Yup. DragonBall is perfectly fine but saying it's more popular or recognizable than Spider-Man is straight up lunacy.
As someone who sees 600+ kids in a very diverse metro area every week 10 months out of the year, I don't think I've ever heard any of them talking about or even referencing Dragonball. When it comes to anime, they're all about My Hero Academia, Naruto, or, weirdly enough (and this might just be my school), Demon Slayer these days.
Yup. DragonBall is perfectly fine but saying it's more popular or recognizable than Spider-Man is straight up lunacy.
:p
I mean the Trojan Horse is taught in school, I'd argue that it's not pop culture, it's like extra-classical culture.
Actually I'd argue that it is the case.Surely The Trojan Horse isn't more famous than Hiroshima......ah I see this is just in fiction.
The absolute genius about it is that the pronounciation is really easy for most speakers even from languages that are rather foreign to Japanese.It's all in the drawn out pronunciation of the name. Just saying it builds anticipation. It wouldn't nearly be as iconic if they just shouted it out in one burst.
It doesn't need to be relevant for it to be iconic. Mickey Mouse is iconic even though he's no longer relevant anymore. I feel like people are more associating Disney with MCU and Star Wars nowadays than MickeyYeah I think people do need to realize that Dragon ball is just old. It's in legacy mode these days, and I say that with the existence of the movie this year and the Super show a few years back. Its iconic status remains, but it's not that relevant anymore.
Well, IIRC it's a Hawaiian word not JapaneseThe absolute genius about it is that the pronounciation is really easy for most speakers even from languages that are rather foreign to Japanese.
Why are people dismissing the Hadoken popularity? It's definitely comparable to the Kamehameha
How should I put this.I'm pretty sure those two properties are roughly on par.
List of highest-grossing media franchises - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Given how much newer Dragon Ball is than Spider-Man that's all the more impressive. I'm pretty sure almost just as many people know who Goku is as they know who Spider-Man is lol.
I think it's a Japanese word that happens to share the name of a Hawaiian kingIt doesn't need to be relevant for it to be iconic. Mickey Mouse is iconic even though he's no longer relevant anymore. I feel like people are more associating Disney with MCU and Star Wars nowadays than Mickey
Well, IIRC it's a Hawaiian word not Japanese
This is an interesting one. I certainly haven't thought much about Mickey in a minute but that head and ears silhouette is so iconic. I wonder how much share he has if you were to ask people when they think of Disney what do they think of. Obviously a lot but I'd be curious to see the split at this stage.It doesn't need to be relevant for it to be iconic. Mickey Mouse is iconic even though he's no longer relevant anymore. I feel like people are more associating Disney with MCU and Star Wars nowadays than Mickey
Star Wars' Force Choke and Spider-Man's Web-Shooters are probably the only suggestions that can actually take down the Kamehameha. People are really in here trying to deny how massive Dragon Ball was and continues to be.
Do you not read or are you choosing not to? Kids don't decide what is widely recognizable. If a kid doesn't know who Obama is that's not super relevant.
The Trojan Horse will continue to be known for thousands of years; Dragon Ball is lucky if it's referenced outside this century.
Arguing for SF being more recognizable than DB is like arguing that American Football is more popular than Football.
Threads like these really show how out of touch and US-Centric this forum is
This^
Lot of people forget just how huge Dragon Ball/Z really was/is.
Since this site skews towards the US, this colors the opinions posted on the perceived popularity and iconicness of Dragonball, due to the unique relationship of Dragonball and anime in general in the US (and the Anglosphere) compared to the rest of the world.Note to self: Never regard knowing what Kamehameha means as being nerdy or nerd adjacent. The nerds will come for you.
I'm teasing, please don't hit me.
How should I put this.
In my perception, I feel like Spider-Man, Wonder woman, Superman and Batman and Robin have ascended way beyond just mere comic book super hero characters and more into like, as figures.
What I mean is, a kid can wish to become Batman for his birthday despite not having consumed any comics, movies or shows about him. They're just that giant at this point.
Goku I feel is still grounded as a character, I mean a ginormously popular one at that but not yet a "figure" or a "template". His show though is way more iconic than the TV shows, animated or live action of the aforementioned supeheroes (with the exception of Adam West Batman).
Well maybe you're right.
Helmeppo Violet color variant?Trunks is cooler than Goku so I was googling him just now and this popped up. I love it.
Here in North America, Street Fighter was a PHENOMENON in the early 1990s, before we even got any Dragon Ball at all. And with SF4 revitalizing interest, and regular re-releases, it never really went away completely. It's not the phenomenon now that it once was, but it remains popular.
We apparently got a few episodes of Dragon Ball in 1995 until it was cancelled due to low ratings. The notorious original DBZ dub (OVER 9000!!!!!) started in 1996, and after syndication, cancellation, and then Funimation, finally we got the end of it in 2003. But remember that anime has always been niche here, even the more popular anime. DBZ was never a phenomenon in North America, not even close.
I'm not saying that it isn't different in other parts of the world, but I'm pretty certain that in North America, the hadouken is more iconic.
