Okay, here's my opinion about Dragonball. As with most popular anime/manga, people have grown tired of it, and are beginning to think Dragonball lasted too long. It was 42 volumes! In those 42 volumes, something that may hve detracted fans could've happened. I personally use to like Dragonball, although right now, I think Dragonball is all about power. I'll admit this though: Dragonballl (volum 1-17) was great, exploiting the adventures of youg Goku. I don't feel the need for Toriyama to continue, but he did. Furthermore, the manga began to slowly detract from the Dragonballs, using them only to revive Goku or something. Learning how to fly, obtaining the Dragonballs was a cinch, and therefore somewhat Deus Ex Machina.
DragonBall is underrated
-
-
What? Dragonball was 42 volumes.
-
Right, my bad. I got confused.
-
I guess that's how I kinda felt, and why when the new generations of shonen came out, people started bitching about DB being shallow. But with the screwed up system of DBs anyway (by Piccolo it took up to 4 days at most to find them), I found the uses decent and even made the Kid Boo fight better. It always felt to me like Toriyama did the best with what he had, even if he wasn't that dedicated.
If you want to read a great cyberpunk manga give Gunnm a shot. It blows Akira out of the water, and it's shorter.
I guess that's not including Last Order, which I read first, and I'm now permanently confused by the whole Gunnm world.
Did I mention this before? Well, that's probably the only series with hand to hand combat that I'd praise, though I really did fall in love with the DB and OP fights.
-
If you want to read a great cyberpunk manga give Gunnm a shot. It blows Akira out of the water, and it's shorter.
I've been reading Gunnm, and I really like its setting and art. I haven't read Last Order yet though. I've always liked stuff with a cyberpunk feel, especially from the 90s and late 80s. I've been meaning to make a topic about some cyberpunk recommendations (anime/manga/video games). I'll have to get to work on a list of what I already have though.
I still haven't read all the Akira manga yet, but it has great detail and artwork. And the anime had nice animation as well.
-
@One:
Okay, here's my opinion about Dragonball. As with most popular anime/manga, people have grown tired of it, and are beginning to think Dragonball lasted too long. It was 42 volumes! In those 42 volumes, something that may hve detracted fans could've happened. I personally use to like Dragonball, although right now, I think Dragonball is all about power. I'll admit this though: Dragonballl (volum 1-17) was great, exploiting the adventures of youg Goku. I don't feel the need for Toriyama to continue, but he did. Furthermore, the manga began to slowly detract from the Dragonballs, using them only to revive Goku or something. Learning how to fly, obtaining the Dragonballs was a cinch, and therefore somewhat Deus Ex Machina.
Well from what I've noticed (and had pointed out too), the Dragon Balls were pretty much crucial in every planned section of Toriyama's master plan (outside the break he gave for the Tenkaichi Budokais). It was the driving force for every enemy (and even Goku's crew occasionally) and lead to many of the conflicts and battles. The culmination of this was with the Dragon Balls of Namek, which was supposed to be where Dragon Balls come from and why it was so important to stop Frieza from obtaining them. While they did become a Deux es Machina more and more later on, it wasn't totally obvious that until the post-Frieza arc, when all they did was wish everyone back to life over and over and with the villains during that period having no interest or need in them.
-
Hm, that's quite true. The Dragon Balls technically did drive the entire plot, well until the Cell Saga maybe.
Anyway, something else I really hate about Dragonball (and other shounen manga) is that there's one villain, then he dies. Then another villain pops out as soon as the first dies. The only difference is he's stronger. Why does he have to be stronger? Why can't he be weaker or on par with the first villain. Toriyama had to make the enemies stronger in order to create a great final fight at the end of a saga, as good guys are always training, striving to become stronger.
-
I bought and watched the first Brolly movie on a whim today, and I think it was pretty good, mostly because of how 90% of the time is Brolly smashing the shit out of any and everything.
the bigot who thinks being an asshole is actually worth shit
-
How Brolly was defeated in the first of his movies could've been bigger than what it was.
! Everybody gives energy to Goku. Goku upper-cuts Brolly. Brolly is defeated. A Kamehameha wave or some other energy attack would've been better.
-
they had to save that for when he comes back…..DUH
-
or when he comes back again as BIO BROLLY!!!!!!!!! (that movie was probably the worst one in the series)
-
Now, I liked the punch itself. Because it's such a simple effort doing so much, it was able to be very dramatic. A Kamehameha wave wouldn't quite have the same effect, and we see people finished off with it all the damn time. Hell, it may not be a Kamehameha, but every other movie has the Genki Dama as the damn finisher. It's nice to see it be a punch that fucks up Brolly. It also gave us as better idea of how much of a difference the others giving Goku their energy was.
