MistareFusion's Dragon Ball Dissection! (Updated 5/19/25!)

[Kid Buu]

I've always found the manga fast paced and enjoyed a lot of the additional stories in the television show. Honestly don't think there's a single additional story in the Namek arc I dislike.

[Scsigs]

I've always found the manga fast paced and enjoyed a lot of the additional stories in the television show. Honestly don't think there's a single additional story in the Namek arc I dislike.

I can understand that. The manga's storyline moved at a brisk pace in parts, which gave the anime staff excuses to flesh out certain things, which is all fine, but, to me, the majority of Z's filler after the Saiyan arc, even then, isn't something I care for. Especially when the majority of it is just extending fight scenes which, especially in the fight against final form Frieza, can slow the pace to a crawl at times. Kai took care of that problem by greatly improving the pace of it with removing the filler.

[Gaffer Tape]

The Even Bigger, Not As Dumb Ending - DBD TV: The Freeza Arc Part 4!

The animated Freeza Arc comes to a close with our look at the ending. I had quite a few things to say about the original ending of this arc, but since the anime changes it in very fundamental ways, you won't be surprised I have a lot to say. Also, I finally get a chance to explain just why I hate the term "Z-Warrior" oh-so-incredibly much.

[caejones]

I, too, dislike the term "Z Warriors". For basically the reasons you listed.
This series has given me many ideas for if I go back in time to when I wrote fanfiction, starting with Freeza filler. Aside from Goku's space-training, it feels like that spark behind Saiyan filler faded. A handful of filler episodes in the first half would have spared us some of the worst from the second half. I also remember someone hereabouts once suggesting that seeing Mr. Popo gather the dragonballs would have been better than the staring contests, and I tentatively agree, on the grounds that it could be really annoying if not used to augment the ticking clock, rather than kill the tension.

[Scsigs]

I don't hate the term "Z Warriors," but I can understand why someone WOULD. Maybe because I haven't seen the original anime in its entirety before the Buu Saga, or because I haven't given it much thought, but I don't have a seething hatred for it. Maybe it just has to do with how much Lance has had to argue against it over the years, but I never see many people talk about the term, so I've never had to talk about it. Maybe that just bolsters the point about it not being a good nickname for the team, but I don't see the big deal.

[Gaffer Tape]

I don't hate the term "Z Warriors," but I can understand why someone WOULD. Maybe because I haven't seen the original anime in its entirety before the Buu Saga, or because I haven't given it much thought, but I don't have a seething hatred for it. Maybe it just has to do with how much Lance has had to argue against it over the years, but I never see many people talk about the term, so I've never had to talk about it. Maybe that just bolsters the point about it not being a good nickname for the team, but I don't see the big deal.

Honestly, I'm sure a lot of it was that poll I made. KaiserNeko retweeted it, and it went pretty big. And, yeah, I got a huge earful from tons and tons and tons of people who were crazy about that term and livid that I should suggest anything different. As you can see in the video, it won by a landslide.

[JulieYBM]

Personally, I prefer Gokuu-tachi or Gokuu and friends. I'll even throw in Dragon Team on rare occasion but that's about it.

[Gaffer Tape]

Dragon Ball Z's Four-Hour Movie - DBD TV: The Garlic Jr. Arc

We take a look at the filler arc so infamous it had to get its own episode. But it's really two stories in one. One's great, but the other is crap. And with that we wrap up the seventh annual Dragon Ball Dissection December. Thank you, everyone, so much for watching. I really, greatly appreciate it.

[WittyUsername]

I’ve always been pretty ambivalent towards the Garlic Jr. arc. Maybe part of the reason I don’t hate it so much is because I was pretty used to it being treated as an official part of the story back when the series aired on Toonami (Cartoon Network marathoned the arc a lot), but I’ve never hated the arc as much as a lot of other people have. Yeah, it’s obviously just there to buy the manga some time, and it gets pretty repetitive, but I do sort of like the horror vibes of the arc. The concept of the hero’s friends and family being brainwashed and turned against them is a good idea, and is one that we never got to see in the manga. I would say that GT handled the concept better than the Garlic Jr. arc, but it’s very interesting to see these guys being forced to fight people they care about.

Unfortunately, the aforementioned repetitiveness and general pointlessness of the arc prevents me from considering it to be a particularly good addition to the story. I suppose it is nice to see Kuririn get his chance in the limelight, and it is interesting that the arc chooses to focus on his love life, since the manga would give him an official love interest soon after, but that doesn’t really inform us of anything we didn’t already know.

[Scsigs]

Having heard a description of these episodes finally & filling in a lot of the gaps I had in my mind after only knowing that they're really bad, even for DBZ filler, I'm glad to see that I never need to actually watch these episodes. It all seems like Bleach-type filler where it's only for the anime & it's all really awful compared to the arcs adapting the manga's storylines. And THAT is something I don't have time for.

