The Never-Ending Rant

Dragonball Z Has Become a Joke

by Ira Goldberg
Issue VII - April 21st, 2000

Browsing through the local mall yesterday, I came upon a realization that truly made me sick that related to anime, Dragonball Z has become simply a joke.

Many of us agree on the fact that Pokemon is simply a disgrace to most anime in that it was simply created to market a video game that Nintendo created. Pokemon has succeeded beyond anyone's expectations. But what happened to Dragonball Z.

Upon entering any store, not only will one be bombarded with Pokemania, a new fad has come in from Japan, DBZ. There are now action figures, cards, and other chatchkas all over stores in the US trying to pull off a similar success on one of the most legendary anime sagas ever to be produced.

Its been a gradual journey for DBZ gaining popularity. One could argue it was reaching its apex just before the "new episodes" were released in the United States, ushering in a new wave of DBZ with new voice actors. Most of you know my opinion on their job. Nevertheless, why has the target for all this DBZ merchandise become the same group targetted for Pokemon?

The whole reason for Dragonball Z's popularity was due in fact to the mass of teenagers and the younger ages of Generation X watching it, not the lucritive Britney Spear's loving market of little kids. Yet now we're bombarded with commercials for super-action Goku's that fire energy balls that look more like decrepid eggs. Something just doesn't compute here.

Cartoon Network is starting to get the point and is pushing DBZ through the roof and complementing it with other anime series. It is now flanked by Ronnin Warriors and the legendary Gundamm Wing, another anime gaining popularity in the US. Sailor Moon was dropped for Thundercats and it seems like action Anime is coming into its own. Cartoon Network even now offers to show the uncensored episodes at 12 in the morning.

But the problem of DBZ is still there. Dragonball Z is a very violent anime and the main concept is people constantly killing each other in a true battle of good vs. evil. This show was never meant for little children. Company's are now banking on the fact that these little kids won't understand what the hell death is just so long as Goku wins the fight and don't give a crap why he does. Hell Piccolo is despised by these kids and he's one of the "good guys." Piccolo may be the most realistic character in the series in that he isn't good nor evil by the time the "new episodes" were released.

My solution: Keep throwing Pokemon in our faces. Don't corrupt DBZ. Hell, you can create a whole 150 and more to see as long as I don't have to go into anywhere besides a Suncoast video and see DBZ action figures all over the place. Pokemania may have been bad, but it wasn't destructive. This new campaign to usher in the new Pokemon in the form of Dragonball Z is simply wrong.

Can I go to bed yet?