In Response to "The Uninformed Strike Back"

By StarChld14

This is in response to The Uninformed Strike Back. No, this isn't hate mail. It's just an editorial to debate a few points and answer a few questions.

First of all, the reason dubbies are looked down on is they always pretend to know much more than they actually do. They will tell you up front that they're absolutely certain the Cell Jr. in the box of mini figured is Frieza and no amount of other proof will convince them otherwise. I know. I've tried. Even showing them the name on the box doesn't help. They've watched the CN episodes, they know a Frieza when they see him. It's this boasting that makes well researched DBZ fans hate the dubbers.

Yes, subtitled tapes are often bad quality, yet if you actually try, you can find A++ quality tapes at dirt cheap prices. It just takes a little looking. And being able to spot Goku's hair from a few blocks away on a store sign. I know this personally. And that about not wanting to rent a movie that will be on TV in a few weeks is not true. More like not wanting to rent a movie you know won't be out for at least a year or so. And then when it is on TV, it's all cut up. You say they're censoring violence for American viewers, but then why all the stupid censors? In a scene, Gohan cries big anime tears and they're cut out. Is it considered dangerously violent to cry now? And what about the crucial part of explaining Kami and Piccolo's relationship? That was essential to the plot and not a bit violent, yet it was still cut.

Next you talk about how knowing what happens next ruins the watching experience. Well, it doesn't. I sat down to watch Death of a Prince knowing full well Vegeta dies. Heck, it even says he dies in the freaking title. I still cried at the touching speech Goku made when he buried Vegeta and when Vegeta was talking while he was dying. And talking about a dubbie having no clue about Goku turning Super Saiyan, that's like a guy not knowing that Christmas is going to be saved in Ernist Saves Christmas. I mean the opening song has a shot of Goku turning Super Saiyan! Goku's "The Good Guy" you know that Frieza isn't going to win and destroy the universe and then the end. You know that somehow Goku's going to win. Put that together with the covers of the tapes and the image in the opening song and you're not going to come up with "Kaio-ken times 300" or "Goku dies and Frieza wins" You're going to know he goes Super Saiyan and trashes Frieza.

Now for FUNimation. Yes, they have messed up DBZ, no doubt about it. Season 3 is the worst voice wise. They basically have two people doing voices. One doing all the male, the other doing all the female. That's just wrong. No matter how someone changes their voice, you can tell it's the same person.

The names thing is a little too picky to me. If it's pronounced the same, what does it matter how it's spelled?

The new opening theme song just sucks. I'm sorry, but it does. It has 8 words, that's it. It's no fun to sing along with. It's no fun to try and memorize. Yes, Cha La Head Cha La is too long to be a good American opening song, that's why you use the remix version. Much shorter, a catchier beat. Yet still not obnoxious.

"1) If Radditz was ever brought back (why is that?) and he trained hard enough, if he went SSJ, would he automatically go SSJ 3 because of his hair length? Would his hair grow incredibly short? If not and he only went SSJ, then if he went SSJ 2, would his hair grow even longer than Goku's at SSJ 3? C'mon... "

He would go SSJ first, not SSJ3 because the Super Saiyan levels are based on power, not hair. Hair is only a physical sign of the power upgrade.

"2) Allright, what the hell is Vegeta saying? "I'll just use my (insert name here) and blow the whole thing up!" Is it Gallet, Gallick, Galaxy, Garlic...what the hell is the name of his Gun?!"

Gahriko-Ho is the phonically written version according to VIZ

"3) On a similar note, why can't anyone agree on a universal name for somebody? Goku/Gokuu/Gokuh? Vegeta/Vegita/Bejeeta? Brolly/Broili/Buroli? Freeza/Freiza/Freezer? Saiya-Jin/Saiyan? Radditz/Raditz? The only way I know how to resolve this is by using the FUNimation names because they are the only ones that remain consistent. That would mean Goku would stay Goku (not Gokuh or Gokuu), Vegeta would be Vegeta (Not Vegita or Bejeeta), and Freiza would remain Freiza (Not Freeza or Freezer). This all came about because of fansubs, so its best to stay with the people who make the show (FUNimation and Saban)."

The reason there are so many versions of each name is that Japanese has a totally different alphabet. So people spell the names like they sound. However, a few names you have to be a "boastful dubbie" to mess up. Trunks is pretty standard, Goten, Chi-Chi, and Bra are as well. What I wanna know is why the hell people insist of calling Bulma Buruma. Akira Toriyama gave us her name in English and spelled it Bulma. It's on her shirt for most of Dragonball. In both manga and cartoon. It's like calling someone with a nametag the wrong name. It's just stupid.

"4) Why is it when everyone makes a list of Saiya-Jins that survived the Planet Vegeta's destruction no one includes Turles (Taurus)? We always hear Goku, Vegeta, Nappa, Radditz, Brolly and Paragus survive, but never Taurus? Also, are Goku and Turles related? Tree Of Might does not give a very good explanation. "We are both lower class soldiers." I'm also a college student, but I don't look like the person that sits beside me in Physics. The similarity has to be twins. Is it? Clone maybe? Just don't say coincidence!"

Heck if I know. Maybe they forget. And about the twins part, heck if I know. Bardock could have been sowing some wild lettuce (minor joke, Bardock means lettuce) back in the old days. I just think the animators thought an "evil twin" episode would be pretty cool.

"5) Vegeta goes Super Saiya-Jin, but doesn't have a pure heart. He once said, "Its pure...PURE EVIL!" Does that apply? Does the person have to be pure good? Can they be pure evil and go SSJ? ARGH!"

Who said you have to have a pure heart? A boastful dubbie I bet. I sure haven't found a record of Toriyama saying that.

