Reviews

Apr 26, 2018
I would like to add to some necessary details to add clarity to my thoughts and be more honest than I'd generally care to be any other story. I had witnessed the glory of the 'Saiyajins' back when I was a kid in the early 2000s on some cartoon channel I don't even remember. It was, irrespective of the story or context, furiously fantastic to me. Especially that somebody could be as grotesque and yet cool as Frieza, standing on the edge of water body that had been cratered to a huge hole in the ground by a "Genki Dama" (as I later learned it was to be called). It would be over a decade or more before I would have my chance and time to watch it again and this time all of it properly, rightly as was meant to be. I was and wasn't disappointed at the same time. I will explain that later from here on out.

I am doing one huge review of all the Doragonboruu things I have seen or come across over. As far as their particular ratings go, I have provided it in their designated MAL and IMDb ratings.

Story:

1) Dragonball - Simple. Unwanted. Ridiculous. Not a single other character except for Goku and ChiChi who could have bothered my attention and even the ones that did, did not deserve the huge amount of time they asked for it (150+ episodes). Red Ribbon Army was somewhat the most interesting part and that too not because it was good or anything (It was very bloody mediocre and tedious), but just that it added a lot to the story of DBZ posthumously.

2) DBZ: It is and will remain the best freaking part about anything The stories, however mediocre, have some good villains and usage of tropes and power ups to keep the audience riveted about the apparent prospects of the never really defeat-able Shonen MCs. What I respect about this story is that (despite how long it was stretched out in comparison to how short it always actually was (seriously, Toei, what's wrong with you?) it ended at some point rather stretch forever with its endless store of garbage and silly shit. Lord knows, Toriyama could have done if he wanted to and Toei would have loved the prospect of it. And even though, Akira-sensei named to Z as end-all, Dragonball went on for years onto the terrible
i) Kai ii) GT & iii) Super (each more fucking awful and unnecessary than the next because if you wanted to go faster through the DBZ story, you could skip faster through it and possibly just read the wikipedia summary and still lose nothing in value)

3) Movies: None of them are really worth your time. But when you are watching this much of something, you tend to enjoy certan things a lot more. The order of that would be simple enough, not necessarily in order of viewership but in terms of quality and enjoyability
i) Broly 2 ii) Cooler iii) Broly 1 iv) Cooler 2 v) Bardock Saga & History of Trunks (Perfunctory TV specials that were better off left to imagination than even trying to put creativity in and destroy).
Warning: Never ever frigging ever watch Broly: Bio-Broly. Please don't.

Art: This is certainly where DB franchise is most deserved of its praise. Not only was this the primary driving force of its popularity over the years but also of the huge amount of people it inspired into becoming artists and go beyond the general mediocrity. Every character design, power design, the SS states of being, the hairstyles and the "villan-tachis". Every bit of credit goes to Akira Toriyama and whoever helped the endeavor to makes the art as exciting as it got. It is certainly an interesting observation to see how the art changes, better and fine-tunes itself from DB to DBZ with the changes most stark during the intermittent movies produced. The Revenge of Cooler and Dragon Ball Super are the absolute pinnacles of Dragon Ball art for me. No matter how silly and ridiculous the character designs, it was never abusive, exploitative and always believable and better yet, enjoyable.

Sound: This portion is gonna make me look sort of bipolar (which I may or may not be, as is the possibility of all things that are uncertain to a certain extent) but sound is the worst aspect of Dragon Ball. It has continuously been sub-par, low-grade, futile blather that could have been done without even for a Shonen anime. The background themes are jarring, plain white-nose level bullshit that do more harm to one's ear canals than to suspense of disbelief. The only music I ever liked was the second DBZ theme, 'Gotta power' which coincided with the best period of the show and breathed of change from that terrible and terrifyingly catchy shit-sow that was 'Cha-La Head Cha-La'.

Characters: I singularly raised 3 points from my personal tally because of how interesting Trunks was from the moment he was introduced, Vegeta's redemptive character arc and how cute a lot of characters are in DBZ (as in ChiChi saying "Goku-Sa!", Goten & Chibi Trunks's saying anything at all, Videl and Pan from their advent in the show, Kuririn & Ju-hachigo's interaction). Personally, I wish I had known Goku's character earlier because than i would have surely admired him. But despite the original and biggest Shonen MC, I find no appreciation for the sense of justice and personality as I have definitely seen it done better in One Piece and Naruto (I can forgive all the talk no jutsu but not lack of penchant). I found myself not even caring when everybody woould cheer up on meeting Goku post time-skips and stuff. Only when he is fighting, He is worthy. Vegeta's redemptive storyline was also done by other manga with the badass character prototype but somehow the Vegeta's cool design, rugged personality and intense hatred for loosing really makes stand out for the role being portrayed. And lastly, since I really don't want spoil this portioon, I will just finish with this that Trunks is enough reason to watch any and all things he is in because certainly personality, back story and voice acting for it. (But still don't watch Bio-Broly cause not even IRL Kami-sama, if you don't consider that an oxymoron to begin with, can save that terrible mess and GT is virulent waste of time that is not even canon and should only be undertaken by those who are fully aware of the risks).

Enjoyment: The voice is the only thing I did not expressly cover out of all the things that encompasses the act of enjoyment. And surprisingly even though I was troubled Goku's and Vegeta's VA in the first two arcs, I eventually quite was into it and as is usual with me, quite hated the English dub despite it being fine logically and even considered to have elevated the levels of the DBZ experience. But whatever, it is a personal thing and that's that (Subs will always a more enjoyable experience than dubs for me).

Overall: It is understandable that Dragon Ball franchise changed everything for its industry and how people worked in it and influenced everybody it touched (for better or worse it would seem). It was certainly an interesting and enchanting experience with a lot of flaws and perceivable mediocrity. I will admire it all but love and adulation will be too much of lie to perpetrate for me. The biggest shame is that I never want to do anything related to this franchise ever again in a lifetime and knowing its legendary nature makes it all the more worse for me. Perhaps, it is my belief that good things must have a good end and great things must have one that is timeless and irreplaceable. Constantly adding versions and reboots and non-canon shit to the something even the main artist wanted to end years just makes it so much worse. But then again, Art is not a Democracy and I am merely a member of the audience. So, my opinion is going to be out there despite how little may in the actual proceeding of things. Hai!!! Goodbye!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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