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: Saturday, 22 November 2003 ]
[ Past "Ask VegettoEX" Archives ]

Q. You've been around for about 5 years now, You never really say or reveal anything about yourself. I am sure a lot of people are curious as to who is VegettoEX, so how about a small 10-question interview? - My Arm is missin

A. Aww, c'mon! I'm always out in the open! Whether it be at conventions, on newsgroups and/or forums, I'm always there for you people! ;_; Hehe... but anyway, yeah, I'd be glad to answer these questions. I sent them over to Julian, too, for answering, since I think people need to get to know HIM more-so than me. Here we go!

VegettoEX - 10 Questions

Q1. Where do you live?
A1. I live in New Jersey. I'm in my senior year at Rutgers University majoring in Information Technology & Informatics with a minor in general history.

Q2. How old are you?
A2. Birthday is July 1st... I'm 21.

Q3. What do you do for fun?
A3. Besides the obvious working on this site and making anime music videos, I love going to a good ol' punk rock show, playing video games (I'm mostly a fighting-games kinda guy... SNK and Capcom)... I dunno. I'm a 21 year old college senior. I don't have all THAT much free time :P.

Q4. What's your favorite (non-anime) show?
A4. For the longest time, it was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The spin-off, Angel, quickly took over the position as my favorite non-anime show. It's absolutely fantastic. It's really the one show I actually watch on television and regularly keep up with.

Q5. What's your favorite anime?
A5. Clearly, DragonBall is my favorite of all time. Currently, though, it's rightful successor, One Piece, is VERY close behind. Been watching it for a couple years, and I have no intentions of stopping.

Q6. What's your current favorite game?
A6. Umm... I dunno. I never really have a favorite game. I'll play any Street Fighter or King of Fighters game (or combo of games :P) you throw at me. Mario Party 4 was the game the stole the most time of my life this past year, so having to hold out for X-mas to get Mario Party 5 is kinda tough ^^.

Q7. What's your all-time favorite game?
A7. Another "I dunno." Street Fighter Alpha 2? Final Fantasy VII? Super Mario Bros. 3? The Legend of Zelda? All are pretty high up there...

Q8. How many DragonBall DVDs do you own?
A8. Ugh. You have to make me go count, don't you? I don't even know. I kinda slowed down over the years (not just with DB, but with DVDs in general).. but... hmm... 4 of the DB 2-disc sets (so that's eight discs), 1 DB movie, 18 DBZ volumes, 4 DBZ movies, and the 2 DBZ TV specials. So that's only 33 discs. Keep in mind, also, that Meri has a shiload of discs to fill in a ton of holes in my collection, so between us, we've got most of the series.

Q9. What's your favorite site?
A9. AbsolutePunk.net, hands down.

Q10. Do you ever regret bringing back the site?
A10. Not one bit. I really did it for myself, because I just enjoyed working on it so damn much. I'm having a blast being able to work on stuff like this again... it really is just that much fun. Without whining every two minutes about something FUNimation's done (mostly because the show is essentially OVER), I can really concentrate on what matters... the show I love.

Julian Grybowski - 10 Questions

Q1. Where do you live?
A1. New York State. It's a pretty big place...suffice it to say that I'm nowhere near the City.

Q2. How old are you?
A2. 18 years, 8 months, 20 days.

Q3. What do you do for fun?
A3. Read, work on the website, talk to people online, wander around the dorm... etc.

Q4. What's your favorite (non-anime) show?
A4. I haven't watched all that much TV since I started college... although I am rather fond of the Daily Show.

Q5. What's your favorite anime?
A5. Dragon Ball. Aside from that, perhaps Cowboy Bebop or Vision of Escaflowne.

Q6. What's your current favorite game?
A6. Haven't played many of those recently, either...although I'm looking forward to playing through Super Mario Bros. 3 over winter break (I never could beat it on the NES).

Q7. What's your all-time favorite game?
A7. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,

Q8. How many DragonBall DVDs do you own?
A8. Between 20 and 30, I think... but I'm not where they are, so I can't check.

