User reviews

It was entertaining, and the characters closely resemble those from the Dragon Ball franchise. To be fair, I remember watching this on TV a few years back, so there's a nostalgic factor contributing to my higher score.

The opening and ending songs were very memorable, and the voice performances were great. However, it lacked action for an action-adventure animation. Unfortunately, the pacing was fast towards the end, making it feel rushed.

There wasn't much in terms of world-building, but I loved the adventure parts. There were a few character developments and power-ups, though some characters were quite annoying, leading to a love-hate relationship with a few of them.

Overall, I would recommend it.

Plot Summary: As Shu's village was being attacked by an unknown enemy, he and his friends, Jiro and Kluke decide to defend their home. They soon meet warrior Zola and receive the powers of Shadow, an ability that let's them transfer their shadow into a powerful monster. Shu receives one of the most powerful monsters, Blue Dragon, and they all set out to defeat their enemy.

Blue Dragon is the newest anime series on Cartoon Network based on the popular XBox 360 RPG. The series was developed by Hironobu Sakaguchi with character designs by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. Blue Dragon aired just this evening on Cartoon Network after the newest episodes of Naruto. I must admit that it was less disappointing than the premiere of Bakugan: Battle Brawlers that took place last month.

Blue Dragon, loyal to the storyline of the video game, is a story about a young boy named Shu who seeks to become a great warrior. He meets a young female soldier named Zola and her companion, Jiro. Shortly after-wards, the village is attacked by the forces of Nene and Shu's friends are captured. While Jiro and Zola fend off the troops with their shadow powers, Shu's concern for his friends inspires him to find his own shadow powers. His shadow transforms into the legendary Blue Dragon. Shu saves his friends and is welcomed by Zola, who sought the Blue Dragon's power. Shu sets out with his companions to stop Nene and save the world.

The art is impressive and is identifiable more with Dragon Ball than its DBZ counterpart. There is some humor in the first episode as Shu and his childlike antics are a little dimwitted. Shu's female companion, Kluke, finds her Phoenix Shadow later. For now, she wields a strange type of gun that shoots small pink fists (how silly).

There was nothing especially epic about the first episode, except for maybe Zola's speech to Shu about knighthood, but the series seems worth watching, especially is you enjoyed the video game. I'm rating this series an 7 out of 10.