Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball Z is epic. No doubt this is one of the most popular series that helped spread the art of anime in the world.

The original Dragon Ball was fun, but in DBZ the characters have grown and the maturity is felt throughout the whole series. From the incredible Sayian Saga, an important Frieza Saga and the entertaining Cell Saga to the Grand Finale - Buu Saga, DBZ does not disappoint. It's not all about the fighting, although the series have probably 4-5 battles that should be written in the anime history books. I was always astonished by the character development which is amazing ... and to emphasize this, I like the example of Vegeta. He was one of the greatest villains at first and one of the greatest heroes in the end. The way Akira Toriyama changed his perspective throughout the storyline and how he did not rush Vegeta's judgement of his surroundings is astounding. Goku's naive greatness and Vegeta's indestructible pride completes, arguably, the single greatest friendship in anime history.

Still not impressed? Just watch the final DBZ battle. It is grand, it is electric, it is emotional and atmospheric. When two of the most beloved fighters, Goku and Vegeta, stand against the mightiest villain in an empty planet, when the last hope is on their shoulders, when the price of failure will erase everything that is worth living for, they look at the situation and smile: this is how life is supposed to be. A man without a challenge is a man who does not live.

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.

If anyone knows of Shounen anime Then there is No doubt
anyone would of course heard of Dragon ball Z which I'm obviously sure
most people who are reading this review have and are not hopefully sleeping under a rock.

Its One of the earliest shounen animes along side others. The show itself has probably had
one of the Biggest impact of a shounen anime I've seen in my lifetime growing up besides the likes of attack on titan, Fullmetal Alchemist and Death note and yet till this day
it has many viewers still checking it out. some have finish seeing it, some re watch it, some ... if not Loads of people own it or they don't, but they sure as hell know about it already.

This series has its fair share of flaws upon viewing but it also makes up for some of these many moments in the series that are so awesome and unforgettable that in its own right has become an Iconic series in its story along with akira toriyama's art style alone in the world of anime which is why its easily one of my favorite animes and NO, I don't mean that in a Nostalgia kind of way,

Here is my review..

Story - 9
In most Shounen animes the stories tend to have similar concepts of the whole Heroes (Underdogs) Overcomes the powerful Villain scenarios where seeing to do the impossible is very typical of course, but that has always been the trait in many cases whether the protagonist of a show is surrounded by friends or enemies.

DBZ is an Old anime that started off in this trend. It was also influence by a lot of movies,
shounen animes such as saint seiya, other mythological stories and a blend of eastern and
western cultural references from the past.
The world of Dragon ball has a lot of these and so much more to its own universe
even though a lot of its focus is on the fighting since it is a battle shounen anime.

The story mainly centers around our main protagonist Goku and his son Gohan
for some years after the previous series Dragon Ball.
Goku for the remainder of the time has trained to become the strongest warrior he
possibly can be, enough to defeat his enemies and of course to look out for his family however what is unknown to him at this point is his brother that is unknown to him Radditz an evil alien warrior who comes to earth seeking goku out which for the
most part changes the many fate of the characters for the entire series to come.

From the point Radditz meets Goku, He is told about his past and his heritage about being part of a powerful alien tribe known as the Saiyans or Saiya-jins If you prefer
It includes the reason why he is here on earth especially from the original Dragon ball series where goku's own origin at the time was hardly known about and was almost a mystery until now. (pretty much the anime superman's origin story with some differences mainly with goku who actually was sent to destroy everyone on earth not to save it.)

and long story short,
Goku decides to put aside of what he is and from the rest of the series he, his son gohan, along with his friends and new allies in Piccolo, Vegeta, trunks and other characters continue on fighting against those that pose a threat to the earth along with the rest of other civilizations which becomes a Huge order with some ridiculously over the top relentless training that the characters have to take to ascend pass their limits in order to protect their loved ones and the of course the universe.

Basically Its quite a simple story yet some events can change drastically making it to be an overwhelming struggle at an alarming scale even with the exception of the dragonballs.
The story itself is split into different arcs known as sagas each with a different story scenario and different antagonists who have their own agendas.
The villains play a big key role in the development of certain main characters
as well as the story and fights.

Within the setting of this series there are features similar to the original series for starters the fighters can create Chi / Ki to gain incredible surge of immense power and abilities.

Also from a world setting stand point you have Prehistoric Giant creatures, Futuristic technology, the afterlife, Supernatural elements, Different animal species, wishing the dead back to the living, and of course many memorable moments that the characters do in the series that can range from simply epic, to funny, to sad, to stupid, to strange, to Downright bad ass or Just plain evil which can be seen in every arc.

However there are of course minor issues that I do have about the story and that is mainly with the incredibly slow pacing and lack of progression with certain characters of the original series dragon ball.
Not to mention missed opportunities for other story developments and a little inconsistency with the writing within the arcs sometimes where some might get quite slow and repetitive or might have fillers to drag on some episodes here and there,
Frieza not being able to know what 5 minutes of time is also laughable in this case as well.

The Ki powering up which will also leave viewers having to endure these pacing issues unless they have to skip some seconds or minutes ahead,
But then again those were the 80s and 90s with certain animes.

But that being said these are mainly the issues in my opinion that I feel take a long time for any specific build up with this series only because the anime at the time I know was trying to catch up with the manga from time to time when it was broadcasting on TV channels like toonami and other channels back then which is understandable since its also the case for other
shounen animes of late as well.
.
I've also notice some people tend to think the titled dragon ball referring to obviously the 7 orange magical orbs to grant wishes, tend to hurt and devalue the series mainly because of the insignificance of death most of the time. (which there are)

Now To simply address those who say Death always makes a convincing plot twist for a show to be good, I've notice viewers complaining that in ordered to feel something for characters they need to die in order to give yourself some sense of attachment of feelings towards that specific character or moments if you will? but I'm sorry, Is it just me or as a viewer does that seem kinda strange??
let me explain.

If that is the case then most anime should have their main characters dying left and right to make the story better, to feel some sense of pity to the characters along their path in the story (WRONG.)

The fact is, it doesn't prove anything what so ever yes it can be somewhat important and I can understand if its meant to give some shock value but honestly that sounds very cheap for character development and Plot progression if you ask me, Its already overused nowadays
in a lot of animes without any significance of knowing and enjoying these characters for the most part and yes I haven't forgotten about that little popular quote itself stating
(PEOPLE DIE WHEN THEY ARE KILLED) or even (YOLO) blah blah blah.
But interestingly enough when you think about it the dragon balls is what made that unique prospect within its own series stand out.
Because It gives the characters that much more of an objective to strive in finding the dragon balls when events could go so horribly wrong which a lot of times is the premise and sometimes seems to be the case throughout the series, its also the same for some villains too like for example when vegeta and nappa arrived on earth vegeta told his saiyan compatriot nappa when you destroyed the city that can also ruin our chances of locating the dragon balls
this is true in a sense if they become reckless in finding them.
You see, That is what the original Dragon ball did within its own series,

If all you cared about was seeing how characters die than there is no sense of this series to begin with here. It would only make the journey seem non-existent to a point since these sagas of the series is mainly about the journey and the battle shounen experience.

So think to yourself, is death necessary in all things always?

That is what makes DB/DBZ unique and different in a good way and If that is not your thing well than I'm sure there are plenty of other animes that take up a lot of serious death tolls for the most part and only guarantee you very little insight about the characters before they are pretty much one foot in the grave.

With all that being said, the story is a mix of intense fights, light hearted comedy and
serious moments too along with a sense of sci fi and supernatural elements to it.
From each arc there are some of the most memorable arcs I've seen in shounen animes in general, they may not be as thought provoking as other shows I've seen but it still has these enjoyable merits that for a 1989 -1994 series, it can still hold its ground today in terms of that entertainment.

Characters - 10
Like I said about the main issue I had from before with its story was just the lack of some of the character progression from the original series dragon ball who are mainly on the sideline for the most part and ironically at the same time other characters are really amazingly well written including Vegeta, Gohan, krillin, Trunks, and Piccolo not to mention goku and vegeta who have one of the best rivalries in the shounen genre. even some of the villains like Radditz, Cell, and Frieza etc are done amazingly well.
Sure most of the characters are stereotypes here and there but they are of course shonen characters at the end of the day so what do you expect, it is a battle shounen is it not?

The Characters are easily the main driving force of the show and can easily get the blood boiling and muscles pumped up when it goes to the extreme almost bringing out an inner fighter in you especially when watching it. The characters have some really good interactions with one another and can easily make you have a personal attachment to 1 of them in some way in terms of their personality.

Art - 6
Old series tend to have an outdated look for examples the original Dragon ball, Berserk, Evangelion, Sailor Moon, Saint Seiya, Shadow Skills, Fist of the north star, Yu Yu Hakusho, Slayers etc,
DBZ is no different in that regard.

Its funny because for its generation the art and animation style in its action was actually ahead of its time of the late 80s and are still till this day entertaining to watch since its a mixtures of very long and short fights and are sometimes done sometimes in an excessively dragged out fashion but with a very Fast pace rate where you see characters having hand to hand combats in this sky with a mixture of projectiles, powerful impacts and explosions along with gut wrenching body blows that always seem to intensify the more you watch.
If I had to describe the action it would be like an over the top street fighter meets the Justice league with some supernatural elements here and there.

And yes Of course, the animation is re-used often which is obviously noticeable and sometimes it can be lacking which is a real shame but thanks to Akira toriyama's art it actually has a great distinct look to it like for example some of the features in the environment would start to feel the intensity of the battles including where the locations are, especially details to the characters like the look of cell for example to me is one of the most unique looking design for a villain that I've seen in anime as he undergoes different transformations not to mention Super Saiyan transformations like Super Saiyan 3 Goku which looks freakin BadAss!! and that is saying a lot for the depiction of the other characters in Toriyama's art.

No doubt the animation is the weakest aspect of the show which might turn of some people who are looking into animes with great animation But to be fair for others who are open minded this isn't that much of a big deal though I wouldn't mind for a newly updated animation for this series as much as anyone would for example like what other animes have started to do like Hellsing Ultimate, evangelion rebuilds and the new sailor moon crystal series reboot etc,
If DBZ had new animation such as that chances are this section could easily be a 10!
but for now its only just passable, animation wise speaking it doesn't quite
contend too well with others from other battle shounen series unfortunately but its art is
still pretty decent enough regardless.

Sound - 8
Now Sorry if I'm going on a little rant here, but by chance Have you ever heard anyone debating over what sounds better in the series?
Funimation?, Ocean?, Dub Vs Sub Vs DBZ Kai vs Bruce Faulconer vs other dubs, This that yady Yadda, But For me I'm in the group of I've seen them all and don't really care mainly because
at the end of the day its THE SAME FREAKIN SERIES!!!!!
And possibly most, if not, a Hell of a lot of people know the popular story now
OVER 9000 Times Already!!!!!!!!!

Back on topic, seriously besides that for the record both dub or sub were kinda rough around the edges, its obvious that it could clearly be better however a lot people still like to debate over this which i can understand but I don't see the point as I don't have anything against any voice actors or Voice actresses after all Nobody is perfect and I have already stated that this is an old school anime not to mention at the end of the day It is a matter of preference.

Ether way, if you do watch this anime and you want a more clearer translation i would also recommend watching DBZ Kai for its Translation its not perfect by any means but its a lot more accurate to the manga still.

So the dubs and subs in some areas can be quite debatable I hear, but i feel both do suit
a lot more in a different kind of way, and for the music the openings and closings is ok, a little cheezy at times and can sometimes leave much to be desired. The music for the dub and sub seems to fit well for some of the overall tone of the series as the music blends in well with the action, supernatural themes, sci-fi themes and comedic themes unfolding in this show, at times again it can sound a little repetitive after a while for a series that is 291 episodes long and so i feel the music is fair no matter which version of the show your watching So to me for this category of sound I'd say its pretty decent still, but it could be lot more better.

Enjoyment - 10
I have re watched this anime series more times than any other anime in general and for a series that finished Decades ago and I'm still in my early 20s I still enjoy the build up with its characters, interactions, morals and a Crazy fun story that is very inspirational like its predecessor dragon ball.
It simply feels like family to me and that is more than enough of an enjoyable series with some of the most iconic and memorable moments and fights that I have grown to love about anime in general to date, simple as that.

If you really need to see an old epic action shounen fighting show its definitely worth giving this a shot.

