I mean it is awesome.This anime is based on the later part of the Dragon Ball manga written by the insanely talented Akira Toriyama. It is the follow on from the incredible Dragon Ball anime. (see review on my comments page)Set 5 years after the battle against Piccolo, Son Goku is living peacefully. But in the Dragon Ball universe peace is never lasting. Pretty soon the past he didn't even know he had escaped from catches up from him leading to a series of epic battles. The series goes across four main sagas- Saiyan, Freeza, Cell and Majin Boo. It takes place over a time span of about 27 years, which is pretty cool, and something you rarely get to see in a show like this. You get to see the characters grow up and change. Some character you will like a lot more by the time the series is finished. It contains some of the most likable characters of all time. I don't see how anyone could not like Son Goku. Or Son Gohan. Of course almost all of the old characters return in this series, although most have smaller roles. But most of them still get a chance at some action in at least one part. Piccolo and Kuririn still have fairly large roles, in the first half of the series at least. Yamucha and Tenshinhan have a lot less to do in the series, and Chaozu doesn't play much of a role at all. The villains are awesome. Vegeta is an awesome and well rounded character, Freeza may be one of the most memorable villains around, Cell is awesome just because of the basis of his character, and Boo.... well Boo is just the ultimate killing machine.The series is really different from the first series. Dragon Ball focused more on humour and martial arts, this focuses more on powerful ki blasts, hardcore action and ridiculously powerful character. It will never be the most challenging series around, but it is still a whole lot of fun. Great action scenes, really cool transformations, and a bunch of alien races. What more can you really ask for? The show spans for 291 Episodes, 13 movies and 2 TV specials. And you will still be sad when it ends.The Dragon Ball Z movies can be seen as separate stories, as most do not fit into the timeline of the series well. Also, you will find some of the material in the anime doesn't fit in very well. For the most part, this is because it is filler material that wasn't in the original manga. An example of filler is the Garlic Jr. Saga, which was put in after the Freeza saga and is a sequel of sorts to the first movie. The movies and filler are sometimes not as good as the stuff taken from the original manga, but that's not to say it isn't enjoyable. Some of the movies are pretty cool with villains like Brolli and Cooler. So I would recommend you check them out.As with Dragon Ball, there is not much to say about the animation, although by the end it had improved a fair bit. It is drawn well, and is nice to watch. The characters all have their charms in terms of the way they are designed. The music of the series is nothing spectacular either, although I like the theme songs to the series a whole lot.This is the show that, along with Evangelion: Neon Genesis, helped me get into anime, way back when I was just a dumb kid. Now I've grown up and become a dumb adult and I still love it. I watch it differently now than I did all those years ago. I grew up with the edited and dubbed version, which is great for kids, but if you are looking for the true series, try and get your hands on some DVDs with Japanese language options. I find them much better. But that's just me. No matter how you want to watch it, I would just advise you to sit down, switch off, and enjoy.With the upcoming Dragon Ball live action movie, I can only hope that it is successful enough to warrant a few sequels, as a Dragon Ball Z movie would be awesome. I would not expect it to quality cinema, just a whole lot of fun.There is also a sequel to the series, known as Dragon Ball GT, which is not based on the work of Akira Toriyama. Worth a look if you're a fan, but don't expect it to be as good as Dragon Ball Z10/10

