Rock the dragon

With the new dragon ball movie in only a month, I felt it was time to retread some of those nostalgic memories. I jumped on the interwebs and and was watching old fansubbed copies of DBZ movie 7 (super android #13) in no time.

I'm not sure when it was I fell in love again, but my best guess in somewhere around when that wave crashes over superimposed kanji in the opening credits.

I don't want to complain about my childhood. It was better than some people's. It was more screwed up than some people's. I consider myself fortunate at any rate. One irrefutable fact, however, is that I was media deprived to an extreme. I never owned a tape or CD to my recollection. We never had cable, and what static infused signals my sisters and I managed to snare with our crude tin foil traps were measured out to us in meager rations. There were one or two movies we'd received as christmas presents over the years. I think I visited a theater 3 times between age 1 and 16.

Thanks to my friend Dennis, Dragon Ball Z was a ray that pierced the thick veil of media blackout. I first heard him talking about it at a school meeting in the auditorium. He spoke of strange and mysterious things. Goku's base power outnumbered the entire Ginyu force's by 14,000. Still this was nothing to Frieza who numbered 1,000,000 is his fourth form. Dennis talked about kamehamehas that could destroy planets, and Goku sacrificing his life energy to make a wish with the all powerful Shenron to save the universe. And what the crap was a "super saying" anyway?




Those spiky haired bastards fascinated me.

In short order order I was sitting on his bed surrounded by video game consoles and watching Vegeta shatter an androids protective lenses through the sheer power of his aura. I was hooked. We'd eagerly await new bootleg episodes to arrive stateside, and snap them up. Of course we grew out of it eventually, but DBZ became my childhood nostalgia in the process. Some people reminisce about Saturday morning cartoons. I look back fondly on future Super Saiyajin Trunks killing Cyborg Frieza.

This was all incredibly cheesy, but it possessed some kind of magic. The world of DBZ is a world of high adventure. Dinosaurs roam the wilderness and there are evil beings of godlike power to be battled at every turn.

Apparently this magic still exists. As I mentioned above, I was back in love from moment one of my return. I found myself lurking the forums once more in search of validity to the Dragon Ball AF series. I formulated theories in my mind over what happened when Goku transformed into a super saiyajin in the middle of forming a genkidama while fighting Dr. Gero's android. Obsession with base power was back. When Vegeta allows Babidi to take over his mind and create Maijin Vegeta, is the resulting power level greater than Goku's? What about when he goes super saiyjin 3?

Ever notice these posts aren't really about anything? I was speaking of the movie.

The trailer looks like it was cut by an eleven year old. The clips I've seen actually feature some cool fight sequences however. Still, I've no doubt this movie will suck. Bulma doesn't even have blue hair! As they do concerning most matters, my thoughts on this closely align with Hitler's. Of course, Dragon Ball and Hitler have never gotten along.

Do yourself a favor and skip next month's offering. Pick up some DVDs of the original series and kick back. You won't be disappointed.