Q9. What's your favorite site?
A9. www.daizex.com :-P

Q10. Do you ever regret bringing back the site?
A10. Uhh...do I? Well, it wasn't really my choice...but hey, anything that furthers my own ambitions of internet-dominance (without resorting to pr0n) works for me.

Q. Can anyone write an editorial for your site or is it just EX-ers? - My Arm is missin

A. Of course anyone can write an editorial. We've got the submission rules all in huge, bold text on the "Editorials" page :P. - VegettoEX

Q. What's your favorite theme from the DragonBall universe? Mine would have to be MIND POWER...KI... from the Hit Song Collection 9, "Future Shock!!" - JH3436

A. Hey, there's two people... we both might as well answer.

My favorite DBZ song? "Unmei no Hi ~ Tamashii tai Tamashii ~." Julian's favorite DBZ song? Well, Julian has to be a little bitch and not list a single song. Here's what he has to say:

I'm a big fan of "MIND POWER ...Ki..," although I'd say "Hikari no WILL POWER" and "Ore ga Yaranakya Dare ga Yaru" are close seconds.

My favorite DB song wavers between "Mezase Tenka-ichi" and "Muten Rôshi no Oshie," while my favorite DBGT song is "Sabitsuita Mashingan de Ima o Uchinukô." - VegettoEX & Julian

Q. I have been collecting the DBGT series on DVD and I was wondering something. Did the animators use different colors for the Super Saiyan hair color? In Z it looks much lighter, not so yellow, like a mixture of yellow and white, but in GT, Goku's hair is like blond, a very solid yellow... is it just me or did they color differently? - Luis

A. It wouldn't surprise me. GT is a completely different animation style from the previous series (unlike Z, where it was really just a continuation of the exact same series / manga, so it kept everything more or less the same, saving for maturity in the general art style). When moving to new animators (probably) and new equipment, I'm sure the general colors changed slightly. Not to mention the (obviously) higher budget they attempted to throw at it to boost ratings... which... failed :P. - VegettoEX

Q. Hello. I was wondering if you could clear something up for me. I know you get a lot of questions about the DVD Boxsets but there seems to be some inconsistancy with the different sets. I've read every possible article and question but still can't seem to find the answer to my problem. Is, at this moment, the entire DragonBall Z series compiled into boxets, and are they all bilingual uncut? I want to purchase the entire series but don't want non-subbed and I don't want to be missing episodes between boxets. - Justin Taylor

A. You obviously haven't checked out our "DVD Guide" !!

With the exception of volumes of DBZ that aren't out yet (such as "Cell Games" and "Great Saiyaman"), the only two seasons / sagas that do NOT have bilingual and uncut releases are the first two seasons. These seasons, which were dubbed by FUNimation and distributed by Pioneer (who has since lost thier sub-license on the episodes) are in two giant boxsets, and are exactly as they have been seen on TV since 1996-1997.

In all honesty, you're probably better off reading through the "DVD Guide," since it's already written out for you, there ^^. Hope it's helpful... that's what it's there for ^^. - VegettoEX

Q. Which DragonBall / DragonBall Z OST has Piccolo's theme song? The one I'm talking about is the song that plays where he makes a dramatic appearance like in Movie 9 where Gohan is getting beaten up by Bojack and the gang. Then just when they were about to finish him off, Piccolo comes and saves Gohan with a Makkankosappo, then right afterwards it shows Piccolo in his greatness, standing atop a pinnacle playing his song. The song also plays throughout the series. I've been looking around for it, as well as Vegeta's theme song. Oh, and don't be mistaken with the other theme songs, the ones I'm talking about don't have lyrics or anything, it's all instrumental. Thanks. - Jonathan E.

A. These two pieces are probably THE most requested bits of BGM I've ever had in my years of maintaining this website (with the possible exceptions of Tapion's theme from movie 13 and the infamous "Dun-Dun-Dun"). Luckily, unlike Tapion's theme.. these exist!