Overall - 8.5
Now I've already stated the positives and negatives towards this without blinding my inner
fan boy to this particular anime. While People might say its overrated like other animes they honestly would have a point, But to others This anime became a gateway to anime in general for a lot of people out there as well as myself back then. Its also a significant template used in other shows to build off on and I couldn't be any more thankful for this as this is one of my personal favorite animes of all time that pave the way for shounen animes and a lot of others in general to take notes and to get out there in the big pond themselves and do justice like many others. I'm not saying Dbz is the best but it has succeeded globally for what its done and its that simple.

Dragon ball / Dragon ball Z has had its influence for so long now and yet still
continues to pass it down for the next generation.
Without a doubt its just like that saiyan goes

''Legends never die''

It is what it is and for the most part if you're still skeptical about this anime do not worry because i know its not meant for everyone. But there is a little something for everyone
as it has different forms of entertainment making it a revolutionary Shounen anime
in its own right.

Other shounen anime Reccomendations -
I'll point you to Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, Death note, Fullmetal Alchemist (old and new), Fist of the north star, Saint Seiya, Hajime no Ippo and the Hunter x Hunter series

I started watching Dragonball Z at a very young age and even when I was young I loved it although I didn't know what was going on. I grew up watching the English dub on Cartoon Network and Fell in Love with the Show. Dragonball Z is an Epic Anime with Brilliant Fight scene's and Great Characters.
If you are Looking for a Great Fighting Anime look no further.
I can safely say that Dragonball Z is the King of Fighting Anime.
Dragonball Z is a Fun Anime and also my Favorite!

Story
Dragonball Z is a story about a naive man named Goku trying to be come stronger ...
but Powerful villains stand in his way and try to take over the world kill him blah blah blah. That is the story in its simplest form.
Now I will review the story. Dragonball Z has Emotional moments, Funny moments,
Really cool fights, Romance and the occasional plot twist.
Dragonball Z story is very enjoyable and will leave you hanging on the edge of your seat or cursing at your TV. The show has allot of Fights and they are Amazing it is what every one wants to see super powerful beings Kicking the Crap into each other.Dragonball Z has quite a bit of Humor as well example: Krillin (not being able to get Girls or getting his but Kicked all the Time) Goku (Food Humor and idiocy)
Vegeta (Goku getting on His nerves).
Although it is My Favorite Anime I will say it does have fillers.
I can safely say not as much as Naruto.
What I liked about the story is the Brilliant fights and it is full of fun Characters.

Art
Dragonball Z art is Good but dated.
I you are planning are planning to watch the series if you are looking for quality I recommend FUNimations new Remastered Box sets. (if you don't mind wide screen).


sound

I will review the sound in two sections Japanese Dub
on the Background Music and the Voice Actors
and then the English Dub.
Japanese Dub
First I will start with the Background Music.
The Japanese Background music Can fit the scenes very well but it sounds very old like a seventy's cheesy Horror movie. What I like about the Japanese Background music is in some scenes the don't and any background Music whilst FUNimation's sound track have music in Every scene.
What I don't Like about the Japanese music is that it can get very annoying.

English Dub
I am reviewing FUNimation's Dub and not ocean Dub or any other Dub so this is purely based on Funi's dub.
Funimation's music fits in really well with the Fight scenes and that is what I like about it, because it makes the fights more dramatic and cooler but when there is no fighting I Hate FUNimation's Music Purely because it doesn't fit the scene's well.
FUNimation Has Done a Brilliant Job when choosing their voice actors. Each Character voice suits them really well.

Character
The Characters in Dragonball Z a truly Unique.
You Have Goku The Naive Hero of the Story
Vegeta The short Tempered Bad Ass
Gohan The son of Goku.
The Characters all fall into Place although there are some useless one's and it would not matter if they are there or not. Goku Learns of Vegeta And Vegeta learns of Goku.
They have such Good Characters and they are not your average heroes .

Enjoyment

Dragonball Z is a Very Fun series very easy to get into.

Overall

Overall I would have to give it a 9/10
Happy Watching

Ah yes, Dragon Ball Z, this really takes me back. This series used to be everywhere, there were DBZ lunchboxes, DBZ toys, DBZ VHS sets,& DBZ video games. Well nowadays, it feeds off mostly on video games now, some good(like the Budokai and Tenkaichi series, Burst Limit,& dbz legends), many bad(like Final Bout, Sagas,& Raging Blast). It is widely considered a milestone in anime fandom as it is one of the backthroughs in spreading the art form, along with Pokemon, Akira,& Sailor Moon. It is also(along with the original) inspired many to become artists(including me).

I'll try my best to make this review seem as unbiased ... as possible.

Story- It's not the deepest or well-developed plot in the world, but it does have a plot let I mind you, although looking back it does have it's flaws. The story does move pretty slow but not as exaggarately slow as many make it out to be, the filler isn't completely pointless as it does give us more insight to the plot in some places than the manga though it created several errors like Vegeta's knowledge of Planet Vegeta's demise. Anyways DBZ's storytelling isn't like most anime out there(although it does gets repetitive at times), as it enthesis on action like no other,& the show follows a unqiuely-told yet easy to follow good vs. evil plotline, we see how the Z-warriors rise and fall as heroes, we feel for how they struggles to keep to protect the ones they love from evil,& with enough training and teamwork(moreso the earlier sagas), there no limits to what they achive, so the story is character-driven, but despite all that, I felt some things could have been changed, the Buu Saga is pretty much the only saga that we could have leaved without, & it could have atleast have Gohan being the hero in that saga. The series should have ended at the Frieza or Cell saga as they had great endings as oppossed to the Buu Saga(as much as I enjoyed it) which had a horrible ending.

Art and Animation- DBZ overall looks very good for it's age, the art style and animation is vibrant and colorful, & the characters have the unqiue and well-detailed designs that we were familiar with from the original Dragon Ball(although the style changes through the series and characters become leaner and more muscular). It may recylcle animation frames a lot and sometimes it appears cheap. Overwise, good job, here.

Sound- If you've only seen the dub, you'll be surpised for how they handled the series here, Goku and all the male members of his family are voiced by one person,& it's a female(Masako Nozawa). Most U.S. DBZ fans don't seem to like this version because they feel the voices "don't fit well" , but it takes time to get used to and once you have, you'll realize the voices do fit the characters well, for example, Ryō Horikawa's voice really brings out Vegeta's arrogant and royal personality. The soundtrack also gets my praise because it is composed by a live orchestra and the majority of the vocal music is performed by Hironobu Kageyama . It gets a 9 instead of a 10 because the music is more fitting for the original Dragon Ball and some of the dialogue is unnecessery.

Characters- DBZ has one of the most likable cast in anime history, they may not be as complex as characters from Evangelion and such, but the series is filled with so many memorable characters like Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Goten, Piccolo, Tien, the list goes on. The characters are also really nicely-developed, over the course of the years, the character go throw very subtle changes, they grow up without us noticing it, like how Vegeta's transition from evil to good,& Gohan's from being a wimply little nerd to a seasoned fighter much like his father, the filler also helps to develope the characters. As for the villains, while Vegeta was great as a villain, Frieza was the best since he was very complex,& Impefect Cell is also up there because I liked his sneaky and satistic demeanor.

Enjoyment- Yes I know it isn't the best but it's still one of my favorites, I enjoyed the accompany of a new villain each saga, with some of the best fight scenes in anime history such as Goku vs. Vegeta, Goku and Piccolo vs. Raditz, Goku vs. Ginyu, Goku vs. Android 19, Goku vs. Cell, Gohan vs. Cell, Goku vs. Vegeta(the rematch), Majin Buu vs. Evil Buu,& Vegito vs. Super Buu(Gohan Absorbed), although I'd admit I felt some annoyance to the fight scenes that lasted too long(I.E. Goku vs. Frieza). One thing I like about is that it doesn't take itself to seriously, DBZ also offers handfull of entertaining non-action episodes that also help in keeping the story from getting boring, like the driver test episode, which is the arguably the most memoriable piece of filler in the entire series. DBZ may not have as much humor as the original Dragon Ball, but it still was a lot of humor.

Positives:

+ Unique good vs. evil plotline

+ Good Art and Animation for the time

+ Good voice-acting

+ Excellent fight scenes

+ Great music

+ Likable and well-defined characters

+ Good humor

Negatives:

- Horrible ending to the series

- Pace can be taxing


Final Verdict:


It may not be the best of the best, I don't feel it should even be a candidate. Despite all the glaring flaws stated, I highly recommend it.

Oh boy, I'm digging my own grave again...

We have all heard of Dragonball (of Z I mean, noone watched the original), it was a huge name in the 90s, that introduced anime to the rest of the world through the only good dub I've seen today and is responsible for inspiring hundreds of other anime and mangas. So why would anyone hate it?

Well, as was mentioned, Dragonball WAS responsible for many of today's mangas, creating (or at least making famous) various stereotypes that lasted though decades. Some examples of the wonderful stereotypes that Dragonball made norm include: 1)Stupid protagonist in shounen. 2)Evil is stupid. 3)Death ... has no meaning. 4)Females are all annoying tsunderes. 5)Overly annoying episode-long training sessions. 6)Abilities explained mid-fight to the opponent (...)7)Transformations (ok that can be done right, but the way dragonball did it, definitely wasn't, with the exception of Buu).7)Overly-Recycled animations.8)Overly predictable plots with the villains smiling evilly and laughing maniacally even when in disguise, reinforcing point 2, but also for some reason actually fooling the "heroes".9)Complete and absolute lack of character development.
I could go on.

As you see, what I truly dislike about Dragonball is the legacy it left behind. Dragonball was an example to be followed by everyone else to be sure, a very, very bad example. Lazy writing, a despicable presentation of females (that finally started to change in shounens thanks to Fairy Tail), brain-dead characters, half-assed animation (I'm looking at you One Piece). Dragonball was in all aspects, definitely something intended for children. "But Dragonball has so much violence!" You don't say. But guess what, freaking Tom and Jerry also has a lot of violence (and with about the same amount of actual deaths as well), yet noone questions Tom and Jerry being a kid's show just because it has violence in it. Violence doesn't make things mature when it has no consequence people. Violence has meaning when it can create PERMANENT damage, physical or emotional. An anime where 2 people make punchbags of each other and 5 minutes later walk it off isn't an anime that should be proud of its violence. If anything it's insulting it.

The funny thing is, now that Dragonball Super is being released, everyone is whining about how bad it is. What really gets me going, is how DB fans complain that it's totally different from what they grew up with. Really? Is that how you feel about it? Because personally, all I see is EXACTLY the same product you grew up with. Now however, you have been exposed to actual "quality", even by accident, and can see DB for what it truly is: Trash.

Dragonball's glory is long gone. With the internet connecting our stupid brains together and forcing us to hear the opinions of others as well, a piece of crap like Dragonball will never reach fame again. Almost all of its descendants have long since surpassed it, learning from the mistakes of their father and not repeating them. Those include Fairy Tail, Bleach and (it saddens me to say it), even Naruto. Today's writers will struggle to produce intelligent plots, intriguing enemies with personalities that go way beyond "bad for the yolo", and actual relationships between the characters, making them sympathetic and memorable. In other words they will do all the things that Dragonball never did, and never will do.

"But then why do I have such fond memories of the original?" For the same reason you have fond memories of Pokemon, Sailor Moon and even Ice T. Because of nostalgia. The number 1 enemy of intelligence and objectivity. Through the spectrum of nostalgia everything seems nice and ideal, since it was a simpler time back then. That's a lie of course. The 90s were just as complex as the 21st century and probably a bit dirtier. YOU however, were younger back then, and as a result STUPIDER, which made you unable to perceive the world correctly. And of course with the years passing and all the bad memories fading away into oblivion, Dragonball, in all its majestic CRAP, becomes in your brain a wonderful sweet memory.

Why is Dragon Ball Z so popular? Is it because of the complex characters? No, is it because of the intriguing story? No, Is it because of the nonstop fighting and crazy hype factor? Hell yes!!!.

Dragonball Z focuses on the fighting and hype aspect of Anime and i can see why as this is where the show truly shines. What Dragonball z sets out to do it does VERY well. The build up to the fights is intense enough but when the show finally brings the likes of Goku and Frieza to have their fight it is truly something amazing and epic. The animation ... and music of the show (which were incredible for the time) Only helps to make the fights a crazier ride.

Now while Dragonball Z mainly focuses on the buildup of fights and the fights themselves does this mean it does other things poorly? Most definitely not, The character development while simple at times is done well for a show of this genre as we progressively see characters grow and evolve into characters we never thought they could be. I already mentioned the sound and art and how good they were for the time (just trust me on that one). The last thing to mention would be the story, while the story itself is just there to drive Goku and the others to different fights it does it in a way that gets you even more hype for whats to come as characters work on not only bettering themselves but also others.

