jensenbr-85012
I do not know if my tastes have changed over the years, but once I used to say by far the best incarnation of Dragon ball was Z. However, upon watching this entire series on DVD uncut I now have to say that this one is equal or maybe a notch or two above Z. Though I can still say quite easily that GT is the worst of the bunch as while this one needed a continuation, Z did not. This one follows the young boy Goku as it chronicles his friendships and adventures while finding the mythical dragon balls that number seven and when gathered together summon the dragon, Shenron to grant one wish. The show started out as more of a comedy, a comedy with at times quite perverted humor in it. As the show progressed though it would more and more rely on action to the point that near the end of the show it closely resembled Z, most of the pervert nature of the show would be gone near the end. Why? I have no idea, but it would make a reappearance here and there near the end, but nothing like it was in the beginning. In fact, Z and GT would see virtually no humor of this type with the exception of Master Roshii. This show is sort of made up of three adventures involving the dragon-balls. After each of these adventures there was a world martial arts tournament story. The first adventure involves a plucky teen named Bulma finding Goku and the two end up going on an adventure to find the dragon-balls. They meet Yamcha here as well as Oolong and Puar. They also meet the nefarious Emperor Pilaf who has to be the funniest villain in the dragon ball universe. This story would become Goku training under Master Roshii and meeting Krillan during the world martial arts phase. Then the Red Ribbon Army would be next as would be the meeting of Goku and Tien. Finally, Goku would have to face off against the evil King Piccolo in both the adventure and the tournament. Then for some reason the show keeps going on about five more episodes than it really needed to. Still, this one was fun and the fighting would become really cool near the end.
Diego
DRAGONBALL REVIEW* NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD; I STRONGLY RECOMMEND WATCHING THE SHOW BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW: For a few months now, my friend and I have been watching all sagas of the original Dragonball anime. I cannot describe how much I love this show. This show has memorable characters, morals, themes, great character arks and a truly immersive world. I love how the sagas revolve around one objective/ark that is attainable. I love how each saga ramps up the scale, stakes, villains and overall world.I love that the characters are a twist on the classic characters from the hero's journey tale; for example, Master Roshi (the wise sage) is expected to be pure and incorruptible like Gandalf. He turns out to be a pervert. Another example is Yamcha (the rouge) who is expected to not be afraid of anyone. Yamcha turns out to be afraid/shy around women. I love the tournament sagas, especially the first appearance of Jackie Chun. Without spoiling this part, what he does on stage before his fight is so hilarious and organic for him that it's great. And without spoiling Jackie's true intention, his intention is both reasonable and gives a great moral about humility. I love the Red Ribbon Army ark, especially when Goku has an objective to help another in saving the person's father's life. Apart from Master Roshi, Korin (Karin) is probably my favorite character. The buildup of this character and his first appearance is done so well. What happens afterwords is very exciting and is so satisfying to watch that I won't spoil it. In all honesty, I didn't really care for the cornel antagonist, I thought the tower saga was great filler, with the exception the development of one Goku's pivotal characteristics, mercy.I thought General Blue was all right, though I was shocked and on the edge of my seat when Blue actually had a way to gain the upper hand from Goku via psychic paralyzing power. Goku really never overcame it. At the times he did escape from Blue's powers was because of chance and assistance from other characters. However, things really kicked off again in the Red ribbon Army Saga when Mercenary Tao comes in. This character, with the exception of Piccolo (Sr. and Jr.), is the most threatening character in the original series. They make this apparent by the way people react to him and the way he deals with his enemies. What I love about Mercenary Tao is that he is really the one to physically and to a point, mentally defeat Goku. He is the equivalent of Bane (Batman) in the Dragonball universe (at this point). The way the Red Ribbon Army is defeated, after all the buildup, is so satisfying to watch. The leader of the Red Ribbon Army, Commander Red's intention with the Dragon balls is something that I dare not spoil because I honestly think you should watch it for yourselves; and for those who have seen the anime, then I say that it was definitely something that took me completely by surprise. To watch Goku's main objective in the Red Ribbon Army ark be completed is very much one of the most emotionally satisfying moments of the show.The fortuneteller Baba saga is mostly entertaining filler with the exception of the final duel, in which, Goku is fighting someone, without spoiling who it is, familiar. Needless to say, the fight leads into an emotionally heartwarming moment that wraps up one of many character arks Goku goes through throughout the anime. The next tournament is thrilling and keeps you guessing but is only a prelude to the most dramatic, serious and saddening saga in the entire anime. WARNING: FULL ON MAJOR SPOILERS! I STRONGLY RECOMMEND WATCHING THE SHOW BEFORE READING! