Hey anime fans, is the Dragon Ball series actually revered as a good anime?

[Ishigami]

Good? - I would say "infamous" for power creep, padding, continuations and fillers...

 

[launchpadmcqwak]

I don't really think so, but then again I didn't watch much of it.

DUDE...VEGETA'S DEATH?, GOKU TURNING SUPER SAIYAN FOR THE FIRST TIME???...inbetween entire episodes of hyperventilating of course, but there were some sweet moments

 

[Ando85]

I enjoyed a few of the DBZ movies. But, I really couldn't get into the show. To me each episode consisted of this:

1. tell you what happened last episode
2. 2 dudes float in the air and talk
3. they fight for a few seconds
4. 2 dudes float in the air and talk
5. they fight for a few seconds
6. tell you what is going to happen in the next episode.

 

[scorptatious]

I remember watching DBZ every day after school on Toonami. All the way up to the end of the Frieza saga.

Looking at it now, the show, at least the 4kids version, the one I grew up with, is pretty slow paced and the voice acting is kinda sub-par.

I love the abridged version of the series though. LittleKuriboh as Frieza is fucking brilliant.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

When I was young and goofy? Sure. DBZ was awesome, much like a lot of Shounen anime was. Now? Well...mostly it's a drinking-game with my buddies and I. Make sure to Chug that beer until Goku stops powering up!

The original Dragonball, with Goku as a child, I think was probably fun. I never saw a whole lot of it. What I do remember of it it had more story than DBZ did, so that can only be a plus. I think the series as a whole is on top-ten lists for nostalgia-related reasons and indeed 'so bad it's good' stuff too.

However OP, I may need you to scrub your eyes and brain if you've been willingly watching Beyblade. Pokemon is one thing, but the fate of the world depending on spinning-tops is just marketing merch and they're not even trying anymore. Even Bakugan had it's moments compared to Beyblade.

Evangelion....urgh. Can someone explain to the guy who made the series that the best way to show that a character is not normal/messed up in the head is to place him or her with some otherwise normal characters? If EVERYONE is a headcase in the cast, the notion of ANY of them being a headcase just loses impact to me. Yes, I get it: Shinji is spineless, big surprise. Asuka is not completely okay with who she is, gee how novel. Rei is...well, the list is too big to go into for Rei if you count the spoilers. Hell, I think the ONLY sane and reasonable person in the bloody series was Kaji and we all saw what the creator did to HIM. 'Oh look! Someone who had problems, stopped being ashamed of them, learned to live with them, and has thus moved on and accepted himself and become a better person for it! KEEP HIM OUTTA HERE! STUFF HIM IN A PIT OR SOMETHING! NOTHING CAN RUIN THE DEEEEEEEEP! PEOPLE ARE TERRIBLE AND SICK AND TIME AND INTROSPECTION AND EXPERIENCE WILL NEVER EVER SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS OR HELP THEM COPE!'

Maybe I'm reading something different in the characters but I just got tired that there was so much emphasis on the problems these characters had, but almost NO emphasis on them trying to get over them. To me dwelling on those mental problems/states and not allowing the characters to move past them is just as bad as being so ignorant as to simply portray them overcoming them by sheer willpower. Neither one is what happens in real life for many people. You have your problems. Eventually you see them for what they are and you stop freaking out about them and you learn that they are a part of you. You get help if you need it or wish to change it, or if you don't get help you learn to accept those parts of you with maturity and control. It becomes a part of who you are, it doesn't dominate everything you do. Or at least you try not to let it. It's not easy, nor is it quick, and sometimes it's a process that's never even complete. But one way or another you don't remain a slave to whatever problems you have forever. Something always changes.

 

[Altorin]

If I had to venture a guess, I'd say it's considered a "classic", but most anime fans hate it because it's for kids and runs a little slow, and has a ludicrous plot.

I love it though, and with a liberal application of illicit substances, it can be amazing

 

[God'sFist]

Allow me to word this better, I've hardly watched any anime. I've seen Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Pokemon, Soul Eater, and Beyblade.

Dragon Ball Z has the fondest memories for me, and is my favorite childhood show.

Now, I'm sure many of you have watched many animes, and I was wondering, is the DB series really regarded as good among you knowledgeable peeps? I know many people like it, and nostalgia plays a large factor, but how is it thought of amongst the anime community?

