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 weekend with at least one question straight from the fans. Thanks!

[ Last Updated: Sunday, 30 May 2004 ]
[ Past "Ask VegettoEX" Archives ]

Q. In the Japanese version of the Saiya-jin saga, there's a pretty music piece that plays when Tenshinhan has visions from when Chaozu and he were training. The stuff with Tsurusennin, climbing Karin's tower, etc... I wanted to know if this piece can be found on any of the DBZ CDs, and if so, which one? What's the track called? - delphu

A. After an extremely quick scan-through of the five CD daizenshuu set... I didn't hear it. I'm fairly sure I know the piece you're talking about (unfortunately, I don't have my fansubs here at the new place, so I can't 100% confirm it). But yeah... I didn't notice it. I very well may have missed it, being the complete idiot I am (I did scan through discs 2, 4, and 5, though).

There are some pieces of BGM here and there that just never made it to CD, which is a shame. Perhaps this is one of them... - VegettoEX

Q. Was Vegeta a slave of Freeza's, or a servant? I've been rewatching the episodes and there's conflicting info. At certain points in the Saiya-jin, Vegeta and Nappa commented about how much Earth is worth. Later, in that flashback Vegeta had when Goku and Freeza were fighting, Nappa had expected that they would be paid well, and later asked Vegeta why he continued to serve Freeza when he knew what the tyrant had done, indicating that their service wasn't mandatory. Is there any definitive info one way or the other? - delphu

A. The problem is that we somewhat get some conflicting information, both from general advances in the story and filler... not to mention Toriyama probably forgetting what he was writing about!

When the story first started out, Toriyama probably hadn't thought through all the way to the end of the Freeza arc and how he'd be tying in all the stories together. As such, little bits of information shifted here and there.

Here's how I see it... no, their service wasn't "mandatory"... but they certainly had a good reason to play along (that is, Freeza would probably outright kill them if they did not follow along and play nice). Freeza perhaps saw Vegeta as some kind of personal "experiment," in that he wanted to see just how much he could tame the little Prince. - VegettoEX

Q. My final question is mostly just curiosity. How often do you and Julian watch Dragon Ball episodes? I've noticed that most DB webmasters no longer seem to be much interested in the series itself, have switched to other series, or have just lost interest. - delphu

A. Personally and honestly, hardly ever. It's years and years and years later; I've seen just about the whole damn thing (much to your surprise, I'm sure, there are bits and pieces I've never watched... for example, I've never seen the Red Ribbon Army arc... and quite frankly, I have next to no interest in seeing it).

That's not to say I don't enjoy it and never watch it; just the other day I finished up watching the "last" GT disc. It was actually the first time I've ever watched DBGT episode 64 with subtitles; I've been watching that damn thing raw on VHS since 1998 (and I don't have the heart to get rid of the VHS). I actually got a whole new outlook on the events of the episode, and it was even more touching and heart-breaking than I remember it.

Current favorite series? One Piece. Oda is God. DB'll never leave my heart, though. It's always gonna be the more favorite special piece of my fandom. - VegettoEX

Q. I read that Piccolo was trapped in something called the Denshi Jar. I thought it was called the mafuba. Is the jar itself called the Denshi Jar and the technique that trapped Piccolo is called the Mafuba? And what do "Denshi" and "Mafuba" mean? - Heyscanman

A. The technique used to seal Piccolo-Daimaô away was called the Mafûba. He was sealed away in a "Denshi Jar." Later on in the 23rd Tenka-ichi Budôkai, Piccolo would seal Kami-sama into a jar with a "Reverse Mafûba" technique. Now that we know what's-what, I wanted to take a look at the words, themselves. However, with Julian out of town for the weekend, I turned to our next-in-lines, Rachel and Steve, for some insight into the matter on the language, itself:

RACHEL:
Mafuuba consists of ma (demon/evil/magic), fuu (seal away/contain), and ba (wave). Add it all up, and you get something like "Demon Containment Wave". For what it's worth, the ba in Mafuuba is the same as the ha in Kamehameha, and the pa in Dodonpa.

Denshi just means "electron", but when paired with another word, it becomes "electronic". There is probably some significance to calling it an "Electronic Jar", but personally, I don't quite understand the relevance. Maybe Steve or Julian would know.

STEVE:
I can't add anythng to Rach's Mafuuba explanation.

And the only times I've seen "Denshi Jar" is when describing those rice pressure cookers with the locking tops.

(Side note: While they all have computer timers and displays now, it puzzles me why they would be Denshi (electronic) jars, rather than Denki (electric) jars. After all, there are no transistors in the heating element itself, right? I mean, unless you use gas, you have an electric stove, not an electronic one. "Denshi ranges" excepted.)

