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, 18 July 2004 ]
[ Past "Ask VegettoEX" Archives ]

Q. I was just wondering what your overall feeling toward the dub music was. I understand that the original Japanese score is far superior, but my general feeling is that much of the DBZ dub score has improved drastically since Faulconer started way back during the Freeza saga. More specifically, the Buu arc, I think, contains some real good pieces (Goku's Super Saiyan 3 theme, Kid Buu's theme, Mystic Gohan's theme) and I think that Faulconer at least deserves some praise for improving. Even some of the earlier Faulconer pieces are pretty good (Piccolo's theme, Perfect Cell theme). Anyway, as someone who I believe to be a great authority on DBZ music, what are your thoughts on how the dub score was handled? Is Faulconer really to blame for all of its faults or does the blame fall on the Funimation producers? And let's just also try to forget the DBGT dub score altogether.... - Kooky Vang

A. Quite honestly, after the Cell Games, I really didn't watch the dub regularly ever again. And that was 2000 (to put it in perspective, I was a freshman in college... now I'm done with school! Aiya!). It seems like the rest of fandom went the same way; after Cell Games, the over-all mainstream popularity of the show just went down, and down, and down.

To be blunt, I never liked the music in the dub. I found it boring, uninspired, and just not DBZ to me. Then again, I've been watching the show in Japanese for years; of course I'm not going to like the dub music. To Faulconer's credit, though, I still only associate him with the terrible dub season three (which was just awful, in terms of both voicing and music). I really don't know much of his other music, beyond what I heard three/four years ago (none of which I remember, anymore).

Let's be honest, though... the dub's music isn't for people like me. The dub itself isn't for people like me. I have a choice; I don't have to watch the dub. I've got other options available. Beyond the dubbed television series, I've got my old fansubs, I've got my subtitled DVDs, and I've even got the Dragon Box sets if I so desire to not eat or pay rent for several months! There are options for us fans, and it just doesn't matter if we don't like the music. I finally accepted that fact, and I began to like the show again.

I guess in the end, I didn't/don't like the music, but it's no biggie. I moved on! The show that I fell in love with doesn't suddenly change into a different entity just because some English production got a bad musical score; the show I fell in love with is still there, in the same form, whenever I need it to be.

Long story short? No, I don't like the music. But it doesn't matter, because I don't watch the dub. Same should go for anyone else... don't like it, don't watch it! Easy to fix! ^_~

I guess I really went off on a tangent, there, but I think it fit with the question ^^;;. Hopefully I actually even answered your question...! - VegettoEX

Q. Do you know or know of any site that lists the episodes in the Japanese seasons of Dragon Ball, DBZ, and DBGT? There's a number of sites that list the US seasons, but i can't find any with the Japanese seasons. - Hobbes829

A. See, that's the silly thing with Japan and television series; there aren't really "seasons" for these types of shows. For these ridiculously long running series such as DragonBall, and even Naruto and One Piece, there's really no distinction between "seasons" since it all just runs every week after week after week after week after week after week after week...

... after week...

Beyond some holiday breaks and other assorted things, these shows just run until they're over, more or less. Beyond fan "saga" breakdowns, there's no "seasons," so to speak, in the original Japanese broadcast of the shows.

Of course, this is completely different for shows such as Sailor Moon that are actually broken down by "seasons" (sorta) in their production, in the first place (for example- R, S, Super S, Stars). For shows that are slated for 13 or 26 episodes, there may eventually be a "sequel" which could be viewed as a new "season" (such as what happened with Big O), but none of this applies to the DragonBall franchise (beyond Toei's DB, DBZ, & DBGT distinctions, but that's just weird...) - VegettoEX

Q. I was watching a music video and I saw Adult Gohan fighting Broly, when did this happen and has it been released on DVD here yet? - Blackout187B

A. Broli finds his way to Earth for even more revenge in the 10th DBZ movie, Kiken na Futari! Sûpâ Senshi wa Nemurenai (The Dangerous Duo! Super-Warriors Can't Rest). He's also around as a blob of mutant-goo in the 11th movie, but that's a different story...

