DragonBall is underrated

Zazen

I really dont understand why people hate Dragonball, it`s probably one of the greatest mangas ever made. The manga was really funny, and the plot was great. And the fighting scenes was really awesome, unntil the Cell saga.

The only bad thing I have to say about the series is that it should have ended after Frieza saga. Goku reaching SSJ1-level would have been a great ending for the greatest adventure-anime besides One Piece.

Insted the author chose to wreak havoc and ruin the series great reputation by making endless fights, and sucky plots in the 4 last sagas….:sad:

Buuhan1

People don't hate Dragonball….from as far as I'm aware most people still like it or love it.

igalsfy

@Zazen:

I really dont understand why people hate Dragonball, it`s probably one of the greatest mangas ever made. The manga was really funny, and the plot was great. And the fighting scenes was really awesome, unntil the Cell saga.

The only bad thing I have to say about the series is that it should have ended after Frieza saga. Goku reaching SSJ1-level would have been a great ending for the greatest adventure-anime besides One Piece.

Insted the author chose to wreak havoc and ruin the series great reputation by making endless fights, and sucky plots in the 4 last sagas….:sad:

you know it's considered like the greatest shonen ever, right? or at least the reference for nearly every shonen that came out after it. where did you see that it's underrated? your source of information is completely biased.

Zazen

But in every forum Im in people always bash Dragonball, always. I just cant see why….

Buuhan1

Then you goto nazi forums.

Tokoro Ataru

From what I've seen, the only part of DB that's underrated is everything prior to Majin Piccolo, when Toriyama was able to balance all of the various factors between action, drama, comedy and such. Its from then on that the action starts overwhelming everything else and…well, the fights are cool at first, but by the time you get to the Cell saga and beyond, it takes the stuff that Toriyama seemed to abandon to focus on action (such as the comedy and weird situations) to keep the series fresh. Personally, if it weren't for him being so uber due to everyone that came before him and the need to make him the strongest enemy yet, Majin Buu would be a cooler concept.

Greg

Then you goto nazi forums.

I LOL'D

To quote an old avatar.

Aldrich

Dragonball is kickass. You may think people are bashing it when they're saying "oh no it's just like Dragonball" when talking about another manga, but it's not because the reference Dragonball created was bad, but because it shows a lack of originality from today's manga authors who can't get away from the formula.

I'm not sure if it's clear…

Dragon Warrior Steve

@Zazen:

Insted the author chose to wreak havoc and ruin the series great reputation by making endless fights, and sucky plots in the 4 last sagas….:sad:

Oh…. hell...... no... The whole reason why it wreaked of havoc was because Toriyama was pressured into continuing the series, when he wanted to end it after the Freeza Saga. And when he finally tried laying his series to rest, they created GT, the uberist in shit.

igalsfy

i say Aldrich pointed out what you might be reading as underrating dragonball.

just remember people going "OH NOES G34R II IS TEH SUPA SAYIAN".

Malintex_Terek

I've heard few people have problems with Dragonball; DBZ, yes, but never the original. I guess it's because past Freiza there's really little more to DBZ than a verticle power ladder, and at that nothing to distinguish the indiscriminate grappling the characters use from actual martial arts. That and the exaggerated muscle-endowed characters that have become a signature of Toriyama (much to his chagrin, I hear; his current style is really ugly).

Tsuchirinhon

Supposedly, Toriyama had planned to end DBZ at the Frieza Arc, hence that feeling of "Why is this still continuing?"

Thrior

Well… I have faced a lot of situations where somebody innocently tells that he/she likes Dragon Ball and then there's immediately people who say something like: "How can you like DBZ? It's crap and you suck. You're not a real anime fan if you like DBZ! You're a freaking noob."
So yeah... I'm disappointed how narrowminded people can be.

I love DBZ. If somebody thinks that it sucks that's fine with me but don't start to insult people who like it. Also... I hate it when some people say that it's totally worthless and should have never been made. DB/DBZ has been a pioneer for many other anime and manga series. For example Naruto.
So yeah... DB/DBZ may not be the best but it surely isn't worthless.

Buuhan1

I love DBZ and forever will. It was my first and is also what turned on what I now call my great imgination, I will forever love it.

Yeah, I heard he wanted to end it at Frieza too but fans wanted me so he continued till then end of the Cell Saga and then thats where he was gonna finally end it. But again, the fans begged again so hence he did it till what we see the end of DBZ today. Then Toei created GT without anything from Toriyama inorder to milk more profit from the franchise.

Atleast, thats what I've heard years ago.

But I'm really happy he didn't. Lots of people call me an idiot for this and that I'm stupid and got no taste but I loved the Majin Buu saga. Buu was badass.