Now, the actual energy giving was pretty cheesy. I don't see how even with everyone's energy had Goku would be able to singlehandedly destroy Brolly, who went on an effective slaughter throughout the film (including destroying an entire planet with a small energy ball), with a single punch.
-
The only thing I really liked about GT was that 17 GOT some recognition. Probably one of my favorite characters and he was tossed aside for his stupid sister just because she marries the bald midget. It was cool that everyone had to acknowledge 17 for a moment and then he pounded them all into the ground for failing to give him his recognition before hand. And that trenchcoat he got later was pretty awesome.
-
GT failed, major villian wise. I mean, he looks so stereotypical of villians!
-
Toriyama intended to end things at the end of the Frieza saga. IIRC, Goku was supposed to die a hero. But fanboys ranted, so Toriyama added the Cell saga, which was good… I admit... but it was a completely new theme. Characters got overpowered and it just didn't feel like the Dragonball that Toriyama had created. The adventure had really gone. Toriyama was supposed to end things again, with Gohan as the hero... but fanboys came to the rescue again, then we got the Buu saga. The Buu saga was also good... but it lacked the whole Dragonball theme EVEN MORE... and bringing fusions in was cool, but they were too damn powerful.
I would have personally liked to have seen it end at Namek. The legendary super saiyan Goku dies to save the universe from the most evil villian ever to be born. Goku also gets revenge for his father, Vegeta and all saiya-jins... even if he didn't really think of the battle as a vengeance match.
-
@$abZ:
Toriyama intended to end things at the end of the Frieza saga. IIRC, Goku was supposed to die a hero. But fanboys ranted, so Toriyama added the Cell saga, which was good… I admit... but it was a completely new theme. Characters got overpowered and it just didn't feel like the Dragonball that Toriyama had created. The adventure had really gone. Toriyama was supposed to end things again, with Gohan as the hero... but fanboys came to the rescue again, then we got the Buu saga. The Buu saga was also good... but it lacked the whole Dragonball theme EVEN MORE... and bringing fusions in was cool, but they were too damn powerful.
I would have personally liked to have seen it end at Namek. The legendary super saiyan Goku dies to save the universe from the most evil villian ever to be born. Goku also gets revenge for his father, Vegeta and all saiya-jins... even if he didn't really think of the battle as a vengeance match.
I think I would have liked it to end at the Cell Saga, because having the Red Ribbon Army's influence come back one more time really gave it a strong connection throughout the whole thing. Really tying in the beginning to the end, and it would have been nice to see that Goku's son finally surpassed him as hero, something like that.
I didn't really care too much for the Buu saga, mostly.
-
The Buu saga was probably my favorite "Z" arc, for the same reasons a lot of people dislike it.
-
Loved all of dragonball I did, me liked the buu saga most too. Ya gotta lov de ssj3 transformation.
-
Never really liked the RRA tacked on with the whole Cell saga. Personally thought it was thrown in to throw a bone to old fans but there was no real connection to the Red Ribbon of the first series. Rather have the evil but slightly lovable suits of the saga they're from. (not every day you have a villain risking thousands of lives…just to get taller)
As for the Buu saga, the big problem I see, as I probably said before, is that Toriyama had many weird and cool ideas and no place to put them...so with everyone pushing him to keep DB going, he used them for the saga, making some fun concepts..that got lost in how overpowered everyone was by that point.
-
I think the parts up to where Goku beat Piccolo was definitely the highlight of the series. It had a great art style (I'm talking manga here), fun characters, and neat fight scenes.
Z..eh, I just felt that the power ups and power levels were just lame, ridiculous even. And as someone else said, almost everyone but the Saiyajins and Piccolo were left out, never to improve or say more than one line. Plus, the dub..yuck! What a mess THAT was!
-
Frieza saga was good
Cell saga was ok
Buu saga was fanfic bad.
-
i really dont mind the major increase of power lvls….
i just dislike the fact like someone already said...the others being left out... -
So my friend sent my MegaUpload links with ALL Vols. of Dragonball manga. Will DL them asap, but so far I have finished Vol. 1-5 and let me tell yeah THIS-SHIT-ROCKS.
