Dragon Ball Z

Dragonball Z; this was the show that I grew up with and continue to watch to this day. I plan to one day get all the DVD collections for all 9 seasons of this show. When I was a kid, this was the show that I had to watch everyday because I just loved it that much. One thing I never understood though is why this one came out before Dragonball, it didn't really make any sense. The manga clearly existed before Dragonball Z, so why didn't Dragonball come out before Dragonball Z? Well, I don't really have the answer and don't care because I ... really didn't enjoy Dragonball.

Dragonball Z was a classic and epic show and will always be one of my old childhood classics. The story while keeping the viewers engaged and was great overall, there were here and there a few things about certain parts of the story that really didn't make any sense and came right the hell out of nowhere, but overall; was a very well written story. The art work and animation; superb! The art and designs of the characters were great along with the designs of some of the cities and everything. The music, outstanding; it had some of the best music and sound that I had ever listen to, especially; that rock opening theme was just great. The characters were great too, especially; Vegeta, who I can say without boast, is my most favorite character of them all. I do like Goku too, but Vegeta will always rain supreme in my mind since he was such a badass.

Overall; everything about this show was just great. It's still one of my most favorites and I will not rest, until I've collected all the DVD collections so I can watch it over and over again.

I really enjoy this Anime, When i was a kid i watched this and i was really fascinated by it. I started getting into Manga and Anime because of DBZ, Me and my friend started playing DBZ: Burst Limit. I then went out and bought the first 3 seasons of the Funimation dub and i'm loving watching my favourite Anime of all time.

The plot is full of action but sometimes it drags somethings on for too long but even though it is annoying it makes you want to keep tuned in for more.

First: I like so much DBZ. Second: Let's do a review of the story! Review:
The arive of Raditz is great. That was the bigest surprise, when I knew that Kid Gohan has the 710 Ki! The Goku's death was a said moment... 9.0
The preparation for the Sayans arrive is good. The problem is the boring part when Goku was runing to King Kaїo... Boring. The training of Goku and Gohan was awesome and exiting! 8.5
The arrive of sayans was awesome! Great! Nappa won all of the team (Piccolo, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, Yamucha, Gohan) that was awesome, that's showed that the team is very weak. When ... Goku arrive- it was the greatest moment that I saw! The battle Goku VS Vegeta - exiting! 10.0
That was the Sayans saga, then let's review the Frieza saga:
The arrive on Namek - exiting! When Kuririn, Buruma and Gohan knew that's Vegeta is on Namek- very funny!10.0
Battle with Frieza's soldiers- boring, but then Kuririn and Gohan power-uped - exiting. 8.0
Then the battle with Frieza - f***ing awesome!!!!! The Piccolo and Goku's arrive - awesome! When Goku was in SSj - Frieza funny! 10.0
I didn't yet wacthed the Cell saga and the Buu saga, but I already know this is great!10.0,10.0
Story: 9+8.5+10+8+10+10+10=65.5:7=9.2
Art- bad. I understand that DBZ is very old, but: 4.5
Sound review:
Openings- great! 9.0
Endings-great! 9.0
Sound effects from the anime- outstanding! 10.0
10+9+9=28:3=9.1
Characters- they are the best! Review and proof:
Goku- very awesome and exiting hero! 10.0
Gohan-Nice! His problem it's he wants to be a scientist ! 9.5
Piccolo- Very nice too! 10.0
Kuririn- I don't like'm, but I like Kienzan. 8.0
Bulma- Hahaha! Comic heroine! 10.0
So, overall - 10.0!
For me it's the most enjoyable anime ever!10.0
Overall: 9+4+9+10+10=42:5=8.2, I disagree the overall, I'll do the overall = 10.0

The latter part of the dragaonball manga is Dragonball Z. This anime has such a strong following and it's easy to see why. This series set the bar for super-power/action/fighting anime, and even new viewers will have the super saiyan ability on the brain after watching this. Though it goes over the top later in the series, the message remains the same throughout. Honor, friendship, doing the right thing. These are elements that carry through many dragonball z wannabe series that follow.

Goku has a family now. His son gohan has potential that far exceeds his. but his mother doesn't want him fighting and brawling like ... his father. When their family's origins come to light as a new threat comes to their planet, soon it will take every great hero the planet has to protect them. Training through life and death with each new threat that comes, the entire universe opens to this family of saiyans. Throughout the series, Earth's protectors become guardians of the universe.

If you have never seen Z, then you should make some time to see where a lot of your favorites have most definitely gotten their inspiration from. The wonderful characters, slapstick comedy, and incredible fight scenes make this anime stand above most others. Even though it's an older series, it does hold up well over time. The audio is the only real problem if you want to talk quality.

Fanboy comments aside, Dragonball Z was rereleased later to shorten some of the dragged out mistakes. Watching the hero and villain take turns increasing their power can be a little tedious at parts of the story, but I like to count the amount of times they exchange that role. It's good for a laugh.

Don't let this amazing series escape your viewing pleasure.

Dragonball Z is probably the only show that when someone says the word "anime" I right away think of this show. The story line is phenomenal and highly enjoyable. Got to say not a really good show for young children 2-12years old, that is why DBZ Kai came about, but other than that for teens 13+ it is a boy/man dream come true.

Goku the most powerful saiyan in the universe fights all evil to protect the innocent. With help of his friends; Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Trunks, Piccolo, Vegeta, and his son Gohan will fight any evil to protect their home planet Earth.

