100https://clickhole.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/08/vo52oejhml2ilzc4xrp1.jpg 100https://i.post.cc/Dzf7vJHz/ORANGELine.gif Introduction https://www..com/watch?v=pWNqmDsOoL0 Dragon Ball Z. Where do I even begin? One of the most iconic animes in the world the godfather of shounen the animanga that paved the way for countless of animangas after it. Its regarded by many as one of the best animes of all time garnering millions if not billions of fans across the world. Its also regarded as among one of the worst animes of all time. Its plot is often regarded as nonsensical and the story has nothing of value other than extremely buff men punching each other. Its usually seen as either one of the best animes ever or one of the worst. Does it truly live up to the hype? Or is it really nothing more than a bunch of buff man yelling and throwing fists? 100https://i.post.cc/Dzf7vJHz/ORANGELine.gif Characters Protagonist Goku makes for an amazing protagonist who just explodes with personality. Despite being the baseline for most modern shonen protagonists Goku is still one of the most unique among them. While other protagonists are extremely heroic and fight for the greater good Goku is a warrior to his core whos main motivation isnt fighting for justice and the greater good but fighting the strongest people he can find and push himself to the limits. Goku can be extremely selfish throughout the series and thats what makes him so interesting. Hes not some Superman that the dub of the show tried to make him out to be. Hes someone who will put other in dangers just so he can push himself to the limits. Hes a lovable oaf that you cant help but root for and has truly cemented himself as a timeliness protagonist. 420https://media.tenor.com/d0RZcY4hz1cAAAAC/dragonballzgokou.gif Side Characters One of the weaker aspects of the show definitely has to be the side characters. Dont get me wrong there are great characters like Trunks Gohan Vegeta and Piccolo but other than them everyone else tends to not really do a whole much in the series. Chichi is just there to yell at Gohan to do homework Bulma is there to just give the Z fighters cool devices Roshi hardly exists to do anything outside of pervert jokes and Goten and kid Trunks serve to do nothing more than fuse with each other and fight Super Buu. The main problem with the cast is they dont really get to do much without Goku an exception is in the Cell arc and half of Namek. I still love the cast however as theyre all extremely loveable with their own personalities. 30 years later and theyre still endearing as ever and I simply wish Toriyama wrote more for them so that I could love them more. 420https://i.pin.com/originals/85/08/c6/8508c6822e22f3a95f84431372a942fb.gif 100https://i.post.cc/Dzf7vJHz/ORANGELine.gif Art/Animation The art throughout the series is nothing short of FANTASTIC. It evolves and changes over the course of the series but every single art style in each era looks absolutely mesmerizing. The art starts out a lot more simple in Saiyan saga and ends up a lot more detailed by the time the Buu saga comes around. Each art style has its own artistic merit and works in different ways. 220https://ancdn.fancaps.net/3282336.jpg 220https://ancdn.fancaps.net/3731040.jpg The animation is also amazing. While it can be a little repetitive sometimes It has tons of fluid moments that are showstopping.Dragon Ball Z is where household names like Naotoshi Shida and Todayoshi Yamamuro made their marks in the industry. Todayoshi Yamamuro: https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/ac70393f61c93169d788b41c54e604df.mp4 Naotoshi Shida: https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/0ce981f3f925602942068646e143bbef.mp4 There was also tons of other talented animators on the show 37https://media.tenor.com/jHJ9Vd8du7YAAAAd/dragonballzgoku.gif 49https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AcceptableRecentAsianelephantmax1mb.gif While the show could look a bit wonky every now and then the highs are EXTREMELY high and the show manages to look pretty great for a weekly show in the 90s. 100https://i.post.cc/Dzf7vJHz/ORANGELine.gif Plot/Narrative Saiyan Saga Ill be in the extreme minority here but I am not a fan of the Saiyan saga. Ill start off positive with things it does right. I think the introduction into it with a grown adult Goku with his son Gohan is pretty sweet and lets us know off the bat that some years have passed since Dragon Ball. I also enjoyed the