Dragonball GT

This show is taking a lot of heat from die-hard fans of the popular manga and anime Dragon Ball Z, because it is a revisitation to and - in some fashion - a retelling of the original dragon ball series, on a much grander scale and in increasingly obfuscated terms. The basic plot and premise of the beginning of this series is simple; a trio of child heroes disembark from earth in a rocketship to find powerful magical artifacts called 'black star dragon balls', that have been scattered across the galaxy. The result, known under the name Dragon Ball GT, is an anime series that is fair in its own right, but succumbs to its ambition. Not only does the fact that GT has been written by a large number of different storyboard writers cause the whole to be diffuse and incoherent, but the series had been canceled before its due date as well, making watching GT a laborious effort for some.

Despite this, it's hard to blame GT for how it might or might not have turned out, because the series is at its very core a large marketing exercise, a service to fans worldwide who were not ready for their favorite anime series to be decommissioned just yet. The moral of the story behind GT, then, is that trying to please everybody at the same time is a fool's errand.

GT incorporates the playfulness and adventure-element of the early Dragon Ball series, as well as the high-octane fighting from Dragon Ball Z. Fans of the former may just end up complain about the latter, and vice versa. At the same time, the resulting series is neither as original nor as exciting as either Dragonball or Dragon Ball Z. The first half of GT utilizes the same archetypical main characters as in Dragonball - Goku, Trunks and Pan in GT, compared to Goku, Yamcha and Bulma from Dragonball. The 'new' character of Pan, although often fun and rebellious, is not always interesting and may at times test the limits of your patience with her pre-pubescent levels of self-reliance. GT is a mixed bag, a mutt amongst anime that you either learn to like or love to hate.

What vexes many Dragon Ball afficionados the most is that GT introduces a lot of plot holes to the formerly reasonably tight storyline of its predecessors. Many of these storytelling oversights can be attributed to alterations of the original plot. Resultingly, GT can be considered somewhat of a retcon because of it, if not a downright non-chronicle addition to the Dragonball universe. BUT...

... let's be fair now and consider that Dragon Ball Z itself isn't exactly famous for its storyline depth to begin with. One might even argue that if it weren't for the Saiya-Jin and Freezer sagas, and the thoroughly interesting and well-developed character of Cell, Dragon Ball Z wouldn't have enough story to wrap around on itself and make a hole in the first place. What GT doesn't fail to bring, then, is an engaging little plot, even if it diverges from the canon. Said plot is interspersed with a myriad of interesting locales, characters and villains, and allows for a variation not seen since the early stages of Dragonball (I am of course referring to the recurring theme of high-octane battles over barren mesas). Also, perhaps by virtue of their absurdity, GT boasts less emphasis on the by then truly cyclopean power levels of the characters it features, whether that is for the better or worse.

In conclusion, GT is definitely worth a once-over. Find out for yourself if you love or hate it, but don't think it isn't worth watching, because it is. 6/10

Dragonball GT began life in 1996 as the immediate 'sequel' to Dragonball Z. However, its creator Akira Toriyama was only used as a character consultant and its clear from watching the show that it has taken on a new creative and artistic spin.

For the first 25 episodes the show returns to its roots with the original Dragonball, filled with oddball humor, various locales (and its denizens), and of course the hunt for the black star dragonballs. The premise of the whole series is that Son Gokuh has been turned into a little boy again by the evil Pilaf, and now must beat the clock to recover the black star dragonballs which have now spread out across the galaxy (as opposed to merely the Earth).

As they wrap up their dragonball hunting, they unleash a mutant machine named Baby whose goal is to get revenge on Gokuh and take control of everyone on Earth. I won't spoil the plot from here on.

What I truly enjoyed about this series was that all the characters seemed to have evolved and changed, although not in a way that alienates their original personality. Vegeta is still a hardass who wants to be the strongest fighter ever, but (as he had conceded at the end of DBZ) knows Gokuh is #1 and has made a life for himself with Bulma and his two kids. Trunks has turned from an arrogant brat into the mature Future Trunks we saw back in the Cell saga. It is this great attention to detail and plot that made this a joy to watch.

The final two episodes are filled with raw emotion- deservedly so, for it represents the end of three generations of great anime. So long, Gokuh!

There are many complaints against DragonBall GT. Many people complain about the lack of characters who get things to do, the lack of favourite characters from the first two series, and the mix of styles from the first two series. The first DragonBall was a very comedic show that centered around Goku growing up as a child, while DragonBall Z introduced many new characters, evolved the existing ones and took itself a lot more seriously. Both shows worked fine in their individual styles, but did feel slightly contrasting next to each other.

