How Would You Describe Your Overall Experience of This Site

General discussion about Kanzenshuu, its content, features, contests, community, etc. This is NOT an off-topic forum!

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BeaBumby
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How Would You Describe Your Overall Experience of This Site

Post by BeaBumby » Tue Nov 16, 2021 11:27 pm

Don't need to elaborate much further. Just express your opinions and your experiences of this site, what makes ya stay?
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Soppa Saia People
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Re: How Would You Describe Your Overall Experience of This Site

Post by Soppa Saia People » Tue Nov 16, 2021 11:52 pm

i've been here since i was 12 years old, and outside of a 2 year long depressive episode in which i couldn't do anything much less check a dragon ball forum, i've basically checked the site everyday since then. it's habit but i also do like it here, it's nice to talk about dragon ball with people who mainly know their stuff.
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Re: How Would You Describe Your Overall Experience of This Site

Post by Chuquita » Wed Nov 17, 2021 12:11 am

I mostly lurk nowadays (haven't lost interest in db itself, there just aren't any current official db projects I'm excited to theorize about), but this site's been a part of my life for a long time. The forum format with the ability to write longer posts and easily search both your own posts and general searches is one I'm grateful still exists here. This place was so much fun during weekly Super and the previous movie lead-ups. I'm kind of hoping this year's Jump Festa dbs panel can capture some of that feeling.
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VegettoEX
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Re: How Would You Describe Your Overall Experience of This Site

Post by VegettoEX » Wed Nov 17, 2021 12:39 pm

I'm in a pretty unique position to answer this, and I rarely take the time to do so, but I would love to share just a few tidbits.

Kanzenshuu means the world to me. It's the logical, natural, and over-burdening extension of something I whipped together as a links page in 1998 when I was 16 years old. I've had this website with me longer than most things in life!

It's not my job; it's something I've built with a very small group of friends that keeps me sane (followed by periods of insanity!), happy (followed by periods of frustration!), and busy. The couple dudes I built this site with are legitimately among my best friends, even when we're sometimes literally half a world away. I know I can and do rely on them not just for website stuff, but for major life events. It's wild to me that I've managed to find a couple dudes who are as committed to the same asinine level of scrutiny and accuracy as me while also sharing the same general worldviews and sense of humor about the absolute absurdity of everything we do.

I love that what we've built allows me to do whatever I want. If I want to do hours of research and write up a multi-section guide, I can do that. If I want to review something, I can do that. If I want to cover news, I can do that. If I want to spontaneously write an article about nothing, I can do that. If I want to just tweet out some things, I can do that. If I want to scan old (or recent!) magazine articles/interviews to have translated, I can do that. If I want to come on the forum and just answer some questions, I can do that. All of it is meaningful work, I have no deadline for any of it, and the variety of stuff I do with this franchise is almost certainly what keeps me engaged and interested year after year.

Particularly with the forum, I've seen it all. People come and go, usually in the span of every two years. It's normal not to stick around; it's actually an anomaly for someone to be here for decades! I think it's OK and healthy for folks to not be lifers, and I certainly don't take it personally when people look back at the time they had and decide to move on. It's a constantly rotating group of people of all ages and all walks of life, and in that respect it's always funny to me to see who thinks they have an idea for the first time, a complaint for the first time, an observation for the first time, etc. I love seeing people blame Kanzenshuu and/or its forum members for some perceived hivemind viewpoint that doesn't actually exist, but is instead just some random vocal loudmouth going around saying the usual wave of things every couple years ("Cell arc sucks! No, Boo arc sucks! It's those Kaizeshuu people pushing that agenda!"). I do actually love all that, because without new blood it would just be completely stagnant. And that's a major contradiction, because there's a legitimate point in noting that the same topics are always being discussed for decades on end, only by a new group of people every two years. I dunno; I think that just contributes to the magic and timelessness of this franchise we love so much.

Kanzenshuu is among a dwindling group of entities out there. We're a hobby website; there's no corporate ownership and we don't answer to anyone. We're... uhh, a full traditional website; not just a social media account, not just a wiki, not just a forum, not just a podcast. And speaking of, we actually have a traditional forum. We believe in text above all other forms of content. We believe in tough conversations, but we also believe in camaraderie and community. Facts are real, and at the same time, not everything is actually important or meaningful.

I love that my life can be this strange journey of revolving around my work on Kanzenshuu, or being something to just poke at, or being something to ignore entirely while relying on the skills of my friends. Every time I think I've gotten everything there is to get out of this fandom and this site, I miraculously meet new people that expand my horizons -- the wiki editor group is the latest posse that I can't imagine going a day without talking to.

There's not much like us. That's probably extremely off-putting to a lot of people these days, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
:: [| Mike "VegettoEX" LaBrie |] ::
:: [| Kanzenshuu - Co-Founder/Administrator, Podcast Host, News Manager (note: our "job" titles are arbitrary and meaningless) |] ::
:: [| Website: January 1998 |] :: [| Podcast: November 2005 |] :: [| Fusion: April 2012 |] :: [| Wiki: 20XX |] ::

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Koitsukai
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Re: How Would You Describe Your Overall Experience of This Site

Post by Koitsukai » Wed Nov 17, 2021 1:16 pm

I've been here for almost 4 years now, it's been great and fun, a nice company for the working hours and for the off hours too. There's always news about the manga, the anime when it was airing, videogames, fan work... it even has some nice socio-political discussions, and the level of respect is something to enjoy.

