Dragon Ball Z - the phases of fandom

[timepiececlock]

I was chatting with pepperlandgirl4 about anime, and she asked me why I had issues with Dragon Ball Z. So I compiled this list for her, to explain my fan experience:

The 7 Phases of DBZ Fandom

1. disbelief: You want me to watch that? You've got to be kidding. I mean look at it.

2. trial: Ok, this isn't so bad. I've watched a few eps and I'm kind of curious.

3. acceptance: Yeah, I watch it fairly regulary now in the afternoons. It's kinda cool. I like the fighting.

4. addiction: OMG I LOVE THIS SHOW! I LOVE VEGITA! No, I LOVE GOKU! No, I LOVE GOHAN! No, wait-- I LOVE TRUNKS! Nope, nevermind, definitely love Vegita. Fanfic, fanfic, here I come!

5. minor disillusionment: Hey, man, didn't we do this last season? It's kinda the same villain with different art design. And I thought we already beat the strongest guy in the universe? I thought Goku WAS the strongest guy in the universe? Or was it Gohan? Why won't Vegita just marry Bulma already and call it a day?

6. major disillusionment: Fuck , this show is SOOOOOO boring. All they do is fight, talk, fight, talk. Too much standing around posing. Every plot is the same and it takes forever to get through anything. And teenage Gohan the superhero is so stupid. I'm only watching this shit for Vegita loyalty.

7. apathy: What, DBZ? Yeah, it was ok. I used to watch it, until I realized that it just repeated itself over and over and they never won and barely changed. Vegita was cool. I wouldn't spend a lot of money on it if I were you, unless it's on the side-story specials. I can't believe I used to write B/V fic. Sad, ne? At least I've outgrown that by now.

Comments

[cosmicfish.livejournal.com]

Horribly enough, I used to love Tenchi. Yeah, I know. Laugh all you want. It was my one and only anime obsession, although I never pursued any modes of Internet fandom. What happened? Pretty much what you described.

1) Nothing new ever happened. Aika and Ryoko still fought over Tenchi every episode. Tenchi thought about his mother. Aika's lil sis (it's been so long I can't remember her name) acted sweet and spoke in a squeaky voice. Ryoko's mutant rabbit/spaceship ate carrots.

2)I realized that nobody was ever going to get Tenchi. Obvious, but annoying none the less. And oh, I decided I hated Aika. Really hated her, until I became indifferent.

So yeah, I know what you're talking about.

The X-Files, my first great fan obsession - well I'm still smarting over that one. I can't get over the last few seasons. And I hate Chris Carter with a passion. I can't even watch my fav eppies anymore without making yucky faces, and grimacing over how everything ended up. It's horrible.

Re:

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Horribly enough, I used to love Tenchi.

::points:: BWAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

::cough::

Excuse me, that was horribly rude. I apologize.




::giggle::


So Ryoko didn't get him in the end? I only watched abour 6 episodes in total (plus the second movie), and she annoyed me the least. Though she still did. After I knew enough about it to get along I decided to never watch it again; it was simply too moronic for me. Though a lot of people love it, I'll admit.

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[cosmicfish.livejournal.com]

::points:: BWAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

I bite my thumb at you. :coughs: Bitch. But even I acknowledge that your scorn is deserved. Blech.

The truth is I like far too many moronic things than any intelligent person should. I read large novels for fun, I tend to string together huge syllables without even thinking about it, I appreciate the arts,and I have strong liberal views on society and politics ... and then I sing Jay's rap from "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and start laughing at those horrid "dead baby" jokes. I'm afraid there's a bit of a mook in me, one that I'm unable to repress.

And hey, at least I wasn't a Pokemon or a Digimon fan ... :shudders:

Re:

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I read large novels for fun,

Sorry, dear, that actually makes you smarter than other people, not more moronic. ...Heh. Alliteration. :snert:

I tend to string together huge syllables without even thinking about it

Everyone does. Well, most normal people do. Super-ultra-all-the-time-precisely spoken people are either public speakers, lawyers, or scary.

And hey, at least I wasn't a Pokemon or a Digimon fan ... :shudders:

See, here's where you get a giggle. I went through a brief Digimon spell. I watched some episodes on Fox, and read some fanfic. Mostly I was a Ken fan. Ken is the Spike!Vegita!Anti-hero!villain of Digimon. I read a bunch of Ken fic.

But then I realized that in order to watch Ken angst about his evil nature and the brainy cute purple-haired girl worry about him (who he eventualy marries in the show years later), then I'd have to actually watch everyone ELSE and all their little dinosaurs. So I gave up.

Re:

[cosmicfish.livejournal.com]

My brother watched all the Pokemon/Digimon stuff. I've seen two Pokemon movies and numerous eps of the show. At one point, I knew more about the stupid things than he did, just because he kept on making me look up stuff in the Guide books to help him with his video games. It really made me hate myself ...

As for Digimon, I watched far more than I want to admit. And I did like Ken ... but only while he was evil. I think it's a thing ... my fav characters (from anything) are ...

1) Iago (from Othello, not Aladdin)
2) Gollum
3) Spike

I think I need to start liking the good guys more than I do ...

[cosmicfish.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I like Edmund from King Lear a lot too. I think that's more normal.

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[rashaka.livejournal.com]

King lear didn't do much for me. It was good, but I liked it less than Hamlet or R&J or the comedies.

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[cosmicfish.livejournal.com]

King Lear's not my fav either. I just like Edmund, because he denied fate and refused to believe that his stars were set for him. You gotta love a guy that tries to make a world for himself.