Forum - View topicJason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Dragon Ball
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4447 |
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That one still bugs me years after seeing it. Although I'm not sure if it's the fact that Gohan could have defeated Buu and for some reason didn't bother to, or if it's the complete 180 that Toriyama pulled with it. Goku forfeited against Cell so Gohan could surpass him and save the world, and then the story goes back to Goku saving the world from Buu. That said, I really enjoyed this article because it hit on many of the reasons why I loved DBZ so much. I was one of those people who would spend time trying to figure out exactly how people ranked, and getting mad when Goku would lose fight in the tournament. I'm a little surprised that it came up in the article, but I am glad that DBZ acknowledged that pure body building serves no practical purpose with Trunks vs. Cell. It's one of those moments where you realize that even though Toriyama made a story where guys could destroy planets on whim, he still had an understanding of martial arts. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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I'd like to point out, by the way, that Toriyama has never really expressed that he planned to end it after Freeza. It's a common, popular misconception. And now that it's been in an ANN article, people will point to it as a fact.
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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I feel like one of the few people in the world who could never get into this show/manga. I've been force fed random episodes and arcs over the years by a number of friends, and all it ended with was my staring at my friend and going "What. The. #@^." They in turn would usually ask what what wrong with me because they thought I liked anime.
This article has not changed this opinion. I am still at a loss. I'll will just assume whatever is in the genetics of most of the world to enjoy this series - it skipped me. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15336 |
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I kind of believe that Jackie was already a fan, too,because he wears an Arale-Chan costume in one of his 80s movies. Plus, I remember a different pic someone showed me, but Jackie posed with Toriyama here and here.
What's weird about DB/Z is it's probably the only comic and/cartoon I'm aware of where white-"looking" characters are completely embraced in the black community. Yes, there are other similar protagonists who have crossed over without a hitch, like in Spider-Man and in Star Wars, but DB/Z is like the only title I've ever seen brothers geek out over in the same way white people do with stuff from Joss Whedon and/or J.J. Abrams. Hell, I even saw a black guy with one of those bootleg Hawaiian shirts once. So it makes me think, if Justin Bieber can get a BET Award, Toriyama should be getting something from the NAACP, 'cus nothing improved race relations after the L.A. Riots more than recorded VHS fansubs of DBZ. And that's pretty impressive, given the controversy over Mr. Popo.
Yeah, but we already saw what happened when they did that with YuGiOh. 
Actually, I heard he didn't get along with them, or at least Toei, after that Dr. Slump reboot.
My assumption on that one is they actually let FOX do what it wanted, because they saw X-Men and thought there was no way the company could eff up DB. 'Course, X-Men worked in spite of Rothman, not because of him; but even Fantastic Four '05 and '07 looked better than DB:E.
Forbidden Kingdom and Storm Riders come pretty close. Iritscen:
I think Toriyama's company Bird Studio does some of the animation for Toei, too. So that's why there's very little difference in terms of style like in other shonen adaptations. |
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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Reading this column, I can't help but compare Dragon Ball to the apparant successor to the shonen throne, One Piece. And it seems to me that based on the reasons listed, OP is kind of the antithesis of DB. Its heavily plotted, fantastical battles and hasn't left its gag roots behind. Maybe the reason OP hasn't succeeded over in the US is because its too disimilar from DB?
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Ahiru77
Posts: 55 |
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So to make it short, 5 reasons why Dragon Ball is great:
1. The art is unique. 2. Weird details fans can lach onto, wonder about. 3. The world of DB is completely original. 4. Great action scenes. 5. Trunks This article is brilliant. Keep up the good work. 
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Adonisus
Posts: 20 |
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Yeah....working for Jump can be difficult for a new and rising artist, but it can be rewarding to, as I've heard.
However, if you're an established manga artist I've heard it can be a different story. Take Tatsuya Egawa, for example. Egawa was already an established artist with his manga BE FREE! for Monthly Afternoon with Kodansha. In the late 80s, when he came up with the idea for Magical Taruruto-kun, he went to Jump and had alot more freedom in what he could do. I guess with Jump, if you have a proven track record, you have a lot more leeway in what you can do. |
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster
Posts: 357 Location: San Francisco |
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Go ahead and bash popular things!  It's fun! I do it all the time!
