Dragon Ball (All Series)

[LumRanmaYasha]

Mmm, I dunno, I personally don't feel so. For me, "Cha La" felt too slow for the high-octane battles of the Namek arc. "Makufushigi Adventure" works a lot for me because it covers the range of what happens in all of the first anime, from the light-hearted adventure stuff of Pilaf to the more serious elements in the 22nd Budokai and the King Piccolo. I feel that "Cha La" worked for early Z because of the focus on everyone training and the misadventures of Gohan during his training and whatnot, but I don't feel it has the range to reflect the more serious elements of the story once the group arrives on Namek.

I've always liked "We Gotta Power," but I'll agree that I always found it to fit the anime version of the Buu arc, which is focused on the power battle aspect of the arc, rather than the manga's version.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Mmm, I dunno, I personally don't feel so. For me, "Cha La" felt too slow for the high-octane battles of the Namek arc. "Makufushigi Adventure" works a lot for me because it covers the range of what happens in all of the first anime, from the light-hearted adventure stuff of Pilaf to the more serious elements in the 22nd Budokai and the Kind Piccolo. I feel that "Cha La" worked for early Z because of the focus on everyone training and the misadventures of Gohan during his training and whatnot, but I don't feel it has the range to reflect the more serious elements of the story once the group arrives on Namek.

I've always liked "We Gotta Power," but I'll agree that I always found it to fit the anime version of the Buu arc, which is focused on the power battle aspect of the arc, rather than the manga's version.

Slow has nothing to do with it, CX. You seem to forget that DBZ is NOT just about high-octane battles. The Namek arc wasn't even THAT action heavy until it's second half. What about all of that stuff with the cat and mouse dragon ball hunt between Vegeta and Frieza's forces, not to mention how Gohan and Krillin had to rely on their wits to survive rather than their fighting prowess. All of those are adventure elements which take up a huge portion of the arc, and aren't dissimilar to what you'd expect from DB during Goku's youthful days. Cha La fit perfectly fine.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Those elements are more intense life and death struggles than really "adventurous" stuff to me. Goku's youthful adventures didn't really have the sense of peril and danger that stuff does to me. The song is kind of relaxed in nature, and lyrically, it's kind of too light-hearted with lines like "I?d rather have my head be empty, so I can stuff it with dreams!" and "No matter what happens, I feel like it?s no big deal!," so...I dunno, it doesn't really capture the "oh shit" danger kind of stuff in the arc to me.

This discussion isn't going to go anywhere, so I'll stop here. I will say that, looking at the lyrics again, I do think "Cha La" does fit the series as a whole, but for the specific parts it covers, and the anime's version of the parts it covers, I do think there's a bit of a tonal disconnect. I actually think "Cha La" works better for early Dragon Ball and the Buu arc than the Namek arc. But, I do like the song, so at least we can agree it's a good 'un.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Those elements are more intense life and death struggles than really "adventurous" stuff to me. Goku's youthful adventures didn't really have the sense of peril and danger that stuff does to me.

Goku and friends were in life and death situations all the time, and the story wasn't always comical. Stuff like Tao killing Uppa's father and almost all of the King Piccolo arc were more serious, yet it didn't make the opening theme from being any less fitting for the series.

You seem to imply by intensity that the Namek arc had adventure elements without any humor to go along with it, yet the arc is full of humor, and I don't just mean a little here or there. Comic relief is in plentiful supply throughout most of the arc, at least until they start fighting Frieza's himself. The Ginyu Force may be a legitimate threat, but they are also a group of baboons who can be hard to take seriously when they aren't fighting. Not to mention all of Frieza's henchmen's names are essentially a pun of something or the other. Also there are plenty of light-hearted moments between Gohan, Krillin, Dende, and The Elder Namekian in this arc. Yes, there are serious things going on too, like all of Namek being slaughtered, but how is that any different from how the Saiyan arc literally had previous main characters from DB getting killed off one by one? That arc also had more serious elements to it, and arguably even less humor dispersed throughout it than Namek. Yet somehow Cha La fit that and not Namek, according to you.

The song is kind of relaxed in nature

It is not relaxed. It's energetic as hell. The singer sings in a tone and pitch that makes it sound like he's talking about something big that's going to happen.

and lyrically, it's kind of too light-hearted with lines like "I?d rather have my head be empty, so I can stuff it with dreams!" and "No matter what happens, I feel like it?s no big deal!," so...I dunno, it doesn't really capture the "oh shit" danger kind of stuff in the arc to me.