Overall this ... show really made my childhood and I thank anime for that. 10/10

A good anime with a true plot of personal growth through values, you can really appreciate and never get heavy following this series. It is recommended by how you can empathize and perhaps change very little by little along with the main character. That's what I call feeling identified.I also want to add that for the simple fact of transcending time, it is already considered a masterpiece.Do you understand the genius of this? 3 generations and even 4! it is already a series that escapes us from the hands and with a lot of love we share it with the people closest to us; a ... friend, an acquaintance, your brothers.At heart I do not think that another series like Dragon Ball Z will be done again and that it will be so successful that it can transcend time for many generations.

The story of Dragon Ball Z could be announced as: the sequel of Goku's path toward a very simple dream of becoming stronger and fighting ever stronger folk - only now has a family, responsibilities, and can no longer face every threat with the ingenuity of a child. It really lacks the complexity of more recent material such as Naruto, One Piece and most currently successful shonen series. Why then is it still alive after so long? Perhaps is it precisely due to such simplicity, which makes the plot all the more engaging and original. Before you even realize it, you're eager to follow Goku's ... almost predictable development... After all, when you first met him he was but a little kid. Odds are you, too, were one back then.
This strangely engaging story is filled with good quality fights that really set the bar to the shonen genre, good art, character development that ranges from great to nonexistent (whereas some characters, like Piccolo, Gohan and Vegeta, undergo substantial changes throughout the series, others don't change at all) and clearly separated arcs with interesting plots and remarkable antagonists.

Dragon Ball and it's sequel have hardly aged a day. Both are must-see masterpieces, and thus they should remain.

Absolute MASTERPIECE 10 across the board. Without this revolutionary anime there not be many top animes that came after it. Way ahead of its time and influenced so much of the anime culture. Spread anime throughout the USA like bruce lee did with martial arts. Thank you for my childhood Goku and the rest of the earth's special forces.

It's not perfect, I know it. But Dragon Ball Z must be seen as a pioneer which has influenced most of the nekettsu and shonen works. It has some flaws, but it has given so much to the manga industry.
Still, Dragon Ball Z is a great anime. The story is rather good, the characters are enjoyable and charismatic. But its greatest quality is to be so much enjoyable. It gives you feels, and it never stops impressing you.
Moreover, it hasn't got really big flaws, and even works inspired by it are worse (Bleach, Naruto and Fairy Tail are sadly well-known examples).

In brief, Dragon Ball Z ... is a masterpiece, a monument. It does truly have a legacy.

This review is written as a long time fan of the franchise that watched Dragon Ball since the beginning. And considering it is a continuation of an existing franchise, it won't be possible for me to evaluate it based on its own.
I will use Japanese Terms mainly because I watched it mainly in Japanese. Whenever I know the English Terms, I will use them. Also American Dragon Ball Z is far more different than Dragon Ball Z in every other country which is another reason why this review is focusing on the Japanese version.

Story
Well, we are already in a territory that is up to interpretation ... and misconception. Most people view Dragon Ball as: Random Bad Guy appears, beats up everyone, protagonist gets a new power up, beats up enemy who tries to destroy the planet.

Sadly they aren't far off. But we will get to that. Dragon Ball was about Goku discovering how vast the world is and discover his passion for fighting.
Up to this point, Goku trained under various Martial Arts Masters, defeated an entire army as a kid, beat up a Demon King, surpassed GOD and became the strongest under the heaven.

So how would Dragon Ball Z break the boundaries of previous Dragon Ball? By introducing Aliens... I know, that sounds stupid. The story was about mythological akin to Journey to the West and suddenly we are fighting aliens?
This is one of the reasons some old Dragon Ball fans got alienated (pun intended).

However, Dragon Ball Z has an ace up their sleeves: Saiyans.
Saiyans are a race of aliens Goku belongs too. It works because up until now Goku was treated as an oddity in this world full of talking animals, demons, gods and shit with faces.
It also introduced enemies that seem to have good reasons to be stronger than God as they know about themselves better than Goku and thus about their power.
The Saiyans are a race of battle honed warriors that invade planets and sell them for profit. Back in the day, they valued members by their power. Weak ones are send to planets with no challenge as a baby even. Strong ones are treated like gods and get the best treatment. Right now there are just 4 remaining of the original full bloods including Goku.
The weakest and thus a low class Saiyan Raditz can take on Piccolo and Goku simultaneously and beat them almost effortlessly. They couldn't beat him without any casualty which is Goku's death.
Before his dead, Raditz would mention how there are 2 other Saiyans far stronger than himself that would come to defeat them.
For that the remaining fighters on earth would train their hardest while the Dragon Balls would eventually be used to revive Goku who trained under the God of the World King Kai.
King Kai, who trained Enma who judges who goes to heaven or hell, mentions that the Saiyans that come to earth even surpass him in power.
This was a good way to show that these new threats are on a completely different league from Gods and can even destroy planets (at least Vegeta).
We would eventually see that in action as Nappa, the weaker of the two, manage to survive 2 suicide moves by characters trained by God and killed Piccolo with just one attack. It raised the tension since with Piccolo's death nobody can be revived from the Dragon Balls... tho the arc also gave hints of another set of DBs so it doesn't mean too much.
Nappa would eventually be defeated and we would get the showdown between Goku and the Elite Warrior Vegeta.
Vegeta mentioned that Goku could never beat him simply because of their genetics. And even with training from Gods, the Kaioken and Genkidama aka Spirit Bomb, Goku was unable to beat Vegeta. Vegeta was a very talented fighter, knows to control the Oozaru and can use it without full moon.
It was a team effort of Gohan, Krillin, Yajirobe and Goku that managed to fend him off.

