We all frequent message boards and online forums (such as alt.fan.dragonball), and we all contribute as much as we can. Unfortunately, we don't KNOW of all the places people post questions, so it's impossible for us to reach everyone. However, if you're reading this, you at least know where WE are, so it's possible for you to ask us directly.

What we're going for here is sort of an "Answerman" or "Ask John" (from Anime News Network and Anime Nation, respectively). We'd like you to e-mail in whatever questions you may have, so long as it somehow relates to the world of DragonBall; be it the manga, the anime, merchandise... whatever. We've been around for a few years, now, and we know the ropes... we like to think we know our stuff.

And we want to help. E-mail your questions to VegettoEX@aol.com with the subject "Ask VegettoEX." We'll try to update this section every Saturday, with at least one question straight from the fans. Thanks!

[ Last Updated: Sunday, 26 October 2003 ]
[ Past "Ask VegettoEX" Archives ]

Q. Do you know why the site planetnamek.com is retired? Did the owner of the site lose interest in DBZ, or what was the reason? - Grigolei

A. It would be very improper and foolish of me to speculate the exact reasons, or any personal feelings on the behalf of those site maintainers. At the same time, we all know what a burden huge sites are on the pocket, these days. After around 2001, the internet just wasn't as "free" as it used to be. Bills became huge, ads weren't paying them... for many sites, it just got to be too much. Also, it became pretty obvious that some of the staff members just didn't have their heart in it, anymore. That's not to say it's a bad thing... sometimes people just move on. Personally, I'd rather see a site shut down than continue to be run by someone who's not enjoying it (which is why I took a year off, myself).

All in all, it was a fun ride, but all good things must end. Unless you're Daizenshuu EX ^^.

Q. Can you tell me were I can find the Chinese Techno remix of Cha-La Head-Cha-La? - Jamie Dyer

A. Oh, man... Personally, I had a friend in #db send it to me YEARS ago. At the same time, I got the cover-art for the CD it was on. Unfortunately, many formats and computers later... all I have left is the MP3, itself (I think... ? *looks* o.o;;). In all honesty, I don't have a clue, anymore, what CD it's from ;_;. Wish I could be more help. If anyone else knows, feel free to drop me a line.

Q. This is just my personal observation as to why FUNi hasn't released the "Cell Games" and "Great Saiyaman" DVDs yet. I'm thinking that Toei doesn't want them to do so until the second Dragon Box is released, since this would probably hurt their sales. Do you think there is any validity to this? - William Brown

A. I doubt that's a big factor. Huge chunks of the series have already been released before the two Dragon Boxes. I'm sure it's just FUNimation taking on too many tasks, as it is, and just hasn't gotten around to it.

Kinda like how they announced One Piece, then didn't, and now we're waiting for the official-official announcement :P. Just too much to do at once! But yeah, we're all dying for that damn episode 184...

Q. Hey do you know where i can download the demestic dragonball cds done by faulconer?
ive been looking all over and can't seem to find them. - Juan Noriega

A. *everyone please note the grammar in that mail* Well, for starters, you're not looking hard enough. I found ALL the music in one easy Google search! All you need to do is go to this page, "upload" your credit card information, and you'll "download" via the USPS every single song you want! Isn't technology great?!?

Q. Son Goku delivers the fatal blow to Piccolo Daimaô, Daimaô spits out one last demon, then finally dies. Son goes off and trains for 3 years at Kami-sama's temple for the coming of the "reincarnation" of the Demon King. He enters the 23rd Tenka-ichi Budôkai and fights him... Piccolo (Ma Junior), yadda yadda yadda... my question is: How could Piccolo (Ma Junior), who was "born" right when Daimaô kicked the bucket, be an adult JUST after 3 years of birth? (...That means he was 9 years old when he trained Son Gohan and fought the Saiya-jin O_o) Do all Namek-sei-jin age that fast? (Dende didn't... ¬_¬) Was it just his demonic Daimaô blood...? Or just Toriyama-san too lazy to make up a reason...? ^_^;; - styles84

A. Hehe... that's a FANTASTIC plot-hole, ain't it? But it's very true... Piccolo's only THREE YEARS OLD, technically, when he fights Goku at the Budôkai. As you've noted... no true explaination has ever really been given, so it's open to pure speculation. As you've also noted, the best guess is that it's probably the "demonic blood" passed down to him from Piccolo Daimaô (that's how I've always seen it, anyway).

