Alternative TitlesSynonyms: DBZ, Dragonball Z
Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 276
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Apr 26, 1989 to Jan 31, 1996
Duration:
23 min. per episode Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 7.851 (scored by 27789 users)
Ranked: #6402
Popularity: #252
Members: 39,014
Favorites: 1,331 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
action adventure comedy shounen |
SynopsisGoku is back with his new son, Gohan, but just when things are getting settled down, the adventures continue. Whether he is facing enemies such as Frieza, Cell, or Buu, Goku is proven to be an elite of his own and discovers his race, Saiyan and is able to reach Super Saiyan 3 form. He meets many new people, gaining allies and well as enemies, as he still finds time to raise a family and be the happy-go-lucky Saiyan he is.
(Source: ANN)
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Related AnimeAdaptation: Dragon Ball,
Prequel: Dragon Ball
Sequel: Dragon Ball GT
Alternative version: Dragon Ball Z (Original), Dragon Ball Kai
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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therustbelt
49 of 63 people found this review helpful
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276 of 276 episodes seen
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
1 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
If you're like me, the name Dragon Ball Z gets your blood boiling, your erection throbbing, and your bicep muscles pulsating. Contrary to popular belief, this is not because of some terrible medical condition or permanent damage from anabolic steroids. This is because the amount of manliness contained in just one episode of DBZ is enough to cause penis growth, beard hair, and possibly cancer. Make no mistake, this is not an anime for children or people on high blood pressure medication. Like Hank McCoy's premature big-foot vaccine, watching Dragon Ball Z is guaranteed to turn you into a badass gorilla with the strength of 10 men and the swag of Carlos Santana. Yes, ladies and gentleman, this is a show for men and men only. If you don't have the balls to handle the sheer Nagasaki imploding intensity, the tear wrenching drama, or the mindblowing plot twists Dragon Ball Z has up its sleeve, you need not apply, lest you're prepared to have your face literally melted off in a fit of testosterone-fueled rage. For those that are confident that they're prepared, slide the car seat back and hold onto your testicles because this show is no fucking joke.
You've no doubt heard others poke and make fun at this show's various idiosyncrasies. Next time someone tells you that the plot of the show is "stupid and cliche", or that the "fight scenes drag on forever", get them into an armbar and make them beg for mercy because they just told you a goddamn lie straight to your face. Dragon Ball Z is, in reality, the beautifully paced, glorious tale of a group of proud men defending their universe from a rotating cast of bombastic douchebags. I don't even think its physically possible to not shed manly tears sometime during this show; the sheer passion of our heroes is magnificent enough to inspire Kim Jong Il to build a refuge camp with his bare hands. Did I mention that DBZ is probably one of the most engrossing anime ever written? From Goku beating the unintimidating, girl-like cackling out of Frieza and his loser henchmen, to the inspirational choreography and edge-of-your-seat action of the Cell vs. Hercule Satan battle, to the powerful and emotionally enveloping transformation of Gohan from boy to man, you might as well just cut your fucking legs off now because you're not going anywhere for the next 200 episodes. Sure, there are dull moments, but they're few and far between the literal hours of pulsating shin muscles, constant character revivals, hyperbolic time chamber training montages, explosive physical transformations, special beam cannons, and more. Those who are trained in martial arts, like myself, will appreciate the painstaking accuracy put into every move of every fighting style these characters make. Watching DBZ is like watching a real life martial arts tournament---it's that realistic. Childhood obesity? What the fuck is that? Plop their little asses in front of the TV, pop this into the DVD player and watch those pounds literally melt away. Total Gym? Fuck your Total Gym.
The artwork is VIP as fuck. Okay, let's be honest here, the backgrounds and environments are pretty consistently reused, and still shots and other cheap, corner cutting animation tricks are abound and noticeable, but the beauty in DBZ's art is in its action sequences and its character designs. The fight scenes (and there are plenty of them) are absolutely astonishing. We're not just talking fists here either---guns, swords, energy balls the size of pluto, it's all here and its all glorious through and through. Unlike shows that blow their budget upfront and are left with a crayon and two sharpies to finish out the series, DBZ's art actually gets better as time goes on. This is especially present in the aforementioned character models, who start off as beefy, badly proportioned messes and end up even beefier as the show progresses. However, this beefiness is what makes the character designs so goddamn cool. Everyone in this show has muscles---no exceptions. Women, children, even the fucking plants will flex a bicep here and there. Despite this, there aren't really any generic looking characters among the bunch. They have that signature Toriyama look which is always a plus, especially when compared to character models nowadays that all look like they were drawn to please yaoi fangirls, and everyone has their own distinct style even when they're wearing the same clothes. The hairdos? Holy shit, I think they brought actual salon stylists into the studio and told them to draw the stupidest fucking hair styles they could think of, because on real people this would look absolutely godawful. Luckily for us, what looks dumb on real people fits anime characters perfectly because without the signature outrageous hair this show would probably be boring as hell.