Sadly this was the best Dragon Ball Z had to offer. The Saiyan Saga in terms of storytelling and staying true to the original end here.
From here on we enter the Frieza Saga which is about Krillin, Gohan and Bulma flying to the Planet God was born in, Namek, and use their Dragon Balls to revive their comrades. On paper that sounds great. A space adventure is what we needed and the anime does flesh it out a little more. Sadly Namek is one of the most boring locations ever. It's just a glorified battle field. There are 3 suns so the author has never to draw nighttime unless the Dragon appears. The anime filler tries to flesh it out a bit, but considering how dragged out this arc is it just made it worse.
Frieza and his army for which Vegeta worked for invaded the planet to get the Dragon Balls for themselves. Frieza is an imposing villain. A one dimensional evil bad guy with no explaination given to make us understand why he is how he is. He destroyed the Saiyan homeworld, Planet Vegeta. King Kai shit his pants. He has various forms each exponentially increasing his power. Non of his underlings dare to oppose him.
And Vegeta himself would arrive also for the hunt. Thus there is a conflict between 3 groups trying to first get the Dragon Balls. The Dragon Team, Vegeta and Frieza's army.
Frieza's army despite their number would be at a disadvantage without their radar, but their number and strength make them terrifying. Vegeta can sense power and uses his ability to alter his ki to hide. Slowly gathering the balls.
The Dragon Team are the weakest but they have a Radar to guarantee they find what they are looking for.
The Dragon Team and Vegeta would team up to increase their chances for success and only manage to bring Piccolo back before the Dragon disappears.
They had no choice to fight Frieza. One of the longest fights.

The Namek Saga would not be the originator of what we know as power creep but this is where it escalates. And probably where some old fans of Dragon Ball just gave up.
Saiyans get stronger as they fight and gain other passive power ups by almost drying and being revived. This devalues Goku's past accomplishment since just losing makes him stronger as he survives. Thus making training trivial.
Piccolo who had been outclassed by now gets a free exponential power up by fusing with another Namekian. This puts him about Second Form Frieza level who was already more than twice as strong as Vegeta in his Oozaru form on earth in his First Form.
Needless to say, many characters people loved in the past would get obsolete. There can't be any logical reason that someone like Tien or Yamcha could fight someone on Frieza's tier regardless how much they train. At least logically they shouldn't.
Goku would eventually come to terms with his Saiyan heritage in this arc somewhat and that was needed to beat Frieza. All his moves, strategy and experience were useless against Frieza. The bond of friendship and unity the Genkidama failed. It was Goku giving in his anger and fighting thirst that allowed him to reach Super Saiyan. A form teased throughout the arc and the reason Frieza was scared of them in the first place.

Now, with surpassing Gods and beating what was considered the strongest being in the Universe. There is no way you can go on, right? Nope. Remember the army Goku defeated when he was like 12? There is that one old dude who collected data up to the Saiyan Saga and created Artificial Human, Cyborgs or Androids that can be on par or even surpass a Super Saiyan.
It is when power creep makes no sense. Suddenly the form that appears once per 1000 years and hard to archive form is obtained by all the surviving Super Saiyan. All non-Saiyan became irrelevant, including Piccolo who got 1 more power up that put him temporary above the Saiyans.
Cell would appear and explain his entire plan about absorbing everyone to get stronger. Cell is one of the characters excused for his strength with being a patch work of the, at the time, strongest fighters and their techniques. But Cell also brought other repeating things to the story.
- fights have the same structure. Its always one sided until someone else gets a power up and then turns the tables. There are very few even fights and most aren't memorable despite the impressive choreography.
- power creep: the power jumps are too high. Zenkais, Super Saiyan forms and Cell's new forms keep increasing the power tier exponentially. A dominating fighter's punch would stop facing the opponent once he would transform once.
- Enemies would start absorbing to get stronger, regenerate or learn moves just looking. Thus each new enemy would usually make previous enemies forgettable.

The only highlight was Goku passing the torch as the main character to Gohan and giving us a good finale. Sadly the final arc would ruin it.

I skipped the Garlic Jr arc since it doesn't do much and is confusing if you didn't watch the Garlic Jr Movie. An arc that requires you to watch a movie at a certain point is not really a good way to make a story arc. There is also the Otherworld Tournament. It's just a fun tournament where the winner would get trained by the Grand Kai, the boss of King Kai.
Goku would have to fight many legendary fighters like him who died protecting their planet.
If you like OG Dragon Ball Tournaments, you may enjoy this one too.

The final arc is what many people think about Dragon Ball Z. Random bad guy appears, awakens some pink demon who wants to destroy the world, characters get power ups that mean nothing because the villain transforms too and at the end they combine everything to beat the bad guy.
The Boo Saga is a terrible way to end Dragon Ball Z which is why it left many fans dissatisfied. Any prior arc had a great way to conclude it, but an arc that didn't even matter and felt out of place was the finale.
Gohan and Videl who were introduced as the main characters of that arc were shafted by their dads and Vegeta. Yes, Mr Satan a comic relief character shafted Gohan and Videl who had the most potential in this arc.

I don't like to talk about art. But Dragon Ball is visually pleasing. But the art quality doesn't speak much about the action. Since even badly animated shows can have engaging fights and sometimes are better. OG Dragon Balls fans will be disappointed by the lack of martial art style fights. The show ended up with characters yelling, randomly punching each other and fight like its a video game. Power creep made fights so one sided, that strategy, speed and smarts mean jack shit. Unless you are even in power. So someone like Roshi could never beat Puipui. Not even with the Mafuba (ehem, Dragon Ball Super...).
But in terms of spectacle and iconic moments Dragon Ball Z scores high here.

