the dragonball effect

[adminpoll]42[/adminpoll]

Personally, I don't care for the show but I think it's a good thing. Yes, most of our problems on Rubberslug still come from DB fans. However, we're starting to see Inuyasha and other popular shows supplement the smacktard queue. I think the big stereotypes of "DBZ" people primarily come from a small, vocal minority of smacktard Dragonball fans. I might be prejudiced though because the only people I know in real life who like Dragonball have stacks of grainy Chinese-dub tapes from when they saw the original series as children.

The example I always trot out is Naruto. Basically, it's also another show where nothing seems to happen for 5-10 episodes at a time, yet since it's *not* Dragonball, it doesn't have that stigma associated with it. It's okay to like Naruto. However, the two shows have many of the same faults. The leader of Naruto's village and his arch-enemy/pupil have been locked in ONE face-to-face pose for at least four episodes. The tired "tournament" story arc (is it a requirement that all fighting/sports shows have one of these???) also got another 5-10 episodes devoted of just two different characters squaring off. Do I watch it? Sure, it's mildly entertaining. I'm curious as to why there isn't a similar backlash in the way that DBZ is reviled.

(Hmm, the next two polls will be about anime cliches.... just scribbling it here so I don't forget.)

I think DBZ is a positive influence overall to the anime world because it introduces people to anime. I'm sure when it first came out in Japan, there was a lot of fuss, similar to what it is now in the USA.

I started off with Sailor Moon, and DBZ was the second series that got me hooked to anime, and to cels of course. ;P

DBZ is an 'attention getter' I think. Yes, there's a lot of fighting, lots of aliens, and lots of blood sometimes, but it gets people to stop and realize that this is not your typical American cartoon. From there, fans can branch out to other series and grow.

well...........Dragon Ball is a "starter" anime, most folks are not ready to jump into something like Lain or Grave of the Fireflies, they need a bridge between the Bugs Bunny or Itchy and Scratchy 7 minute shorts into something a little more thought out. The American public in general, has been conditioned to think of anything animated as juvenile. (An interesting aside to this is the "Kill the Wrabbit", Bugs Bunny opera interpretation that still haunts my nightmares) What I dislike immensely is the pro wrestling feel to DB. I DON"T want to see the Rock in cartoon form. Naruto at least has some plot, admittedly thin at points, Dragon ball is too much like a video game. All training to make it to the next level..........point being?

Interesting that you likened Dragon Ball to a video game. Wasn't the same artist responsible for the character design for the SNES game Chrono Trigger?

Though I had seen Unico, Last Unicorn and Speed Racer when I was a child, my 'gateway' anime was Fushigi Yuugi. (If you want to get technical, it was the anime sequences in Xenogears that sparked my interest in anime again. A friend who also likes XG recommended FY to me.) My anime preference is for the magical girl (though, wouldn't you classify something like Yu-Gi-Oh or Shaman King as a magical guy?) or the mystic horror titles (VHD, Nightwalker, Petshop of Horrors), so I doubt I will ever watch Dragon Ball.

But...isn't that a good thing for all you Dragon Ball collectors? One less person angling for DB cels, yet one who can appreciate the accomplishment of gaining good cels! ^_^

I think Dragonball is a good series, and a great starter for viewers (It got me going). While it has is problems bad dubs, overplayed story line (if any), nothing making any type of real sense (if you really understand Dragonall you think to much), it still has good points to it. Some of the big fights are really good from DBZ, the animation is very good for a triology of three sereis with what at least 400 epsiodes or more plus movies, thats a lot of animation. I just feel that the show is very overrated, and cel prices reflect that. It makes it hard for us in poverty to get a nice cel of something from the Dragonball world, and like I said there are a lot of cels out there. Oh well the mass public loves mass distruction.