Postives:
Great Sound
Incredible Animation for its time
The hypest damn fights ever
Crazy and unique characters/villains

Negatives:
Character development can be slack (but its a fighting show for gods sake)
Story can sometimes drag with fights that are maybe a bit too long.

Overall Thoughts:

If you want a fighting show with plenty of hype and plenty of action this is the one for you. Dragonball Z is one of the best fighting shows out there.

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.

Well, if you've never seen this show, you must have been living under a rock, or a giant turtle, or something. Or maybe you've been living in some kind of strange alternate dimension...

Yeah, it's Dragonball Z. Some crazy anime show. It's been extremely popular in the past. It still has a big following, somewhere, I think. It's spawned like 30 video games. "But is it any good?" you ask. Well I've come here to tell you.

The show spans for almost 300 episodes, and is ultimately drawn out so long that it feels boring and pointless at times. Oftentimes nothing happens in an episode, except for ... a bit of powering up, some monologue-ing , and maybe an "exciting" revelation that gives just enough incentive to watch the next episode. (Will Goku survive? Will Piccolo die? Will Krillin stop sucking? Find out next time!) Yeah. However, I do like some of the visual storytelling that goes on when there's no dialog. Reminds me of old spaghetti westerns like The Good, Bad and the Ugly.

There's just enough story to propel the main focus of the anime, which is the fighting. The fighting is where the enjoyment of the show comes in. Who doesn't like to see a couple of over-powered super-beings beating the crap out of each other, and subsequently destroying the surrounding environment? Truly, the fights become epic and extravagant, and are decently entertaining when they build up to one. This is where the 7 enjoyment rating comes from.

The characters are well-designed and are decently well developed. They are generally easy to remember, especially Piccolo. (Yeah, he's green, gruff, and has a soft spot. Now you know everything about him) The world's pretty interesting. It's some kind of future world that is also inhabited by dinosaurs and strange animal-people.

The music is orchestrated, and sounds a bit dated, but fits the scenes and the epic scope of the show. However, there are some awful disco Superfriends style songs that are a bit cringe worthy at times, but overall, it's decent, and more original than most animes.

Overall I give this show a 6 out of 10. It's really nothing profound or meaningful. Purely for entertainment value, I give the show a 8 because of the awesome fight scenes and the memorable characters. Unfortunately, DBZ is in need of some serious editing. It's overlong and lacks satisfying closure. (avoid the terrible spawn, Dragonball GT. It will ruin all love you may gain for Dragonball and Dragonball Z) Watch it if you are a fan of action, martial arts, and shonen melodrama.

Like many anime fans that started young and grew up watching anime DBZ was always a favorite of mine. Had this review been written when I was 13 I probably would have given it 10s across the board. However I am not 13 anymore and my tastes in anime have matured over the years. Thus this review is written in the context of a 21 year old near college graduate and one that has a vastly larger collection than my formative years.

Story - 7
Dragon Ball Z follows off years after the end of the Dragon Ball series. As the characters have aged so have their ... battles. The scale of the battles have moved on from world threatening disaster to universal destruction. Unfortunately while the story starts strong in the Saiyan Saga the following Sagas continually get more and more drawn out. Like a developing method favoring commercial time than development as popularity of the series increased, each episode tells less and less story and become more and more fillers. Characters powering up turns from a 30 second awe inspiring moment to a 20 minute "ok-get-over-yourself" scene. And it only gets worse throughout the series. Repetitious plot turns also take a couple points off of this score. How many times does it take for a villian to die in DBZ? Essentially no less than 10 times and a good 20-30 episodes. None-the-less the story is indeed epic and is definitely addictive for a good crowd.

Art - 8
In the context of the time that DBZ was drawn the art was very good. Akira has a very distinct style that is easily recognizable and is exceptional. The only thing that brings down this score is repetitious use of particular cells and awkward proportions on the characters during particular scenes.

Sounds - 6
The voice talent for both languages is rough, but not horrible. Nothing about the voices or music will turn you away from the series but nothing will attract you to them.

Character - 8
This score seems to vary greatly on the particular character you are referring to. For example I believe that Goku's growth as a character fits well with the story. Gohan also develops especially well as he learns to cope with his own powers and responsibility to protect his family, friends, and the universe at large. Piccolo's fatherly affections for Gohan reveals the light inside and otherwise corrupted soul. Then there are weak characters, chiefly in Vegeta. Vegeta's character in my opinion does not grow or develop at all. He's a prick from the time he unnecessarily kills one of three of the last Saiyans in existence and he's a prick when he lets every bad guy escape so that they can come back and kick the crap out of him. He gets beaten so badly so often because of his own actions that I would have expected his character to give up fighting forever somewhere mid series. Most supporting characters don't grow at all from the previous episode they are seen in despite sometimes years passing.

Enjoyment - 9
DBZ is a guilty pleasure. Despite the many flaws in the series there is no doubting the enjoyment of the series. I was down right obsessed for a good 2 years of my life and I don't regret. Sometimes I still go back to watch my favorite episodes with a cold beer. You will fall in love with at least one character for whatever reason. Krillin was my hero.

Overall - 7
No doubt about the influence that DBZ has had on the industry. I doubt that series such as Naruto or Bleach would have had a shot without the success of the Dragon Ball series to finance their endless productions.

Ok, so I already did a DBGT review and I had strong opinions on why it isn't as bad as everyone says. Now it's time for my DBZ review and warning to all DBZ lovers I am going to trash on it... Just kidding, isn't that impossible?? DBZ has been known as the greatest anime and although I find that inaccurate it is definitively in the top five and the most influential anime of all time.

Story- I really wanted to give it a 10 across the board, but I just couldn't. Most of you who are reading this have probably seen DBZ or know ... what happens in it. If you haven't seen it yet... let me tell you... the story is near close to perfect. To me everything is paced very well except for two arcs. The Ginyu force arc dragged on for way too long and it was getting extremely difficult for me to watch the whole arc the first time I saw the series. Also, the Buu arc. I love the last season, it's my favorite. But holy damn there is only so much I can take of the same guy regenerating constantly. I do not know why it dragged like that but in the end it doesn't kill the story. Also as a warning to anyone that hasn't seen it, there is filler in the show, but it aint like Naruto filler that lasts for 15000 episodes (obvious exaggeration) it's short and quick and actually entertaining. The story of an underdog never gets old nor does the fight for peace. It's truly a great story with very little problems.

Art- I have no problem with the art. It suits the whole show. And the way the attacks are and the fight scenes and energy attacks you can tell that the staff put hard time into making a masterpiece.

Sound- The tracks are so amazing in this show. You could easily buy a OST and listen to it in your house or in car and hum along to perfectly written pieces of music. The openings are really good and catchy. The second ending "Angel" is one of the best ending songs I have ever heard from an anime ever! And the Dubbing of DBZ is one of the best dubbing I have ever heard. There are only three anime where I can say that the Dub is better than the Sub.

Character- Even if you haven't seen the show, everyone knows the story of Goku and his friends. The cast of characters work so well with each other there is so much character development and personal attachments that a viewer can have with these characters making it a masterpiece. The villains make the experience even better. The villains are so powerful and have the most evil of natures compared to most anime that you love to hate them. I always said, the true way to make a story work is to not have the best good guy but the best villain. I'm sure that I am not alone on that saying.

So... DBZ. A lot of characters to love, plenty of villains to hate; a pretty decent pacing with the story, amazing fights and awesome sound and art. It's hard to argue with all the DBZ lovers because the show is that damn good. Personally, it is my 3rd favorite anime. The only two that are better IMO are FMA: Brotherhood and Yu Yu Hakusho. If you haven't seen DBZ and are reading this review, trust me and the general population, WATCH IT! If you have already seen it and are reading this review... WATCH IT AGAIN!! Now excuse me while I go Super Saiyan.

Before you start reading, please keep in mind that I am a huge Dragon Ball Z fan. So that may influence my opinion a bit.

Dragon Ball Z marked quite a few firsts in its genre. One could almost argue that if it wasn't Dragon Ball Z, anime may not have become what it is today. It started in the 1980's in Japan, but did not reach American TV until the 90's. I remember coming home from school every day as a kid and turning my TV on to Cartoon Network to watch this show. Fast forward ten years later ... and I still find a lot of enjoyment in the series, even after watching each episode numerous times.

The story is pretty basic when compared to most mainstream anime these days, but it works so well for this particular show. I guess you could almost compare the main character, Son Goku, to Superman. There seems to be a constant theme of forgiveness and redemption through the show as well, as the viewer as well as the main characters always try to see the good in others rather then the evil. With that said, one could really learn a lot from a show like Dragon Ball Z. In a way, as a kid, it taught me a lot of important morals and values. A lot of the enjoyment value also came from the story. It was so well written and done for an action cartoon that I honestly do have a hard time finding a complaint. I guess if I did have one it would be that torwards the end things start to get a little same-y, but other then that it worked perfect.

The art of the show was also fairly good, but it could have been better. It always seemed like the environments used in many of the battles were re-used. Characters often would fight in the same desert based scenario or the same wilderness one. While detail was added to the art as time went on, it always seemed lacking to me. Even the recent Dragon Ball Z special that came out seemed like the art was a step or two behind its time.

The music and sound really did shine out in DBZ and made up for a few of the downsides in the art department. There were some pretty epic soundtracks that came with this anime and each one really fit the battle taking place. I really liked some of the themes that were associated with the main characters, as it really set the mood for the character's personality.

The characters were very well written, each having his or her own good and bad sides. What was interesting is the way the viewer could see the change in personality in some characters, who would start off evil but later become good. Again, the theme of forgiveness could be seen here and was backed up in one or two main characters. Viewers and fans would also get really attached to some characters, more so then in other animes I know.

To wrap this up, Dragon Ball Z is a great anime and could provide a lot more entertainment then a lot of mainstream action cartoons today. To be honest, I still find DBZ to be a better show then Naruto. Again, the fact I am a huge fan may interfere with that, but when I look it at it from a normal viewers point of view, I still see the same thing. Naruto lost its charm after the first 120 episodes or so and Dragon Ball Z maintained it all the way to the end. If you haven't seen this legendary anime yet, I recommend checking it out. It gets a 9/10 overall.

Can I make a critical review of DBZ?

Can I be the party pooper?

Can I piss in your cereal bowl?

Thank you.

DBZ is bad. It's actually very much to shonen what Final Fantasy 7 is to JRPG. It's origin of the Bad, the birth of it, the Genesis of modern shonen shit. It is to Nekketsu what SAO is to Isekai, the biggest and most recognisable of them all, and also the one that carries all its flaws.

Like Naruto, like Bleach, like One Piece(and I really like One Piece), like Mc Donalds food, there is a general trend with Life that when a lot of people like ... something, it's probably shit. Not because "it sold out", although that's usually there too, but simply because when you call upon the lowest common denominator, you usually appeal to everyone - and also suck.

To be absolutely fair, I read the manga to the end and watched numerous hours of the anime, but not all of it. Still, knowing the story and knowing what the anime's like, I feel like I can judge the anime as a whole without having tortured myself with watching it all.

Still, before I get to the meat of why DBZ is shit, I'll break it down into three aspects:

- The fights (the technical standpoint, in other words just "how are the fights")
- The battles (from a character standpoint, in other words "why are the fights")
- The general style of Toriyama as a writer and as an artist.

I usually break down into the MAL points of story, art etc, but I don't think it's very pertinent here. Story keeps getting worse, Art is Toriyama with the Toriyama Faces and the Toriyama Haircuts that are in every Toriyama Game and every Toriyama manga, sound is alright when it comes to music (delicious SSJ3 theme), voice acting...not so much sometimes, characters are alright, rarely good though, and it's enjoyable, if you're stupid and haven't gargled on years of shonens already.

Overall, the result is really really poor.

And since that conclusion has no relationship to the earlier points, that's why I'm doing another breakdown.

Father of all Fighter Shonens and Patriarch of the Modern Nekketsus, thine fights are pure shit. Technically speaking.

Looking at any battle in the DBZ manga or anime, one thing should immediately strike you if you're used to this style: it has near to absolutely no technicality. By which I mean there is just no techniques. Fights aren't won by outsmarting the enemy, tricking him, using a special technique that surprises him, or overcoming his defenses in any way. Well to be fair that does happen in one fight, the Vegeta fight, which I consider to be the last true Dragon Ball fight there is. Everything else is DBZ.

So if DBZ doesn't care for techniques, how are fights made? Simple: by power level.

"My numbers are bigger than yours."

Now by itself, that sounds pretty boring. It's just the start.