Sound is also not something I care much about. Music is used fine I guess and makes fights enjoyable. I think many anime have really good soundtrack enough to not feel it being significant. Opening of Z is great. Chala Head Chala is one of the best Dragon Ball openings next to Dan Dan from Dragon Ball GT. The Final Opening is meh and also false advertisement.

Characters
Goku is now a pretty serious guy. Finally a father of two children. He was becoming more human in OG Dragon Ball by sparing lives. In Z he would be confronted with his sudden origin, having a brother opposite to him and having to accept what he is. That would eventually give him the means to obtain the power no normal Saiyan could archive: Super Saiyan.
After his character arc was over, he would just show to be a character that calls the shots. Do most decision making on how to handle threats. Put the things he learned from his masters to good use to train his son and Master Super Saiyan before obtaining levels far above.
While he does do stupid decisions, they were always with good intend... unlike...

Vegeta... It's the series where he gets introduced. Vegeta would go through several character arcs. He is shown to be confident and in control in the Saiyan Saga. The Frieza Saga he is the opposite where he lurks around looking for opportunity to get what he wants. While being confident, his control because of the lower power level compared to Frieza and his elites clash here.
In the Cell Saga after obtaining the Super Saiyan form the power went over his head. His interactions with his son also gave him some interesting character development. While Vegeta was unbearable, that character arc indeed made him what people like about Vegeta. Lastly while the Boo Saga was a train wreak, he was one of the highlights. He had an idendity crisis and later sacrificed his life to stop Boo. He would eventually be brought back for one day to get a second chance where he would find out his sacrifice meant nothing. It was nice how he was willing to permanently fuse with Goku if it meant to defeat a great threat (which Super ruined...).
At the end, Vegeta would reflect and accept that Goku is indeed better than him bringing his character full circle (until Dragon Ball Super came and ruined it OR Toriyama if you read the inferior manga).

Piccolo went from the Demon King we knew and loved to Gohan's mentor. Originally intended to be a mean to stop the Saiyans, Piccolo would also grow an attachment to Gohan and sacrifice his life to protect him. It felt natural that he would want to fight Frieza later on and while he felt like an afterthought who was just there to get a fight aka filler, it was neat to see.
In the Cell Saga Piccolo would get just one more character moment where he finally decides to become one with God. After that he would be completely irrelevant. He would mentor Goten and Trunks for the Fusion Dance, but most of the Boo Saga was Piccolo just being comic relief.

Krillin was just there the entire series. He did help a few times but rarely managed to do anything relevant after the Saiyan Saga. He showed courage and got a wife.

The other Z fighters from OG Dragon Ball were just an afterthought too. Power creep made Chaotzu, Yajirobe, Tien and Yamcha completely irrelevant. Tien only showed guts by holding back Cell. He would always appear and do Kikoho then disappear from the plot.
Yamcha became a running joke just from his lost against Saiyamen. And Chaotzu nobody remmebers. Yajirobe managed to help against Vegeta, but disapeared after that.

Bulma is pretty much comic relief. All female characters in the Dragon Ball franchise are violent, aggressive and bossy, only existing for comic relief including Android 18. Toriyama can only write that kind of character and they don't add anything to the plot. Bulma in the original was actually moving the plot and did shit.
In Z she just flies to Namek and complains. The only redeeming factor is her relationship with Vegeta sprouting in the Cell arc. Something Kai and the manga failed to do. She is moreso a plot device since she is an inventor. But she doesn't have the presents other inventors in anime have with plot continuaty have and besides the Dragon Radar most are pointless. I honestly believe her father did more shit and he is just a side character. He build a spaceship that even Goku can use and he turned it into a training room. He also helped making Android 16 functionable.

Gohan is pretty much a secondary main lead... at least intended to be. As Goku's son and being a half Saiyan, he was introduced as a character with very high potential and means to stop the Saiyans. He gets random rage boosts that allow him temporary to get an advantage over stronger opponents. But it is done in a way he doesn't feel like a gary stu since he lacks experience and the power up doesn't manage to shift the tiles in battle.
Eventually Goku would train him proper and he would be the first to get Super Saiyan 2 defeating Cell. That moment finally being able to use his full power properly and him growing up to become independent is what made many like Gohan.
Sadly by the time of the Boo Saga he would be nerved and get another plot induced power up that end up doing nothing. Toriyama must have given up on him being unable to write anything different that a character like Goku. A complete waste for those who got invested.

Frieza is one of the most beloved anime villains. Despite being one dimensional evil bad guy, the way he represents himself made him beloved. Just on his introduction without him doing anything he made everyone shit their pants. He could kill almost anyone with the move of his finger and even the last villain that survived a massive ass whooping didn't even consider challenging him head on.
Frieza managed to survive the strongest moves and defeated the mightiest fighters with ease. Even the gods were scared off him. And as the killer of the Saiyans, the viewers really wanted Goku to be the one defeating him.
Frieza was also a good villain to push Goku far above his own morals and force him to obtain Super Saiyan at the end. Sadly he would eventually be ruined in the next arc and other media, but in the Frieza Saga he is the villain many love to hate.

Besides Cell the Androids are awful antagonist. Overpowered for no good reason and they are pretty forgettable. Tho many remember 18 because she humiliated Vegeta, but after that and being a female character she would end up like a house wife and retire from fighting. Even in the Cell arc she was just a damsel in distress, completely useless. She had only 1 good moment and that's it.
Android 16 only existed as a plot device for Gohan to get serious.

