Loving the fact that you give things a chance. People really don't realise just how good the Dragon Ball manga is because they only know it through the anime. It's one of the best-selling manga of all time for a reason after all.
@@Dontdoit_but the people who made abridged, buy and large, are gigantic supporters and lovers of the series? I don't know what they have to do with it tbh. They helped keep it relevant through a very dark age for dragon ball lmao
Krillin deserves way more love. The guy has always known he was outclassed by almost every other fighter and knew there was very little he could do compared to Goku and co, but he always comes through and puts everything on the line for Goku. True character growth, from sneaky rival to ride or die brother.
Yamcha does too. Realize when we first meet Yamcha the bandit. He created his own Wolf Fighting Style and was strong enough to knock out Goku. Yes he was 10 years old, But really most grown men on Earth couldn't beat that 10 year old 1 on 1bwithout no tricks. Then he mastered the Kamehameha by watching Goku do it. Then created the spirit Ball. He was a victim of being used to show how much stronger a new character was ie Tien in world tournament. He was not a weak guy in the slightest. Sad they made him a joke later. But He did not start that way.
@@thelightseeker94 Yamcha isn't really all that impressive nor does he deserve that much love. Sure he knocked out Goku (Who was 12 btw) but that was only because he was hungry so his win came with a handicap. If you shrink the scope massively to the level of basically npcs and fodder then sure it might seem kinda impressive but beyond that the feat doesn't really mean anything. Yamcha was never hyped up to be this powerful or even that formidable to any meaningful way. He made his own techniques but most relevant fighters has made their own techniques.
I grew up with this show and like how you appreciate the show for what it is. So many people have it on extremes its either "a masterpiece, king of shows" or "Charge screaming powerups" but its always really just been an adventure comedy that the Author has a TON of fun with.
I hope she reads super. Not because it's better or worst. But because you learn that freiza actually blushes when genius force does their poses and he or whatever thinks it's silly but encourages them but also Freiza doesnt like the idea of never dying not cause the normal reasons but because he's so evil that going to heaven sucks for him...his hell is happy people all the time lol. Also, you get to see goku and him interact more. ETC. I know fans hate super just because we grew older and hate stuff more these days for not growing with us, The reason harry potter got darker as it went along...but for someone reading along its fine. AKA reading harry potter today is jarring from book 1-4 then everyone is dying etc.
What I love is that you read into potential meanings and the “behind the scenes” thought process. To me is such a special way to interact with a story.
My favorite fight/moment was the gohan vs cell fight. For the whole series you had seen him having moments but never really stepping up. This fight was the perfect moment and it even showed how much trust Goku put into his son since everyone else yelled for Goku to help but Goku instead had faith that Gohan could be able to pull off what even he couldnt do.
goku is a bad parent...i know that from memes...jokes aside i agree. He cared and i think super dives into the sayians and their ideals. It's like invincible in the tv show...they funtion on extreams, goku will work out all day humans wont...his cells tell him get stronger. Cell i feel bad for his cells (it was subtle) told him to fight and challenge which was the weakness they exploited. the cell games seems less random if you think about it that way. Merphy was able to pick up on stuff haters and fans didnt in 20 years. Im shocked by her media literacy. She can also contour emotions and not treat dbz like it should be berserk. Its fun and she quickly judget the author not by all authors but what he was trying to do...aka good reviews. I dont say action shows are bad cause i like romance and there is none yet people say action is bad cause too many fights.
As far as Gohan, Toriyama was originally going to have him be the main protagonist after the Cell Saga, but changed his mind. He said he just didn't think the role suited Gohan. Which makes sense...hard to be the protagonist of fighting series if you don't like fighting and go out of your way to avoid it.
He didn’t change his mind, his hand was forced. Audiences wanted Goku back in Japan and the editorial department of Jump and his editors suggested bringing Goku back
@@SenseiAgot That's just a misconception, Gohan has always been a pretty popular character even back then, hell the Cell saga conclusion made him even more popular I think it's dumb how ppl really believe that fans went for mbeing hyped for Gohan beating Cell to then be "Oh Gohan sucks actually bring Goku back."
@@mysteryman9488 I never said people hated Gohan. In fact back then in the 90's I was more than happy with that change in direction. I would have been perfectly fine with Gohan taking over. And I think most people in the west would have been fine with it.
I love the paneling of dragon ball/Z it’s so easy to follow and despite lacking details it feels like it shows so much at the same time I love the way toriyama draws fights it’s his strongest point out of every series I’ve read dragon ball paneling is my fav and doesn’t get spoken about enough and side note vegeta is absolutely the best character in dragon ball
It's worth looking into Akira Toriyama. His history, method and experience with Shonen Jump really puts a lot of jankiness of the series into perspective
The bond between Piccolo and Gohan is my favourite in the show. When he has the choice of clothing after the training in the chamber of time and space, and he chooses to go with Piccolo's clothes instead of his dad's, that seriously made me tear up at the time. And goku being perfectly fine with it too, shows the immense respect he has for Piccolo both as a fighter and as a teacher.
Watched this series some 18-20 years ago. I know enough about its cultural significance, I have enough clear memories to partake in conversation, and I love seeing you experience manga since I am a One Piece fan, This review just made me wanna read it for the first time, as an adult
it is totally worth it, when naruto came out i used to talk shit about dragon ball because of how simple to plot is, but re-reading and rewatching and evenn watching super, i remembered it doesnt matter because the moment to moment of the story is so good, the plot is only weak in retrospect, everything makes sense while you are following the story
@@devforfun5618 And honestly, while there is almost no semblance of long term story telling (even Gohan's and Vegeta's personal arcs I wouldn't consider that, I'd more say that those characters were characterized in a way that allowed him at a certain point to complete them in a satisfying way; though I would consider Piccolo's arc that), even Toriyama himself said he really didn't do that, his short term writing is very good. His themework is honestly on point. And it's so fluid to read. ∼520 chapters that will end in no time
Goku VS Vegeta probably could have its own video its so good. It takes the whole cast left to bring down the great prince. They barely beat him and he never technically lost to Goku. However the shame of it haunts him through the series despite him basically beating Goku within an inch of his life. Vegeta remembers first being humbled then being eclipsed by him in the Frieza arc more than he remembers breaking Goku's bones with his bare hands.
On an individual level Vegeta won but I think for him he still sees it as a loss overall as he never accomplished what he wanted to do at the time while Goku did, so basically he won the battle but not the war.
Vegeta getting overpowered in the beam struggle was what really sent him the edge. He basically said to himself that having to go great ape to defeat a single saiyan was basically like losing, and he never imagined he’d have to use even a fraction of his power to defeat a low level saiyan nobody, let alone transform. That was what shattered his pride for the rest of the series
Gohan going SS2 and defeating Cell will forever be etched into my consciousness. As an introverted teenager who loved everything to do with martial arts it was amazing.
Nobody does paneling like the GOAT Toriyama. He is the best when it comes to fight sequences and directing the flow of attention. My top 2 favorite fights are Goku v. Tien and Goku v. Cell
LET'S GOOOOO!!! Also loved you pointed out the dynamic between Goku and Piccolo, its one that I feel kind of goes under the radar sometimes. They went from enemies, to rivals to brothers basically. And yeah Goku is fine with Gohan not pursuing being a fighter, he may be disappointed at the potential never being reached but never disappointed in Gohan Afterall the first few years of Goku and Gohan's family life were pretty normal til the plot came around and forced Gohan to step up
I appreciate that Piccolo as Gohan's teacher understands a fundamental truth about Gohan that Goku doesn't. Gohan's motivation for fighting is necessity, not sport, might, pride or fun. Gohan wishes for peace and he is a gentle soul that doesn't thrive on battle like a full blooded Saiyan would.
I like how the Moro arc in Super touched on your last point a bit, with Goku telling Gohan sorry that he had to come, but Gohan did not mind at all as long as he’s helping his family and friends.
I love and appreciate the fact that on first read-through you managed to grasp the core elements and themes far better than a lot of die-hard fans. A fun fact that you may not necessarily know but I find enhances appreciation of the story is that Toriyama was also inspired to create Frieza due to the events of the Japanese economic bubble that had occurred at the time he was writing the Saiyan Saga, with Frieza specifically being based on real estate speculators, which Toriyama claimed were "the worst sort of people". Additionally, Akira Toriyama was a fan of Hong Kong martial arts films, particularly Bruce Lee films such as Enter the Dragon (1973) and Jackie Chan films such as Drunken Master (1978), and wanted to create a manga inspired by martial arts films, which is what gave birth to Dragon Ball. Before this, as can be clearly seen in the earlier portion of Dragon Ball, he was a gag manga artist. I don't know how you feel as a reader about knowing context for elements of the story from the point of view of the writer, and I know a lot of people say you should separate the artist and the art, but I like those little extra tidbits of knowledge and I personally enjoyed them.
