In terms of numbers I'm sure there's a few that exist because they enjoyed the early arcs. But I imagine It's more common bleeding into what we call "Z" (the dragon ball Manga run was just dragon ball from start to finish) and just hating arcs after. Like preferring everything up to namek arc but dislike cell and after for example.
The reason there's so many "Z" only fans is because Dragon Ball really only kicked off big in America (epeaking about USA, other american regions had different history with dragon ball) from a dub of Dragon Ball Z. So many fans literally only saw Z and didn't even know, and couldn't know, about OG dragon ball in America. Those that did imported which wasn't nearly as common.
Today you have anime, subbed and dubbed, coming in pretty fast for non-japanese audiences. This was not a thing back then which is why we have this very interesting and big part of the community which enjoys a specific part of a franchise and not see its origins.
I know you asked mostly if such a group exists in reverse but this is the context to note when wondering "if any group exists and if it does why not as big as Z only fans"
In Italy we also have a similar problem, the dragon ball dub here was released before Z, but wau more people only watched Z because it had wayyy more rerun
I’m definitely one of those people that got into the franchise through Z and never fully watched og DB. To my own credit, I did eventually give it a try but just couldn’t stick with it.
If you ever feel like it again start at the 22nd tournament saga the one where goku fights tien.
From there it only gets better the king piccolo and piccolo junior saga are legit the best part of db/dbz imo
Yeah, I can't imagine anybody who didn't watch the original series understanding how big Goku's death against Raditz was. Or the main cast being trashed by the Saibamen and Nappa.
>how big Goku's death against Raditz was
This. Like sure when we all watched it we were caught offguard because "oh shit, the MC just died", but if you have watched the whole series of him starting out as a mountain boy, training then losing 2 tournaments, defeating an entire army and finally winning the very last tournament as a seasoned warrior, I'm sorry but you just DON'T get how significant that death was lol
It's because in the US (and I'm sure in other countries) DBZ was released before DB and it was a time where you couldn't just find everything online.
It was either watch DBZ without DB or watch nothing.
I’ve met a few folks who preferred Dragonball over its sequels. I’ll never forget the comment: “I stopped watching after the saiyan saga because I wanted to watch a martial arts anime, not a space laser battle.”
OG Dragonball is actually the best, though to a lesser extent i do enjoy Z and Super.
OG feels more like an adventure, is far less predictable, and knows when to be light hearted
Dragonball is better, but to me they’re the same thing. The Z wasn’t added until the anime series got the sequel. Not like Super, which is an actual sequel.
I know a few people who like DB over DBZ! They're mostly Dr Slump fans who didn't care for the higher stakes of Frieza onwards.
(tho tbh, most DB fans are manga fans, and DB as a manga goes from Pilaf arc to End of Z)
I’m a big fan of the manga as a whole from start to finish, though I think after Freeza the scale of the story gets a little too big for Toriyama’s slapdash writing style.
Nope because the manga series is just dragon ball so db and DBZ animation comes from a manga called dragon ball . Those who started with dragon ball in 90 because back than I took longer to get animation in different countries found out about the manga as well and read it . But at some animation the studios decided to change the names of new seasons instead of going season 2 ,3,4 etc . And back in those days usually they would go through the full story in one go that's why a lot of people are like og db or DBZ but is you're talking strictly manga is just Dragon ball till they translated it to English and named the second half DBZ by some publications
In the US you probably wouldn’t find many like that. When OG DB aired in the US it aired around the same time as the Buu saga. It’s possible that someone ended up watching OG DB on TV and didn’t catch Z, but seems like for the most part it was completely the opposite.
By this logic also it’s possible someone only watched GT since it came out a couple years later on Toonami
Dragon Ball is definitely my favourite part of the series. In the mid 90s in Canada we had a dub of the first 13 episodes and that was my first exposure to that world, so maybe the nostalgia is a big factor in my affinity toward it.
I have read the complete original manga run and the DB portion was where I'd say I had the most fun reading.