Cell started off as a mysterious antagonist who would then just infodumb everything. He was interesting as he is a patchwork of other fighters. Using the knowledge of others to his advantage and their moves. Eventually he would absorb 17 and become one of the ugliest beings ever. And all we remember of that form is him getting his ass kicked by Vegeta to the point Vegeta had to suggest to absorb 18. After absorbing 18 Cell lost everything that made him special. There was no motivation left for him since he reached his life goal and all he could do is test his new power.
Sadly we need a villain that is worth killing, so Cell threatened to destroy earth if nobody fights him. He would eventually act like Vegeta and Frieza, about to destroy the planet when packed to a corner.

Mr Satan started off as a boring comic relief character with a one not joke. In the Boo Saga his character arc with Boo is what made him actually funny. And he would come in clutch defeating Boo at the end.

Fat Boo aka Majin Boo aka. Mr Boo started off as a mindless monster with a child's innocent. He liked killing and eating people. After meeting Mr Satan, he would start to respect others' lives and other good things. But since we need a badguy to beat, his body would span an evil side who absorbs him and becomes the new villain.

Super Boo who is also just referred as Majin Boo is basically a parody of Cell. Like Cell and Fat Boo he can regenerate. He basically has all of Boo's abilities. Can also absorb others to gain their skills, knowledge etc.
He rather feels like a filler opponent since all fights against him lead to nowhere. Eventually after the fat Boo gets freed he turns into a small Majin Boo who is just a random psychopath and becomes stronger. Because absorbing Kaioshin makes him weaker.

Goten, Kid Trunks and Gotenks are basically filler character. They only parody the accomplishment of their dads and otherwise don't add anything to the plot. You can take them out of the plot and miss nothing of importance.

Closing words
Dragon Ball Z is a spectacle to watch but it can get really repetitive if you watched other fighting shonen. Most characters have the same skills and fighting style. There is no martial arts and strategy doesn't matter.
The power jumps are illogical compared to previous Dragon Ball and can "alienate" old fans. It seems like stuff gets retconned or randomly pulled out of Toriyama's ass like Dabura being stronger than Cell for some reason and Puipui being 1000 stronger than Frieza because the Kaioshin shit his pants. Beloved old characters have been almost rendered useless and it became the Saiyan show. Every arc since the Frieza Saga needs a new Super Saiyan or a power surpassing it like Fusion and potential unlocked.
The story arcs get progressively worse and several characters get shafted like Gotenks, Piccolo and Gohan. Not to mention nobody remembering the Mafuba in an arc around a demon that can only be stopped if somebody seals him away.
And for the love of god, don't watch any Dragon Ball expecting a well-written female character.

Regardless the highlights are great and the action is similar to fastfood. But most fights don't have too much rewatch value or won't be remembered like in other shows with less detailed choreography.

Dragon Ball Z" follows the adventures of Goku who, along with the Z Warriors, defends the Earth against evil. The action adventures are entertaining and reinforce the concept of good versus evil. "Dragon Ball Z" teaches valuable character virtues such as teamwork, loyalty, and trustworthiness. This T.V Series is great to watch their is either the abriged version or the longer version which has more side adventures on the way. This is a great show and has shaped my childhood i highly reccommend you to watch it and there will be more discussions on dragon ball in general on my discord server so make sure ... you join
link to discord server: https://discord.gg/BZZFphh

Honestly, creating a review without bias on your favorite anime is quite challenging, and gushing about the anime must be exchanged with cold-hard objectivity. For me, this anime is Dragon Ball Z (DBZ), the most popular anime in the west. Unlike most watchers of DBZ, my beginning with Dragon Ball Z was not on Toonami or though Kai, but through my younger brother pestering me to watch it years after release. Starting with the dub of Dragon Ball, then the 2003 remastered dub of Z, I have rewatched the series in every form numerous times since, with my personal recommendation going to the original Japanese ... release. Without further ado, the critique/praise begins!

Story: 9/10

Dragon Ball Z is known for its influence over future shounen and its fights for better or for worse, and while this is notable, it does not play a part in this review. As an individual narrative, Dragon Ball Z is one of the most compelling anime in existence, through its main themes of overcoming impossible odds and perseverance to maintain peace, among many others. Every saga is strong in its own right, with a clear connection between sagas past a timeline of events being evident. For example, the set-up of the Saiyan Saga into the Freeza Saga and the established events and characters foreshadowing Freeza and the upcoming transformations are extremely well done. The limit-breaking and perseverance established in each saga is well-placed and the power scaling and limits are also well-placed, creating a dynamic and tense atmosphere with every fight. There are some flaws in the generous use of transformations, especially in the Buu Saga, but overall, it all makes sense within its bounds. In addition, Dragon Ball Z is touted as a predictable show by many, and while this is somewhat true, this is mainly due to its popularity. As a standalone anime, Dragon Ball Z stays unpredictable in numerous ways if one is not already spoiled on the plot. Expect all sorts of emotions when watching DBZ, from the sadness of loss, to the tension of battle. The role the Dragon Balls play in Z is not quite as apparent as the predecessor, but the importance of them when driving the plot still is retained. To note the Dragon Balls in relation to the show’s tensions, without stating any specifics, there are many times where the Dragon Balls themselves are not a get-out-of-jail free card. The threat of death matters in DBZ for this very reason, as it cannot and it is not always just wished away. There are too many good fights to talk about. Overall, expect an extremely strong and tense narrative full of action and suspense.