I often say that Goku training Gohan up and letting him fight Cell was equivalent to in real life when a father wants his son to play sports, and while he may be skilled at it, he has no interest, but all the dad sees is the potential and their excitement overrides their reason. A lot of readers seem to not really understand that or decry Goku for the Senzu Bean thing.
Speaking of the ridiculousness with some of the scenarios, Toriyama is kind of the opposite of Oda as a writer as far as broad style. Oda plans long in advanced, while Toriyama basically was flying by the seat of his pants, and regularly changed his plans. Famously, in the Android/Cell arc, direction from his various editors had Toriyama throw out his android 19/20 plan to go with 16/17/18, but then dissatisfaction from them lead Toriyama to create Cell, and dislike of the earlier forms of Cell lead to his "perfect" form. This chaos works both for and against Toryama, and distinctly leads to the "unpredictable" nature of the series.
To be more precise, it was his old editor from Dr. Slump and early DB era, Kazuhiko Torishima, that made fun of android 19 and 20 designs so Toriyama added 16-18. Torishima also made fun of them so Toriyama added Cell. Then his actual editor at the moment, Yū Kondō, thought the first Cell form was ugly and second form looked stupid.
I think it’s a testament to his writing that the arc works so well despite that. He somehow made the constant direction shift feel natural, as if it was intended from the beginning
_"Oda plans long in advanced, while Toriyama basically was flying by the seat of his pants, and regularly changed his plans."_ It's what George R. R. Martin calls the difference between "Gardener Writers" and "Architect Writers". Architects draw up the blueprints for the entire series in advance, whereas Gardeners let things grow, and/or weed out the excess, as things naturally grow within the story. Martin himself is a self-described Gardener; whereas a close friend of Martin's, the author of the _The Wheel of Time_ series Robert Jordan, was clearly an Architect.
I'm glad you read it because dragon ball walked so many more could run. The artwork and fight coriogrphy are still some of the best in mange. Many authors, Oda included point to it as an inspiration.
I'd like to note the storytelling on display when Goku finally turns Super Saiyan. It's really cool how Goku fully accepts his Saiyan heritage after constantly saying he's an earthling and disregards his Saiyan race. The Role Vegeta plays in that character arc is really well done.
Freeza, to this day, has my favorite title i've ever seen from an antagonist. He's a planet broker. That's so cool. "Yeah, i sell planets." lol. So different from anything I've ever read, and i loved the twist on the 'evil emperor'
In terms of fights, my favorite is Goku and Vegeta. The back and forth is incredible, the beam struggle is THE beam struggle, and it manages to get everyone involved, even Yajirobe, it's got everything. My favorite moment tho has to be Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. The music, Android 16's speech, the amount of build up going into this moment, and the fact that when it happened, me and most people watching it were around Gohan's age. It made it even more special
My two favorite things,, especially in my childhood but still to this day, are Harry Potter and DBZ. I found your channel because of Potter one year around Christmas, and now this somehow feels like a full circle moment. 😅
My favorite fight is probably always going to be Goku vs Frieza. Just such a perfect amount of build-up, foreshadowing, and payoff to an amazing story.
I remember when we were kids, where me, my siblings and cousins- there were nine of us- watching as Vegeta pled for all Earthlings to raise their hands. We all did, and we were shouting so loud that a neighbor came to see what was wrong 😂
I used to binge Dragonball so much as a kid. Seeing you gushing over the series so much made me want to reread the whole series again as I forgot how good the series actually was. Super did a lot to damage my enjoyment but you fully brought it back!! Btw Vegeta is the best character in the series and Gohan stepping up my favourite moment!!!
I appreciate you for actually taking in the source material and appreciating for what it is, there are so many people out there probably 90% of the haters haven't picked up a single manga or watched a single episode and speak on it as if they were experts and dragged this masterpiece through the mud.
In manga form, it was originally just Dragonball. The Z rebranding came when they fired a part of the old staff working on the anime and brought new people from the Saint Seiya anime to work on the show.
DBZ brought the hype & power scaling to the Shonen Battle formula. One Piece & JoJos brought the creative & unique personalized powers to the Shonen Battle Formula. Hunter x Hunter & Naruto brought the cerebral, mechanical tactics to the Shonen Battle Formula. You see all of these foundations that these stories have built in pretty much every modern Shonen Battle Manga coming out today. Edit: I think bleach is most influential in terms of style rather than the fights necessarily. A lot of shonen that come out today that has that edgy spirit things aesthetic takes a lot of inspiration from bleach. Edit 2: I'm talking about the influence of each of these mangas to the modern shonen battle formula. Doesn't matter if they are decades apart from one another or are inspired from one another, that's completely besides the point.
Its kinda weird to put One Piece alongside Jojo's in this case, since Jojo's began publishing a whole decade earlier. Oda brought incredible scope to shonen. He was just greatly inspired by series like DB and Jojo's.
How can you not mention Bleach there lol. It's arguably had the most impact on modern Manga out of the Big 3. Demon Slayer, JJK, Black Clover and more are all inspired by it. Even My Hero Academia, despite being nothing like Bleach, has taken inspiration from it, as said by Hori himself. Sword fighting with magic powers, supernatural intersecting with the real world, style and "cool factor" moments and big uses of the colour black in manga format is what Bleach bought to the Shounen Battle Manga format. And loads of these things permeate through modern day Shounen.
Has she given the no to jojos, it would be awesome to see her get into that crazy story, but I know she avoids certain subject matter that comes up in jojos occasionally.
@@shockzz1234 even bleach is inspired by dragon ball and without akira toriyama the creator stopped long time ago and you wouldnt have your chapters. Dragon ball impacr is everywhere. You cant comoare ANYTHING to dragon ball.
A lot of people seem to forget how much of a genius and innovator Toriyama was. His paneling and action are top tier, with only a handful of mangaka who are comparable to him in terms of clearness and precision. He was also a master at using fights to communicate character and depth with great efficiency and efficacy.
The themes behind the fights are excellent. I like when the Ginyu Force arrives on Namek, forcing Vegeta into a truce with our heroes, but he's still unwilling to see them as allies. He takes out Guldo not to save Krillin and Gohan, but because he saw an opportunity to remove a threat. Vegeta later criticizes them for prioritizing saving him rather than potentially killing Recoome. When Goku arrives, saves them, and spares Burter, Vegeta disregards Goku's wishes and ends Burter himself, as well as Recoome just in case. Vegeta cannot comprehend comradery at this point in time, though goes on to heavy rely on others during the Frieza fight, that being the gateway for Vegeta to begin his character arc.
What I like about dbz is not just the theatrics but it reflects real life. Watching the goku vs frieza on namek, it help me get through being bullying when I was little
I also love the duality of Hercules / Mr. Satan. Even tho he is a total weasel and is shown as an self-centered character which his own goal in mind (Satan), he always step up to the plate and do the right thing when it's needed, even if that would mean dying in the process (Hercules). Yes, he stole all the glory for the Cell tournament. But, when needed, he did throw up 16 head near Gohan even if he knows he's outmatched by Cell who almost killed him instant earlier. Without him, we might never got SSJ2 Gohan. He did the same in the Buu saga, turning Buu into a good guy and saving Vegeta at the end. He really is a mixed of Heroics deeds from Hercules and the Worship of Self above the worship of others/god of Satan. Truly an underrated character.
Dragonball is really a manga that can teach people to read manga, not by design but because of Akira Toriyama choreography when it comes to fight scene. And the sequence in panels is masterfully done.
never thought abt how goku and vegeta are both characters with thwarted futures and that they handled that loss differently - goku with strength fostered through community, vegeta with strength fostered under strict isolation and self reliance. really loving this channel, thanks for this!
While I don’t really like dragon ball like I used to, I was absolutely obsessed with it as a little kid and I look back on it fondly. I owned all the fighting games as well when I was younger haha.
I have watched DBZ like 10 times, before finally giving the manga a try. Right now finished Dragonball and in the middle of the Namek Saga. I am loving it.
