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[SolVanderlyn]

It's been only half-a-month or so, but I have already reached Episode 100, meaning I'm over 1/3s of the way through! Planet Namek is in the middle of exploding! I think...in seven more episodes?

I forgot how padded DBZ is.

Kai was done with Cell by this point. Damn.

 

[Blackquill]

watch kai instead

no the music sucks

 

[SolVanderlyn]

no the music sucks

Do not listen to this man

 

[Malajax]

Sorry to bump, but I'd thought I'd update everyone on my progress!

It's been only half-a-month or so, but I have already reached Episode 100, meaning I'm over 1/3s of the way through! Planet Namek is in the middle of exploding! I think...in seven more episodes?

Let's just say, this Freeza fight, as well as Smash and Pokemon ORAS, have slowed me down a bit, but I'm making great progress! The Namek-saga was pretty awesome overall, but I'm looking forward to the Android/Cell Saga, which I've barely watched and aren't too familiar with how it progresses. Hope I can finish the show in time for Xenoverse.

Gotta say, I liked most of the filler in the Saiyan Saga, but the Fake Namek Saga, and the "Misadventures of Bulma on Planet Namek" really tested my patience. The Ginyu Force fighting on King Kai's planet was cool, even though it seems like they should've beaten Yamcha and Tienshan easily. Although I guess being dead, maybe their power was nerfed by King Kai or something.

Also watched Dead Zone and World's Strongest, they were---okay?

The idea was that they've powered up a lot while training with Kaio, so they could stomp the Ginyu Force easily when Gohan and crew really struggled with them. In reality (or being consistent with the manga) I think Yamcha and Tenshinhan would have been crushed. Maybe Tenshinhan would have had a chance, but a very small one.

Also, the Freeza saga isn't so bad when you can marathon it. Though imagine if you were watching it while it aired. Instead of all the episodes back to back or 5 days a week like kn the U.S., it took months just for that "5 minutes" to pass. That would have been absolute torture.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

Much like Coke; the Mexican version of Dragon Ball is god-tier compared to the US. I would even say the Japanese one too. Goku doesn't sound like a girl, for one.

Nope, the catalonian is the best one. And im not even from Cataluña.
Original music, great voice acting, no censoring.
Same with Doraemon. Although I also really like the Valencian one from that series (and the DB one was not that bad either).

The castillian spanish DBZ was bad and censored to hell and back, and I can't stand the latin spanish mannerisms.

The USA one is the the worst of all.

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

I've never actually read the manga to either series. I think it's time I changed that.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Also, the Freeza saga isn't so bad when you can marathon it. Though imagine if you were watching it while it aired. Instead of all the episodes back to back or 5 days a week like kn the U.S., it took months just for that "5 minutes" to pass. That would have been absolute torture.

Japanese fans got it once a week I believe, so damn.

But yeah, DBZ is a pretty easy show to marathon imo. The episodes pass by pretty quickly, and they blend in well enough I can manage like 10 episodes at night sometimes.

 

[Oersted]

Sorry to bump, but I'd thought I'd update everyone on my progress!

It's been only half-a-month or so, but I have already reached Episode 100, meaning I'm over 1/3s of the way through! Planet Namek is in the middle of exploding! I think...in seven more episodes?

Most legendary DBZ padding.

 

[Branson]

no the music sucks

Its really hard to take the original english dub fans seriously anymore. I try to keep my mouth shut about it but I find it incredibly frustrating that the music is something that people always latch on to. Its not that I hate it, I honestly liked it back then, but I think people should always strive for the closest possible translation and well acted dub to the original as possible within the confines of the language. I have never found a soundtrack to Dragon Ball that I didnt like. Its easy to open your mind and experience new things and like them for what they accomplish in the specific series they are in.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Also, I checked out some dubbed episodes, and I really gotta say, I think the dubbed voices sound pretty bad.

One I was watching had Goku deliver this speech to Frieza "and you EVEN kill children" was a line he said and it made me laugh as to how corny it is, and something the original Goku never brought up---probably because I think every DB villain has targeted children.

 

[Branson]

Also, I checked out some dubbed episodes, and I really gotta say, I think the dubbed voices sound pretty bad.

One I was watching had Goku deliver this speech to Frieza "and you EVEN kill children" was a line he said and it made me laugh as to how corny it is, and something the original Goku never brought up---probably because I think every DB villain has targeted children.