You're going to want to check out the 5-disc daizenshuu set of CDs. Towards the end of disc 1, in the Piccolo-Daimaô era of BGM, there are tons of versions of Piccolo's theme that were used in the TV series. On disc 5 of this set, check out the BGM for movie 9 (it's track 15). Vegeta's theme, played on the violin when he appears in the movie, is contained in this track (about 2:36 of the way in).

Hope that's a help! - VegettoEX

Q. Is Kame-Sen'nin immortal or not? I initially thought he was, because his turtle mentions that he drank the immortality elixir in volume 2 of the manga. Also, the fact that he is hundreds of years old and never seems to get any older than he already is supports this. In volume 13, right before he faces Piccolo the Great Demon King, he tells Tenshinhan not to worry about him because he drank the immortality elixir. After knocking Tenshinhan out shortly after, though, he says that no such elixir exists! What is the real story? - Matt Rowe

A. I think this is one of those issues that's never really given a CONCRETE answer throughout the course of the entire series. We're told both the fact that he has drunk this elixir (by a character who's NOT him, but would still be able to correctly confirm it), but then later told by the actual character that there's no such thing. Who are we to believe?

Perhaps when Kame-Sen'nin tells Tenshinhan that there's no elixir, he may be speaking metaphorically about there being nothing to prevent inevitible death, which will eventually come at some point for all beings. You may be able to prolong it, but not forever. Kame-Sen'nin had decided it was his time to give up his life, and not even a youth-giving elixir could stop him.

It's rather obvious that there's something very special about Kame-Sen'nin. He's been around for MANY years. However... Tsuru-Sen'nin would be about the same age as him, and he's still around, as well. Should we infer that BOTH characters were able to drink said elixir at some point in their lives?

I think it's safe to say that due to their intense martial arts training, their longevity is greatly increased compared to that of a normal human. - VegettoEX

Q. You may not have any idea, in fact you probably don't, but just in case, why did Shunsuke Kikuchi stop composing the background music after DBZ? I've been trying to watch GT, and while I can see what people don't like about it, I can also see some good things about it... But overall, I feel it would add much more uniformity to the three series if they all had BGM by the same composer. - Matt Re

A. I really have no idea why Akito Tokunaga stepped in to do the music for GT; I'm not privy to Mr. Kikuchi's personal thoughts, and I don't know if he ever stated it publicly. Nevertheless, I think it's possible that he simply had other commitments. He did, after all, write the score to Shin Tenchi Muyô! (Tenchi in Tokyo), which was done right around the same time as GT. To me, that seems to be the most plausible explanation, but who knows? I certainly don't think he died...at least, I hope not. But anyways...I hope that at least provides something of an answer. - Julian

Q. What color is Piccolo's belt supposed to be? On the TV series it's blue, but in some of the movies and occasional colored pictures (which I presume are by Toriyama, such as the one in your "General Info" sidebar), it's red. Additionally, when Gohan wears his Piccolo uniform, his belt is red too. I have no access to the colored manga chapters, so I can't find this out myself. If I had to guess, I'd think that as with Vegeta's entire color scheme, the animators got the belt wrong when Piccolo Jr. first appeared on the TV series... But I can't figure out why they would never have repaired the error in later episodes, as they did with other things (Vegeta's colors, Goku's undershirt, etc.). - Matt Re

A. In the manga, Piccolo's gi is always some shade of purple (from lavender to bluish), with a red sash and red wristbands. Young Gohan's outfit is the same (although in the first color manga chapter where he wore that uniform, it was green instead of purple). Akira Toriyama's coloring scheme for Dragon Ball was (admittedly) rather inconsistent, so it's not surprising that there'd be variations.

