Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Balls of Dragons

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Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

Now, I live in the very sheltered UK. And after having people scream at me for only watching POkemon, I deceided to also try the only other easy to see Anime on here.

So, what's the backstory to Dragonball Zee (urgh, stupid American prnounciation) then? What's the differences between Dragonball Z and the original? And why are most of the cast of Beast Wars on it, rather than the usual voice actors who seem to work on all dubbed anime (including Pokemon)? And what's up with their ears?

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Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :

Ooh... Dragonball Z...

I'll try to explain what I can, which is somewhat difficult considering how I've never seen the original Dragonball series.

Basically, the original series starts with Goku as a kid, who goes on a search for the 7 Dragonballs, which, when collected grant the user nearly any wish they want (there are rules on what one can wish for, I'll explain later on). He meets Bulma (the blue-green haired girl), who invented the Dragonradar which allows them to find the Dragonballs. Eventually, they meet Master Roshi, who trains him and Krillin (the bald guy, and I've found so many spellings for his name its not funny). However, this guy whose name I think is General Pilaf is also after the Dragonballs, and has a green guy by the name of Piccolo as one of his goons. Goku and Piccolo become arch-enemies, and Goku eventually kills Piccolo, but not before he spits out an egg that grows into a clone of the original Piccolo with all the original's memories. I don't know how the series ended, though.

Dragonball Z starts years later, after Goku has married and has a kid of his own. Most of the characters were from the original series.

Why were the Beast Wars guys doing the Dragonball Z series? From what I understand, because they were cheap at the time. When new episodes (after Goku's arrival at Namek) were translated, the Beast Wars guys had become big names in voice acting, so they had to hire new (and in my opinion, inferior) voice actors.

What about their ears?

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"I'm green! I'm olive! I'm chartreuse!
I'd love to stay one color, but what's the use?"

- Zorak, Bad Bug, Cartoon Planet.

Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :

Oops. Forgot the rules...

For the Earth Dragonballs, you must gather all 7 and summon the Eternal Dragon. Then, you get one wish. You may wish a person back from the dead, but any person can only be wished back once. Once the wish has been made, the Dragonballs turn to stone and scatter themselves all over the world. One year must pass before the Dragonballs return to normal and can be used again. If either Piccolo or Kame die (as they halves of the same being), the Dragonballs cease to exist.

For the Namek Dragonballs, you must gather all 7 and summon the Eternal Dragon in the Namek language using a special password. Then, you get three wishes. You may wish a person back from the dead, and can wish a person back multiple times. After the three wishes are made, the Dragonballs turn to stone and scatter themselves all over the world. Six months must pass before the Dragonballs return to normal and can be used again. If the Eldest Namek dies, the Dragonballs cease to exist.

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"I'm green! I'm olive! I'm chartreuse!
I'd love to stay one color, but what's the use?"

- Zorak, Bad Bug, Cartoon Planet.

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

The real question is, what did they do w/ Dragonballs A through Y? :-)

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"Compared to you, every male on this ship is an expert on women!"
-Geordi LaForge to Wesley Crusher, TNG: "Sarek"

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Ok, it looks like I'm going to have to cut through the treacle here. No offense, Krenim.

Dragonball Z in a nutshell: Arrogent longhair wanders through desert with little bald kid and other little not bald kid. Large large ex-wrestler approaches. Longhair and wrestler kick each other over and over and over again. Kids make various worried expressions. Meanwhile, a couple of shady looking monsters watch. Wrestler shoots huge blast at longhair, destroys continent. Then gets a knee to the groin. Fade out.

And there you have the plot to every single episode of Dragonball Z ever made. It would be easier to follow if they translated all the dialogue to Swedish and had a crack team of mountain goats yodel the words.

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"Oh, it's an anti-anti-WTO song. It's essentially a pro-Starbucks song. I saw this picture of a guy sticking his foot through a plate-glass window in a Starbucks in Seattle, and he was wearing a Nike. Man, couldn't you just change your shoes?"
--
M. Doughty

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

Are Picollo and Goku still enemies then?

