Dragon Ball Z Abridged Thoughts

I wanted to include a section on DBZA because I have a lot of thoughts on DBZA as someone who has followed DBZA for many years, has seen the main series in its entirety, the movies, and other bits of content they've produced.. I'm really only including this because I feel like there's only people who hate Abridged or view Abridged as a superior version of Dragon Ball Z. I like both and wanted to argue for DBZA for people who are turned off by it due to its fans being very annoying.

Dragon Ball Z Abridged is a product of its time, but it ran for a very long time and still gets bits of stuff which makes that statement confusing. I started it a long time ago, after I watched of Dragon Ball Z. So in the early 2010s or mid 2010s, I found it funny, and that's not to say I find it unfunny now, but now I can't really talk about it easily. 

I think the first arc of DBZA is not very good. I think the Dragon Ball Arc is better, and the Cell Arc (along with Buu bits and extra content) is perfection. I have to explain more thoroughly- some of this I talked to my friend Ashe about who disliked DBZA in early days but I'm trying to convince her to watch Cell Arc. A lot of this is our conversation paraphrased.

Dragon Ball Z Abridged could've been another parody series easily. Early DBZA is still bouncing off of anime abridged sub-community jokes at the time, so it is inherently dated and can be offensive in an uncomfortable way. I don't think offensive humor is inherently bad, but the edginess for the sake of edginess just sort of makes you cringe when seeing it with characters you like- especially when so much of the Dragon Ball community at one point (and honestly now) thinks of DBZA as basically canon.

Let's Get the 2000s/Offensive Humor Out of the Way 

I actually think so much  of the offensive humor in early DBZA is so well done for the time but tends to fall short just ever so slightly. I want to discuss these so people know my thoughts on them because I have quite a bit. There's not a lot that makes me laugh which is why the humor of DBZA is interesting to me.

There's actually of weird in things DBZA that confuse me. Anime and parodies like to depict gay characters as predators, and DBZA has a riff on this that really fascinated me as a teenager. So, there's Zarbon who is obviously very feminine so they give him the 'gay accent'and he speaks with a lot of innuendos, but it's actually revealed Zarbon is straight in the series which made it really funny to me. For years and still now, I find it hilarious that the joke with Zarbon is that everyone is an asshole for assuming he's gay (and in some cases assuming he's a predator as a result). It's really good to me for a parody series of the time, but in the end, he sort of transforms and says "I'm going to rape you" which sucks to me because the entire joke works because everyone else is an asshole who's assuming he's gay based on how he acts, including the viewer, only for so much of that to be taken away by that line of dialogue.

I'm not saying the writers were geniuses for that joke or anything, but I'm saying that so much of humor of the time was 'this queer character is going to pursue this person irregardeless of that person's attraction to them and make everyone uncomfortable" but Zarbon was more than that. He was meta commentary on meta commentary. He was likeable character, and also, he just was a new interesting take to me and that take worked so well because he was such a delight to watch.

And I feel this way about a lot of the jokes in DBZA. A lot are offensive on principle, but so many are commentary on offensive anime / anime parody tropes while still having the characters have personality you know?  So much of the parodies of that time are just flanderizations without soul, and I think early DBZA can have that, especially before Dragon Ball Arc, but I think that's true a lot of media in general. 

To me DBZA is like an old webcomic almost in that the first parts are super rough because it doesn't have identity or a lot of skill, but then it just keeps improving.

Don't get me wrong though. There's other scenes in DBZA too I just dislike. Most are pretty obvious if you go back and watch them, but ultimately I never felt like DBZA hated me if that makes sense? It could be clumsy, it could make a character say something that made me unhappy, but in the end, I never really felt like.. 

The joke to me is never just as simple as "gay guy scary and gay men are rapists." I don't like Ghost Stories' parody because I don't really find joke of "black men are scary i run faster" or "you're a black bunny i can't date you cause you're black get it cause racism is really normal" and I just find it weird and uncomfortable. That is to say, I don't think these things shouldn't exist, but basically, I feel like DBZA grew so far beyond that sort of thing by Perfect Cell.

Cell Arc

If Cell Arc didn't exist, DBZA to me would've been another parody series I grew out of. Because all of above, I used to laugh at Ghost Stores jokes. I used to laugh at early DBZA too. I probably still laugh at a bunch of that stuff even, but it's just simple laughs. Jokes I'll forget.. things I won't remember watching some months away...

But, erm, DBZA, they um, they made Cell Arc.

