Dragon Ball GT- Does It Deserve Your Attention?

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

Hello, y'all. I've been wanting to create a thread that focuses solely about Dragon Ball GT for a while and why it's worth a watch. Now, I know that the fandom of the franchise has shown their rejection of the show, ranging from dislike to hatred, because of two reasons. First, they may feel that the show feels a bit too different from the predecessors for their taste, be it character designs, color palettes, executions, etcs. Secondly, the opinions of the people stem from the opinions of the people who thought the series was terrible, having accepted the words without giving it a chance. But I assure you that the show can be fun and enjoyable if you give it a try. I'm going to explain 5 main points in great details of why it's worth your time and that it can be a part of your love towards the franchise. So, without further ado...

1. Story

I know the story feels a little bit lacking from the previous shows, but it still feels within the boundary of Dragon Ball. You get to see the fun adventure of Son Goku, Pan, and Trunks in going out to the outer space in search of Black Star Dragonballs. You see them facing all kinds of adversity in their attempt to get what they are looking for. They also have a great and fun interaction, albeit humorous. The plots leading up to Baby and Evil Dragons were great. They really ties up the history of the Saiyan race and Son Goku. It brings you a complete circle of when Goku started out his first adventure with Bulma. There's no better series to tell the final chapter of their adventure than Dragon Ball GT.

They pretty much shifted the tone of the series after episode 16. The earlier arc has more humor, which makes sense considering the plot just started out. Meeting Gill is what leads to more serious tone when they landed its home planet and eventually encountered Rild, a far more serious foe than they have faced up to now, not counting Baby... at least not yet. The action from there on was great, just not on the same level we saw in Z, but great nonetheless.

2. Characters

The characters in the series is great. Son Goku is the Goku we all know and love, despite him being turned into a child. He's no different to the one we are accustomed to seeing in the previous series, except that he had gained some humorous personality. His personality of Super Saiyan 4 is what really stands out to me. He's pretty cocky and has a high confidence in getting his job done. His Super Saiyan 4 personality is totally different from his previous levels of Super Saiyan. It's a nice change.

Vegeta is one of my favorite parts about Dragon Ball GT. He has an even further character development. He no longer wears the Saiyan attires-- he wears the Earthling clothes, showing us that he's living pretty comfortably on Earth. I also love his interaction with Goku. He doesn't hold a grudge against Goku anymore, even though he knew Goku has the ability to transform into Super Saiyan 4. He even set aside his pride to undergo Fusion with him several times, and fights alongside him. Heck, even Goku gave Vegeta the role of Earth's protector! It's something you would never thought about, not after what he did when he first set his foot on Earth. It just shows you that the characterization of Vegeta has come into 180 degree circle.

The villains are pretty original and fun to watch. Baby is a little bit annoying, but when you see Baby's reason as to why he wanted the Saiyans to be eradicated, you kind of feel sympathy toward him. His race no longer exists. After all, the Saiyans destroyed his people, and only Baby remains. I liked the idea of Super 17 and Evil Dragons. You never thought that there'd be two 17s merging together to become a super-powerful cyborg. I do feel that his personality has left some what more to desire, but I like his design well enough to justify it. Evil Dragons are... well Evil Dragons. They are pretty awesome. I enjoy Si Xing Long. For him to be one of Evil Dragons, he has a good heart, ironically. Yi Xing Long is the baddest of them all. He is the embodiment of evil itself as he eagers to lay the waste in the entire universe. He's a great final villain for the franchise.

They also brought back the familiar villains from the previous series which is a nice treat, especially Cell and Freeza teaming up in a futile attempt to defeat Goku.

All in all, the characters are pretty enjoyable in this series.

3. Animation

Hear me out on this one. Most of us know that the animation in Dragon Ball GT isn't what we are accustomed to in the predecessors, but the animators drew for some high quality animation. They all stepped up their game and drew some really great shots. Most of the animation teams is the same ones we saw since the beginning of Dragon Ball. Yamamuro Tadayoshi and Hisada Kayuza's key animation was the highlight of this series. Even Uchiyama Masayuki (yes, the same Uchiyama who drew some really awkward episodes in Z) improved. His episode 39 was fairly enjoyable and he drew some great cuts too. Hisada is my favorite animator in this series. He wasn't as flashy as he used to be, but his skill in drawing some great details made up for it. His episode 38 is awe-inspiring. He made for some really beautiful scenes there.

To prove my point about the animation being of higher quality, here's some images. The credits goes to Ajaylikesgaming.

Spoiler:

As you can see, they have added 3rd shade, more details, and more vibrant colors. Its animation is second to none, the animation being top-notch is Path to Power. It certainly puts Battle of Gods in shame.

4. Music

Man, the music is what made the series so great. Sure, Shunsuke Kikuchi didn't come back, but you have a rookie Akito Tokuguna composes for it. And guess what? He created one of the greatest musical scores in the Dragon Ball franchise. It's a real shame that his music never got released. His score fits the tone of the series perfectly. It really brings the scenes to life. And I absolutely love his recap music! Check this one out! http://youtu.be/T00f48CDX7c. It's so catchy. I never got tired of listening to his score. Of course, Jōji Yanami, the narrator of the entire series, helps a lot. It makes me wish that he would continue his path as a composer for Dragon Ball franchise.

