The Shopping Incident
by Nerissa Ying

Originally Posted: 8 April 2000

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I would like to tell a story.

A friend of mine and I went to the Oakland Asian Cultural Center on October 9, 1999 to look at a Vietnamese exhibit for an Asian American Studies class. We had a hard time finding the place, but we did note that there were several stores that sold anime stuff along with other merchandise. Both of us being Japanese anime lovers, we decided to check those places out after we looked through the exhibit.

We went to one small store that sold anime merchandise along with clothing. I had recently gotten hooked on Dragonball Z somewhere during the late spring/early summer of 1999. Before this, I has still somewhat hooked on my first anime, Sailormoon (a craze which had started around the summer/fall of 1996). Anyway, back to the point.

I was looking through a pile of posters that had a plastic feel to them, to see if there was anything I liked. To my astonishment and delight, I found several Dragonball Z posters in that pile of $1.00 posters. There was Vegetto, Gotenks, and group pictures of the DBZ cast. Most of them weren't half bad. It was a great deal! I even found several packs of Dragonball cards and some issues of the manga, Dragonball, translated into English by Viz.

Being the conservative buyer I was, I bought a pack of DBZ cards (probably Taiwan bootlegs, since they were the sticker type), and two of the DBZ posters. (That is actually quite a lot for me, since I rarely buy anything.) One was the picture of Super Saiyajin Gokou flanked by a Super Saiyajin Vejiita and a Super Saiyajin Trunks (Mirai no Trunks) with Earth as the background. The other poster was of Gokou in Super Saiyajin level 3 with Gohan (in his Saiyaman costume excluding the sunglasses), Vejiita, Super Saiyajin Chibi Trunks, Super Saiyajin Goten, and Videl (although, at that time, I didn't know who she was). I was very, VERY happy (and hyper, may I add).

(As a side note, that store didn't have any Dragonball Z CDs. Otherwise, I might have bought one too. I did later, in March of 2000 for my birthday. It was Dragonball Z "Never Ending Story" by Columbia.)

My friend mentioned that I must be really dedicated because she would never buy anime stuff, even though she liked that anime. Then it hit me that I loved Dragonball Z as much as I loved Sailormoon. (By then, I was quite aware of what DIC had done to the Sailormoon English dub. I was also somewhat suspicious of what FUNimation had done to DBZ, but I didn't know any specifics of what was done to "edit" it.)

I had taken about a half an hour debating which stuff I should buy, so by the time I was heading up towards the cash register, there was already a clerk IN FRONT of the counter, ready for me. I gave her the DBZ card pack and the two Dragonball Z posters. She looked down at my choice of items and then gave me the weirdest look I have ever seen in my shopping career. (Of which to say, there isn't much. I'm not a shop-aholic.) A look that said, "You like Dragonball Z? And you're a girl?!!!" A look that made me half-confused and half-embarrassed. (And later, somewhat angry.) What was wrong with liking Dragonball Z? It was like she was shocked to the bone that a _GIRL_ would buy some Dragonball merchandise. I simply didn't understand what was the problem/surprise.

My friend and I talked about it on the way back to Berkeley, and she said that maybe the clerk reacted that way because Dragonball Z was a guys' anime. If I had chosen to buy some of the Sailormoon stuff over there, she wouldn't have given me that look. I thought about it for a while, and although the incident seemed kinda of funny to me it also seemed a little insulting to me. And it made me a bit angry. But then, we had to do a review of the Vietnamese exhibit for class, so I didn't think too much of the incident afterwards.

But then in March of 2000, the issue came up again, this time while looking through Temple 'O Trunks. There was an editorial by Meri, the website's owner and creator, on how hard it was for any female-created DBZ site to become well known in comparison to a male-created DBZ site and the so-called "rarity" of females liking and loving DBZ, in general. (No insult intended against any males.) The incident from the store came up in my mind again, and once again, I felt indignant and angry.

Why was it, that when a girl buys DBZ stuff, she inevitably attracts some attention? (And believe me, not all of it is positive. I get enough negative input as it is from my parents on how much I spend on anime stuff in general. Especially on DBZ merchandise, since the anime is so violent, and it _is_ a guys' anime *as my parents would say*.)

Likewise, why is it, that when a boy mentions he likes some "girls' anime" (Sailormoon, for example) he is seen as some sort of wuss? (And any guy who does admit such a fondness towards a girls' anime, is definitely NOT a wuss in my opinion.)

I've read some terrific fanfiction based on Sailormoon, and some of them were written by guys. Likewise, I've read some great DBZ fanfiction and I find that the best stories I've come to love and cherish and read over and over again were written by women. (Okay I'll admit it; most of the DBZ fanfiction I've read were written by women, so I'm a little biased. But, I still have to come across a DBZ fanfic written by a guy that has the depth of character I'm looking for. If any of you *and this is especially for you guys out there* have any suggestions on some great DBZ fanfics, please e-mail me the title, author's name, and address as to where I can find them. I'll read them in due time.)

In fact, it is because of one of these fanfics written by women that I am now obsessed with Dragonball as much as I'm obsessed with Sailormoon. It was the fanfics that got me hooked permanently on Dragonball Z (and Sailormoon). Then came the great Japanese DBZ music. (CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA! And who can forget, Aoi Kaze no HOPE.) And of course, there's the story. And the amusement that comes from poking fun at FUNimation for doing such a crappy job on the 3rd season. (My GOD, what have they done to Piccolo's and Kuririn's voice? Seriously, my little sister *yes, she likes DBZ too* and I would crack up every time Kuririn talked! We would force ourselves to stop laughing after a few minutes. Then Kuririn would talk again, and we would be on the sofa laughing our heads off all over again!!)

Perhaps this issue has been talked about too much. But the incident in the anime shop really happened to me and it got me thinking. Female fans of Dragonball Z (and any boys' anime, for that matter) are probably one of the most dedicated fans. Likewise, male fans of a girls' anime are probably one of the most avid fans.

And it really hurts when someone looks at you as if you're the weirdest creature in the whole shop when you're buying your favorite anime's merchandise.

Contact: windfalcon7@hotmail.com