Opening Thoughts:
It’s been almost a year that I have not written a review. But as I said from my previous post, I am technically back! I’m kicking my return by writing my very first anime review and that is Dragon Ball! It is an anime that is known as the origins of the legendary anime “Dragon Ball Z”. While I grew up watching Dragon Ball Z as a kid, I also grew up watching Dragon Ball a little bit. I don’t remember too much with Dragon Ball but I do remember watching several episodes as a kid. I remember being very curious and drawn into the anime a lot. Around the summer of 2016, I made a decision that I knew was going to take me a long while to accomplish. This decision was re watching Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and also watch Dragon Ball Super for the first time. As I am writing this review, it is 2020 and I’m almost done watching Dragon Ball Super. What a long and amazing journey it has been. I knew it would be a long journey because I knew I couldn’t watch episodes back to back all the time since I had other things to do in my personal life. But I’m finally almost done with the entire Dragon Ball chronological series. With that being said, let’s talk more about Dragon Ball. Without Dragon Ball, there wouldn’t be Dragon Ball Z. Ir’s simple as that. Anime fans know that as well. People who are getting into anime that wants to watch the Dragon Ball series don’t need to watch the very first “Dragon Ball” anime and can just start right off with “Dragon Ball Z”. But it wouldn’t hurt to go just a little bit back and watch the origins that started Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball is no doubt underrated so lets get down to business.
The Positives:
The main great thing about Dragon Ball is the story concept. An individual has to find seven Dragon Balls scattered across the world and once all seven are found, any wish can be granted by the Dragon named Shenron to that individual.
The first Dragon Ball show revolves around just that and main character is Goku. Boy, all anime fans know who Goku is. More than twenty plus years later, Goku has come a LONG way and instantly became an iconic anime character. Goku goes on the journey to find the Dragon Balls with his ally Bulma and more friends along the way named Yamcha, Krillin, etc. He eventually then becomes a martial arts student for Master Roshi and Krillin also becomes his student as well. You’ll see as you watch the episodes how they become best friends and how they join the Martial Arts Tournament three times and fight the powerful opponents that the show had to offer at the time.
Around the middle of the show, Goku gains fandom in the Red Ribbon Army Saga. He takes out that evil army all by himself and that is when viewers know this Goku kid is something special. You get introduced to more new characters along the way during the middle of the show such as Korin, Yajirobe, Tien Shinhan, Chioatzou, etc.
The saga that is my favorite is the saga that kicked off right after the scene where Krillin gets killed which is the King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr, Saga. It is my favorite saga because the scene where Krillin gets killed is where the show got really dark and was at its climax (in my opinion), It really took everyone off guard at the time and watching this scene back at 2016 really gave me bad goosebumps. Right after that scene, the show was at its peak in my opinion and I couldn’t stop binge watching to know what would happen next. Piccolo being introduced as the villain for the very first time in the last season was also a scene that took me off guard and after that point on, he became one of the beloved characters alongside everyone else in the show and also into the other series. My other favorite moment and I’m sure everyone else can agree with this is how all the characters grew up during the time when Goku was facing Piccolo at the last tournament of the last season. It was a moment to remember to see Goku and his friends a bit grown up and a bit more mature because you are used to seeing them very little throughout all the seasons except the last one. The opening theme of the anime is a well known one and also very catchy too in my opinion.
The Negatives:
While, Dragon Ball has many positive elements, there is only one negative thing I have to say about the show but it’s more of a nitpick. The nitpick that I have is that some episodes of the show was a bit boring and some were slow to get to the point. But this is only a nitpick and it does not hurt the anime by any means.
The Verdict:
Overall, Dragon Ball is one of the best introductory anime that is out there and I would recommend any anime fan to take some time to watch it or even revisit the series. If you want to revisit the series, I would just watch the episodes that are the most memorable ones . But that is up to you. I wasn’t born in the 80’s but I am sure anime fans in the 80’s loved and couldn’t stop talking about Dragon Ball. With the nitpick that I have with the show, I am going to give Dragon Ball four out of five stars. Stay tuned for my next review and that is one of the ICONIC anime of all time, Dragon Ball Z. 😉
The Elite Film Prodigy 