Dragon Ball Z

Ok, ok, so I may be biased because DBZ may be one of my favorite shows of all time, and if not my favorite Anime`- EVER! But who cares? I love this show. And I loved Dragon Ball (although I must say that the American dub of Dragon Ball is for more of the 11-under crowd if you ask me) Now, allow me to tell you my testimony of how I came to love the Dragon Ball series....

When I was in Kindergarten-first grade or so, I saw my first episode of Dragon Ball. I was sick and home from school, and it was airing on Fox Kids I believe. It came on after Bannana's in Pajamas. (God save my soul, I hated that show.) Well, I've been one who has followed and practiced Martial Arts my whole life, and since I was a huge fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (and since I was sick in bed) I decided to watch Dragon Ball. I laughed, and smiled, and of course enjoyed it. I can't tell you exactly what I remember, Master Roshi and his island come to mind at best. Well, over the years I skipped through the episodes, never exactly becoming "hooked" and die hard. That wouldn't be for another few good years. In 5th grade, my friends were Role Playing Dragon Ball Z during recess (it had just started to air around that time.) Of course, I wanted to role play with them, but didn't know-or remember- any female characters. They had me play as Bulma. All that came to mind was blue hair (and one of my friends complained of me playing Bulma because they had to play Yamucha. Go figure) Years still went by and it wasn't until around the 6th grade did I start watching. Over the summer I'd be wtaching Frieza or Garlic Jr. reruns, and my younger cousin and his friend would make fun of the show. (I tell you now: DBZ isn't just about people screaming at the top of their lugs with beyond steroid possible muscles and beams of light shooting from their bodies.) And when the time came of the Android/Cell saga, I WAS OFFICIALLY HOOKED!!!!!! DBZ is the first show I've come to obsess over, and even though I am a 15 y/o female, I don't care. If fighting and mountains blowing up appeals to me, then too bad!!!!!! DBZ ROCKS!!!

P.S: Like I said in my above comment about screaming and muscles and lights, it is beyond that. The show talks a lot about courage, friendship, and loyalty. Though the American edited version may not be AS good as the Japanese version, I still find it great. And it may take a while to understand the principles of DBZ if you start watching in the middle of a saga, but keep watching- it may take time (like me.)

Akira Toriyama has definitely created a classic.

Wow this is not only the best anime of all time its the best show of all time! I have liked this show since I was in 3rd grade absolutely amazing show. I love it not only for the action but for the emotional scenes in it are very well done, its definitely got a great storyline to back up its fabulous action. The only thing that can get annoying about this show is a lot of the stuff is drawn out too long but hey everything has its good and bad parts. The show starts off a little slow but trust me it gets good once Freeza saga hits. Also the music that Funimation's Bruce Falconer is a true artist wow I was blown away at how good the music is. The music really makes you feel how emotional the scene is. Its like the music puts you in the situation its so good.

I'm a late blooming DBZ fan, but I've already seen almost the entire series! LOL! I will tell you the story of how I became a die-hard fan, and why you'll be VERY sorry if you haven't already!

It was around the year 1999 that I first came across DBZ. I think the Namek saga was airing on Cartoon Network. My friend was big on the show (though he had very little knowledge of it's origins) and forced me to watch it myself. I made fun of the show every-time he watched it. I thought it was corny, cheesy and the voice-acting was stupid.

HOWEVER, somewhere along the way in the summer of 2001 he told me they were re-airing the Android saga on CN. Well, I started the old usual comments, making fun of it. But then.. I actually became interested in the story. After a few episodes, I was hooked. You see, the story of Dragonball is more than you think. It covers over 500 episodes in it's entire run over three different animated series.

I began watching with the Android/Cell sagas. I watched them to the end and then watched the Frieza saga. Then I watched the Saiyan and Namek Saga. Now here we are today at the Buu saga. What better time to become a DBZ fan than now! The last 54 episodes of the show will air this fall, and that's something NOT to be missed.

The show never has an ending to a story. It's a continous "to be continued" storyline that grows and grows. Characters have time to develop into interesting relationships among them, making moments where someone dies or is hurt even more emotional.

It tells the story of Goku (son Goku in Japan) who is an incredible man born with an amazing fighting talent. His strength never ceases and he becomes stronger and stronger. He is kind and pure of heart.. a friend to even his enemies at times. He is the central point of DBZ, but not the only point.

Throughout the series, he learns of his Saiyan heritage, finding that he was born of an alien human-like race that has an ability to concentrate energy called Kai (or ki) to create energy blasts, fly, etc. They are born with a natural instinct to fight, and conquer entire planets to sale to the highest bidder.

That is only the beginning of DBZ, there are 200 episodes or so of a previous series called Dragonball that explain Goku's childhood-into-adult hood. DBZ covers him from his early twenties or so all the way until he's over 50 years old.

The show has sparked 13 movies and two specials.. and much more. Some of the movies are dubbed in english, while others are only available in Japanese subtitled versions.

ANYWAY, this show is specatacular, and takes forever to explain every aspect of the storyline. The ORIGINAL Japanese version has much better music and voice acting, I'll admit. And the English versions (at least early episodes) were edited to death, the show still holds what makes it magic.

The beginning of the series will re-air on Cartoon Network as of May 2002. I suggest you begin watching. Do NOT let the animation, or the voice-acting, or bad editing of this first saga shake you away. The show takes time to understand and become interested in, but once your there, you'll be hooked.

There are over 290 episodes of DBZ, and the animation gets much better, as does the storyline. Just keep watching, trust me... your gonna love it!

This anime cartoon in my opinion, is better than any other cartoon I seen. I still watch it whenever I get the chance to. It's character development and the plots of the whole DBZ story is superb, the animation is full of action, and every ending of an episode leaves you wondering what may happen next. It also contains a bit of humor as well as subplots. When I first seen it in 1996, I was overwhelmed at how much action and comedy was fit into one anime series. I found Goku and Vegeta to be serious but a bit funny in between, and the roles of Gohan and Piccolo weren't shabby either. It has a whole saga inside which makes it worth watching.

Overall, I watched this cartoon more than all the other cartoons put together. I like it even better than Inuyasha, which is also good. My favorite episode is when Goku finally becomes a Super Saiyen, and Frieza later gets cut in half by a flying disk. You may have to watch this series from the beginning to get the full meaning of the story and what is going on, but if you see this on Cartoon Network or any other channel, watch it! Don't miss out! It is definitely worth seeing for the eye.

Dragon Ball Z was, to many, one of the most influential cartoon series ever in the world. When I was younger I grew up watching the whole series from start to finish, read the comic books, and played the video games. The Dragon Ball Z series contain some of the most charismatic characters, great fighting sequences, and strong plots that covered thousands of years. Originally created in the 1980's, it's truly a blessing that western audiences finally gets to see it in english. However I wish the series would start from the very beginning, the story when Son Gokou was a courageous little boy who uses his innate fighting talents to help out others.

It's only a shame though that the western TV version are heavily censored, causing disorientation and lack of flow to some of the original fight scenes. The Japanese version showed no-holds barred violence and the use of strong words (aka swearing), creating emotional tension that is not present in the english-language version. Also, die-hard Dragon Ball fans out there will agree with me that the voice acting is nowhere as good as the Japanese version.

Still, revisiting Dragon Ball in any language still stirs some of the fondest memories in my heart. Kame Hame Ha!!!! See it's still there.

Highly recommended viewing.