Goku Mind Reading, one such display with Krillin....

I go with the idea that saiyans are naturally telepathic myself

If your talking about Dragonball, I think I know what your talking about, and from what I remember it wasn't really mind reading. As I somewhat sped through Dragonball I could be wrong, but somehow, I really don't think it was actual mind reading, more like those instances where they are thinking similar thoughts/figured something out, and it's just shown in a way that, if your not paying attention you'd think they are talking to each other.

Yes, but restricted within their own race or can do it so freely and easily with other races as well? Which do you go with?

I go with the idea that Saiyans can develop telepathic abilities with more ease than humans can, but only if they work on it.

I take this just from the fact that not all the Saiyans seemed to be able to use telepathic abilites (when it comes to matters involving Saiyans, I take the Bardock special as canon, otherwise there isn't that much info out there), but highly skilled Saiyans who obviously had a higher amount of training (eg. Goku and Vegeta) do have this ability. So basically I think there's this underlying ability that all Saiyans could tap into if they tried, but only a few actually do it.

Goku had a lot of training with different masters throughout Dragonball- I think he would have picked something like telepathy up from Kami's training. I'm pretty sure I remember Vegeta communicating with Nappa telepathically during that Arlian episode- being an elite, I'd say Vegeta would strive to learn new abilities (and he seems to pick up the ability to sense ki without any guidance, showing that he's certainly capable of learning advanced things himself).

Bardock's squad, on the other hand, treated telepathy like some sort of voodoo magic when they spoke about it on Kanassa- from this I gather that they didn't have any telepathic abilities themselves.

To me, the telepathy Saiyans use can stretch to other races to an extent- otherwise Goku would not have ever been able to read Krillin's mind, nor would he have been able to tell Krillin to spare Vegeta.

As to Goku hair cutting Its sort of hard to tell with a cartoon, but I always assumed that the haircut he gave Gohan was rather messy and jagged- not something you'd get from a professional! But I definitely think Goku would have been able to perform domestic tasks well enough; he's such a capable fighter, I just assume he would be good with his hands at a lot of things... *mind now wandering completely off topic and onto rather dodgy thoughts*.... *ahem*

Oh they did? it's been quite a while since I saw that special. huh, how interesting.

I like, and generally go with the idea that it's an innate credibility Saiya-jin have, even if they don't consciously use it. There was that moment where it seams like Bardock (if I'm remembering correctly) somewhat reaches out, even if it's blindly, to baby Kakarott in his very last moments.

I'd imaging the kids (Trunks and Goten) would be similar to Bardock, where it's a little more innate and something they are only aware of in dire situations, or something that would create the need for them to use it.

Oh they did? it's been quite a while since I saw that special. huh, how interesting.

I like, and generally go with the idea that it's an innate credibility Saiya-jin have, even if they don't consciously use it. There was that moment where it seams like Bardock (if I'm remembering correctly) somewhat reaches out, even if it's blindly, to baby Kakarott in his very last moments.

I'd imaging the kids (Trunks and Goten) would be similar to Bardock, where it's a little more innate and something they are only aware of in dire situations, or something that would create the need for them to use it.

What I mean by the treatment of telepathy by Bardock's squad is that they discuss the rumours that one is supposed to gain telepathic powers from the planet, and they seem surprised. If I'm remembering rightly, I think they call Frieza a 'superstitious freak' (or something of the likes) because they jump to the conclusion that telepathy would be the reason why Frieza would want the planet. From this I just gathered that its not something they usually come across- I'm pretty sure they say they'd hate to have Frieza read their minds, too; to me it seems to imply that they don't think it is usual to read minds. I haven't seen the special in a few months either, but I think thats how I remember it.

Yeah, Bardock does reach out to baby Kakarot- he know's its Kakarot's ship thats passing him. I agree with you that it could be something that's innate that regular Saiyans only reached out to use in desperate situations- I think that seems likely since people often tap into unknown potential when they are in trouble.