Kai for english dub, Original Japanese DBZ, for most accurate representation of the series, is the consensus generally on what to watch. Goku sounds way too Superman Like for a brain damaged uneducated Alien in the original english dub episodes. Hell, watching it in Japanese actually made me like some of the filler stuff as well.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Well, Namek finally exploded...in the end, there were a few episodes that were basically flashbacks of the Frieza fight since it was so long. Guess they needed to keep the Japanese kids up-to-date when they watched it live.

I never knew that Frieza was basically defeated like such a chump, getting tricked into getting hit by his own Kienzan-style technique. Goku literally goes "yo, watch out!". It was oddly humorous. Is it different in the manga?

Two things bother me in the episodes finishing things up: why is Vegeta basically suddenly treated like he did nothing wrong? Bulma swoons over him, and the Namekians don't even seem to care that he killed their people too (and that one village is never revived apparently even though I assume they could've with Shen Long), it's sort of weird how buddy-buddy everyone is to him. And second, how come they never just wished Planet Namek back? Or is that too powerful of a wish? I thought Shen Long did that during the Buu Saga for Earth, couldn't they have revived Namek eventually too?

Anyway, it was a long, arduous ride at points, but I can see why people hold up the Frieza Arc as the series' high point. Now it's on to the Garlic Jr. saga...yay?

 

[AlimNassor]

Should just skip that arc. It's pretty lame filler.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Should just skip that arc. It's pretty lame filler.

I can't, I wanna watch it all. I sat through Fake Namek, I'm sitting through this. I'm not the type to skip episodes of any show when I marathon them, unless they're a clip show or something.

 

[Oblivion]

I can't, I wanna watch it all. I sat through Fake Namek, I'm sitting through this. I'm not the type to skip episodes of any show when I marathon them, unless they're a clip show or something.

Fake Namek was a work of art compared to the Garlick Jr. Saga. It is absolutely wretched.

Also, what the hell is wrong with you? Why don't you just watch Kai instead?

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Fake Namek was a work of art compared to the Garlick Jr. Saga. It is absolutely wretched.

Also, what the hell is wrong with you? Why don't you just watch Kai instead?

A lot of people don't seem to like how Kai is edited together and such, and wanted to get the original, authentic experience, for better or worse.

 

[katsubento]

Original Japanese versions for me...I saw them that way before they came to the US.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

A lot of people don't seem to like how Kai is edited together and such, and wanted to get the original, authentic experience, for better or worse.

If anything, Kai is much more authentic due to staying 1:1 with the manga the whole way through. But, I know what you mean.

Garlic Jr. is the worst saga in the series. Luckily, it's fairly short.

 

[toneroni]

Majin Buu saga was awesome

 

[entremet]

Original Japanese versions for me...I saw them that way before they came to the US.

Same. such great memories.

 

[MrSaturn99]

For whatever reason I find a good chunk of DB/Z filler to oddly charming (aside from the examples provided above, of course). Maybe it's the vintage quality.

At the Heaven Tournament now and finding myself enjoying it.

 

[Big One]

I did a read-through of the original manga a couple of months back recently, and man did it sour me on the anime. So much filler even in Kai. Can't imagine ever revisiting the original anime.

 

[Hawkguy]

Ok guys I got a question. DBz was my absolute favorite thing back in middle school when it came on toonami. I think I've seen most of the frieza, buu and maybe a little bit of the saiyan saga and remember it being the absolute coolest shit in the world. I kinda want to go back and watch the whole show now and not only see the stuff I missed, but also re-experience something that was so important to me in my younger years. Any advice on the best version to watch? I really don't want to deal with any filler so I was thinking about the Kai series, but it seems like that gets a bad rep for some reason. I've got pretty heavy nostalgia for the toonami cast so something involving those guys would also be heavily preferred. Any advice y'all?

 

[MrSaturn99]

Ok guys I got a question. DBz was my absolute favorite thing back in middle school when it came on toonami. I think I've seen most of the frieza, buu and maybe a little bit of the saiyan saga and remember it being the absolute coolest shit in the world. I kinda want to go back and watch the whole show now and not only see the stuff I missed, but also re-experience something that was so important to me in my younger years. Any advice on the best version to watch? I really don't want to deal with any filler so I was thinking about the Kai series, but it seems like that gets a bad rep for some reason. I've got pretty heavy nostalgia for the toonami cast so something involving those guys would also be heavily preferred. Any advice y'all?

