First of all this will not be a comparison of the original unedited Japanese Dragon Ball Z to it's American Censored counterpart. I will try to judge the first season on it's own merits. This show is not plot heavy whatsoever and can be enjoyed by people of any age. In fact sometimes it is rather suprising to see what the translators got away with. Salutes go out to the first cartoon I have seen that had anybody running around with a cut off arm. Too bad they edited all the blood out.
There you have it the beginning of a story but who cares it's the fight scenes that make this cartoon as cool as it is. The plot has alot of little twists and turns, and as this season stands on its own it's pretty fair. Later you find out that the second season is almost a direct copy of the first but no matter the animation is top notch and even though I prefer the original soundtracks Shuki Levy did a pretty good job. If you are lighthearted and enjoy oh say Jackie Chan and Godzilla movies, then give this a shot. If you're looking for an intriguing plot look elsewhere. Personally I truly enjoy it and look forward to the conclusion of the second season. The third season is where it REALLY starts taking off. The only problem is the action drops off a bit in mid season. The intensity at the end of the season more than makes up for it. A fight scene that takes 6 episodes to cover whoduv thought. Art/Animation: (8) Beautiful artwork and quite an imaginative world. The fight scenes are wonderful and express the anger of the characters in the movements quite well Imagery: (9) Why do I give it a 9? The depiction of sheer power. Never before have I seen power manifested through drawings of this level. From aura's to transformations and destruction this is every testoterone filled teenager's instinctual imagination of destuction and power. I buy this show for the same reason I continue to buy KoRn CD's. Destruction and power. Story: (4) While imaginative this show is just one big fight scene with hilarious character designs. The whole point of the story is to see how powerful Gokou can get. Sound/Soundtrack: (5) Someone shoot Shuki Levy in the head. Then again we could be listening to head cha la. But the background music throughout the series has some big lame spots. Dub: (6) Good characterization of the original voices. No matter how annoying Goku is. Vegeta is fun to listen to. Drama/Comedy: (3) It's not funny, the story sucks but the animation will have you coming back for more. Overall: (69) yeah I boosted the score a bit only because I continue to really enjoy this series. I dunno what it is. It's completely repetetive. I dont care I like it though. (remember in my book 45-55 is average). I may have given it a low score but let me assure you I am now a DBZ fanatic. I just sent out to get 40 fansubbed episodes from the freezer saga. |
Dragon Ball Z Season 1 |
As far as voices go watch out for Goku's voice actor he seems to suffer from overemphasis a bit "my name is GO- KOOO" other than that the
english cast is superb. A big hats off to Vegeta's voice actor. He
sounds
wonderfully evil. It all begins with the continuing adventures of Goku.
Goku is of an alien race whose purpose is to fight. He was sent to
Earth to clear
the planet of it's inhabitants so it could be settled by an alien race.
When Goku
was just a baby though he bumped his noggin on a rock and changed into a
good guy. The
first season starts out with Goku and his son Gohan go for a reunion
with the original
Dragon Ball cast. But alas a pod lands and it happens to contain Goku's
older brother
Raditz who still happens to be a bad guy.