When surrounded by thousands of sources of entertainment with varying quality, it can be hard to know which ones from the past are still worth visiting.
In this day and age there are so many new shows and movies to come out that it can feel suffocating to keep up with what’s new and happening. During times such as these, I often find myself looking backwards, to see what creative wonders I have missed within the flurry of the new. One of these not-so-hidden gems would be the well known series of Dragon Ball Z, alongside its sister series’ Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Super, and Dragon Ball GT.
It is one of many from the animated genre known as “anime”, which can commonly be looked at as either weird or stupid by most common people. While yes, many can be a bit strange at first glance, Dragon Ball is no exception with it being known for its long fights and screaming matches. This does not mean that these kinds of shows are worth ignoring. I feel that Dragon Ball in particular is something that anybody with an interest in media about hand to hand combat, fantasy, or relationships should consume this series in any way they see fit. Whether that be through reading the original manga, watching the original show from the 90’s, or possibly the shortened more streamlined version known as Dragon Ball Z Kai, it is something that should be on most people’s radar.
In the anime community there is something known as the “Big Three,” which consists of the series’ One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto. I do not entirely agree with this list as I feel that Dragon Ball Z should be included as well, due to the fact that each individual series was heavily inspired by Dragon Ball itself. Even if it may not be as well written in other people’s eyes as those series are, it still deserves the respect, if not more, that each of them receive due to it being such a major factor in their existence. I personally have not watched any of two of the shows, but I am well versed enough in One Piece to understand why it would be considered to be in the position that it is. I believe that a major reason that people often view Dragon Ball as something that’s less worth diving into is due to its age and how much filler there is throughout the animated version of the main series.
I believe that a major reason that people often view Dragon Ball as something that’s less worth diving into is due to its age and how much filler there is throughout the animated version of the main series.
There is often a view as well that shows such as this one that are animated and created in Japan are normally incredibly strange, and people are often made fun of for watching these kinds of shows. Because of this judgment, people become hesitant to come anywhere near shows of this category in order to avoid possibly being made fun of for their interests. This kind of judgment is completely invalid as the person making the judgments are making them entirely based on presumptions of clips that have been separated from the original material and are purely out there to be singled out and made fun of without context. One major example of this would be the long notorious screaming fits within Dragon Ball Z, while yes, these are often an error within the show that are used to simply draw on time within the episode, they can often have a lot of meaning towards the current situation in the story. One of the most well known moments is when Goku transforms into the Super Saiyan 3 form for the first time. He introduces the first two other forms to the villain to allow them to understand the weight and importance of the transformation that he is about to undergo. Then once it begins, we as the audience are also reminded of how far he has come through the series, and how major the event that is about to unfold really is. Within the context of the show, this moment is incredibly well done and displays the amount of power and weight this new transformation will have for the rest of the series, but singled out, it just looks like a stupid scene where Goku’s voice actor was forced to scream over and over for a few minutes.
The great thing with things like this is that you do not need to consume the series by simply watching it. You could also find a way to read the original version, which is written as a traditional Japanese manga, a comic book that is read backwards just like all Japanese text. My personal experience with the series has been very different from most, where I first saw the whole story through playing a recently released video game that takes the player through the entire story of Dragon Ball Z, with tons of spectacle, none of the show filler, and all of the right details that true fans would appreciate. I then purchased or was gifted books from the manga series and then read through the entire series, which was also an incredible experience as you are able to see the artist Akira Toriyama’s work improve through each major arc. As I’ve said before, this series is known for its screaming fits, which I believe to be one of its major strengths. The series is able to very easily tailor to your emotions through the building of relationships and the overall world in order to deliver some of the most emotional fights I have ever experienced. You could easily look at any moment in the series without any context and say that it is the most weird looking thing, and that all it is is just a bunch of buff anime men firing lasers at each other. While you wouldn’t be entirely wrong in saying this, it is also way too judgmental of a thing to say without any understanding of what exactly is going on in the moment. There is a reason why men scream and cry over things like sports matches, superhero films, and anything in between. It’s because of the process that it took for the person or persons to get to that moment, and the painstaking amount of trial and error that they had to endure to get to where they are at that moment. The exact same feelings apply to things like Dragon Ball Z, we are introduced to characters and the struggles that they must overcome in order to achieve their goals, and when they do, we jump in excitement and scream along with them, feeling an incredible sense of accomplishment from their achievements.