Does Dragonball keep getting better?

[samuraix123]

Hello Everyone!
I'm in the middle of Season 1 of the original Dragonball and I can't tell you enough how much I'm enjoying it! Seeing Goku and Krillin getting trained by Master Roshi is just awesome and I don't want it to end! I also feel like the characters aren't as useless in the original series as they are in Z(So far anyways) I'm about to start up the episode of the opening of the world tournament and I'm very excited! So are the other seasons just as awesome and fun filled as this one?

[Blade]

Hello Everyone!
I'm in the middle of Season 1 of the original Dragonball and I can't tell you enough how much I'm enjoying it! Seeing Goku and Krillin getting trained by Master Roshi is just awesome and I don't want it to end! I also feel like the characters aren't as useless in the original series as they are in Z(So far anyways) I'm about to start up the episode of the opening of the world tournament and I'm very excited! So are the other seasons just as awesome and fun filled as this one?

Watch onwards and find out!

Personally, I'd say that from where you are in the story, it definitely gets worse before it gets better - but boy, does it get better! For me, the stretch from the start of 22nd World Tenkaichi Budokai to the end of Dragonball is the best material story-wise in the entire franchise. It's solid gold.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

Yeah, Dragon Ball will keep getting better. The Red Ribbon portion may drag a little bit, but it will pick back up after that. The ride from the 22nd Budokai and the battles with the two incarnations of Piccolo is a great one. Piccolo Daimao through Freeza is my favorite portion of the series (plus Majin Buu, but for different reasons).

[thatdbzguy]

Yeah, the only part of DB I thought dragged on for too long was the Red Ribbon Army saga. Everything else is gold.

The sad part is that you lose a huge chunk of respect for DBZ because of how it failed to be as good as DB.

[Blade]

The sad part is that you lose a huge chunk of respect for DBZ because of how it failed to be as good as DB.

I think it's an unfair comparison, as Dragonball is more of a bildungsroman story the action/science fiction direction that the 'Z' portion of the manga takes up. At first, I think Toriyama intended for the story to become Gohan's coming-of-age story, and various points in Gohan's life are certainly central to the story, but on the whole that kind direction got a little bit lost underneath everything else that goes on.

[Fizzer]

Dragon Ball is fantastic all the way through. It changes gradually, but I can't really say if I feel it gets better or worse. Comedy becomes less prominent to make way for more action and heavier plots, but it's all good.

[samuraix123]

And seeing everything that goes on with Master Roshi touching the girls and stuff just about kills me LOL I also never knew that he had a training island where he kept another house!!

Edit - Also just wanna re-say it. I feel like the characters so far are not useless! Yamcha is so awesome and not someone who just gets tossed aside and Krillin seems so awesome compared to Z.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

I would have said yes but it's been 6 months since I stopped watching it and have no inclination to finish it.
But I know once I start watching I'll get hooked again but I just don't feel like picking off from where I left off. If that makes any sense at all.

[Jackal puFF]

Yeah, Dragon Ball will keep getting better. The Red Ribbon portion may drag a little bit, but it will pick back up after that. The ride from the 22nd Budokai and the battles with the two incarnations of Piccolo is a great one. Piccolo Daimao through Freeza is my favorite portion of the series (plus Majin Buu, but for different reasons).

Yeah even then it's still pretty good. I hated that tower though.. Felt like forever haha.

[DBZAOTA482]

Barring the fact that Red Ribbon Army Saga is dragged out in some areas (especially in the anime), it does get better.... and it gets even better in DBZ with the Saiyan and Namek Sagas.... but then it starts to decline in quality afterwards.

[90sDBZ]

Original DB is all great except for the RRA saga which kind of drags a bit. Although I enjoyed it when I first saw it, it has gotten harder to sit through in repeated viewings. It's worth it though because it gets really good once Tao Pai Pai is introduced. And General Blue is kind of a badass too (apart from that infamous scene that was thankfully changed in the dub). Everything from the 22nd Tournament to the end of DB is easily original DB at its best. And Kikuchi's music was at its peak in them episodes. I'd say the King Piccolo saga is arguably as good as/better than anything in Z. My favourite is a tossup between the King Piccolo saga and the Frieza saga.

[Fizzer]

Personally, I like the RRA arc and don't recall it feeling like it dragged. To me, the Uranai Baba arc felt like it dragged, since it's all fights and by the point the fights were starting to get padded out a bit too much. Obviously, the fights in DB aren't nearly as slow as the ones in DBZ, but they're also less tense and epic, so I guess it balances out between them. I don't mean to say they're less good, because they're not, they're just as entertaining as the Z fights (at least), but it's the fact that the Z fights get you on the edge of your seat that makes it matter less that they're so slow.

[B]

Strictly speaking of the story, the Red Ribbon arc to the end of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai is the series firing on all cylinders. That's 100ish episodes of the anime and about nine volumes of the manga. As for the anime in particular, You get a sense of things slowing down for two anime-only filler arcs; one between the Uranai Baba's tournament and the 22nd TB, and the final one at the end of the show; as well as the 23rd TB itself.

There are moments during the Red Ribbon arc where Toei performs padding duties and it's really obvious. You get scenes that are intriguing, or funny, but by the time the scenes in question are over, you're left wondering why that was important to show the audience.

[Kamiccolo9]

I didn't care much for the Red Ribbon Army arc, but, I must admit that I prefer Toei's treatment of Colonel Silver. He felt much more like an actual threat in the anime than in the manga, IMO.

[Hearts]

2186 posts and you just started watching?

[Kid Buu]

No; the Pilaf arc is the best arc in all 42 volumes!

[samuraix123]

2186 posts and you just started watching?

I never had enough money to buy all the original Dragonball saga. and I only watched bits and pieces when it was on Toonami But I finely just got them all for Christmas! As far as the GT & Z series/movies/specials/OVA's, and the rarities, I own it all and have watched it all! But this is my first time sitting down and actually watching the original Dragonball series. Believe me friend...I been through the cut

[baneofdemon22]

Awesome! I'm so excited for you! Yes, it gets better and better! I love the entire Dragon Ball series, so don't take this as a knock against Z, but if it wasn't for the Boo Saga, I might not have been a Dragon Ball Z fan. I loved it, but, that's the saga that made me a fan. From the first Dragon Ball episode, I was a fan. I absolutely love everything in it!

[samuraix123]

Last night was a good episode. Krillin was fighting this stinky dude who had never taken a bath Man...This is what Dragonball is all about Also I'm not going to give my opinion on each season/episode. just making casual conversation about my experience thus far. To be honest I was getting a little bored with Z. I've seen it a zillion times and it kinda looses its effect but Dragonball just seems to be filled with happiness and awesomeness!

Edit - When I finish the entire run of Dragonball I may make another topic and give my opinion on it all. but as it stands now, I love it!

[dbboxkaifan]

DB does keep on getting better each time, though that's not to say it's bad by any chance but the pace improves per episode and so does the comedy (like that cheater who uses his god awful scent as an attack).

One of my favourite parts of Dragon Ball is when Arale-chan makes an appearance.. ugh.. FUNimation get your hands on Dr. Slump and Arale-chan original series already!