sites came around and that was how I got into it. I'd watched Pokémon on YouTube in 2006 for nostalgia and after that I wanted to watch another popular anime and the only one I knew was Dragon Ball Z and that was it.

[TheGreatness25]

I saw Dragon Ball Z on a weekend morning before it landed on Toonami. This might have been in 1996. At that point, life was simple in my household and all I had was a Sega Genesis.

[Gyt Kaliba]

I remember watching a few episodes from when Goku became a Super Saiyan up to the episode before Frieza was chopped in half on TV when it originally aired which might be 1998 or 1999.

Same for me more or less, though I think the timeframe for me would be re-runs in...2000, most likely? All I know is that the first stuff I really remember seeing and getting into was Goku going Super Saiyan for the first time (or rather already being Super Saiyan, given the way the episodes played that out) and beating up Freeza. It was during a time when we were getting two episodes a day in reruns though, to lead up to the premiere of new episodes fairly soon after. Prior to that though, I know I'd seen at least a few episodes here or there but mostly it was stuff that didn't grab me...like the infamous 'Bulma and the crab' filler.

As for what games I was playing as a result, I'm fairly sure the first one I ever actually played was Budokai for the PS2, but I didn't get to own it (or even a PS2) for a little bit after that, so the first one I ever actually owned and played was Ultimate Battle 22 when it got a re-release on PS. After that though, I got a GBA and basically kept getting every game (except for Supersonic Warriors somehow or another) that came out for the handheld systems by then, and did basically the same for the PS2 era too. I didn't actually manage to get a PS3 or a PS4 until a few years ago, so there's sadly almost an entire generation of games I more or less missed out on there that I need to get eventually. Same for the DS and onward era to a degree.

[Polyphase Avatron]

Late 90s Toonami.

[ABED]

I heard of DB and even saw bits and pieces when I lived in Japan in the early 90s, but didn't really begin watching it until syndication in 96.

[Lord Beerus]

Here in the UK, I recall watching DBZ on Cartoon Network in 2000.

[Dbzfan94]

Toonami era. I caught bits and pieces of the Freeza and Cell Saga throughout 2000-2001 but really started watching consistently at the Buu Saga in 2002-2003.

Earliest i recall was seeing Freeza transforming into 3rd form, and Cell absorbing the man in his first appearance.

[KBABZ]

My first exposure was when Dragon Ball Z aired in NZ around about the turn of the millennium, which is when it would air every weekday after school alongside shows like Pokémon, Digimon and Shinzo. For whatever reason I watched it on and off all the way through, but it never truly caught my attention and I barely remembered any of it. I can only recall fleeting significant moments, like Frieza getting cut in half or Vegetto being formed. For context, I would have been about twelve at the time, 2002 I think.

What TRULY caught my attention was Funimation's dub of the original Dragon Ball at around about the same time period. Somehow I had managed to stumble onto it right when it started airing the first arc, and it would be one episode every Saturday night at around 8:00pm on Cartoon Network, followed up by Cardcaptor Sakura which I also quite liked. Since this was around about dinner time, I have rather fond memories of watching the show with my little sister while we ate oven pizza (which was the Saturday dinner meal). We saw Goku defeat Pilaf, compete in the 21st Tournament, conquer Muscle Tower, escape the pirate cave, defeat Mercenary Tao and battle Tien. There were periods where filler drove us away for a bit, namely the Colonel Silver stuff, the excruciating Muscle Tower (we joined back in when the gang had just entered the pirate cave) and the Solo Training arc.

What captivated DB for me over DBZ is that DB has a greater focus on character, adventure and just having a good time, while Z tended to have a story that was more about the fighting and the drama, which didn't appeal to me back when I was 12. The cruel part is that, one Saturday, the show was no longer in its normal timeslot, and it was either moved to one we couldn't find or pulled altogether. And it happened at one of the worst possible times: the last episode we saw was the finale to the 22nd Tournament, aka I never found out why Krillin died. I'd only find it out after having binge-watched Kai fifteen years later and specifically searching out the Piccolo episodes, which is where I finally got to see them. It blew my mind that Dragon Ball got to fights that arguably top a fair amount of Z encounters.