First of all, I wouldn't recommend relying on any English translations of any foreign songs. Direct translations of a show or movie are one thing, but for a song where words don't necessarily have their normal implications and may be intended to be used in more artistic or abstract ways, you really can't take the lyrics at face value, especially when they are translated, since their intended meaning can be lost far too easily. Secondly, there are shit-ton of anime with opening songs that have seemingly light-hearted lyrics like that which have nothing to do with the anime that they are used for, yet the tone of the song fits the nature of the series just fine. If you were going by that logic, then Cha La wouldn't even fit the Saiyan arc or early DB, and additionally you would have to say that most opening songs to shounen series and other anime don't fit those anime based on lyrics. That of course includes the other DB opening themes. So, you may want to reconsider that point if you mean to stay consistent with it.

Anyways, I'll drop the topic as well....as long as we can agree that my opinion is the only "correct one"

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, at least episode 1 (or I guess 99), of this continuation kept in line with the humorous nature of the Buu arc. I doubt that it'll stay that way for long, though.

By the way, while the new OP is nothing special, I personally dig the ending theme for this series.

I still miss the old DBK musical score. Yes, I know it was plagiarized, but it sounded damn good, IMO, and I much prefer it to the well composed yet unfittingly slow Kikuchi score as well as the shallow Faulconer score. The music in this continuation is really forgettable, so far.

[Daikun]

So, I guess FUNimation uploaded this weird thing on their website a long time ago, and now there's video set to it. Yay!

[LumRanmaYasha]

FUNimation has licensed Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods. It will be getting a theatrical release in select theaters from August 5th through 9th.

[Eddy]

I thought Battle of Gods was a great film, really hearkening back to the feeling of Dragon Ball more so than DBZ. If it opens in any theaters near me I will go see it for sure!

[LumRanmaYasha]

Theatrical trailer for the english release of Battle of the Gods.

[LumRanmaYasha]

In preparation for the U.S. theatrical release of Battle of the Gods, FUNi has been uploading short retrospectives on how the series was brought over to the States on Youtube. Though not too detailed, they are nice watches and share some information that you might not know. Here are the first two videos.

[LumRanmaYasha]

A new Dragon Ball film is in production and will come out next spring! It will be a direct sequel to Battle of the Gods! Toriyama promises it will be "utterly funny," and get this, Torishima has even praised him on the work he's been doing on the film. TORISHIMA PRAISED TORIYAMA ON HIS WORK. Torishima, the guy famous for being hard to please, praised Toriyama's work.

How can I not be excited for this film after hearing all of this? I am so pumped! Toriyama, don't let me down!

[LumRanmaYasha]

New dub clips for Battle of the Gods.

[LumRanmaYasha]

New clip from the Battle of the Gods dub, featuring Beerus vs. the Z-fighters!

[LumRanmaYasha]

Just watched Battle of the Gods. The theater was full, mostly people in their 20's-30's, but there were a few kids there too. Everyone was loving the movie beginning to end. There was a lot of laughter throughout, and everyone applauded at the end of it. I myself really appreciated the classic Toriyama humor pervading the entire thing. Now that is what I expect from a Dragon Ball movie. Infinitely better than any of the others made before. As far as the animation went, while it wasn't great, it was a lot better than I expected. I think the use of CG to move the backgrounds in 3-D was what made for some really cool looking moments, like when the battle moved into the city and then in the clouds later on. I also want to mention that Funi did a great job with the dub. They've come such a long way in the quality of their dubwork with this series, and especially after watching all the clips/interviews/stuff they've been putting up to hype this release you can tell they really love this franchise.

I can't wait for the new film next year. I have a feeling it'll be even better.

[Kiddington]

I can't recommend Battle of Gods enough, because it's like the best of both series in one package. It's lighthearted and not all fucking dark and brooding like most of DBZ was, and really plays out a lot more like a Dragon Ball episode with its tone (especially from the Pilaf gang, whom IMO stole the show in their scenes). The fight scenes are great as well though, which I why I think it represents the best of what both series have to offer. Beerus is a great villain too; he actually has a personality unlike a good lot of the stone-faced baddies the series would often trot out, and while he was a major threat, he could still mingle with the cast and actually do some interesting stuff other than simply shout threats at everyone and be boring as hell.

..........but yeah, I had a blast. It was cool to see that this series is still so popular after all these years; the theater here was completely packed, and as far as I can tell everyone loved it. If it's playing in your city, go see it. It's a lot of fun.