The music? I'm not going to lie to you. It's fucking terrible. I've never heard a worse mix of shitty techno rock in my life. It never stops playing either, even in scenes where there's absolutely no reason for it to be on. From what I understand the Japanese dub and the English dub actually have separate soundtracks, so I'm guessing this has more to do with Funimation being a bunch of faggots than anything else. But seriously, who the hell did you bring in to perform this trash? Trent Reznor? It sounds like someone recorded me taking a shit and then put it to a drum loop they made in 3 minutes in FL Studio 10. I mean, they do an okay job actually pairing the music together with the animation but the music itself just doesn't fit the show. Maybe if this was like, Texhnolyze, or a German porn flick or something then yeah I could see the thought process. But why would you put it in DBZ? It perplexes the shit out of me. Now, as for the OP, that's a whole different beast. Anyone who's heard Rock the Dragon, even just once, will never be able to forget it. This would be great if the song didn't suck complete balls. Now, the in-show music may be outrageously bad, but Rock the Dragon takes "shitty" to another level. Even when I was a kid I thought this song blew. I'm not one to spit on a genuine effort, but I'm sorry, when you played that back to yourselves in the studio after recording it, how could you possibly look at yourselves and go, "that sounds acceptable enough to be released to the public"? How could you listen to DRAGON DRAGON HUMP THE DRAGON DRAGON BALL ZZZZZZZ, even once, and think to yourself, "this is good"? I don't get it. Sure, the ED isn't much to write home about either, but this eclipses everything else in some sort of disgusting tidal wave of mullets and trashy rock music. When I hear this song, my mind doesn't start pumping me up for DBZ, it starts conjuring images of meth labs and trailer parks because that's probably where this song was recorded. Usually when I bring up the OP to guys who saw the show as a kid, they go "aww yeah that song makes me wanna fight somebody." Well, if that happened, not only would you lose, but the guy who mopped your shit would take your wallet and perform some hardcore identity theft on your ass just to spite you for making him listen to such a terrible song.
On a more positive note, the English dub is phenomenal, especially in comparison to the vastly inferior Japanese dub. The English dub makes our heroes sound like a band of courageous warriors fighting gloriously for the good of all man-kind. It's excellent in every way possible. The Japanese dub makes them sound like a bunch of losers going through puberty. It's atrocious and offensive and just thinking about it sends me into a fit of rage, so let's move on.
Now, we all know that DBZ has some of the most classic characters ever seen in anime history, and anyone who disagrees with this scientifically proven fact is a lunatic and a hater. Sure, some DBZ characters are leagues better than others, but you can't legitimately expect every character to be as mindblowingly badass as Hercule Satan or Vegeta or Piccolo. Still, what's great about DBZ is that despite this there's really no outright bad characters in the bunch, even amongst the villains who are kind of assumed to be somewhat shitty. Sure, Frieza was a little pretentious, but it only served to make his inevitable asswhipping that much sweeter. Cell was pompous but he was a menacing motherfucker and that's why he was able to stick around for so long without getting boring. It never got to the point during his saga where you felt like the writers were just keeping him around to fill up airtime (this shit happened all the time in the second season of Gantz), and that's precisely because of his constant transformations. It felt like you were fighting a different enemy each time. Buu is sort of the same way although he wasn't really menacing, he was just creepy. Raditz was just a snaky, slimy motherfucker, and I mean, that doesn't really make him a good character but it makes him a good villain, which is what counts. Good guy-wise, you have Goku who is just, your typical Greek hero. Not only is he the toughest man on Earth, but he's an uncorruptable, pure, genuinely good person who FIGHTS FOR JUSTICE and HATES EVIL. A little boring but it comes with the territory. Then you have Vegeta who is just, the fucking baddest dude ever even though he constantly gets his ass handed to him by everyone. The fact that he turns into a family man by the end of the show but still has the same bombastic attitude, with the same bombastic rivalry with KAKAROT just makes him that much better. By far DBZ's best character. Piccolo is ice-cold and takes absolutely no shit from any man, but he's also a good and righteous person at heart. Gohan is a little whiny, but he develops from this little kid into a full fledged, asskicking machine, and he's only a half saiyan