Dragon Ball GT: A Personal Assessment (20 Year Anniversary)

[sintzu]

You expected Nappa to be hard deal for anyone in GT? You're not serious.

Of course not but someone that important should've lasted longer somehow.

[JazzMazz]

You expected Nappa to be hard deal for anyone in GT? You're not serious.

Of course not but someone that important should've lasted longer somehow.

You can't be serious, your talking about Nappa. The same Nappa that became instantly irrelevant on Namek?

Thats the equivalent of saying Raditz should have had a return to form in GT.

[KBABZ]

Didn't Vegeta kill Nappa in a single blast in the Saiyan Arc? That happened, yes?

[ABED]

Uh... Okay...?

It's not that hard to understand. I spoke in plain English. Saying that one actor is better than another doesn't make that actor good. You don't have to defend one actor by putting another down.

Well what I mean is that it emphasizes the fact that Goku is, to put it bluntly, uneducated; I don't think Gohan would have been able to teach him reading and writing and such after Goku became well-behaved, let alone the period Goku spent by himself before meeting Bulma. For me at least it puts in that aspect of being a country bumpkin without giving him a South-of-the-US accent.

He doesn't sound uneducated or a country bumpkin. It just sounds stilted and annoying. Her screams are also unpleasant to listen to. They're coarse, like sandpaper.

[TheMikado]

Didn't Vegeta kill Nappa in a single blast in the Saiyan Arc? That happened, yes?

Yeah the problem with Nappa as a character is that he was all muscle and no brain and didn’t seem to be able to put a plan together to save his life. All things considered he got a much higher part than he deserved. He destroyed and entire city on GT using his trademark move from Z. I feel like whoever put that together was a true Nappa fan. He ended up doing more damage than most of the enemies combined.

[TheMikado]

stilted performance emphasizes that Goku isn't as "learned" as the other characters are.

I'm not seeing the connection between stilted and lack of intelligence.

Well what I mean is that it emphasizes the fact that Goku is, to put it bluntly, uneducated; I don't think Gohan would have been able to teach him reading and writing and such after Goku became well-behaved, let alone the period Goku spent by himself before meeting Bulma. For me at least it puts in that aspect of being a country bumpkin without giving him a South-of-the-US accent.

Goku may not be educated but he’s far from dumb. Goku has been shown to be able to read and write multiple times in Z and do simple math. In Super Goku can still read and write barely as proven by the written test but he seems to be unable to perform simple math for some reason. Despite being a farmer.

[KBABZ]

Goku may not be educated but he’s far from dumb. Goku has been shown to be able to read and write multiple times in Z and do simple math. In Super Goku can still read and write barely as proven by the written test but he seems to be unable to perform simple math for some reason. Despite being a farmer.

I didn't mean to say that Goku was dumb and unintelligent; one thing he tends to excel at is battle tactics, particularly Ki consumption. What I was referring to was that Goku simply hadn't been exposed very much to said things like writing and reading, or how to properly address someone, or even the flow of his sentences. Thus his speech being somewhat crude in the way the words flow together in a sentence feels appropriate to me. Plus there were several timeskips in the series that give him time to learn those sorts of things later from Chi-Chi, mainly when he's an adult.

[Timetraveller]

I feel like the voice inhibits any real display of actual emotion. It's so throaty and whenever Nadolny's Goku laughs it sounds so weird. Her yells are also really unconvincing as well in my eyes.

Nadolny's the best kid Goku/Gohan in the show by far for me. It's subjective but she does a believable kid's voice (kind of like Nancy Cartwright's Bart Simpson). I don't know if that's how Japanese kids sound but Nozawa's kid Goku sounds like an old woman doing a high-pitched, nasally cute-sy voice. It might just be because she basically does the same voice for adult Goku, Gohan and Goten which has never fit but I've always disliked her interpretations of those characters. And I watched the sub before the dub.

Vollmer's Bulma's voice is pretty good too. She manages to make Bulma fun with her over the top yelling.

The best part about the dub is hearing your favorite characters age as they get older.

[KBABZ]

Nadolny's the best kid Goku/Gohan in the show by far for me.

Coming from Kai it's weird hearing her play Gohan. Clickenbeard for me shows a great vocal progression throughout the episodes going from the high-pitched Raditz headbutter to the more mature yet unconfident Cell killer. By the same token it's weird hearing Clickenbeard do Goku in Sleeping Princess!

[ABED]

Didn't Vegeta kill Nappa in a single blast in the Saiyan Arc? That happened, yes?

Yeah the problem with Nappa as a character is that he was all muscle and no brain and didn’t seem to be able to put a plan together to save his life. All things considered he got a much higher part than he deserved. He destroyed and entire city on GT using his trademark move from Z. I feel like whoever put that together was a true Nappa fan. He ended up doing more damage than most of the enemies combined.

What exactly do you mean a "higher part than he deserved"?

[TheMikado]

Didn't Vegeta kill Nappa in a single blast in the Saiyan Arc? That happened, yes?

Yeah the problem with Nappa as a character is that he was all muscle and no brain and didn’t seem to be able to put a plan together to save his life. All things considered he got a much higher part than he deserved. He destroyed and entire city on GT using his trademark move from Z. I feel like whoever put that together was a true Nappa fan. He ended up doing more damage than most of the enemies combined.

What exactly do you mean a "higher part than he deserved"?