Art: 7/10

Oh Toei Animation, why must you disappoint us? The art and animation of DBZ are most definitely the show’s biggest flaw, but do not let this discount the many well animated scenes, backed by Akira Toriyama’s near-flawless fight choreography and character designs. Every design enriches the world, with threats like Freeza looking sleek and ruthless, while threats like Cell match their design to their motivation and personality. The protagonists also have iconic designs, with transformation and power-up sequences staying marvelous in the anime’s animation. The backgrounds also create a great setting, with unique designs like Namek and rugged designs of Earth’s canyons, you will not be disappointed here. However, the flaws of DBZ’s art are seen in at least a dozen episodes, with a few important moments being littered with poor art. Hell, one of the animators is so notorious for blocky designs in the 5 or so episodes he did, that he is dubbed the “triangle guy.” The animation is more consistent than the art though, with the animation staying fairly solid throughout the whole series. Even this has its flaws, with consistent repeated key-frames and drawn out dust sequences staying ever apparent. However, the peaks of the art of DBZ outweigh the pits, with most important scenes being extremely well drawn, like saga ending fights, among many other scenes.

Sound: 10/10

There is much contention of which release of Dragon Ball Z has the best sound direction, with debate between the Kikuchi and Faulconer scores and the voice acting staying ever apparent. In my opinion, watching the show in Japanese stays the most faithful to the source material, and conveys the most emotion and suspense. To briefly touch on the American version, the original dub is quite shoddy at first, but it improves quite a bit in the Cell and Buu sagas. The skill of Sabat and Nadolny as voice actors is quite apparent in the way they portray the cast. Some lines are still very corny and the delivery can be down-right strange, but overall the original dub has its merits. (7/10) The 2003 remastered version improves a little bit, especially on the Saiyan and Freeza sagas, but it is mostly the same plus the change in music. (8/10) The American soundtrack, the Faulconer score, does truly have some memorable and awesome OST, with classics like Hell’s Bells and Devastation setting a truly awesome scene. However, the flaw in it is that it just never shuts up. The average tracks are constantly played in scenes where silence is begging to exist, and it truly detracts from the potential of the OST. (6/10) Finally, the best version of the show, the original Japanese release. The portrayal of every character is masterfully done here, from the refined speech yet quivering anger in Nakao’s Freeza, to the regal tone of Horikawa’s Vegeta, everything here matches the characters perfectly. The lines are full of emotion, with anger and despair coming through clear as day past the language barrier. In addition, Kikuchi’s OST is full of memorable BGM’s, like the Genkidama theme. These are also used conservatively, with soundtracks in places of suspense or action, and silence where characters are bantering or a break in the action. And Nozawa’s Goku voice will wear on you, trust me. (10/10) However, every version has its ups and downs, so watch whichever release you want.

Character: 10/10

This is where DBZ truly shines, and there is too much to say here, so I’ll try and tone it down. The narrative of DBZ truly lies in the character of Goku and the way he affects and changes the world and characters around him. Goku himself is seen as a child learning the world around him in Dragon Ball, and in Dragon Ball Z, his mature (yes, make no mistake, Goku is no idiot) character is seen developing as a family man and a warrior. The cast around Goku is just as compelling as our main character, with recurring characters like Piccolo, Tien, Krillin, and Yamcha coming to grips with the universal scale of DBZ. Each character here is given excellent motivation and development, with Piccolo being the most notable. In addition, characters like Gohan and Future Trunks are well-welcome additions to Dragon Ball Z, with Gohan’s place in the world of DBZ as one of a child facing all odds, and Future Trunks being the only warrior left in his time. The antagonists of DBZ are all unique and work extremely well within the universe. Vegeta is the haughty and vicious prince of the Saiyans, who finds competition in Goku quite early on, which develops into one of the best character relationships in anime history. The other three main villains, Freeza, Cell, and Buu, are all quite compelling and terrifying in their own right. Freeza’s narcissism as a ruler, Cell’s distinct terror, and Buu’s destructive nature all create a sense of terror in the viewer, something which not many other anime match. Through having to overcome the odds the antagonists pose, the protagonists find they have to persevere in any way possible, which affects some character motivations. Every character in Dragon Ball Z is likeable in their own right, and the writing of each character interaction is masterfully done.

Enjoyment: 8/10

So, with all of this listed, it should be expected that I enjoyed Dragon Ball Z quite a lot. While it is true that my enjoyment of the series would be a 10 if I consider the peaks and key scenes, which I can watch at anytime. However, when sitting down and watching Dragon Ball Z, there is one notable flaw. The mid-episode filler. To match the manga, Toei Animation had to slow down episodes with dragged out waiting and character panning which mostly does not need to exist. For full filler episodes, this is ok as they can just be skipped, but mid-episode filler is only a detriment to the viewer. It can be argued that the waiting enhances tension, but when rewatching the show, it just gets annoying to sit through. The worst offender of this “waiting” comes with the addition of filler scenes during major fights. Why do we have to sit through Baba’s crystal ball scenes or Mr. Satan’s lackeys talking while a fight that determines Earth’s fate is happening? It just makes no logical sense why the filler is placed in these tense scenes, and it really detracts from something I personally love. Past this though, the show is perfectly able to be called a 10 enjoyment-wise. Even DBZ Kai has some problems here with the previously stated scenes and some waiting, but it improves a little upon this. For a first viewing though, Dragon Ball Z is one of the most enjoyable anime ever, and you will be thinking about this show all the time after watching it.

Overall: 9/10

As one of the first anime I watched, Dragon Ball Z was truly formative to how I viewed character interactions and plots in other anime. Through rewatching the show in clip-form, and reading the manga, I can say that Dragon Ball as a whole is enjoyable by anybody, given the right viewing medium. This is one anime that deserves its popularity, and it perfectly holds up and even surpasses most anime today, despite having select scenes with outdated art. The way Dragon Ball Z builds a world with tension and suspense, while keeping the charm of the original Dragon Ball, is done masterfully. As long as shounen exists, Dragon Ball Z will continue to stand the test of time as one of the greats of the genre.