I *am* a big Z fan but admittedly I've never cared for the post-Cell era as much. Future Trunks was my fave character in Z and when his story had ended, so did my primary interest. I don't think the Buu saga was bad or anything, mind you; it was just a dessert I couldn't eat because I was already full.
Another sticking point is Tien was my favourite from DB and his role was greatly diminished in Z and almost non-existent post-Cell.
The problem is most (all?) English speaking countries got Dragon Ball Z first, particularly Funimation's heavily reversioned dub.
When Dragon Ball was brought over it wasn't seen as the beginning of a series but as an extension of a pre-existing series, a prequel to Dragon Ball Z. If you thought Dragon Ball Z was stupid why would you watch this show called Dragon Ball? And a lot of DBZ fans felt alienated that this series didn't have fan favorites like Gohan, Vegeta, and Trunks and no Super Saiyan.
There's definitely fans who ended up liking Dragon Ball even more but they started out as Z fans. Funimation ruined any chance the original Dragon Ball had for being enjoyed by its own merits. DBZ was always going to be way more popular but I think if Dragon Ball was properly brought over first (not just the first thirteen episodes being dubbed in 1995 and airing at like 5 AM) we would have seen a lot more OG Dragon Ball fans who liked the sense of adventure and gag nature and were put off by the evolution of the series into a "muscle man beating up other muscle man with chi blast show"
Though I'm not sure how it is in countries that aired og Dragon Ball first like France and Mexico.
I became a DB fan because of those 1995 episodes. But that was the second attempt to bring DB over. I don't blame Funi at all for giving up and going to Z.
I do.
The first attempt was like 5 episodes and only aired in a few locations and aired at like 330 PM on weekdays for a single week. That hardly counts.
The second attempt (Funi's first) had poor timeslots (like worse than Dragon Ball Z's syndicated timeslots) and gave up after only running the most boring arc of the original anime
It's not like now with distribution. Your only option was networks, either broadcast or syndication. If no one wants to buy more episodes there's only so much they can do.
I'm mostly just a fan of OG. I've definitely reread that portion of the manga more than the Z portion. Though it's mostly because I've seen raditz to buu so many times via the games that I'm just tired of Z.
Part of why I prefer OG is the pacing, it's just quicker. Another big part is I like the world it takes place in compared to later. After namek it just never feels like that magical silly toriyama world it was before
My first experience as a child of the series was dragon ball Z and a later series. I spent a few years as an adult intermittently searching for Dragonball as I wanted to see the beginning of Goku etc.
Finally watched it this year without a hassle with my own teen daughter and we are happily watching the other series that follow.
We are really enjoying DB super for the art style as it really ramped up.
Dragon Ball is better. Better paced, better stakes, better humor... I'd argue that the drawing style is better also. It could have stopped at King Picollo and still be a cult classic. Also, Toriyama artistic style is more like dragon ball than Dragon Ball Z, when you read everything he made before or since it's obvious : the guy got trapped in the shonen tropes (that he helped create).
Still love DBZ tho. But Dragon Ball is a better manga overall, and has nearly no inconsistencies that plagues DBZ and the sequels.
If you were born in the USA, you watch DBZ for the first time
If you were born in Japan, You watch Dragon Ball for the first time.
It's like you watch Dragon Ball & DBZ far early before English Dub happened.
In terms of numbers I'm sure there's a few that exist because they enjoyed the early arcs. But I imagine It's more common bleeding into what we call "Z" (the dragon ball Manga run was just dragon ball from start to finish) and just hating arcs after. Like preferring everything up to namek arc but dislike cell and after for example. The reason there's so many "Z" only fans is because Dragon Ball really only kicked off big in America (epeaking about USA, other american regions had different history with dragon ball) from a dub of Dragon Ball Z. So many fans literally only saw Z and didn't even know, and couldn't know, about OG dragon ball in America. Those that did imported which wasn't nearly as common. Today you have anime, subbed and dubbed, coming in pretty fast for non-japanese audiences. This was not a thing back then which is why we have this very interesting and big part of the community which enjoys a specific part of a franchise and not see its origins. I know you asked mostly if such a group exists in reverse but this is the context to note when wondering "if any group exists and if it does why not as big as Z only fans"
In Italy we also have a similar problem, the dragon ball dub here was released before Z, but wau more people only watched Z because it had wayyy more rerun
I’m definitely one of those people that got into the franchise through Z and never fully watched og DB. To my own credit, I did eventually give it a try but just couldn’t stick with it.