As someone who also grew up with Toonami, outside of reasons pertaining to nostalgia/guilty pleasure I can't imagine going back to the original dub and not recoiling at just how damn bad the script/acting is.

Thankfully the Kai dub is more than solid and uses most of the original cast, but unfortunately thanks to the Yamamoto plagiarism scandal they replaced his score with the original JP OST. While that score's fantastic in its own right, the show was still airing and in their scramble they only used a small pool of songs that ended being overused/misplaced (that, and as each episode was developed by different animation teams it can be awkward to witness various animation styles within one combined episode). Any other complaints can be chalked up to cast changes/nostalgia reasons.

I'd recommend checking out Youtube clips of Kai before diving in, although I imagine clips won't specifically label which score is being used (quick guide: Yamamoto's songs are more bombastic, while the Kikuchi score is more oriental and generally reserved)

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Yep. I checked out the episode where King Kai delivers news of Goku's death, the dubbed version (and the version where the original music is kept, so I guess the "uncut" version), and it was just...horrible. Yamcha even makes a long-distance joke.

Apparently the Funimation team have a "punch-up writer" whose job is to go through the script and add stupid jokes like that. :/

Oh, and I don't really get the hate for the Garlic Jr. Saga. I'm about halfway through, and it's a fun, non-offensive diversion to cool-off after the long Frieza saga. I think the hate for it comes across as a bit hyperbolic, it's at least got a semi-interesting plot, something which Fake Namek did not. Only real issue is Gohan and co. seem weaker than they should be, but I'll chalk it up to them relaxing now that it's peaceful, and being taken aback by their friends turned into vampires or whatever.

 

[KingDirk]

I'm a purist, the original is always better. Saying America's version is better, is like saying a spiderman made in Japan is better than original. Its wrong.

As a huge Spidey fan, I'm not so sure I can cross that bridge with you...

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

So, uh, does the manga do a better job at explaining why everyone is so okay with Vegeta right after the Namek Saga?

He never really did anything positive out of respect for others, he killed a Namekian village without remorse and they apparently were never shown being revived, he's stronger than ever and could probably destroy most of Earth and no one but Goku could probably stop him, but now everyone's laughing at him and Bulma's all-over him.

It's...really weird. You know my first real exposure to Vegeta was the later sagas where he's a good guy, more or less, so it's jarring seeing how sudden and unrealistic his turn to the good side actually is.

 

[Malajax]

So, uh, does the manga do a better job at explaining why everyone is so okay with Vegeta right after the Namek Saga?

He never really did anything positive out of respect for others, he killed a Namekian village without remorse and they apparently were never shown being revived, he's stronger than ever and could probably destroy most of Earth and no one but Goku could probably stop him, but now everyone's laughing at him and Bulma's all-over him.

It's...really weird. You know my first real exposure to Vegeta was the later sagas where he's a good guy, more or less, so it's jarring seeing how sudden and unrealistic his turn to the good side actually is.

He helped out a few times and said he wasn't really interested in destroying the earth anymore. At the point that you're at, I think everyone recognizes him as a threat, but he hasn't done anything wrong lately (aside from the horrible atrocities he committed, but the past is the past). Plus, even if they wanted to, the only one that could actually do anything about it is Goku, but he's off somewhere doing his thing. If Vegeta started pushing people around, yeah, they'd probably do something. He hasn't though. Why rush to your own death?

 

[Wheeljack539]

Also, I checked out some dubbed episodes, and I really gotta say, I think the dubbed voices sound pretty bad.

One I was watching had Goku deliver this speech to Frieza "and you EVEN kill children" was a line he said and it made me laugh as to how corny it is, and something the original Goku never brought up---probably because I think every DB villain has targeted children.

I do want to point out that about this timeframe Funimation had recently done a voice cast change (around ep 67-68) and this was at the time referred to as Season 3. For many, this was their first time behind the mike.

Years later much of this would be redubbed (Chris Sabat re-recorded his Vegeta lines) however Sean Schemmel (voice of Goku) did not, so that was his original performance from 1998/1999.

Looking back its amazing to see how far they've come. Chris Sabat's Piccolo didn't even begin to "smooth out" until the end of Season 5.

