Times are a changin'

So wow. I have been a Dragonball fan for ten years already. I first started watching it back on Toonami in the summer of 2000 right before high school started. I used to make fun of it with my friend in seventh grade (Dragonballz was funny back then I guess), and I loved staying up to midnight to watch the "uncut" episodes on Midnight Run. Then the next summer I came across some tapes at Wal Mart of the new saga where Gohan is a teenage superhero in a trashcan and cape. I started begging my mom to buy them every time they came out, and I'd call my friends and race down there as soon as they were out of summer school. We'd sit around in the living room of the house we always hung out in and watch the six episodes. It was memorable and so much fun. I have fond memories of that time. There was just something about ripping off the plastic wrap and popping them in the VCR.

Starting last year they started airing Dragonball Kai, a series where the filler has been cut out and it is set to be around 100 or so episodes. Gone are the days where we have to wait for them to be dubbed and released here. Technology has allowed people to capture the episodes streaming live on Japanese television. Then teams of people subtitle them and release them online to stream around the world. It's crazy for me to think about that. Funimation is releasing Blu-Ray discs starting in May, and they are airing it on the Nicktoons network in May also, I think. I do want to get that network to watch it because I am not buying Blu-Ray (I don't even have a DVD player, just my computer). I want to see Funi's job on it, but I love the fact I can watch it online less than a week after it airs in Japan. It's amazing.

I also watch (when I remember) Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari, a show by the creator of the Tenchi universe about his younger half-bro Kenshi who gets dragged into an alternate universe. It's an OAV, and I don't know if Funi will ever pick it up since they have the rights to Tenchi now (Geneon/Pioneer left the anime game a while ago). Doesn't matter, though. Fan subs work fine, and the quality is usually really good. It's way better than the fansubbed DBZ tapes I bought back in 2002 at least. My VCR ate the first Broly movie even. I never saw it until last year when I streamed it (guess where?) online. Now don't get me wrong. I support the official release. I have all of the orange bricks and am patiently waiting for the Dragonball sets to get cheaper so I can collect them, too. I would even buy the Dragonbox sets if I could afford it. For now, though, I'll have to stick to watching it online. Which is so cool.

Just like Gohan here.