dbz_writeup

DRAGON BALL Z
writeup by cleartonic
02/18/2021

Everything from a modern lens, looking at it in 2021. I took these notes as I watched each episode, so think of them as snapshots in time while watching. Tbh a lot of these comments are just saying "this is cool" or "very good".

Overall thoughts:
The story of DBZ is cool, because although Goku is the main character, it's not his story - it's the story of Earth, the Universe, and some outrageous things that happen. There was way more very intelligent storytelling than I gave the series credit for - things like focus on how to convey the narrative of the events to the audience (Krillin's & Vegeta's roles on Namek, prime example), character development and growth (Piccolo 101), and a favorite of mine I didn't appreciate before, the ignorant & dumb masses who don't appreciate being saved routinely. The storytelling during some sections, in particular Namek 1st half and Android saga, left a lot of suspense and unknowns in the upcoming episodes.

I finished the watch thinking that people misunderstand "filler" content, at least from discussions I've heard. There are absolutely times where things are drawn out too much. But this concept of "dudes charging energy for 20 minutes" absolutely doesn't happen. The main culprit is that either fights drag on too long (e.g., Goku fights Frieza for so many episodes that you lose sight of who's winning/losing), or they beat a concept to the ground that is very unnecessary (e.g., first form Buu raining hell on Earth cities for multiple episodes). Another culprit is (somewhat understandably, somewhat not) that each episode begins with a recap of the previous episode for audiences who were tuning in once a week. But what's crazy about the recaps is that the majority of them have unique animations - they aren't just using "filler" animations, they went through and actually animated 30sec - 1min retellings of previous episodes. They do reuse animations now and then but it honestly wasn't that much.

There was WAY less of "say the name of the special move your about to do before you do it" than I remember. There's the classics like Kamehameha and Solar Flare, but many moves are not accompanied by their names.

I have to shout out that Vegeta made me shake my head, smile, and say "friggin Vegeta" so much. What a good character.


=== Saiyan arc

The first few episodes jump immediately into Raditz showing up. I thought it dragged on a bit in the beginning but it very much doesn't. The animation very early on is pretty jagged/not very clean looking, but honestly it gives it a lot of character.

The first training arc is really good. I thought it might be dated or drag a bit, but it really doesn't have filler of any sort. Every episode slowly gets your ready for Vegeta and Nappa's arrival. The way that Piccolo trains Gohan is ruthless and very entertaining, honestly made me laugh how much Piccolo yells at a ~5 year old. I think this arc does a really good job of having some Dragon Ball characters show up, but not too much screen time (Baba, Launch, Bora). Goku spends way less time on King Kai's planet the first time than I remember - it's 4 episodes. And there really isn't much "training" you see at all. There's a scene where they talk about how planet Vegeta was destroyed by meteors by a figure that looks like Kami, but of course later you find out that's not true.

There's definitely some weird stuff that happens early on with continuity. For example mid episode 21, Gohan goes from training in his red gear with Piccolo, then suddenly during the scene with Shenron he just has completely different clothes, his more standard purple/white gear. No explanation whatsoever. Similarly earlier when Bulma is with Krillin and Yamcha on the way to Korin Tower to train, they go to pick up Tien, then Yamcha is just absolutely nowhere to be found for those ~2 episodes.

Vegeta's hair is extremely red in early episodes with him, then when he arrives on Earth it becomes much darker. His outfit becomes way more noticeably blue too. Nappa is friggin monstrous in size, I forgot about that.

Piccolo's character is seriously so good, the way he evolves over time, protecting and training Gohan.

This series does a super good job with careful attention to detail for facial expressions, much more than I remmebered. Vegeta in particular very slowly goes from confident smirks, even when others are freaking out, to getting more and more concerned when Goku shows up. Same with Goku, who's mostly cheerful and confident, but now and then gets extremely serious.

Goku and Vegeta's fight is very good.

Not really cringeworthy stuff ever that you might expect out of late 80s through the 90s. Even the Roshi stuff is really not that bad

They do a pretty dang good job of foreshadowing upcoming events. In episode 22 Piccolo and Kami learn for the first time that they are from Namek, and the episode talks a bit about Namek, long before that arc starts.

I think its pretty popular opinion that Piccolo is the father to Gohan that Goku was. And that's sorta true and sorta not. At the end of the Saiyan arc when Goku's in the hospital and Chi Chi freaks out that Gohan wants to go to Namek, there's a lot of good interactions between Goku/Gohan. Chi Chi treats Goku like garbage and she gets put in her place, it's very good.