Of all the manga and anime I honestly thought this was not gonna be one you cared too much for. I'm pleasantly surprised. Fun fact: the authors favorite character is piccolo
I know I've been on and on about DBZ Abridged, however, the way they handle Gohan's SSJ2 transformation is phenomenal. All the jokes end, Android 16 has this chilling, dramatic monologue and then Gohan breaks and they include a new track called, "Day of Fate" that they made just for the scene. It's amazing.
@@AlllexWe all acknowledge that the, "Ummm ackshully", guy is super annoying, and yet so many of us rush to be him. Correction - They went out of their way to spend money, time, and effort to record a previously unrecorded track in English translation for the scene. Good thing I cleared that up, it really adds to the message.
My main gripe about the DB anime, aside from the pacing, is how they frame the fights. Toriyama-sensei was honestly THE BEST fight illustrator to ever live. Not one of his fight scenes ever made me feel confused. You can literally give me a random page with all the dialogues stripped and I'd still be able to tell you sequence by sequence what is happening in the page, from the fight itself to the emotions and themes being conveyed. Losing Toriyama-sensei last month was a heavy blow to all fans, but I genuinely hope more people will give Dragon Ball a chance because it's such a good manga series.
I feel like the best way to describe the different ways Goku and vegeta see fighting, is that Goku loves fighting for the sake of fighting, while vegeta loves fighting for the sake of winning. Goku doesn’t care if he wins or loses, as long as he gets to have a good fight, and the only way to get better opponents is to get stronger. Vegeta on the other end loves to win and to prove he is the best, and fighting is just the way for him to do that. Of course he also enjoys a good fight, but if that doesn’t end with him winning than there is no point and that’s what drives him to get better.
Fav fight is gohan vs cell! When I was a kid it was THE coolest to see gohan get stronger and how terrifying cell was as he just jept powering up he felt unstoppable! So cool
Dragon ball and dragon ball Z were part of my childhood and seeing you enjoy them is such a beautiful thing. One difference between us is that Buu was my favorite villain just because he was such a goblin with superman's powers. I loved how flashy he was and maybe because I was a child when I watched DBZ lol. For the next Manga, I would like to recommend "Frieren", Both Manga and Anime are awesome!
As someone whose only going through the DB manga from the start in recent years (just finished the Saiyan saga and it was epic) after knowing about the anime since childhood it's such a wacky, fun experience and I think Merphy might honestly rly enjoy Bleach and its fights for similar reasons (tho not without its own set of flaws heh😅) with the paneling, the character work and how emotional and tense it can make its best moments feel
you are right on the money with your opinion for the themes and inner plot of dbz where its actually more about passing on the torch. Gohan was supposed to be the main character and the cell saga was supposed to be the end but the fans still wanted Goku as the main character and didn't want it to end. Toriyama came back with the Buu saga and made Goku the main character again because no one would let it go, which is why i think it wont ever end.
Now you gotta watch dragon ball z abridged on UA-cam. It's a bit rough at first, but it's an amazing parody and a love letter to the series, with an outstanding production value by the end
17:20 I feel like you would like the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie because that one forces Piccolo and Gohan to take on the main threat and be the strong ones because Goku and Vegeta were off-world the entire time. It was pretty fun getting to see them shine.
21:01 Your view of the matter is correct, especially since Toriyama himself said that Gohan is not fit to be the hero of a series like Dragon Ball. What distinguished him was that he was not a copy of his father. In addition, Goku accepts his son's wish at the end
I love that you're actually into this series! The reason I got into One Piece over a decade ago was because a co-worker friend noticed I was into Dragon ball and wanted to let me know that One Piece may be to my liking as well! He said "the fights can be cool, but it's more about the story and mystery," and wow, I'm so glad he said that! If it wasn't for DB, I'd never have discovered One piece, my all time fav!! My fav fight is a simple one: when Goku uses his finger against Trunks' swordplay! So cool! :D
The separation makes sense cuz they were separated as anime. So by the time they started adapting the manga in the US, both anime series existed and someone figured that it made sense to separate the manga the same way since we were getting both anime at the same time anyway. Toonami would actually air episodes of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z back to back so we'd have kid Goku and Bulma searching for Dragon Balls followed by Goku fighting Captain Ginyu on Namek immediately after.
This is so nice seeing Merphy talk about manga like this 😭 honestly I’d love if she checked out JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, just hoping she can make it past Part 1 (knowing her she might surprise us and love Part 1 which would be amazing)
:) nice video, one of the best moments you briefly mentioned was Goku accepting his saiyan heritage in namek. Z starts off with him rejecting that heritage when fighting Raditz his brother. Wanting nothing to do with it. And the way he defeats vegeta the first time is by leaning into the qualities he learned on earth. Relying om his friends and the spirit bomb. While Vegeta leans on power gained from his seemingly evil saiyan heritage such as the Great Ape transformation. Ultimately Goku wins because of who he is as a person. But against Frieza on namek a foe that is too strong for teamwork Goku doesnt have to contend with who he is but this time he has to contend with what he is. For example you see Goku on namek take advantage of his saiyan recovery ability where they grow stronger from being healed. He even asks Vegeta to lend him some of the saiyan pride before vegeta ultimately dies to Frieza. With that new pride he proudly exclaims later on that he is Goku the super SAIYAN. Something he never would have done at the start of Z. Furthermore to compund this theme of acceptance Piccolo goes through the same by merging with Nail the strongest namekian Piccolo does gain all of that knowledge and experience of his home planet. So with both Piccolo and Goku Theres a thread of gaining ppwer through acceptance of ones heritage and what they are.
One of my favorite moments is satan befriending buu. In a story where the fakers usually just get a bootfull of humiliation. Satan goes through to prove himself. Maybe not as the strongest. But as hero. And then there is also that one time everyone screamed for satan.
So happy to see a new fan to this amazing franchise. The first Goku vs Vegeta fight has always been my favorite. Probably because the DBZ anime was my introduction to the series and that was the climactic battle of the first arc. But the storytelling thru that fight (and the Dragon Team vs Napa that led to it) is just so masterfully done, plus the Gallick Gun vs Kamehameha beam struggle, the Kaioken, and the Spirit Bomb are all just so iconic. Vegeta was such a great foil to Goku, and the whole fight felt so very one-sided even up until the end, really carrying the weight of the philosophical subtext of their conflict.
Something someone brought up to me once was that Vegeta never surpasses Goku bc his pride prevents him from training with people he deems inferior to himself so he never increases his techniques even though trains just as much or even harder than Goku. Goku is willing to train with people vastly weaker than himself, whether it's the humans he long surpassed like Krillin or Master Roshi or Piccolo or Gohan or even random aliens like Yardrats. As a result, he developed all kinds of techniques with varying amounts of usefulness like Solar Flare, Kamehameha, Kaio Ken or Instant Transmission.
The fact the vegeta calls himself "the prince of saiyans" is such an interesting character beat. Despite being a paragon of pride, he never asserts himself as king. In the end he doesnt rule ovee people for power, but rather asking of othersto sacrifice along side him as a good king should
If you’re ever looking for a fight themed manga that has an interesting mix of character development through martial arts. I would highly recommend Holyland, it does a great job of portraying bullying and teenage depression. Plus it’s written by the guy who is picking up Berserk I believe
Another thing you have to give Piccolo credit...even in Super, is the fact that he's very aware of the weaknesses that keep endangering all of them. He'll openly criticize even the strongest for it.
19:23 "Still speaking of pride, but another kind of pride.." my instant assumption is you were about to talk about Goku and Vegeta's homoerotic rivalry lol 🏳🌈
Its very interesting to see another newcomers perspective, especially since you read the manga instead! If you do want to watch through the show now you've read the manga, I'd suggest Dragon Ball Z Kai, as its the cut down re-edit to be more like the manga, especially for the english dub (which is just a trainwreck of nonsense writing early on) - I started watching DB in 2019, so skipped the childhood nostalgia opportunities, and immediately fell in love with the series' silly charm and themes of self improvement through hardship and trust in your friends. It's really cool to hear you feel about moments similarly to myself and also the greater community, because sometimes its hard to separate what's an organic opinion vs one by cultural osmosis. Gohan's story is a VERY divisive one, with many fans wishing he would live up to his potential as a warrior and others feeling it's a good thing that he's happy as an academic. Also yeah the Buu saga is no where near as good as the arcs before it, it drags on and changes stakes so many times seemingly without direction but it has some amazing moments and does give great time for some of the other cast to shine in the last major outing of the series. I wrote of DB for a long time as a shallow story about buff guys yelling, which if you just glanced at clips of the show from the outside, yeah. But it's really about the heart of these characters and how Goku changes the world around him. Loved these reviews!