Update: Well... having now gone home and actually looked at my manga, I've discovered something rather curious. Although promo art always has Piccolo wearing a red sash and red wristbands, he's not drawn like that in the manga itself until after he's revived by Porunga. Up until that point, his sash is usually purple. In chapter 187, in which he uses his "giant body" technique against Goku, it is blue... however, this is not his first appearance in full color, so we can assume that the blue sash in the anime is just a mistake by Toei.- Julian

Q. Finally, this is more of a suggestion than a question, but I thought I'd send it to you since you pride your site on its DB music content. I've noticed that in the various DB DVD sets released by Funimation, the menus have original background music from the series, which in many cases is not available on any CDs that I'm aware of. Wouldn't it be great if someone ripped these pieces into MP3s for download? After all, if they aren't available on any commercial CD, they would probably fall into your rules for making them available, would they not? - Matt Re

A. Which pieces of music are you talking about? I only have the last four volumes of DB (the two "King Piccolo" and "Piccolo Jr." volumes), and from what I remember, all the BGM on the menus can be found on disc 1 of the 5 CD daizenshuu set. - VegettoEX

Q. Whatever happened to Goku's Nyoi-Bô? Did it just stay there connected between Karin's tower and Kami's palace, or what? The last time I saw it was in DragonBall and other than the first two movies, it doesn't show up in DBZ. - Wassup2

A. In the manga, the Nyoi-Bo (presumably) remains linked between Karin's and Kami's (although Toriyama would sometimes use it in promo art, it's never seen again in the manga itself); however, for the anime... It's probably just another example of terrible Toei inconsistencies (nevermind the fact that an extending pole isn't going to do much damage when Goku can just use a 4X Kaiô-Ken-powered Kamehameha :P). - VegettoEX

Q. I'm not sure if anyone has asked this particular question before, but has Akira Toriyama made any indication that he was influenced in anyway by Saint Seiya? The idea of the gold aura/hair of the Super Saiyajin, plus Saint Seiya's great popularity throughout the 1980's, might have been a factor, at least IMO. At any rate, I'm just curious... - Maikeru

A. I suppose it's possible (manga authors borrowing ideas from each other is nothing new), but in this case, it seems more likely that it was just an extension of the whole powering up/getting stronger idea, coupled with the concept of Qi/Ki creating an aura of energy. And what better aura for a super-powerful fighter than a golden one? In this case, I think it's more of a convenient plot device than an outright theft from another author. - Julian

Q. Oi. I was wondering, like... uhm. If Piccolo can all warp his arms outward and cool shit like that, can he like, uhm... extend his, well you know...

Toes? - Bryan Harper

A. o.o;; .... you're a moron. In addition to this, Namekians are asexual. We know what you were thinking, all you perverts!! - VegettoEX

Q. Has anybody noticed--in typical DBZ fashion--the joke to Buu and his masters' names? Bibidi, Babidi, Buu = Bippity-Boppity-Boo. So is Toriyama a Disney fan or something? - FDLink

A. I don't know how to say it without at least halfway sounding like a dick, so I'll just say it... yeah, this is pretty much common knowledge... everyone knows that it's a pun on the ol' Cinderella song ^^;;... doesn't take much to figure it out :P.

Toriyama notes in daizenshuu number one that his inspiration to start drawing was "101 Dalmations" (although this may not have been a proper interview, but the "interviewer" gathering firsthand information and then put it into his own format).

Additionally, we DO know that he just has a fun time with name-pun conventions for every style and race of characters. It's neat to see some kind of pop-culture reference for name puns instead of his usual food puns! - VegettoEX & Julian

Q. Hey ya, This is my last attempt to find the info I'm looking for, at least for today, heh. Anyway, I haven't seen all the episodes to DragonBall / Z / GT sooo maybe I missed something or just don't remember if I did. I wanted to know if there is anything mentioned about Vegeta's mother and if there is, what is it? - HerEvilNess4

A. Nope; there's really not much of ANY mention of mothers throughout the entire series, with the exception of characters like Bulma and Chi-Chi that end up becoming mothers, themselves. At least Vegeta and Goku have their fathers explained... characters like Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Kuririn don't even have THAT! ^^ - VegettoEX

