Who DBZ moment surprised or shocked you the most?

[SIAD]

Really surprised that nobody said Future Trunks coming out of nowhere and killing Frieza till now. Like we've got both Frieza AND his father (that we didn't know about beforehand) headed towards Earth. Our main cast seems to be completely boned and the planet toast. Then this guy we've never seen before comes out of nowhere and goes SSJ at a point where only Goku had done it up to that point and dispenses of both effortlessly. Made my kid brain melt when I first saw it lol.

It's the most impressive thing. I already mentioned it in the other thread.

The Almighty Frieza, the undisputed strongest warrior in the universe, could only be surpassed by the Legendary Super Saiyan, a warrior who would appear once every thousand years from one of the most warlike races in the universe.

The Legendary Super Saiyan Goku appeared, and after an epic battle, he managed to surpass the Almighty Frieza.

About 22 months pass, and the Almighty Frieza, rebuilt with highly advanced technology, manages to become even stronger than the Almighty and invincible Super Saiyan Goku. Mecha Frieza also arrives with Emperor King Cold, whose power rivals that of the Legendary Super Saiyan and the Almighty Frieza.

All seemed lost; these two giants were threatening Earth, and Goku still hadn't appeared.

Then, out of nowhere, a completely unknown character appears and manages to transform into a Super Saiyan (completely shattering the legend that Super Saiyans appear only once every thousand years). Moreover, this Saiyan is unknown even to Prince Vegeta himself. This new Super Saiyan instantly defeats the all-powerful, technologically advanced Mecha Frieza and easily dispatches the mighty King Cold.

Furthermore, this new Super Saiyan has the ability to know the exact location and time Goku will arrive on Earth.

Future Trunks has an absolutely epic debut.

 

[Warmmedown]

What about Goku being an alien? I think it's impossible for anyone here to know because I'm guessing we either all knew already or had started with DBZ and not Dragon Ball? For sure in the Anglosphere. But I wonder how it was received in late 1980s Japan or other countries which had begun with Dragon Ball.

Can you imagine Raditz's tail being revealed outside Kame-sennin's house and the viewers being like "no way! No!...WHAT?". It would be just like the shock the characters who were present had. And back then there were no phones to text or call friends, particularly for children and teens. Do you think they'd run to the landline to call a friend? I imagine not. Or even run to a nearby friend's for the sole person of talking about it? Again, I imagine not lol, but maybe if they're on the same street and the episode ends at a time they're able to go outside. Probably they'd all wait to be talking about it in school, as kids would now if not texting about it. But DB was so huge, so maybe it could be enacted to differently than other shows - my guess is they'd wait though.

 

[ahill]

That's wild. This guy went through so much, beat the androids, then gets everyone he knows erased. WHAT. And then exists where there's a younger version of himself.
@ahill you said dragon ball is well-done psychologically. They put Trunks through what sounds like an existential nightmare, then don't even delve into it. Should he just treat the new Bulma as his mother? What about his original mother? How about all the world he knew, which now doesn't exist? What's his place in this world, when there's another Trunks there? He has a girl 20 years younger hitting on him, but what about someone his own age? Does anyone even know him in this new world? Nobody knows his memories of the world. Even Bulma doesn't remember him as a kid or anything.
Can't actually imagine how it would be, so it would be tough to write.

I said Dragon Ball. Super's directors wrote it while high on weed, coke and at least 3 more drugs to produce that puzzle of a series. Some ppl get artistically creative well enough when on some stuff (for example some rock bands; not that they needed it but many would say they could compose only when high). Others clearly do not (Super as an example imo)

 

[Warmmedown]

I said Dragon Ball. Super's directors wrote it while high on weed, coke and at least 3 more drugs to produce that puzzle of a series. Some ppl get artistically creative well enough when on some stuff (for example some rock bands; not that they needed it but many would say they could compose only when high). Others clearly do not (Super as an example imo)

Damn, we just mourned Toriyama and by the sound of it Toyotaro will be soon. It's worth it to create the masterpiece that was episode 5 though.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

I knew DragonBall before.

 

[00 Unit]

What about Goku being an alien? I think it's impossible for anyone here to know because I'm guessing we either all knew already or had started with DBZ and not Dragon Ball? For sure in the Anglosphere. But I wonder how it was received in late 1980s Japan or other countries which had begun with Dragon Ball.

Can you imagine Raditz's tail being revealed outside Kame-sennin's house and the viewers being like "no way! No!...WHAT?". It would be just like the shock the characters who were present had. And back then there were no phones to text or call friends, particularly for children and teens. Do you think they'd run to the landline to call a friend? I imagine not. Or even run to a nearby friend's for the sole person of talking about it? Again, I imagine not lol, but maybe if they're on the same street and the episode ends at a time they're able to go outside. Probably they'd all wait to be talking about it in school, as kids would now if not texting about it. But DB was so huge, so maybe it could be enacted to differently than other shows - my guess is they'd wait though.

I also started with Z; kind of ridiculous in hindsight how we all got dropped half way through the plot isn't it? lol. I don't think the alien twist is as WTF as like the Trunks thing or some of the other things mentioned ITT though.

Even if we all know that Toriyama didn't exactly plan the story out in advance there were hints of it beforehand. Like some of the team calling him an alien when he turns Oozaru for the first time, his tail, and also just generally inhuman strength that was shown throughout the first chunk of the story. It makes sense as an explanation and I'd bet a lot of viewers had a sort of "oooh I get it" moment after the initial shock wore off.

Hard to know though since this was so long ago that we don't really have any archived conversations or whatnot to pull from. It was still probably a pretty big deal I imagine, but in terms of raw surprise I wonder.