Dragon Ball Z - the phases of fandom
Jul. 14th, 2003 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timepiececlockI was chatting with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
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.
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.
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Date: 2003-07-15 10:19 am (UTC)and the Sword In The Stone on the Kai-planet. A concept which irrtated me, btw. I thought the Supreme Kai was a cool character when...
Supreme Kai was *so* lame. How "supreme" can he be and be all surprised at how strong the Saiyans are? The Sword -in-a-Stone thing was actually not so bad. Turns out, it wasn't a mystical weapon in the Scythe sense, so much as it was just so damn heavy that by training with it, you made yourself strong. It actually broke when Gohan and Goku were fooling around with it, so they never even used it in battle. I thought that was a nice little twist on the mystical weapon trope...
no definites or absolutes in the DBZ universe
I can shrug this off with an, eh, "kid's show" and so the tremendous never ending cycle of power inflation didn't bother me so very much. I expect a certain continuity world-building laxness in something so clearly geared towards "fun" rather than "art". Though going back and watching earlier episodes before the advent of super-saiyan was frustrating, because I'd start my traditional "super saiyan! super saiyan!" chant in anticipation of the transformation, and nothing would happen. Bummer.
Re:
Date: 2003-07-15 12:19 pm (UTC)But actually, the earlier part of the series didn't annoy me with the constant power-inflation so much, because then Goku (and the others by proxy) were just getting stronger and moving through the ranks of the enemy with Supersayain as the ultimate goal. It's when they They reach the ultimate goal, and then have to up it for lack of better plot ideas, that irritated me.