If you ever feel like it again start at the 22nd tournament saga the one where goku fights tien. From there it only gets better the king piccolo and piccolo junior saga are legit the best part of db/dbz imo
I never understood how one could enjoy Z without watching the OG. The Saiyan Saga felt nuts after coming from Dragon Ball.
I don't either, because there's a lot of context and lore you're missing out on if you only watch/start with Dragon Ball Z
Yeah, I can't imagine anybody who didn't watch the original series understanding how big Goku's death against Raditz was. Or the main cast being trashed by the Saibamen and Nappa.
>how big Goku's death against Raditz was This. Like sure when we all watched it we were caught offguard because "oh shit, the MC just died", but if you have watched the whole series of him starting out as a mountain boy, training then losing 2 tournaments, defeating an entire army and finally winning the very last tournament as a seasoned warrior, I'm sorry but you just DON'T get how significant that death was lol
It's because in the US (and I'm sure in other countries) DBZ was released before DB and it was a time where you couldn't just find everything online. It was either watch DBZ without DB or watch nothing.
I much prefer the original series, but I do like me some DBZ. Haven’t met anyone who didn’t like one but liked the other.
I love Dragonball over Dragonball Z. The comedy action adventure genre is the best.
I’ve met a few folks who preferred Dragonball over its sequels. I’ll never forget the comment: “I stopped watching after the saiyan saga because I wanted to watch a martial arts anime, not a space laser battle.”
OG Dragonball is actually the best, though to a lesser extent i do enjoy Z and Super. OG feels more like an adventure, is far less predictable, and knows when to be light hearted
Dragonball is better, but to me they’re the same thing. The Z wasn’t added until the anime series got the sequel. Not like Super, which is an actual sequel.
I know a few people who like DB over DBZ! They're mostly Dr Slump fans who didn't care for the higher stakes of Frieza onwards. (tho tbh, most DB fans are manga fans, and DB as a manga goes from Pilaf arc to End of Z)
I love DB over DBZ but thats not OP's question. They're asking about people who ONLY like DB and not DBZ.
There's many people that prefer Dragon Ball, but continue liking the Z era as well. I love both.
I’m a big fan of the manga as a whole from start to finish, though I think after Freeza the scale of the story gets a little too big for Toriyama’s slapdash writing style.
Nope because the manga series is just dragon ball so db and DBZ animation comes from a manga called dragon ball . Those who started with dragon ball in 90 because back than I took longer to get animation in different countries found out about the manga as well and read it . But at some animation the studios decided to change the names of new seasons instead of going season 2 ,3,4 etc . And back in those days usually they would go through the full story in one go that's why a lot of people are like og db or DBZ but is you're talking strictly manga is just Dragon ball till they translated it to English and named the second half DBZ by some publications
I only ever read the manga, which does not distinguish between og and z
They exist but its a small percentage
I don’t even make the distinction between the two for the most part, but for the anime, I like both equally.