While the whole number thing during the Vegeta and Freeza arcs are reaaaaaaally boring and have the same impact as the midichlorians in Star Wars 1 (making the Force leave the mystical realm and enter a stupid pseudoscience realm that kills the purpose of a magical super-physical force), they at least respect a certain degree of sense. There is logic in them, even if the whole "my numbers are bigger than yours" is really, REALLY poor.

But then, in the later arcs, the whole power level thing, which by then isn't represented by scouters or calculators but by Super Saiyan level, reaches an absolutely retarded degree.

Here's my main gripe with it.

When you say "THE LEGENDARY SUPAH SAYAEN" to Freeza, and you say he's the mightiest in the Universe.

And then you pull out a SUPAH SAYEEN TSU.

And then you pull a SUPRA SYEAHEAN SREEE.

And later on, a 4 and a Blue and a what the hell ever, then that's called changing the rules when they don't suit you anymore. Which denotes lack of vision and lack of respect for your own world rules, which in turn destroys the validity of the world which you've set up.

So the power levels end up being inconsequential because power and saiyan levels will just be broken time and time and time again anyway. And they're also the only real defining element of your fights winners and losers...that means that you basically don't have rules. Whenever you want a fight to look hard, just have your player get beaten hard by the villain, and have all the nekketsu friends/supporters/arena cleaners scream OH NO, FREEZA/CELL/BUU IS SO STRONG! And when it's time to finish that fight, have your hero have a monologue, or see something bad (like Krillin getting blasted) or just DBZ's ultimate bullshit technique, have him be beaten to a pulp which if he's Saiyen means he immediately gets a huge powerup, and then fight the villain again and win!

Except you won't win, because then Cell will get his new form, or Buu will eat something or spit something, or Freeza will get from form 1 to 2, to 3, to 4, to Cyborg, to Golden Freeza, to whatever suits you to make the fight last, and then your heroes will reach a new level of Saiyan or craaaaaaap, I think my point is made.

This complete lack of technical effort or even base cleverness is atrocious. Even in the fights themselves, there's no martial arts strikes or positions, it's two idiots, usually levitating in midair, which is REALLY CONVENIENT to think new positions and new forms of fighting, but it's two idiots looking at each other punching each other in the chest until one of them gets blasted and finds his IT'S NOT EVEN MY FINAL FOOOOOORM card in his landing hole.

It's just atrocious as hell. To be fair, I didn't even like Dragon Ball that much, but DB had merit in creativity sometimes, even if it shared its problems with DBZ, it at least tried to create interesting situations, the fight with Tenshinhan comes to mind, where the ending was surprising. DBZ wallows in that swamp of mediocrity with the power levels or saiyan levels where everything is just about making a bigger freaking energy laser. There is no technique growth, no new styles, nothing, just get beaten more, lift more weights, do more pushups till you can reach Ultra Maximum Over Saiyan ++ ² Blue With Spiky Ass Hair.

But most shonens aren't about the fights technically, they're about the reasons behind the fights. Everyone has some kind of villainous reason to be a villain, everyone of the heroes has a virtous reason to be virtous.

DBZ cast: please state your reasons.

Goku : I like fighting!
Gohan : Well uh dad likes fighting so I guess I have to too.
Tenshinhan, Bulma, Yamcha, Krillin, and all the gang: Well err I guess they want to destroy the Earth and we kinda live here.
Vegeta : It is my race's duty and pride to trample our enemies!
Piccolo : I like Gohan, he's the son I never had.

So excluding the growing gang of sidekicks that have been pretty useless since Dragon Ball ended, we have : I like to fight, I have to cause dad, and two characters with actual freaking reasons that don't come from "we have to" or "I just like it man".

As for the villains:

Freeza : I am evil and love to conquer and kill. Also, I snark. Hin hin.
Cell : I am evil and was programmed to kill. Also, I snark. Mmmh mmh.
Buu: My master is evil and I was created to kill. Also, I eat. Nom nom

I mean really.

REALLY.

That's it. That's what people worship. What the hell is wrong with simple characters with clear motivations? Nothing really, except what I said earlier about how to appeal to most people: you go for the lowest common denominator! Every good guy is good because he has no choice, or because he likes it. The two exceptions of Vegeta and Piccolo are laudable and I do appreciate them a lot, but that does not excuse an entire cast of generic "no choice but to do it!" characters.

As for the villains it's even worse! They're literally anime villains in the worst sense: evil because they are, killing and hurting because it's fun. By rule, the hero should be admirable and the villain should be enjoyable. You should want the hero to win, but enjoy everything the villain does and think "oh boy, I wish I could do that too!".

But with these pathetic excuses for characters, there is no ideological fight, or even an emotional fight. It's a good guy who's good who gets beaten by a bad guy who's bad, until he reaches his next step of power level then he wins until a new villain or new form comes up. I know DBZ is the basis of modern nekketsu, I know it's normal to find that in the basis of Nekketsu, but does it have to be the ONLY THING that the battles have? There's nothing here! Nothing! I'm just baffled that people still praise this today! I mean if you watched this when you were 8, sure, of course at 8 you'd praise this schlock, but by now the fad really should've died out and under the fog of undeserved praise the drooling fanboys made, you should see the real thing: a fighting anime with bad fights, with unstable world rules, with no real value in the fights because it's just good guys being good and bad guys being bad. It's the most generic of the generic to the point that it's utterly boring.

And lastly I think the Toriyama part has to be also targeted. Toriyama is a lazy mangaka. He goes for the easy route and doesn't really care. Things like "I made the Super Saiyan Blonde because I was too lazy to draw it black" come to mind, but even beyond that, the guy has problems.

As I said about the fighting, nothing has consequences because no matter how beaten a hero is, a god, a super god, a super super god, a super super super god, or a senzu bean, will come save them. The fights are pointless because nothing has consequences.

The whole rules about power or saiyan levels also don't mean a thing because out of nowhere a new level, form, or whatever will shuffle the chess pieces again.

And if you look at it in detail, whether it's in time travel, power level, character motivations (Vegeta and his desire to be the Saiyan Emperor come to mind), nothing EVER has any consequences. Time travel ultimately don't mean much, they could rewrite all of History, kill Cell or the Androids before they're born, but they just make sure that the fights can happen as planned without Goku dying. Character motivations with Vegeta being incredibly arrogant and ambitious mean nothing because ultimately it's always down to the guys having to band together to defeat the villains.

There is no choice that matters, no moment that cannot be undone.

After the Cell arc, Toriyama wanted to kill off Goku for good, and for Gohan to become the new MC. He wanted a new age for DBZ, a new history. The fans rejected that so bad his editor forced him to bring back Goku again.

I don't blame him for his editor or his fans. But the fact that he could even do that in the first place after numerous layers of reasons as to why he couldn't do it, is proof in itself that he built a completely inconsequential world with inconsequential rules.

And a story without consequences is boring. DBZ is boring. DB was boring. Never in DB, or anything Toriyama, did I ever feel like stakes were high. Because no matter what, the man never wants to engage himself. He stays in the comfort zone of breaking his own rules when it suits him, never needing vision of what he's gonna have to do.

It's a lazy mangaka with lazy writing techniques to never commit to any story, which makes it all feel fake. It's also a lazy artist with always the same faces every time. Dragon Ball suffered a lot from it. It had creativity, and some value, and was certainly fun. Toriyama also has this unpleasant, and yet very popular, inbetween chairs mix of comedy and fighting.

You can be tremendously funny and very serious in your fights. Slam Dunk or One Punch Man are solid examples of that. One Piece is also a solid example of how to not do that: in OP, the funny/silly definitely overtakes the serious, and that brings the fights' stakes down to the pits.

Toriyama in DB and DBZ cannot stop being silly. He cannot stop having the lighthearted, consequence free brand of Toriyama silly. He can't just take it seriously for once. Maybe very rarely, when Goku goes Super for the first time, you might think shit hit the fan and now we're into the realm of Real Stuff.

But soon after, Goku will go "meh, boring" and try to leave. All hard emotions and serious stakes, avenging Krillin, saving the Universe, meh that stuff's too heavy to be funny, so let's drop it. Freeza won't even have to be killed by Goku, that'd be too heavy too, it'd have consequences, Goku would be a killer and not the fun monkey anymore, Toriyama doesn't want that...so he just lets Freeza kill himself with a Kienzan.

Sure, it looks like a self-inflicted lesson about violence. But at the same time, it only happens because Toriyama doesn't want to carry the weight of Goku being a killer. Just like he doesn't want Vegeta, the self-proclaimed Napoleon of Space, Ruler of a race of Space Warriors, Agressive and Violent Man D'Elite, actually doing anything violent. So Vegeta doesn't really kill anyone after he comes to Goku's side. He never really betrays despite his numerous outbursts against Goku and for his own titles and destiny. That would mean consequences. Even with the whole Fusion business with Buu, he fuses. Vegeta, the proudest being in the universe, fuses an eternal fusion that means he will never be himself again and will be stradled with Goku forever. A dire, definite and tremendous choice with consequences that last a WHOLE 10 MINUTES.

I could cite the entire anime for its insane amount of bullshit to avoid consequences, but I think my point is made.

Toriyama hates responsibilities. So his characters remain shallow and consequenceless, despite their claims. The fights are consequence-free, since you can just pull a new form or power level out your butt.

And I wouldn't be so bothered by this crap if it weren't for the origin of it: laziness. DBZ is very very lazy. It's not a creative choice, it's just a man who's naturally lazy and doesn't want to bother with risks or choices or difficult things, so it's all about yelling a lot, power levels and new forms, and never doing anything that would actually mean something and make this anime NOT FUCKING SHIT.

There. If you've actually read this rant all the way here, I'm sorry I pissed all over. But I'm not sorry for saying this is very bad and Toriyama is very bad too.

Oh and there's more to say but those are the really important ones, the rest doesn't matter. I guess the story matters, it keeps getting worse because it's always the same stuff repeated with slight alterations every time, but really that's every nekketsu.

Overall: 2 : I can't watch it without feeling like I'd need to be 7 to appreciate it at all. By 10 years old I'd drop it.

This anime is bad, and you should feel bad if you're one of those who enable new animes or mangas to be just as bad.

this was the first anime and manga i ever got addicted to or watched i highly recomend it to a fighting maniac plus the characters are very loveable and there is a character for neraly ever kind of personality the is quite a few of twists and turns this is the best out off the 3 (Dragonball,Dragonball Z,Dragonball GT,)

Story

The story is basic revolved around the main character Goku a sayian sent to destroy earth (also for a breif time Gokus son Gohan) it is full of interesting twists and alot of amusing characters and events unlike the Dragonball in is not mainly revolved around ... the world tounments but more to Gokus heratege and aliens from space it will keep u at the end of ur seats note there isent much romance for people how like it no kissing or as such is seen but there is alot of relasionships.

Art

The grafics arnt the best at first but as it progress it gets a lot better but the attacks like the kamkamha wave are great.

Sound

the sound is great the voices all are unique which give it great effect to the anime itself not to metchin the battle music and attacks are fantastic

Characters

my favorite part ther are all unique and are very funny my favorite is Gohan they all have different backgrounds which make the very interesting some are easier to fegure out than others.

Enjoyment

even to this day it is one of my animes to this day it is funny action pack and will keep you entertained for hours

it is overall one of my favorite animes and one of my highest recommeneded

I really rate it 10/10 in all categories. IT was just a masterpiece, especially for its time. The story is debateable, but the art, sound, character, enjoyment was flawless without contest.

ART
The art was amazing, it was so interesting and the fighting scenes got me hooked.

SOUND
Lot of people complain about the sound/music in DBZ sounding too "old" and preferred the american bruce falconer versions. I disagree STRONGLY. I felt the original sound and music fit PERFECTLY, there's no words to describe it. Every theme was amazing.

CHARACTER
This is one of the things that made DBZ one of the most memorable and watched series, the characters. Just ... how unique can they be? I can picture goku, vegeta, krilling, piccolo OR any of the character 10 years after watching the show and still remember them perfectly. If that's not a masterpiece, i don't know what is! Generic and bland characters is something that is overwhelming nowadays in animes. Every character tend to look/act like the one before, the uniqueness is out the window.

ENJOYMENT
Boy did i enjoy it as a kid. I remember being able to watch only 10 minutes of it in the morning before going to school and finishing the last portion of it on the later re-run, that's how enjoyable it was!

This is hands down THE best fighting/action series with naruto at a close second. It is NOT a deep anime like Elfen Lied or Evangelion, so don't expect psychological thrillers. DBZ is all about the "cool" factor.

