Thread by @NateMing

yeah, I dunno, I'm in the minority here

but I've already had my good times with Dragon Ball, and it's hit its highs

the series COMING BACK after all this time was a nice surprise, and I don't expect it to cater to adult Nate

it's just "more Dragon Ball," and I'm cool with that

every time modern Dragon Ball does something, I ask myself "would 1996 Nate think this was cool?"

if the answer is yes, I smile, enjoy it, and move on

because I see a loooooot of thoughts on modern DB and the general consensus seems to be "it does not make me feel like when I first watched Dragon Ball"

but you're not putting yourself in the mindset of being an excited 13-year-old--you're being a jaded, discerning adult

I think this also comes from a general misunderstanding of DB's action

it's not about who's smarter, or even about who has more power in a given situation

there is always, ALWAYS that last-minute bit of simple, overlooked cleverness that allows Goku (or Gohan, once) to win

for real, though--ppl say Z's fights are all about yelling and power, but

Raditz: beaten by teamwork and sacrifice
Vegeta: beaten by GETTING GANGED ON
Freeza: beaten by poor attention to detail
Cell: beaten by last-second distraction
Buu: beaten by literal miraculous second wind

and this is FINE

people win fights all the time because of something they only think of in the few seconds before they land a finisher

or because their opponent mistimed something ONCE and it affected them down the line

expecting every fight to be a BATTLE OF WITS gets old

even Hajime no Ippo, which I still feel has the absolute, unrivaled best fights in anime and manga, sometimes just goes "well, his punch was a little faster, and that's why he won"

that split-second difference that you can't account for is just part of the game