It took my years to truly appreciate the brilliance that is Dragonball Z. I wish I had overlooked my own ego years ago so I could have loved this again and again. When I was roughly 11, and still getting into the whole 'anime' scene, Dragonball Z was one of my first series. It was the English version, and I thought it was great. But by chance, I saw an episode of the original version, and never went back to the dub. The subbed is far superior, in voice acting, dialog and music. No, I am not the kind of fan to hail 'ALL DUBS ARE GARBAGE, NEVER CHANGE ANYTHING FROM THE ORIGINAL!!!', for I have the guilty pleasure of sitting down and enjoying dubs many a time, but in this situation the dub is nothing in comparison. It does succeed in being a wildly popular children's show, because that is what it was made to be for North America, not a mirror of the original.After constantly seeing the dub on TV, and all the hype surrounding it, I simply told myself it was garbage, people know nothing, and just stopped watching the series all together. I couldn't stand to look at what it had been reduced to and sought more 'intelligent' animes (Vampire Hunter D, Hellsing, Fushigi Yuugi, Escaflowne, Akira). There were many other fans like me at that time reviewing Dragonball Z on IMDb, and to you I say, get off your high horses. Dragonball Z is pure entertainment.Just look at the fact that such manga creators like Eiichirô Oda (One Piece), Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto), Kouta Hirano (Hellsing), Taito Kubo (Bleach), Shin'ya Suzuki (Mr. Fullswing), Kôshi Rik(u)dô (Excel Saga), and Kentarô Yabuki (Black Cat) were all genius creators on there own, and all admitted to being influenced by Dragonball. I think it's hilarious that even the 'master creators' can take the time to appreciate Toriyama's work.I'm sick of seeing so many stuck-up anime fans regard shows like Pokemon, Digimon, Dragonball Z, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc (despite in truth, some of those shows aren't very good no matter what version you're watching) because they don't showcase the utter brilliance and beautiful animation of the likes of lets say, Miyazaki. Miyazaki's works and Toriyama's works are completely different, plain and simple, but they're amazing in there own ways. The best thing about Dragonball Z is it's characters. Everyone of them in there own little world that sucks you in and makes you care. The universe Toriyama created alone is great and wildly original. These different races and different values are alone allow some praise to the show. The music and voice acting (props to Ryo Harikawa and Masako Nozawa) really set a good tone to whatever scene they're in, and almost makes up for the plot lag.Almost. The biggest problem the world has with Dragonball Z is it's plot and pacing, and no. It's not plot less, and people who would go as far to say that are exaggerating. Dragonball Z has a pretty good plot, it just drags and drags and drags it as far as it can, making the series last so long, and scenes go unbearably slow. If you watch an episode, notice how many times the animators bring you shots of them staring/breathing/pointless setting/random face reactions. That is the biggest flaw of the show.If you can overlook the lag, and the obnoxious hardcore 'I'm-too-good-for-this' otaku's, and truly appreciate this world that Akira Toriyama has created, then it's your treat. Truly one of the best Animes/Mangas ever created 8/10

I like Anime. I'm not the type to wear a shirt with a Kanji symbol I don't understand, nor would I dare call myself 'Otaku' but I have enough anime, I know quality when I see it (Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, Ninja Scroll, Iria...) Dragonball Z is just not great. I don't understand its legion of fans. The sheer obsession people have for it. Their pride is in their knowledge of the story. Dragonball's story and characters are its weakest point... That and the terrible animation. Obviously 'strength' is the show's theme, well, totally absurd 'strength'. A typical 'Saga' follows a certain pattern, though not all the following are present in every saga...1. Strong guy shows up.2. All are worried.3. Someone dies to show the new guys 'strength'.4. All hope Goku will return to save them.5. Sub character will take a stand. Loses.6. Goku comes.7. Goku loses. Usually dies.8. He trains and gets stronger... though every time it's 'as strong as he can be'... ok.9. Goku wins.10. Rejoicing.11. I stopped caring by 3 because of the ridiculous amount of dialogue between each point... And because of the predictable nature of the show.The characters lack any dynamic whatsoever, though all 5,000 sagas the characters remain completely the same. Goku is never topped he will always get stronger. Death loses all dramatic function because when a character dies we all know he'll be back.The series is mediocre at best. Don't buy into the hype.

Not, I hasten to add, the punishment inflicted by the strangely drawn participants of this anime, but the torture of having to listen to yet more irritating, whiny dialogue thanks to the geniuses behind the English dub who seem to be aiming at a 6 year old level. And if you think that's bad, wait till you see the animation, all 5 frames of it. Disney this is not, and calling it substandard would be a kindness. The plot is as follows: Overlong, boring fight scenes. Cut to overlong, boring bonding scenes. Then it's back to the fight. Now bonding. And then.. you get the picture. You might feel sorry for the people involved in this mess, that is until you find out they made 291 twenty five minute episodes of it. That means that either a) they were in it for the money and didn't mind having this on their CV (how sad) b) they had no taste and thought they were involved in a multi-part story to rival Lord Of The Rings or c) They were complete morons. I'll leave it up to you to decide..