I actually think the 'character performs a heroic sacrifice, only to fail completely' thing is pretty awesome. It shows Akira Toriyama at his most cynical and entertaining. But admittedly, like everything in Dragon Ball, it gets tiresome the 1 zillionth time out. The fact that everyone just gets brought back to life over and over also kind of rids the series of any tension. But by that point -- by the Boo saga -- the series has basically become a comedy anyway. You just know everything is going to end happily through some ridiculous twist or some hand-waving explanation. If you look at the series moment by moment, chapter by chapter, all the death and casual destruction is pretty intense and gritty in places, but if you look at the series as a whole, and the ending, the mood of Dragon Ball is (kiddy voice) "YAAAAAAYYYY!" Basically, I think Dragon Ball is very well written (in a 'keeping the story entertaining' way, not a 'classics of deep philosophy' way). It just runs out of tricks and starts to repeat itself and become a self-parody because it's so darn long. It's even worse in the various anime versions and original movies and so on, which is why I like the Kai version the best. |
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster
Posts: 357 Location: San Francisco |
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Hmm. Now you've got me wondering if I just made that up in my brain somehow. I thought he (or whoever was answering the interview questions in Toriyama's name) mentioned it in the Dragon Ball kanzenbans, but I don't have them here at home so I was quoting them from memory. Can someone who has them verify? He definitely has been quoted as saying "In the beginning, I was planning to end Dragon Ball when all seven Dragon Balls had been collected." The thing about him saying he chose the name "Dragon Ball Z" because he wanted to make people think the series was about to end is also true, although like with most things Toriyama said, it's hard to know how much he was joking. |
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster
Posts: 357 Location: San Francisco |
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I love OP, but I can think of a few reasons why it's less popular here. (1) At this point, OP is a lot more complicated than DB. HUGE backstory. SUPER long. So long that it can either impress people, or intimidate people... and if it intimidates people, that's bad. (2) OP is much sillier on the surface than DB is. DB has a sort of silliness deep down (and especially in Dragon Ball, although most people only watched DBZ), but on the surface, it's very muscular and tough and YEEEARRRRGGGGHHHH! OP, on the other hand, has a bunch of goofy-looking heroes and villains; even Zolo, who is pretty hardcore, is a little goofy. Some people don't appreciate the goofiness. (3) The character designs of DB, with their big muscles, are possibly more immediately appealing to American kids than the skinny characters in One Piece. (4) DB has an "Asian" theme, with martial arts and ki power. Americans tend to like "Asian" themed stuff from Japan more than "Western" themed stuff from Japan, like how the video game "Samurai Shodown" was more popular in America but "Fatal Fury/Garo Densetsu" (set in America) was more popular in Japan. What does everyone else think? |
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster
Posts: 357 Location: San Francisco |
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He is totally a hillbilly! My favorite Goku line is when he's doing his stretches before he fights Captain Ginyu: "Sorry to do this to you after you just showed up, but I'm gonna have to finish this quick." |
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hussar67
 Posts: 57 Location: Culpeper, VA |
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I believe during the first years (i.e., the "sending to a different dimension" years) of Dragonball Z on television syndication, it was entirely a Saban Entertainment production, with an Ocean Studio dub (Vancouver, Canada). After Saban's lack of success, FUNimation bought the rights to the show and started their own in-house dub with their own Bruce Faulconer music score in the middle of the Namek saga and only on Cartoon Network. (Years later they went back and re-dubbed the series from Episode 1.) Any FUNi reps in the forum who can verify this? |
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Iritscen
 Posts: 793 |
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You're almost right, hussar67. FUNi owned DB/DBZ from the start, but they let Saban do the work to bring DBZ into syndication in the U.S., and that was part of why the show got so butchered at the start.
FUNi initially used Ocean Studio, then switched to dubbing in the Houston area later simply because it was easier for them to nurture local talent than to fly to Vancouver all the time. I'm happy to see that this informative article is still online, since I saved it to my computer years ago thinking it would be lost soon: http://www.dallasobserver.com/2000-01-20/news/international-incident/ . |
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sainta
 Posts: 989 |
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Wait, was Toriyama the one behind the Dragon Ball Z anime's title? So the reason, Dragon Ball was followed by Dragon Ball Z was because he requested it? |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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This occasion should be used to plug the amusing fanwork Dragon Ball Z Abridged.
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