Dragonball GT Review and Information
Posted: Tuesday, July 15, 2008
by Kristen Barghout
Anime Exchange
I have been a fan of the Dragonball series since I was about 13, which was when I first watched the Dragonball Z Saiyan Saga, and that's going back nearly ten years ago now. I would probably have been watching it for longer, but it had only just aired in the UK when I started watching it, and for years to come, I was in awe of this awesome cartoon.
Now, I will leave the subject of Dragonball for another day as I want to focus on the 'travesty' that was Dragonball GT, and do not wish to taint the name of Dragonball, or even associate it with the GT series. Now I know that my opinion of this series may make others hate me, but please, allow me to continue.
You see, I loved the fact that in GT all the characters had grown up, had children, got married. It was a new chapter in the Dragonball universe. However, as the series progressed, I became more and more withdrawn. This was mianly because the characters had actually changed, and were no longer the ones that I had grown to love. And this is no simple matter of character development, it actually stems from the lack of input into the series from the original Dragonball writer, Akira Toriyama, and his input was something that was seriously missed.
You see, the main issue I had was the fact that Vegeta had changed so much (and undoubtedly this made emphasised even more in the poorly dubbed American version) that he was no longer the anti-hero that we had all grown up with. Instead, he was just a two dimensional interpretation of possibly the best character in the series.
There was also the issues with the Saga's that were very hit or miss, and many of which suffered for the length of the saga being either too long, or for being too short. I mean, they could have done so much more with the Super 17 Saga and the re-introduction of a key character that had been missing in action since the Cell Saga in Dragonball Z.
Overall I was a little disheartened from the whole Dragonball GT series. The awful "Let's keep Goku as a kid" concept which added nothing to the plot, story or entertainment, as well as the poor choice of saga's. It was like watching someone flog a dead horse, and in the end I simply stopped watching. And that's me, the person who spent all her pocket money on DBZ merchandise from the age of thirteen. I was so down heartened that I even contemplated boycotting watching the Dragonball saga.
But there are some good points to the Dragonball GT series, such as the really cool new Super Saiyan levels, which I am sure many will agree are awesome, and the fact that we are shown how much stronger Goku really is than any of the other Z warriors (many of which are absent from the series), and the fact that Vegeta only manages to increase his Saiyan power through the use of technology, I suppose this can be interpreted as the fall and growth of Vegeta.
But this is a series that should only be watching in small doses, as over exposure to such drivel (which is frequent throughout the series) may cause internal damage to the individual. I am currently re-watching the series to see if it does have any truly redeeming features...I must add, I am at the Super 17 Saga, and so far...it does not. But don't let me put you off; if you love Dragonball and Dragonball GT, it's definitely worth completing the series.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)DragonBall Z, and GT was the best and still is.....damn dude the second season had better be better me and my cousin just got done watching the first season all the way through and there was no excuse for what we were subjegated to it was pure torture...and the show ends right when Goku is going Super Saiyan 4...I'm glad I didn't pay cash for that trash...but of course we do have the entire Dragonball Z series on DVD so thats cool.
i think you where not watching it in the right eyes, you made up your mind as to what you would have done with the series and didnt get your wishes... if you cuaght on dragon ball was losely based on all religons of our world. In most reilgons and myths you learn the story of them being kids... goku is ovbiouslly a god of sorts by the time dbz ends. The intent of making him a kid again was brillant on so many levels... one humour, 2 relgion and leading up to him becoming "god" and 3 , this isnt akiras series anymore so how else coudl they re invent goku? make him a kid ! now they have complete freedom to change goku around.. hes there character, adult goku as a kid. On the vegeta note... you ovbiously where a huge vegeta fan, and for that i understand your hate for how they changed him... BUT he had to be changed... if you dont recall near the end of dbz vegeta changed... he gave up his pride of being better then goku and dropped the evil act! this happen in dbz ! i feel akira knew vegeta had to come clean one day and since it was his series he ended it that way... what did you want them to do? go against what akira did to vegeta? no.. i think they did a damn good job on vegeta! THe family making him semi-softer... the mustache... the trying to be a good dad, it was brillant. My only complaint with gt was the first season wasnt compelte... felt a little slacked.. id say 20/30 epsiodes where awsome ! but a few here and there where complete crap... like the sigma force? wtf? complete rip off of megaman x and annoying voices... and giru.... hes like a freaking jar jar binks. but i can understand the crappy episodes as it was buildup, the series was suppose to be at least twice as long, almost like trying to mimick the oringal series in length. anyways the second season was just @#$%&*ing solid! and they even compermised the kid goku to being able to be an adult during super saiyan 4 because so many fans didnt get the whole kid concept. They could have and where going to do more with the super 17 saga but because no one liked/understood GT they had to cut it short and finsh the series before it got cnaceled and then the series would never have had a true ending.. i hope i helped you see GT in a better light... its dragon ball "fused" with dbz.
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