Like I said in the announcement thread, this'll be pretty interesting for me since this is the first time I'll have ever properly watched
Dragon Ball Z (I mainly got into the series through the manga and video games, since that's all Ireland had at the time). I'm gonna do a mix of episode by episode thoughts, and then some overall opinions/answering one or two of Ajay's questions. So let's get started!
Language watched:
Japanese
Version watched:
An encode of the Orange Bricks (since as mentioned in the announcement thread, I couldn't get Dragon Box/Broadcast Audio versions). I mention this just to warn that whatever commentary I may make on aesthetics or visuals may not be completely accurate due to the changed colors, cropped aspect ratio, etc.
Episode 1
-The voice acting all round is really good. Gohan's antics could have been annoying, but Nozawa's performance makes him unspeakably adorable to the point where I felt bad when anything happened to him. There's a youth to Toshio Furukawa's performance of Piccolo that, despite his claims of wanting to take over the world and great power, that adds something to his character that I never got from the dub (it's the same feeling I got listening to Nobutoshi Hayashi's Guts in the 1997
Berserk anime). Hell, even the farmer managed to come off as an incredibly terrified man in the few lines that he got, even though it would have been really easy to make him a comedically portrayed buffon who gets killed in a second. That's the power of voice acting!
-Some people brought up a disconnect between Gohan's jungle hijinks and Raditz's arrival, specifically how it felt like the show would arbitrarily cut from one to the other, but I feel like that's deliberate. It makes you forget about the oncoming threat for a while, and makes it all the more impactful when the threat does arrive.
-There's a nice parallel between this episode and the first episode of
Dragon Ball, in that they both introduce Goku by doing some woodcutting, and both feature a Son kid dealing with a dangerous tiger. And I think the way they have Gohan running from the tiger is a good way of establishing the difference between him and Goku, who happily takes on and defeats the tiger in
Dragon Ball.
-I don't know why, but there's something I find really amusing about how Goku, upon seeing the tiger wearing Gohan's hat, innocently asks them where they got the hat. He doesn't assume the worst (which would be pretty understandable), and instead waits before jumping to any conclusions. It just seems like a very Goku thing for him to do, and I really like it.
Episode 2
-I didn't take much notice of the storyboards, but I do like some of the contrasting shots between Goku and Raditz when they're heading towards Kame House, or the panning shots of their faces.
-I like how Bulma remarking on the Saiyans' treatment of children, whilst holding onto Gohan, is what leads Raditz to taking notice of him, and letting the idea stew in his mind for a while.
-I enjoy the extra material they added in this episode, which does a pretty good job at accentuating points already made in the original and further adding on to it.
-The shot of Goku coming out of the Saiyan pod, with the early morning sun glinting through the mountains, is utterly gorgeous. God, I'd love have that shot framed and put somewhere around the house! Excellent job by the director/storyboard artist Osamu Kasai and background artists Noriyoshi Tsuchī, Hitoshi Nagasaki, Hideaki Edō, and Yūko Īda (I wish I knew who did that shot so I could credit the correct artist, instead of just listing everyone).
-The overall direction for this episode can be a bit slow, but I do appreciate some of the cinematic touches like dramatically lit reaction shots, or the clouds passing over the characters after a shocking revelation. It helps give the viewer time to take in everything that's being said, and to really digest it.
Episode 3
-To go back to the voice acting for a moment, Nozawa's performance of Goku here really helps to convey how much the events so far, particularly Gohan's kidnapping, have affected him.
-I've not talked about the music much, but I feel like there's a better use of it here than in previous episodes. There's a suspense cue used on Piccolo's entrance (which then pops up a few times in the next couple of episodes) that makes it more intimidating, and there's a nicely done dark reprise of Gohan's theme when he's trying to hide under the van from Raditz.
-The artwork in general is pretty standard. There's a couple of dodgy shots, but it overall looks fine. The storyboarding does nothing for me personally, but it works.
-There's a bit more of a slow burn than the last episode. I don't mind slow pacing, especially since it can make things feel all the more grander than if everything was rushed through, but it felt a bit meandering here at times.
-Random thought I never considered before: Goku and Piccolo are very close together in strength. I don't take battle power numbers too seriously, but I found it interesting to think about.
Episode 4
-There's some lovely shots and lighting to add to the Makankosappo's first attempt, and demonstrate how powerful of an attack it is.
-The scene where we cut back to Chi Chi during Goku's torture, though nice for some rudimentary dramatic irony, is too sudden in terms of mood whiplash and too short to feel like anything more than an unnecessary cutaway. Honestly, it's the only bit of anime-exclusive material I would consider being a bit needless at this point.
-I really like how the show cuts to landscape shots during Goku's torture, which shows how loud his screams are when they can be heard across the distant landscapes, and just before Gohan breaks free, which adds to the sense of mystery and tension about this sudden power level.
-On that note, I quite like the shot of the debris falling, and then Gohan's hat coming into the shot. A nice way of showing that something's changed.
Episode 5
-I don't have too much to say about this episode, except for one thing: I love the Makankosappo scene. I love the brief delay the beam has between hitting Raditz before it pierces through his armour and hits Goku. I love the two or three shots when the colour scheme changes to a monochromatic blue, except for the bright red blood pouring out of Raditz and Goku. I love the slow pace for when the two fall to the ground; it really makes the impact of the attack that much more cinematic, and I have to give director Kazuhisa Takenōchi major props for the excellent work he pulled off on this scene!
---
Ajay wrote:- How do you find Raditz as a character? He drops a lot of memorable info bombs, but is he memorable outside of that?
Raditz is the kind of character that doesn't stick around for very long, but he packs a hell of an impact. It's not just the way that he changes everything in Dragon Ball and how he expands the scope of the fictional universe tenfold, but there's also the character himself. Like Piccolo Daimao, he's a deadly serious, heartless being who comes at a complete contrast to previous villains in the series, but he doesn't even have comedic characters to bounce off of like Pilaf & co.
The thing I really like about Raditz is how he looks like nothing we've seen in the show up until now. The world, clothes and general aesthetic of Dragon Ball has always been inspired by various Asian cultures and Western entertainment media (sometimes with a mix of the two), but Raditz is the first character to completely forgo that cultural inspiration. It really does convey that this guy's from another world, what with his unique armor, that massive hair, and that scouter of his!
---
Overall, I'm liking
Dragon Ball Z, and I'm eager to check out more of the show in the coming weeks and months. Thanks for giving me the excuse to finally do so, Ajay!