DBZ Overrated?

First and foremost, do not, I repeat, do NOT start a war over power levels and all that other trash. I don't want it mucking up the thread.

Now, before anyone tells me I don't know what I'm talking about, let me first say, DBZ was my first anime. It introduced me to Yu Yu Hakusho, Ronin Warriors, Rurouni Kenshin, Samurai X, and all of that. However, I don't think it deserves the popularity it has.

Why?

Because for the most part it is a very basic anime. It's standard good vs evil. Many of the characters may be likable and enjoyable, but I would hesitate to call even three characters deep. The villains and their motivations are horriblt generic. It's either destroy Goku, get revenge on Goku, just plain destroy, or take over the world/universe. Why? Cuz their evil.

And lemme get at the plot. After the Frieza Saga, the show got repetitive. Really, did the later two seasons do anything new, plotwise? I only enjoyed Cell in his first form. He reminded me of Vegeta on Namek. He knew he couldn't defeat all the Z Warriors so he kept his power low and ran away on feet, leaving the heroes helpless to find him while he attacked another city. That was interesting and new! But after that he loses the sly personality and gets drunk on power. Then after that he turns into a vain, insectoid version of Lex Luger with personality traits of multiple other characters. Yawn.

DBZ has excellent action scenes, it was easy to understand as a kid and it made you wanna keep watching. But ultimately I feel like action is all it can fall back on. The pacing was horrible, too many characters turned into non factors, and again, it was repetitive.

I found Dragon Ball to be far more interesting than Z, even as a kid. It had far better adventure, comedy, and the fighing involved actual strategy. Not.to mention Goku never felt like he would always win, because lets be honest, he got his sh** wrecked a LOT back as a kid.

Overall, I think DBZ failed where DB succeeded. Its a great part of my youth, but I'd watch DB before Z anyday.

What do you think, Vine?

DBZ is pure awesome sauce.

I can see where you're coming from and with some points I do agree with you, but I don't think it's generally as black and white as you make it out to be. Piccolo, Vegeta and Buu are all uniquely interesting in how their characters develop throughout the series. Piccolo was very misguided at the beginning of Z and Vegeta treads the line throughout the entire series.

Personally, I watched Z before I did Dragonball so I do prefer it more but I can understand what you're saying.

@blackwind: go to youtube, and rewatch "Vegetas sacrifice"

I have always prefered the original DB over Z, but that doesn´t mean that Z is overrated. Because DBZ is F****** awesome. But still, opinions are just opinions.

And Cell motivation is not to destroy Earth, conquer the universe, destroy universe. His main motivation was to prove that he was the greatest warrior ever. For me is one of the most interesting and developed villains from the series.

Nope, it's awesome. In fact because you made this thread, I now believe Dragonball Z is underrated.

I hear your argument, but I can't validate it bro. I disagree with just about all of your points. No way Frieza was similar to Majin Buu (one of six diff. versions). each saga was literally that; a Saga. It wasn't just "beat one enemy, bring on the next", it was a lot of background and story development that led up to these grand boss battles. Background and story development that was unique, BG and SD that we all grew to love.

Trying to be as unbiased as possible. I keep going back to it, but that background and story development was some of the most dynamic and interesting writing in all anime. When have you ever actually been bored (action OR plot) watching a DBZ episode? Kinda unheard of. In hindsight it wasn't the greatest show, but that's only looking at it in this generation's paradigm. Having a new-age perspective on a classic anime like that makes it hard for clear judgement (the animation was still grainy for godssake!).

In the end I can respect your disappointments with certain aspects of the anime, I cannot respect your opinion of it tho. It is far from a basic anime (very inventive fighting style, lovely drama, and ultimately pioneered fighting anime today). DBZ is five stars.

You're Right

Period.

Constantly because of the terrible pacing.

What a shocker.

What's the shocker

In the end, nothing is perfect. I guess what made the show so interesting plot wise was that even though it had a basic story, it had a lot of twists on it as well. The show was more about overcoming your obstacles and improving yourself rather than being the average "Good vs Evil" story. All the build up was for the enemy to be defeated, and that was what was interesting about it.