absolute bomb of a drop Raditz was as an antagonist. His introduction completely flipped the status quo on its own. Goku has a brother? Goku is an ALIEN? This opened massive doors for the franchise and uses this introduction as its first stepping stone. I also enjoyed Vegeta as an antagonist a ton as he had such a swagger to him. His design making him so small with such a large ego was a very great choice by Toriyama. Now unfortunately Ill have to go into the negatives. The arc structure is easily the weakest one to me. Its basically just Z fighters training and then proceeding to get beat up by the main bad guy and having to wait for Goku to return. While there are solid moments in the arc the arc doesnt become anything of note to me until Goku vs Vegeta the literal climax/conclusion of the arc. Its very boring having to sit through Tien jobbing against Nappa and Chiaotzu having a very non emotional sacrifice to me. The arc finally gets going to me however when the main stars of the saga finally come head to head. 220https://i.pin.com/originals/78/aa/b8/78aab854d6032bcf5361269d5df555d5.gif The fight is extremely brutal and pulls no punches. Goku and Vegeta have an interesting dynamic of one coming from a bloodline of royalty destined for greatness The other came from a family whos nothing of real note and was born with a mere power level of 2. Despite their differences in upbringings they still clash head on as equals. 40https://images.grassets.com/hostedimages/1629017465ra/31778791.gif 47https://i.makeagif.com/media/9132015/eTmRUn.gif The fight drags on and it FEELS bloody and no holds barred. Seeing everyone struggle in the fight and Yajirobe actually contributing a ton and cutting off Great Ape Vegetas tail was a blast to watch. I of course cant forget about the ICONIC Kaioken Kamehameha vs Galick Gun 420https://media.tenor.com/FnpzZCOBjEAAAAC/gokukaioken.gif The way vegeta ends up getting defeated is pretty stupid however with Gohan going great ape and falling on top of him in a fit of rage. I do enjoy Goku begging Krillin to keep Vegeta alive however not because he thinks Vegeta will become a good person but so he can fight him again and defeat him in a 1v1. The arc is overall not that great to me but the final fight is pretty good. Namek Saga The Namek saga starts off extremely dire yet hopeful. Majority of the Z Fighters are dead yet all hope isnt loss. With the introduction of Piccolo being a Namekian the gang heads off to planet Namek to find the Namekian dragon balls. I think the premise is absolutely great and the Namek saga probably has one of if not the most best story structures in the show. With Goku having to recover were able to get Krillin and Gohan taking over as the main characters for a good portion of Namek. They hold the position great as they bounce off of eachother pretty nicely. Were soon introduce to our main villain very early. The most iconic villain in the entire series Frieza. 420https://i.pin.com/564x/d2/ee/a6/d2eea68be99286a087ff2dca43de5123.jpg Frieza makes his mark extremely quick by ordering his minions to kill an innocent Namekian child. Knowing that this galactical tyrant is also on the look for the dragon balls it makes the stakes much higher than theyve even been before. Vegeta also returns in the arc looking for the dragon balls too. This makes this into a death game of cat and mouse with Vegeta Gohan and Krillin having to sneak under Friezas nose and reach the Dragon Balls before he does. The arc keeps you engaged at all time because the main characters simply cant go in and guns blasting they have to think extremely carefully as their lives and the z fighters lives are all on the line. The arc has some solid side villains as well the most notable being the Ginyu force. 420https://thumbs.gfycat.com/HatefulCavernousAffenpinschermax1mb.gif The force Outside of Guldo really is just a huge blast to watch. They all have interesting designs great fights and a banger theme song. The arc has some pretty nice fights throughout the saga but the real highlight of the saga is Goku vs Frieza the final brawl. Before the fight truly starts off were treated to a nice heart to heart with Goku and Vegeta with Vegeta dying crying and begging for Goku to avenge the Saiyan race. Goku accepts this and for the first time we see Goku or rather Kakarot accept his Saiyan heritage. Its one of the most heartfelt moments in the saga as we saw Vegeta the man who looked down on Goku as an inferior warrior turn to Goku and have to beg him