Any Dragon Ball fans here?

[DracoMalfoy]

I know this is totally out of the blue, but I'm just curious. Is anyone here familiar with the Dragon Ball series? I've been watching all of season sets this week and I've become addicted. I used to watch Dragon Ball Z every day when I was little, so it's very nostalgic. My problem is, my friends either don't know the series, or remember it, but didn't like it. Compared to other shows, DBZ is mostly just violence, so I can understand why someone wouldn't like it, but I have yet to find someone that enjoyed it as much as I did. I'm not big on anime/manga in general; I don't know how many of you here are. But, I thought there wouldn't be any harm in throwing this out there, just to see the responses.

So, is anyone a fan? Or, just to be more general, is anyone familiar with what I'm talking about? Even if you didn't like the show, I'd sort of like to have an intelligent conversation about it. I could gush on and on about favorite characters and stuff like that, but I'll save that for another time. Hopefully someone here will know what I'm talking about and I won't come off as completely mad.

[Sólrökr]

Yep. I recently (Within the last month or so.) read Dragon Ball from start to finish. The actual manga includes Dragon Ball and Z all into one, there is no separation. Dragon Ball is pretty infamous for time skips in between major sagas, so it makes sense. It was really enjoyable, and didn't know I'd actually watched most, if not all, of Dragon Ball when I was younger. There's zero filler, and each scene goes very quickly. I think it took me three days of actively reading to reach the Frieza saga.

[Eternal Phoenix]

Oh, yes. DBZ. Those were the days. Dragonball in all it's iterations is just fantastic. The original anime did drag on at times, if you'll allow the pun. Nostalgia bomb in a major fashion with this thread. Whew. The glory days of Toonami. I still remember lazy afternoons after school. 5 PM? To the TV. DBZ's on. I miss those days. I really do.

[Nihilisil]

Funnily enough, I just downloaded the entire anime trilogy on a whim, and have been marathoning Dragonball for the past week or so. I watched all of DBZ as a child/teen, but never had the opportunity to view the other two series. I've heard horrible, horrible things about GT, but as a completionist I'd really like to finish the whole thing now that I can.

I love the heroic nature of the series and the ridiculous allure of Goku, who is such a damn good guy that even the most evil characters in the series usually tend to forsake their debauchery for a chance to walk with the cheerful Saiyan's crew. I mean christ, Piccolo was evil incarnate in DB, but by the time Vegeta shows up he grows the heart and bravery to easily rival his one-time nemesis. Badass.

I do have one complaint, though... Buu. God I hated that saga. I found him to be a completely unneccessary, frivolous foe that merely served to dismantle the previously entirely adequate ending that the Cell Saga could have given the series. But then, many disagree on that. My ex-fiance thinks the Buu Saga is the best in the series, for instance (then again, there is something seriously wrong with that woman. Hence the ex thing).

[Sólrökr]

I didn't mind Buu, I think it set Goku up for a clear-cut ending, where the Cell Saga left him dead. It was really drawn out in the anime though, the manga made it much more concise and it fit Goku's character better when he grabbed Ubuu to go train.

[Raspeyer]

I watch most of the dragonball series a couple of years ago and I didn't mind it but I liked DBZ better. I refuse to acknowledge anything after the Cell saga though. I watched a few episodes of GT when it first came out and I just couldn't take it.

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