"6) Why doesn't Raditz get the accolades he deserves? He is a person in DBZ that beat the living hell out of BOTH Piccolo and Goku, then ends up (inadvertently) killing Goku! Freiza couldn't kill Goku. Cell kills Goku, but only because Goku wants it that way (And I still believe he could have
teleported out of there in time) and Gohan has to save Goku's bacon...again! I mean, can he get a little bit more respect? He is called a weakling and a coward. Not so. He took on Piccolo and Goku head on and almost won if Gohan hadn't saved them."

He's an intro character. He's just there to show how evil and nasty the saiyans are. He serves no other purpose other than to inform. Once he has done so, there's no need of him.

"7) Why wasn't Raditz ever wished back to life? I'm sure if Vegeta could reform than Raditz could too. Also, why does Raditz lie to Goku by saying Planet Vegeta was hit by a comet, rather than say Freiza blew it up? He knew about it- Vegeta told him and Nappa!"

It was impossible to wish Raditz back to life. He had one shot at life before the 1 year time limit ran out. The same time Goku was wished back to life. But he couldn't then. The Z gang didn't need another evil saiyan running around causing trouble when they had Vegeta and Nappa to deal with. After that the time limit was up. And Raditz told Goku that the planet Vegeta was hit by a comet because he thought that. Vegeta didn't learn the truth until Dadoria told him on Namek.

"8) Why couldn't Shen Lon destroy the Saiyans? Don't tell me he can't grant a wish that exceeds Kami's power! If he can bring people back from the dead, he should be able to bump somebody off."

Kami is a Dragon/Healing type Namek. Technically, bringing someone back to life is healing. So that's within his power. Killing someone more powerful than you is a warrior type thing.

"9) Are people on DBZ as stupid as they really seem? Did NOBODY have the idea to take Dende back to Freiza's ship to heal Goku so that the battle might have went differently? He would have still gone SSJ (If he didn't kill Freiza before Freiza hit Form 4) and Krillin got bumped off."

Once they found out about it they were kinda in the middle of a battle. Then Dende got killed.

"10) Okay, how in God's name (Or should I say Kami's name?) does Goku and Vegeta keep their hair standing? Goku trains in 100 TIMES EARTH'S NORMAL GRAVITY and his hair stays up. He stays submerged in water of nearly an hour and it still stands up! Vegeta trains in 300 TIMES EARTH'S NORMAL GRAVITY and his hair still stays straight! What the hell?!"

Toriyama wants it that way, his word is law. Though personally I actually know, Anime Magic. The same force that keeps the Sailor Scouts looking Beauty Contest perfect, Pokemon from ever actually dying, and the Ranma characters from changing when they sweat.

"11) Does it bother anybody that Vegeta and Bulma never get married? They have a kid and Mirai Trunks says, "They never got married...I don't think mom liked that idea." Did they end up getting married?!"

I've heard that they do eventually. I don't know. Marriage is probably a human concept anyway.

"12) Does SSJ 4 even qualify as Super Saiya-Jin? The hair doesn't turn gold, their get evil eyes, a tail pops out and they grow red fur! They also become insanely powerful. So...is SSJ 1-3 really Super Saiya-Jin or is SSJ 4 not? Does SSJ 4 make you a legendary Super Saiya-Jin?"

I can answer that in two letters. G T. GT was not made by Toriyama, there are many many impossible things in GT. Don't even try to make sense of it.

*13) What the hell is up with Ultra Super Saiya-Jin? This is supposedly a form between SSJ and SSJ 2 that only Miari Trunks and Brolly achieve. Wouldn't it stand to reason since it is a new form that it should be classified as SSJ 2, bringing the count of SSJ forms to 5? And its a form that increases your power but decreases your speed...whatever. I didn't see Brolly's speed decrease when he was beating the hell out of every DBZ character.*

Mirai Trunks and Vegeta and maybe a couple other people go Ultra, Ultimate, whatever. It's considered a half form because it's not really a complete transformation I believe. Like when Frieza first "transforms" by growing taller and getting rid of the armor. That's not counted as a transformation. Brolly is a movie character.

"14) You always hear of Gotenks going SSJ then SSJ 3. Does he hit SSJ 2? Why does he get to skip it?!"

If you can go right to three, why bother with two?

"15) Could we come up with a longer name for Cell? Ultra Perfect Cell doesn't seem good enough." Could be "Mr. Satan's Super Ultra Megaton Punch"

Long names are funny, Get over it.

"16) Why doesn't Gohan turn SSJ when he is Super Saiyaman? It would be a lot easier to conceal his identity with a new hair color and new eye color. When he fights the giant demon creature he shoots at it, but not as SSJ! WHY?!"

He does, you saw movie 13, that's a movie. It doesn't count. Anyway Gohan got a power upgrade so he can be more powerful than SSJ without transforming.

"17) Gohan is rumored to be the most powerful person in DBZ..that lasts until he hits SSJ 2. Why? This is the kid that had a powerlevel that nearly quadrupled his dad's power when he got mad! But he can't be bothered to go SSJ 3? School ain't that important. Is Goten and Trunks as powerful as he is? They hit SSJ at an early age."

SSJ3 isn't all it's cracked up to be. In the manga you can only power up in SSJ3 if your dead. Otherwise trying to power up just knocks you back regular. Non-powered SSJ3 is only a little more powerful than SSJ2.

"18) Why does Gohan's tail keep growing back? Does it quit when he gets older? Is it because he is human/Saiyan? Why doesn't Trunks have a tail? Or Goten? How come?!"

Gohan's like his daddy, his tail has a mind of it's own. It grows back when and if it feels like it. Goten and Trunks either had their tails removed at birth or had the human no-tail gene.

Hope you enjoyed my answers.