18:55 The scene in DBZ anime where Goku goes slower for the first time is, literally, one of my favorite scenes of all time (Oddly enough, it's specifically the English dub version). When Goku screams, "You will feel the horror!" Ooo, so good.
The way a lot of people that are more clever than me have explained Toriyama's intentions and ways to to create stories (even though they haven't used these words) is that he's like a Dungeon Master for a D&D game that watches what happens when the characters do stuff and then reacts to it himslef like "Yeah... Goku would probably do that..."
There's a reason why it feels disjointed at times. It's because toriyama tends to either forget characters and completely write them off or plot points completely. Thus leaving things in a limbo until he magically remembers it at some point when it's too late to revisit
DBZA attempts to go deeper into the characters motivations during the cell tournament. You may not totally agree with their interpetation but its worth watching
Dragon Ball is so underrated in the shadow of Z. I love Z, I grew up on Z, it was one of my first anime, but as I've gotten older I find myself enjoying Dragonball so much more.
Toriyama famously wrote by the seat of his pants - Cell wasn't even supposed to exist, Dr. Gero & #19 were supposed to be the main villains of that entire saga but his editor kept complaining that his villains are lame. The buu saga probably came off as more directionless because the editors kept a relatively hands-off approach for that once, since Toriyama said that he would only continue writing Dragon Ball if he was allowed to do it the way he wanted. Gohan was also supposed to take over as the protagonist, but Toriyama later decided he had to bring Goku back
Toriyama master at his work. There is a funny story that the villains in Dragon Ball z face are all the faces of Toriyama editors that he heat expect for Buu because he like his editorial that time
The fights alone for dragon Ball were ahead of their time. They inspired an entire genre of fictional comics in Japan. I really have grown to appreciate the depth and focus to detail for some of those fights. I love one piece, but I feel like the cast and scope of the story has gotten so large that Oda has to sacrifice the detail within his fights. Dragon Ball directly inspired one piece and you can see that in certain arcs like Enie's lobby with its action. It's the sort of depth i sorely miss in the series
one of my favorite moments is during the buu fight when they revive all the good people who were killed by buu and vegeta getting revived with them then goku being so excited thatvegeta counted as a good person. I might be misremebering this its been so long.
As someone who's been a DB fan since forever, it's awesome seeing someone discovering it as an adult and still managing to appreciate and even enjoy it. Goes to show there's plenty there to love even without nostalgia goggles despite the series' simplicity and faults one can nitpick. There are better written, deeper and more unique or ambitious mangas out there, but Dragon Ball's a simple yet effective, fun manga without any pretense full of great moments and memorable characters. Toroyama's kooky, subversive humor is a treat too, one of my favorites being Chichi asking Muten Roshi to prove he is indeed the legendary Turtle Hermit, and instead of performing some godlike feat to display his martial prowess beyond doubt, the old geezer just whips out his driver's license XD I also love the whole ethos of using your obstacles as an opportunity to imrpove yourself rather than growing complacent, not being afraid of overcoming yourself and helping others reach their potential. That moment where Master Roshi tells Goku he must traverse around the globe without using Nimbus, causing the monkey boy to go from shock to awe to excitement, has stuck with me ever since I was 10. And yeah, Just like Jack Kirby, Toriyama's a master of guiding the reader's attention and making the reading experience silky smooth yet also super dynamic. There's tons of talented artists like Toyotaro and Young Jijii that are excellent at mimicking his signature artstyle, but as great as their line work is, they can never replicate Toriyama's impeccable sense of composition and panel layout. One effect I adore to bits in early DB is when he'd draw the line art on the character with speed lines\ thick hatching instead of solid lines, giving this hyperkinetic feeling to their movement. Unfortunately it gets utilized less and less as the series goes on, but I still appreciate how much he's style has evolved. As far as mangakas frequently reinventing themselves go, he's second only to Hirohiko Araki. His pre-DB era art is amazing too, I recommend hunting down a copy of Akira Toriyama's Manga theater if you ever have the chance.
One of the most compelling themes in the series is that of fatherhood and family. Golu and Gohan have a very different relationship yhan Vegeta and Trunks. Like you said, Goku is more than happy to humble himself in order to push up his son, but that thought never crossed Vegeta's mind because of how self-centered and arrogant he is. Even if Trunks is his son, he will not let anybody surpass himself. It is a toxic and destructuve relationship.
It simple but done so cleanly also this manga pulled off 3 perfect endings if stop at base dragonball, or stopping at freiza even the ending with cell. As a kid i thought each of those were the end each time.
DBZ is amazing! I also have thought that Vegeta might represent how hard it is to grow up and leave your immaturities behind (your “evil side” if you will). He has to first assume that he is not going to be the best in what he loves the most and he desires to go back to when he had no attachments (responsibilities). He has a hard time assuming that times have changed and that he has changed also, he cannot act as he did in the past. This is a hard part of growing up, realizing that you have responsibilities with other people (especially your family) and cannot do whatever to want as you did in the past, but Vegeta still desires it. Until he assumes that he does love his family and, finally, is willing to sacrifice himself for them, he realizes that this is what he really wants to do at the end. Finally, another great thing of his “maturement” (if that word exists) is that he understands that those who are better than him in what he loves, are not his enemy, they can be valuable allies that can help him grow even further. The point is, I love Vegeta’s character and it always stuck with me haha
9:40 another reason why Goku looks regretful after killing Freeza is because he realized that he proved Freeza right. Goku had just accepted his Saiyan heritage “I AM THE SUPER SAIYAN, SON GOKU!” saying he’s a Saiyan but calling himself Goku (his humanity). But in the end he kills free which means he made Freeza right, Freeza had killed the Saiyans because he was afraid that they are like wild beasts and would become strong enough to kill even him. Goku ended up full filing that.
You are absolutely right, Gohan was supposed to become the protagonist at the end of the Cell saga. It's my understanding that Shonen Jump advised Toriyama to continue with Goku thinking people would drop the story without him. Gohan vs Cell is incredible, I'm glad you took a look at the anime because the animation and the music are absolutely amazing. To me, nothing comes even close to that fight, truly masterful. Lastly, I agree with you 100%, even though the BU saga is not great, the ending is. To me that's the perfect ending for that story. I'm so glad you enjoyed it this much. Next stop: Shingeki No Kyojin *fingers crossed*
Loving the fact that you give things a chance. People really don't realise just how good the Dragon Ball manga is because they only know it through the anime. It's one of the best-selling manga of all time for a reason after all.
Yep. Dragon Ball has its good stuff. People should give it a chance without prejudice.
@@kevintanza6968the issue is people judge it off of abridged and others opinions while also never reading/seeing the first half
@@Dontdoit_but the people who made abridged, buy and large, are gigantic supporters and lovers of the series? I don't know what they have to do with it tbh. They helped keep it relevant through a very dark age for dragon ball lmao
@@takeyourmedsplzthey aren't the ones he's talking about so relax fanboy......................
Same eith one piece, people miss out in it's manga
Krillin deserves way more love. The guy has always known he was outclassed by almost every other fighter and knew there was very little he could do compared to Goku and co, but he always comes through and puts everything on the line for Goku. True character growth, from sneaky rival to ride or die brother.
Unfortunately Tien was less loved by author, but i LOVE them both
His piccolo fight is incredible
Yamcha does too. Realize when we first meet Yamcha the bandit. He created his own Wolf Fighting Style and was strong enough to knock out Goku. Yes he was 10 years old, But really most grown men on Earth couldn't beat that 10 year old 1 on 1bwithout no tricks. Then he mastered the Kamehameha by watching Goku do it. Then created the spirit Ball. He was a victim of being used to show how much stronger a new character was ie Tien in world tournament. He was not a weak guy in the slightest. Sad they made him a joke later. But He did not start that way.
@@thelightseeker94 he is the og worf effect, true
@@thelightseeker94 Yamcha isn't really all that impressive nor does he deserve that much love. Sure he knocked out Goku (Who was 12 btw) but that was only because he was hungry so his win came with a handicap. If you shrink the scope massively to the level of basically npcs and fodder then sure it might seem kinda impressive but beyond that the feat doesn't really mean anything. Yamcha was never hyped up to be this powerful or even that formidable to any meaningful way. He made his own techniques but most relevant fighters has made their own techniques.