to avenge his pride and his race. The Goku vs Frieza fight has some pretty nice action and solid animation. It unfortunately peaks at Base Goku vs Final form frieza as the fight feels a lot more even at that point. Goku pulls out the iconic spirit bomb for the first time and its such a great scene. Seeing Goku gather life energy from the entire planet and seeing the spirit bomb go from a small orb in the Saiyan saga into the huge ball here. The fight at this point feels extremely intense and you cant help but be constantly drawn in with all the different tactics Goku has to use just to keep up with Frieza. The climax doesnt come until the Spirit Bomb fails however and results in frieza killing Krillin. Its one of the most horrifying deaths in the series as Goku has to simply stand there and watch powerless. With the Spirit Bomb failing Piccolo injured and all hope is lost were treated to one of the most Iconic things in the series. The legendary Super Saiyan. 36https://gifdb.com/images/file/gokutransformsintosupersaiyan4gar3b10etf4wzgw.gif 49https://1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire3/5fe36265d41408f4f778af0d0f81c8231583799203full.png This transformation changed the game not only for Dragon Ball Z but for the entire anime medium as a WHOLE. Your favorite transformation is most likely inspired by Super Saiyan. Its impact 30 years later is still felt and for good reason. The Super Saiyan was nothing more than a mystery as Vegeta alluded towards it the entire arc we simply thought it was a powerbuff like a zenkai boost. It was however so much more and while its design is pretty simple nowadays it works amazingly well. Less is sometimes more. Super Saiyan itself is an amazing transformation but unfortunately the fight starts to dip in quality. There are some good animation every now and then but as a whole the animation quality starts to dip. We also cant talk about Super Saiyan Goku vs Frieza without talking about pacing. The 5 minute meme is a meme done to death but it holds weight in its criticism. The fight drags on LONG. Like its the longest fight in anime history LONG. It quite frankly drags out longer than it has to but theres still a lot of cool lines to kindaaaaaaaa make it up. The fight though I will say has one of my favorite conclusions in anime. Gokus YOU FOOL is so fantastic and his sorrowful face followed by it looks incredible. 220https://media.tenor.com/RBbmXG9DmZwAAAAC/youfooldragonball.gif 220https://i.ur.com/DQ3aw0g.png Overall the Namek saga is a great high stakes arc that I cant help but enjoy. It is dragged down a bit with the second half of Frieza vs Goku but it still changed the game massively and you cant help but respect it even with its share of flaws. Cell Saga This arc is a mixed bag for me. Its very nonsensical a good portion of the time and the cracks of Toriyamas winging it with his writing shows very hard. Yet it also has some of the highest highs in the entire series. Trunks is a very much welcome addition to the cast and easily has the most raw introductions in the entire series that has yet to be topped even remotely. Sorry Ultimate Gohan but this is a REAL entrance. 420https://thumbs.gfycat.com/PastLavishFoxterriersizerestricted.gif The main villains of the arc are pretty good but I wont lie are a bit underwhelming compared to Frieza. 19 and 20 are literal whatever characters Android 17 and 18 are pretty great and are my favorite in the arc Perfect Cell is also a good villain but hes definitely no Frieza. The plot is pretty much always engaging but even for Dragon Ball standards it can get convoluted for zero reason. We go through 3 different sets of villain and our final villain has to go through 3 seperate forms until we FINALLY reach our main antagonist for the show. Its still pretty nice however as this arc actually gives a lot of shine to characters other than Goku. Trunks of course is a very vital character to the saga and is the reason the Z fighters survive the attack from the androids Vegeta finally achieves the Super Saiyan transformation and oh boy does he add such finesse to it. 420https://i.pin.com/originals/d9/2e/49/d92e49a274c8ec6e320f4c4702602e0c.gif Though the real star of the saga is no one other than Son Gohan himself. 