10/10. Masterpiece.

the story of the series is filled with action, comedy, suspense and many others along with twists and turns at every corner of a situation or battle, susu as the discovery of a new power for an individual fighter that enables them to defeat their opponent

the series creator, Akira Toriyama, had great ideas when he created this fantastic piece of work. By fusing martial arts and ki control, he has created a combination that can be enjoyed by anyone.

the jump in content from Dragonball to Dragonball Z has made this an even more enjoyable series than Dragonball

the chracters also have their own take in ... their part and Mr.Toriyama has spared no effort in allowing each character their own time in the spotlight, even the villains can be comical too

even though the characters, with their speed, strenght etc, are superhuman
the fact remains that throught hardwork with a little bit of blood and sweat, even the impossible can be achieved
such as when goku, through training, exceeded all expectations by becoming a super saiyan despite his poor saiyan family background

Ahhh, DBZ, a masterpiece of an anime! I still get so much nostalgia when I watch it. I'm going to try to keep this brief, since it isn't the deepest show or anything. Also it will be spoiler free. This was also my first BIG anime. I didn't think any anime was better. I was wrong. But that doesn't mean that I don't still love it. It will always be close to my heart. It is a masterpiece, after all!

Story: 7

This is the weakest aspect of the anime, in my opinion. The story is good, sharing roots with Superman's origin story. I'm also including the ... length of the show into this category, and it is very long. I'll go ahead and say that I haven't seen EVERY episode, but I've seen all of the major and a lot of the minor fights, and I know enough of the story to get by, obviously. Part of the problem is, deaths don't really mean anything in this show, unless it's a villain. And even then... It still doesn't mean much. Villains have a way of coming back from the dead. If a protagonist dies, they can just get wished back with the Dragon Balls. On top of all of that, there are some plot holes, confusing moments, and continuity errors, which definitely take away from the show. But it mostly has to do with the fact that it's so long. There are a lot of complicated and unnecessary transformations, too, which is also confusing.

Art: 8

The art style is nice. It has pretty colors and is nice to look at, but it isn't anything groundbreaking. The other problem is that a lot of things are looped, for example you will notice that stones flying past characters' faces are just the same stones in the same spot over and over, with the same wind effect. Smoke and dust are also too perfect. They are symmetrical. So it's a bit annoying, but it's not THAT big of a deal. This also probably has to do with the length of the show.

Sound: 10

The soundtrack is amazing, if you are looking at the dub. Bruce Faulconer did an unbelievable job with this. Also both the subs and dubs are awesome. But the Ocean Dub is hilariously bad. So don't watch that one.

Character: 10

DBZ is riddled with so many lovable characters that all the fans love. They are extremely powerful, too. The villains are also awesome. There will be some very sad moments that will make you want to cry, too. A lot of characters are exceptionally funny, too. Also, important note: The Dragon Ball Franchise has so many INCREDIBLE characters, that it's one of the few anime that I find almost impossible to pick a favorite character. Seriously, all characters are pretty much on par with each other, which I think is really neat.

Enjoyment: 10

Definitely the strongest aspect of this show. The epic fights, music, and the struggles of our favorite characters is what captivates our attention. It isn't the story. Fans can just ignore all of the things that don't really make too much sense, or are hard to understand or anything. They can just sit back and watch DBZ and have a blast. It's just something that you watch. Not something that you try to pick apart all of the psychological elements or anything.

Overall: 9.9

Originally, I had this and Super as a 9 on MAL. I change my mind. It gets a 10, even though there's quite a bit of problems with it! Firstly, it's really damn long! XD And the mistakes that ARE made in DBZ, are actually pretty comical! Somebody asked Akira Toriyama why Trunks and Goten don't have tails. His response? "Uhhh... They got them removed at birth." He totally forgot that they were supposed to have tails. XD Also, it's hilarious how Frieza says that Namek only has 5 minutes to explode, but yet Goku and Frieza fight for about 2 more hours! Anyway, it might be a bit hard to get into at first, but once you do, you'll most likely fall in love with it. Goku has even become an icon. This is also the only anime that's really long that I'll watch. I never was able to get into Naruto, One Peace, Bleach, and had never even heard of Gintama. So with anime this long, it's either a hit or a miss. And it depends on how much time you want to spend on it. Anyway, that pretty much sums up my review. DBZ in a nutshell.

Kamehameha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*English is NOT my first language! Review/analysis/rant will be edited... eventually!*

"It's like watching two kids playing with their favourite action figurines, yelling at each other why one is so much better than the other, while someone presses every other minute the pause-button, and holds them still for about five to ten minutes - this goes on and on for fifty hours or so, straight!"
- Pahatar, after 50 episodes of DBZ

Let me tell you a little story, about how I ended up losing 100 hours of my life, into this... anime. First of all, I never saw this anime when I was a kid, so... ... no nostalgia for me. All the same, my interest towards this... anime, awakened only about a year ago, when I stumbled upon an Abridged version from TFS. I got all the jokes - ironically! - loved all the characters, and their witty personalities, and I was always wanting more - that can't be a bad sign from an anime/parody, right? So I took it upon to myself to find out, wether or not the original would be any better, than it's respectful parody was, and... well, this is where things get bad... really bad! And I mean... painful!

Notice, I've already seen my fair share of anime (not to brag, mind you - i've just... seen my fair share), so after reading about 100 positive reviews of this one - seriously, I'm not kiddind! - I was promised time and time again, and I quote, that "DBZ is the best of the best, what anime as a media has to offer, with best action, deepest plots, stories, and the most complex and multi-dimensional characters, that I have ever seen in any other anime ever!" - which, to be fair, sounded like a huge overstatement on so many levels! I was obviously, for not having a protecting nostalgia-shield covering my eyes and judgement, a bit sceptical, but after literally tossing a coin for about 500 times, I finaly started watching it... and ultimately, hated my decision, with a burning and painful passion!

Given how many episodes this anime had per saga alone, I took some liberties from my 'anime-watching rules', and gave this anime about 15 episodes to win me over. I bearly got through 10 episodes, when I already wanted to stop... so I did. But, back then, I still was in that mindset, that said "if you start it, you also finish it!", so I did... It took me actually full 8 months to see this turd through to the very end, and I hate myself forever and ever, for ever submitting myself to this... this!

Suffering...

But lets not be all so brutally honest now! I mean, yeah... I think DBZ is great... if you're a little boy, lacking any sence or taste or brainmatter, and seen less than ten other animes, that is!


Story (1)
The story - if I can even call it that - is in it's most bare-boned, minimalistic way very, very basic, and therefore perfectly suitable for kids with a inch-long attention-span, or those who hate well-writen/complex and/or multileveled stories in general, and can easily enjoy their bones, without the meat. No fat, no salt... just bones. No content - just some flashy lights, bells and loud sounds. Brain-numbingly boring and stupid.

You've all heard the same summary of the plot before! It's about fighting. Very, very little of actual story... but much fighting. Or training. Or people dying. Or heroes watching other people dying/training/fighting. Heroes wait for the bad guy to show up - obviously, since the training/fighting/dying/resurrection- cycle is pretty much all these guys know what to do! - bad guy shows up, heroes train, then they fight, then they die, then they fight some more, then a total ass-pull happens, the bad/good guy dies - or not, if the fans don't want him to! - and the circle repeats itself, like a inferno for a bad taste!

Let me give you an example... It's not like any good fighting game, or hentai actually needs a good story behind it, when the main audiense of these two genres just wants to see some violence and fucking, but still... I'd still be lying if I said that based on the thousand-or-more positive reviews, I wasn't expecting something more than this! Which I was! An awfully lot more! Maybe a little too much, now when I think about it...

Even in the terms of action/fighting-genre, I can remember, or even recall very little memorable action-scenes from DBZ. I can remember shouting, grunting, bright flashes of light and some ridiculously exaggerated explosions, but that's about it. I never had this same problem happen to me when I first watched FMA:B, and that show is also packed with action and fights! Action in DBZ felt pretentious, repetitive, tedious, and very, very boring to watch, which really shouldn't be the case in action-based story! I literally felt how my brain was shutting down out or mere boredom during each and every episode! That's not a good sign for a action-story, titeld as the "best of the best"!

When it comes down to the bad writing, there are really no excuses here. Toriyama really can't write coherent, appealing, or even slightly interesting and meaningful stories, nor the characters, and those who can't, or refuse to see it, are already far too deep in their smudged up pool of nostalgia - no hope for a undeserved redemption for them. The so-called plot is only there, so that the story... I mean, the fights, can proceed accordingly, a one small, blurred sprint in every 3-5 episoded!

I'll be damned to find out anyone who watches/likes DBZ because of it's "plot", "story" or "interesting characters". Violence is the biggest selling point for DBZ, being both its core and plot as a whole, but even that it cannot do even mediocrely - best action in all of anime, yeah right, no! It doesn't evolve, or develope... it just keeps repeating itself over and over, using the same tricks, but only in a slightly bigger scale... in power, that is! (Drinking game! How many times you hear the word "power", in fifteen episodes! You'll be dead!) It's dull, it's repetive, it doesn't even try to grow or evolve past it's current lines, despite all the episodes worth of time it had in on its hands to try doing so, so it doesn't even try to keep me interested enough! It just... insults me with its lazyness, and I hate when the show, that I'm "supposed" to enjoy, insults me!

Its not like simple stories are all automatically bad in my books - they just don't have to be lazy! One of my favourite animes is called Moomins and there's little to no story either, no big fights and not-so-complex characters, but its still not lazy! And DBZ is lazy. It has nothing intelligent to say, and nothing profound to give. It's lazy, because every action, threat or stake, that ever appears in the "story", is inconsequential at best, and nonsensical/boring, at worst, appealing only for the lowest common denominator, and no one else. And, the biggest sin, that allowed all of this inconsequential writing to ever take any place in the "story", were the Deus ex Machinas/asspulls, that plagued this whole show, evading any kind of actual drama, or consequenses! I mean... how much can I truly invest myself into a story, where the most pressive matters are, who's the strongest, and who fights who... or where death is just some meaningles inconvenience, since it can easily be reversed (the Earth gets blown up? No biggie! One wish from a Magic Dragon and poof - no harm done!) and those who just decide to say dead, can pretty much just easily communicate with the living, and spend their days in this dream-like training/fighting- spa for alien males, for all eternity?!

Life is worthless, death is just an inconvenience, and crime is a joke.

Death seems almost more appealing than being alive for these guys, so... why are they still alive?! Because Toriyama hates consequenses, and taking responsibilities as a writer - that's why! Thank goodness, that the Dragon can bring anybody back to life, without any real consequenses or tolls to pay, because Lord knows we don't need to deal with actual realistic drama or consequenses, or have any actual thought put into this piece of turd, now do we?! By the end of the Buu-saga, the 1/5 of the Earth's population would still be breathing, thanks to these incompetent retards!

A simple writing rule 101; you cannot create drama, if actions hold no consequenses! And in DBZ, not even a mass genocide holds no long-term consequenses, because it's either a) easily reverted, or b) nobody cares=redemption!

And that's just another big, huge gripe with me against this anime - no sense of justice! Any crime, you ever commit here, ranging from sexual harrasment to genocide, is easily forgiven, never mentioned ever again, and any punishment you may or may not receive, is pretty much just a slap on the wrist, and not always even that! Most of the "heroes" are former evil-duers and murderers, but they still get treated and glorified as if none of that ever happened, or it didn't really matter anyway - since when a genocide has ever been a crime forth of a legit punishment anyway?! It personally makes me sick to my stomach to think about a world - fictional, or otherwise - where "heroes" are actually rewarding the villains for being evil, by granting them chances to live, changes to marry, changes to do f*ck all... and the Fandom still calls these a redemption-arcs?! Truly appalling! This anime, was originally aimed for children, but... what the heck kinda moral is that for a any child?! Be a horrible monster, and later, be rewarded for that?

What?!

Still, the truly sad part to me is, that this would've been totally awesome series, if instead of intentionally being so "serious" and "epic" all the time, they could've done this to be some totally bat-shit crazy parody-like action-packed comedy... which I can only assume it was suppoused to be, considering how stupid the premise of this anime already was! If this was somewhere anywhere near being something as great as like TFS or some another parody-like story, this could've been actually enjoyable to me, but no! It just had to be stupid, bland and boring instead! What a wasted, lazy potential this was... and I hate laziness!

But, then again... maybe, I'm not even supposed to expect too much out of this! In the end... DBZ is just like those fighting/harem- games, where the story-mode is just something to skimp over, and get to the pounding! Obviously, the plot that keeps itself alive by the everlasting "training to get stronger, villains get stronger, die/get stronger, some more training 'cause why not"- plot-circle, it is evidently bound to be writen in a corner in multiple occasions, when braking the said circle becomes almost impossible. And once that said circle is soon being set in stone, it of course leaves behind all these aching questions, that I just never couldn't escape, during my watching-sessions.

