New Dragon Ball Fan

[Tempester]

Hello one and all, my name is Jack.

Now just the other day I was out at my local bookstore (well I say out, I was abandoned). So there I was wandering about the dusty shelves when I saw Dragon Ball Volume 1. I'm not really a manga kind of guy, I prefer to watch anime and see something come alive. But I had time to kill and thought why not have a harmless read.

By Chapter 3 I couldn't put it down. The characters and plot were so appealing that I just had to find out what happened next. My favourite so far had to be Goku, everything about him makes me smile. One thing that stood out to me was the humour, there were times when I cracked a smile and had to hold back the laughs for fear of people staring at me. And then just as I was about to start the next chapter, BANG, parent comes back and it looks like I 'll never get the chance to finish it. But the series caught my intrest and so today I purchased Volumes 1 and 2 (Sayonara Cinema).

I've been aware of Dragon Ball, I've seen the games on the shelf and noticed the DVD's on amazon but this is my first full exposure to it. And what can I say? I bloody love it and if the 5 star ratings on amazon are anything to go by then this series is going to get a whole lot better. I'm planning to read the rest of Volume 1 as a midnight read and might start Volume 2 if I'm not too tired.

So just a question:

Is this the best decision I've made in my life? Am I about to be thrilled, scared, crying, laughing? And what is the basic information about this series? Anything important (nothing spoilerish) that I should know?

[Rory]

Welcome to the site, and the fandom. I'm sure you'll enjoy it, Dragon Ball is a great series, with lovable characters, and a helluva' fanbase (however divided it may be).
I hope you enjoy your time here.

[Bura]

Millions of other people are also enjoying this series so... yes, of course you made a great decision.
I certainly never regretted becoming fan of the series.

[MCDaveG]

Yo, hello! I don't want to spoil anything nor say you that you will be thrilled etc. but the best decision you made was to start from first volume. Read it till the end and you will see yourself))

For anime, art isn't in that constant quality like in manga and you must be aware, that this series is from 80's so you won't see computer smoothly animated anime but classic oldschool cel animated piece.
But I can say for myself that you won't regret it. I must recommend you to watch Japanese original version with great subtitles from Mr. Simons, which is most fun + with great atmospheric soundtrack from Shunsuke Kikuchi and nonethless great voice acting from Japanese cast.

[Kendamu]

You're especially lucky that you started with Dragonball. Many fans end up starting on Dragonball Z and don't exactly know what's going on because they jumped into the middle of the story. You're starting at the beginning so it'll be really fun for you!

Dragonball and Dragonball Z have a little bit of everything... except romance. Toriyama apparently avoided that (and I don't mind). I won't spoil it for you, though. Just keep reading and you'll see what I mean.

Oh, and Dragonball Vol. 3 is a really fun one for me. I hope you like it, too.

[mysticgoten]

Wow, you just started the series and found Daizenshuu EX?

[Tempester]

I'm aware of Daizex through their youtube channel and came here.

Have finished all the Kame Sennin stuff in the manga. That man makes me laugh.

[Chuquita]

Welcome to Daizex! :3 DB's a really fun series.

[Cipher]

I (and millions of other fans) have nothing bad to say about Dragon Ball(Z/GT). It's one of the most fun, self-aware cheese fests you'll ever find. It's not perfect, but if you actually let that bother you at any point, you're taking it too seriously.

Also, I love that despite how irreverent the series is, the characters still grow and age. That's a huge part of the draw, I think.

[LilKokuLink]

Ahh you're so lucky . I recommend you look back through the Daizex podcasts and read along with the manga review of awesomeness episodes, you'll learn many things about the plot and characters without anything being spoiled for you!

[Gaffer Tape]

Glad to see you join the fold. It's a fun, crazy, silly ride through Dragon Ball, and I hope you stick with it. Just tread lightly around these here parts, though, as there are bound to be spoilers all over the place (25 year old series... nobody really bothers hiding information at this point).

[SilverPlaqueVII]

Welcome to the Dragon World Tempester. Hopefully, you'll read 519 Chapters and watch 508 episodes with 22 Features throughout this sries. Sit back and enjoy the story of the Legend of Goku told.

[penguintruth]

Welcome.

Get out while you still can!

[Big Boss]

Welcome to the world of Dragon Ball!

Please leave your wallet at the door.

[Adamant]

Anything important (nothing spoilerish) that I should know?[/b]

It's worth knowing that "Dragon Ball Z" is not the "sequel" to "Dragonball", or whatever you'll see it explained as online. DBZ was originally the name given to the anime adaptation of manga chapters 195 and up, but in English-speaking countries, and English-speaking countries only, manga volume 17-42 were named "Dragon Ball Z volume 1-26 to avoid confusing all the kids who grew up with nothing but the "Dragon Ball Z" anime.

But yeah, they're not "different series", and the story flows directly between the two. What you'll find named "Dragon Ball Z vol 1" is really "Dragon Ball vol 17".

[MCDaveG]

Welcome to the world of Dragon Ball!

Please leave your wallet at the door.

That's what I did in pub year ago, drunk as monkey. Three bus drivers denied me to board into the bus, so I slept on street car terminus.
I don't recommend this.

[Bussani]

I think you're really lucky to be reading it from the start without knowing much about it. My only advice is to be careful around this forum, because you could very easily run into spoilers for the whole story. You'll probably get much more out of it if you don't know what's going to happen next.

[Hellspawn28]

Welcome to the world of DB, and better late then never. Also if you are going to start with the anime then check out the blue bricks of DB then go with Dbkai afterwards in my opinon. The movies are not canon, and don't worry about those for now.

[ka1oken]

Welcome to the world of DB, and better late then never. Also if you are going to start with the anime then check out the blue bricks of DB then go with Dbkai afterwards in my opinon. The movies are not canon, and don't worry about those for now.

Why would he watch Kai when only half of it has aired so far...

Would make a lot more sense to watch Z unless he wants to watch a episode a week.

[linkdude20002001]

There is one good thing about the movies: they introduce new music. Every time I hear a song from movie one, two, or three, I remember the scene it's used for in the movie.

Watching one new episode a week would is fun. I'd do it for Kai, but I refuse to watch crappy fansubs.