The Dragonball/Z/GT Thread

I personally love the Dragonball franchise. Dragonabll Z was my favorite show growing up, and then I watched the original, and GT. IT's my favorite franchise of all time. I thought it'd be cool to make a thread about it, cause I know there are at least more fans out there. We've got a Naruto thread, so why not DB/Z/GT thread?

I'm currently following re-release of the series. It's called Dragonball Kai and it's pretty much getting rid of all the problem that DBZ had. It's still like on like episode 11 though. I think I'm gonna stop though and wait until the dubbing of this new version comes out cause the Japanese actors are horrible when compared to the English ones IMO.

Dragon Ball = Amazing
Dragon Ball Z = Awesome
Dragon Ball GT = Awful

GT? What's that? I've never heard of a "GT" before.


Yeah, I've watched all of Z, and I'm watching Kai as it comes out. Did anyone see the special episode that came out? Best thing ever.

Originally Posted by Forte

Dragon Ball = Amazing
Dragon Ball Z = Awesome
Dragon Ball GT = Awful

Exactly this.

The main thing I don't like about the series is that it has (and is probably one of the first examples of) running-on-forever-anime syndrome.

DBZ would have been great if it ended right after Frieza, or maybe even Cell.
You could completely tell it was supposed to end at Frieza, but some money-loving jackal decided it needed to go on forever.

Also, GT is one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life. I mean, just LOOK at the first episode and tell me they didn't pull it out of their asses the night before a deadline.

Originally Posted by Tonchiki

Exactly this.

The main thing I don't like about the series is that it has (and is probably one of the first examples of) running-on-forever-anime syndrome.

DBZ would have been great if it ended right after Frieza, or maybe even Cell.
You could completely tell it was supposed to end at Frieza, but some money-loving jackal decided it needed to go on forever.

Also, GT is one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life. I mean, just LOOK at the first episode and tell me they didn't pull it out of their asses the night before a deadline.

Yea from what I heard, the Manga did stop after the Frieza saga, but the anime just continued on or something like that. I personally would of liked if the series just completely skipped the Android/Cell saga and went to the Buu one. Cause personally even though I did like that part cuz Gohan got to shine, I just felt like Buu was an enemy that was so much cooler.

I personally loved Buu. Watched almost all of the DB/Z episodes, but it started getting dry after Uub came into the picture. And it's agreed that the Android Saga was a bit overkill on the series.

Originally Posted by Kishíro D

Yea from what I heard, the Manga did stop after the Frieza saga, but the anime just continued on or something like that. I personally would of liked if the series just completely skipped the Android/Cell saga and went to the Buu one. Cause personally even though I did like that part cuz Gohan got to shine, I just felt like Buu was an enemy that was so much cooler.

The manga covered Cell and Buu. And I'd actually say that the manga was supposed to end at Cell - all the loose ends are tied up:

Kami and Piccolo are one again
Krillin has found 18
Vegeta has found his... humanity, for want of a better word
Goku is dead but doesn't mind (the story has always been about Goku, so ending with his death makes sense)
Gohan has stepped up to carry on the legacy
Bulma's wish finally came true

The Buu saga, I think, arose because of the single loose end of Goku being owed a day among the living because of Baba.

Just finished watching the first season of Dragon Ball Z. I got to say, you can tell that the show was made in the 80's because there is an unbelievable amount of random talking and exchanges. It was awesome when I was a kid, but I think that I grew out of it.

Dragon Ball Kai I think has only 16 episodes aired so far in japan, and they have already covered most of the first season. I'm waiting for this to be released state side before I buy anything else dragon ball related, except the manga.

Yea I guess you're right It does tie up loose end. I just wish they could put in Buu in Cell's place or what cuz Buu>Cell coolness-wise.

Originally Posted by Dark Wyrm

Dragon Ball Kai I think has only 16 episodes aired so far in japan, and they have already covered most of the first season. I'm waiting for this to be released state side before I buy anything else dragon ball related, except the manga.

Really? Wow O.o Now it seems like the story is progressing to fast now. XP

I swore to god that the manga ended after cell saga.

Overall, I think that the manga is superior to the TV show, just because of the "forever and never ending" status that the show took on. The manga seemed to be better paced.

I thought all the sagas in Z were great. And if it happen to be stopped after the Frieza Saga, it would've of been too short. And I thought Cell was a cooler enemy than Buu, but only by a slight much. And it's because he absorbed the life out of people to get his power. He got it with his tail, and it looked cool. And I thought the SS2 Gohan transformation was awesome, and then Cell hurt Gohan's arm, but he still defended himself when Cell pulled off his most powerful Kamehameha he had, and Goku helped him, and destroyed him completly so he wouldn't come back like he did when he blew up and killed Goku and King Kai and the others. Pure awesomeness. I loved the Buu saga too, I loved every saga.
It's also cool that the first season of Dragonball is finally being released the same way Z and GT were (even though GT had an aspect ratio of 4:3, not 16:9, but you know...). I think it's getting released September 15th.