==== Namek


Vegeta's story on Namek is super good. It's really interesting how his first impression of Goku has such a long lasting effect on his demeanor. When Vegeta first meets with Dodoria he talks about how his trip to Earth changed him permanently. He's like, sentimental, then also just goes on killing sprees. It's very cool

Dodoria's VA is really not great haha.

Solar Flare is one of the coolest techniques.

I forgot about the ridiculous story arc where Vegeta is hunting a power source (which is Krillin and Gohan with Dende) and a gigantic whale comes out of nowhere and Vegeta thinks that the whale was the power, so he leaves them.

Krillin getting flashbacks to when he wanted to kill Vegeta with Yajirobe's sword, and Goku tells him not to, very good. Lots of times Vegeta seems like a problem that easily could have been dealt with.

It was about episode 50 I started to appreciate how important Krillin is for the narrative. He's a very good barometer character. A little slapstick but very not much at all.

Vegeta's thoughts as a narrative for Goku's evolution when he lands on Namek is really great. Only Vegeta would know a lot of the inner workings of how Goku grows over time, and it's a really smart way to tell the audience about it all. The term 'super saiyan' first comes out of nowhere a bit, but they do elaborate via Vegeta.

Most of the Ginyu Force fights are kinda whatever to me, but Goku vs. Ginyu is super good, their first fight before transforming. Also the animation subtleties of Ginyu as Goku and vice versa are really good, Ginyu's body and face when Goku is occupying it are much softer, it's well done.

During the Ginyu segment I first realized that it's kinda unclear if Ginyu's body (purple one) is actually his "true" body - it's possible he was born as something entirely else. Food for thought

Everything King Kai related just makes me smile so much. And the VA just sets it over the top.

Vegeta's lines are just so good sometimes. When Piccolo comes back to fight Frieza, Piccolo and Vegeta smack talk a bit, and Piccolo says to Vegeta he wants to fight him after Frieza's dead. Then Vegeta says "I guess for some people dying once isn't enough" super snarky. Friggin Vegeta

I very much did not remember Frieza's third transformation is basically around for 2 episodes. Seems kinda pointless. And I completely forgot Goku only sees Freiza's 4th form and nothing else.

It's cool to see how Frieza literally has no empathy, and Vegeta, although at times insane and completely arrogant, has like this extremely little shred of empathy that comes alive now and then.

When Goku busts out of the healing pod before fighting Frieza, it feels like the first time that "Goku" shows up ever. Like the ultimate good guy savior everyone loves. Before then, especially during Saiyan arc, it feels like it was a slow climb to this point. Then of course SS happens soon after.

Vegeta's death sequence where he tells Goku about Planet Vegeta and Frieza is super good. Shows Vegeta is not just a megalomaniac. There's a reason he is the way he is.

Ok, Bulma is super annoying pretty much all this arc. But it's pretty messed up that they leave her stranded for the majority of the sequence after the 7 dragon balls are gathered. They don't even talk about her for the most part.

Whenever Goku and the others use callback moves they haven't used in awhile, and call out the fact they haven't used them in a while, is sick as hell. Goku does this with Kamehameha remote blasts underwater against Frieza.

The way final form Frieza fights is actually really cool. The animation really highlights his snake-like use of his tail.

I used to remember it being completely ridiculous that Frieza did not notice the Spirit Bomb. But they do at least attempt to build it up properly, saying that Frieza can't sense things well and he has to use his eyes. Still, it's a bit hard to miss, even with your eyes.

Inconsistencies between episode transitions
Big shifts in demeanor and tone of characters - some might be injured/frightened at the end of an episode, then next episode be boasting and in control, vice versa. Same with appearance, there's many times where Frieza is scuffed and ragged looking, then beginning of next episode, completely clean.

King Kai sure does a terrible job narrating what's happening on Namek. Says Goku dies multiple times, says Namek exploded when it didn't.

After Frieza sends the blast to destroy Namek, he says Goku has "5 minutes". Then there's 10 episodes.

Gohan has many, many seriously good individual things he does to build his character, even as a 7-8 year old. I definitely didn't remember him being such a solid character. Going back to rescue his father and fend off Frieza is great.

Frieza actually making it to Porunga at the very end and not being able to grant his wish because of a language problem is the most bittersweet thing. He actually never had a chance from the start.

The flashback with Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz arguing with Frieza is extremely good. The character building for Vegeta is so poignant.


