Hello Super Saiyans! I’m Andrew, and I honestly have a hard time telling the difference between ‘Dragon Ball FighterZ’ and the anime.
No, don't Frieza!
GOKU!!!
They look pretty much the same, It's acutally a really awesome achievement,
and it's shaping up to be yet another awesome video game set in Akira Toriyama’s much-beloved world,
but I can still remember the days when Dragon Ball media wasn’t guaranteed to get a U.S. release.
There were 23 Dragon Ball games released in Japan and Europe before a single one was localized for America,
and that was a crappy PS1 fighter based on ‘GT,’
and we don’t talk about ‘GT’ here.
But it got me thinking about the franchise’s long journey to the states,
and how it became the gateway drug that introduced a whole generation of American fans to the awesomeness that is anime.
This time on NowThis Nerd, we’re taking a look at
How Dragon Ball Z Won the West.
But first, we need to talk about the reason why the journey was so difficult in the first place,
We have to start at The Beginning,
with Toriyama's original manga.
His first hit was called ‘Dr. Slump,’ and it was heavily influenced by West Coast U.S. culture.
But for his 1984 follow-up, he wanted to incorporate more of an Asian aesthetic.
That’s why he based ‘Dragon Ball’ on a 16th Century Chinese novel called ‘Journey to the West.’
That, and the book was public domain, so he wouldn’t have to pay for the rights.
Real smart.
‘Dragon Ball’ is an extremely loose adaptation of the novel,
but it does include a little monkey man who kicks ass and rides around on a Nimbus Cloud.
Using ‘Journey to the West’ as a template allowed Toriyama explore a setting that hadn’t been done a lot in manga before.
The Chinese influence is everywhere, right down to the color of Goku’s gi, which was inspired by the robes of buddhist monks.
On top of that, Toriyama added plenty of influence from his native Japan,
and his own oddball sense of humor.
[FART]
Ughhh, I'm done!
So, basically, we’re talking about a Chinese story, filtered through Japanese culture,
by a creator who happens to be a pretty weird guy.
There are some very deep cultural differences,
Yes, I see. You have two balls. They're very important and they're hidden in your clothes.
Oh, wow. She's right again, guys.
Young man, may I see them please?
Well, I guess so. Why not?
and a lot of the jokes don’t really translate well to Western audiences.
This made it a hard sell to broadcasters, and it took a while for 'Dragon Ball' to make it to the states.
But once it arrived, it opened the floodgates for anime in America.
Let’s look at the Early Efforts to bring ‘Dragon Ball’ to the West.
The first piece of ‘Dragon Ball’ media to make it over here was actually an NES game from 1988,
although you wouldn’t know it, even if you bought it.
That’s because it was stripped of the license before it came over here.
In Japan, the manga, and the ‘Dragon Ball’ anime, had become a big sensation,
which of course, led to a flood of pretty crappy 8-bit games,
including ‘Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo.’
Bandai brought it to the U.S. in 1988,
even though ‘Dragon Ball’ hadn’t officially reached us yet.
They removed the IP, slapped on a horrendous translation, and renamed it ‘Dragon Power.’
The characters have different sprites, and things like the Dragon Balls are changed to Crystal Balls.
It’s also the first, but definitely not the last, time Master Roshi’s obsession with women’s underwear would be lost in translation.
One of the powerups is a pair of Bluma's panties.
Of course it is.
The flipped the sprite upside down and turned it into a sandwich.
Americans got their first taste of the anime the next year,
With an extremely rare 1989 localization called ‘The Lost Dub.’
So little one, you're here to kill me and steal my shell. Are you?
Only about five episodes aired in test markets across the country,
and it was immediately cancelled.
They changed a few names, but overall it was a pretty faithful translation,
With only mild censorship compared to the later ‘DBZ’ dubs.
The straightforward approach might have just been too weird for the U.S. audience.
You've got to remember, this is the original ‘Dragon Ball’ anime, when Goku was a kid and there was no 'Z'.
There was a lot less alien-fighting and a lot more nudity.
Six years later, FUNimation snagged the rights and brought the first 13 episodes over,
Which, again, proceeded to bomb.
FUNimation knew the long-running anime had huge potential,
so in a last-ditch move, they threw a 'Hail Mary'
and skipped to the part that was better suited for the U.S. Market.