 

[Shouta]

He helped out a few times and said he wasn't really interested in destroying the earth anymore. At the point that you're at, I think everyone recognizes him as a threat, but he hasn't done anything wrong lately (aside from the horrible atrocities he committed, but the past is the past). Plus, even if they wanted to, the only one that could actually do anything about it is Goku, but he's off somewhere doing his thing. If Vegeta started pushing people around, yeah, they'd probably do something. He hasn't though. Why rush to your own death?

Piccolo would destroy Vegeta at that point in the story actually. It's not until the beginning of the Androids hit where Vegeta finally outclasses him.

They really don't explain why they were cool with Vegeta hanging out afterwards but Toriyama was never one for details anyway.

 

[MikeMyers]

Piccolo would destroy Vegeta at that point in the story actually. It's not until the beginning of the Androids hit where Vegeta finally outclasses him.

I thought Vegeta was stronger given that he was capable of seeing Final Form Freeza's attack and Piccolo couldn't? He got a big boost from when Krillin blasted him had Dende heal him.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Piccolo would destroy Vegeta at that point in the story actually. It's not until the beginning of the Androids hit where Vegeta finally outclasses him.

They really don't explain why they were cool with Vegeta hanging out afterwards but Toriyama was never one for details anyway.

Piccolo was only stronger than Vegeta for a brief while (after fusing with Nail) - When Krillin blasted Vegeta, and Dende healed him, Vegeta was stronger.

 

[farisr]

I don't have a problem with JP Goku's voice for regular stuff. But man, when the screaming and fighting starts. Ugh.

Also, I like both the dub and original scores. Only thing I don't like about the dub is that the music never stops even in the downtime, could've used some silence once in a while. Whereas the negative aspect of the JP score for me is that it starts getting repetitive. Really repetitive.

Thankfully due to the releases, I can listen to the dub voices with the original japanese score, and the dub score whenever I feel like it.

 

[Anth0ny]

So, uh, does the manga do a better job at explaining why everyone is so okay with Vegeta right after the Namek Saga?

He never really did anything positive out of respect for others, he killed a Namekian village without remorse and they apparently were never shown being revived, he's stronger than ever and could probably destroy most of Earth and no one but Goku could probably stop him, but now everyone's laughing at him and Bulma's all-over him.

It's...really weird. You know my first real exposure to Vegeta was the later sagas where he's a good guy, more or less, so it's jarring seeing how sudden and unrealistic his turn to the good side actually is.

Freeza and his goons are the enemies of both Gohan and Krillin AND Vegeta. So they're kinda allies by default.

From what I recall the human characters that the Saiyans, well... killed in the Saiyan saga still give Vegeta shit until he marries Bulma. Then they're cool, I guess.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Freeza and his goons are the enemies of both Gohan and Krillin AND Vegeta. So they're kinda allies by default.

Well, yeah, I get why they teamed up on Namek and everything (even though it was sort of weird in retrospect because the "WE GOTTA TEAM UP BECAUSE GINYU FORCE!" ended up being a bit odd since they went down so easily), but I mean after that was all finished up, it's weird everyone was like "okay, well, I guess Vegeta can hang out here". Especially for Bulma---she saw like Vegeta once on Namek when he fought Zarbon, and then basically falls for him when they're transported to Earth, even after he laughs about killing some Namekians.

I do want to point out that about this timeframe Funimation had recently done a voice cast change (around ep 67-68) and this was at the time referred to as Season 3. For many, this was their first time behind the mike.

Years later much of this would be redubbed (Chris Sabat re-recorded his Vegeta lines) however Sean Schemmel (voice of Goku) did not, so that was his original performance from 1998/1999.

Looking back its amazing to see how far they've come. Chris Sabat's Piccolo didn't even begin to "smooth out" until the end of Season 5.

I assumed this was the later dub, since it had the original BG music playing.

Whereas the negative aspect of the JP score for me is that it starts getting repetitive. Really repetitive.

Oh yeah, I can agree with that. There's like maybe five songs that regularly play...I was actually pumped when Trunks just appeared to take on Frieza, because there's this cool new, jazzy BGM that plays.

 

[Wheeljack539]

I assumed this was the later dub, since it had the original BG music playing.