Well i still like it (watched the Kai) but the older you get the more you notice how ridiculous it is and it also feels like they didn't know where they were going to when they started DBZ. But it doesn't mean it ain't good, it's just "special" and i love it for it.

mainly because of Krillin saying that that the spirit bomb is a spirit ball and a few other minor changes like that. I mean when you grow up and one of the most iconic moves aside from the kameha wave is changed you get a little offended, i guess. Now I don't mean to speak for everybody about that but that's why me no like. but abridged top notch.

 

[Quaidis]

Have you watched Kai? It's so fucking awesome but a lot of DBZ fans hate it. DBZ FANS Y U NO LIKE KAI? ლ(ಠ益ಠ&#4314

Dragonball Z filler is actually pretty good. They're either funny or an interesting story in the universe. That's the only reason I dislike Kai.

Going to post just to say I agree with you. I don't like Kai because it takes charm away from DBZ. It's like, "You've seen DBZ. You've seen Cell. You've seen Boo. You've collected all those dragonballs seventeen times over. Now watch it all like you've never seen before - like an ADHD kid who can't sit still for more than two seconds."

The filler is great and adds atmosphere to the series.


My memory has tried to dispell what I have seen of Kai, but I remember two things. Gohan changed outfits something like three times in a 5 minute part with no explanation. And they redubbed one of the characters with a different voice.

...The later always hits me the wrong way because of what they did to Akira. (Go Streamline dubs!)

 

[Nannernade]

I liked it as a kid before I knew what anime actually was ha ha. Looking back it was one of the cheesiest I've ever seen, and the fact that most of their episodes involved 30 minutes of screaming really makes me question why I liked it so much.

 

[umboo890]

Dragon ball Z wishes it could be Fist of the North Star.

 

[Agayek]

I actually really think the Abridged series is the best way to watch the series

Not gonna lie, Abridged!Mr. Popo scares the shit out of me.

OT: The way I see it, the Dragon Ball series breaks down as follows:

Dragon Ball = Great
Dragon Ball Z (Pre-Cell) = Almost great
Dragon Ball Z (Post-Frieza) = Decent
Dragon Ball GT = crap

That's all I've seen anyway, and I'm fairly confident that if the show continued, it would just get more and more ridiculous and bad, so just extrapolate the quality curve.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Dragon ball is a fun and goofy show its not really much more than that.
One Piece is a bit better written.

I've seen Dragon Shit, Dragon Shit Z, Dragon Shit GT, Pokeshit, Shit Eater, and Beyshit.

You need to watch better anime. I recommend:

Now that is something highly over rated!

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Have you watched Kai? It's so fucking awesome but a lot of DBZ fans hate it. DBZ FANS Y U NO LIKE KAI? ლ(ಠ益ಠ&#4314

Dragonball Z filler is actually pretty good. They're either funny or an interesting story in the universe. That's the only reason I dislike Kai.

Going to post just to say I agree with you. I don't like Kai because it takes charm away from DBZ. It's like, "You've seen DBZ. You've seen Cell. You've seen Boo. You've collected all those dragonballs seventeen times over. Now watch it all like you've never seen before - like an ADHD kid who can't sit still for more than two seconds."

The filler is great and adds atmosphere to the series.


My memory has tried to dispell what I have seen of Kai, but I remember two things. Gohan changed outfits something like three times in a 5 minute part with no explanation. And they redubbed one of the characters with a different voice.

...The later always hits me the wrong way because of what they did to Akira. (Go Streamline dubs!)

WOW I thought I was the only one that hated Kai!

 

[Nopenahnuhuh]

And since we've decided to hop on the topic, every episode of Evangelion including the final two, are fantastic. Never after has something so utterly honest about it's creator come forth (that was the 90's for ya). It's got good characters with relatable struggles, and it's balls-out amazing because it succeeds not in spite of breaking all the rules of storytelling 101, but because it does so. (That's part of the point.)

End of Evangelion is also really good, but ends in the most thematically self-contradictory way ever.

The Rebuild movies are so far solid, but it remains yet to be seen whether it will "fix" the ending (that was never broken), but also raises it's own concerns by taking a lot of the things that were unique and unhinged about the original creation's and sort of smoothing them out what is a more universally agreeable, but less flavorful vanilla. The best description comes from TVTropes, which says that it's basically like the original show is someone with serious mental problems, and the Rebuild series is that person on their medication.

True fact: the final two episodes were originally planned to be very similar to EoE, but ended up being made the way they were because Gainax had literally run out of time and money and had to put some random bullshit together in a panic. EoE was made because THE SHOW'S OWN CREATOR was disappointed with the last two episodes, and wanted to end the story more properly.

