Does Dragon Ball Part One Get Too Much Praise?

[thatdbzguy]

If you go and ask someone who's watched/read all of Dragon Ball which was better, the first (DB) or second half (Z), it's very likely that they will choose the first part as the objectively better one. Of course, this isn't an issue as Dragon Ball part one is better than part two in pretty much every area, but what I'm noticing is that the first part seems to get an ungodly amount of praise with almost no hate to even it out.

Say all you want how "overrated" Dragon Ball part two is, but at least it's praise is more or less balanced by all of the hate and criticism it gets. You'd have to really look in order to find any hate against part one.

Do you think part one is deserving of the severely unequal love/hate ratio it has obtained?

[ABED]

No, if anything it gets too little.

[Kid Buu]

I never see praise for it, if anything its overshadowed by Z and even GT to an extent.

[ABED]

even GT to an extent.

I don't see praise for GT, but I do seem to see more hate for GT than love for DB.

DB - underappreciated.
DBZ - overpraised by the general populace.
GT - I don't think it's as bad as some say it is.

[thatdbzguy]

That's funny, because I constantly see praise for it.

Start up a topic about DBZ somewhere, and you're pretty much guaranteed to have people ranting about how much better part one is.

[Kid Buu]

Most people I know in real life seemed to prefer GT, I think even Funi said something that the Green Brick did better than the Blue Bricks.

Although if you're going off niche internet forums then pretty much what ABED say.

[thatdbzguy]

Most people I know in real life seemed to prefer GT, I think even Funi said something that the Green Brick did better than the Blue Bricks.

Although if you're going off niche internet forums then pretty much what ABED say.

If we go off niche internet forums, DB reigns supreme by far.

It's the real world and extremely popular areas of the internet that DBZ gets the most positive attention.

[Kid Buu]

Here's a thread comparing GT and DB's popularity in the United States.

[ABED]

I think DB is excellent. The art is good, the storytelling is at its strongest, the characters are well defined, and the action is well choreographed.

[Kid Buu]

Oh I do too; my favorite arcs in the entire manga are actually the first two arcs.

[Saiga]

Yes, I think that it does. Although it may be the least popular among casual viewers, I think it's very easy to find praise for it on forums and fansites. The opinion that the pre-Raditz material is better than the Z-portion isn't exactly rare online. Now, I'm not saying that itself is too much praise - when it comes to the manga, I definitely prefer "Z" or DB, but that doesn't make me feel that preferring DB is praising it too highly. But often people go further than that and act like it's an absolutely amazing work, and that everything after Raditz shows up just can't compete. Firstly, I don't think DB is half as good as people make it out to be. And a lot of people ignore the flaws of it, or just don't believe it has any. The two aren't really that different, anyhow - I think Piccolo Daimao's arrival changes a lot more than Raditz's does.

But on forums and fansites, at least, I don't buy for a second that it's under appreciated. It's so easy to find positivity for it.

[Kid Buu]

To me the decline doesn't start until Goku showed up on Namek; from that point it was all downhill. Buu arc started off great, but I felt like Toriyama lost his way with that arc as it went on.

Edit: Although I wouldn't say the pre-Raditz era is perfect, I have a few issues with regular DB too.

[baneofdemon22]

I've been bringing up Dragon Ball lots of times on the Dragonball forums, I go on, and people either say it's good, but leave it at that or dismiss it as being for much younger kids. If anything, it needs more praise. Most people don't have anything bad to say about it, if anything, but they don't really praise it. Dragonball Z gets ripped to pieces all over, but absolutely love parts of it that outshine everything. I was surprised to see how many people didn't care for the Cell arc, now being on this forum and seeing how many people love the Boo arc here. Most places, the Cell games is considered the greatest portion of the series and the Boo saga is hated upon. However, they still love Dragonball Z. Some people only like the Saiyan and Freeza saga and don't like anything afterwards, but what they like, they love! And those people dismiss or haven't see Dragonball. Which is odd to to me, because I only love those sagas now, after seeing Dragon Ball. The only cannon saga I don't like at all is the Cell games, and the Boo saga is my favorite of the entire series. I love pretty much love all of Dragonball ("part one"), and the parts I don't love, aren't even bad. I got bored a lot during the Red Ribbon army, but it's still well written and there is nothing I dislike. I have a lot of problems with Dragonball Z. There's a lot I don't like. However, what there's a lot I love, and because of those things I like it better than Dragonball. Just because something has more flaws, doesn't make it worse. I'd rather someone experiment and try something new, rather than play it safe. Have you seen many people analyzing the characters in Dragonball (I'm just going to keep calling "part one Dragonball)? I haven't. There's so many debates on Dragonball Z. People are always debating plot points in Z. I never see it with Dragonball. Dragonball Z has a lot more depth to it in my opinion. There's a reason why fans are all over the map with opinions. That's not putting down Z. I absolutely love Breaking Bad and it has some of the best acting, writing, and the best character arc I've ever seen in any TV show or drama. However, every discussion I've had about the show, was never as interesting as Breaking Bad. Everyone is pretty much on the same page. There wasn't much room for interpretation. Just an incredible show, like Dragonball. My opinion changes every time I watch Dragonball Z.

