Does DB-Z really has no Storyline?

[Ripper 30]

as we have witnessed, DBZ has been a worldwide Hit and almost everyone knows about it. it's known for its Epic Action and battles but one of the Common Criticism I hear about DBZ is that it has a very bad or almost non existent Story and its all about Fight, personally I disagree with this statement because ,even though DB-Z doesn't have the Greatest of Story but I still think on its own it's a decent Story Line. What are your thoughts on this?

[Forte224]

I've heard complaints about the writing, but not that it had no story. Me personally, I rarely watch Dragon Ball content with the fights in mind. I enjoy the simple story that drives the show. DB and DBZ are pleasantly flawed and charming. But I'm not going to sit down and say that the stories are masterpieces or anything

[DragonBallKing]

I've heard complaints about the writing, but not that it had no story. Me personally, I rarely watch Dragon Ball content with the fights in mind. I enjoy the simple story that drives the show. DB and DBZ are pleasantly flawed and charming. But I'm not going to sit down and say that the stories are masterpieces or anything

Sometimes a simple story can be more entertaining than a complex one.

[Forte224]

I've heard complaints about the writing, but not that it had no story. Me personally, I rarely watch Dragon Ball content with the fights in mind. I enjoy the simple story that drives the show. DB and DBZ are pleasantly flawed and charming. But I'm not going to sit down and say that the stories are masterpieces or anything

Sometimes a simple story can be more entertaining than a complex one.

Oh for sure! I can just acknowledge it's not perfect and has plot holes and the like. But after 20+ years with this show it still captivates me and so many (for even longer than that) and that's quite a feat

[KBABZ]

Dragon Ball has a continuity and a plot that evolves and is influenced by past events. So it has a storyline. Something like The Simpsons has none of that, so it doesn't have a story outside of individual episodes. Dr. Slump is a weird middle-ground I think.

[ABED]

It does have a simple story, one that revolves around fighting. I echo the sentiment that a simple story is often better than a complex one.

[Ripper 30]

It does have a simple story, one that revolves around fighting. I echo the sentiment that a simple story is often better than a complex one.

Can you give example of this statement ?
Because complex stories also help develop our mind and we are engaged in the Show by watching it, that doesn't mean I am saying simple stories are inferior .

I've heard complaints about the writing, but not that it had no story. Me personally, I rarely watch Dragon Ball content with the fights in mind. I enjoy the simple story that drives the show. DB and DBZ are pleasantly flawed and charming. But I'm not going to sit down and say that the stories are masterpieces or anything

I have seen many internet meme and common criticism of People saying DBZ has no storyline and it's all screaming and power ups and it's really sad that these people who shit on DBZ for this are the only ones who watch it for fights.

[ABED]

Die Hard is a very simple story - save my wife, stop the bad guy. It's also the best action movie ever. Not all stories are made equal. Complex stories aren't better by virtue of being more complex. The real skill is if the characters and story are actually engaging no matter how many interweaving stories or characters or twists and turns.

[KBABZ]

I have seen many internet meme and common criticism of People saying DBZ has no storyline and it's all screaming and power ups and it's really sad that these people who shit on DBZ for this are the only ones who watch it for fights.

There are large chunks of the story where "nothing" happens, usually the "Final Boss" fights like with Frieza or Super/Kid Buu. But that blatantly ignores everything leading up to it, such as the Great Saiyaman stuff, the veritable chess game on Namek with the Dragon Balls, or Future Trunks disclosing the future and discovering Cell. It also happens to ignore the entire first third of the story, the original Dragon Ball. To use a comparison, it's like coming into the final act of Die Hard and then complaining that it's nothing but blood sweat and guns with no character development. Well DUH, you missed the rest of it!

[ABED]

A fight is a story.

[Ripper 30]

Die Hard is a very simple story - save my wife, stop the bad guy. It's also the best action movie ever. Not all stories are made equal. Complex stories aren't better by virtue of being more complex. The real skill is if the characters and story are actually engaging no matter how many interweaving stories or characters or twists and turns.

I see your point now, agreed.