Thrior

@Buuhan1:

Lots of people call me an idiot for this and that I'm stupid and got no taste but I loved the Majin Buu saga. Buu was badass.

I love Buu saga too and Buu by the way is one of my favorite characters. And by this I don't mean fat Buu. I like those evil forms ^_^.

Cap'n Carter

Fat Boo and Kid Boo were the only worthwhile forms.

Buccaneer

If you take a step back and look, from beginning to end, it has very severe flaws. But hey, it's a lot of fun and is almost definitely the king of all shonen, so I wouldn't say it's over or underrated.

Cap'n Carter

Well, I think the thread creator was referring to newer anime fans who are too cool for school and Dragonball. But I think they mostly died out.

BTW, "Dragonball" refers to both series, since the manga is titled "Dragonball" from Pilaf to Boo.

Caracal

@Malintex_Terek:

I've heard few people have problems with Dragonball; DBZ, yes, but never the original. I guess it's because past Freiza there's really little more to DBZ than a verticle power ladder, and at that nothing to distinguish the indiscriminate grappling the characters use from actual martial arts. That and the exaggerated muscle-endowed characters that have become a signature of Toriyama (much to his chagrin, I hear; his current style is really ugly).

My thoughts exactly. I read one of Akira's recent one shots, Kajika, and in all honesty it was pretty much a DragonBall clone (though I do quite like Neko Majin). And with regard to the continuation of DragonBall, the only things I liked about the Cell and Buu arcs were the limited developments Gohan got and Gotenks.

Cap'n Carter

Personally, I love Toriyama's artstyle, then and now.

Even if you don't like Dragonball, Toriyama is almost unsurpassed when it comes to gag manga.

Local-chan

I lovd Dragonball, however once it got into the Z bit I got less and less interested in it, especially during the Cell saga. This was mainly due to the fact that a lot of the characters seemed to dissappear into the background, especially ones like Tenshinan. Although I did still enjoy it to the end.

TakinawaTonfa

The only Dragonball series that I've heard people truely bitch about is GT, and for good reason, it was fucking terrible.

Buccaneer

I thought the Z portion of the manga was much better, but the opposite about the anime. The Z anime is pretty much the focus of all DB related bitching. I didn't think GT was the worst anime ever, but I don't count it as part of the series and 90% of anime fans stay away from it anyway.

Inferno

@TakinawaTonfa:

The only Dragonball series that I've heard people truely bitch about is GT, and for good reason, it was fucking terrible.

agreed. i didn't even get through two 'arcs' before I deleted all of the eps.

gaara d. lucci

DB & Z are my heart & soul. I doubt I'd even care for manga & anime had I not seen them. I enjoyed them until the end. The only other series I ever enjoyed from beginning to end is Justice League.

Anyways, Dragonball isn't underated in the least. Even tho I like Z more, I recognize that the orginal had a better story with more developed characters.

I agree, GT was awful although I did enjoy the Super 17 arc (I in the minority on this). Pan was just annoying but Uub was killed even tho he got beaten.

raj

The problem with Dragonball as a whole I think is that after Namek, Toriyama really had nothing truly left for Goku to accomplish. I mean, to an extent it the Cell and Buu arcs felt like he wanted to push people like Gohan front and center but he never really got to do so because people wanted Goku. So I think part of the reason why people may not like Dragonball is because towards the end it became more absurd in terms of plot.

I always though that if Toriyama intended for things such as Goku's heart disease and Buu and his subsequent forms to be an allegory for the series, then he's a genius. Goku's heart dying would ofcourse mean then Toriyama himself no longer had the drive he once had. As for Buu I always pictured it as this, Fat Buu(was cute, friendly,funny, ie Dragonball before Piccolo), Super Buu(serious, more ass kickingness, ie Dragonball between Piccolo and Namek's destruction), and Kid Buu(absurd and nonsensical, Namek-end). Ah just a little theory but whatever though I might share.

tonitonichopper

I like Dragon Ball but Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT suck!

Dragon Ball Z and gt lost what made Dragon Ball good. They stoppeed using martial arts in fights, All they do is scream, And kamehameha was suppose to be a move only used when neccasary now its nothing more than an energy blast.

The plots suck, And all the main characters in dragon ball are now over shadowed but over poweful characters, Characters like Yamcha and krillan became nothing more than side comic relief characters ITS HORRIBLEE!

Dragon Ball z and GT are the equivilent to naruto.

Buccaneer

That's the thing, a lot of people complain about it jumping the shark after Namek. While Namek would have been a great ending, and it's obvious he grasped for straws to come up with new ideas, I didn't find the later arcs anymore absurd or ridiculous than the original ones. If anything characters like Trunks and the androids were a little more humorous, even if not intentionally.

ttc, they never did use martial arts, you know. To an extent, all of the fights were enjoyable, but rarely clever and never the least bit realistic.

