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How the DBZOA Both Saved and Didn't Save Dragon Ball - Part II |
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Wednesday, 01 March 2006 |
Part I is located here.
The DBZOA movement was even popular enough, at one time, to spawn an entirely seperate movement- DBZ: WDC, an organization that literally 'didn't care' about the dub process or the purification of the show at all. But what's the mission of DBZOA now? Greatsaiyaman777, a former staffer, had this to say: "I think it could still be a force today. It used to average 10,000 unique hits per day- when I left and linked on the front page, I got only 1,000 hits to the frontpage of my new site." The issue here, though, is only that there seems to be a lack of mission. Greatsaiyaman777 went on to state that a large portion of the year after DBZ ended was spent on a drive to save Yu-Gi-Oh!, culminating in KevinTRod's campaign to save the show getting merged into the site, but with little following-up afterwards.
Another cause was the fall of the Dragon Ball web community. Around 2002-2003, Planet Namek fell to high server costs, toriyama.org was hijacked by a profit-making corporation, DBZ Uncensored called it quits (now hosted by DBZOA, coincidentally) and VegettoEX's site seemed to be on again-off again for months. Until VegettoEX rose from the ashes as DaizenshuuEX later on, there was no one to be standard bearer, and many, many sites in the community suffered. The fall of those communities led to a series of splinter sites (like the one you're reading now) who were both unable and unwilling to heed the call of duty. DBZOA, an organization whose power almost entirely reflected that of the strength of the community, had little power to control anything if the community itself was in shambles. So what can the organization do as it enters the Spring of 2006?
Illjwamh, a DBZOA staffer, points to One Piece as a series desperately in need of a better dub. According to him, dubs have improved vastly over the past few years, but this dub suffers from much of the same problems as DBZ: namely edits, cuts, and censorship. Illjwanh points to Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Fullmetal Alchemist as ideal dubs, because of their great production values, spot-on voice casting, and flawless translation. Anime DVDs (another issue that the DBZOA tackled in the past with gusto) are being handled very differently now than they were when Funimation started with the Dragon Ball Z series. He had this to say about his ideal release- "It's got to have at least 4 episodes. 5 is better, but 4 is the minimum. Paying more than 12 dollars for a disc with only 3 episodes on it is ridiculous, and when you consider most anime DVDs cost upwards of $25, that's a major issue. Aside from that, it's got to have a dual language track. I don't know why anyone wouldn't do that, but it's happened. Most American DVDs nowadays have a non-English track anyway, so why should there not be a track for the language the work was originally produced in? It just doesn't make sense." When you look at some of Illjwamh's "good DVD" qualifications, it's hard not to think of Bandai and their superior production of the Gundam series- particularly Gundam Wing; the first anime series to get a genuinely spectacular DVD treatment. Illjwamh points to ADV and Geneon as models, though it took ADV multiple attempts to get Neon Genesis Evangelion done right.
As for the future of Dragon Ball Z in America, Illjwamh believes that, for the most part, the craze is dead and gone, though the theatrical release holds some hope for the future of the series. In the end, he says, Funimation needs to stop squeezing all they can about the series. When asked about the future of the site, he stated that "there will be other functions for the site, too. Dubbed 'Illyworld'" he, along with user Tofu, "have decided we want to cover a wide range of issues beyond our main mission statement. We'll probably each have a blog on the site, and I'll most likely put up reviews of books or movies or anime from time to time. In time, hosting will be available for people who want to put up work of their own, etc. Perhaps the thing I'm most excited about is a webcomic I've written." There is clearly some great ambition behind Illyworld, but the staff should not forget that the DBZOA still has a purpose that has not, as of yet, been fully realized.
Like many other sites that have reached their perceived apex, the DBZOA needs to fully realize that it's an organiation with a mission and not simply a social clique. They have a good goal that anime fans should all rally around and they need to foster a sense of mission if they're going to succeed like they did once before. While it's true that Dragon Ball is finished in America, they need to realize that the job is not over (One Piece Otaku Alliance?). Funimation, while improving, is still not satisfactory to many fans who simply want a good dub not done on the cheap, some quality subs (which Funimation, to their credit, came out with in spades), and for it to not be passed off as "the latest fad". Dragon Ball is still huge in Japan, almost 10 years after GT (the final series) ended. Will Americans be able to say the same in 2016?
Point of Discussion for Next Week: Fixing a Busted Machine- The Anime Web Community's Fall
The DBZOA still fights the good fight and can be found at DBZOA.net
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 March 2006 )
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