I found eva to only be decent,

Granted, this was coming off of watching Gainaxes' other amazing series' FLCL and Gurren Lagann.

Honestly the only memorable parts of Eva that stick out in my mind was the fight scene with Asuka during the movie, and that part where

Spoiler

Shinji's mom voraciously eats a giant alien's stillbeating heart out of its chest. That lady musta been seriously messed up.

It sounds like you're mostly into the gore/action and don't really give a damn about things like characterization.

Episodes 7-13 and the first half of 14 are skippable bullshit, but the rest is quite good (assuming that you watch the movie instead of episodes 25 & 26).

I really wouldn't say they are skippable. All of it, I think atleast is vital if you're going to watch the series. And for the love of the god, the last two episodes are still good... atleast in my opinion.

Episodes 7-13 and the first half of 14 can be summarized as follows:

"Misato tells Shinji that Second Impact was actually caused by humanity, not by a meteor. Kaji gives Gendo an embryo frozen in carbonite. Then Satan in female form moves in with Shinji and Misato."

This is literally all you need to know about that block of episodes.

The only ones I liked AND actually watched all the way till the end, are FLCL and Paranoia Agent.

Not too hard when FLCL is 2 hours long...

Rei is the quite goth chick.

Now that you have actually claimed this, everything that you say about Evangelion is automatically wrong. No exceptions.

there is nothing good about Elfen Lied.

Okay, from now on, everything that you say about everything is automatically wrong.

As an addendum, watch Evangelion, even 25 and 26. If you know the back story behind those episodes then its actually really awesome what Hideaki decided to do with the limited budget he ended up having (and now with the new films we may actually see what he had actually intended)

Ummmm, we already saw that in EoE...

Evangelion....urgh. Can someone explain to the guy who made the series that the best way to show that a character is not normal/messed up in the head is to place him or her with some otherwise normal characters? If EVERYONE is a headcase in the cast, the notion of ANY of them being a headcase just loses impact to me. Yes, I get it: Shinji is spineless, big surprise. Asuka is not completely okay with who she is, gee how novel. Rei is...well, the list is too big to go into for Rei if you count the spoilers. Hell, I think the ONLY sane and reasonable person in the bloody series was Kaji and we all saw what the creator did to HIM. 'Oh look! Someone who had problems, stopped being ashamed of them, learned to live with them, and has thus moved on and accepted himself and become a better person for it! KEEP HIM OUTTA HERE! STUFF HIM IN A PIT OR SOMETHING! NOTHING CAN RUIN THE DEEEEEEEEP! PEOPLE ARE TERRIBLE AND SICK AND TIME AND INTROSPECTION AND EXPERIENCE WILL NEVER EVER SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS OR HELP THEM COPE!'

By the end of the series, everyone was dead, and they had learned to cope with their problems, mostly because their problems now consisted of being part of a hive-mind in an ocean of Tang. So really, nothing happened to Kaji that didn't happen to everyone else; it just happened to him sooner.

Wrong? Not really. Red eyes, white hair, tough girl attitude, bandaged up half the time, when not flat out dead.

I'm speaking from experience, I've rolled with metalheads, goths and otaku and every single goth chick wannabe had either a pathetic "lesbian crush" or idolized Rei.

I'm not talking out of my ass here, you might not agree but hell, Rei was the prototype anime goth minus the black outfit. Put her next to Paine from FF-X2 and tell me you don't see a resemblance.

 

[darlarosa]

Good from what prospective?

It depends on what you are looking for. Personally I consider the Dragonball series fun, but juvenile in the realm of manga and anime. I do not mean to demean the series so do not think I mean it that way. The show does not really serve toward a theme or deal with serious ideas. It is a beat 'em up...Yu Yu Hakusho had more going on in terms of characters but was a fighting series for instance.

I consider "good anime" as being consistant, knowing when to end, having well written characters. Dragonball and it's subsequent series have issues when you think about them. Thats part of why I find DBZ Abridged so hilarious.

All that said I perfer shorter series with more cohesive plots. It's biggest problem is the problem of Inuyasha Naruto, and other series...basically they just keep going and going with nothing TRULY advancing for changing in a significant way in comparison to the amount of show there is (One big plot twist for every 50 episodes is not change really) nor does the plot really go beyond "fight new big bad, use a saiyan"

I like Outlaw Star, Samurai Champloo, Tenchi Muyo Ryo-oki, Wolf's Reign, Trigun, and I suggest The Big O as starting points from anime like the Dragon Balls

 

[Innegativeion]

I found eva to only be decent,

Granted, this was coming off of watching Gainaxes' other amazing series' FLCL and Gurren Lagann.