420https://i.pin.com/564x/de/7f/ef/de7fef7e5ec222d217cdd240c4fa2348.jpg This is the arc where all of the foreshadowing to Gohans true power finally pays off. He slowly is able to hold his own throughout the Saiyan Saga and Namek saga but the Cell saga is where hes able to really come into his own and carry the torch from Goku. While the Gohan vs Cell fight isnt nearly as well choreographed and animated as the Goku vs Cell fight its a lot better narratively. Gohans refusal to kill Cell leads to the Z Fighters getting harmed and nearly killed. Gohan has to try and figure out if he can compromise his morals for the greater good and save the Earth. Its only then where Androids 16 head comes out of nowhere to talk to him. These characters have never interacted once in the entire saga yet they have one of the most heartfelt conversations. Android 16 telling Gohan that its okay to let go and fight for whats right. Some people simply cant be reasoned with and fighting to protect what you love doesnt make you a bad person. Its a powerful message that speaks not only to Gohan but us as the audience. Android 16 proceeds to get stepped on and crushed by cell leading Gohan to lose it entirely. Leading to one of the most beautiful transformations in anime history. https://youtu.be/iZVJq6aP4 Everything from the music to the roar to the visual of the bird is all just so perfect. Unmei No Hi makes an already incredible scene and makes it even more perfect. Gohans transformation from boy to man is such a great journey to see as weve been there with him since day one. Even though hes stepped up to finally truly fight Cell his recklessness and cockiness ends up to Cell almost destroying the World. With everything lost our hero Goku has one last idea. A last resort. He decides to sacrifice himself to save his friends and planet. Its such an emotional scene as we see Goku give one final goodbye to all his friends. 420https://thumbs.gfycat.com/EuphoricImpeccableDinosaurmax1mb.gif Just as he heads off he gives one final message to Gohan. a Good job son. Goku in the moment has no worries he simply makes peace with the situation hes in and accepts it as the most calm as hes ever been. Its a real tearjerker and I love everything about it from its music to the voice acting. Unfortunately though Cell manages to come back. I dont think it takes away from the weight of Gokus sacrifice as its still emotional either way. Cells sacrifice also gives us one of the best attack in the series. The FatherSon Kamehameha. 420https://media.tenor.com/YKQmr27mwUgAAAAC/gohangoku.gif Its one of the best moments in the series as it represents so well how Goku is passing the torch to Gohan and giving him one final push to become Earths new protector. With Cell finally defeated the arc fantastically wraps up in its conclusion with Goku dead and Gohan as the new savior and protector. The Cell saga couldve been structured and planned out a bit better but its still such a great watch with a lot of high moments that defined the series. It definitely has glaring flaws but I think the clear enjoyment and passion Toriyama had when creating the arc was was able to make it work well and persevere through its issues. Buu Saga This might be another uncontroversial opinion but I really fucking love Buu saga. As in Its my favorite Dragon Ball Z saga love. Does it have ton of issues? Yea. Is still one of the most fun Dragon Ball arcs since the original Dragon Ball? Extremely yes. The arc kicks off with a new opening that lets us know that Gohan is indeed Earths newest protector and savior. https://www..com/watch?v=DsBaC3SAs We gotta power has so much energy to it and is just an all around great opening. Seeing old faces and new ones is a pretty good sight to see. The saga kicks off with Gohan going to highschool and while it doesnt contribute much to the overall sagas plot its still a great watch and a nice slice of life bit. Trunks and Goten are our newest additions to the Z fighters and theyre not given the most depth ever but are still a blast to watch as they conspire and do their silly little shticks. The Saga doesnt really get going until we get to the World Tournament arc and its a pretty solid arc. Pretty much my least favorite arc in the entire saga but it still does it job fine enough and seeing Goten and Trunks do their shenanigans is pretty funny. I think the real thing that stuck with me though in the arc was Gokus return to earth and meeting Goten for the first time. Its such an incredibly emotional moment that still manages to get me every single time even today. 420https://thumbs.gfycat.com/OddballFlickeringBrantmax1mb.gif After the World tournament arc were finally treated to the amazing rematch of Majin Vegeta vs Super Saiyan 2 Goku. Its a hyped up fight that has been anticipated since the Saiyan saga and oh boy is it worth it. Its a fight that drags on and is just as brutal as their initial match. 