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Directed by: Daisuke Nishio
Original Work: Akira Toriyami
Studio: Toei Animation
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Shounen
Story:
Bulma is a girl in search of the mystical dragonballs that when brought together grant any wish. In her search she bumps into the owner of one of these balls, a strange boy named Goku. The two then set off together, Bulma in search of the dragonballs and Goku on a quest to become stronger.
Storyline: 8/10
Goku isnt from this planet (not really revealed in this series yet) and was brought up by a man named Gohan, who he addresses as Grandpa Gohan. They both have been living together in the woods, learning the ways of martial arts. Sadly Grandpa Gohan died one night myseriously and left a keep-sake which was a four star dragonball. So, the story is about some young and strong martial artist called Goku who wishes to increase his strength, gain more companions and go on the quest with Bulma to find the other dragonballs. For those who have only seen Dragonball Z series, you find out that the events which happened in DBZ were caused by those from DB. Not much of a big story but I still find it cool. Anything with martial arts in it gets my vote.
Characters: 7/10
Characters are pretty funny. Goku isnt from this planet as said before. He's been living in the woods learning martial arts with grandpa Gohan. However the downfall to that was that he had never interacted with anyone outside the woods, so when he met Bulma and other people, he didnt know how to socialise well. He didnt even know what a girl was until he lifted up Bulma's dress haha. Bulma happens to be the daughter of the owner of Capsule Corp, a company that creates capsules of ordinary objects and neccisities for people (which o course this is the future earth). Because of that she happens to be a "rich-bitch" and feels that she is of a higher status than anyone else. Blue hair for a girl dont make me think shes that special, just a freak. Other characters are pretty cool and have their own funny personalities whether good or evil. Whats freaky is, why are there human-like animals? Maybe an old japanese thing.
Animation: 7/10
The animation is very old seeing as it was created like 1988 or so. You may see lines coming down as a sign of it wearing down. If you happen to be lucky, you can download the anime episode on the net, which I believe are of better quality than watching it on Toonami or so. Drawings are sort of old school and look like a "cartoony anime" but that was the style which Akira and many others used back then. Things have slightly improved now.
Music/Soundtrack: 6.5/10
"Dragon dragon ball, come on dragon balls". Till now I still have that opening japanese song stuck in my head. Seeing as this was made in the 1980's the song quality and japanese singing quality was slightly poor, in fact the japanese man couldnt sing properly. Where was orange range and puffy ami yumi at the time? Right, they were too young.
English DUB: 5.5/10
Yet again, the excuse is that the anime is old. The voices are not like the voices you hear on Dragonball Z/GT. These ones are quite bad. There is probably a 50% chance that 7 characters are voiced by one person. The voices can be boring at sometimes, and theres no passion or good battecrys when characters are in battle.
OVERALL SCORE: 7/10
Well the only thing that made it reach to a 7 was the fact that it had a good story plan and I like the combination of a futuristic devloped earth mixed with old japanese culture and martial arts. Everything else seems appauling. Yes it is an old anime, but it could have been much better. Sailor moon and transformers seemed quite better than this. However I do admire Akira Toriyami for his art and the make a vast improvement he made when bringing Dragonball Z. In my opinion, dont watch the tv series, best watch it online or buy the renewed dvd. Voices are the same here as those from DBZ and quality is better. So, are we gonna get those dragonballs or what?