Q. I have a question concerning Krillin's height. When Raditz first showed up, he was a head shorter than Goku, but later on he's much shorter. What gives? - Wassup2

A. I'm sure it's just another case of Toriyama's evolving art-style. You'll notice during the beginning of DBZ, Goku's neck is pretty long (not to mention Goku being a little lanky). Goku's training and beefing up still doesn't explain the major metamorphosis his character's design goes through over time ^^. So yeah, it's just the fact that since DB is so long, characters are bound to change in designs at some point. It's just the natural progression of the art. - VegettoEX

Q. Remember how last time "DBZ: Budokai" in Europe had the Japanese cast with English and foreign subtitles? Well this time around it's.... the American FUNimation cast-only. Well, some in Europe are happy... many are pretty mad at the change. I, for one, was really disappointed since I enjoyed the European version so much last time and I really want to enjoy the sequel with the cast I loved so much last tme. Do you know of any website where a gaijin like me could import the Japanese version from Japan, particularly with my rather limited (or rather, pretty much non-existent) Japanese skeelz? - Busta Rythm

A. I totally agree, especially considering that the majority of the European audience isn't going to be familiar with FUNimation's cast in the first place! Geeze, places like Germany and Italy have had their own dubs (and therefore voice casts) for YEARS. It would only make sense to keep the original Japanese cast, which can be considered the "universal voice cast" that everyone can become familiar with. Unfortunately... everyone but Japan is getting screwed, this time around.

Toys N Joys Online is a great place to order import games from. The DDR community loves this site and is always referencing it, so I say go for it (here's their full import PS2 game list; right now, they've only got the first Budokai for sale... I'm not even sure when Budokai 2comes out in Japan). Other suggested sites include Yes Asia, Japan Video Games, and NCS. You may actually want to check out this thread on the "DDR Freak" forums for more information about where to buy things and how to play import games.

Hope that's of some help! - VegettoEX

Q. Over the years I have collected many pictures from the internet, including some manga covers. I happened upon two different sets of covers for each of the 42 volumes. I've had these for years but never noticed the difference until a while ago, one set is clearly Jump Comics and I'm assuming the other is as well but I'm not sure. The set I'm not sure of has quite a few differences from the Jump Comics set, such as the one set has different covers all together except for the last seven volumes match perfectly with the Jump Comics set, the both follow different color schemes (in one Goku has a blue jump suit and in the other it's orange), a lot of pictures vary from one set to the other, and I know on the one set a few of the cover pictures are ones found in the first Daizenshuu. I can't for the life of me figure out why these two sets differ so much. Can you help me figure out where this other set of manga came from, is it a re-print or re-release like the new Kanzenban or are they from a release of the DragonBall manga in a different country? Thanks for your time. - Heath Cutler

A. It looks to me like the image on the right, there, is the Korean version (the one on the left is, of course, Japanese tankôbon #23). That's definitely Korean writing on there, and although I'm not familiar with the Korean version of the manga, it makes sense to me that Korean writing = Korean version. The only thing I want to know is, why the hell is this cover art so bad? The Piccolo-Daimaô image doesn't even belong in the Freeza saga!

Update: A friend of mine who knows Korean has informed me that this is indeed the Korean adaptation of the manga, published by IQ Jump Comics. However, this only raises more questions about the cover. For example, if they're really an offshoot of Shueisha (the parent of Jump Comics in Japan), then they shouldn't have any trouble securing the rights to use the original cover art. The best explanation my friend can offer up is that typical Korean cover art is "very sparse and odd to the eye," but that still doesn't quite sit well with me. I guess we may never know for sure. - Julian

Q. What is the most accurate translation of what Vegeta says in the 13th movie? It would seem the fansub copy I have took creative cursing liberties ('Fuck you, you fucking bastard' or something to that extent). - Stephen Gray

A. This scene in particular always rubs fans the wrong way; it either gives them the false impression that DBZ is so much more "mature" than it actually is (which in turn leads them to believe they're missing so much "blood, guts, and cursing!" in the dub, which they're... not...), or for fans like us, it just irritates us to no end that translations can be soooo bad. Here's the actual romanization of the scene in question, as done by Julian:

"Katte ni hitosama no ie o buchikowashi yagatte! Kyô no ore wa ki ga
tatte 'ru n' da! Chikazuki sugite...da kedo kuru n' ja nê zo!"

