Dragon Ball has undoubtedly stood the test of time— the manga, at least. Toriyama’s 42 volume epic remains an incredibly important and entertaining story. It’s endlessly readable, offering fans something new with each re-read. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Dragon Ball’s anime adaptations.
Where the original adaptation, simply titled Dragon Ball, does do a fairly decent job at adapting the series, Dragon Ball Z drops the ball hard. The Z-arcs are still incredible in the manga, but the anime hasn’t aged well at all. The anime lacks the same care and consistency of the manga with none of the foresight, hurting the series in retrospect.
Greater Emphasis On Gohan
To be fair, there was no way Toei could have prevented themselves from giving Gohan’s introduction so much emphasis. He’s certainly an important character in the manga, but he very much feels like “Goku’s son” for quite some time. It isn’t until a few chapters into his training that Gohan really comes into his own.
On the flipside, the anime more or less introduces him as the main character and keeps him as such. Which would have paid off tremendously had Toriyama not reneged on making Gohan the main character for the Boo arc. Instead, Gohan’s lack of spotlight at the end of the anime is far more jarring than in the manga where he was only the clear lead for a much shorter period of time.
The Namek Arc
The Namek arc is widely considered by many to be Dragon Ball’s peak. It has action, drama, lots of character development, and some of the most intense moments in the franchise. The Cell arc is darker, but the Namek arc feels comparatively more mature. While this might all be true for the manga version, the anime adaptation of the Namek arc hasn’t aged well.
It’s slow in all the wrong places, its filler is tone deaf and butchers much of the arc’s pathos, and the final fight between Goku and Freeza just isn’t adapted all that well. It’s easily the worst arc between both anime adaptations.
The Pacing
Those growing up in the United States with Toonami had it lucky. Five new episodes of Dragon Ball Z a week? Not only is that a fantastic way of consuming the series, it’s almost ideal. Individual episodes standout more as part of a group of five. It’s easier to follow smaller details. If there’s one thing English Dragon Ball Z did right, it’s this.
Unfortunately, that isn’t how the series originally released nor is it a sustainable way of consuming the anime. Sooner or later, those five episodes are going to start to drain. Even then, there are just so many bad one off episodes littered in the middle of big fights or major arcs. Taking into consideration how slow DBZ actually is and watching the anime can be a challenge.
The Replacement Score
Bruce Faulconer’s replacement score for Dragon Ball Z was really, really bad. There are a few good tracks here and there (and its implementation in The Legacy of Goku II is actually appropriate,) but Faulconer’s music has nothing on Kikuchi’s original score. Kikuchi injected so much atmosphere and emotion with his music. Faulconer just suppressed it.
The replacement score is not only aggressively bad at times, it never stops. Faulconer’s track placement is utterly abysmal. The music blares over every little moment— something completely antithetical to Dragon Ball Z. Kikuchi valued silence. Faulconer’s scared kids are going to change the channel.
The Second Opening
Dragon Ball Z’s second opening, “WE GOTTA POWER” feels like a relic less than halfway through the Majin Boo arc. The anime really went all in when it came to making Gohan the main character. They had already spent so much time focusing on him and this was their pay-off— Toriyama finally passed the torch.
And then took it away. The second opening plays for the rest of the series and barely features Goku in it. Even the last episode gives the impression that Gohan is still Dragon Ball Z’s main character and when that hadn’t been the case for quite some time. It’s a bit awkward all things considered.
Sexual Humor
Dragon Ball Z’s sexual humor isn’t nearly as bad as the original Dragon Ball, but there are still problematic elements that persist throughout the entire series. The Boo arc even has Goku literally trying to barter Bulma so the Rou Kaioshin can unlock Gohan’s potential. It’s very Roshi-esque behavior.
It’s also just plain not funny most of the time. By the Z-era, the series has matured past this point. For Toriyama to indulge himself every now and again often feels out of place. If nothing else, it seems that Super is making an effort to handle this better, even if characters like Yurin take Dragon Ball three steps back.
Funimation’s Localization
Dragon Ball is popular not because of its English localization, but in spite of it. It cannot be stressed just how bad a job Funimation did translating the series into English. Entire character arcs were changed, motivations were altered, straight up misinformation was added in at times. Dragon Ball Kai ended up being a downright necessity for fans who wanted the real Dragon Ball experience in English.
Between script changes and incredibly poor early dubbing, revisiting Dragon Ball Z in English is an exercise in frustration that only nostalgia can make bearable. Even then, it’s a blatantly worse version of the actual Dragon Ball Z. Just read the manga or watch Kai.
The Home Releases
Dragon Ball Z’s home releases are horrible in every single way imaginable. The Dragon Boxes, which have the best visual quality, don’t exactly have the best audio options and are crazy expensive. The Orange Bricks, which were designed as cheaper sets, are horrifically cropped with worse coloring. The same is the case for the Blu-Rays, just on a lesser scale.
Funimation did release a very brief collection called the Level Set which only brought the Saiyan arc to Blu-Ray, but it’s the best the series has ever looked. Every other home release has been pure garbage, movies included. Even Kai isn’t free from bad home releases.
Son Gohan
Gohan’s arc ends… weird. The Boo arc builds up this idea that Gohan needs to fight— and him unlocking his potential does resolve that thread— but then he chooses not to participate in the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai in the epilogue. Which does make sense, but it also contradicts his final arc which seemed to come to the conclusion that Gohan could fight and study.
This is more or less GT’s interpretation and something Super chooses to drag out further, but DBZ just ends Gohan’s arc on a strange note. Looking back on the series in retrospect, it’s one of those details that makes perfect sense, but just doesn’t mesh with the little details.
Z’s Final Next Episode Preview
Believe it or not, but Dragon Ball Z is actually incompatible with Dragon Ball Super. The latter exists in Dragon Ball Kai’s continuity— at least as far as the anime goes. The very last episode of Dragon Ball Z ends not with Goku simply flying off with Oob, but with a next episode preview of the first episode of Dragon Ball GT.
GT aired the week after DBZ ended, and it was more or less treated as Dragon Ball’s next step in the anime continuity. This also means that Z can’t be revisited in a vacuum as the anime’s ending quite literally transitions right into Dragon Ball GT.