Have you read a webcomic? Or watched a cartoon even? And you know, it was fun laughs but it got suddenly got very good? I feel that way about Perfect Cell. I need it to establish that I also think Perfect Cell is improved by old material being there. While I think the first half of DBZA is imperfect, the DBZA characters have very defined arcs and personalities seperate from the DBZ counterparts. So, basically while I think the old arcs aren't as good, I still like them and appreciate them even if there's aspects I dislike. 

The closest experience I can think of is watching Adventure Time. You can watch all the story focused episodes of Adventure Time or jump straight to Fionna and Cake, but there's a lot of other random things happening that can contribute to your experience, and there's some weird stuff too, but a lot of fun/good stuff too.

Anyways, so, let's disucss. Cell Arc takes out a lot, if not all the bad parts of Abridged and makes you only remember the good parts. The pacing of Cell Arc is just really good. It's really good. I love original DBZ, but the anime leaves much to be desired mainly because of its pacing. (It's borderline unwatchable really at times)

Also, the gravitas. It's just fucking good. I want to say more, but it's hard cause if you haven't DBZA but like DBZ but dislike DBZA, I want you to watch the Cell Arc because I like it so much.

Cell's first appearance/allusion too. DELIGHTFUL. Tenshinhan? REALLY GOOD ONE OF BEST CHARACTERS IN DBZA. Piccolo? Honestly, best character in all the arcs. Gohan? Agonizingly done well. Vegeta? We talk about him later since this is his shrine after all.

That's all I say. If you've seen DBZA, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, go watch Cell Arc. You can ignore the first arcs and go back and watch them because honestly most DBZA fans who watched the series over time hardly remember those arcs anyways. Also, well, it's okay if you dislike it. The humor/writing isn't for everyone, but oh does it have its moments.

The Characters

I like the DBZA characters a lot. I think they're really good. They kind of annoyed me for a long time because you couldn't escape DBZA memes or DBZA content when in DBZ tags, but now that things are in balance again with Super airing and DBZA main content being done some years along with Daima being released, it's just a lot easier to appreciate them for what they are.

I obviously can't go over every DBZA characteer, but I want to go over some that are memorable to me..

Gohan: Gohan being frustrated with Goku and generally exhausted but still having love for him despite the strain is good. I like how he calls Mr. Piccolo "Mr. Piccolo" and calls for his help. It actually makes me realize how often Piccolo just appears ahaha. It makes their relationship very sweet. His interactions with Vegeta are interestng to me too.

Piccolo: Piccolo is great. Piccolo is very quiet in main line series, and this is dealt with in DBZA by giving him extensive inner monologue. When he fuses with Neil, you also hear him which is fantastic. It's so good. It's SOO good. Their exchanges are some of the funniest parts of the series, and it's all in his head. No one else can hear it. His later quest to find a house is really funny to me since this is only addressed in recent DBS movie.

Kami and Mr Popo: Okay, so, Mr. Poppo is a character I think the DBZA writers leaned off the writing of because of the nature of his jokes in first half and him being black caricature in DBZ itself, but it's done very well. Kami and Popo's interactions are very good and sweet and funny,and post Kami fusion, it ends up making a lot of sense that Popo becomes so much quieter without elimating his character completely despite his jokes being hh.

Frieza's Elite: Frieza's Elite (Zarbon, Genyu Force) are some of the best parts of Dragon Ball Arc!!!!!!!!!!! Frieza's comment about wishing Zarbon was there when Genyu force arrive I THINK ABOUT IT SO MUCH I WANNA SEE THEM INTERACT..

Namekians: All the namekians are funny. Elder Guru is okay I guess, but really I mean everyone else. Elder Guru has some funny bits here and there like how he talks about Lord Slug.

Broly: To be honest, I've always thought Broly as a source of humor and didn't take him seriously, so, I simply think that Broly DBZ version is peak because I feel like it summarizes everyone's thoughts on Broly across the spectrum. It is also hilarious much like the original Broly movie and captures why people love him despite him only being canonized in Super while many other DBZ villains were just forgotten. His Super counterpart fits mainline Dragon Ball more to me but oh is the DBZ and DBZA version such a guy.

Goku: I like Goku in context of DBZA and think it's good parody, but it's kind of haunting to see him written like this knowing he was lobotomized in DBS. It's altered collective memories of DBZ fans and they just think he is this stupid usually... I think he's sweet. Clip of him watching Gohan from heaven is really cute. He's stupid but means well, and I think I like where his characters ends up at the end.

Tien Shinhan: Good. Better than DBS and DBZ counterpart. Not DB obviously, but he's just so good here. Tien Shinhan has one of my favorite scenes in all of Dragon Ball Z Abridged, and he and Piccolo compete in mind for funniest character.

