Dragon Ball: is it misunderstood? Geekdom101 explains

I make the Dragon Ball breakdowns I make for one reason: I love this franchise and I want people to appreciate it more. Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama's series spanning Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super, isn't just a simple show about fighting. I often say it is a simple show, and it is, but there are complexities in there. I think I'm very misunderstood as a creator, but it's because the entire series is misunderstood.

I want to explain where I'm coming from, what my goals were and what they still are, because it's something that should be discussed.

Dragon Ball unites a fandom that fights over dub versus sub and Kai versus Z

As a community, we've always had our internal issues. We've always had fights over dub versus sub and Kai versus Z. At the end of the day, though, what unites us is this cartoon, comic book, anime or manga, however you want to call it.

If Toriyama hadn't put out this work, and if we hadn't grown up with it, I wouldn't have so many great friends or have met so many great people.

It's my business, and I work harder now than I did as an engineer

Some people think creators are only here to make money and capitalize on the system. That certainly happens. Talking about Dragon Ball, and other anime too, though Dragon Ball is the main one, is my business and what I do for a living now. I very much enjoy it, and I'm very blessed and humbled to get paid to do something I love.

I put a lot more hours into this than I did into my regular job as an engineer. People ask why I'd work harder. The answer is that I enjoy discussing Dragon Ball and dissecting it. When you do something you like, it's still work, but it isn't the "I hate my job" kind. I love my job. There are hard days at the office, and we all have them, but I still love it.

If you have a passion, whether that's music, art or anything else, go for it. It might take years. You might have to work other jobs, like I did. This kind of work didn't even exist when I first started out working, and you never know what might open up for you. Life is funny like that.

The ego criticism: passion, not arrogance

One criticism I've heard over the years uses the word ego. What people mean is that I'm arrogant. I'll admit that in the past I have behaved in an arrogant way and may have come off that way. But I'm not an egotistical or arrogant person, and I know that because my therapist and close friends who have known me for years know I'm not like that.

What looked like arrogance was really passion for what I do and for what I love about this franchise. Some people have said I think I know everything. I've never said that. At the time, I was learning new things all the time, including things I'd only learned a couple of weeks earlier. I'm not trying to say I'm smarter than everybody else. I'm trying to open people's eyes. Do your own research, tell me what you find, and I'll listen.

Dragon Ball isn't the best written anime, but it's very good and culturally rich

Dragon Ball is one of the biggest anime of all time, with a huge community spread across message boards, Reddit and Facebook groups. Many people call it overrated, but I think "it's become so overrated that it's become underrated."

Its popularity is an unquestionable fact. But in no way would I ever say Dragon Ball is the best written anime ever made. It definitely isn't. Other shows have more concise storytelling, fewer plot holes and a more consistent narrative. I think Yu Yu Hakusho has a more consistent narrative. Cowboy Bebop, albeit shorter, and Fullmetal Alchemist have been deemed legendary by the anime fandom for a reason, and I'd never take away from them.

The problem is that Dragon Ball fans are often looked down on by the rest of the anime fandom. Many anime fans are good people, but some come off as snobs and elitists, and I've dealt with them since high school. They'll tell you DBZ isn't as good as some show none of us have heard of. It's probably a good show, and I'm not knocking it. There's nothing wrong with being a purist; I'm a Dragon Ball purist myself.

My goal is to equip fans to debate these people, have positive discussions, and appreciate Dragon Ball more. Even if it isn't the best written series, it's a very good and culturally rich product. It has storylines, character arcs, development, morals and deep themes that I think many people don't pick up on, either because they haven't seen it in a long time or because they don't recognize the culture behind it.

How the Dragon Ball Z English dub changed the context of key scenes

Some fans grew up with the dub, and this is something I keep making clear. I've interviewed many of the dub actors, and the problem isn't the acting. It's the script. Because of all the changes, the Dragon Ball Z English dub created a major problem in the fandom: people don't understand things.

There are moments in Dragon Ball Z, and even GT, where Goku, Vegeta and others act strangely. When you then see Super, in Japanese or dubbed, some things fit together and some don't, but you can't recognize which without the original context. The dub changes erased or altered the context for many scenes. Some episodes have 45 to 60 dub changes, which isn't even acceptable for a lot of anime nowadays.

I'm in no way saying you shouldn't enjoy what you grew up with. I would never say that. My goal is to say that's cool, but let's become more hardcore fans and look closer.

Toriyama's research and why I keep making technique guides

There's so much richness in Dragon Ball. That's why I do technique guides, where I bring up where Toriyama got his ideas, from old kung fu movies to Buddhist beliefs. To me, it shows Toriyama is a very well researched guy. Back in the '80s and '90s he was an animal when it came to studying culture, both Eastern and Western, and putting it into a story.

I'm very aware the technique guides aren't my most popular work. The modern breakdowns and manga coverage draw the biggest audiences. But I don't make the guides for numbers. Even if one reaches 30,000 people, that's 30,000 more people exposed to the greater Dragon Ball world, who can then teach others. Many of them are sponsored, so I make money on them anyway, but not all are, and I'd make them regardless. "It's not all about the money to me it never has been." I didn't make any money at all for a year when I started.

Building a Dragon Ball reference point, with help from Derek Padula and friends

The guides are slow growers. My goal is to become "sort of like a reference point," so if someone wants to learn about the Kamehameha or the Kaio-ken, they can listen through headphones while working out or pull it up on a TV or phone. I'm not a teacher, even though some have compared me to one. I just want to spread it out.

The research isn't only mine. Derek Padula helps me, and other friends do research with me. It's a team effort. Dragon Ball Wiki has a lot of incorrect information, though it's improved in the last few years, and many people don't like reading anyway. I make it easier.

I could cover fan manga, but other people do that better, and others cover the mobile games. Everybody has a place. Mine is digging into the actual anime and manga, explaining why a character is the way they are or why an attack works the way it does, because a lot gets lost in translation. There will come a day when I hang it up, though I don't know when. When it does, I hope I'll have a body of work people can turn to for the Afterimage technique or Hit's Time Skip.

It's purely passion. And if you have a passion, don't be afraid to chase it. You might work two or three jobs and struggle for five or even 10 years, but if you make it, or at least end up doing something you're happy about, it's worth it, and the road you took to get there is what you'll remember.