We're talking about dragon ball here, the father of all anime, the daddy of fighting and shounen anime across all the board, the anime that was one of the first that had adventure and story and combat all in one, and single handedly destroyed the faceless op hero trend in the 80's as well as killing the fist of the north star's career. The characters are rich, the story is unique unlike any other, the sound revolutionized all of sound in anime, the art is well... amazing, simply put.
i could write an essay about every single character in this entire anime

over all, this anime is ... fucking lit and its impossible to cover it all up in one review, so if you havent watched this or the original db PLEASE give it a try

dragon ball is the best anime i have watched and one of my first.The story is incredible ranging from fighting some emotional moments and bad ass characters and ki blast.the art is beautiful the animates at toei knew what they were doing,The sounds are super good and i think that most of the attacks are some of the most recognizable sounds ever or in anime history.the characters are great ranging from Goku the idiot that some how gets stronger vegita the cocky bad ass that has the best comebacks and strive to be stronger than goku. i was enjoyed by this show because of its ... exciting fight scenes and how great the characters and villains are and the dub is not crappy.

I will say right away: I did not watch this legendary series as a child. So I'm writing this review without any nostalgia.


Honestly, I really do not understand those who say that this series is overrated. I really don't understand. I REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND!
From what I've seen, this show is OBJECTIVELY the best in the world in every way. Better than One Piece, which is truly overrated. Better than Fullmetal Alchemist. Better is Hunter X Hunter, which is also truly overrated. Etc.


There is absolutely everything here:

Cool futuristic world with parallel worlds. Although not detailed, but it is not necessary.
...
Charismatic and brutal characters that develop. By the way, it infuriates me when someone says that secondary characters recede into the background. In fact, there is a dual situation here. In order for, for example, Yamcha and Chaotsu to be able to actively participate in the plot (the Buu arc), they must become at the level of Super Saiyan 2 power, no less. But they cannot achieve such strength by any training. NO WAY! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! And this is the logic of the series. So complaining about the alleged "clogging of characters" is stupid. In the case of this anime, this is not a minus.

Rich arches and history. The series consists of 4 sagas: Saiyans, Frieza, Cell and Majin Buu (the last 4 episodes do not count), which raise the stakes. Just compare 1 episode and 287. In just 287 episodes, absolutely everything has changed, be it the characters or the world. It's very impressive.
Of course there are crazy ideas. For example: some senile grandfather invented androids that are stronger than the Frieza race. This is a fact - this is nonsense. BUT, I just liked this nonsense. I remember how shocked I was when I found out that androids are stronger than Frieza. It was not even just a shock, but a huge impression of what was happening.

The fights are fantastic! Here I can say with confidence - the best fighting anime. No One-Punch Man can beat the DBZ. Never and at no time!
They are stretched, but that's exactly what I liked. The feeling of tension... I just love it.

The music is also the best I've heard from any anime. One Genkidama Theme (Goodbye Majin Buu) (by the way, I consider it the best composition of all time) tears apart all modern songs. I'm already silent about other soundtracks.

As for the art style. I don't know whether to rejoice or cry, but the art of DBZ completely surpasses DBS. Even though it's been 20 years. I just don't really like fashion for everything colored and bright. I really, I repeat, really like the art style of Buu saga. He is amazing! The best I've seen. I really hope that DBS season 2 will be in it. I hope Toei heard me.

Pleasure. Suffice it to say that I watched all 291 episodes in 6 days. Believe it or not, but it's true. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. When I hear from someone that DBZ is boring, then this person immediately gets on my black list without any questions.


Of course, it may seem that my review is too exaggerated, but this would only be if the DBZ was really objectively bad, otherwise it is the best in all respects.


DBZ is the best season in the franchise and the best show ever. Emotions while watching were beyond. Cried more than once.
And the magic of this show is that it will make you fall in love with the world and the characters. Something other anime can't do.


I really doubt that something can please me as well as this anime. I would say that it is simply unrealistic.
And don't pay attention to the rating (8.15). He's understated. It really should be at least 9.90 here.


In conclusion, I will say that I will review this show more than once, because its only drawback is that there are catastrophically few episodes. 291... Very sorry. I would like to have 1000000 of them.

A continueation of Dragonball. When I first watched it I was skeptical, I didn't have much faith in sequals back then. But after the first few episodes I was captivated. Whenever it came on, I would be glued to my screen, not blinking until it was over.

I'm not going to tell you that their is a amzing plot, or that the characters under go an amazing change. The plot can be written by a three year old, and the most change anyone goes through is getting a hair cut. The one, and only, thing great about this show was the action and action alone.

When you ... watch the fights in this show, it get's you so pumped up! Like your primal insticts are being ripped out of you and the only thing you want to do is beat the crud out of something! If you enjoy that feeling, then this is the anime for you.

Ok heres my review for a little somethin called Dragonball Z.

Really the plot is just horrible. Heres the plot: These guys wanna randomly want to destroy the planet cause they feel like it. then these other guys feel like fighting them cause there "super powerful"
really that IS IT. Its the plot for the 4 main arks and all the filler.
I am not over exaggerating at all, i dont hate DBZ at all. I just think generically not great.

Then somehow the creator feels like making someone die then come back. It happens like all the time. Then they feel like making about 4 forms for ... each character that make them "stronger". Then each character will moan and yell for about half the episode for no reason or in there head its because they feel like "powering up".