5. Cast

Of course, you have all great veteran cast from the previous series reprise their roles. Their performances are just as good, if not better, than its predecessors. Jōji Yanami sounds a bit more lively. Masako Nozawa is just as great as ever. I really like her Super Saiyan 4 voice. She sounds very intimidating. Ryo Horikawa sounds a little calmer. There's nothing lacking in that department, really. They really bring out their A game.

In conclusion, I say GT is a fairly enjoyable series. It's not as bad as people made it out to be. Obviously, there are some stuff in Dragon Ball GT that feel a little bit lacking, but they are not enough to pull the series down as one of the worst sequels made. There really is no reason to write it off completely. Like I said, Dragon Ball GT is still within the Dragon Ball boundary. It's still a great series that is a part of Dragon Ball franchise, which is loved by so many people around the world.

[Cetra]

I think, despite some episodes to cut out, though that is not my decision, it is a very good show. The "why don't they do that" feeling is here but it is controlled by the "well, they didn't do a lot of stuff in Z either even though they should have been able to from a logical point of view" as I know often you need to ignore things to overcome restrictions about storytelling and so you can write it the way you want and don't take it as the science it isn't. It is good to enjoy and think about something but somewhere it ends and gets unnecessary, I'd say. Not that it doesn't happen for me as well but then I always think the already mentioned "not supposed to be that serious" and leave it be - hopefully. The art is top-notch but unfortunately it also has many scenes that just look weird in comparison, even if I think about the characters having changed.

[InfernalVegito]

It absolutely does. Fortunately I do not care much about power consistenies and what Cetra said with "why don't they do this?" as long as the rest of the series manages to be fun and engaging and GT does both very well. That is not to say that people who value said things more highly than those who do not have shallow arguments for not liking the series because of that. If people do not like it for whatever personal reasons they have, that's fine.

I guess what I just want to say is that none of GT's faults are as glaring to me as others like to point out. I agree on the animation and music aspect. GT is filled with some beautiful scenes, especially backgrounds are often marvelously beautiful with vibrant and misty colors. Tokunaga's score is so diverse and fits the series so well. Moreover, great character designs and a truly nostalgic ending with the final universal evil beaten.

Also I think GT's pace is the best of all three series. I don't know if that's solely due to the series short length compares to the others.

So yeah, I pretty much agree with you.

[Looneygamemaster]

I've only seen a few episodes of GT with the original score, so maybe it loses something later on. But from what I've seen, I honestly prefer GT to Z. As I said on another thread, it's like a certain type of fanfic that's too overblown to actually be good--but it's so eager to please, it's hard not to like it.

[Valerius Dover]

Excellent review there!
I myself am going to look at GT in a positive light when I get to it.

1. The story sounds interesting to me.
2. I love seeing the characters grow.
3. The animation in these shots looks superb.
4. I won't be hearing it with Tokunaga's score the first time around, Menza for me.*
5. Again, English for me. But I hear the GT dub is pretty good.

*My own choice to see it in English with the US score, as I'm going by Season Sets. I'm doing the same for Z, currently, in order to heighten the contrast when I do see the original later.

[Doctor.]

GT is average. Not nearly as bad as many make it out to be, but it's not a gem like GT fans claim. It had good concepts and ideas that weren't executed properly, that's all.

But nice review, I agree with many of the points you've said. The music is certainly amazing. The animation is a bit iffy at times, especially in the fights, though, but the overall quality is better.

[DoomieDoomie911]

I've really never understood why people criticize GT as much as they do. I agree that it doesn't compare to it's predecessors, but it's really not as bad as people say it is.

[Luke Groundwalker]

I agree it's mostly a solid series but it really isn't good as the others, ignoring the massive amount of filler Z had in the very least. I think the hate for it stems from what I call the "Myth of GT" in the American fanbase that persisted for YEARS. Basically for the longest time people treated GT like the greatest thing since sliced bread without actually watching the series as people anticipated it's release in America. Then when it finally gets released in America, it skips the entire first arc, has a terrible rap theme song, and has a different pace than what people got out of Z. The fights in GT were slower than Z for example, even though we're supposed to believe the characters are faster, stronger, etc.

There is a tons of issues with it however, then again one could make the same arguments for the previous two Dragonball series so eh, it's fine to like it.

I disagree about Super 17, found his entire arc pointless to be honest. Really Baby and the Shadow Dragons are really the only two villains that feel worthwhile to me in GT cause they both resolve two concepts the the original series never explored: The Tsufuruians getting their dues back, and actual consequences for abuse of the dragonballs. With some alterations you could easily put the Baby and Shadow Dragon arcs in the original manga and it fit thematically with the series with some major alterations.