at that. Same goes for Trunks, and being related to Vegeta only makes him that much better. Krillin is somehow a monk and a player at the same time which makes him awesome as fuck. Master Roshi loves porn and just generally does not give a fuck. He is what every man should strive to be in his old age. Hercule is a side-side character but he still deserves special mention for being the most hilarious Ron Jeremy look-a-like ever, and for being the PROUDEST and TOUGHEST fighter Earth has ever seen. Personally, I think he deserves his own series. It would be the most manly shounen anime ever made. Anyway, I think you get the point I'm trying to make by now. DBZ's characters are one of a kind and you'd probably be hard pressed to find one that isn't at least redeemable in some way or another. Sometimes they can be a little inconsistently written (Trunks conquers the shit out of Frieza in like 3 minutes, despite the fact that it took Goku AN ENTIRE SAGA to beat him. What the hell is that about?), but for the most part, this is the reason you will continue to come back to this story.
Still, I can't, in all good conscience, give DBZ a 10. As much as I would like to, a 10 implies that the show in question is practically flawless. Cowboy Bebop deserves a 10. FLCL deserves a 10. Bokurano, Baccano!, NGE, and Outlaw Star all deserve 10s. Big O deserves a 10 but I gave it a 9 for ripping off Flash Gordon in the OP (other than that it's excellent). These are all pinnacles of anime achievement, and each one of them is in some way or another the best at what they try to do. DBZ certainly has elements that deserve 10s. In fact, in retrospect, an 8 is probably too low. Still, I can't ignore some of the gaping flaws this show has, and combine that with an astoundingly bad soundtrack that literally makes my ears cry, and you start losing points pretty fast. This is not to say I don't recommend DBZ. In fact, it's just the opposite. If you don't watch DBZ you might as well just stay in bed all day and start buying products from infomercials because you're already robbing yourself of a beautiful experience---a journey that every man should embark on at least once in his life. However, if you're coming into this show with unrealistic expectations you are going to be disappointed and will probably end up right back here, writing a hate review about how "the story is cliche" and "the fight scenes drag on" instead of enjoying it for what it is, like you should.
Overall? Watch it if you're one of the 3 people on Earth that haven't already. Otherwise, watch it again for that glorious nostalgia. read more
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Red_Zealot
88 of 117 people found this review helpful
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276 of 276 episodes seen
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Dragonball Z, many, like me, grew up watching this dubbed on TV. At the time I though it was the coolest thing to ever grace the television and never missed an episode. I've probably seen most every episode 2-3 times. The story is all about how Goku and friends grow from relative weaklings to the most powerful beings in the Universe. As each new enemy is defeated, another appears, training ensues, baddie defeated. The story isn't that deep, it is your typical good vs evil battle with the whole universe at stake. Much of the plot is focused on friendship and overcoming impossible odds to defeat the enemy that is currently threatening your life. Although the story is generally repeated, you can't help but get into it each arc.
The artistic talent and quality of production definitely increases over the course of the show; however that is to be expected with a show nearly 300 episodes in length. The backdrops are usually pretty plain with the same hills or trees cropping up all over the place. The cities are often the same with no way of telling one from the other. The work on the characters themselves though is very well done and although a lot of frames are often repeated the fights are usually well done, for the time anyway. Let's not forget that this series started airing in Japan in 1989. It was extremely good for its time and something very unique.
The opening track for the US adaptation of Dragonball Z will likely forever be etched in my mind. Probably the worst opening I have ever seen. Opening aside, the music for the show is reasonably well done and although it is often repeated it isn't to the point of annoying and is alway used to help accent the mood of the current scene. The main reason for giving the Sound a score of 8 is the voice acting. The voice acting for the English dub of Dragonball Z is the best I have ever seen and will likely ever see. I tried re-watching it with a sub but couldn't get past the first episode as soon as I heard the voice used for Goku. This is one of the few shows I will ever say has a better English voice cast than the Japanese. Goku is truly bad...