[Kid Buu]

I like the Piccolo/Kami interactions, it helps build up for their assimilation in the next arc. Likewise for Gohan's triumph of the big bad.

[JulieYBM]

Sumisawa Katsuyuki wrote #109-116 by himself while Matsui Aya (head writer of Dragon Ball GT #1-50 and Pocket Monster: Sun & Moon) wrote #117. I think the more subtle handling of Maron in #117 probably came from Matsui being, of course, a woman herself. Series Director Nishio Daisuke was only involved with storyboarding and directing Episode #117. This all makes me wonder if in part the lack of a unified vision was because Nishio wasn't around as much to help Sumisawa with the story. Then again, the schedule was probably in so much chaos at this point that the fights weren't going to be great no matter what. I do want to note that all of the storyboard artists did direct their own storyboards, though, so that means things weren't so bad that they had to split up the duties. Interestingly enough, speed-demon Yama'uchi Shigeyasu storyboarded and directed #109 and #114, right off of directing Crying Freeman Episode #4 in the same September 1991 that Dragon Ball Z Episode #109 aired in. I wonder how fast he can draw his storyboards, since he's often working multiple projects at the same time and will even storyboard and direct episodes of Dragon Ball Z just three episodes apart on occasion.

I wish you'd mentioned it here, too, but Chiba Shigeru voiced Garlic Junior in this arc. I wonder if Kamiya Akira--who voiced him in the film--was sick, busy or just didn't like the pay? It's a very interesting turn of events since Chiba rarely had a chance to return to Dragon Ball during this era of the franchise.

[Gaffer Tape]

I wish you'd mentioned it here, too, but Chiba Shigeru voiced Garlic Junior in this arc. I wonder if Kamiya Akira--who voiced him in the film--was sick, busy or just didn't like the pay? It's a very interesting turn of events since Chiba rarely had a chance to return to Dragon Ball during this era of the franchise.

Yeah, I'd always intended to, but I just never found a place for it in the script. Plus, it was getting pretty long anyway. Thank you, as always, for the production details!

[JulieYBM]

I wish you'd mentioned it here, too, but Chiba Shigeru voiced Garlic Junior in this arc. I wonder if Kamiya Akira--who voiced him in the film--was sick, busy or just didn't like the pay? It's a very interesting turn of events since Chiba rarely had a chance to return to Dragon Ball during this era of the franchise.

Yeah, I'd always intended to, but I just never found a place for it in the script. Plus, it was getting pretty long anyway. Thank you, as always, for the production details!

Ah, no problem. Sometimes these things just become overwhelming to figure out a good flow and all. ❤

[Zeon_Grunt]

I just wanted to say that I found this series of videos on Youtube some time around the time you were covering part 7-8 of the Cell arc and have been greatly enjoying the series so far. I downloaded all the episodes (except the last 2-3 so far) to listen to like audio books on my bike ride to work every day and it's been a great experience. Thank you for making this series and keep up the great work. I look forward to watching the rest of this series as it unfolds.

[Planetnamek]

Huge fan of this series, Gaffer you are easily my favorite DB related Youtuber out there.

[Metalwario64]

Huge fan of this series, Gaffer you are easily my favorite DB related Youtuber out there.

Yeah, and is one of the few who actually know anything about the series and doesn't base their analysis and speculation on the FUNimation dub script and other misconceptions.

[Gaffer Tape]

Huge fan of this series, Gaffer you are easily my favorite DB related Youtuber out there.

Yeah, and is one of the few who actually know anything about the series and doesn't base their analysis and speculation on the FUNimation dub script and other misconceptions.

That's very kind of you both, and I'm sorry I missed this until now.

But speaking of now, presenting the 100th episode of Dragon Ball Dissection:

The Hero We Deserved - Dragon Ball Dissection: The Majin Boo Arc Part 1!

[Planetnamek]

Huge fan of this series, Gaffer you are easily my favorite DB related Youtuber out there.

Yeah, and is one of the few who actually know anything about the series and doesn't base their analysis and speculation on the FUNimation dub script and other misconceptions.

That's very kind of you both, and I'm sorry I missed this until now.

But speaking of now, presenting the 100th episode of Dragon Ball Dissection:

The Hero We Deserved - Dragon Ball Dissection: The Majin Boo Arc Part 1!

Thank you, this is exactly what I needed to cheer myself up with this pandemic going on.

[FoolsGil]

When I was a kid to now I was pretty much neutral to the idea of Great Saiyaman. But hearing it analyzed I do wonder why Toriyama pivoted, and if it was because it was unpopular, why he pivoted to the old, instead of pivoting to a new direction involving Gohan.

Its kind of weird, but I think it would be interesting if he had doubled down on superheroes while bringing in Babidi and his forces.