A Show to go Ape Over!: Dragon Ball Z

Greetings, one and all!  Welcome to part two of Flashback February!  Last week, I reviewed one of the greatest anime films of all time, and now this week, I will be reviewing one of the greatest anime shows of all time.  It’s recognized all over the world.  Make any references to this show and anyone will get it in a heartbeat.  Well, okay, maybe not everyone.  But it’s certainly a show that is well known throughout the U.S., if not the world.  So let’s go Super Saiyan for my review on the anime classic, Dragon Ball Z.

The series starts where the prequel series, Dragon Ball, left off.  The main protagonist Son Goku has grown up, gotten married, and started his own family.  However, Goku and his friends-Master Roshi, Krillin, Bulma, and others- have their world turned upside down when an alien known as a Saiyan attacks.  Goku is able to defeat this alien, but at the cost of his own life.  The gang then learns that two other Saiyans will be coming to Earth the next year.  Not only that, Goku’s son Gohan is taken away by Piccolo Jr., the son of the villain from Dragon Ball.  From here, the first season of Dragon Ball Z follows Goku’s friends as they become stronger, Gohan going through intense training with Piccolo, and Goku trying to return to the world of the living, and all in preparation for the arrival of the two powerful Saiyans.

To be honest, I feel like I had to review this series completely blind.  That is, I had to review this show based on very little.  And truth be told, I am reviewing this with having seen very little.  Then again, I did the same thing with Tokyo Ghoul.  Still, that aside, based on what I have seen thus far, I give Dragon Ball Z a 3.5 out of a five star rating.  I felt it would have been too generous to give a four star rating to a show that everyone says is good, but I am seeing a lot of good things thus far.  Not too surprising, but animation is good.  Even though this is an eighties anime through and through, animation is actually pretty decent.  It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s definitely well done.  Also take this into consideration: anime was still under some development during the eighties.  So with that in mind, I always tend to be lineate with anime from this period because the animation is still a little rough- however, Akira, which I reviewed last week, is the only exception.  Usually with eighties animes, story is what I focus on.  And thus far, Dragon Ball Z’s story is pretty entertaining.  And for me, still in the early part of the series, I believe that the plot is building up quite nicely.

The only downside to the show thus far, well… it’s hard to say.  Again, I’m still in the early part of this series, so it’s hard to make a clear cut decision on what is not right with the series.  Although, if I had to say one bad thing about this show, it probably would have to be how tedious the show is.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “if it takes several episodes to cover a battle, it’s too long.”  Then again, Bleach and Attack on Titan have the same problem.  Still, it’s a quality in anime that I find boring and tedious.  And look at it this way, it’s no fun if you’re bored!  Otherwise, I have nothing really negative to say on Dragon Ball Z.  And I am certainly enjoying it so far.

So to wrap up this review, Dragon Ball Z is a show that I reviewed almost completely blind.  But, it does look promising.  So certainly expect a re-review in the near future-and I certainly expected to see that 3.5 rating go up!  I may have disappointed readers who are fans of this show, but don’t be too disappointed.  Like I said, it still looks promising, and I plan to do a re-review of the show once I get a little further in the series.  So I’m still holding out for it!  Anyways, if you are interested in watching this anime classic, Toonami has been airing the edited version of the show called Dragon Ball Z Kai-which I have been keeping up with and have based my review on-on Saturday nights at 12/11 central.  The series is also available to purchase on DVD wherever anime is sold.  With that much said, I’m out!  Stay tuned for more, because my next review will be on another eighties show, and one of my personal favorites!

-Hanime on Anime