And I don't know why some people hate on GT. It was just as good as Z and DB.

DBZ was fantastic. The characters were awesome, it had a great story, and amazing fights. Dragon Ball was pretty cool, too. Seemed more focused on humour and adventuring than DBZ, but it was still great. DBGT was so inferior compared to the other two. I don't know why, it was just... not as good. Maybe because of Pan?

Anyway, I think they could have easily ended things at the Cell Saga. Everything was wrapped up, as Evilsbane said. They probably only made the Buu Saga because the fans wouldn't shut up and stop screaming for more. When only Vegeta, Goku, and Trunks could transform into a Super Saiyan, it was considered the coolest thing ever, but by the Buu Saga, freaking everyone can do it! It takes away the spectacle of the legendary transformation.

The Namek Saga was amazing. Great villain, and awesome fights. The "Goku appears and saves everyone at the last second" thing was wearing a bit old, though.


Anyone like the movies?

"Anything is possible in DBZ if you yell loud enough." -Shaun Rentaford, a friend of mine. :3

Originally Posted by Forte

Dragon Ball = Amazing
Dragon Ball Z = Awesome
Dragon Ball GT = Awful

This is exactly how I feel. I used to love watching Dragon Ball, and Dragon Ball Z. They were really fun to watch.

Originally Posted by Dark Wyrm

I swore to god that the manga ended after cell saga.

Overall, I think that the manga is superior to the TV show, just because of the "forever and never ending" status that the show took on. The manga seemed to be better paced.

Yeah, the manga is better. I've actually recently started collecting the Dragon Ball manga books, just to read and stuff, and I really like them.

I read all of the manga of Dragonball, but watched little of the anime then. I have to say, it reminds me another one of Akira Toriyama's works called Dr. Slump. Maybe it's because of it's crazy sense of humor it has.

DBZ was the pinpoint of my childhood. It's how I met one of my best friends really. We were always huge fans of the series: action figures, episodes, movies, manga on Shonen Jump, and we even played the Budakai games (Burst Limit sucks and even we have that). I'd have to say the story arcs were pretty interesting. The dialogue was pretty slow and cheeky, but it was all about the violence. My personal favourite was Vegeta, being the anti-hero with a kick-ass voice. I also liked Cell because so many characteristics came and went from the other characters as he transformed and he was a very formable fighter and a stury character.

GT was....ugghh. It was obvious Akira Toriyama never intended to continue the series then. There are so many flaws with this. Vegeta having thats cheesy mustache (ruined his repuation sure), Goku having no problem turning into SS4 (seriously, how much power he showed as SS3 in the Z saga, and he just does it like no problem), Goku as a kid (bad idea overall), no Akira Toriyama, and the dialogue was pretty bad.

And what does GT stand for anyways? Probably something as stupid as Grand Tour...

I've been working my way through the series all summer, I just started the android Saga today. IMO GT isn't really bad, it was just completely unnecessary and redundant. The ending provided by the kid buu saga worked just fine. I think GT was created just so more money could be squeezed out of the Dragonball series. moreover, it seemed like it was designed for viwers who weren't overly familar with the dragonball universe.

Solink: I always thought the GT stood for galaxy travel because that's what they do to find the black star dragon balls. The Buu saga dragged on forever IMO. Cell would have been a good ending had it not have ended with Goku being dead.

I used to be a big Dragon Ball Z fan. Like, um... 7 years ago. lol.

(BTW, I'm not sure if any of this needs to be spoilered...)

However, that has changed. I just really can't stand how the fights last a thousand episodes and that, after the Freiza part, it spirals downhill.

I liked the Freiza part and before... It was more centered around story instead of action. It should have ended right there. When everything still made sense, when Goku was the only Super Saiyan like it should have been.

What happened to the "legend"? Well it went down the drain right when Trunks came from the future and turned Super Saiyan all of the sudden. Cool? Maybe. But only at that time. After that turning Super Saiyan just turns into something they have to work hard to achieve. But that's not the way the legend works! And then Goten and Trunks become Super Saiyans so easily as kids. >_> It makes it even worse. Even if I liked them because they were cute... They shouldn't have become Super Saiyans. The series should have ended with Freiza's defeat!

I will always prefer Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball Z. It was more centered around humor, and that suited the series better. I guess when he focused it on action he was forced to stick with the generic Shounen formula (did he actually create it? I don't know!): Main hero continually gets stronger.

It just wasn't the best way to go if you ask me. As I said earlier, it destroys the legend of the Super Saiyan. They are supposed to be the strongest Saiyans. I guess I could understand if it was just Goku, but it extended to all of them in the end...

And I haven't even really watched Dragon Ball GT. I saw a few episodes here and there, but not enough to really understand what exactly was going on.

But hey without the Dragon Ball series and the standard Shounen formula there would be no One Piece, and that would be sad. Although I think it's influenced more by Dragon Ball than Dragon Ball Z. I prefer adventure and humor to action. If there has to be action, it needs to be connected to the story. Like it was in the Freiza part and beforehand, and like it is in One Piece.