DragonBall GT is also disregarded by many fans, as the series original creator did not work on this series other than having the job of character consultant.

But looking past the complaints, and regarding it as a series in it's own right, DragonBall GT is very fine. The first step it takes is noticeable - reducing Goku back to the state of a child. The second is probably more noticeable - reducing the regular cast list to only 3; only two of which were favourites from DragonBall Z. In later episodes, an all new fourth party is also added - Gil, a robot who swallowed the Dragon Radar from the original series - unfortunately, he generally slows things down, but at least there has been innovation, which is commendable.

What this series does - and very successfully, it's worth noting - is consistently merge the comedic DragonBall with the action-laden DragonBall Z. Everyone is a winner here, even if their favourite style is not featured as much as in their favourite of the two original series. Reducing Goku to a child was a sensible move, as it allowed fans of the original who drifted during Z's adult-Goku to become interested in the series with the character they knew and loved again. The series utilises it's license to the fullest - resurrecting Emporer Pilaf from the original series (noticeably absent from DragonBall Z), and recreating the importance of the DragonBalls (who were generally merely aesthetic in DragonBall Z). The series also introduces the character of Pan - who showed a lot of potential at the end of DragonBall Z. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the show, Pan does take up a lot of the screen time, but her character is a direct descendant of Bulma from the original series (despite family tree relations), with the role of 'growing up' given to Goku in DragonBall and Gohan in DragonBall Z.

The series is not perfect, however. Early episodes are generally unengaging, with sometimes uninteresting villains and often farcical situations. The early episodes seem to focus mostly on the DragonBall style over the DragonBall Z one - and because of this the series feels alienated to those who have only experienced DBZ (which is probably a large percentage of the fanbase). Animation has dropped noticeably in quality from DragonBall Z - feeling a bit more 'clunky' and hard-edged. Character re-designs are generally awful; Vegeta starts off the series with a moustache, Gohan's glasses now dominate his face, Trunks has been given an odd suit that really can't be categorised, and Krillin is almost completely unrecogniseable from the first series.

On a redeeming note, though, some character redesigns are good - Pan's costume suits the feel of the show, and Bulma looks exactly the same as in DBZ, save a few wrinkles. Goten also looks great as the skinny teenager, and his role is well written. Hercule also looks much better than expected with a bald patch.

Fans of DBZ will be disappointed that many of the characters are left out of the action - Gohan, Goten and others seemingly never get to fight at all, or do anything of utmost importance. Krillin is annoyingly underused, but he was becoming like that in DragonBall Z as well. Yamcha, again, is noticeably missing. And most surprisingly, Vegeta gets considerably less screen-time in DBZ - though of all the supporting cast, he probably does the most, so it's not all bad.

So what is DragonBall GT? It's a decidedly mixed bag - many good features, and many bad. But as a series in it's own right, it is very good, and a few steps above many other action animes that have all action and barely any substance. The light humour adds a lot, too, and feels very much a part of the DragonBall continuity. And because of the linked styles from the first two series, which works very well in the later episodes, the series really does take on a new perspective, and truly does feel like a DragonBall series. It's not perfect, but for fans of the series it's more of the same - repetitive fight after repetitive fight, with Hercule throwing in some overused (but still welcome) cameos here and there.

A good follow up, if not perfect. Definitely worth investing in if a fan of either original series - or if DBZ left you begging for more - which it did for many people.

PAN character is the most irritating and annoying thing I ever seen. it ruined the show

I feel like I am the only person that sees how incredibly pathethic weak they made the characters in GT. I'm not sure if you have forgotten how powerful people were in DBZ, example in freezia saga they were able to make nuclear type blasts just by lifting a finger. In DBZ they would move at like 5000mph and punch each other with force that makes the earth crumble around them. DBGT IS PATHETIC! They are supposed to be super powerful SS4 or whatever, but the explosions and speed was far to little to even be slightly believable. Some times it looks like they move at 10mph and when they punch, no effect to the ground around them, just a simple very slow weak looking punch with no effect to anything. Its a freaking SS4, when a punch makes contact it should make a huge shockwave and make the ground crumble. The biggest blasts in GT were nothing compared to DBZ's. People need to stop basing how powerful guys are by how powerful they saythey are, and how powerful they ACTUALLY are animated as. In the freezia vs guku, they were by far animated strongest. SS3 was animated too weak in DBZ, it actually felt at times more of a downgrade in speed and power than an upgrade.

Dubbing was bad. Anyone that is satisfied with DBGT needs to watch the ss1 guku vs freeiza fight right now just to refresh your memory on the power the series is based on.(English dubs are poor though)

DBGT- 1/10