With DBZ movie 9 coming out next month here in the US, I would expect to see DBZ movie 10 next spring. Then again, they took so long with movie 9 that it's incredibly hard to tell... but at least I can make educated guesses! - VegettoEX

Q. OK, so I have this one illustration guide that says "The World" on the front cover with a picture of Goku riding a dinosaur (as usual) in contemporary Capsule Corp. gear. It is not one of the daizenshuu and I do not see it in the non-daizenshuu archive of the website. I'm just a little curious as to what it exactly is. The publishing date lists 1990 and 2002 so I am guessing it is a reprint. The majority is DragonBall (not Z) material and it also has some of Toriyama's earlier work from Dragon Quest, Dr. Slump and Wolf. I guess I answered my own question but I just want to know if you knew anything particularly rare that is in this Artbook. - GotenZ1

A. This artbook is indeed what you say it is. Akira Toriyama - The World is a collection of both DB and non-DB illustrations by Akira Toriyama, from the 1980s (and possibly early 1990 as well). Most, if not all, of the DB material is reprised in the first Daizenshuu, but as far as I know, this is probably as close to a Dr. Slump or Dragon Quest / Dragon Warrior artbook that you can get. There is also an "Akira Toriyama: The World SPECIAL" book out there, but I don't really know how it's different from this one. This volume is definitely cheaper though, and isn't too hard to find, if you know where to look. (Here's the Amazon Japan link.) In fact... I just got this one at AnimeNEXT last month! - Julian

Q. I was looking at your "Movie Guide" and I was wondering why does DBZ movie 1 not have a title card, even though it is called "Return My Gohan!" Is there one that FUNimation forgot to add? - AP

A. The reason that Movie 1 doesn't have a title card, is that beyond "DragonBall Z," it didn't really have a title per se. It was only given the sub-title "Ora no Gohan o Kaese!!" ("Return My Gohan!!") for its VHS release later on. So, I suppose that if you were desperate for a title card in this movie, you could say the "title card" was the show logo, during the opening theme! :-D - Julian

Q. In a previous "Ask VegettoEX" column, you mentioned that only movie nine fits into TV continuity without any problems, but couldn't movie five fit in as well? It could take place during the three year gap in between the Trunks and Android sagas. It seems reasonable that within those three years Cooler could have arrived on Earth for a day. There 's nothing in the movie that contradicts anything TV series. Freeza is dead, Goku is a Super Saiyan, Gohan isn't a Super Saiyan... seems OK. I might be wrong, heck I probably am, but it would be interesting to learn why I'm wrong. Thanks - SuperBamf275

A. At first glance, yes, it would appear that DBZ movie 5 would be able to fit into the continutiy. In terms of an actual time period, it seems to fit in... there's three years that no-one's really doing anything other than training. However, there's a few things in the movie that are just a little bit out of place, and don't quite add up.

The major thing is that Goku does not appear to yet be in complete control over his transformation into a Super Saiyan. It took a great deal of beating and watching his friends and family fall before he was finally pushed over the edge into the transformation. Upon returning to Earth in the TV series, however, Goku is in complete control over the transformation, being able to do it all will when Trunks makes the request.

Also, one would assume that if everyone on Earth were to be able to sense Freeza's ki coming towards them (as they all did), they should be able to sense someone even stronger than Freeza making their way down!

There are some other minor things, as well. Gohan has the wrong haircut, and Piccolo seems to be off somewhere else (when he should be at the Son family house training with Goku and Gohan).

Thanks to everyone on the forum for putting in their ideas on this one! - VegettoEX

THIS WEEK'S MESSAGE BOARD DISCUSSION:

Q. I have a question that the Japanese speaking board members can help me on. You know that chant that the Great Demon King Piccolo says when spitting up the egg that con tains Cymbal, "Pokopen Pokopen Dare Ga Tsutsuita?" Does that mean anything specific, or is it just a chant? - Super Sonic

A. Read over the discussion, here! Special thanks to Steve for answering the question... I link it because it was a great question, and I think everyone will be interested in the answer... !

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 ]