Didn't know who that was so googled it and lmao, on point. All I know is Ryan Gosling will now need to play Trunks in the next live action DBZ film. That look is made for him.
This thread got me watching Dragon Ball original series for the first time.
This is an interesting one. I certainly haven't thought much about Mickey in a minute but that head and ears silhouette is so iconic. I wonder how much share he has if you were to ask people when they think of Disney what do they think of. Obviously a lot but I'd be curious to see the split at this stage.
Spain, Italy, France all got it at around the same time.
I'm pretty sure Belgium was aware of Dragon Ball at the time too, Benelux and France shared the same distribution for video games (same language, same packaging, easier distribution)
They're even referenced in one of the mid90s game's manuals
If you're fine with manga I would recommend it instead, especially for Z because the anime has awful pacing issues
Here in North America, Street Fighter was a PHENOMENON in the early 1990s, before we even got any Dragon Ball at all. And with SF4 revitalizing interest, and regular re-releases, it never really went away completely. It's not the phenomenon now that it once was, but it remains popular.
i would 't call the trojan horse an attack. it's more a weapon or a war tactic than an attack in and of itself. if we're stretching the definition of attack a bunch of things from myth probably qualify (Sun Wukong probably has a few techniques tbat might qualify under that interpretation and even given his reputation is limited to east asia alone he might still be able to take it). if we include stuff like weapons i'd probably say Excalibur takes the prize here. But yeah these are really stretching the definition of attack. honestly i feel like even the spiderman webshoot is a bit stretching though that i can understand qualifying depending on how you count itSurely The Trojan Horse isn't more famous than Hiroshima......ah I see this is just in fiction.
Incredible. Went to watch that Broly movie a couple of years ago to the cinema (latin america here) and there were tons of kids and young people in the audience. Dragon Ball is as cross-generational as Pokemon.
Dragonball was absolutely a phenomenon in the Us lol. and again, nobody is disputing that SF was super popular in the 90s, buts it's incredibly niche right now and most of it's audience now is a remnant of thw old 90s audience. SFIV and beyond is absolutely not mainstream, and the franchise was a fucking shadow during the III era. Again, we've literally shown proof on every metric that right now the Kamehameha is way, way more popular and know. than the Hadouken. The popularity in the 90s isn't relevant to this discussion because that was decades ago and times changeHere in North America, Street Fighter was a PHENOMENON in the early 1990s, before we even got any Dragon Ball at all. And with SF4 revitalizing interest, and regular re-releases, it never really went away completely. It's not the phenomenon now that it once was, but it remains popular.
We apparently got a few episodes of Dragon Ball in 1995 until it was cancelled due to low ratings. The notorious original DBZ dub (OVER 9000!!!!!) started in 1996, and after syndication, cancellation, and then Funimation, finally we got the end of it in 2003. But remember that anime has always been niche here, even the more popular anime. DBZ was never a phenomenon in North America, not even close.
I'm not saying that it isn't different in other parts of the world, but I'm pretty certain that in North America, the hadouken is more iconic.
Statistics bInack you up. September of 2002 Dragon Ball Z was the most watched show for boys/men age 12 to 24 in the US based on Nielsen ratings. It was one of the most watched shows for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights that month. The idea that no one watched DBZ or it wasn't big is just wrong.I can only speak anecdotally here but in my experience the bolded is very untrue. It absolutely was a phenomenon here. I can't even count how many friends in school I had who were absolutely enamored with DBZ - waking up early on Saturday mornings just to catch it - who probably couldn't even name another anime series. It was a juggernaut maybe even to a greater extent than something like FF7 which heavily popularized JRPGs in a similar way.
i mean yeah Dragonball is also past the peak of it's relevance, but it's still miles more relevant than SF. Dragonball video games regularly sell way more than SF games and that's SF's hone turf whereas most Dragonball games are exceptionally mediocreYeah I think people do need to realize that Dragon ball is just old. It's in legacy mode these days, and I say that with the existence of the movie this year and the Super show a few years back. Its iconic status remains, but it's not that relevant anymore.
I will argue though that by virtue of being a shouted attack, Kamehameha is way more iconic than the attacks of Spiderman or Batman.
That's another couple right there that I'd put over kamehameha tbh. Pikachu thundershock, or a flame thrower from a charizard
This is what I mean when I say I don't even buy the "well in the west, no I mean North America, no I mean the US, SF is actually...." stuff in this thread and think a lot of people in here are also just out of touch with stuff's popularity in the US itself. DBZ was huge.Statistics bInack you up. September of 2002 Dragon Ball Z was the most watched show for boys/men age 12 to 24 in the US based on Nielsen ratings. It was one of the most watched shows for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights that month. The idea that no one watched DBZ or it wasn't big is just wrong.
what they really mean is "in my bubble of 35-45 year old age range nerds who are the only people i regularly interact with" lol. it's the same phenomenon that has lead to people in Era thinking minecraft wasn't iconic lolThis is what I mean when I say I don't even buy the "well in the west, no I mean North America, no I mean the US, SF is actually...." stuff in this thread and think a lot of people in here are also just out of touch with stuff's popularity in the US itself. DBZ was huge.