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!I am referring to the King Piccolo saga, in which the first thing we see of this saga is the death of Krillin, one of the main characters of the show. What's even more shocking is that an old enemy of Roshi's is responsible for Krillin's death. King Piccolo, who is essentially the Devil in this show (Yes I know there was a Devil Man in the previous saga, but really, Evil incarnated would be Piccolo). Not only that, King Piccolo and his children have temporarily defeated Goku, and exterminating Martial Artists left and right. Roshi also sacrifices his life for a failed attempt to capture King Piccolo. Jaw doesn't stop dropping yet, as King Piccolo wants to reclaim his former strength by wishing for the Eternal Dragon to wish his youth back. He succeeds. Not only that, after her succeeds, he uses his newly restored power to kill the Dragon, the only one who could possibly reverse this. With the exception of filler at the end, the rest of the remaining sagas are basically about how Goku deals with the death of his friends, the threat of King Piccolo (and his legacy), the origins of Piccolo, and the objective of salvation. Needless to say, it is all handled wonderfully with great execution. One great aspect about the show is that it keeps you guessing on how the conflict will be resolved; and every time it is resolved, it is very satisfying. I love this show and I cannot wait to see Dragonball Z Kai. GRADE: Classic LETTER GRADE: A NUMERICAL GRADE: 10 OVERALL OPINION: This anime has great characters, fantastic character and story arks that keep you guessing endlessly until it is resolved in a satisfactory manner. I highly recommend it.
gorankostanski
Dragon Ball is one of the most popular anime titles of our time, when ever you look up at message boards where someone starts a topic about which anime should be broadcast on TV again, this title is bound to be mentioned. I myself have no clue why. Watching Dragon Ball is like watching a Steven Segal or a Chuck Norris action flick: an endless array of fights, the main hero always wins. There are no surprises here, everything is predictable, everything is the same... And worst of all, it goes on and on. This show has no common sense to end the story at least in a fair amount of time, to qualify for a guilty pleasure. No. Instead it sets itself to become one of the longest soap operas ever, an epic garbage. Imagine a Sergio Leone epic without Leone's sense for style, measure and weight, and you have Dragon Ball. The first, original season had 153 episodes, the second one, Dragon Ball Z, had 291 (!), and if that weren't enough we have another 64 episodes of Dragon Ball GT, and - I kid you not - another 98 episodes of Dragon Ball Kai. But do not be fooled, folks. This is no Tolstoy, not by a long shot. Sheer quantity over quality can easily become an overkill.Here on IMDb, Dragon Ball has a rating of 8.6 out of 10, but Segal's movie Out for a Kill has only 3.1 out of 10. Why the discrepancy when both are of equal merit? I have to ask the voters who gave Dragon Ball a 10 (or even a 7) the same question as one of the protagonists posed to writer David in Ingmar Bergman's tragedy Through a Glass Darkly (1961): "What life truths have you done in your work?" The questions seems almost ridiculous for this show: it has no truths about life, not a single one. When you encounter a problem, what are you gonna do, perform a kame-hame-ha? When you have to train, are you seriously gonna copy Son Goku's moves? The experience you take away from this show is nonexistent, it is just some guys fantasy about beating up stronger people around him stemming from his frustration. I enjoy a few humorous moments involving Bulma and Kuririn, and that's why I give it two stars. Other than that, I do not want to waste my time on such a long and bad show that is just one huge wrestlemania (and not a good one, at that, either. Compare this to One Piece, which has much more style, imagination and capability of crafting great fights and showdowns). I know I am gonna get hate mail after this, but I don't care, it is irelevant. I enjoy trash and cheese when I want to relax, but I am never gonna say that trash is something great. If you want to spend over 100 hours of fights to get nowhere, enjoy Dragon Ball. If you really want to grow up and realize there is so much more to life, do yourself a favor and watch some epics that nobody heard of, but are classics of wisdom and intelligence, like Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Evangelion or Steins Gate.
Kook-3
The original show is the best one! While the manga version of "Dragonball Z" is good, that show simply just kept dragging out fights! That's all it was! Fight, fight, fight! As for "Dragonball GT", it was fun, it was better than "Z", but not nearly as fun as the original. This one had it all! Action, humor, odd characters, fun adventures! Accept nothing else!