I have seen many internet meme and common criticism of People saying DBZ has no storyline and it's all screaming and power ups and it's really sad that these people who shit on DBZ for this are the only ones who watch it for fights.

There are large chunks of the story where "nothing" happens, usually the "Final Boss" fights like with Frieza or Super/Kid Buu. But that blatantly ignores everything leading up to it, such as the Great Saiyaman stuff, the veritable chess game on Namek with the Dragon Balls, or Future Trunks disclosing the future and discovering Cell. It also happens to ignore the entire first third of the story, the original Dragon Ball. To use a comparison, it's like coming into the final act of Die Hard and then complaining that it's nothing but blood sweat and guns with no character development. Well DUH, you missed the rest of it!

Yes the Cat and Mouse game on Namek was really good and people tend to focus only on fights and not anything else and then say it's all about fights.

[ABED]

I did love the cat and mouse game on Namek. The quest for the DB's allow for weaker characters to do something vital without having to screw with the power scaling to justify their inclusion in the story. By the same token, a good fight will tell a story.

[sintzu]

Of course it has a story, a simple story but still a story. We see characters introduced overtime, they and the world develop, etc. To say it doesn't have a story would mean it's like tom and Jerry or the simpsons where it's episodic with no continuity which clearly isn't a case. There's a clear biggening and clear ending, anything that has that has a story.

[PremiumSalt]

It certainly has a storyline, although as others have mentioned, it’s a simple one. Something I think is worth mentioning is that different eras of the series have been more story based than others. For example, the very first arc is barely about fighting at all, and is much more story based, whereas something like the Cell arc is almost entirely centered around fighting, with the plot that is there pretty much existing to get characters from one fight to the next.

[Lord Beerus]

Dragon Ball absolutely has a story line: Dragon Ball is a simple story, about simple minded martial artists who have simple adventures and/or battles. Nothing more and nothing less. Most of the time, any given story in Dragon Ball boils down to a group of super powered beings beating the shit out of each other for artificially created reasons and with ridiculously enforced stakes at hand. And that's perfectly okay. Let Dragon Ball be just that. It doesn't have to perform narrative acrobats to have a story to be remembered or revered by. Sometimes less is more.

[Ripper 30]

Dragon Ball absolutely has a story line: Dragon Ball is a simple story, about simple minded martial artists who have simple adventures and/or battles. Nothing more and nothing less. Most of the time, any given story in Dragon Ball boils down to a group of super powered beings beating the shit out of each other for artificially created reasons and with ridiculously enforced stakes at hand. And that's perfectly okay. Let Dragon Ball be just that. It doesn't have to perform narrative acrobats to have a story to be remembered or revered by. Sometimes less is more.

Agreed it may not a great Story but still it's decent and simplistic at it's core.

[Polyphase Avatron]

It has multiple storylines.

[floofychan333]

A detailed story is not necessary for Dragon Ball Z. It revolves around the 4 arcs, which are mostly composed of fighting which is generally self-explanatory. Dragon Ball, in the phase that we are talking about, was a battle manga that attracted readers it had built up in the first half as well as new readers attracted to the fight scenes, expanded sci-fi theme, and new characters. While the original Dragon Ball portion of the manga could be considered a story manga (though adventure is more suited to it), the story becomes less important to follow in Dragon Ball Z. While a storyline is definitely in place, the situation stays the same for much of each arc (e.g. Goku fighting Freeza) though it does change in terms of who's fighting and what developments have occurred.

[Hellspawn28]

It does have a storyline. It's the old stigma of DBZ being nothing more than just people yelling all day long with no real movement in the story. Sure, it has a simple story and that's not a bad thing. A story can be very simple and still be told very well. I seen movies that try to have a very deep and complex story and fail terribly (The Butterfly Effect comes to mind. That movie is one of my most hated films ever). I rather have a good simple story like Dragon Ball than something that is trying to be smart and ends up being all bullshit.

[KBABZ]

I rather a simple story like Dragon Ball than something that is trying to be smart and ends up being all bullshit.

*cough*Prometheus*cough*