They decided to give up on the first goofier show,
and jump ahead to the sequel series,
which had a fully grown, jacked-up Goku, way more action, lasers, explosions, giant monkeys,
and epic sagas that’d stick with us for life:
‘Dragon Ball Z.’
The Z-fighters were a way easier sell for U.S. audiences,
Think 'G.I. Joe,' but they're flying around and beating the shit out of each other.
but with more eyes on the show, it had to meet some strict broadcast standards.
Funimation was working with Saban for distribution,
They're same company that just imported ‘Power Rangers’ and brought a ton of scrutiny to violence in kids TV.
They chopped ‘DBZ’ down to the bone,
and by the time they were through, they’d cut out 14 episodes worth of material.
For example: A lot of the pervier stuff had to just go,
and lord knows I don’t miss it,
but changing Master Roshi’s beer into a frothy mug of blue water seems a little excessive.
Saban also felt the original Japanese score was too quiet for western animation standards,
so they replaced the music with the iconic dragon-rock soundtrack,
Which conveniently allowed them to collect royalties.
♪ Dragon, dragon, rock the dragon, Dragon Ball Z ♪
It's never about your idea of fun, your dreams, your goals,
or even your favorite characters.
It's all about collecting those royalties, baby! It's all about the money!
But the most egregious alterations are the cuts to the violence.
You ever notice how no one ‘dies’ on DBZ?
You’ll get ‘destroyed,’ maybe, or my favorite: ‘sent to another dimension.’
Censoring dialogue is one thing, but there were even more intrusive edits to the animation.
They redrew frames,
erased blood,
and re-attached decapitated heads.
They even superimposed big white stars when characters got punched in the face,
in a show where literally the entire appeal is people punching each other in the face.
‘Dragon Ball Z’ only managed a cult following when it aired in syndication,
and FUNimation pulled the plug after two seasons.
This could have easily been the end for ‘DBZ’ in America.
After several failed attempts,
it seemed like the show just didn’t appeal to U.S. audiences.
But as we learned on August 31st, 1998, ‘Dragon Ball Z’ just needed to find the right home.
That’s the day ‘DBZ’ first aired on Cartoon Network’s extremely influential action block:
Toonami.
Toonami was one of the first mainstream showcases for anime in the U.S.,
and once ‘DBZ’ took its rightful place on weekday afternoons,
it became an essential part of the after-school routine for millions of American kids,
me included.
Ratings went through the roof, and FUNimation revived the localization to bring the rest of the series over.
Without Saban’s help, they couldn’t afford the same voice-actors,
but the cheaper cast gradually came into its own, and the censorship decreased as the show went on.
This has, of course, sparked endless arguments over which dub is superior.
Is your preferred Goku voiced by Sean Schemmel?
See, first, I have to go Super Saiyan!
Or are you a fan of Peter Kelamis?
That's definitely no illusion technique! I couldn't trace his energy when he disappeared!
Of course, if you’re a purist, you could always go with Masako Nozawa,
the woman who’s done his voice in Japan since the very beginning.
Today, you have options.
You can track down whatever version of the show you want,
from old dubs to fansubs.
And if you’re a sucker for tradition, ‘Dragon Ball’ is still airing on Toonami,
only now it’s earned the right to be uncut.
Despite all odds, ‘Dragon Ball’ has successfully made the leap to the U.S.,
without sacrificing the intensity or the quirkiness that made it unique in the first place.
Believe me, we’ve seen what that looks like.
The 2009 ‘Dragonball: Evolution’ movie was a disastrous attempt to sanitize the series for American tastes,
and it was such an insult to the fans that the screenwriter offered a heartfelt apology years later.
We don’t just love dudes floating in deserts screaming at eachother,
we love the style of ‘DBZ,’ and we love the characters.
That’s why I appreciate ‘Dragon Ball FighterZ’ and it’s impressive dedication to the show’s aesthetic.
It literally looks like you're playing the cartoon. It's fantastic.
You don’t have to change anything about ‘DBZ’ to win the hearts of Western audiences.
By introducing anime to me and millions of other fans,
‘Dragon Ball Z’ changed us,
and there’s no going back now.