Dragon Ball (Anime Review)

All right, so, guys, going back to my new anime review series is the original series in the Dragon Ball franchise, Dragon Ball. This is honestly a really interesting one for me because it's my newest Dragon Ball review despite this being the first Dragon Ball anime ever done. But it's also interesting because I only started watching this series late last year and so I'm glad this mean I've watched every single canon Dragon Ball series. But, yeah, I'm really glad I was able to get this and watch it. I actually did start watching the first couple of episodes a early last year and, for some reason, I didn't get into it. I don't know why but something about it then didn't really click with me, but then, around November last year, I got all the DVDs for the series and I ended up liking it a whole lot more. It's really interesting that this is the series that started the entire franchise, but there's a good reason for this, this is a really, really fun show. And it's cool to think that this series, as well as the manga that Toriyama was doing at the time, started in the 80's. It's just super cool this was the introduction to so many things in this franchise like this world, these characters, this story and everything else. So, as we all know, the story of this series is that we're shown Goku as a small boy who's still living by himself in the woods when one day he meet Bulma who's out looking for all the Dragon Balls. And, after they befriend each other and decide to look for the Dragon Balls together, they travel around the world to find them while also meeting tons of new people along the way. So, immediately, the thing I liked the most about this was the fun adventure, quest aspect to this show. It's a very fun and funny adventure show. And, comedy is a big aspect to the series as well. The whole first part of this show is mostly focused on comedy with some action here and there. And it's a really fun adventure. It's also just fun to travel around with these characters and see how they interact. And yeah, it's also just really, really funny. Just seeing Goku alone and seeing the way he is as a kid is really funny. I will say though, probably my least favourite part of the series was the first part when Goku and Bulma were traveling the first time. It did have some fun moments. And I can only imagine what this must have been like back in the day when this was first debuting. But, for me, I don't think the series really gets going until the point where Goku meets Master Roshi again and begins training with him with Krillin. It's also interesting to see where their friendship began with Krillin hating Goku at first and then developing a friendship with him. And I love everything with this part. Toriyama did a great job with making the rest of the series very action focused and having Goku and Krillin take part in the World Martial Arts Tournament. I love the whole section with them in the tournament. This is such a fun part. Especially since this is where Goku and Krillin first get their orange gi's with the Kami symbols that have now become super iconic. And all the fights are really fun and I love how it doesn't end with Goku winning. I know Toriyama wanted to make it so Goku wouldn't win in the end to make it more interesting and he did a great job. And the whole fight between Goku and Master Roshi is also great. It also has a super funny end with all of them in a restaurant.

And then I like how Goku then goes off with the others for a while to find the Dragon Balls again and then he goes off by himself. And there's a lot of fun parts in this too like Goku fighting the Red Ribbon Army. I mentioned before about how I think this section of the story is pretty underrated and I still think that. The whole Red Ribbon Army story arc is a really fun part of series with Goku going around trying to find the Dragon Balls and meeting new friends around the world and then fighting a bunch of different members of the Red Ribbon Army. A lot of these scenes and fight sequences are awesome and it's cool that around this point is where the show started to shift into an action focused show and less on comedy even if it did still have some comedy here and there. It was also cool when we saw were watching Goku go to various places to find the Dragon Balls. Like I said before, I like when he goes to some snow place and meets a girl named Suno. And, again, like I said in a previous entry, I really like the journey Goku goes on here with invading the Muscle Tower segment where he fights more red Ribbon Army soldiers and finds Eighter who he befriends. It's a fun part and I like the rest of it as well like Goku going back to have the Dragon Radar fixed and that leads to him meeting Upa and his dad as well as fighting General Tao. It's also great when Goku is able to climb Karin Tower and meets Korin to help make himself stronger. Again, I know I'm just going through the story but I just think Toriyama just did such a great job with this original series. In fact, I personally think Toriyama did a better job with this shows story at time than Dragon Ball Z because you can tell this series was more focused on the story whereas Dragon Ball Z was more focused on the action. Although, its story isn't perfect in my opinion. There are times where it can be a bit boring and some parts in the story sometimes feel pointless. The biggest example I can think of is when Goku, Krillin and Bulma go to some underwater cave and I didn't like this part at all because it felt like a waste of time a bit. I know it does technically play a part in the story, but it felt like a drag sometimes. Anyway, the next part is pretty good too with Goku and the others fighting in Baba's tournament to get information from her but then Goku meets his Grandpa Gohan, which is a pretty nice scene.

But then we get to the second World Martial Arts Tournament, which is, again, really good. I espeiclaly like the Goku vs. Krillin and Goku vs Tien fight. I also love Tien's arc here where he starts as a jerk who hates everyone because of his master, Shen. But then he slowly begins to grow and become more likeable and it's pretty satisfying when Master Roshi uses the Kamehameha against Shen. But then Goku loses again and it was nice to see that happen again. But then the series just keeps going with the Demon King Piccolo Saga with Krillin being killed.

And I like a lot of things that happen with this with everyone trying to fight Demon King Piccolo which leads to more characters like Master Roshi and Chiaotzu being killed and Goku getting stronger and eventually beating him. And I love everything that happens in the aftermath with Goku going to Kami's Lookout and using his Power Pole to get there along with Kami using the Dragon Balls to bring everyone back. Just a lot of great story ideas like that are what I love this series for. And then the final arc of the series, the Piccolo Jr. Saga, is yet another really good arc. I like how it opens with everyone reuniting after three years and it's a great scene to watch.

And all the fights in this tournament range from cool to funny and it's another really great tournament. Toriyama always does a great job with the tournaments in the original series. But the best part in this tournament and maybe the best part in this entire original show is Goku's fight against Piccolo. It's pretty brutal for the Dragon Ball series and has a satisfying ending with Goku beating him. And it's cool how this all led to Dragon Ball Z and we all know just how absolutely iconic that is. But, overall, I like how this series was more grounded by comparison and is just the series we have to thank for introducing us to this entire franchise. And, really, I just really had a great time with this series. Yes, there are some bad things, including some filler that got really annoying sometimes, but the overall adventure aspect to this show is a lot of fun and I like how this series set the groundwork for every action manga that would come afterwards along with Dragon Ball Z. And really, I think this series is kinda underrated, especially the Red Ribbon Army Saga. I also find it strange how there's not really many references to this series in later parts of the franchise, especially since there's tons to Z, but not this so much. But I think there's a lot of really enjoyable things here. It's also nice to watch to see where a lot these characters started, especially Goku and just seeing how he's changed ever since the beginning. I also noticed that it felt weird when I was starting and having a Dragon Ball series that didn't have any Super Saiyans or Vegeta or anything like that, but it's nice that I could watch and enjoy this without those things. So, yeah, I really liked this show. It's really fun and is a good time in my opinion. If you've watched the Dragon Ball series before and not seen this yet, I'd say you should. So, yeah, everyone, that's my review of Dragon Ball. Thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.