Why are the saiyans only ones capable in the universe at keeping themselves relevant to the story, by always being the most powerful... considering they all do the bloody same things, and despite the fact that they're the most worst monsters in the universe by birth, and still romanticized as an "heroes", because of their said powers?!

Why can't namekians have something similar to that "once in every millenia, when the stars collide in line"- type of legend of god-like super-warriors? That being said... why can't humans have a mythos similar to that?! Why are the humans always so limited in every way imaginable?! This is literaly a world, where the dragons grant wishes, kids turn into raging monkeys and moon can be blown to bits - twice! - with no repercussions! You would think, that some more asspulling and plot-twisting-devices wouldn't hurt that much, if the most diehard fans could get to see Tien or Piccolo keep their shits together, but NO! It's all about saiyans, and no one else!

So, the "story" is not a big winner for me. But, I'm not gonna lie... this anime really paved the way out for somehing, that most of the hardcore shonen fans still wank upon even to this very day! The popularity of this anime illegitimally launched out some pretty strong and persistent clishes and traits, that are still part of oh-so-many shonen ever made since, such as;
(1) repetitive plots and stories
(2) stupid heroes and insubtansial sidecast
(3) useless tsundere/yandere women
(4) endless amount of plot-devices/convienences/ Deus ex Machinas
(4) bland/stupid/one-dimensional villains
(5) endless amount of hissy-fit transformations
(6) not-so-cool-sounding powers and/or attacks
(7) overly stretched-out fights
(8) actions having no long-term consequenses
And all so many others! Too many to even list on this review!

So, if you ever feel like complaining that most of the shonen animes on this day suffer immensely of any of these traits - or others! - blame DBZ! After all, it was so popular, because of these traits! This is the anime, that made all of those traits stick and stay, but unfortunately, most of the fandom of shounen can't be bothered to argue, since complaining about these bugs would be the same as pointing the angry fingers at their beloved power-porn- fantasies! These traits do have their fans, sure and true, but I am certainly not one of them! Being Me, who's favourite stories/plots/characters can be found from such titles like FMA:B, Death Note, Madoka Magica, Fruits Basket and Moomins, this anime doesn't meet neither my preferences, nor my standards for good quality, as a mindless, pointless, repetitive, power-obsessed shonen smack-down, and story-wise lacking even worse than some of those B-rated porn-movies! The story is not deep, it's not immaginative, it's not smart, and given how shallow, repetitive, bare-boned and bland it truly is, and how many arcs and episodes this anime has to repeat the exact same plots, traits, convienences and devices over and over again, it just can't please me, in the slightest.


Art (3)
The art is very difficult for me to critizise, let alone write about, since it holds such a little importance to me. All I care about in anime are the stories, characters and enjoyment, but, since I have so say atleast something...

The art is ugly. Very, very ugly. Some of the character designs and backgrounds look nice, but most of the time, they're just some empty, desolated wastelands, and giant craters, and basically every single move, attack and technique looks like the wreaking same thing, over and over again! There's no variation to the coreography - something, that should hold such a high ground, in any fighting-oriented anime! - and most of the time, the fights themselves are just so fast and blurried, that you can't even see them! All I see are some pows and explosions, and being so spoiled from FMA:B's fights, I'm just not satisfied!

And the characters themselves... what a mess they are! I've always said, that if you took every single protagonist from Miyasaki-movies, and took their hair and clothes off, they would look exactly the same! Well... the same thing goes with these empty blocks of muscles, since theyr'e all build the same, they pose the same way, and they all grin the same way! Hell, they all even fight the same way, since most of them already know the basic attacks, like the solar flare and kamehameha! They just shout out some stupid shonen-typed-awesome-sounding-not-so-well-varied- attack-names, that all look exactly the same, and do almost exactly the same things - blow shit up! This is not good. Not good!


Sound (2)
The sounds are... guite horrendous, if you ask me! I can't remember any of the musical tracks, and what I can remember from the voice actors was... well, not one of their brightest performances, to say the least! Most of the dialog is just some grunting, shouting and screaming, and whatever actual lines there are, even the five-year-old could easily come up with!

And don't even get me started on how badly the american dub messed up the original japanese script, to better sell these characters as a heroes, instead of bastards that they truly are - Goku and Vegeta, mainly. This is fanfiction-level of writing... as basic as any writing, or voice-acting gets, but let's face it... no one's gonna see this mess because of it's writing, right?! Like in any fanfiction, is all about fucking... erh, fighting!

I do like, that my favourite voice-actor, Chris Sabat is being given so many roles in this one, but... does he really have to sound like a smoking frog, while playing Piccolo? I just don't get it.


Characters (1)
So many prases for the series stems from the characters, and how deep, multi-dimensional and interesting they all are, but to me, they all seem like a shallow, grey, dirty, non-appealing mess, so much so that I almost thought I was watching something totally unrecognizable mistake!

The so-called "heroes" - heroes of the circumstance, if anything else! - of ours, are ultimately just bunch of emotionally retarted, hyperactive and sadistic, psychothic, immoral and mentally unstable five-year- olds, in ludigrous grown-up bodies, with very little personality, absolutely no dimensions, little to no motivation, and absolutely no subtlety - I'm looking at you, Vegeta! Most of the "heroes" of the show, I would without any pain declare as monsters, because let's be honest... genocide is unforgivable, no matter how much the Fandom wants to romaticize it - *cough* Vegeta *cough*! And forgiving said genocider not once, but twice, is just as unforgivable, and should be aknowledged as such, instead of being heavily idolized and romanticized by the plot, and The Fandom - *cough* Goku *cough*!

And speaking of Goku... he must be the absolute worst protagonist, that I've ever seen in any anime - shonen or not-shonen - ever, Vegeta holding a strong second place! Stupid, sadistic, irresponsible, borderline-sociopath, and every good deed he ever "does", happens by accident, or because of deus ex machinas, not because he actually wants to do good, for the sake of doing good - that would be, what an actual hero would do! Most of the Fandom that adores him, are only familiar with the american dub of him, which in many cases makes him see like this "pure, angelic superman-character, who can do no wrong", which is, of course, totally wrong - both japanese dub, and the manga, will prove my point, so I won't bother with it in this review with greater detail. Goku, and the shows over-praising attitude towards him, was one of the worst things that DBZ had to offer to me, and a painful trial to sit through! He's a terrible hero, terrible friend, horrible husband and father, cares only for himself and his needs to fight, has no integrity, and little to no morality nor empathy, when it comes to well-being and happines of others. Gokus popularity stems from the facts that his disgustingly OP, which is pathetich reason to be called a hero, let alone more-than-two-dimensional character... which he's not!

Much like his son, and supposed next main protagonist-in-progress (before the horrid Buu-saga happened!), Gohan! Oh boy, what A Letdown he was! I really liked his character in Dragon Ball Special; The History of Trunks, where he finally seemed to realize the lesson that should've been pounded in his skull during the early days of Z, if he had any chance of ever being a decent hero, unlike his father; that with great power, comes great responsibility! (Great Saiybaman doesn't count!) Given his childhood and all too many horrific things that happened all aroung him, his story arc could've easily been either innocent kid turned traumatized monster, or the HoT-scenario, where he is now a hero, because he's the only one left - not necessarily, what he wants to do, or to be, but because it's the right thing to do in a situation, where no one else can. In Z, during the Cell-saga, there was some hints of that, and promise of that same progression, and character development happening, but then... the Buu-saga happened, and he literally became nothing! Not traumatized, not developed, and certainly not a hero! It's not his fault, of course, since his character was obviously too complex for Toriyama to interpretate properly, but still... man, was that a pain to sit through!

And for the sake on continuity, let's talk about Vegeta for a beat!

Oh, boi... let's talk.

I know he's supposed to be the second - if not the first - fan-favourite of the series, who everyone either wants to be, or be with, and on some level, I can see why.We live in times, where anti-heroes are the shite. The Golden Days of the underdogs. Heck, even Hitler had his fans and his wife, but... the less I say about that, the better. I won't go that much into detail of who Vegeta is as a character, but I do say this. He's not subtle. He's not complex. He's not realistic.

Ah, wait, no! He's character - from Saiyan-saga to Namek-saga... until in the early Cell-saga - is on the point. His characterization and "development" from there on out, is anything but.

He starts out as a compleetely irredeemable genocidal psychopath, a villain. And like all the good villains, he dies on Namek by the man who "created" him at the first sign of rebellion against his master - what goes around, comes around, and all that... poetic justice. But, because the Fandom loved him as a villain, he was brought back to life! He was even "redeemed" in the eyes of - most of - the Z-morons and the fans, when he no longer tried to kill any of them, blew himself up, and admitted his inferiority to Goku, which truly hurt me from the inside, when I first time saw this BS happen!

By the same logic... can the Joker be redeemed, if he just stopped killing? Or is Darth Vader allowed to join in the song and dance aroud the camp fire? And I suppose, that Tucker (FMA:B) did nothing wrong either? Bye, Nina!

By no means I intend to sound snobbish know-it-all, but as an amateur writer/movie enthusiast myself, I personally just find both the characters like Vegeta, and the consept of Vegeta - by the moral standpoint - just plain appalling, both by my personal believes and from the storytelling-point-of-views. By now, Vegeta is almost just as hyped and overrated, like a second Jesus, yet there's little to no backup to this hype! Did everyone just suddenly forgot, that this character was literally born and made to be irredeemable?! A murderer! A psychopath! Toriyama didn't intent him to stay in a story beyond his death on Namek, therefore, he made his absolute best to make him just as enjoyably despicable as possible - clearly not someone who ever was meant to be redeemed, nor to be even jokingly considered a legit hero! But... again... because he was so popular, he was allowed to stay... and, because he had to stay, the "plot" had to sorta re-write his earlier established characterization, and just "forget" that he indeed is a psychotic murderer!

What gives this franchise any right to accuse, that a murderous psychos can be redeemed from their actions, when they themselves don't even seek or feel remorse or guilt?!

A few dropped tears and temporarily/meaninglesly dying by blowing himself up, while fighting against some pink bubblegum-monster, which he himself with Goku summoned voluntarily, isn't anywhere close to redeemin years and years of fully intentionally commited attrocities in my books, so... why it is with everyone else?! Because Vegeta is a fanmade-character, and let me explain why!

Everyone inside the Fandom are always raving about how he was the most deepest of the characters. How his development from start to finish was the most realistic out of them all, how he redeemed himself and how he "was cured from his evil ways". Anyone with a half a brain can tell you, that psychopaths who fully and openly enjoy murder, without any shame or remorse, are way beyond redemption = mending their ways - simple as that. Anyone, who's ever read more than three books in their lifes can say, that Vegeta is not deep, nor complex. But I must ask... how was he redeemed, or cured, exactly?

Really... how?

The first we see him, he's a villain. The second we see hims, his villain "in bondage", according to the fans. (Yeah, he was a soldier for Frieza, but he also enjoyed murdering and conquering, and from what I saw from the anime, Frieza never once laid a finger on him before he started to rebel. Plus, Vegeta never seemed to hold much love for his own people, so... only reason for him to seek vengence is his own shattered pride as a Prince of No one? Weak.)

The third we see him, his still very much a villain, only this time, his allowed to do whatever he pleases (Androids, Cell), so he does, and everything falls to shit! In the last season, the fans keep telling me that he's no domesticated and mellowed down - while blowing away half the stadium full of people... with a smile on his face - and dying after that via suicide was his redemption. No, it wasn't. That's justice, not redemption. He was punished, not forgiven. Just because neither the story, nor these anti-morons put him on the trial, doesn't mean that he has attoned. He's just... forgotten.

Did he ever want to be redeemed? No! Did he ever came to regret his past as a genocider? Hell no! He starts out as a villain, then dies as a villain, thus serving his purpose to the story. Then, he comes back and keeps acting like a villain, but is told us to be more like a anti-hero, but is then redeemed right after he "became evil again" and killed countles people with a smile on his face.

What is this cosmic justice system, that I do not detect?! What exactly am I not seeing here?!

If a character is unfit to interpret a role that he/she is supposed to, because of his/her character traits, established characterization, past deeds or just overall face value, he/she shouldn't be put into that role in the first place. If a character enjoys murder from a day one, without any shame or regret, he/she won't get a free pass just because he/she stops for a while. Everyhting that Vegeta is, or that what he's supposed to be, past the Namek saga, is just stupid, lazy writing, and nothing more.