The scene on Kanassa is another example of the dub screwing with the canon. Here's the scene in Japanese and then in English. Notice that the English even added three lines of blabbing where the Japanese was silent save for sound effects and background music.

The original dialog never mentioned the ability to read minds specifically - just "psychic" abilities. That can cover almost anything from precognition (knowing the future) to clairvoyance (being able to see something happening elsewhere) to channeling and communicating with spirits. There are a wide range of talents that fall under that label, and the next scene indicates that it's the ability to see the future through visions that Kanassans had.

>>HurricaneIslandheart

To me, I'm not seeing how it's screwing with cannon - it's basically saying the same thing with some harmless extra lines... it's nothing that detrimental.

Ah yea, i see what your talking about, Piccolo_is_green. In addition, tapping into unknown potential is a cornerstone in DbZ.

Some of it is in the subtlety of the voices, as well, which doesn't translate well in text, plus the re-designated attitude of the Saiyans to make them more hero/anti-hero like and to paint Freeza as more detestable.

They dropped the honorifics entirely, and added sleazy slang - rather than using "Freeza-sama" or translating it to "Lord Freeza," they simply used "Freeza" and added qualifiers like "out of his tiny little mind" (which Bardock agreed with), "paranoid freak" and "scary."

The Saiyans are largely dispassionate - Panboukin has the most inflection/emotion in his lines in the Japanese, which is just about the opposite in the American. His lines are delivered with annoyance (still concerned about the fresh scar on his face) and curiosity in the Japanese, while it's switched to contempt in the American. Bardock doesn't give a sh*t in the Japanese - it's just another job to him, and it's switched to a semi-authoritative engaged interest in the American (rather than question why the planet's worth anything, the question is shifted to Panboukin, who's painted as dense in a previous scene, and Bardock is granted the answers, which Toma elaborates on). Toma's American exposition detailing the psychic abilities would have ruined the subsequent scene, except that the American also changed the Kanassan's dialog.

Totepo doesn't talk at all. He's the strong, silent type. That's important later when you hear his kiai as the team is felled by Dodoria and the team he led. The American not only added a useless line that the Saiyans may or may not have been thinking, but gave Totepo a thick, slow voice as well. (Even the Japanese voice actor was better chosen for the character, and they sometimes have trouble casting tall, strongly built, older adult males.)

The difference as one scene plays out to another is going from a team of soldiers doing their job, betrayed by their commander without warning and slaughtered in a horrifying sudden genocide to a not-overly-bright gang of rabble-rousing bullies who like to fight being wiped out by a slimy dictator who thinks he's better than everything and everyone in the universe. The former tale is disturbing to Americans, particularly young ones, and the latter tale is what they're used to. Added dialog and explanatory exposition is included to make up for the shorter attention spans and lack of critical thinking in American viewers.

The Bardock Special is one of the earliest dubs in the United States, so it still has the flaws of "dubbing for American sensibilities" - including renaming Bardock's team of Toma, Celipa, Panboukin and Totepo to Tora, Fasha, Shugesh, and Borgos.

Telepathic to those they are familiar with, like friends and family. Since Goku is more familiar with humans than saiyan he could more easily 'read' Krillin's mind. Also don't forget Piccolo is telepathic as well. Not to mention Tien and Chiautzu. I think perhaps Saiyans like humans have telepathic abilities, but perhaps they may not be as developed in some as in others. Not every Saiyan would be as telepathic or skilled as others may be. Vegeta perhaps being a Royal could have much more powerful telepathic abilities. Bardock's mind was changed, but he wasn't given telepathy, he was given precognition.

Vegeta also spoke to Nappa's mind when they were on that bug planet. (Arlia, was it?) I don't think it's a Sayian thing as much as it's a Martial Arts thing. Kurririn and Gohan also trained together with their minds on the way to Namek, so I guess in DBZ world telepathy is part of the norm.