That's the point I guess I keep getting near. It's nothing brilliant but if you stop nitpicking there's nothing more fun.

gaara d. lucci

To each his own I suppose. I personally like Z & the orginal series tho.

Does Gt even count? I don't believe Toriyama was involved with that series much (he only drew a character or two, not the storyline).

Tsuchirinhon

All Akira Toriyama did for GT was approve some of the character designs. He had no part in the actual series itself, which was mostly just Toei attempting to milk money from the popularity of Dragonball Z.

Tizoc

I personally don't like DBZ (only a little though), but I agree it should've ended with the Freeza Saga….or at least with Goku; they could've continued the Cell Saga with Gohan as the main character if u ask me.
Still Ive always wanted to read the DBZ manga, but I can't find it scanlated anywhere.
I'll try to get into the original Dragonball anime in the future hopefully, but DBZ not likely (even though my bro is a crazed fan of the series and has almost every ep, special & movie!) The thing I don't like about DBZ is that a very fucking long time to beat a villian, plus the characters don't have any special power/abilty to them (JoJo's B.A. anyone?)

Buccaneer

@Freeman-12:

I personally don't like DBZ (only a little though), but I agree it should've ended with the Freeza Saga….or at least with Goku; they could've continued the Cell Saga with Gohan as the main character if u ask me.

One thing I admired was Toriyama's running theme; Mr. Popo and Kami refrained from killing Piccolo and left the planet to defend itself, and every Z arc ended with Goku doing the same. Constant demand brought Goku back time after time. So it wasn't his really fault that the torch wasn't passed.

Still Ive always wanted to read the DBZ manga, but I can't find it scanlated anywhere.

Definitely try to find it in a store, the legit manga makes the anime look retarded.

The thing I don't like about DBZ is that a very fucking long time to beat a villian, plus the characters don't have any special power/abilty to them (JoJo's B.A. anyone?)

Well, as long as the fight stays good, I don't see a problem.

HEATXZ

I do like DragonBall and Z, My favorite part DragonBall was when Yamcha saw Bulma naked XD and Goku saw Bulma Naked and said "No Balls" XD, I mostly like DragonBall for the humor. I like DBZ because of the Ginyu Force and the Buu saga

Taleran

@Aldrich:

Dragonball is kickass. You may think people are bashing it when they're saying "oh no it's just like Dragonball" when talking about another manga, but it's not because the reference Dragonball created was bad, but because it shows a lack of originality from today's manga authors who can't get away from the formula.

I'm not sure if it's clear…

crystal

I love Dragonball and Z because without them I wouldn't have gotten into anime at all

even though stupid TV channel played through the whole series like 10 times repeating whenever the season switched…...........GRRRRRRRR

warp

@Taleran:

crystal

I love Dragonball and Z because without them I wouldn't have gotten into anime at all

even though stupid TV channel played through the whole series like 10 times repeating whenever the season switched…...........GRRRRRRRR

QFT!! When they were switching and repeating seasons it was so annoying.

Though I have to admit I loved cell. He was one of the coolest villians ever. Gohan vs Cell IMO has go to be the best db fight ever. For buu I liked it at the time, though now not so much. I think it has to be my least favorite arc in dbz (maybe my second in db). Though honestly I think db would have ended perfectly at cell. Goku dies and now there's a new hero, end of story. I like db's overall ending because oob was born. Oob will be one of my favorite characters throughout the series. He was awesome in GT, which is pretty much the only thing cool about it.

Cap'n Carter

I really need to read the whole manga. I'll probably try to buy all of Viz's volumes eventually.

As for it ending after Freeza… I think I liked the Cell Saga more than Freeza, but I have no idea.

Greg

All Akira Toriyama did for GT was approve some of the character designs.

http://www.thegrandline.com/dbzinfo/toriyamafinale.html

KamenRiderNeko

I love Dragon Ball, I don't think I could ever not like it, lol! It really was the series that got me into anime a lot more. I do actually enjoy the manga a lot more now, but the anime was fun to watch, despite being sorta drawn out in places. I freakin' loved watching the Cell Saga, the end of it was just amazing. So much emotion and everything that is awesome about shonen anime.

Though, it did hit a slump with the Great Saiyaman arc….. that was funny in the Fusion and Tapion movies, but in the series it got a bit old. I dunno, I guess Toriyama did want Gohan to be the main character from then on, but the ratings started to suffer, so he brought Goku back, once again. I didn't really finish all of the Buu Saga, but it was alright from what I saw.
I still enjoy everything prior to Buu.

