Dragon Ball Z - Reviews

STORY:

I can't believe it; as a child this was my favorite show, my inspiration. Regardless I give it a 5 if you're older than 13. This is arguably the shounen that changed the world and the way it is designed is far different from its predecessor: Dragonball in that it has a more serious tone and its action scenes are all about power rather than form.

Set five years after the events of the Piccolo jr saga; Goku and his pals are living the good life, our hero has a son now: Gohan who resembles a young Goku in appearance (by possessing a tail as well) however his attitude is less adventurous and more geared towards education than fighting. The serenity of this life is disrupted by an alien from an outer world who proclaims that he is Goku's brother: Raditz. Raditz came to recruit Goku and informs that he is of the saiya-jin race (something his comrades knew on a partial level) and that his name is really Kakarot. Raditz is astounded by Goku's refusal to join him and is equally perplexed by the fact that he lost his tail: the source of the saiyan 's power, which manifests itself at the full moon. As an ultimatum Raditz takes Goku's son by force and requests that Goku must kill 100 humans within the deadline and then proceed to come with him otherwise he'll take his son instead of him.

In response to this Goku joins with his arch nemesis Piccolo (who was defeated earlier by Raditz) to try and stop him; and from then on the story evolves into a series of battles, deaths, training and enormous power- oh and saving the earth but that's a given. The dragonballs which grant wishes are also a major device in the plot however their involvement is not a integral to the latter part of the story and are merely used as the means to an end rather than an end in themselves.

In terms of story I think that up to the Frieza saga the story is a classic and where it had its main allure however due to popularity the author Akira Toriyama had to extend the story beyond the Frieza saga and adapt it to the fans' wishes this later manifests itself into grandiose effects which finally can't be exceeded.

The whole plot becomes boring, the super saiyan's mighty name is reduced to child's play and the characters run out of ideas. Also the buildup to each battle is too slow, sometimes you have a mindless jabber and powering up which consists of shouting like a woman in labor for up to 3 episodes at a time. There were also a multitude of filler episodes that were simply cringeworthy. Comic relief was awesome; Krillin and Muten Roshi served their parts well. I do think the show could have been saved if they had just stopped at the Android or Cell saga unfortunately they didn't and the story became repetitive, mindless and childish, come to think of it had it not been for the overall excellence of the saiyan and frieza saga I would give it less than a 5.

 

ANIMATION:

To be honest I don't really have any complaints about the animation, it was satisfactory in terms of art. I do think the animation was a bit too flashy at times but this complimented what the producers were trying to achieve. The auras in particular are something to praise, that fiery image they exhumed represented the kind of power that was being played with. What I didn't like most was how the faces were designed, i don't know why I guess it felt like they were all related.

 

SOUND:

I've heard the opening themes of the japanese, the italian and the english and they're all okay, nothing to shout about though; the soundtrack during the show is okay too, it is especially good during scenes of comic relief or during the build-up to a battle.

 

CHARACTERS:

The characters are all obvious. I think Goku should be the most hated character of the show; seriously he steals the spotlight from everyone! I feel that many characters could have developed even better mainly Tienshinhan and Yamcha who were important figures in Dragonball but simply fade away as the show goes on, later Piccolo and Krillin also join him and eventually even Vegeta loses out. But more importantly Gohan who was supposed to become the main figure after the Cell saga never really realizes his potential, this is said to be influenced by the fans who were dissatisfied with Goku's mitigated role in the story, if that is true than I can say they officially ruined Dragonball.

The villains were fairly unoriginal as well; as were their aims. I can sum them up into monsters or aliens who's main goals were either to conquer the universe or destroy it. They show lacked intelligence and real meaning especially at the end, while it wasn't meant to be taken seriously I think Toriyama could have at least invented a character that was able to outwit Goku (which shouldn't be hard) rather than overpower him through the same devices: absorbing energy and new transformations.

OVERALL:

Seriously the Dragonball franchise was ruined by its financial ambitions. Its a shame too, it could have been much greater than it currently is and its followup was shameful. If you're going to watch Dragonball Z, watch Dragonball first to get a hang of what's going on and for a few laughs as well. If you like adrenaline-fueled action where strength and willpower are the driving force towards power than this is for you. It doesn't require a lot of thought to understand however you have to learn to ignore some of the plot holes that it presents.

This is THE anime that got me into anime. I remember coming home from elementary school just to turn on the TV and watch DBZ on Toonami. It's been so long since I've watched this and I would love to watch it again when I get the chance!

I don't recommend this to everyone; the episodes can drag on for so long that people may get bored. But it is action-packed and perfect for anyone looking for this sort of anime. 

I will admit, there are some cool action scenes here or there in this anime. It is also worth noting how much of an impact this had on laying the groundwork for a community of modern anime fans.

But, let’s face it, this anime is overrated, silly, ridiculous, and repetitive

One of the main things that got on my nerves was the constant ”breaking of the ceiling” on limitations stated by the creators. Every time you’ve seen a limit to the power levels, there is some new power that crushes everything you knew before. This leads into the ridiculous and repetitive gripes that I had with it.

Anyway, I dropped it as a teen- but I got the video summary of the rest of the series to see how it ended. I would say it is under average, but not the worst thing out there (A 4/10 overall).

Dragon Ball Z: The Anime that needs no introduction, known by some extent to pretty much everyone through it's iconic characters and assets has it's share of ups and downs and all around. But let's not pretend that this is the best way to watch the Series: because it's not. Fights drag on for far too long, filled with incredibly pointless filler and animation that might as well be glorified gifs, and the elephants in the room: powe scaling, characters that refuse to stay dead, filler episodes that literally add nothing to the plot (except for Other World Tournament), episodes that boil down to: stalling for time until Goku recovers, people suddenly getting stronger because extensive plot armor. I could go on forever but I refuse because that'll take forever.

291 episodes is long but the Frieza Saga is the biggest offender of a fight that went on for WAY TOO LONG. If you have to watch Dragon Ball Z: I can't recommend the original version, go watch Dragon Ball Kai: it's much easier to digest, all the pointless filler removed, better voicing direction etc. 

Dragon Ball z. I heard that this was the best in the series and yeah i do agree that it's the best in the series but it doesn't change the fact that it was still garbage. The amount of time goku dies and comes back is absurd like the whole point of the build up till then is just fking ruined. The plot armour fking ruins the series. The female cast is as garbage as always. And i heard that gohan was supposed to be the protagonist???? Bro it would have been so much better because unlike his garbage father he actually is pretty decent written and has some development. Another reason i hated this was the amount of episodes one scene was taking like bro u can't animate 10 episodes of the characters talking 😐😐 like bro they were just wasting time and money on this shit. The animation was a major improvement and as always the soundtrack is a banger and memorable. As i said before people only like this series because of nostalgia and i m lucky that i spent my childhood watching Beyblade and gravity falls instead of this garbage.