There are two versions of this fansub floating around (there may be more, but I'm only aware of two, and I doubt any others have much of a base population). The most infamous was done by Anime Labs... here's how they translated the scene:

"You fucking bastard! You dare to destroy my house!
Now you've really pissed me off! Fuck you!"

Whether you know Japanese or not, I certainly hope everyone's realized that this is NOT anywhere NEAR being a correct translation. There is another (much less prevalent) fansub by E. Monsoon floating around that has the following translation:

"You've really done it now! You've destroyed my home!
Don't get too close to me, because I'm burning with rage!"

This seems like it would be A LOT closer to what's actually being said. In fact... it's pretty good! Here's the translation according to Julian, without seeing any of the previous translations before-hand so as not to bias his own translation (which is actually a little edgier than Monsoon's):

"You're destroying my home for no reason, dammit! I'm pissed off today!
You're getting too close to me...but you're not gonna get any closer!"

So there you have it. Fansubs aren't what they used to be, so it's really not much of a problem anymore. Back in the day, however, we all quickly learned to stay as far away from Anime Labs fansubs as we could (what, with this translation and lines like "Candy-ass faggot" that Vegeta appeartly says during the search for # 20... riiiight). - VegettoEX & Julian

This e-mail was not sent as an "Ask VegettoEX" entry, but I'd like to address it publicly, since I think it will help quite a few people and clear up some things!

Q. I was reading your newbie guide, although I'm not anewbie, and I noticed some errors in "Revival in Japan" in regards to the DVDs. The DVDs are region-free, which means they will play in any DVD player, providing it's NTSC. Also, the DVDs do have an English subtitle track, as well as a Chinese one. I have the first seven volumes, which spans up to episode 148 I believe. I hadn't purchased the entire boxsets, due to the fact that they are about a thousand or more each any place I could find them, but I purchased the first seven volumes seperately. I didn't get any of the special items from the boxset, but i also paid less than $200. Anyway, just wanted to clear that up. - Justin Taylor

A. Notice how these current DVDs only go up to episode 147? Hmm, that surprisingly corresponds with exactly how far the first "Dragon Box" goes up to, since that's the only one that's been out long enough to get copies going of...

You, my friend, have purchased the bootleg DVDs.

The official Japanese "Dragon Box" sets are only two boxes; episodes 1-147 + TV special 1, and episodes 148-291 + TV special 2. They're approximately ¥100,000 ($800-900, depending on the exchange rate) a piece, and are encoded in progressive format on region 2 discs. They also include special color booklets and an exclusive action figure by Kaiyodo. Here's a great image (courtesy of dvdanime.net ) that shows all the different sides of the box, the inserts, the action figure, etc! (click it for the full image):

What you have are bootleg discs produced in Hong Kong. They are generally 3-disc sets that are blue/green on the cover with a really bad image of a single character on the front (check out the covers of volumes 1-7 below).

What your feelings and personal morals are concerning the purchasing and owning of bootlegs is YOUR thing. What I can tell you, however, is that you've purchased crap. The picture quality is nowhere near that of the original "Dragon Box" set (not that Toei's TV master footage was anything fantastic to begin with), you're not getting all the great goodies with your DVDs, you're getting cheaply done subtitles by someone who can't care any less about what you read... the list goes on and on.

If something is region 0 (region-free) and has Chinese subtitles... there's a 99% chance it's bootleg. These are not licensed releases, and are not supported by Toei, FUNimation, or especially us. - VegettoEX

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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