Alzrius
The EN World kitten
Legba said:It's like Dragonball Z. I could never get into it because there's just so much out there. What is it now, 27 films?
And once I start collecting a series, I'm absolutly lost untill I get the entire thing.
I'm the same way dude, I feel your pain.
Being a DBZ fan, there are a few things you can do:
You can just start with the DVDs/VHS tapes (The DVDs are the best bet IMHO, and in a year or two theyre being re-dubbed). The tape you want to start with is "Arrival" in the Saiyan saga. If you look at the back, it should mention the episode numbers, so look for 1.
Alternately, you could start reading the manga, available in english (and the translations are pretty good, despite what some people may say). The graphic novels are conveniently and easily labelled, and should be in your local comic shop. Just look for number 1.
You may hear some stuff about how Dragonball is the predecessor to Dragonball Z. That's true. Dragonaball is the story of the heroes of Dragonball Z when they were younger (and Dragonball was produced and written first), and takes place before Dragonball Z. However, it isn't necessary to buy the DVDs or read the manga of that series to get into DBZ.
As for the movies, there are 13 (and an unnumbered "lost" movie). However, the movies exist outside the storyline in the anime/manga series. They're more like OAVs, being independent of the story and having no real spoilers. The only thing they directly build off of is each other, and even that doesn't happen a lot (movie 6 is sequel to 5, for example, and 8, 9, and 11 are sequential). You can watch pretty much any of them and it won't give anything away.
There are two non-movie "specials" also that are DVD/video only. Both of these are also independent of the main storyline, with one being the tale of Goku's father, and the other being an alternate timeline where Goku died.
Hope that helps!