I hope seeing my opinion helped a bit!

[baneofdemon22]

Oh and when I was saying the Boo arc is my favorite, I was referring to the Funimation dub. I don't like the Japanese version. Which, is another problem for you! I still don't have the version a complete version of Dragonball Z I like. The Funimation Boo arc is the only arc and voice track I like entirely, but I like the acting more in the Japanese. However, I'll take, worse acting and still loving my favorite character, rather than have better acting and hating Goku and hating the arc. I like the filler in the Saiyan Saga, but hate it in the Freeza arc, and like parts of it in the Cell arc. I love the Kai dub and the characterizations of the character, but hate some of the voice acting. I really like all the voice acting in the Japanese, but don't like some characterizations and it ruins the characters for me. I have to mix and match, while watching.

However with Dragon ball, I love both dubs and scripts of both the English and Japanese. Although, sexual humor in the Japanese, like the multiple "You dirty man", "Wieners and balls", talking about breasts, gets old quick and becomes very annoying. If I want to watch a more humorous show, I watch the funimation dub and if I want better characterizations, I watch the Japanese version.

[Tanooki Kuribo]

If you go and ask someone who's watched/read all of Dragon Ball which was better, the first (DB) or second half (Z), ...Say all you want how "overrated" Dragon Ball part two is, but at least it's praise is more or less balanced by all of the hate and criticism it gets. You'd have to really look in order to find any hate against part one.

I've never seen anyone refer to DragonBall as DragonBall part 1.

[goku the krump dancer]

^ I usually refer to it as the "First Half" of Dragon Ball when referring to the manga.

[Tanooki Kuribo]

^ I usually refer to it as the "First Half" of Dragon Ball when referring to the manga.

Really? People do this? Am I just that old and not "with" what these kids are "spitting"?

[theawesomepossum777]

Honestly, I find it funny early Dragon Ball is perceived in many different ways by fans. Some say it is extremely underrated. Others feel it is overrated. I do not agree with the underrated assessment all that much, but whatever. I know people have opinions, but I always felt that fans of that part of that series overvalue the first three arcs or so a little too much. The "Hunt For The Dragon Balls" arc feels like Dr.Slump with different faces. Son Goku was Arale with a tail, and Bulma was a less-perverted Senbei. I love to laugh at the Dr. Slump manga and to see how far Toriyama went with his gags. It worked in Dr. Slump because it was a full-on gag series. With Dragon Ball, it does not feel right to me because only the first three arcs are filled with gags meant for 10-year old boys. There was a seriousness creep as the series went along. If you view all of Dragon Ball in a gag-y nature, things feel screwy, and you start to not take anything seriously. Take General Blue for example. I honestly do not know if I should take him seriously as a threat when he was doing bad guy stuff because Toriyama liked to poke fun at him every chance he had. I think around Tao Pai Pai is when Toriyama finally started brewing the perfect mix of comedy, action, adventure, and drama that we expect of Dragon Ball today. You could say Dragon Ball went through puberty as Goku himself went through puberty.

The supposed two halves of Dragon Ball should not be compared in my opinion. There was as much good, bad, and the ugly in the "Z" era as there was pre-Raditz. This is why there is no better half in my opinion. It is like any other series where you can compare arcs, like One Piece. I am not insinuating there are any Dragon Ball fandom hive-minds. People have opinions, and so do I.

[B]

The first sixteen volumes/the first TV series doesn't get enough anything. All I ever hear is the Red Ribbon Army arc is the worst arc ever and then I crawl away to die.

It's honestly ignored by a lot of fans and seemingly the companies that produce Dragon Ball, if endless Z games are anything to go by.

[RandomGuy96]

I think that it gets too much praise in relation to the 'Z' portion in some areas due to nostalgia goggles, or maybe just some people's an urge to be different by declaring their love for the less popular portion. How many times have you heard someone complain that the Z fights rely less on strategy and skill than the DB fights? Or that DBZ was focused too much on one or two characters while screwing over the supporting cast, while DB wasn't? Or that the characters in DB have development while the ones in Z don't? Dragon Ball is just as bad if not worse in those areas compared to the post-Raditz portions, yet so rarely gets criticized for them. Everything is about power, the story gives way too much glory to Goku while screwing over everyone else, and what little character development there is lasts about five minutes per character.

But in a nutshell, there's probably a reason that the second half is so much more popular than the first.