As for the video games, for me they were literally non-existent in my life. I'm not a fighting game guy and I wasn't even aware that OG DB got video games until well after Revenge of King Piccolo (and none of them have gameplay that appeals to me). What I saw of titles like Budokai and Raging Blast were titles that valued roster counts above all else, and don't really put a lot of passion into the visuals, especially after the PS2 era where a bunch of needless effects were applied (Xenoverse to me is a special kind of ugly). To me they kinda stink of PS3 EA Sports titles in their methodology, games that confuse mass for depth and numbers for features. The visual style of FighterZ makes it the first DB video game to ever catch my eye, and just on that alone the game shows far more passion and enthusiasm over the show and manga, and adds an enormous amount of appeal to it.

Since I feel it's appropriate, I didn't come to own or read the manga until I started my DB Kai: The First Chapters project a year ago. I bought them digitally to help with doing side-by-side comparisons to the anime and remove filler, so I only own up to the 23rd Tournament. I have however bought all of the English Full Color editions of the Saiyan and Frieza arcs. With fantastic colouring and being printed in the original Shonen Jump dimensions, for me they're the ultimate way to read the manga, and from a lineart perspective are far superior to the anime.

[jamiljamtheman]

Exposed? Late 2000's, when I was around middle school - I remember the PS2 3D fighters and wondering why the forms went from long blonde hair to longer blonde hair to red and black, lol

I also remember explicitly avoiding it because my reasoning was "this show where people scream all day CAN'T be better than yugioh, yugioh is the best" (I was in middle school ok)

I finally dove in about 4-5 years later as a senior in high school, just before and around the time Battle of Gods was coming out in Japan

[nickzambuto]

This is something that I think about sometimes, because I don't actually know. I know for a fact that I was watching DBZ on Toonami, but I was born in 1998. Was DBZ still on Toonami by 2004-2005? Or am I a lot younger in these memories than I think I am?

[Luso Saiyan]

When the anime started airing in Portugal, back in '95/'96.

[sintzu]

I got into DB through the first Tenkaichi game on Ps2 back in 2005. There was something that really stood out about the game when I first saw it and I was instintly hooked and wanted to know everything about it. After that I got the first 3 Budokai Games before buying the new ones as they came out apart from BOZ and UT.

I first got into the anime soon after with the original Japanees version of Z and it's still to this day one of my best entertainment experinces. After that I saw the original DB also in Japanees then finally Funimation's GT that skipped the first arc which I think played a major role in me not hating it like most did.

[Doctor.]

I caught a few episodes of the Boo arc on TV back when I was in 5th or 6th grade but I'd always switch the channel and wouldn't get interested in the series until about 10th grade when I started playing the Shin Budokai series. So, only 5 or 6 years ago.

[The gr]

Around in 2005 i was introduced to DBZ & DB via spanish DUB.

[Soppa Saia People]

2011/2012 when I was looking to get into more tv, I heard about DB and watched the first arc for a bit, skipped to the Saiyan arc, got out of it for bit, and then bought the manga on my kindle. Damn that was 7 years ago, lol.

[Jackalope89]

Toonami era/multiple dub era when it was floating around on several channels.

Yes, I remember this;

[Hyena_Yamcha]

in 2006 i started watching it in Spanish

actually the Budokai games got me interested in the show .

[emi_b7]

I started with the Latinamerican dub of DB in the late 90's, not sure the exact year (96 or 97 would be my guess).

As far as games, I played Dragon Ball Z: Buyū Retsuden for the Sega Genesis quite a lot. I vaguely remember playing a similar game for the NES, one that had Zangya as playable characters, I think it was actually a pirate version of a SNES game or something like that, but I may have played that only once or twice.

[PacificOceanDub]

I remember watching DBZ for the first time the day my sister was born, it was July 1999. Went home with my Grandma that night, so my Mom could rest. Anyways Grandma put the TV on Cartoon Network so I could watch it while I fell asleep and Toonami's Mignight Run was on. The episode I saw was definitely the Namek Saga, I remember the green skies and thinking that the show had a really cool look. After that, I watched the Frieza, Garlic Jr and Android/Cell arcs in bits and pieces and then really started to watch it religiously in 2002 or so, when the Great Saiyaman Saga was airing.