There are a few bad apples every now and then but they are weeded out soon enough. It's a really nice enviroment.

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Re: How Would You Describe Your Overall Experience of This Site

Post by JulieYBM » Wed Nov 17, 2021 2:05 pm

I've been here since I was a fifteen year old girl and if there's one thing I've learned it's that perspective changes with age. The older you get the less time and energy you have and that means cutting down on caring about the things you arbitrarily 'can't do' and focusing more on the things you feel like doing. Marie Kondo's philosophy is so smart. I think that's the reality of fandom for older fans like us. I've been doing the online fangirl thing since 1998 and while I don't remember 98% of my life I like to think I've remembered many of the lessons I've learned over the years. Well, maybe not. I still make mistakes I don't know how I haven't learned better from but alas.

Anyway, Kanzenshuu is one of the few forums I still visit. I've come to find that I don't want to treat my fandom like a competition. I like having a lot of wiggle room but at the same time real life factors do inevitably affect the things we like. I've been a big fan of media analysis for the last five or six years but to my disappointment a lot of younger and conservative fans don't like to be reminded of life outside of fandom. That disappoints me and makes community interaction very exhausting.

Shit talk Twitter all you want but at the very least I can talk my fandoms with people who are passionate but not detached from reality. A little echo chamber ain't so bad when the vibes are right and inclusive.

Kanzenshuu was a lot of fun when I was younger. I've made a lot of friends from here and even met some of them in real life! Kendamu, Castor Troy, sailorspazz and DemonRin! It was definitely worth meeting so many lovely people! I wish the trials of growing older, losing health and suffering under capitalism made it easier to visit my friends IRL. Dragon Ball fans are so cool in real life! I remember having a really nice and long conversation with sailorspazz at Sakura Con 2019! It was so nice being able to have a high-level discussion in real life!

Kanzenshuu also in-directly played a part in me hatching! That's a long story, though. 😆
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Demon Prince Piccolo
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Re: How Would You Describe Your Overall Experience of This Site

Post by Demon Prince Piccolo » Wed Nov 17, 2021 3:17 pm

I used to check the site sporadically long before becoming a member, and I've only been a member for just over a year (a year during which I didn't check the site for long periods of time, until recent months). There's been the occasional misunderstanding or heated conversation I've witnessed or been a part of, but on the whole I've had positive experiences here reading thru posts and talking Dragon Ball. I was 27 when I joined and am 28 now, and honestly I'm glad I wasn't a member here as a teen or even in my earlier 20s. I used to get much more emotionally invested in fandom to an unhealthy degree, so I'm not sure I'd have done as well handling any disagreement that came up. Obviously, I enjoy being able to share my love for Dragon Ball with others and seeing their perspective as well, but it's more of an occasional hobby and not so much a lifeline these days.

I like that members here generally have some knowledge on the franchise at large, or at least the curiosity to know more. On the actual site, I love all the research guides and information available. Despite beng a Dragon Ball fan for exactly 20 years, there's so much about the history of the franchise I still don't know, and that honestly makes it feel fresh and rewarding still being a fan. Heck, I only just read the manga for the first time in its entirety last year, and am currently on the King Piccolo saga subbed in the anime for the first time. I watched all of GT last year for the first time. I'm exploring the franchise more thoroughly than I had the opportunity to as a kid.

I like how people here also generally try to keep things respectful, and while in other corners of the web some people will say this site is pretentious due to its focus on the original Japanese version, my experience has shown quite the contrary. There's very little if any dub vs sub/dub vs dub in-fighting here. I'm a part of many different fandoms, but aside from a small, chill Facebook group I'm in that can cover anything, this is the only forum I participate in. I used to be very active talking Star Wars online, but pretty much abandoned it once Last Jedi came out, as there was a lot of unproductive, un-fruitful conversation happening on either end and it just wasn't fun to talk about, which defeats the purpose. Thankfully, even with relatively mixed-reception products like GT and Super, here they can be discussed without it devolving into nonsense. I know there are exceptions, but those people usually end up showing themselves the door in the end. The main point of all of this is this: overall I still have fun reading about and discussing Dragon Ball here. :)
The story of DRAGON BALL starts from the moment Goku met Bulma. I don't really mind the Z, so long as it's understood that it's not the true beginning of the story.

I actually prefer the Goku vs Tenshinhan and Goku vs Piccolo Jr. rivalries to the Goku vs Vegeta rivalry.

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Yuji
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Re: How Would You Describe Your Overall Experience of This Site

Post by Yuji » Wed Nov 17, 2021 3:51 pm

After lurking for over 10 years, ambivalent to say the least, especially in recent years.

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BeaBumby
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Re: How Would You Describe Your Overall Experience of This Site

Post by BeaBumby » Wed Nov 17, 2021 6:58 pm

Yuji wrote: Wed Nov 17, 2021 3:51 pm After lurking for over 10 years, ambivalent to say the least, especially in recent years.
somethin wrong?
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