If you are watching the Dragon Box sets, IIRC they only have the japanese score for both sub and dub. That was one of the gimmicks for that set.

Orange Brick collection gives you the option for japanese with original score, dub with original score and dub with dub score. The drawback for many though was the cropped screen to fit wide screen tvs.

 

[Shouta]

I thought Vegeta was stronger given that he was capable of seeing Final Form Freeza's attack and Piccolo couldn't? He got a big boost from when Krillin blasted him had Dende heal him.

Piccolo was only stronger than Vegeta for a brief while (after fusing with Nail) - When Krillin blasted Vegeta, and Dende healed him, Vegeta was stronger.

I dunno if that's really a reliable indication. Piccolo fought the more powerful forms of Freeza than Vegeta did but seeing an attack actually makes him strong? Toriyama and those detaaaails.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

I think Krillin + Gohan (being powered up by Guru), Yamcha and Tien (with King Kai training), and Piccolo (fusing with Nail) could've probably taken on Vegeta together and won at that point.

 

[MikeMyers]

I dunno if that's really a reliable indication. Piccolo fought the more powerful forms of Freeza than Vegeta did but seeing an attack actually makes him strong? Toriyama and those detaaaails.

Vegeta battled Freeza's final form, which was stronger than the two forms Piccolo fought.

 

[Shouta]

Vegeta battled Freeza's final form, which was stronger than the two forms Piccolo fought.

I don't remember that from the manga...eh, it's been awhile.

 

[MikeMyers]

I don't remember that from the manga...eh, it's been awhile.

If you own the Viz release of the manga it should be around Chapter 110 - 114.

 

[Shouta]

Nah, never owned the Viz ones. I had the JP releases but not anymore. Too lazy to go look it up too, lol. Poor Piccolo, getting outclasses even by Vegeta on his own planet after a power up.

 

[MikeMyers]

Ah okay. I'm pretty sure the original manga in Japan has no "Z" segregation and it is all called Dragon Ball, so it would have been a different chapter number even if you still owned it.

And yeah, it irks me that Toriyama powered-up Piccolo with a fusion in both the Freeza and Cell arcs, but then nothing comes out of it and he falls behind the Saiyans again.

 

[IAmRandom31]

Piccolo would destroy Vegeta at that point in the story actually. It's not until the beginning of the Androids hit where Vegeta finally outclasses him.

They really don't explain why they were cool with Vegeta hanging out afterwards but Toriyama was never one for details anyway.

?

Piccilo ended up getting beaten by 2nd transform Frieza. Vegeta made it all the way to the perfect form frieza. Piccilo was more powerful for a short time until Dande healed Vegeta that last time when krillian blasted a hole in him

Piccilo though does get WAY stronger then Vegeta during the Android saga once he fuses with Kami. Until " Super Vegeta " anyway

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Damn, King Cold's kind of an idiot. Why the hell would he think it was just the sword that let Trunks kill Frieza? Also, is he stronger or weaker than Frieza? The dialogue seemed to suggest at times he was stronger, other times it seems like he was weaker.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I don't understand why they didn't recast Goku when he stopped being 12.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

I don't understand why they didn't recast Goku when he stopped being 12.

I imagine it might've had to do possibly with a contract, his voice-actor being signed on for a certain amount of episodes and, being based on a manga, were unaware there was going to be a major time skip. So, they just went with it. Plus it seems like Japan is big on keeping voice-actors for as long as possible.

Honestly I can't say Goku being voiced by a woman bothers me, really, at all. It's weird at first compared to his English VA, but I quickly got accustomed to it.

 

[GaimeGuy]

I don't understand why they didn't recast Goku when he stopped being 12.

The idea is basically that he never grew up, and this is reflected by keeping the same voice from start to end of Dragon Ball (which spans 35 years).

though technically, goku only aged 28 years over that period (dead for 8 years combined after Raditz + Cell, 1 year in room of spirit and time with gohan)

 

[ChouGohan]

Read the manga, its much faster, much much better, has a better sense of power scaling, and no stupid fillers. Then just watch the anime for the fights.

 

[MrSaturn99]

hahaha oh man I'm at the Great Saiyaman episodes now and they have one of Gohan's teachers speaking nonsensical English dialogue (the one I'm watching currently has allusions to rap and porn within five seconds).

I'm dying to know your reaction to this, Birdie. lol