So yeah... no real reason, but at least we've got a few educated guesses!

Q. Hi. I was just wondering when the Tenshinhan, Chiaotzu, Goku, and Kuririn learned how to fly. In a recent episode I saw Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu fly but I don't think it's ever explained when or how they learned. Is there any explanation anywhere? Thanks a bunch. - Radheshyam Gupta

A. Both Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu are able to fly when they are introduced as characters. One thing to keep in mind is that early on in the series (as in, the original DragonBall), the characters aren't as strong as they are later in the series; they also note that using bukûjutsu (the flying / levitation technique) takes up a pretty big chunk of power.

If you don't mind some spoilers...

Kuririn first shows us that he's able to fly during the 23rd Tenka-ichi Budôkai. He's smacked down out of the air by Ma Junior (Piccolo), and is about to fall out of bounds, when... he stops in mid-air! He wipes his face, smirks, and tells us that he's learned to fly. We can only assume that he learned the technique in the couple years after he left Tenshinhan, Chiaotzu, and Yamcha (when they all left to go train on their own for a while before the tournament).

Goku, on the other hand, is kinda tricky. He shows HINTS of being able to fly MANY, MANY times throughout the course of the series. As I've noted before, it takes a large amount of energy to fly. Goku even says this, himself, when running down "Snake Way"; he'd fly the entire journey, but he just wouldn't have enough strength / energy. HOWEVER... on his way back to Earth from Kaiô's planet, Goku's BOLTS it flying the entire way. We can only assume that during his training there he finally got to the energy level where he could consistently fly without draining himself far too much.

Hopefully that's a little bit of help! Good question, though!

And finally, we have just one question to be answered this week by Julian, the sexy manga-know-it-all that he is!

Q. We all know that the original Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z the anime is very different from the English dub, but is the Japanese version of the manga very different from the English version? Is the English Viz release accurate, or do they over-censor too? - Smile83775

A. Actually, the Viz manga is, for its part, quite accurate. The translation is, by and large, extremely faithful to the original source (but of course, you can only change so much in this medium, since there's no music, etc.). There are some nitpicky things I don't like here and there (mostly choices of lettering style, wordiness vs. clarity, taking liberties with the chapter titles), but the great majority is... well... great. But it wasn't quite always like this.

Back in 1999, when Viz started publishing the DB and DBZ monthlies, they used the marketing slogan "Uncut, Uncensored, Unbelievable" to help them sell. Although initially, the English translation was a tad heavy on Americanisms (most likely thanks to former editor Trish Ledoux), it was completely uncut. However, a year or two later, some parents, who'd bought these comics for their young children (because, having seen the Saban- and KidMark-sponsored dubs of DBZ and DB on TV, they knew it was COMPLETELY HARMLESS), found offensive the dirty humor present in the early DragonBall episodes. One thing led to another, they threatened to sue, and Viz started censoring its monthly comics.

HOWEVER... by March of 2001, the censorship (which honestly wasn't a whole lot, anyway) had generated such a negative fan response that Viz finally relented, and decided to go back to their uncensored comics (with a "Recommended for Ages 13 and Up" label gracing the corner of the DB comics and graphic novels).

Since the first 3 DragonBall graphic novels were published during the "Censored" period, they had to be republished unedited (the only difference on the covers was the aforementioned "13-and-Up" label). This made it a tad confusing when buying them at first, having to check to make sure one had the right version... but as long as you stick with the newer, different-looking, Shonen Jump editions (which started coming out this year), you'll be fine. The previous volumes of DBZ weren't de-censored completely: Gohan's genetalia remained covered up, and Roshi's line about fondling Bulma's breasts in vol. 1 was replaced with something about a kiss. However, all the "bad language" was put back, and up until volume 5, there's only 1 edit per volume (if that), anyway... and after that, there's nothing to censor. So... all's well with regards to that now... but it took a couple of years to get everything straightened around.

Sooo... in short, unless you're really, really nitpicky, you should enjoy Viz's release of the manga. It really is a faithful English version of the series.

That's all we can manage for this week! We're out of left-over questions (and newly submitted ones), so... e-mail us your questions for next week's update! No matter which one of us ends up answering, you're sure to get your money's worth (and don't complain if you don't, 'cuz you didn't spend anything anyway)!

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