When I first got really involved in the DBZ web community in 2002 I later noticed that a lot of certain people seemed to hate the DBZOA with a purple passion. It didn't make sense- DBZOA sticks up for the series being right and against Funimation ruining it moreso than any other site (aside from DBZU) ever has, and we still do so. Why on earth would any fan dislike us? That'd be like a YGO fan who hates the 4Kids dub hating a website like YGO Uncensored for some odd reason.

Well, there is a reason why there are certain elements out there in the community that either dislike us or just hold a lot of animosity towards us- and rather ironically, it has virtually nothing at all to do with the fact that we dislike FUNimation's handling of the series. While I was talking to Azrael-sama (founder and former leader of DBZOA) sometime ago he sent me this e-mail message entitled "DBZ Web History 101." Even now though, there are still elements out there that attack us for what we do. So, in response to that, I'd just like to reprint this letter to let everyone know the real story behind the DBZOA, the DBZ web community, and why certain elements dislike us and what we stand for.




"Well, here you go. A basics on the DBZ Web Community. It's a bit long, as always. Sorry.

Back in the day, the DBZ Web Community was a lot different than what it has evolved into now. To truly understand how we got here, you must first take a look at where we've been.

Way way back, before Funimation, Schemmel and Sabat, before the Cartoon Network and S3, the show was being dubbed by Funimation and Pioneer. It was in syndication, and was pretty hard to find. We had to wake up incredibly early in the morning - and even then, we only got one episode a week, and we were often plagued by the series resetting and going into repeats. The only people who watched the show were the people who were already aware of it from its origins in Japan. And we hated it. Granted, in retrospect it was years beyond what the show eventually de-evolved into, but compared to the original DBZ, it was horrible.

The Web Community then, was pretty much made up of these fans. It was nothing more than a sounding board for all those who were unhappy with the show...which was everyone at this point. Not just Chris Psaros, but everyone...SREDBZ, VegettoEX, Greg Werner, even MrE and gang of Planet Namek, which back in the day was actually a fansub distributor. And it was nice. I mean, the show sucked, but at least we could go online and find plenty of other people who felt the same way we did. There was a strange sense of unity in it.

Even when the series was picked up by the Cartoon Network and Season 3 was released, the community still hated the show. Pretty much everyone complained that, somehow, the series had gone from bad to worse. PN and DaizenshuuEX were both pretty vocal about how much they hated the show, and at this time were beginning to emerge as "leaders" of the community.

But then a funny thing happened. The show actually started to get popular. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the dub isn't bad by itself - it just sucks compared to what it should be. Combine this with the best time slot ever (5PM...when most other stations switch to news or other adult programming), and it was only natural that the show would gain viewers.

These new viewers, most of whom weren't even aware that DBZ is a Japanese show, then jumped on the internet to find info about their new favorite show. Most of them were probably surprised to find so much negativity towards it. And there were a LOT of new viewers too. Which meant a lot of kids jumping on the internet, which meant many of these sites were getting a tremendous increase in traffic.

Add to this the fact that Funimation was actually watching. Pretty much everyone blasted S3 when it came out, but VegEX actually found out that most of Funimation's VA's were not dedicated VA's...the voice of Puar was actually a librarian! He went off on that in an update/feature on his page, and pretty much everyone was surprised when that VA/librarian, Monika Antonelli, actually contacted him about it!

So now there are tons of new fans of the show rapidly flooding the internet. And they probably don't like hearing such negativity about their new favorite show. Nor do they care about a "Japanese version" and how things are "so different." And the very people we intend to bash, Funimation, are actually reading what we say now! So, the tunes of these websites and the webmasters started changing all of a sudden. The show wasn't getting any better - in some ways, worse. But now, they "just don't care anymore". Or "it's not that bad." PN, once a fansub distro, started doing daily updates on even the most insignificant of Funimation news - new VHS release dates, VA appearances, airdates, et al. VegEX started going after getting interviews with the VA cast. And so on. Their change in tune did wonders for their sites; they became very popular, leaders of the web community even. PN became foremost - the fastest way for a site to get popular was to get "sponsored" by PN...this is probably the only reason why some sites are recognizeable names.

But the sudden change left a very bitter taste in the mouths of the "old" DBZ fans. Nothing had changed for us - the show was worse than ever. And we still cared about the unnecessary script changes, the horrible music, the terrible VA's. But now, there was nowhere for us to go. The webmasters we used to comiserate with were now turning Pro-Funi. The MB's we used to frequent were now being overrun by new fans, "dubbies", who didn't want to hear us complaining and were constantly telling us to shut up. The old fans, or "subbies", had to go on the defensive - always explaining why we didn't like the show, what had been done to it.

So we were upset. Many people started accusing the webmasters of "selling out" to Funimation; changing their tune in order to retain and gain popularity in the Web Community, as well as perhaps a fear of being so outspoken since now the people they were speaking out against were listening. And we were pretty vocal about it too, blasting them on their own MB's, in email even. One of the biggest blows came from, of course, Jon Allen. He managed to score an interview with Sean Schemmel, the new VA for Goku. In the interview, Schemmel exposed his massive and staggering ignorance regarding his own character, and the show as a whole. Jon not only let it slide, but seemed to agree with him. We were all pretty outraged by it, and we slammed Jon just as hard as we slammed Schemmel, if not more than. Schemmel we could maybe understand, but Allen was supposed to be one of the guys who had been with us all this time, feeling shafted by the rotten dub. We knew he knows better.

