Dragon Ball

You probably hear many, many, many... many people complaining that Dragon Ball has basically no plot, the story sucks, and Kid Goku is annoying. I'm gonna have to say, being active in the Dragon Ball community for over five years and having seen this show and Z about seven times all the way through, all of those are wrong. I mean, the show doesn't have an outstanding plot or story, but they're enjoyable and fun. If you sense any form of bias in this review, it might be because this is my all time favorite show, but right here I'm going to explain why it's my favorite.

The story, as I've said previously, is nothing impressive. You probably won't have to put on your thinking caps to analyze some deep, meaningful plot-line, you just get to sit back and enjoy a fun and excited action/adventure shonen show. A lot of fights have amazing choreography, the story is simple but sweet, and the slice of life aspects of this show are just as good if not better. The Red Ribbon Army arc is easily my favorite, it has so many iconic villains, the fights are very entertaining, and it's just such a good time. It's truly an endearing show that I hope you'll enjoy if you decide to check it out.

Now, this section I will probably be very biased, because honestly I'm absolutely in love with Toriyama's art style. It's simple, unique, and to me beautiful. I love seeing fanart of it, and I love seeing the alternate cover pages he puts at the end of the manga. His art style is my favorite out of any other, but of course that's just me, so give this show a try and form your own opinion on the art.

The voice acting? Nothing special and arguably poor (but not for it's time). The soundtrack? Exciting, up beat, feel-good music, makes you wanna dance, always makes me smile when the theme song's instrumental version plays in fights, and the ending song animates a lot of the cover art from the manga and... I know I've already said this about the art style, but I'm absolutely IN LOVE with the ending song/video. The song is nice and sweet, and the video is absolutely spectacular. It's always a good time with the Dragon Ball soundtrack. I have listened to the full soundtrack on loop. I love it. Even if you don't plan on watching this show, check out the soundtrack and see if you like it.

Now, for the characters. Lets start with the second character we ever see in the show, Bulma Brief. I don't wanna say too much about her to keep things a mystery if you're not familiar with Dragon Ball (Which I doubt you aren't because who hasn't heard of this show, but just in case ya know?), but I can tell you that her personality isn't very likable. She complains just about 24/7, always looks on the negative side of things, is rarely happy, really is only happy when she's screwing someone over, etc., but she does have some very good moments, and some spectacular moments. Also, her design in this series (not necessarily Z) is one of my favorite designs in anime. It's so appealing, sometimes not so much, but most of the time it's amazing. Her design was real good when she first met Master Roshi if you know what I mean ;^)... actually you probably don't know what I mean because if you're reading this review chances are you don't know who Master Roshi is because you probably haven't seen the show. Let me enlighten you. Master Roshi is the master of martial arts, as he's called by the public, he's an extremely skilled fighter, despite his appearance. He's also the master of perversion, which leads to many funny moments in the show. Roshi is most likely the inspiration for many perverted old men in anime down the line, such as Jiraiya from Naruto. He's a legendary and underrated character. His moments with Launch are always amusing. Oh yeah, Launch is the women that ends up living with Roshi (You'll have to watch the show to figure out why a girl would willingly live with this man), and in this series she's Dragon Ball's best girl, which is later changed to another character in Dragon Ball Z; I won't spoil who. I might leave that for my Z review ;^). Wanna know my least favorite character in this show? That's right, Yamcha. Yeah yeah, I know it's a huge meme to make fun of him and all that, but he's genuinely a bad character. He does almost nothing for the show and you could take him out and not much would change. He does help in a big way like... once... but that's about it. He doesn't have the best personality either. He's just kind of there to be there, really. Now, the moment you've all been waiting for... the best character in the show... Goku. Goku is a twelve year old boy who was trained by his grandfather in martial arts, but he's not too good with the common sense. He's an extremely innocent and completely pure hearted boy that really just wants to eat and fight strong people. He's a simple character, but a very lovable one. Honestly, every character in this show is lovable in their own way. Yes, even Yamcha... he has SOME good moments. But Goku, he blows all the other characters out of the water. He's hilarious, adorable, endearing, honest, and just a fun person in general. The characters in this show are truly something else.

Wow, the character portion was pretty darn long... sorry about that lol. Anyways, I definitely give this show a 10/10. You guys will most likely have varying ratings, but as I have a personal connection to this show, it has a very special place in my heart. Even without a personal connection, it's still one of the most enjoyable shows I have ever watched in my love. It's so much fun, and I really, really hope you give it a try.