Dragonball
Z
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Reviewer - Alfarif Format Viewed - Dubbed/ Cut and Uncut |
DBZ, the series that is
possibly second only to Pokemon in the US, is all about fighting… and fighting…
and MORE fighting. What’s the problem with this? THERE ISN’T ONE! DBZ is
one of my favorite anime series to date. In fact, I didn’t like it until
I sat down to watch it… and I was completely drawn in. This review will
be over the entire TV series as I’ve seen it… which is both good and bad.
First off, my favorite anime/manga artist, Akira Toriyama, drew DBZ’s character
design. He did the character design for the game Chrono Trigger as well,
which was when I first fell in love with his artwork. DBZ’s character design
is EXCELLENT, from the usual martial artist hero of Goku to his son Gohan
to the green fighter Piccolo to the bald, no nose having Krillen. It’s
far too obvious that Akira’s touches were put into the characters, with
the dramatic shading and crisp lines that he uses so well. But character
designs are nice and all… it’s how they move that makes the difference.
Well, in the beginning of the series, the first thirty or so episodes,
the art was astounding! It was OVA quality, if not a little better. The
colors were great (for the early 90s of course) and everything looked well
together. In the later episodes, the artists seemed to have been slipping
(yes Akira Toriyama did the character designs and the manga original but
I do not think he animated the show or anything). The world of Namik was
nothing more than a bunch of green little islands in a sea. Of course,
the inhabitants had been killed and all, but still, they could’ve put a
little more forethought into the world of Namik. Also, unlike in the beginning,
where almost NOTHING was reused (with the fight sequences they go through,
a lot of stuff happens and sometimes things are reused over and over again,
but it’s still dramatic), a lot of things had that SpeedRacer effect (where
the same three frames of animation were used over and over for about twenty
seconds). Though it wasn’t THAT bad, it still detracted from a lot of the
great animation there was that was original. The story for the show is
rather simplistic. See, there are these balls that, if collected, will
summon a dragon who will grant one wish to the person who summoned him.
Well, suffice it to say that some big time aliens want this… so, over the
course of about 70 episodes or so, Goku, defender of earth, his son, friend
Krillen, and a whole cast of good and evil people duke it out over these,
Goku’s squad to make sure the evil Frieza doesn’t get them, Frieza’s squad
trying to get them for him… the last battle between Goku and Frieza, in
itself, is about 20 episodes long. By the end, you’re all tuckered out
BUT it’s not over… see the DBZs that we have are only one tv series in
about 8 or 9 or whatever.. there’s a LOT of DB out there! Music, sound,
voice wise, things are decent. The opening theme for the American show
is GREAT! Background music is kept to a minimum but what’s there doesn’t
ever get in the way of the fights because, well, sound effects take precedence.
Every kick, punch, slam, smash, boom can be heard. The voice acting, in
the beginning, was excellent, but quickly deteriorated. In the last few
episodes, mostly you heard people grunting or groaning and that really
really detracts from things… I mean, they were groaning most of the time
and I had to think what in the @%# they were groaning about! Overall though,
voices DO fit the people being portrayed, which is always a definite plus..
I did get a chance to hear the Japanese voices in a Fan Subbed tape my
cousin has and the Japanese voices are better but the American voices are
at least decent. So DBZ is an excellent series, maybe not THE BEST, but
still one of my faves up there.
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