Geh, the art couldve been better. I gave it a could because its pretty old, and you have to think about it at the time period.
The sound is the same as the art.

Character wasnt bad, but they all almost had the same personality. I didnt find a character that stood out or was different. It has characters who feel like being good and characters who feel like being bad and characters who have no point. There isnt reason or depth behind them at all, nor is there reasoning behind their powers.

Seriously i wouldnt spend your time watching this anime. If you really want to watch a generic action anime go watch bleach and naruto. At least its not moan, fight, boom, yell, fight, fight, come back to life, third form, fourth form, fight, fight. Then if you want to watch an anime that is action, to bad cause all of either arent great without any depth or youll find it being mixed with about 2 or more other genres.

the entire dragonballz series is better than any new cartoon out there and the reason is that is because the show is great, the soundsare good, and it should be in the top 10.

The Story it about a boy name goku is one of the greatest races in the universe and doesn't relize it.His planet send him to planet earth as a child to detroy the planet but goku hits his head and forgets about his mission, after 10 years the sayains come after him to make him evil again.When they get their goku had already made a family and had a son and choose to defend the planet, goku and his friend band together to protect what they hold dear to them most.I recommend watching it in English but thats just me.

Dragonball Z is probably one of my more memorable anime titles that I got into when I was younger. It was flashy, had colorful, vibrant characters, and at the time, a fairly epic story. But, it also had it's fair share of problems. Let's begin.
STORY: DBZ starts out early with a really easy story that doesn't take a lot to get into. The heroes have a year to prepare for powerful warriors called saiyans on there way to earth to wish for immortality, which proceeds in a really cool, unforgettable clash between Goku and Vegeta. From there, the story gets even better as it ... briefly gives fans a throwback to fun adventures in Dragonball with a quest to Namek, introducing a new array of villians like Frieza and my personal favorites, the Ginyu Force. This is where I think Dragonball Z reaches it's apex in story, and none of the other story arcs ever reach the importance or the drama that the first two sagas captured.
Take for instace the Androids. They're introduced by Trunks in such a grim matter of urgency you almost can't wait to see how they struggle with this new threat to the earth. But the androids themselves are immediately dropped in favor of Cell as the new threat, and most of his story is just filler and the characters standing around doing nothing. Although his battle with Goku was good, it didn't last very long and ultimately lead to an anticlimactic finale. Things started to look up at the beginning of the Buu saga. Gohan is the earth's new hero, and introduces new characters Videl, Goten, and the Kais, but this story arc is way too long and might lose steam before the action picks back up, and people might lose interest. And then the show doesn't really end, it just kind of stops.
ART: The art is very endearing in a manner that only Akira Toriyama can bring. All the fighters look different in their unique way, from Tien's third eye, to the Namek Piccolo. The fight scenes are fun at first, but instantly get very repetitive, sometimes the same attack animations are used in the same fight, just slightly sped up a bit. You'll see what I mean when you watch Goku vs android 19. Ditto with the energy attacks. It starts out fresh, but there is little variation beyond a Kamehameha or Special Beam Cannon.
As the series progresses, the character designs become insanely detailed and much more crisp, but my biggest peeve with the art is the background. It never changes and it seems like ALL the fights take place in the same desolate rock field. There aren't any night battles either, or battle that take place in a city for variety. The super saiyan transformations are all incredible and is where the shading really stands out the most.
SOUND: The is great in it's original format, but watching the new remastered dub gives this anime one of the best english dubs I've ever listened to. The American soundtrack by Bruce Faulconer has memorable tunes like character themes, dramatic battle climaxes, and great guitar riffs. Funimations work on this product was so great, you wouldn't believe this show was made alomst 20 years ago.
CHARACTER: The characters kind of stand out at first, but there's very little character development DBZ. The only original personality is Gohan, and it's a blast watching him grow up in front of your eyes from a pampered 5 year old to one of the strongest warriors with a messed up sense of humor. And Piccolo's transformation from Goku's evil rival to a good natured mentor makes him easily the best character in the show. Sadly it's kind of downhill from there. All of the recurring cast members from Dragonball (except Launch) are back and aren't really any different. Goku is still the same innocent, childish guy, Bulma is still shrill and annoying, Krillin is basically a second banana early on, but is no longer a major player in the series. Tienshinhan, Yamcha, and Chaozu are practically ignored, and the rest are lame comic relief for the most part. The villans start off fresh, as mentioned before, but begin to lack originallity. Even Buu begins to use other peoples techniques, which is annoying, because the villian before him, Cell, did the same thing. And then there's the overrated Prince of Babies himself, Vegeta. I never understood what people liked so much about him. Is he supposed to be a bad-ass? This guy to me is the worst aspect of all of DBZ for an infinite amount of reasons. He's grating, he cries about Kakarot all the time because he lost a fight, which is stupid because aren't the saiyans supposed to look for a good fight? Then this guy loses in a good fight and whines about it for ten years??!!! Get a life!!! I could go on forever about him alone.
ENJOYMENT: This is a very easy show to get sucked into, and the first two atory arcs are infinitely fun to watch, but later on it drags a little bit, and loses a lot of story telling in favor of training. When the characters reach a new pinnacle of power, the concept of techniques and looking to eploit an opponent's weakness fades away in favor of just turning into smash battle all the time, which gets stale. After the Frieza saga, the best part of the show is The Saiyaman saga and everyone reuniting after seven years. It's kind of heart-warming after watching the show for so long to see everyone briefly together. Some of the filler before the Cell games is pretty decent, but pointless.
OVERALL: I give this show a 7 out of ten. It's not as good as the original mostly because it's too long, but it is definately a shonen classic with decent rewatch value.