In terms of power levels I mean. He is shown destroying an entire city when enemies several orders of magnitude stronger aren’t shown causing anywhere near the same level of destruction. It was a call back to his role in X but the devastation he caused relative to his actual power levels is unjustified in the context of the other enemies. It’s really more likely that Nappa just has efficient methods of destruction due to his previous occupation.

[ABED]

Yeah, but characters like Daimao and his son also destroyed a city despite being far weaker than Nappa. You are caught up in the power level stuff. Nappa served his role as the brute he is and did well. He leaves a lasting impression, especially in light of being Vegeta's lackey. If Nappa's taking orders and is afraid of Vegeta, how strong is Vegeta? It turns out Vegeta is VERY strong. I have zero issue with Nappa being blasted away like he was nothing after how many years.

[TheMikado]

Yeah, but characters like Daimao and his son also destroyed a city despite being far weaker than Nappa. You are caught up in the power level stuff. Nappa served his role as the brute he is and did well. He leaves a lasting impression, especially in light of being Vegeta's lackey. If Nappa's taking orders and is afraid of Vegeta, how strong is Vegeta? It turns out Vegeta is VERY strong. I have zero issue with Nappa being blasted away like he was nothing after how many years.

It really isn’t a power level thing though, Nappa overall should be one of the least problematic of all the enemies. And got arguably more emphasis and screen time as if he was a particularly formidable threat. He’s fodder at this point so I’m just curious why he seemed to get particular emphasis to the extent that he destroys a city and for me it’s likely related to showing how far Vegeta has come.

[ABED]

Why should have been the least problematic? Of all the arcs in DB, the Saiyan arc is probably the best executed. I'm not sure what emphasis you are referring to. He got the screen time appropriate to a character who was stronger than everyone except Goku. By showing how powerful he is, it shows how hopeless the situation is then how strong Goku has become and then how much more powerful Vegeta is.

[8000 Saiyan]

I have to agree with Metalwario when it comes to Elise Baughman's Pan. Minaguchi is far more natural. Ocean and Blue Water Pan sound even better than Baughman.

[ABED]

That isn't the arguement. I still don't understand why it always has to be a comparison. "Person X is better than Person Y." Okay, but that doesn't say whether they are actually good or bad.

[TheMikado]

Why should have been the least problematic? Of all the arcs in DB, the Saiyan arc is probably the best executed. I'm not sure what emphasis you are referring to. He got the screen time appropriate to a character who was stronger than everyone except Goku. By showing how powerful he is, it shows how hopeless the situation is then how strong Goku has become and then how much more powerful Vegeta is.

I was talking about his appearance in GT other enemies got a 5 second cameo usually in conjunction with other enemies. Nappa has a whole scene to himself with Vegeta. I’m really not opposed to it it just seems out of place when no other villains were given that much emphasis in the Super 17 arc besides the main ones and 17.

[ABED]

He has a personal relationship to one of the heroes and he's one of the more memorable bad guys.

[Metalwario64]

That isn't the arguement. I still don't understand why it always has to be a comparison. "Person X is better than Person Y." Okay, but that doesn't say whether they are actually good or bad.

It is, though, because when I stated that I was giving reasons why I felt the Japanese version of GT is superior. Plus, even aside from that I gave examples of why Baughman's acting bothered me.

[MajinMan]

I agree with most things Lord Beerus said. GT honestly isn't that bad. Although I would personally combine the Black Star Dragon Balls arc with the Baby arc considering how it's telling one story through both of them. The Baby arc is solid, and it tells a pretty good story with a great villain. Super Saiyan 4 is also a big highlight.

The Super 17 arc is my personal least favorite in the entire series. It's terrible. It legitimitely has only one, maybe two, good episodes in it. I know it's like 8 episodes long, but it's a terrible story. Goku getting stuck in hell and being forced to fight Freeza and Cell is an interesting concept (nevermind the fact that this arc absolutely cannot exist based off the manga's rules, but that's not really a problem), but it completely falls flat. The fight is not interesting and Freeza and Cell are flanderized beyond belief. It also doesn't help that they're drawn like shit 99% of the time, especially Cell. Everything happening on Earth is also a letdown. 17, um, OUR 17, is completely left blank and not explored at all. He appears and gets zombified. And then there's the hell 17. I just don't understand why and how he was made. It's stupid. I know he's needed to fuse, but... why. They could have wrote something different, maybe another android. But nope, it had to be another 17. And what's even stupider is Super 17. Complete trash. Worst main villain in the entire series. He's literally an edgelord version of 17, except he has nothing going for him other than his ridiculous design. God damnit, this arc is not good. People call Super fanfiction, but this is 100x more qualified to be called fanfiction. The conclusion is ok, probably the best part of the arc.

The Evil Dragons arc is not that great either. Back when I was a filthy casual, I would call it the best part of GT. Now I just think it's overrated. It starts off with a good introductory episode, then falls flat on its ass for the next 8 or so. Like Lord Beerus said, it picks up greatly when the 4-Star Dragon is introduced. That being said, the 1-Star Dragon (Yi Xing Long, Omega) is a bland final villain. He's not terrible, but he's not great, either. He also suffers from GT chin syndrome, also known as rectangle chin. It's a well known disease. The Genki Dama ending is a complete rip off of the Buu arc, but it still works. It's not as good, but it's different enough to where it can sort of stand on its own. The final episode is also brilliant.

Overall, GT has a good first arc, with an absolutely terrible (but thankfully short) second arc, and a weird third arc. It's very underrated by this fandom, but a lot of its criticisms are fair. I didn't even touch up on the kid Goku thing.

If I were to rate it, I'd give it a 6/10.