So if you’re a contemporary of mine (late 20s-mid 30s), when it comes time to name an anime that got you into the game, one of the first animes off your lips will probably be Dragon Ball Z. I am no exception. I used to eat, sleep, and breathe DBZ in my middle and high school years. I had the DBZ themed Windows layout. I had posters of Gotenks all over the wall. My sketchbook was full of drawings of Sayians. I spent all my summer job money on those overpriced VHS tapes from Suncoast (Uncut version of course). I had fanfics up on Fanfiction.net. I am also pretty sure I was in love with Trunks (I was a frequent visitor of the Temple O’ Trunks website. Brownie points if you know what that is).
I. Loved. Dragon Ball Z.
Even as my rabid obsession tempered itself into a dull roar as I delved deeper into the rabbit hole of anime, DBZ always held a special place in my heart. I always named it in my top 5 anime but then all that changed
Dragon Ball was amazing and as I watched more of it, I began to wonder: “What the hell happened to Dragon Ball Z?”
I became so invested in the cast of Dragon Ball (Tien, Chaiotzu, Yamucha, Kriliin, Launch, Master Roshi, and Bulma) that I was down right irritated knowing what ended up happening to them in Z. They either became punchlines, background characters, or they disappeared all together. I was disillusioned.
I came to think of Dragon Ball Z as the beer of the anime world. When you first start drinking, you usually start with beer. It’s not THAT great but you like it and so does everyone else but as soon as you hit that liquor, you think less about that beer (Unless you’re fucking crazy and start with something like Evangelion. That’s like making your first drink absinthe).
By this point, Dragon Ball Z had tumbled out of my “top” anything.
I just pushed it out of my mind. I still revisited it kindly. I enjoyed the TFS Parodies but I couldn’t bring myself to watch the filler-free Dragon Ball Z Kai. I just didn’t care enough.
Then something strange and wonderful happened:
Who is Goku’s mom?
What are 17 and 18’s real names and where did they come from?
I felt myself being pulled back into the fandom again.
And then I saw Battle of the Gods.
Oh man, Battle of the Gods was beautiful. It was the perfect amalgamation of the humor and character interactions of Dragon Ball and the gratuitous violence of Z. It made me feel excited. I hadn’t been excited about DBZ in over a decade. It planted a weird and crazy idea in my head.
I was going to watch all of Dragon Ball Z. The entire series. Fillers and all.
My friends called me crazy and I accept that. I am. I think you have to be a little nutty to be a part of a fandom.
I have never seen the series in its entirety and I decided now is the time to discover one and for all, whether or not DBZ is actually a good series or if I suffer from a severe case of nostalgia.
So, I shall drag all unsuspecting followers down this magical shounen journey. Feel free to hop on the nostalgia train!
