Dragonball Z

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.