Screw DBZ and it's villians and fights; Goku's fights in DB can ass-rape those shit from here to kingdom come! -
I've enjoyed all of Dragonball that I've seen/read, aside from maybe the time between the end of the Namek arc to the start of the Cell Games (in the anime, atleast. Haven't read it). I liked the Buu arc, but mostly because it used more Mr. Satan. Mr. Satan reminded me of the good old days of the earlier, more comedic chapters in the beginning, which is what got me into Dragonball in general. Sure, I liked the fights, but nothin' beats the goofy feeling of those early chapters.
I'd have loved for more Dr. Slump references, though. Just how strong is Arale compared to young Goku, anyway..? >_> The only times I recall them interacting were in that OVA that like.. fuses the Tien Tenkaichi Budokai and Korin's Tower(with Tao Pai Pai, and the Native American father and his son) arcs. Arale and Gatchan attack/stop Tao Pai Pai. And if I'm not mistaken, young Goku appears in the second Dr. Slump animated series.
Oh, and I wouldn't say Dragonball is underrated at all.
J-WALKING
-
I've enjoyed all of Dragonball that I've seen/read, aside from maybe the time between the end of the Namek arc to the start of the Cell Games (in the anime, atleast. Haven't read it). I liked the Buu arc, but mostly because it used more Mr. Satan. Mr. Satan reminded me of the good old days of the earlier, more comedic chapters in the beginning, which is what got me into Dragonball in general. Sure, I liked the fights, but nothin' beats the goofy feeling of those early chapters.
I'd have loved for more Dr. Slump references, though. Just how strong is Arale compared to young Goku, anyway..? >_> The only times I recall them interacting were in that OVA that like.. fuses the Tien Tenkaichi Budokai and Korin's Tower(with Tao Pai Pai, and the Native American father and his son) arcs. Arale and Gatchan attack/stop Tao Pai Pai. And if I'm not mistaken, young Goku appears in the second Dr. Slump animated series.
Oh, and I wouldn't say Dragonball is underrated at all.
Actually the Penguin Village section of the Blue section of RRA arc was all Dr. Slump…well with Goku and a bad guy. Makes me really want to read Toriyama's early work...but not sure since I've herad things about the American version.
And Mr. Satan is one of those things that made the later parts of the series tolerable. Its not every day you get a guy who is no means anywhere near the weakest DB warrior finding himself running alongside the most powerful beings and still making his influence. (like swearing Buu off killing)
-
I haven't watched/read all of the RRA arc. I didn't know they went to Penguin Village.. awesome. :0
I like Viz's releases of Dr. Slump. I don't know exactly what they could have changed, or made worse, but I do like it how it is now.
-
dragonball is a bit underated…but for other reasons i think
-
Nothing beats Buu.
-
Except a giant ass Genki-Dama.
-
DB was definately the best part of the series to me at least. It had adventure, comedy, and balanced out the action well.
DBZ could have been good too… If Goku hadn't turned into a Superman clone and hadn't gone overboard with the action aspect. Sure some of the fights were great but it was about as overdone fighting wise as well... Bleach at times is where it was just one fight leading to another fight with little to no story development in between.
i guess it could have ended well at the Frieza saga but I think Dragonball could have ended well without DBZ being made.
-
@Brad:
Except a giant ass Genki-Dama.
Goku cheated! He used a wish! << >>
-
Honestly ppl, Goku vs. Masaki is ATM>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>DBZ
I totally laughed my ass off at every lame ass attempt Masaki was trying to defeat Goku.
…and man the RR Army thinking Roshi is the big genius that created the D. Radar was just as hilarious XD. -
@Freeman-12:
Honestly ppl, Goku vs. Masaki is ATM>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>DBZ
I totally laughed my ass off at every lame ass attempt Masaki was trying to defeat Goku.
…and man the RR Army thinking Roshi is the big genius that created the D. Radar was just as hilarious XD.I'm not sure I know who "Masaki" is in DB…. :blink:
-
^Ninja Goku fights in the Muscle Tower. I might've gotten his name wrong BTW ^_^;;;;;;;;;;;;
-
@Freeman-12:
^Ninja Goku fights in the Muscle Tower. I might've gotten his name wrong BTW ^_^;;;;;;;;;;;;
OH! Yeah Murasaki, aka Purple. Yeah that fight was quite humorous, probably the best in Muscle Tower.
-
Hmmm, it's been a long time since I've visited DB but I just understood something.
He called him Murasaki instead of 'purple' because he's designed with the Japanese theme intended.
That's great.
And Buu saga is awesome. Seriously. Anyone who takes it seriously needs to back off and realize, Toriyama designed much of it to be chaotic and insane to return to the wit of DB. Just with about 4x the characters.
