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Hopes for the Future
My intorduction to DBZ was through the Toonami lineup on Cartoon Network. I came in on episode 20. I immediately recognized the Anime/Manga artistic style and settled in for a taste of what I had noticed in passing around the net. to say the least, I was FLOORED by the battle between Son Goku and Vegetta over the course of the next week. This series had some serious artistic stlye [as well as fight scenes that last episodes, not minutes] and I wanted to
find out more. Soon after mentioning it to Dan [the same one from another
opinion], I found DBZ Uncensored on the net.
I followed along with the cuts day by day, only missing the filler episodes on
the false Namek. I hadn't read your article about the I-channel showing DBZ until after I found it while flipping away from an X-Files re-run. And now you know . . . the rest of the story.
My hopes go out to the Third Season . . . and here they are, in no particular
order:
1) The Voices. Keep most of them the same. Before I get my head ripped off, let me explain.
It would just be weird if the main characters started speaking with a
different voice. People's voices don't change overnight and that would be unsettling if it did happen. I could see them changing Freeza and Goku's voices when they transform into their more powerful forms, but other than that I hope they keep them the same.
2) The Music. The DBZ movies they showed will hopefully set precident and CN will keep the music from the series in the new episodes.
3) The [Gratuitous] Nudity. CN seems to take butts very seriously in their
programming. Cow and Chicken and Dexter's Lab, both original CN programs, have featured butts prominently in their episodes. Although I could care less about this, I just think that seeing Vegetta in the Spirit Sequence after his death wearing those painted on trunks would seem a bit odd.
4) The Clips and Snips. If CN keeps snipping and clipping down episodes like
FUNImation, they should be able to condense the massive battle sequence WAY down without cutting important scenes. They at least knew how to keep a battle scene moving. There are SO many pauses in the Freeza/Goku battle [before Super-Saijin ] I figured they would break out a deck of cards for one of them.
5) The Blood. CN has upped my hopes of some of the red stuff making into next
season. They kept every last ounce that was spilled in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. The PowerPuff Girls show several drops [along with a tooth] flying after one of the villians is smacked in the jaw. They can tone it down if they must, but at least I hope CN gives the viewer some credit and shows that violence and blood are not like oil and water.
6) The "Other Dimension." CN has handled death in several of its shows and always it has been in the viewers face, not some mumbled non-such as "other
dimension." The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest has shown the death of MANY villians and extras. It has also dealt with, like Batman, the death of the main character's parent(s). At least we know that death exists in CN. Now lets just hope it exists in the third season of DBZ as MOST of the cast that is on Namek dies.
7) The Paint. Let the paint go. It has no place on CN where characters are
bashed, battered and bruised daily. Bumps, bruises, and the occassional tread marks are the hallmark of most animation. Big blotches of painted over scenes are not a trademark of CN and they should keep it clear of the paint bucket.
8) The Marketing. CN has got their ideas together. Everything they have done in promoting DBZ has been fantastic. Change nothing or add a contest to win DBZ stuff. Either way, they will still be doing it right [or better].
9) Beyond. Lets hope that CN will continue to purchase new episodes and keep
airing the series into the next millennium. There are MORE than enough left to keep it all going. Lets just hope that the fire doesn't die and sites like this one keep it rolling.
10) The Hanna-Barbera sound effects. If the Real Adventures of Johnny Quest can do without them, so can DBZ. I hope they get left behind with the synth-music.
11) The Off-color Humor. I don't see why this should not be kept in. Its
interesting to note that at the end of "The Worlds Strongest" Bulma makes the joke that all Kame will be now is "just a dirty old man." Anyone not versed in the series would have not gotten the joke. Perhapse this is a turn for the better, but I think it was just there for the true fans.
The Toonami movies really opened up what I thought would be untouchable subjects in the new season: death, "die/kill", blood, the music, etc. If they are the template for what is come I say, "Bring it on!"
As my collection of Japanese episodes grows, my apreciation for DBZ does too. I have come to despise every stain that the American version has placed on the DBZ name. CN has the chance to wipe most of these stains away in the third season. They have done one greag thing already and that is to introduce more of us to DBZ.
- Henry Dunn March 3, 1999 |
   
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