There's some inconsistent things that happen between episodes everywhere, but man is the end of Season 3 Frieza Arc really weird. Vegeta and Gohan fight on Earth after they're all wished back. Then Vegeta's about to kill Gohan, Piccolo intervenes, then Vegeta flies away. Literally next episode Vegeta is with everyone on Earth (in the exact place he JUST flew away from) and is listening/helping them come up with a plan. ???


======

Garlic Jr. Saga

I COMPLETELY forgot about Garlic Jr. showing up again. Whoa.

I find it very hard to believe that Piccolo, who can battle with Frieza form 2 handily, is completely outmatched by Garlic Jr's Spice Boys. I guess its explained by their home planet star being in orbit but still..

I know that Goku classically kills very few people, but I also thought the same for Gohan, but he definitely just straight up kills two of the Spice Boys back to back, then the other two later.

Another callback to prior powers is Piccolo beefing up his size to match Garlic's, same as the end of Dragon Ball.

Piccolo - "Destroy the Makyo Star, Gohan"
Krillin - "I don't know, that plan sounds half-baked to me."
Piccolo - "No, it's fully baked."
Lmao

It's actually a nice story in ~10 episodes without Goku whatsoever. Gives some good character building all around, especially for Kami and Popo. Kami and Popo running around is pretty entertaining.

The slice of life episode where they celebrate 1,000 year birthday of the turtle, and the turtle doles out relationship advice to Krillin. Yes.

Krillin is seriously the ultimate homie. I kinda remembered him as being sorta weak overall and kinda a liability, but that's very much not true.

Poor Yamcha dude. Short end of the stick with Bulma and Vegeta. Vegeta in the shower saying "The female species is SUCH an ENIGMA." LMAO

======

Android Saga

This series does a really good job of highlighting Goku's pacifism, both good and bad. First sparing Vegeta. Then in this arc, Frieza shows up and is about to obliterate Earth. Then Trunks tells Goku that sparing Dr. Gero will be something he will regret for the rest of his life.

It's really interesting how throughout all of the prior DBZ sagas, they basically introduce no actually new allies. That's why Trunks' arrival is so welcome.

I find it really weird that in the present, Trunks tells them they have 3 years before the Androids show up, and make zero effort over the next years to try to find them. Trunks does say that they never found the base but they just like, immediately give up with no effort.

The specific moment when Trunks finds Android 19 and says "This isn't one of the androids that killed Dr. Gero" is AWESOME.

Piccolo's reuniting with Kami, the flashbacks, the specific Dragon Ball arc themes that play, it's all very good.

Chi Chi is kinda not cool during end of Saiyan arc but she regains it all during this arc. Driving license episode is of course awesome, but she's very sincere during Goku's illness.

I never appreciated 17 and 18's design - they look very normal except for their gigantic foreheads. It feels intentional - they strayed from Toriyama's classic design just a small bit to make them feel "off" in some way.

The framing in this saga of suspense about what's happening is incredibly good. Trunks showing up, warning about Androids, preparation for them, then all the minor differences from the future. Then especially at the end of season 4 when the other time capsule shows up, and how it ties to Cell. All so good

Android 16 17 18 hanging out in the country side, messing up the biker gang and stealing clothes for 18, it's all oddly enjoyable. Because Cell is coming and is the mysterious threat.

Piccolo fusing with Kami is such a good mini arc. Very much comes at the perfect time in the DBZ saga.

==== Cell

I forgot how frickin cool Cell's first form looks.

Cell absorbing his first victim in front of Piccolo is EXTREMELY unsettling.

Cell using Special Beam Cannon before you understand his backstory, damn that's cool. Then Kamehameha wave. Then Solar Flare.

Android 17s fight with Piccolo is super good. Well paced, even power, 17 being smug and getting wise about it later, Piccolo's recent powering up with Kami paying off. The animation's good, it's a breath of fresh air after some less spectacular fights.

I always thought Android 16 was kinda a goof ball, but he actually owns. Very stoic, a little comical, but shines in the right moments.

After being on the sidelines for like serious 40 episodes, Tien's moment to shine against Cell's second form is very good. Even if he's not some ultra fighter, he does his part.

It is EXTREMELY frustrating to watch Goku force Gohan and himself to sit outside of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for a full day, doing literally nothing, while Vegeta and Trunks train, saying it's "for the best" while the others fend off Cell. Then after 17's absorbed and Tien's about to die, he just randomly shows up. As if there weren't a billion things he could have done with Instant Transmission to remedy Cell's absorption plan.

During Frieza saga, I kid you not, they play the SAME SONG FOR LIKE 60 EPISODES for suspense. The Android/Cell sagas HUGELY improve the supporting score quality.