I grew up with this show and like how you appreciate the show for what it is. So many people have it on extremes its either "a masterpiece, king of shows" or "Charge screaming powerups" but its always really just been an adventure comedy that the Author has a TON of fun with.
I hope she reads super. Not because it's better or worst. But because you learn that freiza actually blushes when genius force does their poses and he or whatever thinks it's silly but encourages them but also Freiza doesnt like the idea of never dying not cause the normal reasons but because he's so evil that going to heaven sucks for him...his hell is happy people all the time lol. Also, you get to see goku and him interact more. ETC. I know fans hate super just because we grew older and hate stuff more these days for not growing with us, The reason harry potter got darker as it went along...but for someone reading along its fine. AKA reading harry potter today is jarring from book 1-4 then everyone is dying etc.
What I love is that you read into potential meanings and the “behind the scenes” thought process. To me is such a special way to interact with a story.
My favorite fight/moment was the gohan vs cell fight. For the whole series you had seen him having moments but never really stepping up. This fight was the perfect moment and it even showed how much trust Goku put into his son since everyone else yelled for Goku to help but Goku instead had faith that Gohan could be able to pull off what even he couldnt do.
goku is a bad parent...i know that from memes...jokes aside i agree. He cared and i think super dives into the sayians and their ideals. It's like invincible in the tv show...they funtion on extreams, goku will work out all day humans wont...his cells tell him get stronger. Cell i feel bad for his cells (it was subtle) told him to fight and challenge which was the weakness they exploited. the cell games seems less random if you think about it that way. Merphy was able to pick up on stuff haters and fans didnt in 20 years. Im shocked by her media literacy. She can also contour emotions and not treat dbz like it should be berserk. Its fun and she quickly judget the author not by all authors but what he was trying to do...aka good reviews. I dont say action shows are bad cause i like romance and there is none yet people say action is bad cause too many fights.
As far as Gohan, Toriyama was originally going to have him be the main protagonist after the Cell Saga, but changed his mind.
He said he just didn't think the role suited Gohan. Which makes sense...hard to be the protagonist of fighting series if you don't like fighting and go out of your way to avoid it.
He didn’t change his mind, his hand was forced. Audiences wanted Goku back in Japan and the editorial department of Jump and his editors suggested bringing Goku back
If there were parallel universes, I would love to read that version of the series too
@@SenseiAgot That's just a misconception, Gohan has always been a pretty popular character even back then, hell the Cell saga conclusion made him even more popular I think it's dumb how ppl really believe that fans went for mbeing hyped for Gohan beating Cell to then be "Oh Gohan sucks actually bring Goku back."
@@mysteryman9488 I never said people hated Gohan. In fact back then in the 90's I was more than happy with that change in direction. I would have been perfectly fine with Gohan taking over. And I think most people in the west would have been fine with it.
@@SenseiAgot Well you said ppl wanted Goku back which means they weren't happy with Gohan
I love the paneling of dragon ball/Z it’s so easy to follow and despite lacking details it feels like it shows so much at the same time I love the way toriyama draws fights it’s his strongest point out of every series I’ve read dragon ball paneling is my fav and doesn’t get spoken about enough and side note vegeta is absolutely the best character in dragon ball
It's worth looking into Akira Toriyama. His history, method and experience with Shonen Jump really puts a lot of jankiness of the series into perspective
The pressure and demands he had on him is crazy to think about.
At some point he wasn’t even allowed to leave the country. He was the pillar holding up the magazine
The bond between Piccolo and Gohan is my favourite in the show. When he has the choice of clothing after the training in the chamber of time and space, and he chooses to go with Piccolo's clothes instead of his dad's, that seriously made me tear up at the time.
And goku being perfectly fine with it too, shows the immense respect he has for Piccolo both as a fighter and as a teacher.
Watched this series some 18-20 years ago. I know enough about its cultural significance, I have enough clear memories to partake in conversation, and I love seeing you experience manga since I am a One Piece fan, This review just made me wanna read it for the first time, as an adult
it is totally worth it, when naruto came out i used to talk shit about dragon ball because of how simple to plot is, but re-reading and rewatching and evenn watching super, i remembered it doesnt matter because the moment to moment of the story is so good, the plot is only weak in retrospect, everything makes sense while you are following the story
@@devforfun5618 And honestly, while there is almost no semblance of long term story telling (even Gohan's and Vegeta's personal arcs I wouldn't consider that, I'd more say that those characters were characterized in a way that allowed him at a certain point to complete them in a satisfying way; though I would consider Piccolo's arc that), even Toriyama himself said he really didn't do that, his short term writing is very good.
His themework is honestly on point.
And it's so fluid to read. ∼520 chapters that will end in no time
Goku VS Vegeta probably could have its own video its so good. It takes the whole cast left to bring down the great prince. They barely beat him and he never technically lost to Goku. However the shame of it haunts him through the series despite him basically beating Goku within an inch of his life. Vegeta remembers first being humbled then being eclipsed by him in the Frieza arc more than he remembers breaking Goku's bones with his bare hands.
On an individual level Vegeta won but I think for him he still sees it as a loss overall as he never accomplished what he wanted to do at the time while Goku did, so basically he won the battle but not the war.
Vegeta getting overpowered in the beam struggle was what really sent him the edge. He basically said to himself that having to go great ape to defeat a single saiyan was basically like losing, and he never imagined he’d have to use even a fraction of his power to defeat a low level saiyan nobody, let alone transform. That was what shattered his pride for the rest of the series
Gohan going SS2 and defeating Cell will forever be etched into my consciousness. As an introverted teenager who loved everything to do with martial arts it was amazing.
lol same. I watched that SS2 gohan fight dozens of times over when I was 11.
Nobody does paneling like the GOAT Toriyama. He is the best when it comes to fight sequences and directing the flow of attention. My top 2 favorite fights are Goku v. Tien and Goku v. Cell
LET'S GOOOOO!!!
Also loved you pointed out the dynamic between Goku and Piccolo, its one that I feel kind of goes under the radar sometimes. They went from enemies, to rivals to brothers basically.
And yeah Goku is fine with Gohan not pursuing being a fighter, he may be disappointed at the potential never being reached but never disappointed in Gohan
Afterall the first few years of Goku and Gohan's family life were pretty normal til the plot came around and forced Gohan to step up
I appreciate that Piccolo as Gohan's teacher understands a fundamental truth about Gohan that Goku doesn't. Gohan's motivation for fighting is necessity, not sport, might, pride or fun. Gohan wishes for peace and he is a gentle soul that doesn't thrive on battle like a full blooded Saiyan would.
I like how the Moro arc in Super touched on your last point a bit, with Goku telling Gohan sorry that he had to come, but Gohan did not mind at all as long as he’s helping his family and friends.
I love and appreciate the fact that on first read-through you managed to grasp the core elements and themes far better than a lot of die-hard fans. A fun fact that you may not necessarily know but I find enhances appreciation of the story is that Toriyama was also inspired to create Frieza due to the events of the Japanese economic bubble that had occurred at the time he was writing the Saiyan Saga, with Frieza specifically being based on real estate speculators, which Toriyama claimed were "the worst sort of people".
Additionally, Akira Toriyama was a fan of Hong Kong martial arts films, particularly Bruce Lee films such as Enter the Dragon (1973) and Jackie Chan films such as Drunken Master (1978), and wanted to create a manga inspired by martial arts films, which is what gave birth to Dragon Ball. Before this, as can be clearly seen in the earlier portion of Dragon Ball, he was a gag manga artist. I don't know how you feel as a reader about knowing context for elements of the story from the point of view of the writer, and I know a lot of people say you should separate the artist and the art, but I like those little extra tidbits of knowledge and I personally enjoyed them.
I often say that Goku training Gohan up and letting him fight Cell was equivalent to in real life when a father wants his son to play sports, and while he may be skilled at it, he has no interest, but all the dad sees is the potential and their excitement overrides their reason.
A lot of readers seem to not really understand that or decry Goku for the Senzu Bean thing.
Happy Post-Thanksgiving, Merphy! I'm thankful you were able to enjoy this series so much!