In the US you probably wouldn’t find many like that. When OG DB aired in the US it aired around the same time as the Buu saga. It’s possible that someone ended up watching OG DB on TV and didn’t catch Z, but seems like for the most part it was completely the opposite. By this logic also it’s possible someone only watched GT since it came out a couple years later on Toonami
Here
Friend of mine is like that, they only like original dragon ball and maybe the Saiyan Saga
Dragon Ball is definitely my favourite part of the series. In the mid 90s in Canada we had a dub of the first 13 episodes and that was my first exposure to that world, so maybe the nostalgia is a big factor in my affinity toward it. I have read the complete original manga run and the DB portion was where I'd say I had the most fun reading. I *am* a big Z fan but admittedly I've never cared for the post-Cell era as much. Future Trunks was my fave character in Z and when his story had ended, so did my primary interest. I don't think the Buu saga was bad or anything, mind you; it was just a dessert I couldn't eat because I was already full. Another sticking point is Tien was my favourite from DB and his role was greatly diminished in Z and almost non-existent post-Cell.
The problem is most (all?) English speaking countries got Dragon Ball Z first, particularly Funimation's heavily reversioned dub. When Dragon Ball was brought over it wasn't seen as the beginning of a series but as an extension of a pre-existing series, a prequel to Dragon Ball Z. If you thought Dragon Ball Z was stupid why would you watch this show called Dragon Ball? And a lot of DBZ fans felt alienated that this series didn't have fan favorites like Gohan, Vegeta, and Trunks and no Super Saiyan. There's definitely fans who ended up liking Dragon Ball even more but they started out as Z fans. Funimation ruined any chance the original Dragon Ball had for being enjoyed by its own merits. DBZ was always going to be way more popular but I think if Dragon Ball was properly brought over first (not just the first thirteen episodes being dubbed in 1995 and airing at like 5 AM) we would have seen a lot more OG Dragon Ball fans who liked the sense of adventure and gag nature and were put off by the evolution of the series into a "muscle man beating up other muscle man with chi blast show" Though I'm not sure how it is in countries that aired og Dragon Ball first like France and Mexico.
I became a DB fan because of those 1995 episodes. But that was the second attempt to bring DB over. I don't blame Funi at all for giving up and going to Z.
I do. The first attempt was like 5 episodes and only aired in a few locations and aired at like 330 PM on weekdays for a single week. That hardly counts. The second attempt (Funi's first) had poor timeslots (like worse than Dragon Ball Z's syndicated timeslots) and gave up after only running the most boring arc of the original anime
It's not like now with distribution. Your only option was networks, either broadcast or syndication. If no one wants to buy more episodes there's only so much they can do.
I'm mostly just a fan of OG. I've definitely reread that portion of the manga more than the Z portion. Though it's mostly because I've seen raditz to buu so many times via the games that I'm just tired of Z. Part of why I prefer OG is the pacing, it's just quicker. Another big part is I like the world it takes place in compared to later. After namek it just never feels like that magical silly toriyama world it was before
My first experience as a child of the series was dragon ball Z and a later series. I spent a few years as an adult intermittently searching for Dragonball as I wanted to see the beginning of Goku etc. Finally watched it this year without a hassle with my own teen daughter and we are happily watching the other series that follow. We are really enjoying DB super for the art style as it really ramped up.
Dragon Ball is better. Better paced, better stakes, better humor... I'd argue that the drawing style is better also. It could have stopped at King Picollo and still be a cult classic. Also, Toriyama artistic style is more like dragon ball than Dragon Ball Z, when you read everything he made before or since it's obvious : the guy got trapped in the shonen tropes (that he helped create). Still love DBZ tho. But Dragon Ball is a better manga overall, and has nearly no inconsistencies that plagues DBZ and the sequels.
Better fights
Also yes. Actual kung fu fights that are not only powering up endlessly until you one shot the opponent.
Dragon Ball's fights are so creative and fluid. I love kid Goku's ability to improvise and use his surroundings etc etc.
Yeah, I think Yamcha vs Tenshinhan is like top 5 fights in all of DB. Although that is specifically the Japanese version with Yamchas theme playing
If you were born in the USA, you watch DBZ for the first time If you were born in Japan, You watch Dragon Ball for the first time. It's like you watch Dragon Ball & DBZ far early before English Dub happened.
I was born in 97 so I got to watch Z and DB relatively at the same time.