Trunks seriously has so many good moments. When Vegeta lets Cell go to absorb 18, and Vegeta keeps stopping Trunks from interfering, then Trunks says he's going to go through Vegeta. Vegeta mocks him and is like "you won't do that to your dear father, your feelings get in your way", and Trunks blasts the hell out of him anyways, it's so hype.

Gohan turning Super Saiyan is an incredible scene. Arguably moreso than Goku's. I know Goku's is well revered as one of the most hype moments in pretty much all of anime, and although it's good, when you re-watch it, Goku's sorta just like, happens real fast. Krillin dies, then he transforms. I think the storytelling of Gohan's is really really good. And when you know he's going even further to SSJ2, whew.

I very much forgot about how important the "Ascended" Super Saiyan stuff is to the arc, long before SSJ2 drops.

This series does an oddly good job of portraying "the dumb masses". It comes up now and then, but especially when Cell announces the Cell Games and everyone starts "fleeing to the countryside", as if that matters in the slightest if the world is destroyed.

The 'slice of life' episodes before the Cell Games is very much not filler, it's good stuff. Goku's resolve to have his family enjoy their time before Cell might destroy everything is very endearing. Then when the military and basic people try to take on Cell, Goku's dream world for hanging out gets shaken up, and it's a great segue. I feel like this is a not very well remembered part of DBZ.

Chi Chi is super rude and not cool during end of Saiyan arc, but she's way more fleshed out as a character in Cell saga. Being uptight and worrysome is one part of her, but she's extremely sweet and smitten towards Goku and it helps the relationship a lot. You def start to appreciate how whack her family life is with Goku around.

During this saga I was starting to think the series was sorta straying from the Dragon Balls being part of the story. It's both very obvious that Dragon Balls are part of DBZ, but its interesting that they become very much not the focus for awhile. They generally just skirt over the fact that Piccolo and Kami fusing gets rid of them - they do mention it, but it's not really made an important turn of events. But they do meaningfully bring it back, with Goku & the Nameks.

Cell ended up being more consistent of a character throughout his 3 forms, but overall less cool than I remember. Perfect Cell isn't really all that noble and "pure fighter" that I thought/remembered, he definitely retains his sorta sniveling evil from his Imperfect forms. He's actually kinda a piece of crap. In my head I remembered him being this super cool character and he's kinda not, but it's not a letdown perse, he's still an alright villain.

Mr. Satan is comedic relief and of course well loved but it gets old really, really quick. It's the worst part of the final Cell fights, the constant cuts to what effectively is the exact same bit over and over.

Cell and Goku's first fight is extremely good animation. Goku using Instant Transmission with Kamehameha wave on Cell to blow off his head, sick

16's bomb being removed when he's about to detonate on Cell is truly tragic.

Goku being very strong willed about his son succeeding him is good stuff. But when Gohan is getting the crap kicked out of him, and Piccolo yells at Goku saying "Gohan's wondering not about strength and battle, but why his father is watching & letting him die", excellent moment.

Gohan being pushed into the corner by both Goku and Cell explain a lot as to why Gohan doesn't want to fight much growing up. I always used to thought Gohan becomes kinda lame as he gets older, but there's about a billion reasons why he naturally grows averse to fighting.

16 ended up being such a better character than I remember. His speech to Gohan before he dies to Cell is really incredible.

I think Toriyama gets way more flak for having a "same-y" art style than he deserves. There's a lot of subtleties everywhere. Trunks (in powered down phase) looks like Bulma. Vegeta's face is extremely distinct from Goku's.

Goku gets flak all the time for not being a good father figure. I think all that is BS. Goku is written as a strong Saiyan blooded fighter, and it seeps through everything he does. Goku's speech to Gohan before Gohan's final blast to Cell is incredibly tact.

The whole trope of "let me let you power up, then I get immediately destroyed by you" from Vegeta -> Cell then Cell -> Gohan is kinda dumb honestly.

Gohan's final fight with Cell is everything DBZ has to offer.


== Otherworld

Otherwold doesn't feel like filler to me. It's more like DLC content. I don't think it overstays it welcome compared to some other stuff

Watching the four Kais act like kids is pretty dang good. And Grand Kai of course is the best jean material wearin guy around.


== Tournament
Gohan goes to high school arc rules. This is peak non-filler, non-main-bad-guy content IMO. The Saiyaman stuff is maybe like 10% overdone for length but it's pretty watchable.

Goten is probably one of my favorite characters. The scene were Chi Chi is shown training Goten is awesome.