And then with the intention to advance the efforts of subbed DBZ DVD's, Brian Real, once a PN staff member (I think...) compiled and turned into Funi a HUGE list of fansub distros on the web. Funi acted swiftly, sending out shut down or else notices to every site. The fans saw this as a big selling out. And then, the DVD's weren't even that good - 3 episodes per disc, with little to nothing else. Many fans, maybe just beaten into submission, were content to take their DVD's and just run.

Enter the OA

The old DBZ Web Community, the "subbies" if you will, had been reduced and forced into the Funimation folder on the PNMB. It was the only place where one could find others who were unhappy with the show. Even there, we constantly had to defend our views, and occasionally, one of the now elitist webmasters would wander in and attempt to angrily defend themselves against the cries of sell-out. It was pretty bleak.

The OA was created basically to be a new home for all those outcast subbies. With all of the big sites now pro-Funi, there wasn't anywhere we could go. There wasn't a site that was still unhappy with the dub....sure there was Psaros's Uncensored and Werner's Info Site, but they were rarely updated, nor did they have a MB or any sort of place where at least you could comiserate with others. The idea was spawned from the Funi forum, and with most of the members there in full support of it, it soon got underway. However, many of those who were most vocal in their sell-out cries against the big webmasters were among the first to join the OA. Before its official launch even, they challenged many of the webmasters, saying that if they didn't join the OA, it would be a sure sign that they had truly sold out. The webmasters (MrE, VegEX, and Jon Allen being the main ones here), who already didn't like those particular people, didn't take too kindly to their challenge, and from they day I believe they decided to hate the OA. Despite my efforts to diplomatically and even friendly ask for support, or even a simple link, they pretty much ignored me.

There used to be a site called Kienzan's Edge which was an outlet of editorials about DBZ and the fan community. There was an editorial in particular posted that said there were three different ways to become a popular DBZ website. The first was to kiss the asses of the "Inner Circle", the elitist head honchos of the community. The second was to specialize in illegal warez, like full episodes. The third was to work hard, be patient, and consistant. The OA took the third route. It wasn't always easy, and it did take time, but we did manage to succeed. I think they hated that as well, that a site could do well without their approval. Eventually, those sites faded away, but the OA still remains. HA! Sorry, had to get that out of my system. -_-;;

Of course, there's more to it. When the OA first started, we had these little image banners that members could post in their sigs, showing their support. My intent for them was good....however, as I understand it, there was a lot of flaming coming from people with these banners in their sigs. Someone would go into a mostly dubbie forum and flame the hell out of them for liking American DBZ. And since they had their OA banner in their sig...they looked like actual representatives of the OA. There was a lot I could not see or control, even as localized as PNMB. But I fear that helped to spread a lot of the bad rep we had in the early stages.

Jon Allen actually did link to us at one point. We were the first to obtain clips of the new UK DBZ dub featuring the Ocean Group. Jon linked to us through DaizenshuuEX, and I believe even PN eventually mentioned it in one of their daily news blurbs. Both did so I believe begrudingly. And at one point, SSJ Leia became obsessed with "saving" Tenkai, D-EX's message board. Whatever evils VegEX and Jon Allen were, the board's admin, Vegetto707 was ten times worse. The board was full of fans who had adopted the "I don't care" attitude of the webmasters (its the origin of the DBC:WDC), as well as dubbies, and just boneheads in general (think Jabba's Park...only those guys can't hold a candle to Tenkai). I don't know the specifics, and you'll have to ask Leia about it, but I believe she and Jon Allen got into it on a number of occasions...with SSJ Leia of course being an OA staff member at this point, whatever she did over there reflected back on us as a whole.

My interview with Jon Allen was an attempt to sort of smooth over some of the bad relations that had been brewing. I guess it didn't work. At the time, much of the staff wanted me to really blast him in the questions, but I didn't feel that would really do anything to help the OA. Instead, I tried to ask questions that would either allow himself to explain his position, or further shoot himself in the foot. I'm kind of crafty like that. ^_^

Plus, with the websites now enjoying a rather cozy relationship with Funi, they couldn't really support us (even if they wanted to) because we were one of the few (if not only) sites that was still vocal about our dislike for the dub.

And so that's it. That's a little of the background as to why we have such bad blood between Jon Allen, and whatever remnants there are of the Inner Circle. Hopefully, this will help explain some things, and if there's anything you think I missed, please let me know."




And that's Azrael-sama's two cents. You can read about Vegex's Monika Antonelli interview here and Jon Allen's scintillating interview with Sean Schemmel here. The editorial Azrael-sama was talking was written by Steve Harmon and can be found at Dragon Ball Blast.

I would like to add though, that because Brian Real's actions (and 10,000+ signed petition) ultimately helped bring about Funimation's decision to release dual-version DVD's, and their decision to hire a hardcore fan like Steven J. Simmons to work on the subtitles, that definitely makes him a good guy in my book.

I should also say that, having read VegettoEX's years of work online, that I pretty much agree with everything he's done and said and I think that criticisms of him being a "sellout" were really unfair. On the other hand, I've never really been all that big a fan of Planet Namek (thought I gotta admit, before mid-2000 I thought they were a completely cool site) or Jon Allen.

And, there ya go- the reason why some in community have had it in for the dbzoa in the past. Hope that answered some questions and shed some light for you guys too.

- GreatSaiyaman777