I have to admit that one of my many guilty pleasures is the Dragonball series of anime and manga.  While it seems like most of the anime otaku community in America prefers to deny its existence or decry its value, I will be up front and say I love it.

I began watching Dragonball at a time in my life when I had no friends, was living in a new state, and was a shy, high school nerd.  I spent most of my time reading and listening to the radio.  My younger brother and I had connecting rooms, and often at night he and I would stay up late watching TV in my room.  It was on the local Louisville PBS station that we discovered Dragonball.  It was actually Dragonball Z that started it all. 

We began our experience watching an odd, kung fu guy run along a "snake-like" path in the clouds, in order to get to the next level in his training and save his friends.  Back on earth, those friends were fighting against strange aliens who could shoot beams of energy from their bodies and transform into giant, rampaging ape forms.  Even his friends were a strange bunch, including a green man with elf ears and attitude, a loud mouth spoiled girl, a boy with a monky tail, and a cowardly samurai.

Aliens, futuristic technology, kung fu, cool violent action, and crazy storylines?  My 15 year old geek mind was completely hooked.  I think we spent as much time watching this show as we did X-Files and Xena. It was definitely not the first anime I had ever seen(My babysitter used to bring over Robotech when we were very little, and while in Albania we used to watch various anime shows in Italian dub.  I think we even caught Ranma 1/2 once without knowing what it was), but it was the first I had gotten hooked on.  I have always loved animation since I was young.  Saturday morning cartoons were the Holy Grail of my week. I would stay up all night to make sure I didn't miss a single show.  My siblings and I used to swear that we would never stop watching cartoons.  We would never group up.  We would, even, not be afraid to order happy meals and still play with toys.

I quickly converted my family and many of my friends into Dragonball Z and even anime fans.  My uptight cousin who you would absolutely not think might enjoy this stuff was the one of the first to be there with me every time I had some new episodes to watch. She loves it.

Funimation began releasing the DVDs all over again a few years ago, this time in season box sets.  Much more affordable.  It has rekindled my love for the show. 

When I first watched the last episode of this huge series, I cried.  I should have been studying for a college test, but I was crying.  The show was over.  The adventure finished.  Sometimes I feel that loss when I finish a good book or book series.  A sense of loss overwhelms me, like the parting of friends.  I dont' think I am crazy for feeling this way, because other people I've talked to have experienced it as well.  I spend time reading or watching these characters, understanding them, watching them change, and really getting attached to them.  It hurts to think that there's nothing left aftwards.  I don't know if there is a name for when this happens or not, but I am sure someone must have described it before. 

I've spent a lot of time with Dragonball:

- Episodes -
508

- Movies (animated)-
20

508 episodes at roughly 20 minutes each = 10160 minutes!
20 movies at an average of 45 minutes each = 900 minutes!
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Grand total: 11060 minutes or 184 hours of Dragonball!

Most of it I have seen more than two or three times!

We spent only six months before we moved out of Louisville and away from their PBS-anime goodness.  When we came back to Wyoming, the rural, mountainous area provided no access to over-the-air television.  My parents have always been opposed to paying for tv in the form of cable or sattelite, so I nearly forgot the show altogether.  My grandparents had sattelite tv, however! About a year later, Cartoon Network started airing Dragonball Z episodes.  My love was renewed!  Cartoon Network's offerings only served to drag me further into the world of Japanese animation.  Gundam Wing.  Tenchi Muyo. Blue Submarine No. 6.  Outlaw Star.  An entire new world was opened up before me:

Animation could have serious storylines?  It didn't necessarily have to be a musical?  It could be about any topic or in any genre whatsoever? 

This potential is really what attracted me to japanese animation.  That pact my siblings and I had made?  It could be easily kept without shame(Well, maybe not the happy meals part ).  There was respectable storytelling within this medium.  There were funny storylines and fantastic adventures and incredible action sequences.

I know I kind of came out of nowhere with this post today, but something happend to me at work.  I put Dragonball on while I am working for background noise when I'm tired of my music reserve.  As I just said, I've watched a lot of it, so it's not a distraction.  I can often picture the scenes in my head without even seeing the video!

Today, I had the last episodes of Dragonball GT playing.  Once again, I came to that last episode, and once again I was completely driven to tears.  Snotty, rivers of tears.  I was shocked at home much this show could still impact me in this way.  Yes, I know that the show has ridiculously drawn out fights, cheasy dialogue, and corny moments.  But this show really changed my life.  It defined a, now, decade's worth of interest and hobby.  It has spurned my creative energy, and it's burned up a lot of cash as well.  It has opened my eyes to a new creative outlet.  I realized today I have never really talked about this experience.

I am not ashamed to say I am a Dragonball Fan.  I label it proudly with the distinction of my first anime.  I will keep on bringing new people to the show.

My fiance, who also enjoys anime, doesn't like the character designs, and thus, has never watched an episode.  I'll slowly wear away at her resolve, though.

Keep on fighting Goku.

ashram

Special thanks to Akira Toriyama for many years of enjoyment, and the great people at Funimation for bringing it stateside.