Speaking of the ridiculousness with some of the scenarios, Toriyama is kind of the opposite of Oda as a writer as far as broad style. Oda plans long in advanced, while Toriyama basically was flying by the seat of his pants, and regularly changed his plans. Famously, in the Android/Cell arc, direction from his various editors had Toriyama throw out his android 19/20 plan to go with 16/17/18, but then dissatisfaction from them lead Toriyama to create Cell, and dislike of the earlier forms of Cell lead to his "perfect" form. This chaos works both for and against Toryama, and distinctly leads to the "unpredictable" nature of the series.
To be more precise, it was his old editor from Dr. Slump and early DB era, Kazuhiko Torishima, that made fun of android 19 and 20 designs so Toriyama added 16-18. Torishima also made fun of them so Toriyama added Cell. Then his actual editor at the moment, Yū Kondō, thought the first Cell form was ugly and second form looked stupid.
I think it’s a testament to his writing that the arc works so well despite that. He somehow made the constant direction shift feel natural, as if it was intended from the beginning
_"Oda plans long in advanced, while Toriyama basically was flying by the seat of his pants, and regularly changed his plans."_
It's what George R. R. Martin calls the difference between "Gardener Writers" and "Architect Writers". Architects draw up the blueprints for the entire series in advance, whereas Gardeners let things grow, and/or weed out the excess, as things naturally grow within the story.
Martin himself is a self-described Gardener; whereas a close friend of Martin's, the author of the _The Wheel of Time_ series Robert Jordan, was clearly an Architect.
@@AhsimNreizievOda is both
@@AhsimNreizievdiscovery writing
very entertaining to hear the perspective and initial reaction to a first time reader!
I'm glad you read it because dragon ball walked so many more could run. The artwork and fight coriogrphy are still some of the best in mange. Many authors, Oda included point to it as an inspiration.
Toriyama is the Walt Disney of shonen manga. Imagine being his editor and realizing that the guy you're correcting is the greatest to ever do it
Oda literally calls him "God-sama"
I'd like to note the storytelling on display when Goku finally turns Super Saiyan. It's really cool how Goku fully accepts his Saiyan heritage after constantly saying he's an earthling and disregards his Saiyan race. The Role Vegeta plays in that character arc is really well done.
Dragon Ball Z and Yuyu Hakusho is my childhood anime...
Freeza, to this day, has my favorite title i've ever seen from an antagonist. He's a planet broker. That's so cool. "Yeah, i sell planets." lol. So different from anything I've ever read, and i loved the twist on the 'evil emperor'
I always found it kinda funny that the guy who loves to make comedy manga would be so gifted at drawing action sequences
In terms of fights, my favorite is Goku and Vegeta. The back and forth is incredible, the beam struggle is THE beam struggle, and it manages to get everyone involved, even Yajirobe, it's got everything. My favorite moment tho has to be Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. The music, Android 16's speech, the amount of build up going into this moment, and the fact that when it happened, me and most people watching it were around Gohan's age. It made it even more special
My two favorite things,, especially in my childhood but still to this day, are Harry Potter and DBZ. I found your channel because of Potter one year around Christmas, and now this somehow feels like a full circle moment. 😅
Impact in dbz hits different!
My favorite fight is probably always going to be Goku vs Frieza. Just such a perfect amount of build-up, foreshadowing, and payoff to an amazing story.
Merphy, you convinced me to read Dragon Ball. I was obsessed with the anime when I was a kid but I never read the manga.
I remember when we were kids, where me, my siblings and cousins- there were nine of us- watching as Vegeta pled for all Earthlings to raise their hands. We all did, and we were shouting so loud that a neighbor came to see what was wrong 😂
Toriyama doing doctor Slump as a comedy manga definitely helped delivery of "punch lines" later for Dragonball
I used to binge Dragonball so much as a kid. Seeing you gushing over the series so much made me want to reread the whole series again as I forgot how good the series actually was. Super did a lot to damage my enjoyment but you fully brought it back!! Btw Vegeta is the best character in the series and Gohan stepping up my favourite moment!!!
I appreciate you for actually taking in the source material and appreciating for what it is, there are so many people out there probably 90% of the haters haven't picked up a single manga or watched a single episode and speak on it as if they were experts and dragged this masterpiece through the mud.
In manga form, it was originally just Dragonball. The Z rebranding came when they fired a part of the old staff working on the anime and brought new people from the Saint Seiya anime to work on the show.
DBZ brought the hype & power scaling to the Shonen Battle formula.
One Piece & JoJos brought the creative & unique personalized powers to the Shonen Battle Formula.
Hunter x Hunter & Naruto brought the cerebral, mechanical tactics to the Shonen Battle Formula.
You see all of these foundations that these stories have built in pretty much every modern Shonen Battle Manga coming out today.
Edit: I think bleach is most influential in terms of style rather than the fights necessarily. A lot of shonen that come out today that has that edgy spirit things aesthetic takes a lot of inspiration from bleach.
Edit 2: I'm talking about the influence of each of these mangas to the modern shonen battle formula. Doesn't matter if they are decades apart from one another or are inspired from one another, that's completely besides the point.
Dont forget bleach. Almost all modern shonen are to an extent inspired by it
Its kinda weird to put One Piece alongside Jojo's in this case, since Jojo's began publishing a whole decade earlier.
Oda brought incredible scope to shonen. He was just greatly inspired by series like DB and Jojo's.
How can you not mention Bleach there lol. It's arguably had the most impact on modern Manga out of the Big 3. Demon Slayer, JJK, Black Clover and more are all inspired by it. Even My Hero Academia, despite being nothing like Bleach, has taken inspiration from it, as said by Hori himself.
Sword fighting with magic powers, supernatural intersecting with the real world, style and "cool factor" moments and big uses of the colour black in manga format is what Bleach bought to the Shounen Battle Manga format. And loads of these things permeate through modern day Shounen.
Has she given the no to jojos, it would be awesome to see her get into that crazy story, but I know she avoids certain subject matter that comes up in jojos occasionally.
@@shockzz1234 even bleach is inspired by dragon ball and without akira toriyama the creator stopped long time ago and you wouldnt have your chapters. Dragon ball impacr is everywhere. You cant comoare ANYTHING to dragon ball.
A lot of people seem to forget how much of a genius and innovator Toriyama was. His paneling and action are top tier, with only a handful of mangaka who are comparable to him in terms of clearness and precision. He was also a master at using fights to communicate character and depth with great efficiency and efficacy.
The themes behind the fights are excellent. I like when the Ginyu Force arrives on Namek, forcing Vegeta into a truce with our heroes, but he's still unwilling to see them as allies. He takes out Guldo not to save Krillin and Gohan, but because he saw an opportunity to remove a threat. Vegeta later criticizes them for prioritizing saving him rather than potentially killing Recoome. When Goku arrives, saves them, and spares Burter, Vegeta disregards Goku's wishes and ends Burter himself, as well as Recoome just in case. Vegeta cannot comprehend comradery at this point in time, though goes on to heavy rely on others during the Frieza fight, that being the gateway for Vegeta to begin his character arc.
I just got back into DBZ, perfect timing
As Dragonball was my first Manga I took good paneling for granted. Boy was I wrong
Not only the way the fights are drawn but also the way they tell a story through the fighting is what inspired a lot of modern manga.
What I like about dbz is not just the theatrics but it reflects real life. Watching the goku vs frieza on namek, it help me get through being bullying when I was little
Loved these 2 videos. Now we NEEEDD a DBZA reaction
I also love the duality of Hercules / Mr. Satan.
Even tho he is a total weasel and is shown as an self-centered character which his own goal in mind (Satan), he always step up to the plate and do the right thing when it's needed, even if that would mean dying in the process (Hercules).
Yes, he stole all the glory for the Cell tournament. But, when needed, he did throw up 16 head near Gohan even if he knows he's outmatched by Cell who almost killed him instant earlier. Without him, we might never got SSJ2 Gohan. He did the same in the Buu saga, turning Buu into a good guy and saving Vegeta at the end. He really is a mixed of Heroics deeds from Hercules and the Worship of Self above the worship of others/god of Satan. Truly an underrated character.
Dragonball is really a manga that can teach people to read manga, not by design but because of Akira Toriyama choreography when it comes to fight scene. And the sequence in panels is masterfully done.
never thought abt how goku and vegeta are both characters with thwarted futures and that they handled that loss differently - goku with strength fostered through community, vegeta with strength fostered under strict isolation and self reliance. really loving this channel, thanks for this!
While I don’t really like dragon ball like I used to, I was absolutely obsessed with it as a little kid and I look back on it fondly. I owned all the fighting games as well when I was younger haha.