-
I would've liked the Boo saga more if there was no "Super Buu." Fat Boo and Kid Boo were awesome and the only worthwhile forms.
the bigot who thinks being an asshole is actually worth shit
-
@Cap'n:
I would've liked the Boo saga more if there was no "Super Buu." Fat Boo and Kid Boo were awesome and the only worthwhile forms.
Well techincally Kid was just a later form of Super and they were the same Buu. I did like Super when he had Gohan's shirt for some reason.
-
Personally I think I like "Old Buu" as well (the one that emerged from Fat Buu before eating him to become Super Buu)…heck, I actually like the Old Buu/Super Buu stuff more than Kid Buu. Kid Buu was definately a merciless killing machine (which is either the "true intention" of Buu...or Toriyama's excuse to make one more Buu form to please the editors and fanbase, whatever you believe), but he had no personality outside "kill, fight, destroy". Got old quickly compared to the more "evil arrogance" that Super Buu held...plus he had the Gotenks and Gohan fight.
-
Well, Super Boo was pretty much just a super generic DBZ villain; hell he even used other peoples' moves, making him like "Cell Part 2."
Kid Boo was fun; a total goofball, ooking and beating his chest. The way he fought was pretty crazy as well.
the bigot who thinks being an asshole is actually worth shit
-
@Cap'n:
Well, Super Boo was pretty much just a super generic DBZ villain; hell he even used other peoples' moves, making him like "Cell Part 2."
Kid Boo was fun; a total goofball, ooking and beating his chest. The way he fought was pretty crazy as well.
Kid Buu didn't seem that much like a goofball, just like the killing machine he was created to be. Super Buu had more of a personality being a hybrid of the child-like nature of Fat Buu and the true evil he posessed. Besides, he still relied on his own move set prior to absorbing everyone.
I guess part of why Kid Buu rubbed me the wrong way is because I never really like "simple killing machines".
-
I would've liked the Boo saga more if there was no "Super Buu." Fat Boo and Kid Boo were awesome and the only worthwhile forms.
I actually enjoyed him a great deal because Toriyama did something he rarely did in the comic, show depth to the character. This was amplified by a factor of 'holy shit' in the anime as well.
It was great how he literally went from not much more of an adult version of Kid Boo to an intelligent and even articulate individual with the absorptions. That was a really cool concept that I was glad he explored.
But other than that, yeah Fat and kid rule.
-
I loved Kid Boo's stance in Budokai 3.
The merger of skinny Boo & fat Boo was one of my fav. villians. -
It was great how he literally went from not much more of an adult version of Kid Boo to an intelligent and even articulate individual with the absorptions. That was a really cool concept that I was glad he explored.
Hmmm, well this is true as well. Still, I did grow weary of the character after a while. So yeah, Mr. Boo is awesome. He should get a spinoff.
the bigot who thinks being an asshole is actually worth shit
-
@Cap'n:
Hmmm, well this is true as well. Still, I did grow weary of the character after a while. So yeah, Mr. Boo is awesome. He should get a spinoff.
A sitcom of him and Mr. Satan living day to day. Win.
-
Could be total bullshit and I don't usually write this thing for fear of fan rumors and speculation it could spark.
But I thought Toriyama mentioned in one of the Daiz interviews he was interested in persuing that angle.
Again, DON'T take my word for it. I'm not the unstoppable juggernaut of DB data I was when I didn't have a life.
-
I heard that he once said that if he made a spinoff manga starring any Dragonball character it'd be Mr. Satan.
-
The RRA was my favorite part of DB, probably my second favorite part of Manga in general.
It is the Army which makes the 4th DB movie great.
Of course a major factor of its greatness is the second best character in the course of the series: Tao Pai Pai. Hell man he killed Blue with his tounge. A fuckin tounge.
The movies were okay. I mean Worlds Strongest ruled, and the Cooler movies were great but the best part is when Goten and Trunks fight Hitler. That is true DB comedy there.
Sig made by AngelzRfalling.
Gary "Iceman" Martin. RIP.
-
Buu and Cell were very uninteresting. Villains that can regenerate from any amount of damage are a serious yawnfest.
Frieza was the last good villain of the Dragonball series, aside from Fat Buu or Android #19.
-
@Cyringohn:
Buu and Cell were very uninteresting. Villains that can regenerate from any amount of damage are a serious yawnfest.
Frieza was the last good villain of the Dragonball series, aside from Fat Buu or Android #19.
Ha, Android 19 lucked out because Goku had the heart condition.
