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I believe any fan of 'DBZ' is also well aware of the original Dragon Ball series when Goku was a kid. Personally for me though that original series doesn't interest me much at all. There is just something about watching an adult Goku slowly leveling up his skills, from a runt who could barely beat Raditz without help, then getting his a$$ handed to him by Vegeta after a long drawn-out fight, to him finally gaining enough power to literally wipe the floor with part of the Ginyu Force, to him going Super Saiyan all over Frieza's loser a$$ like a boss!
Well... I started watching the series since the beginning and I think the original series is way better. It had a sense of aventure, wonder and comedy drew me instantly and completely in. When DBZ began I liked the fights and increasingly intense battles, but I felt the humor and freshness of the original was missing. I still enjoyed it... until the Goku vs Frieza battle. At the beginning it was thrilling, but it dragged too much (when I think about it, that was probably my first experience with anime filler).
Then began the Garlic Jr. arc and I was very confused because it referenced events I had never watched or heard about (later I found out it was the sequel of sorts of the first DBZ movie. I do not know what were thinking to do that... other than making more filler). When the Cell arc began, the plot seemed picking up... but it was only an illusion. The increasingly long and repetitive fights were beginning to get tiresome. I still liked some parts (especially when Goku passed the torch to Gohan like the Earth protector. I think the series should have ended right there), but I was losing interest.
However the Buu arc was downright pathetic, IMO. I had to force myself to keep reading. It was very obvious Toriyama had long passed the point where he had become burn-out.
I not even bothered myself with GT.
It has been a long time since I was a DB fan, but I still remember it fondly. And my little nephew also watches it sometimes!
And that is my POV how someone who has watched the series since the beginning, even before it was broadcast in USA. I hope you found it interesting, at least.
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That single episode where Goku goes Super Saiyan for the first time still gives me shivers to this day. Hands down my fave ep of all time =D
Definitely a great episode. I still remember when I watched it for first time. It boggled my mind. Frieza had survived, had hurt Piccolo and blew up Krilin and... Goku had transformed! I had to pick my jaw from the ground. I only KNEW I HAD to watch the next episode. It could not be aired soon enough.
Okay, I'll stop talking about DB now. We are going off topic.
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I guess however, that plays in Japan. I don't mind monster of the week, but I always felt I got more out of having arcs rather than episodic formats.
I love seventies shows, and they often used the monster-of-the-week format, so it did not mind either.
Moreover, even if the adventures or fights were episodic, there always was one or several subplots going throughout the different episodes.
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I had heard Minako and Rei was supposed be best friends in the manga and it never really came through in the anime. As my two favorite characters, it'd be kinda nice to see.
Personally my favorite were Rei and Makoto... and I think Ami. I did not care much for Usagi or Minako.
I do not remember if Rei and Minako were best friends in the manga, but Minako had a bigger role than in the anime, and she practically was the second-in-command. And IIRC,
was the one slew Queen Beryl in the manga.
). Usagi is still Usagi, which is good, I just hope that they will make her more mature because I know that at some point in the manga, while she still act 'Usagi's style', she's alot more mature in the manga then in the anime.
