T5W#448-Top 5 Personal Dragon Ball Z Moments (Part 2)

When we lose Legends in the Anime Industry, the whole world feels it.  Last week, we all gasped at the sudden passing of Akira Toriyama.  This is the man whose works introduced many of us to Anime in the first place and even some video games thanks to his work on Dragon Quest and Chrono Cross.  But there’s one title that will always be associated with this man taken from us way too soon, three words that get us all continually hyped and ready for ass kicking adventures: Dragon…Ball…Z.  Yes it’s only a single chapter in a long running franchise but it’s the title we all still think of when Toriyama’s name crops up and we will always be thankful to him for gifting us this action masterpiece.  To pay my respects to this great man, todays Top 5 Wednesday will be dedicated to my Top 5 Personal Dragon Ball Z Moments.  Although I just realized while I was starting to type this that such a list already exists from a few years back (check it out here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/t5w180-top-5-personal-dragon-ball-z.html) So…I guess I’ll have to come up with five more then for my Top 5 Personal Dragon Ball Z Moments (Part 2),  RIP Toriyama-San, this is one title that isnt leaving the Anime world in the dust any time soon.

 
#5-Getting to Review all of the DBZ Movies for the Blog

I have a personal rule on this blog about reviewing Shonen Anime because of how long they tend to be with no end in sight.  Movies based on said Shonen Anime are the exception.  So when I managed to get my hands on all 15 Dragon Ball Z movies back in 2016, the first thought that came to my mind was “Should I review them all?”  This was near the end of the Anime Corner’s Second Year and what a way to close it out by marathoning all of these films?  From Dead Zone to Resurrection F I witnessed the good, the bad and the Bio Broly (with that title becoming the very first to score a 0/10).  Dragon Ball’s featured ever so often on this blog but this was one of the first times I did something this major for a series that means so much to me.
 

#4-Season 3 Exists?

After getting into DBZ in 1998, I was stuck along with everyone else in waiting for the show to move past Goku starting to fight the Ginyu force on Namek (aka the end of Season Two of that particular version).  Even on Toonami, the wait for new episodes continued for what felt like forever.  So when a Middle School friend revealed they had acquired a VHS Tape of new episodes, I had to see it to believe it.  Not only was the tape real but my friend let me borrow it and wow, let me tell you it felt so unbelievable to be seeing some footage I’d waited over a year or two to finally see (actually I’d seen some of it at one point but I’ll get to that).  Oh yeah and it was the English Dub with new voices and new music.  It was only a sampler but it was legit and it was a garuntee DBZ was coming back at last and in a big way.

 
#3-Competing with Friends over VHS Tapes

So that Middle School friend I mentioned?  He and I were part of a small circle of friends that ate up all the Dragon Ball content we could get our hands on.  I even made my own info books with pics and details about not just DBZ but OG Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT too.  However, this friend and I had a little side competition going on.  The two of us always kept our eyes open for release dates of the new VHS volumes.  When they did come out, it was a race between the two of us to get to our local Suncoasts and purchase them before the other did.  I didn’t really keep score but I’m sure he beat me a few times.  Still, this kind of competition was fun to better my collection and what new intel I could share with my friends.

 
#2-Suncoast shows The Androids Saga

Suncoast video was once a titan of home media distribution and it’s not only where I finally found Dragon Ball Z VHS tapes but ones for other Anime as well.  By the time the Androids Saga was about to be unleashed, DBZ was at an all time high in popularity.  It was so big in fact that my local Suncoast actually showed some of the Androids Saga episodes in shop.  Imagine a young fan like me crowding a bunch of older fans and bearing witness to Vegeta’s first transformation into a Super Saiyan.  The crowd went freaking wild.  This might’ve also been the time I got the entire saga myself…but really living in that moment was the better prize.

 

#1-Seeing the Classic Intro on the International Channel

During the drought of new English Dub episodes, I discovered a cable channel called the International Channel.  While I’m sure they featured programming all over the world as the title implies, the big draw for me was their Anime selection.  Over the years I’d be introduced to Slayers, the Tenchi Movies, even Dragon Ball GT.  But nothing tops turning to the channel one night and glimpsing the original “Cha La Head Cha La” Themed opening to Dragon Ball Z.  Sure everyone knows and loves the original “Rock the Dragon” Theme from the first US Dub.  But pure 100% unsubtittled Dragon Ball Z footage and music…this was on a whole other level and I wanted more…too bad DBZ was on Sunday nights and the only room with cable was my parents room and they wanted to watch X-Files.