And thanks for that Sol. Coudl we please have Pokemon in a nutshell too? And perhaps Babylon 5? (There's a market in this...)

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Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :

At the beginning of Dragonball Z, yes, they are still enemies. They do, however, team up to defeat Goku's evil brother Raditz (who had kidnapped Goku's son Gohan), at which point Goku dies. Piccolo takes it upon himself to train Gohan to help fight the other two Saiyans (Once again, I've found so many spellings for that, its not funny) on their way to Earth. Piccolo befriends Gohan and pretty much forgets about how he hates Goku. By the time Goku is brought back to life, Piccolo is killed by the Saiyans. Eventually, they meet face to face again on Namek while fighting Freeza, at which point no sign of their former atagonism remains.

(And if you wonder why they hate each other in the movie "Dead Zone," that's a prequel.)

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"I'm green! I'm olive! I'm chartreuse!
I'd love to stay one color, but what's the use?"

- Zorak, Bad Bug, Cartoon Planet.

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

Why do I get the felling that in this show "dying" is about as long term as it as for Optimus Prime?

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Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :

Because it is.

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"I'm green! I'm olive! I'm chartreuse!
I'd love to stay one color, but what's the use?"

- Zorak, Bad Bug, Cartoon Planet.

Posted by Saiyanman Benjita (Member # 122) on :

You mean besides the fact that everyone (except Gohan's future father-in-law) in the series dies (sometimes more than once)?

I think Krenim got everything right. The reasons for the multiple spellings, is that there are different ways to translate the Kanji(Japanese characters) Some may consider it to spell better as Kuririn (Phonetic), but the hat says Krilin. Saiyan is the English translation, but it sounds more like Saiya-jin. Goku is pronounced more like Gokou, thus the spelling.

As for Pokemon in a nutshell, here goes: Ash is lost, Team Rocket shows up with their speech, which prompts the heros to face-fault from hearing it so much. Brock goes ga-ga over Jenny or Joy or any female, Misty gets pissed and hits either Brock or Ash. Pikachu shocks Team Rocket, and they fly off. End of story.

As for B-5, I've never seen it.

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Well I'm a Bada$$ cowboy living in a cowboy day wicky-wicky-wak yo yo bang bang
me and Artemus Clydefrog go save Selma Hayek from the big metal spider
Wicky-wicky-wak wicky-wicky-wicky-wak
Bada$$ cowboy from the West Si-yiide

Posted by Saiyanman Benjita (Member # 122) on :

BTW, Piccolo doesn't come until way later in the series. (Not with Pilaf) This confuses the American public, who have no idea who he is and why he's the bad guy (Since Dead Zone didn't come out until two years ago, while the series has been around since '95 here in the states.), because Funimation stopped after the thirteenth episode(of over 150 in Japanese). Also Krillin doesn't appear in the original thirteen (until they dubbed Sleeping Princess last year.) The only DBZ characters seen in the American dub were Yamucha, Puar, Oolong, Bulma, Goku, Chi-Chi, Oxking, and Roshi.

However if you do get a chance, I recommend seeing the original series, especially Oolong wishing for a pair of panties, and Master Roshi day dreaming of boobs and butts (amazingly enough, missed by the American censors, TV and production).

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

Actually, I'd say Pokémon in a nutshell is more like: Three kids wander around focing enslaved animals to brutally fight one another for their own entertainment. Two very repetitive people w/ bad hair and their cat follow them around trying to steal one of their animals, but never do. And that about covers it. :-)

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Harold: "You're missing the point!"
Red: "Well, I don't like points."
-The Red Green Show

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

Plus there's a lot of sex in the show. Jessie and James have a whole "Will they, won't they" thing going on. (In fact, in one comic, they show everyone 15 years in the future, and show a pregnent and married Jessie. Got cut out of the English version.)
Brock obviously is horny as, well, a horn. And Prof Oak is slowly working his way round every woman in Pallet Town (Come on, how obvious is it that him and Ash's mum are at it like bunnies, eh?)

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