In my books, not every villain that wants to be redeemed can truly ever be redeemed, no matter what they do - or did, as a villains - but actually wanting to change, and to do better, is a Must. Vegeta never - as I saw it - actually wanted to change, or redeem himself. He never got that epiphany, when he was all like "this, what I do, is bad. This is what I do all day, everyday, and I don't like it anymore. I need to change. I want to change!".(Perfect moment for this would've been the Namek-saga, when he was revived, in order to make his redemption arc have a believable kick-start, and make the whole hot mess even just a little more plausible, from the storytelling point-of-view.) This acknowledgement is a key ingredient to have in pretty much every redemption arc that there is ever written, but Vegeta doesn't have this part in his. Not in the slightest. His so-called redemption was given to him by Toriyama, who just used his character to be whatever his story needed to be at a time, and nobody even blinked an eye on that, because "anti-heroes with attitude are just so fecking cool"! Everything he is, right after Namek, is a consequence of Toriyama sucking at writing consistent characters! He needed Vegeta alive because he was popular, but a villain casually hanging around with heroes makes zero sense, so he left out the whole genocidal murderer- aspect, but kept the psycho-part! Apparently, genocide after genocide is not a wrong thing to do if you can still form tears from your eyes, and stupid teenage-girls just love the idea of dangerous psycho-murderer to be their ever-devoted-yet-off-puttingly-tsundere-ish boyfriend and for the love of feck I HATE THIS DISGUSTING CHARACTER! WHY ISN'T HE DEAD?!

Vegeta is much like the poor Joker. Both of them are immoral/irredeemable for the obvious reasons, and everyone with a half a brain can understand that, but both of them has this special little portion of Fandom that desperately tries to write them sort-of redeemable/redeemed sugarpies, with tender kisses and loving embraces with their hussies! Yuk! Or better yet - Christian Grey, from Fifty shades of Grey! They're both sexualized/romanticized beyond rhyme or reason, yet still being the worst kind of scum in fiction that ever exists!

Double yuk!

Vegeta, in my books, is a close second Worst Character Ever Written In Anime History, losing only sightly to Goku, and not necessarily because of who he is, but because of who Toriyama/the Fandom are trying to make him out to be, despite all the logic and morals fighting against it. The same problem happens with Goku! You can have a character, and let him be the most unlikable/irredeemable monster that ever existed, but don't treat him like a saint and hero that he's clearly not supposed to be!

Vegeta is a victim of a poor, lazy, sloppy writing in anime, if I ever saw one. He's a hot mess. His characterization is all over the place, which apparently, makes him both deep/complex character, and "believable" hero, who he simply isn't. He isn't subtle. He's not redeemable as a villain, nor plausible as a hero, he's NOT any deeper, nor multi-dimentional, than the rest of these trainwrecks-of-a-characters, and his so-called "sacrifice" in the Buu-saga, was just as valid for a sacrifice, than cutting your long hair short - a temporary nuisance, but not a sacrifice, since it WASN'T PERMANENT, AND IN THE END, CHANGED F*CK ALL!

The otherl villains of the show aren't any better. The villains are only there, for the sake of being there, and their, as well as most of our "heroes" only motivations, are either selfish materialism, childish swagger, or yolo - nothing else! Except for Frieza! If anything else, he was a hero, for liberating the entire Universe from the plague called the saiyans, and that's saying something, when the "hero" of the story, is indeed saiyan himself!

And these are the characters, who are still idolized, and praised and worshiped by many... I wonder, why.

Oh, but I really shouldn't be too harsh! I mean... why would any of these characters use their brains to think and proceed as a coherent characters, when the premise or the retarted story/plot itself doesn't let them?! Nobody on the so-said "protag"- side ever got fitting punishment for the murders, abductions, sexual assaults, eating people, thefts and other general dickery they've ever done, in the past or the present, and we're not supposed to care any of this, because... the story doesn't, the Fandom doesn't, Toriyama sure as Hell doesn't, and neither does any of these blockhead-characters!

Nothing's ever lost, since but a single wish can just conjure it right back, and if it somehow can't, there's always some way to bend the rules and come up with another Deux ex Machina-type of asspull! No pain equals to gain, and when you'll never ever have to lose anything substantial, there's really no need to learn one's mistakes, and grow as a character! Which is a sin, that happens over and over again, saga after saga, proceeding as follows;

All the "heroes" are either stupid, men, or disgustingly immoral aliens, or both, and if there's any women to be seen, they're either annoying tomboys, bitches, or brainles baby machines, breeding cubs for ex-murderes, and sosiopathic man-children! Something happens, but later on, it just happens to be pointless and/or useless, since the plot is literaly writen by the hoarding fans, through fan-mail! Plot-devices and convenient DeM's are constantly overused and re-used, until they're either forgotten, milked dry, or turned into "buy your new super saiyan transformation here!"- type of jokes! If something bad happens - in a story, or in between the characters - it's overlooked and then just as easily forgotten, since realism holds no ground on this anime, and relationships/traumas/consequenses have nothing to do with a fighting in this world! The plot is stupid, so the characters are stupid, and it's all just laughs and giggles in the end, with no one dead and no grudges being held!

What I love in every anime even more, than a deep and smart story and plot, I love the character-interactions and bonding, that evolves and developes the plot without feeling forced or implausible. But, as much as I tried to see the friendships, the bonds and the respect between the characters and the couples, as the "story" followed, I just couldn't see any.

Why would Piccolo need any companionship from Gohan, if he truly is this "evil by heart", and haven't ever shown any actual sign of loneliness, nor need for companions in his live? Why would Chi Chi stay together with a man, who leaves her as a single mother-widow in multiple occasions with ease, just to please his own selfish desires, in a cost of a happines of his own family? Why would Vegeta ever be accepted in the group of "heroes", considering what he's done, and when he shows no actual interest to remorse, or change his ways? Why would Gohan ever respect an scary alien, who for a years has planned to kill his father, later on killed his father, then kidnapped and tortured him for a year in a wastelands, and afterwards basically stayed far away from his live, until it was being threatened, yet again? Why would Bulma - who's not a murderer, nor crazy - ever fall for a alien, who's utter and complite psycho and a murderer, has a severe inferiority complex, antisocial personality disorder, and is overally just some really disgusting, prideful asshole, with absolutely no redeeming gualities? That being said... why are the saiyans, expecially Vegeta among them, represented as these "tragic heroes, enslaved by Frieza", when all they ever truly were, was these exploited, barbaric murderers?! There's nothing tragic about them - just some poetic justice being done, and that's it! I said it once, and I'll say it again - Frieza was a hero, for killing them, end of story!

These are just a few of the burning questions, that were never answered to me during the show, but luckily, there's always fanfiction!

The cast itself, doesn't seem like truly united, in my opinion, when it comes to dynamics between characters. Most of the time, the whole cast of characters just seemed to be "on the same side against the much bigger evil", and not much else. If there's any warmth or respect ever felt or seen between any of them, is either very limited, or almost non-extintant... which is, to me, the complite opposite from the cast of deep, multi-dimensional and interesting characters, yet alone well-working team dynamic! Which is, I guess, just as fell, since the only characters, that get any development - in power, that is - are the saiyans, leaving humans and other aliens to either be victims in the gutter, stupid jokes, or eye candy for a girls... or girly boys.

Most of these relationships would be - in real life, or in complitely different franchise - either out of place, implausible, or downright insulting/ludicrous, and the reason why they work so well in this franchise, is because they are contantly and superficially being glamourized, and idealized, done pretty much more or less because of the retarted plot and overall idioticy.

The plot doesn't want to go into the dark places, that in any other franchise it would, because most of these situations would be impossible to avoid, but still, somehow, it still seems to hold some of them most "believable", "deepest", and "truest" lovestories ever made in any other anime... at least, according to the fans! And sure, I can see it too, now! Of course mortal enemies can be friends! Of course a evil alien can have his best buddy from a son of his latest victim! Of course any sane woman would be so hellbend to stay with her first childhood-crush, that she wouldn't even think about getting a devorse at some point, even if the said man is gonna stay away from her life for good, and voluntarily never come back! Of course the son of the said man would still adore and love said man as his father, even if he's just gonna die soon anyway, or just leave! Of course the said man can throw his 11-year-old child to the wolfs, smile from afar, die and leave his family for seven-or-so years, and still be welcomed back as a beloved "angel" that he obviously is... not! Of course the formal villains get to stay with the heroes, if they won't kill any of the main cast, and if they happen to bank themselves a respectable tail in the process, all the better - no atonements needed! Of course any sane, hybristophilic woman would both copulate and live together with a murderous psychopath, who has no mental blocks to not to do whatever he wants to do, kill whoever he wants to, or just leave, whenever he feels like it! And... since, I am a girl, and we are in the subject of the parrel, we better get this over with...

The relationships/plot-convienences! Only ever created for breeding-purposes! The very first thing, that I learned from the Fandom about the subject,, was that "Vegeta and Bulma are like the Beauty and the Beast of anime couples!"

Bullshit they are!

Beauty and the Beast took some time to take to know each other, and respect each other! All these two did, was to scream, and insult each other! Call me horrible person, but that's not a relationship, that you bring your kids in... let alone marriage! I myself, personally, would feel sick to my very soul, if I had to even share my livingspace with a dangerous murderer, let alone be married with him... and Bulma does both of those, without as much as a blink of an eye! That's downright misogynist, and just highlights the common attitude towards women in general, in shonen-genre!

"Just fall in love with a guy, who went from breastfeeding to killing, killed your friends, threathened your personal safety, and has no moral/emotional boundaries to not kill you, or your loved ones at any point of time or day, if he so wishes! Who cares?!"

And hey, guess what... they don't even look each other, let alone touch eatch other, so drop that affection-BS right now! Goku and Chi Chi - still being far from a healthy couple in my books - still could talk to each other, and even hug each other, but these two... ugh!

I'm going to be completely honest here, and speak this through, since this clearly is the aspect on the show, that so strongly revolts me. Unhealthy, and misogynist are the nicest ways for me to describe it, and even then I shudder! The very concept of Vegeta/Bulma- relationship, and the fact that the Fandom still thinks, that it's both believable, plausible, and admirable - something, that could be considered as a "perfect example of a perfect, loving couple" - truly makes me sick to my stomach! If I'm really living in a world, where Toriyama's take on romtantic love, can be equivalented on these two, I never want to love anything ever again!

Vegeta is, as a horribly damaged and disgusting person, literaly incapable of loving anyone, or caring about anything, but because Toriyama can't write and the plot is retated, he's sorta like "healed", or "reformed" later on for all of this, by god knows how, because of plot-convienences, and mind-numbinlgly insulting "love and care can turn even a Satan into a good side"- type of thinking! Vegeta was a murderer, who never regretted anything, and never ever wanted to redeem himself, or felt any kind of remorse, but still, the Fandom wants to see him as this "tough guy with the heart of gold", and it disgusts me! Bulma is sane woman - not bearable by any means, but sane... although hybristophilic... gross! - and she has a working brain to think with, so... why should she ever even look at the monster, who has no appealing character traits, nor appealing contributes... outside of her questionable tendencies to tend to want to sleep with dangerous murderers?! Oh, I know! Because of the retarted plot, fan-beloved Vegeta needing some... whatever reason to stay on Earth, and because of Bulmas Florence Nightingale- effect/hybristophilia... among the other stupidity!

It's kinda like this Joker and Harlequin- scenario, where two loonies find each other, and are utterly horrible people together - another pairing, that I cnanot support as a "romantic ad healthy couple" - but, Bulma isn't a horrible person, per say, and she could've easily have much, much better... if she even truly ever needed a man in her life to beging with! This pairing was, of course made, so that Toriyama could have more saiyans on the board to overblow this overused super saiyan- gimick of his, and it could've worked fine, if Bulma was just as crazy, disgusting and insane like Vegeta is, but no! This just isn't working! People, who openly enjoy killing and murdering, with no remorse nor empathy, aren't just cured because of TLC and off-screen sex, but, those who still adore this couple, clearly aren't on the same mind-level, like me, to comprehend that!

It was fun time to mess around with the Rule 34, but it's time to wake up. Bulma and Vegeta are a pairing, because Toriyama needes - for some reason! - some more characters in his already overloaded cast! A pairing made purely to breed - nothing else! They never were, nor they're not meant to be a pair, let alone "in love", and they're sertainly not a pairing, that you should in any way admire. If you do... I feel sorry for you. I truly do.