I have watched DBZ like 10 times, before finally giving the manga a try. Right now finished Dragonball and in the middle of the Namek Saga. I am loving it.
Of all the manga and anime I honestly thought this was not gonna be one you cared too much for. I'm pleasantly surprised.
Fun fact: the authors favorite character is piccolo
I know I've been on and on about DBZ Abridged, however, the way they handle Gohan's SSJ2 transformation is phenomenal. All the jokes end, Android 16 has this chilling, dramatic monologue and then Gohan breaks and they include a new track called, "Day of Fate" that they made just for the scene. It's amazing.
That wasn't a new track. It was an English cover of the theme used in the Japanese soundtrack.
@@AlllexWe all acknowledge that the, "Ummm ackshully", guy is super annoying, and yet so many of us rush to be him.
Correction - They went out of their way to spend money, time, and effort to record a previously unrecorded track in English translation for the scene. Good thing I cleared that up, it really adds to the message.
My main gripe about the DB anime, aside from the pacing, is how they frame the fights. Toriyama-sensei was honestly THE BEST fight illustrator to ever live. Not one of his fight scenes ever made me feel confused. You can literally give me a random page with all the dialogues stripped and I'd still be able to tell you sequence by sequence what is happening in the page, from the fight itself to the emotions and themes being conveyed. Losing Toriyama-sensei last month was a heavy blow to all fans, but I genuinely hope more people will give Dragon Ball a chance because it's such a good manga series.
I feel like the best way to describe the different ways Goku and vegeta see fighting, is that Goku loves fighting for the sake of fighting, while vegeta loves fighting for the sake of winning.
Goku doesn’t care if he wins or loses, as long as he gets to have a good fight, and the only way to get better opponents is to get stronger.
Vegeta on the other end loves to win and to prove he is the best, and fighting is just the way for him to do that. Of course he also enjoys a good fight, but if that doesn’t end with him winning than there is no point and that’s what drives him to get better.
Fav fight is gohan vs cell! When I was a kid it was THE coolest to see gohan get stronger and how terrifying cell was as he just jept powering up he felt unstoppable! So cool
Dragon ball and dragon ball Z were part of my childhood and seeing you enjoy them is such a beautiful thing. One difference between us is that Buu was my favorite villain just because he was such a goblin with superman's powers. I loved how flashy he was and maybe because I was a child when I watched DBZ lol. For the next Manga, I would like to recommend "Frieren", Both Manga and Anime are awesome!
As someone whose only going through the DB manga from the start in recent years (just finished the Saiyan saga and it was epic) after knowing about the anime since childhood it's such a wacky, fun experience and I think Merphy might honestly rly enjoy Bleach and its fights for similar reasons (tho not without its own set of flaws heh😅) with the paneling, the character work and how emotional and tense it can make its best moments feel
Frieza Saga next LFG
I love that every main fighter has some point where they are in a fight and it makes you feel most people is multiple but still...
you are right on the money with your opinion for the themes and inner plot of dbz where its actually more about passing on the torch. Gohan was supposed to be the main character and the cell saga was supposed to be the end but the fans still wanted Goku as the main character and didn't want it to end. Toriyama came back with the Buu saga and made Goku the main character again because no one would let it go, which is why i think it wont ever end.
Now you gotta watch dragon ball z abridged on UA-cam. It's a bit rough at first, but it's an amazing parody and a love letter to the series, with an outstanding production value by the end
Still the absolute GOAT when it comes to paneling and the flow of fights.
17:20 I feel like you would like the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie because that one forces Piccolo and Gohan to take on the main threat and be the strong ones because Goku and Vegeta were off-world the entire time. It was pretty fun getting to see them shine.
21:01
Your view of the matter is correct, especially since Toriyama himself said that Gohan is not fit to be the hero of a series like Dragon Ball. What distinguished him was that he was not a copy of his father. In addition, Goku accepts his son's wish at the end
I love that you're actually into this series! The reason I got into One Piece over a decade ago was because a co-worker friend noticed I was into Dragon ball and wanted to let me know that One Piece may be to my liking as well! He said "the fights can be cool, but it's more about the story and mystery," and wow, I'm so glad he said that! If it wasn't for DB, I'd never have discovered One piece, my all time fav!! My fav fight is a simple one: when Goku uses his finger against Trunks' swordplay! So cool! :D
The separation makes sense cuz they were separated as anime. So by the time they started adapting the manga in the US, both anime series existed and someone figured that it made sense to separate the manga the same way since we were getting both anime at the same time anyway. Toonami would actually air episodes of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z back to back so we'd have kid Goku and Bulma searching for Dragon Balls followed by Goku fighting Captain Ginyu on Namek immediately after.
This is so nice seeing Merphy talk about manga like this 😭
honestly I’d love if she checked out JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, just hoping she can make it past Part 1 (knowing her she might surprise us and love Part 1 which would be amazing)
OH YES! the analysis, especially of part 3 and onwards would be GOD TIER.
:) nice video, one of the best moments you briefly mentioned was Goku accepting his saiyan heritage in namek.
Z starts off with him rejecting that heritage when fighting Raditz his brother. Wanting nothing to do with it. And the way he defeats vegeta the first time is by leaning into the qualities he learned on earth. Relying om his friends and the spirit bomb. While Vegeta leans on power gained from his seemingly evil saiyan heritage such as the Great Ape transformation. Ultimately Goku wins because of who he is as a person.
But against Frieza on namek a foe that is too strong for teamwork Goku doesnt have to contend with who he is but this time he has to contend with what he is. For example you see Goku on namek take advantage of his saiyan recovery ability where they grow stronger from being healed. He even asks Vegeta to lend him some of the saiyan pride before vegeta ultimately dies to Frieza. With that new pride he proudly exclaims later on that he is Goku the super SAIYAN. Something he never would have done at the start of Z.
Furthermore to compund this theme of acceptance Piccolo goes through the same by merging with Nail the strongest namekian Piccolo does gain all of that knowledge and experience of his home planet. So with both Piccolo and Goku Theres a thread of gaining ppwer through acceptance of ones heritage and what they are.
One of my favorite moments is satan befriending buu. In a story where the fakers usually just get a bootfull of humiliation. Satan goes through to prove himself. Maybe not as the strongest. But as hero. And then there is also that one time everyone screamed for satan.
for a DB "beginner" you did a great job merphy 🔥🔥 ❤️ hoping to see more
So happy to see a new fan to this amazing franchise. The first Goku vs Vegeta fight has always been my favorite. Probably because the DBZ anime was my introduction to the series and that was the climactic battle of the first arc. But the storytelling thru that fight (and the Dragon Team vs Napa that led to it) is just so masterfully done, plus the Gallick Gun vs Kamehameha beam struggle, the Kaioken, and the Spirit Bomb are all just so iconic. Vegeta was such a great foil to Goku, and the whole fight felt so very one-sided even up until the end, really carrying the weight of the philosophical subtext of their conflict.
I have always enjoyed your content and seeing your enjoyment of one of my favorite series again is very enjoyable
Something someone brought up to me once was that Vegeta never surpasses Goku bc his pride prevents him from training with people he deems inferior to himself so he never increases his techniques even though trains just as much or even harder than Goku. Goku is willing to train with people vastly weaker than himself, whether it's the humans he long surpassed like Krillin or Master Roshi or Piccolo or Gohan or even random aliens like Yardrats. As a result, he developed all kinds of techniques with varying amounts of usefulness like Solar Flare, Kamehameha, Kaio Ken or Instant Transmission.
The fact the vegeta calls himself "the prince of saiyans" is such an interesting character beat. Despite being a paragon of pride, he never asserts himself as king.
In the end he doesnt rule ovee people for power, but rather asking of othersto sacrifice along side him as a good king should
Reading the Freeza saga in the early 2000s was the peak DBZ reading for me!
If you’re ever looking for a fight themed manga that has an interesting mix of character development through martial arts. I would highly recommend Holyland, it does a great job of portraying bullying and teenage depression.
Plus it’s written by the guy who is picking up Berserk I believe
Someone mentioned Holyland.
Holy motherfucking shit. That series is fucking underrated and seeing it being mentioned is such a joy.
What do you mean by it's being picked up by the guy who's writing berserk
Super Saiyan 2 may be the peak of DBZ, as far as cool/epic moments honestly. It's such a well loved scene; definitely my favorite!
