DRAGONBALL Z
Reviewed by Dan Peterson |
| Synopsis |
| You already know all about it, most likely, unless you’ve been living under a rock. For better or worse, it defines the way many people today think of anime, and it is without a doubt one of the most popular animes today, especially among the younger crowd. Basically, the plot concerns a martial artist named Goku who finds out that he’s really an alien meant to destroy the earth, and antics ensue. Goku and his cast of friends fend off one threat to humanity after another, occasionally taking jaunts to far-off corners of the galaxy. And then there are the fights….oh yes, there are the fights. Pretty much, imagine how long it feels like it takes for you to get a root canal when you’re at the dentists. Add a little extra time to that, and it’s about how long the average Dragonball Z fight lasts. But don’t worry, kids, because the good guys always win out in the end, and everything turns out for the best. |
| PLOT: 55% |
| Basically, throw a couple of spiky haired characters (who incessantly grunt while their hair turns yellow) into a world where the bad guys’ evil plan seems to involve bragging and talking the hero to death, and you’ve got the plot of Dragonball Z. There are very few interesting characters. Goku himself annoys you to death after being around him for too long, and his son Gohan starts off annoying but grows on you. The stars of the show really seem to be Vegeta and Piccolo, two characters who were once bad guys who become good. This isn’t to say that even these well-developed characters (the only in the series, I might add) don’t have their annoying points or flaws, but they do make the show much more interesting and add a couple of points to an otherwise abysmal score. |
| CHARACTERS: 60% |
| Once again, Vegeta and Piccolo rescue the show from blandness. I got sick of watching other characters who could have been interesting (Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien, for example) become obsolete as the focus of the show shifted to the Saiyan characters (Vegeta, Trunks, Goku, and Gohan). Still, the depth Vegeta shows in his battles (I won’t elaborate here for fear of spoilers) and Piccolo’s guidance and tough decisions make them bright spots in an otherwise dull cast. |
| ART: 60% |
| For the time it was made (late eighties to early nineties, I do believe), it was pretty decent, but by today’s standards it looks pretty bad. The show looks better as time goes on (of course, for any show that long, the art HAS to evolve over time), but it’s still nothing to write home about.
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| SOUNDTRACK: 45% |
| The opening and closing songs are pretty weak, as is most of the music in between. Seeing as the fight scenes are so long, the least they could have done was give us something good to listen to during them, but no, they stick us with boring, standard fare that makes us even more willing to change to channel. |
| CONCLUSION: 55% Overall |
| Good for killing brain cells and procrastinating from writing that English paper, but not much else. |
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