Goku and Chi Chi is... well... strange, to say the least. So are Videl and Gohan. Chi Chi - the misogynist joke of a woman - just decided as a child to marry him, even though Goku - sadistic, selfish, ignorant asshole - is just as horrible as a person, like Vegeta is, and then, saga after saga, it's just lonely, bitter and empty live of a baby-making machine for her, while her husband is either dead, training, fighting, or training and fighting while being dead! And the saddest part is, that no one questions this, or atleast mentions this... ever! If I was in Chi Chis shoes, it would be about one time only, when Goku's not willing to return back home from the death to his wife and child, and after that, I would say "I'm done! Do not even bother to come back anymore!" But hey, where's all glamoured idealization in that? In the perfect, idealized world, a man can be just as stupid/selfish/immature/sadistic monster as he likes, because he's friends accept it and his family is going to blindly love him in either way, and even better, he can endanger his/his family's lifes for more than one occasions, be gone for more than seven years, simply because he wants to, and even then, he can - and will - be greeted and welcomed back with a smile and the open arms! In this world, even a monster like Vegeta can easily have a woman and a child with no so much more than a time-skip, and after that, he's being called a "good guy" for there on out! They do are much, much more tolerable, and much more plausible, than Bulma and Vegeta ever were, but still... overly-glamoured idealization is still all over the place! Videl and Gohan were just some rushded surprise-bump behind the corner, and not even very interesting bump to that! They're high school-sweethearts, and if I know anything about of how nicely that's gonna some day work out for them... well... there's enough of that in fanfiction's Piccohan-section, I assume.

Then, lastly, Krillin and 18. My fave. No, honestly, it is! I liked character of an 18, since she had the attitude, and the spunk. Krillin is just... nice. He's nice, I give him that. And, he seems to be pretty much the only one out of the cast, who doesn't treat women as objects, or who isn't too deep in that "I'm strong macho man, I need no women around me!"- gay-closet, that so many others in this macho-club seems to be stuffed in. AND, he atleast says, that he loves his woman, which is something that's almost never ever heard of, in the whole franchise! But, sadly, this pairing isn't without it's own idealization, either. When 18 was a single, she was awesome - her own person, indepented and strong. When Krilling fell for her, she became a plot-devise. When she became a mother and a wife, she became totally dispensable.

So, in a summary; Goku and Chi Chi was like 'friends with benefits', Vegeta and Bulma like the landlady, and murderous, disgusting tenant, who should have stayed dead on Namek, and should have burned to alive, repeatedly, for all I care! Krillin and 18 where the typical case of trophy wife, and a loser husband - insert the '18 as a baby machine'- joke here - and Gohan and Videl felt more like brother and sister to me... gross! Obviously, this show wasn't ment to have anything else but fighting and training, and just as well, romance doesn't fit into that mold. Idealization and retarted plot is truly needed, to pull some of these parinigs off, and as a woman myself, I can't say that I can approve any of this.


Enjoyment (1)
As I've already said time and time again, I really did hate this peace of turd. For the lowest common denominator, this indeed is the absolute best than can ever exist in the world of anime, but me... I already now much better works, than this one.

And let me say this, right here and now! Akira Toryjama is a interesting artist, but a terrible writer, and even worse stroyteller, and really should just stick with his poop jokes.

To me, this anime was like that shitpie, from The Help. You know? First, I was promised to have this delicious pie, that I thought had everything, that any great pie should have - the looks, the taste, and the overall enjoyment, of the... well, pie! So I took the spoonful, and said myself "Well, it's not good, but if I keep eating it, prehaps I get used to it!" So I did, and I kept eating and eating, and ultimately getting myself sick just by realizing, how much more I still had to go through! So I asked, what was this pie made of, and I was given a simple answer, "My shit!" So I vomited, and cried, and prayed for any God or Devil to come and take me away to death, so I woudn't hurt no more!

There's really no rhyme, nor reason, for why this anime got so many 10/10, in my humble, totally buttfucked opinion - smells like nostalgia-blinded fans, brown nosing all over the place! It's like seeing the fans of this series eating the same shitpie, while still enjoying themselves to the fullest, and you know that the pie is made of shit, but you can't say anything, or you'll get a sporke in your eye! It's sad, and it's pathetic, and it's really... really disgusting, and I feel so bad for them... for actually liking to eat someones shit! Shitpie, that's actually - and I'm not kidding - five times too long, compared to it's totally hollow substance! Any competent writer could have told a story as shallow and empty such as this, with 50 or so- episodes, with ease, and still leave some of that oh-so-beloved filler in!

Majority of people like mindlesness - not needing to think, or use their minds, when they can just find a easiest way possible to entertain themselves for a while, which mostly is explosions and violence. For that, and for that purpose alone, DBZ is indeed unparralleled. It's shallow and repetitive, and yet at the same time full of that mind-numbning violence and power-porno, that most of it's targeted demographic - the lowest common denominator - loves so much, thus somehow keeping it alive decades later... much like all those old fighting-games, with no plot but tons of blood and jiggly boobies! As much as I too would like to be lenient towards mindlesness, I really cannot find any real value, nor entertainment in it, that would satisfy me in any way.

I already listed some of my favourite anime-works on this review, and compared to those, DBZ boths seems, and feels like an empty husk, with decent colors, but no real substance, or triggers to keep my mind just as interested of what I'm seeing, like in FMA:B, or Madoka Magica. I want to be invested! I want to feel what I'm seeing in front of me, and think what I'm being subjected to - both bad, and the good! Not for once, did DBZ ever managed to come even close to that same level of quality that I demand from my entertainment, and so, it will forever be to me, the absolute worst anime, that I've ever seen. Period.

"But... but! DB and DBZ were the very first of their kind as a epic battle shounen series! They revolutionized both anime, and shonen for decades to come! They inspired many new writers and creators, who were all influensed by Toriyama, and DBZ! Therefore, DBZ is the best anime ever!"

Yeah, but there also was a person, who was the first one to clank to pieces of wood together, and thus created both the rhythm, and the melody - two crucially important elements of today's music, as we know it. Now, just because that same person was once the first, doesn't make him the best, in my books. Maybe in your's, but certainly, not in mine.

So, obviously, to me, this was a really painful to watch! The only reason, why I'm even giving the generous 1 out of 10 to this... anime, is beause it's the lowest rating, that I can give on this scale! I even refuse to be shocked, or even surprised, that this was even more succsesful, than the first DB series was, because apparently, when entertaining fans of violence and power-porno, the lowest of the low in the barrel of shitty entertainment, is like a barrel of gold to them! Anything goes, as long as it has mucles, explosions, and painfully/obviously virgin man-children - no girls allowed in our Big-boy- club of epic constipation!


Overall (1)
Despite what I was told for so many, many many times before my times of suffering, this turd has absolutely nothing to offer for me, or those, who expect a great deal from shows they deside to invest their time on, like deep stories, subpar writing and interesting characters. DBZ is popular, that I can admit, but popularity does not equal quality, and even though this anime is still being referred to as "the Grandfather of all anime", expecially shounen, that's not really something that I can call a praise, let alone achievement. Dragon Ball- franchise as a whole, left behind a terrible legacy, that sadly still goes on strong, relishing in shallow/incompetent and inconsistent writing, two-dimensional characterization, and overall laziness, for the amusement of the lowest common denominator.

For me, this anime took way too much, and offered nothing in return, despite all of my efforts to try to find something good out of it. Only some hot air, trapped inside some nice, yet stupid-looking balloon, that you just want to pop to see, if the air inside really stinks like a turd! No deep stories, no complex and multi-dimensional - or even likable - characters, no subtle, or believable development, and no philosophical, meaningful morals or thoughts to find from anywhere! Only a story so paper-thing that you can see right through it, disconnected, empty plot, truly disgusting/toxic relationships, and mind-level/writing skills that of a fanfiction. Maybe I was hoping for too much, but honestly, the show titled as "the best anime ever made" should've easily been able to deliver! And sadly, it didn't!

I wouldn't recommend this anime even as a punishment, for my worst enemy - even I can be merciful at times! - and if you really want to see, in a nutshell, what this anime has to offer in it's core, go to the youtube, and watch that whole fucking 4 1/2 hours long fight between carrotcake and that metrosexual, albino lizard, and then proceed to the TFS's by far better parodies... if your brain hasn't escaped yet!

Grown up watching this epic anime. Dragon Ball at first seem a cut-throat battle of the warriors from cosmos working desperately on their martial arts skills to prove their superiority. But deep in it, lies some of the most important lessons you can learn as a human. Main character Goku faces warriors like Raditz, Vegeta, Freeza, Cell, Buu etc. You can easily see the increasing ability of these opponents. Each time he faces an opponent stronger than any of his previous opponents. He doesn't get intimidated by this. Instead his incredible enthusiasm to fight with the best and pushing his limits in order to match ... the powerful opponent is remarkable.
And his top-notch skills doesn't make him arrogant and keep him reachable to his friends and family.

Vegeta couldn't get the fact that Goku despite being a low-class saiyan warrior, how could he surpass him. It teaches that no matter how much potential you have, you need to work hard to become the best. There are no such a thing like "low-class" or "high-class" warrior but just a strong will to work hard to become the best. It applies to humans like us too.

Vegeta at first seems a proud vain prince of the saiyans. His transformation from one of the ruthless villains to one of the heroes is extraordinary. But, what I admire most of him is one of his quality. He never give up on losing competition from his Kakarot. He thinks that he is the prince of the saiyans and getting the Super Saiyan status was his Birth-Right. But Goku surpassing him on every moment doesn't discourage him. Instead he has a strong will to surpass Kakarot one day to prove himself the strongest saiyan warrior. This teaches us as humans that no matterhow strong our competition is, we should work on our strengths to improve ourselves. Competition is healthy if it improves one's abilities. This quote by him portrays his strong will :-

"Fine, Kakarot, you are the mightiest Saiyan, I've admitted that much. At least for now. But don't you dare think that this is over. I won't let you keep me in second place forever, feeding on the scraps of your glory. I will surpass you, and even then I'll keep pushing, I'll surpass every single warrior in the Universe. I won't stop until I'm the ultimate number one. "

This shows the top-class competition to reach the top and respect for friendship. I wish I could have learn these qualities from Goku and Vegeta. Dragon Ball is simply one of the most motivational anime for me.

Story: The story to Dragon Ball Z is one that is original and Quite amazing. It starts off with Goku who's name is actually Kakarot, but Once he lands on the planet Earth he accidentally hits his head on a rock and Forgets all memory he once had of conquering Earth itself. He is then fathered by a martial artist named Gohan, Yes. His name is Gohan, the same name he decides to give to his son later on in the future. Goku is taught the same martial arts fighting style to protect the world from powerful enemies who want the earth for themselves and ... Goku stops at nothing to become the strongest within his own universe.

Art: The art style is a bit old in the beginning episodes, but The studio steps up to make the art and Animation that much better and I will say Dragon Ball Z has much better animation than some anime to this exact day and It's funny how that tends to work out. From the fast fighting animation to the beautiful spectrum's of color used in Dragon Ball Z I believe the art is great.

Sound: Who could forget the amazing intro and outros to Dragon Ball Z?!?!? " Dragon, Dragon, Rock the Dragon, Dragon Ball Z x2 " The awesome riffage and shredding that is used on the electric guitar for the intro is amazing! I also love the fact that Dragon Ball Z has used lots of American Rock/Metal bands to make the fights and The anime itself that much memorable. I love the sound within this anime!!!!

Character Development: Character development is obviously shown within this anime. From Vegeta surpassing his limits to Goku becoming the very thing he needs to be to save planet Namek, and So on and So fourth. I believe Dragon Ball Z has sokme of the best character development in anime history to this day and That is NOT a lie.

Enjoyment: I love love love this anime! I own all nine seasons on Blue-Ray/DVD and I also own all of GT ( Even though GT isn't canon and Is quite bad ) moving on.... I also own all the Broly movies and Honestly I am glad my uncle got me into Dragon Ball Z. Without him I would not be watching anime and I would most likely never be here in the first place. Thank you Uncle Rey and Joey!

Overall: Overall I highly HIGHLY recommend watching this anime, even though the pacing can be slow I doubt that should matter since why make the pacing super fast and over paced? Enjoy the anime and Take the time to develop a sense of understanding and passion for your anime. Don't rush everything into one day and Assume like you know everything. Ignore the haters and trolls who try to disregard Dragon Ball Z as the amazing anime it turns out to be. Cause most of them are just mad that Goku and The rest of the Z-Fighters are strong and Their favorite anime character is no where close to being as strong for the Dragon Ball Z universe.

I give Dragon Ball Z a 9 out of 10 stars and I will be doing more ratings on MAL, so please subscribe to my YouTube channel and I promise to create more content and Post more reviews. Thanks for checking out my reviews, Peace! \/