[DBZAOTA482]

Aside from the Shadow Dragon Saga and bits of the Baby, and Super 17 Sagas, DBGT isn't worth the time. Not as bad as some say it is but not great either. It's pretty mediocre.

[Valerius Dover]

That rap.

Man, I'm glad that's gone. One less thing for people to complain about.

[Tatakae!!Ramenman]

My viewing experience of the whole series really doesn't feel complete to me unless I watch through all of GT also. If they ever did another series, I would want it take place after GT, but that would probably never happen because it's the least popular of the series. And anyone who hates GT has to admit that SSJ4 just looked awesome. I thought that the designs for a lot of the villains were really great too.

[samuraix123]

I was actually just talking about this with a friend until I seen this post. I don't hate GT with a passion like some people do. I love the animation, Intro's and ending themes, and now I can only watch it with the Japanese music on because I hate the US broadcast score for GT with a passion! and that's coming from a dub fan. whatever that means. I love the ending for GT, Nova and Ice Shenron are awesome. Now that I watched the original series I appreciate Pilaf and the gang being in it. It's been a while since I seen it but I'm currently going through the series again and I will be going through GT again as well. I remember the first couple episodes of Dragonball GT are a snore fest! haha but all in all I don't it but I definitely think it's the weaker part compared to Dragonball and Z.

[Hellspawn28]

GT was a waste of potential to me. The only thing is worth my attention is some of the fight scenes and the music. Everything else was pretty bad. The show rehash a lot of old stuff we seen before, the Super 17 saga felt like a bad fan fiction coming to life and the Shadow Dragon saga could have been so much better. Bebi had the best character development, but his character was nothing new we seen before. He's just a rehash on what we saw Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans and Vegeta getting his taken over by a evil force was already done with Majin Vegeta. The whole fight with SSj4 Goku and Bebi Vegeta was a rehash of Goku vs. Vegeta in the Saiyan saga.

[sintzu]

To me it doesn't and this is why :

1- The story has great ideas but does evry one of them wrong

2- The charecters are all done wrong

3- The fights in Z where the best that anime had to offer but in Gt they felt average

4- All the continuity problims

I will give it credit for the music and animation cause they were great but other then that it has nothing going for it

[Insertclevername]

I think every new fan should give GT a shot, with an open mind free of any bias reflected from other fans. I get this suspicion that a lot of people who post comments about how GT sucks just regurgitate that opinion from the overwhelming mass of people who dislike the show. I'm not even that big of a GT sympathizer but I do think it's disappointing that people are arriving at this preconceived notion that of what is "true" as opposed to experiencing the show first hand and coming up with your own conclusion.

That said, yeah. GT is worth at least your attention. It's got some great art that distances itself from Z's, a likable musical score and some genuine fun moments that harken back to the early days of the series.

[Hellspawn28]

I agree Super 17 looks cool, but his character is unoriginal. He has no motivation, no character development and feels overall lazy. Why did they choose to make a Super 17 instead giving us something else? Why not #22 that is made with machine mutant technology instead? Why release hell on Earth when they did two years earlier in Fusion Reborn? The Super 17 saga is one of the worst saga in DB history next to the Garlic Jr saga in my opinion. The Super 17 saga felt like that creativity was quickly dropping and was a poor attempt to boost up ratings. Cell and Freeza teaming up is likely an example of that since they know having two iconic villains team up against Goku will lure people in even if it's one episode.

The Shadow Dragons would have been better if you have other Z fighters fighting their own evil Dragon. Yi Xing Long/Super Yi Xing Long is a cool looking character, but man he is lame. He has no build up, no personality, no character development (not even the show explains what wish he was born from) and no motivation. He's like the Darth Maul of Dragon Ball characters in my opinion. He looks cool, but he feels like that he's just there much like Darth Maul was.

[Vegeta12]

Dragon Ball GT is a Goku fanboys dream.

I cringe when I see Vegeta with his hair cut and in earth clothes it looks like he gave up on life.

[JackyBoi99]

If you love dragon ball and amazing music pieces then yeah GT does deserve your attention. It is slow at times, however there aren't a tonne of episodes and I can't emphasize enough how amazing the score by Tokunaga is... But if you prefer the dub score then never mind :/.

As for voice acting, the acting is still on par with dragon ball and Z.

[JackyBoi99]

However it bugs me how much attention goku gets compared to everyone else, sigh.

[Hellspawn28]

Basically for the longest time people treated GT like the greatest thing since sliced bread without actually watching the series as people anticipated it's release in America.

Not true because I do remember there was fans who dislike GT before it came out in the US. There was people on old AOL chat rooms, Gamefaqs and other older forums like Planet Namek that didn't like the show and told me not to bother with it during my early DBZ fandom days back in the early 2000's. There was fan sub episodes of Dragon Ball GT on both tape and online. Dragon Ball is one of the best selling fan subs on tape and online during the late 80's, the 90's and early 2000's. Much like how Japanese shows like Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Garo is now on the Internet. So it's not like fans had no way on watching Dragon Ball. There was a good amount of fans who seen GT before it came out.