Another thing you have to give Piccolo credit...even in Super, is the fact that he's very aware of the weaknesses that keep endangering all of them. He'll openly criticize even the strongest for it.
19:23 "Still speaking of pride, but another kind of pride.." my instant assumption is you were about to talk about Goku and Vegeta's homoerotic rivalry lol 🏳🌈
Its very interesting to see another newcomers perspective, especially since you read the manga instead! If you do want to watch through the show now you've read the manga, I'd suggest Dragon Ball Z Kai, as its the cut down re-edit to be more like the manga, especially for the english dub (which is just a trainwreck of nonsense writing early on) - I started watching DB in 2019, so skipped the childhood nostalgia opportunities, and immediately fell in love with the series' silly charm and themes of self improvement through hardship and trust in your friends. It's really cool to hear you feel about moments similarly to myself and also the greater community, because sometimes its hard to separate what's an organic opinion vs one by cultural osmosis. Gohan's story is a VERY divisive one, with many fans wishing he would live up to his potential as a warrior and others feeling it's a good thing that he's happy as an academic. Also yeah the Buu saga is no where near as good as the arcs before it, it drags on and changes stakes so many times seemingly without direction but it has some amazing moments and does give great time for some of the other cast to shine in the last major outing of the series. I wrote of DB for a long time as a shallow story about buff guys yelling, which if you just glanced at clips of the show from the outside, yeah. But it's really about the heart of these characters and how Goku changes the world around him. Loved these reviews!
18:55 The scene in DBZ anime where Goku goes slower for the first time is, literally, one of my favorite scenes of all time (Oddly enough, it's specifically the English dub version). When Goku screams, "You will feel the horror!" Ooo, so good.
The way a lot of people that are more clever than me have explained Toriyama's intentions and ways to to create stories (even though they haven't used these words) is that he's like a Dungeon Master for a D&D game that watches what happens when the characters do stuff and then reacts to it himslef like "Yeah... Goku would probably do that..."
There's a reason why it feels disjointed at times. It's because toriyama tends to either forget characters and completely write them off or plot points completely. Thus leaving things in a limbo until he magically remembers it at some point when it's too late to revisit
DBZA attempts to go deeper into the characters motivations during the cell tournament. You may not totally agree with their interpetation but its worth watching
Dragon Ball is so underrated in the shadow of Z. I love Z, I grew up on Z, it was one of my first anime, but as I've gotten older I find myself enjoying Dragonball so much more.
I think you would also enjoy Dr. Slump, which is another work Toriyama made. It is fantastic.
Toriyama famously wrote by the seat of his pants - Cell wasn't even supposed to exist, Dr. Gero & #19 were supposed to be the main villains of that entire saga but his editor kept complaining that his villains are lame. The buu saga probably came off as more directionless because the editors kept a relatively hands-off approach for that once, since Toriyama said that he would only continue writing Dragon Ball if he was allowed to do it the way he wanted. Gohan was also supposed to take over as the protagonist, but Toriyama later decided he had to bring Goku back
I love that even when you're talking about fights you point out the themes in them, instead of the power scaling
Toriyama master at his work. There is a funny story that the villains in Dragon Ball z face are all the faces of Toriyama editors that he heat expect for Buu because he like his editorial that time
The fights alone for dragon Ball were ahead of their time. They inspired an entire genre of fictional comics in Japan. I really have grown to appreciate the depth and focus to detail for some of those fights. I love one piece, but I feel like the cast and scope of the story has gotten so large that Oda has to sacrifice the detail within his fights. Dragon Ball directly inspired one piece and you can see that in certain arcs like Enie's lobby with its action. It's the sort of depth i sorely miss in the series
I think Goku simply doesn't care if Gohan became a fighter or not, he is that chill.
Congrats, you hit the dragon ball algorithm
one of my favorite moments is during the buu fight when they revive all the good people who were killed by buu and vegeta getting revived with them then goku being so excited thatvegeta counted as a good person. I might be misremebering this its been so long.
As someone who's been a DB fan since forever, it's awesome seeing someone discovering it as an adult and still managing to appreciate and even enjoy it. Goes to show there's plenty there to love even without nostalgia goggles despite the series' simplicity and faults one can nitpick. There are better written, deeper and more unique or ambitious mangas out there, but Dragon Ball's a simple yet effective, fun manga without any pretense full of great moments and memorable characters.
Toroyama's kooky, subversive humor is a treat too, one of my favorites being Chichi asking Muten Roshi to prove he is indeed the legendary Turtle Hermit, and instead of performing some godlike feat to display his martial prowess beyond doubt, the old geezer just whips out his driver's license XD
I also love the whole ethos of using your obstacles as an opportunity to imrpove yourself rather than growing complacent, not being afraid of overcoming yourself and helping others reach their potential. That moment where Master Roshi tells Goku he must traverse around the globe without using Nimbus, causing the monkey boy to go from shock to awe to excitement, has stuck with me ever since I was 10.
And yeah, Just like Jack Kirby, Toriyama's a master of guiding the reader's attention and making the reading experience silky smooth yet also super dynamic. There's tons of talented artists like Toyotaro and Young Jijii that are excellent at mimicking his signature artstyle, but as great as their line work is, they can never replicate Toriyama's impeccable sense of composition and panel layout.
One effect I adore to bits in early DB is when he'd draw the line art on the character with speed lines\ thick hatching instead of solid lines, giving this hyperkinetic feeling to their movement. Unfortunately it gets utilized less and less as the series goes on, but I still appreciate how much he's style has evolved. As far as mangakas frequently reinventing themselves go, he's second only to Hirohiko Araki. His pre-DB era art is amazing too, I recommend hunting down a copy of Akira Toriyama's Manga theater if you ever have the chance.
One of the most compelling themes in the series is that of fatherhood and family. Golu and Gohan have a very different relationship yhan Vegeta and Trunks. Like you said, Goku is more than happy to humble himself in order to push up his son, but that thought never crossed Vegeta's mind because of how self-centered and arrogant he is. Even if Trunks is his son, he will not let anybody surpass himself. It is a toxic and destructuve relationship.
It simple but done so cleanly also this manga pulled off 3 perfect endings if stop at base dragonball, or stopping at freiza even the ending with cell.
As a kid i thought each of those were the end each time.
Hands down my personal favourites is Gohan Vs Cell and Vegito Vs Super Buu. All for comic panels, use of power and story gratification
DBZ is amazing!
I also have thought that Vegeta might represent how hard it is to grow up and leave your immaturities behind (your “evil side” if you will). He has to first assume that he is not going to be the best in what he loves the most and he desires to go back to when he had no attachments (responsibilities). He has a hard time assuming that times have changed and that he has changed also, he cannot act as he did in the past.
This is a hard part of growing up, realizing that you have responsibilities with other people (especially your family) and cannot do whatever to want as you did in the past, but Vegeta still desires it. Until he assumes that he does love his family and, finally, is willing to sacrifice himself for them, he realizes that this is what he really wants to do at the end.
Finally, another great thing of his “maturement” (if that word exists) is that he understands that those who are better than him in what he loves, are not his enemy, they can be valuable allies that can help him grow even further.
The point is, I love Vegeta’s character and it always stuck with me haha
when it comes to fights in manga panels DBZ is still the gold standart
toriyamas paneling and flow is absolute insane
Gohan through the Cell saga is my favorite character he's awesome.
9:40 another reason why Goku looks regretful after killing Freeza is because he realized that he proved Freeza right. Goku had just accepted his Saiyan heritage “I AM THE SUPER SAIYAN, SON GOKU!” saying he’s a Saiyan but calling himself Goku (his humanity). But in the end he kills free which means he made Freeza right, Freeza had killed the Saiyans because he was afraid that they are like wild beasts and would become strong enough to kill even him. Goku ended up full filing that.
I take some comfort in the fact that Picollo was the strongest character for a couple chapters around the time he fought Android 17.
You are absolutely right, Gohan was supposed to become the protagonist at the end of the Cell saga. It's my understanding that Shonen Jump advised Toriyama to continue with Goku thinking people would drop the story without him. Gohan vs Cell is incredible, I'm glad you took a look at the anime because the animation and the music are absolutely amazing. To me, nothing comes even close to that fight, truly masterful.
Lastly, I agree with you 100%, even though the BU saga is not great, the ending is. To me that's the perfect ending for that story. I'm so glad you enjoyed it this much. Next stop: Shingeki No Kyojin *fingers crossed*