You've seen it. I've seen it. Grandma Mildred has probably seen an episode or two. It's Dragon Ball Z, of course!

(The Z, by the way, stands for nothing whatsoever--it's just there because it looks cool.)

Dragon Ball Z is a series that everyone knows and most members of this site look back on fondly as the cornerstone of their childhood (or teenagerhood, or mid-20's-hood). This makes it a difficult series to offer an objective critical analysis for--but as some of you may know, I don't own a pair of nostalgia goggles, so this review isn't going to be sugarcoating anything. If you still have any kind of positive relationship with your inner child, leave now.

Writing: Let's face it. Dragon Ball Z isn't about the story. As long as there was some new bad guy for Goku to fight, all was well with the world. And while they weren't nearly as bad as they were in the original Dragon Ball, the series still has more plot holes than you can shake a Power Pole at. Like many marketable shows both then and now, more focus is placed on the characters than the events they're involved in--and boy oh boy, Dragon Ball Z has plenty of characters. From Appule to Zarbon, just about every archetype imaginable is covered, and while characters aren't devoid of depth, most of them are simple enough for viewers to find something to identify with in all of them. Oh, and let's not forget filler. I don't really mind it the first few times I watch a series, but the sheer volume of it in the first season makes it difficult to start re-watching this show from the beginning.

Art: As old as this series is by now, the artwork is, of course, a little dated. But that's not really an issue for me. Graphics, animation... DBZ is pretty average for its time all across the board. As would be expected, the artwork is more refined than the original Dragon Ball, but not as much so as GT.

Sound: Dragon Ball Z may well have more English dubs than any other anime in existence. The current one, however, and the one most are likely familiar with, is the FUNimation dub, which, while not the most faithful adaptation in the world, was a lot moreso than others from the period and still effectively maintained the spirit of the show. Free fun fact: Dragon Ball Z was the show which launched FUNimation as a licensing company. As for the Japanese dub... well, Goku sounds like a Japanese schoolgirl, and that was enough to turn me away from it. But it is, of course, more faithful, so the choice is yours.

Dragon Ball Z is a series which I really feel never hit its mark musically. There are actually two complete scores for the series--the original Japanese score, which included tracks from the original Dragon Ball and used the same style of music and orchestration therefrom, and the heavy, "action-y" score by Bruce Faulconer for the early English adaptations of the show. The former is suited to the more laid-back scenes of the show, but I feel often falls short when the action inevitably begins, whereas the Faulconer score has the opposite problem: It just sounds silly hearing those heavy action sounds while someone frolics through a meadow. What really struck home were the soundtracks to many of the DBZ fighting games (the Budokai series, specifically), which had a unique combination of both these styles which I would have loved to hear in the show itself--but, oh well. One can dream.

Bottom line, is Dragon Ball Z a good series? ...not really. Is it still fun and enjoyable? Sure. Hell, I must have seen the whole thing at least five times by now. Despite the glaring plotholes, mostly-static characters, and relatively linear plotline, it manages to maintain interest throughout, and while action for the sake of it isn't worth much, it pulls it off reasonably well. If you're one of the handful of people who has not seen this series, I would recommend it solely because an anime fan who has no experience with Dragon Ball Z is practically unheard of.