I'm sure Julian will come around with an edit when he gets a chance, adding in some more information, but there you have it! Thanks to Rach and Steve, as always. - VegettoEX

Q. Who are all the characters in the Dragonball Z 2 V expansion? All I've heard of were Coola and Kuriza! - Frob

A. As far as I can tell, the damn thing never even came out. It seems like all emphasis has been put over into DragonBall Z 3 / Budokai 3, which seems to include these "bonus" characters from the supposed expansion disc (including Coola and Broli).

Kuriza appeared in the Japanese version of Budokai 2, called DragonBall Z 2; no expansion was necessary. There was a bonus 10th Dragon World stage somewhat based in the Neko Majin Z world. - VegettoEX

Q. With DragonBall GT winding down, has there been any news on the un-cut season 1 and un-cut season 2 DVDs? Seeing the original fight between Goku and Vegeta with a Jap soundtrack got me into DBZ before it was ever released to the U.S. - Eric Taylor

A. What we reported back on March 9th is still the most recent and informative answer we can give you. Once all of DBGT has been released (which includes the "Lost Episodes" arc and TV special), they will go back and begin releasing the first two seasons of DBZ on bilingual DVD in the new-trendy box + disc 1 style. - VegettoEX

Q. My question is a simple one... what is your favorite Dragonball Z movie and why? - Brian Boyd

A. It's a toss-up between nine and twelve.

I love nine because it's one of those movies where Goku is not the one who "saves the day." Just like the end of the Cell Games, it's finally Gohan that (temporarily) gets the torch and is the one to protect the Earth, when it all comes down to it. SSJ2 Gohan is just freakin' bad-ass, and I love seeing him any chance I can get. Bojack was pretty ridiculous looking, but everything else about the movie was neat! We got to see some interactions that never would have happened in the TV series (Trunks vs Tenshinhan, Vegeta depressed in bed, etc).

Movie twelve is just absolutely hysterical. It's the "fun" movie that belongs in everyone's collection, and I think it can be enjoyed regardless of whether you're a fan or not. Who can't love watching Dracula walking around with the stake popping out of his chest?! Goten and Trunks are really the ones that take the cake, though... their attack on Hitler and his army (all in super-black-bordered ultra-cartoon style) is amazing. It was nice to see Paikuhan get some more screen-time, too, especially in an arc that didn't completely suck. - VegettoEX

Q. Do you have any plans to update or completely re-do the "manga reference" section? I think it the coolest part about your awesome site and I think it would be cool if you added a page comparing the kanzenban to the tankouban. Keep up the awesome work!! - (anonymous)

A. Julian's been hard at work on a revamp of the section. You can expect to see some fruits of that labor over the summer, we hope! - VegettoEX

Q. hey VeggetoEX one of my friends says that he saw a unrealsed dbz movie that had no subtitles it was where there are like 2 goku one was the real one and the other was an antigoku or something i just wanted to know if there really is a movie like that he says it wont be realsed in the U.S. only in japan well cya - LETERIC12

A. *sigh* When in Rome...

hey there leretic21 i askd all of my freinds wat thay thougt the answr wuz n it terns out that we think ur thinking of dbz movie three cuz they'res turlis n hez kinda like goku but hez not his bruther or nuthing hez just a bad guy that lookz like goku and itz already been releesed in the us way back a few yeers ago by funimation and pionear and it wuz called the tree of mite.

There's a reason we enforce the GRAMMAR rule on the forum... - VegettoEX

THIS WEEK'S MESSAGE BOARD DISCUSSION:

Here we are in the latest week of this new feature! I think it's a really neat thing to add to the section, and I'm glad to see people are getting involved. Please feel free to contribute to the discussion, and even start up your own!

Q. I remember this being brought up once before, in another thread, and the idea being presented that a famale Super Saiya-jin would be different than a male one. Even though I've already got a feamle SSJ in one of my fanfics that's identicle to the male SSJ's I've been wondering about this.

I've got another fanfic that'll have a few female SSJ's of the course of the arc. I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were on what a female SSJ would look like as opposed to the male form. (Assuming they are different at least.) I, for one, can't see a female SSJ3 losing the hair on her eybrows or getting the protruding eyebrows either. - Xyex

A. Read over the discussion, here! Maybe we can bring Vegeta's all-consuming pride down a couple of notches... :D

We're trying to stay with our weekly schedule for the section... so... e-mail us your questions for next week's update! We love getting all these questions, each week, so the more you send us, the more we can (try to) answer for you!

[ "Ask VegettoEX" Archives ]