I did love how the artwork gradually progressed... at first, they were drawn with enormous ears and eyes, and later on they were a bit more normal which was nice. Though I'll always love Toriyama's work in the Original Dragon Ball. He really is a master when it comes to gag manga though lol!

But as for Dragon Ball GT.... I enjoyed bits of it, in Japanese... let us not bring up the garbage that was the dub.... god...that f*cking rap music....
I thought it was ok, but it did have that fanfic feel to it... sometimes not in a good way though

If they could've picked a better fanfic to continue the story, I think Dragon Ball Super Z would've been freakin amazing! If anyone has ever read that fanfic series, it really is awesome, though I think they've stopped for years now....

Buuhan1

Wow…I didn't know he was that involved with GT...my opinion slightly changed for it now.

I too would like to read the entire Dragonball manga from start to finish seeing how that was my first obsession. But I can't find it scanlatted and the viz volumes here are too small in size and far too pricey.

Cap'n Carter

Well, I know he was more involved with it than people think, but that doesn't stop me from thinking it was pretty undewhelming.

A few things I did like:

The concept of Dragonball overuse having very large, negative backlash.
I liked how each of the Dragonballs had an evil dragon come out of it… if only the dragons had better designs and less lame powers.
The finale, if only because Goku leaving the earth in the others' hands was what Toriyama always wanted.

Buuhan1

Yeah, GT did have quite a few good points but it was ultimately lacking.

Tho I did rather enjoy all the villains coming back and causing shit. XD

Theres also the entire Goku being reverted back to a child like he was in the begining of the series.

Cap'n Carter

If only that retardation with the ROBOT MUTANTS at the start never existed.

goty

I got into anime/manga when i watched DBZ movie 8, sometime like 12 years ago. Since then Dragonball is my number 1 and always will be, not only for nostalgic reasons.
Dunno how to call a series 'underrated' when its still the favorite of so many people, the most sold Shounen Jump manga ever and the main inspiration for 99% of the shounen mangakas these days.

gaara d. lucci

@Cap'n:

If only that retardation with the ROBOT MUTANTS at the start never existed.

Agreed 100%. That was just god awful. I did enjoy Vegeta killing Nappa again. Super 17 arc is the only one I enjoyed, everything else can burn.

Anyways, my favorite movie of DBZ would have to be World' Strongest where they fought that doctor. Kickass fight scenes thourgh the whole movie, had a kind of One Piece vibe about it. Most importantly, Roshi was a beast in that movie.

Buuhan1

Mine was the recap of Dragonball (Path to Power in the US) and the 8th Brolly movie.

Parz

@Buuhan1:

Wow…I didn't know he was that involved with GT...my opinion slightly changed for it now.

I too would like to read the entire Dragonball manga from start to finish seeing how that was my first obsession. But I can't find it scanlatted and the viz volumes here are too small in size and far too pricey.

http://www.torrentspy.com/torrent/218627/Dragon_Ball_Manga_complete
I don't know if this torrent is still healthy enough to download quickly…
I got it in just a few hours but that was a few months ago. Still, all 42 volumes. It's just LQ, but you can't get it any other way...

gaara d. lucci

@Buuhan1:

Mine was the recap of Dragonball (Path to Power in the US) and the 8th Brolly movie.

I can't for the life of me remember any of the Broly movies even tho I'm sure I seen em.

The Tree of might movie was fun because all the Z warriors got involved in the fights (although Goku had to swoop in and own everybody with that double beam blast).

KamenRiderNeko

I gotta say I loved Dead Zone, World's Strongest, Fusion and Tapion movies the best.

Dead Zone because it was just oldschool… it had lots of funny moments and even the dub was awesome.

World's Strongest was great, I really enjoyed that one dubbed... Krillin sure cursed a lot back then lol

Fusion because it was freakin' hilarious! and that Janemba fight was pretty awesome too... and gotta love emo Vegeta XD

Tapion was pretty awesome... I saw the raw Japanese first and then the raw Spanish version, so I figured out the story and what they were saying XD I really loved the animation in that one, it really was a cool movie.

I have seen all of the DBZ movies, and I gotta say the only one I didn't care for was the 4th one, that Lord Slug movie.... bleh.

Greg

GT was a mixed bag.

I think the antics on M2 and those leading up to that point were very lame. It had an interesting concept to start with but just went downhill from there.

Until Baby arrived on Earth. That was a pretty cool idea and ended up with a great battle. The Super 17 saga was neat but strange feeling more like a movie than part of the animation. And the final saga was a GREAT ending to the series.

BobTheDarkOne

The Kid/teenage Goku saga (right before the sayians arc) was my favorite part of the series. I thought the Frieza arc was pretty ok, but after that i tought it was getting old. IMO the Cell saga was awful and dragged on way too much. The Boo arc was refreshing though.

Never bothered to watch GT though.