Honestly the only memorable parts of Eva that stick out in my mind was the fight scene with Asuka during the movie, and that part where

Spoiler

Shinji's mom voraciously eats a giant alien's stillbeating heart out of its chest. That lady musta been seriously messed up.

It sounds like you're mostly into the gore/action and don't really give a damn about things like characterization.

Well, that's quite a gargantuan leap to make, considering the fight scene in EoE is probably Asuka's most powerful moment of character development. I didn't say those parts were my favorite... just the most memorable, because I found the rest quite dull. To clarify; Gankutsuo: The count of Monte Cristo is among my favorite anime. It's never a good idea to make sweeping statements like that. Damnit that was one... sorry.

You wound me, good sir; I love character development. I'd go as far to say characterization is my favorite part of a good story, but the eva cast are just uninteresting to me. I just find that the characterization of Eva for the most part to be... pretentious('s been said, I know), and boring. I couldn't tell you if Shinji learned anything useful by the end of the series other than not being a coward (or in the words of his VA, "I mustn't run away... yeah, I got that" ). But whatever, none of it matters anyway, everybody dies at the end (unless they can regenerate if they want... maybe). All of them were pretty much terrible people anyway.

TPGL was pretty action-oriented, to be sure, but it had characters I cared much more about. Viral's dream sequence in the last episode is one of the most emotional scenes in any anime for me.

Additionally FLCL, which while much more lighthearted than eva, still only had very short action sequences and was highly character driven. It's more about coming of age and personal purpose than fighting robots.

So yeah, don't tell me I'm a gore jockey because Shinji's abandonment issues, Rei's need to remind us that she's creepily lifeless, and Gendo's notion that the apocolypse is worth seeing his wife as a giant robot fall a little flat for me.

It's a good series, but not great. I remember wanting to watch it because I read all these really interesting lore on its wiki that painted the picture of a fascinating cosmic horror story... like Lovecraft with giant robots. I feel it lost most of its potential there, by leaving all the cookiest parts of its lore (like what all the alien stuff actually is, specifically) ambiguous within the main work itself. Uninteresting characters would have been a far lesser detractor for me if they focused more on the cosmic horror aspect, rather than using the mentally unstable characters to decorate a monster of the week show.

Note: Haven't seen rebuild yet, though I intend to

 

[NickKuroshi0]

Its not that its good its just fun to watch

 

[thirion1850]

I've seen Dragon Shit, Dragon Shit Z, Dragon Shit GT, Pokeshit, Shit Eater, and Beyshit.

You need to watch better anime. I recommend:

A pointlessly religiously symbolism filled angst fest with the worst protagonist in the history of anything, a hilariously camp "look at human nature" with a rabid, worshiping fanbase. Yeah, lets go watch us some overrated tripe rather than anything actually worth our time. We'll be all the more hipster and edgy for it.

Regardless, OT: Yes, it is good. It, like many before it, set the foundation for our current, modern anime scene. DBZ is also like 300. But with aliens. Shooting spirit blasts at eachother made out of PURE UNTAINTED TESTOSTERONE!

 

[Innegativeion]

A pointlessly religiously symbolism filled angst fest with the worst protagonist in the history of anything, a hilariously camp "look at human nature" with a rabid, worshiping fanbase. Yeah, lets go watch us some overrated tripe rather than anything actually worth our time. We'll be all the more hipster and edgy for it.

Don't be turned off of gainax by it, though.

I honestly think it's one of Gainax's worst pieces... though not as bad you make it out to be. Highly overrated yes,

and all it's "religious symbolism" is entirely arbitrary.

(nukes explode into crucifixes? The hell does that even mean??)

---------------------------------------------------

Realizing I haven't spoken on topic yet, I'd say,

DBZ is a very fun watch, especially if you skip some of the filler.

It won't satisfy any desire for deep, profound storytelling or overly complex characters. Character arcs, where they even exist, are quite simplistic. Dialogue can get quite cheesy. Writing won't win any awards.

HOWEVER, it remains very enthusiastic throughout its run, the characters can be likeable despite their simplicity, and the fight scenes are for the most part well done.

It's like the "popcorn flick" of animes... except good like avengers, not shitty like... well you can think of an example.

GT on the other hand, is very contrived and kind of dull. Not heart-wrenchingly abominable as some would claim, but I watched it once... wouldn't again.