I have been a fan of the Dragonball series for many years, in fact, I believe I was probably about 13 when first watched the Dragonball Z Saiyan Saga, and that’s going backI nearly ten years ago now. It had only just aired in the UK when I started watching it, and for years to come, I was in awe of this awesome cartoon.
I remember having to wait months for a new saga to either begin, or for the saga to continue (I think the Freiza saga lasted about a year and a half 0_0). I also remember when they announced that Dragonball and GT would finally be coming to the UK screens. It was an amazing time for me.
Now, I will leave the subject of Dragonball for another day, and I am going to focus on the ‘travesty’ that was Dragonball GT. Now I know that my statement may make others hate me, but please, allow me to continue.
You see, I loved the fact that everyone had grown up, it was a new chapter in the Dragonball universe. However, as the series progressed, I became more and more withdrawn from the series. Mainly, this was because the characters had actually changed. And this is no simple matter of character development, it actually stems from the lack of interaction in the creation progress of Akira Toriyama, and his input was seriously missed.
You see, the main issue I had was the fact that Vegeta had changed so much (and undoubtedly this made emphasised even more in the poorly dubbed American version) and he was no longer the anti-hero that I had grown up with and loved. Instead, he was just old, and flat…as in his whole character was just two dimensional, lacking in any personality.
There was also the issues with the Saga’s that were very hit or miss, and many of which (Babidi) suffered for the length of the saga being too long, and some, (Super 17 Saga) suffered for being too short. I mean, they could have done so much more with the 17 Saga and the re-introduction of a key character that had been missing in action since the Cell Saga in Dragonball Z.
Overall I was a little disheartened from the whole Dragonball GT series, the awful “Let’s keep Goku as a kid” theme which added nothing to the plot, story or entertainment, as well as the poor choice of saga’s such as the black star dragonball’s etc. It was like watching someone flog a dead horse, and in the end I simply stopped watching. And that’s me, the person who spent all her pocket money on DBZ merchandise from the age of thirteen. I was so down heartened that I even contemplated boycotting watching the Dragonball saga.
Now, don’t get me wrong as there are some good points to the Dragonball GT series, such as the really cool new super Saiyan levels, which I am sure many will agree are awesome, and the fact that we are shown how much stronger Goku really is than any of the other Z heroes (many of which are absent from the series), and the fact that Vegeta only manages to increase his Saiyan power through the use of technology.
But this is a series that should only be watching in small doses, as over exposure to such drivel that exists in the majority of this series may cause internal damage to the individual. I am currently re-watching the series to see if it does have any truly redeeming features…I must add, I am at the Super 17 Saga, and so far…it does not. But don’t let me put you off; if you love Dragonball and Dragonball GT, it’s definitely worth completing the series.
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After a little bit of site maintenance which required me to take down my manga uploads, they have no been re-uploaded, and are bigger and better than ever before.
computer animated, I have decided to write about the old and classically brilliant (and hillarious) Speed Racer.
there! And yet, somehow, Anime Exchange has managed to get a hold of a few.