Most anyone who has ever seen an episode of anything anime related knows of and has seen Dragonball Z. I won't go in depth on each characters, but they are all unique in their own way and usually have a funny side as well as a serious side. This is a side of the show you often don't hear about: the comedy. Although it isn't always prelevent, the comedy is always there to break up a situation. The inclusion of Mr Satan later is an effort to make the show more comedy oriented, but it will always be first and foremost an action adventure show.
I, as a child, spent many hours watching this show and loved it with all my heart. Looking back, after watching many better anime, I can see the many faults of the show, but that won't make it any less memorable. Most definitely not up to the same standards of shows today, but Dragonball Z is a part of my childhood and I will always have fond memories of it. read more
Recommendations
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Both are long running anime series. In Bleach too, there are lots of powerful fighters and villains. And the battles are also epic!
Bleach is really similar to Dragon Ball Z.It has evil villains that the world needs to be saved from and Both main characters shares almost the same beliefs.Bleach also has similar plot twists like dbz
Mostly about guys fighting a lot. Both seem to have similar plot twists. Like in Dragon Ball Z, saiyans somehow get more powerful from neardeath experiences, so when someone like Goku is going to die, he usually survives (Usually). And in Bleach, it's just that they usually get an enormous amount of spiritual energy and rage and then finish off their enemy, if they seem like they're going to die. They also both have deep connections with the afterlife world. Like in Bleach, a bunch of the characters are shinigami's so they have instant passage to "Soul Society", the home base for the Death Gods. And in Dragon Ball Z, people keep dying and then doing stuff in the world of the afterlife to train and such.
Same feeling sometimes, no matter what you do to me i ll still find a way to win, and nice power ups DBZ is actually a bit better imo with its epicness but you wont regret watching Bleach either.
Another shounen with endless episodes. Both the main characters have superpowers and they both use them to protect the innocent.
Both long running action based anime with over the top fight scenes and impossible odds being meet through strange training methods. Bleach is a little more complex and is a little slow at first but it makes up for it 1,000,000 fold. Season 1 starts off pretty good and gets gradually better. But once you hit a certain point about half way through season 2 anything you could have imagined is thrown out the fucking window. Season 3 of this series is probably the best season in anime history. I would recommend Bleach without the help of anyone knowing DBZ.
Both mesure power with something, in DBZ it's Ki, in Bleach it's Reatsu. The one with highter Ki/Reatsu is usually the stronger/faster. Both have transformations that amplifies the Ki/Reatsu. DBZ has almost no to little "random power ups" but relies on transformations, while Bleach relies mainly on random power ups during the first season and gets the transformations later.
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The endless story lines with Main characters who have similar personalities and ideals.
The creator of One Piece did say in an interview that his favorite anime was Dragon Ball Z and its creator.
The drawing is similar, and the maker of one piece was heavily influenced by the dragonball author.
The main character, luffy, is also very similar to Goku and alot of the humor from dragonball is present in One piece.
What ever happen to the everyone wiped out and nothing you can do but to wait for the main character. I will tell you nothing one piece is every bit as good as dragon ball z maybe even better. I admit it does take a while to get as good as dragon ball z but once it gets there none stop epicness i totally reccommend this anime for any body
They're both Shounen shows, which at some point ran in JUMP as Shounen manga. The characters are extremely similar in some aspects. For example: Luffy is a monkey-like boy, and Goku actually has a monkey tail (Which gets cut off from time to time.) and will turn into a huge ape-like creature from a full moon (He's a weremonkey, so to speak.). Both have some connection to superpowers. Like how Luffy is a rubber man, because he ate one of the superpower-giving fruits called the Devil's Fruits. Or how pretty much every necessary character in Dragon Ball Z can fly around and channel energy and such to use as means of battle. And they both have just naturally strong characters. The creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda's favorite mangaka is Akira Toriyama, so he was probably influenced a lot by him in the first place.
Both shounen anime with lots and lots of episodes. The main characters posses super powers and use them for the good. Dragonball Z is a little more serious than one piece. Goku and Luffy both are fond of food which brings some of the same humor.
The creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, had his work influenced by Akira Toriyama's Dragonball Z.
Both are really funny but can be really serious.
The characters in both animes are trying to get always stronger.
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