Vegeta yelling at his son Trunks (who's like 4) while they're training in 150x gravity is amazing. If Trunks lands a punch on him, Vegeta will take him to the park for an hour, then Trunks does and Vegeta punches him in the face. Then Vegeta angrily yells "shut up, we're going to the park." Lmao

The Martial Tournament Announcer recognizing Goku and talking with everyone, knowing that Mr Satan didnt kill Cell, its a real good touch. Theres a scene where the announcer says "can you guys not blow up the ring?" and it pans to Goku and Piccolo.

== Buu

Dabura is usually not remembered for being all that powerful, and although its kinda true, his fight with Gohan is really good because Dabura has all of these very unique attacks fitting for the Demon King. He materializes a sword, breathes fire, his energy waves are extremely unique, and his spear he impales Buu with at the end is signature too

Everything about Majin Vegeta is really sick. Constantly defiant even while branded with the Majin insignia. His speech to Goku about being left in the dust is really good. His dark eyelines look so good. I think story wise, it's a real good way to pit Goku against Vegeta, and not just in a tournament. Goku breaking free of Vegeta's stasis rings with the BIG BOULDA FIST, so good. His fight with Goku is extremely good. Well animated, nice pauses and dialogue

Further I think Majin Vegeta is a really interesting arc for him. He really does play on the sidelines for Frieza and Cell's final fights. The dip into power and madness really fits him.

Piccolo getting the first "kill" on Babidi RULES

Majin Vegeta's final discussion with Piccolo, when Piccolo basically tells Vegeta he will be going to hell and not keeping his body like Goku. And then Piccolo reflecting on Vegeta's deathbed on how the two of them are similar.

Similarly, Gohan getting the Z Sword arc is really good for him too. Out of the limelight for awhile, but has his own journey with Supreme Kai. I think everyone remembers Gohan "slacking off" (which isn't really true) but maybe people don't remember the Z Sword and his determination

No one remembers the time Master Roshi peeks up 18's outfit, gets kicked into the fray, and farts on a dragon to secure a Dragon Ball.

Forgot how truly silly Majin Buu's first form is. I think if you know things change, there's a light at the end of the tunnel, but if you didn't, I could absolutely sympathize with some people getting fed up with it. It overstays its welcome IMO. Say what you want about Frieza and Cell but at least they're serious.

DAMN is SSJ3 cool

The arc where Buu heals the blind kid and gets some compassion, it's really good.

After like 60+ episodes of listening to Satan's BS, his redeeming moment comes when he decides to not deonate bombs to try to (fruitlessly) kill Majin Buu while Buu is playing with the puppy. Buu names the dog Bee (Buu Bee??). Piccolo talking to Videl about how Satan won't have the powers that they do, but his compassion towards Buu was heroic and necessary for victory.

Similarly Buu's transformation arc is a cool throwback to Piccolo and Kami, and after also putting up with all of Majin Buu's BS, it's a nice release.

Holy crap I did not at all remember Chi Chi slapping Super Buu across the face, and he turns her into an egg and stomps her.

Trunks talking about the meta how warriors should drag out their battles as long as possible for true victory to Goten is funny. The first encounter Gotenks has with Super Buu, Gotenks making up all these move names on the spot, Super Buu saying "all you people do is talk!!!" rules.

Gohan with the Potential Unleashed form after the Z Sword, being stronger than SSJ3, I very very much forgot about all of this. Gohan being beaten down multiple times by Super Buu after absorbings Gotenks and Piccolo, but never giving up, very good.

Everything about Vegito rules. His outfit having Goku's gi with Vegeta's colors, then the Saiyan boots & gloves. And his personality is really exactly what it should be. His fight with Super Buu drags a bit but when he gets turned into candy and still kicks ass is pretty dang good. The fact that Buu's main arsenal for disabling his opponents (turning to candy, absorbing entirely with his body) just don't work at all

Vegeta saying "Great galaxy! If I know my anatomy, that leads straight to the Southern Exit!" when inside Buu, lmao.

Vegeta and Goku actually being on each other's side during the final Buu fight is like a 280 episode pay out. Vegeta's reflection of Goku being one step ahead, then concedes that he finally accepts that Goku is better than him, while he watches Goku fighting with Buu after being almost knocked out entirely, it's really the best.

Seeing the ruse of everyone on Earth believing Satan is the greatest hero, finally come to fruition when he is able to convince everyone on Earth to give their power for the Spirit Bomb, dang it's good. All his antics paying off in full

The final Spirit Bomb scene when Goku gets his power back from the Dragon Ball wish, the music playing, and Goku sends off Majin Buu waiting for his next reincarnation, it's really incredible.