That or the fact that a bunch of guys with enough muscles to strangle an elephant with their pinkies are fighting other guys who can destroy *Insert Space Celestial Object Here*

Either way you look at it, I still highly enjoy the series, and it definitely ranks as one of my favorite animes. What we can't deny is that DBZ defined a medium in anime, inspiring later anime like One Piece and Naruto or even Bleach. Take it for what it's worth, but I definitely wouldn't say it's overrated.

DBZ was awesome except how they screwed over Gohan, other than that it was fun for kids and older

@thatguywithheadphones: Anybody who's seen your comments in a DBZ related thread would know.

Ya think?

DBZ is fun under the right context. Its about good guys beating up bad guys with great action. Who doesn't love that? When you understand that is a great anime.

But if anyone tries to say it does anything else well, then you're right. Its unoriginal, repetitive, with shallow stories and shallower characters. After I turned 12 I would take YYH any day over DBZ.

But when I was a kid and all I wanted was to see bad guys and good guys fighting...DBZ was awesome. And there's nothing wrong with that.

It was fun...but I think many people remember it with their nostalgia goggles on, I went back and re watched it a few months back for the first time since I was a kid..and it wasn't that great. I believe that if the same anime came out today, it wouldn't be nearly as well recieved.

You call DBZ a basic anime but a lot of good anime after that were or have characters that were inspired by it.

I will admit, not too long ago I had an urge to watch some classic fights & ended up FFing through the eps because I really wasn't entertained by any of the non-fighting interactions. Don't get me wrong, I'd read it in manga form again (because I can read at my own speed -- no too-long dramatic pauses) but I'd have no desire to watch full episodes of the anime, even the new filler-free version.

"Overrated" is a generic description. I think you could say many things are overrated in the right context, but there are a bunch of people that enjoy it. And not just enjoy it, but several generations have enjoyed it.

On one hand, I doubt that you could find anyone that would claim that the stories of DBZ are ground breaking, or that we really need to see a full episode of Goku screaming and flexing while Krillin talks about how awesomely powerful he is. Honestly, I can say that I have not watched DBZ in at least 2 years.

But on the other hand, there is something enjoyable about it. I love Krillin, Vegita, Picollo and several others on the show. It did entertain me when I did watch it. Have my tastes grown? Yeah. But I think you said it when you pointed out that it was your first.

Just like Superman was the first superhero for many, DBZ introduces many to a new genre. Just like Superman, you know how it will turn out, there is not much growth in the main character, but there is mass appeal. Enough to get fans interested in the more complex.

I would have never watched Akira, X, Ghost in a Shell, Blue Gender, Trigun or anything else if it were not for that simple show.

I often wonder why so many love Superman as well, until I remember that if it were not for him there would not be a comic industry period.

Oh, and I still get a bit o' goosebumps with Vegita's Sacrifice. That is the only part of the Buu Saga that I like while Buu is fat. But kid Buu is wikkid

@web_flotsam: what does that mean?

Lemme just state, I don't even think my favorite anime is perfect. As a matter of fact, I've rn YYH's faults asunder quite a few times. I'm just saying I typically hear DBZ is the best for shallow reasons, ones I have already seen in this thread. It's nowhere near the worst series ever, but I just feel so many people are incapable of judging it without nostalgia goggles.

Yeah DBZ is waaaaaaaay overrated. DB is much less linear, has a deeper sense of duels (instead if just rapid fire punches here and there) and has a better pacing. The only reason DBZ is more popular than DB is because it was pure action. That said, DBZ is still a hall of famer in the Anime/Manga world so it still deserves a lot of respect. But yeah, it's so damn overrated.

@odinsonnn: It means it has really terrible pacing that makes 2001: A Space Odyssey look Usain Bolt.

In my opinion, I would recommend Dragon Ball Z up to and through the Frieza saga to someone who hasn't watched it before, if they were interested in action oriented anime.

As far as being overrated... I would say at the peak popularity in the US, sure, but nowadays? No way. DBZ recently got a new movie expanding the canon and very few people seem to know about it.

My nostalgia is too strong for me to make a clear-headed argument here. I do think it gets ridiculous and stupid at times, and I really don't care for SSJ4 or whatever that is, but it's still incredibly enjoyable for me. Perfect example of a guilty pleasure I guess.

Dragon Ball is good too, but GT is stupid.