420https://media.tenor.com/w4Yj6wxhu0wAAAAC/dragonballvegeta.gif The fight ends up leading to our main villain of the story who you can guess his name by the name of the saga. Majin Buu is probably my favorite villain in the series besides Frieza. Nearly all his forms have a great personality outside of Buuhan whos kinda lame and a poor mans Perfect Cell. Fat Buu comes into the scene bursting with his child like personality. He absolutely demolishes Majin Vegeta so what does Vegeta do? The only thing he can do. In one last ditch effort Vegeta decides to sacrifice himself his final atonement. 75https://thumbs.gfycat.com/GlaringWateryCurassowsizerestricted.gif Its a beautiful scene that serves as a nice prologue to the conclusion of Vegetas character arc. Theres a reason why this is such a beloved scene for Vegeta and for good reason. Never in a million years would anyone imagine Vegeta sacrificing himself but he does it because he has a family who he loves and wants to protect. The saga after the introduction of Buu introduces some pretty cool things including the concept of fusions and Super Saiyan 3. Both of these are such great addition to Dragon ball and just feel like so much god damn fun. I do think one of the biggest weaknesses about the Buu saga has to be Gohan though. In the Cell saga hes left as Earths protector and then immediately in the Buu saga he instantly gets relegated to nothing more than a side character quickly. He gets his Ultimate Gohan form and it seems like hell be able to defeat Buu and become the savior of Earth like he was meant to be but he instantly fumbles and ends up dying when Buu destroys the planet. Its just such a shame because Gohan is a pretty great character who I think deserved to get better treatment than he did in the Buu saga. One of the things I love most about Buu saga on the other hand easily has to be the final showdown. The Goku/Vegeta vs Kid Buu has to be one of the best animated fights in the entire series. Vegetas You are number one moment is truly spectacular as for the entire series weve seen him in a rivalry with Goku but being a changed person he finally admits Goku is in a class and realm of his own. 420https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworksqdcEVR4zQMnbOhg09rC7Ewt500x500.jpg The fight proceeds to end with what I think is the definitive best final attack in the entire series. One last Spirit bomb. 37https://media.tenor.com/u9yutJYUsv8AAAAC/sendenergysending.gif 49https://media.tenor.com/5Yb8miAtAAAAAC/spiritgivinggo.gif Seeing everyone on planet earth including both old friends and new helping Goku makes this ending feel so powerful. With everyone giving Goku his energy Goku launches his final attack against a main antagonist of the series. As he deals the final finishing blow he uses the last Dragon Ball wish wishing for Kid Buu to come back as strong as he was except good so that they can fight again. 420https://thumbs.gfycat.com/CalmGlitteringLangursizerestricted.gif The reason I love this scene so much is because even with all Buu has done Goku cant help but only thinking of wanting to fight him again in another life. Even through thick and thin through 286 episodes Goku is still Goku. Hes still just a man looking for a great fight. And its a beautiful conclusion to what I consider my favorite arc. 420https://media.tenor.com/9oTfd8We7kAAAAC/songokugoku.gif 100https://i.post.cc/Dzf7vJHz/ORANGELine.gif Conclusion I think Dragon Ball is a show with a ton of flaws and it isnt the most deep anime ever. Its pacing can be kinda bad and the story can become pretty nonsensical at times. Yet even with all that I just couldnt help but falling in love with it. This is a series where you can tell the mangaka has so much fun writing it and its characters and its constantly beaming through the story. The music the action and the animation are all so beautiful to me. Is it the holy grail of anime? Perhaps not. Its still however just a great show that feels pretty genuine and has clear heart in it. The anime landscape would be so much different in void of it and I think Id also be a lot different as I met a ton of friends through Dragon Ball. After 30 years and going I still am proudly to say Dragon Ball does indeed live up to the hype. 420https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DarlingEnragedAlbatrossmax1mb.gif