(Perfect) Cell: Yes, there were times.. I'm sure you knew.. When I bit off more than I could chew. But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out. I faced it all and I stood tall. And did it my way

Vegeta

Okay, so I talk about Vegeta DBZ now. I like DBZA Vegeta a lot. To be honest, I feel like his actions closely align with his DBZ counterpart even if he's a lot more crude. I was at the end of Cell because I wanted to see him grow (TeamFourStar ended DBZA post Perfect Cell), but then they released Buu Bits which finally put my soul to rest.

For context, I think Vegeta is a character who is kind of hard to understand appeal of if you think of him objectively. Many people like him because he is a delight, but in DBZ, Vegeta is... especially in the anime, you get endless episodes of Vegeta just being the worst and making life harder for everyone- people who've accepted him even.

This is the same in DBZA really. In DBZA though, he's much meaner. All the characters are obviously, but I mean, in context of Vegeta, he's outrightevil acts while being sadistic outright in early arcs and later on whines and cries and expresses desire to be strong loses over and over and over in ways that are VERY pathetic.

He's also just a bastard and says a lot of shit. He'll say something cocky and ridiculous or just insult someone. The aspects of his character that can be painful to watch being made funny is done so well, and his patheticness is increased yet people still adore him. It establishes how strong Vegeta is to me as a character.

There's things I dislike though all of it happens in Dragon Ball Arc prior, and I can just see all of it as in character for DBZA Vegeta which someone might raise an eyebrow, but Vegeta is tweaking in DBZ and DBZA in Dragon Ball arc because he is enslaved and being actively hunted by Frieza's other soldiers amongst other things, and so much of hthe weird shit he does is a result of his upbringing and tweaking and his geneeral sadisticness that is also in DBZ. It's just expressed in that anime edginess of 2000s. Do I wish some scenes weren't there? Of course, but ultimately, I think Vegeta just does the thing where says something awful because he likes to make others experience terror.

I know it's not that deep because parody anime, but because Cell Arc takes itself so seriously and all of that is canon in DBZA prior, I have to. 

That is to say, I think DBZA Vegeta is a different Vegeta that I also like, and also DBZA does something special for me. It gives me a lot of slice of life moments/personal stuff with him, and that's fun.  Even if it's not the Vegeta I'm used to from main series, I still enjoy it. Perhaps it's a similar feeling people get from AU fanfiction or something?

But yeah, I also think that DBZA Vegeta, along with the characters even, can give you insight on their mainline counterparts since its parody nature makes it also act as meta commentary. There's so much in DBZA that is outright said that you don't really think about.

Lastly. The Importance of Heart (For Now)

DBZA to me ends up succeeding because it ultimately grows heart. I mean there was always heart, but it felt like, it was just a parody series only for it to begin to.. Become a tribute to DBZ itself while also being a parody series at the same time full of silly humor.

DBZA's production value increased over its lifespan which is one reason Cell Arc is so good. It has perfect music, soulful writing, great editing (usually), and it the characters just have so much love.

I mention there's other lines of content tied DBZA, and this is where I can really get into it. DBZA has spin off series made with 3d animation because everyone, the writers and viewers, love the characters so much. There's an animation where Vegeta is confused on how to be a dad and calls Nappa. There's an animation where Krillin is talking to Android 18, and she talks about how she was homeles sand taken of fthe street by Gero. And it's all done with the DBZA personalities and humor but with the seriousness of it.

I think the first parts of DBZA have failings due to the writing team / viewers not reaching that point with the characters, but well, it's also this way because of that early writing,s o I jsut.., I love it. I love it. I love it.

It's obvious in this shrine I pour over Dragon Ball content looking for slice of life moments with Vegeta, but DBZA actually makes me enjoy a lot of just personal lives / inner thoughts of everyone. We get so much of it in DBZA. 

While some people consider DBZA to be a better DBZ, I think it's more like.. DBZA is a different genre of media and as such, it has the ability to explore different things. 

I love a lot of what it stands for. The music in it, the indie productin of it, the fact that it somehow stayed alive despite copyright issues. It's literally just a full ass project that's run for a long time with dedicated following by a team on YouTube, and that's so cool to me. Power of internet.

The jokes that were silly end up being parts of serious moments. Things that could be ridiculous in any other media become masterful in this sort of work. And also, the heart.., It really... it feels like the DBZ you saw a child if that makes sense? Like, everyone is cool and  edgy and strong and crazy also, and it's SO COOL. It feel so cool at the best of times and also this coolness is inherently ridiculous in a way that just can't be done by things that aren't fueled by internet culture, you know?

Honestly. Win. Win forever.