Dragon Ball Z

Five years after winning the World Martial Arts tournament, Gokuu is now living a peaceful life with his wife and son. This changes, however, with the arrival of a mysterious enemy named Raditz who presents himself as Gokuu's long-lost brother. He reveals that Gokuu is a descendant of the once powerful but now virtually extinct Saiyan race, whose homeworld was annihilated. When he was sent to Earth as a baby, Gokuu's sole purpose was to conquer and destroy the planet; but after suffering amnesia from a head injury, his violent and savage nature changed, and instead was raised as a kind and well-mannered boy, now fighting to protect others.

With his failed attempt at forcibly recruiting Gokuu as an ally, Raditz warns Gokuu's friends of a new threat that's rapidly approaching Earth—one that could plunge Earth into an intergalactic conflict and cause the heavens themselves to shake. A war will soon be fought over the seven mystical Dragon Balls, magic objects that can grant any wish. Only the strongest will survive.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Son, Gokuu Main

Nozawa, Masako Japanese

Vegeta Main

Horikawa, Ryo Japanese

Son, Gohan Main

Nozawa, Masako Japanese

Piccolo Main

Furukawa, Toshio Japanese

Kuririn Main

Tanaka, Mayumi Japanese

Future Trunks Supporting

Kusao, Takeshi Japanese

Freeza Supporting

Nakao, Ryusei Japanese

Trunks Supporting

Kusao, Takeshi Japanese

Bulma Supporting

Tsuru, Hiromi Japanese

Muten-Roushi Supporting

Masuoka, Hiroshi Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer, ADR Director

Shimizu, Kenji Producer, Planning

Seki, Hiromi Assistant Producer

Nishio, Daisuke Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Dec 8, 2007

ChrisVarick

Recommended

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jul 16, 2008

RangFlash

Mixed Feelings

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 8, 2016

Lord_Rutsah

Not Recommended

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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