Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Kaidser
The original Dragon Ball series feature a great roster of original characters. The original series feature way more comedic elements as its predecessors and the cast of characters bounce off eachother extremely well.
It's a fast paced action adventure that i personally think would be enjoyable for all age groups. I can easily see why this series took off in its day and became so popular even at a world-wide stage.
The story and its main character clearly takes inspiration from Journey to the West yet has its own unqiue identity. The anime has the classic 90's feel to its artstyle which i personally really enjoy.
An all time favorite nostalgic anime that is still enjoyable to this day. I cant recommend it enough if you havent watched it.
Read at the sourcechumchummaru
I finally watched the founder and father of today's shonen, which is none other than the renowned Dragon Ball. I have to admit that in this era, when there are thousands of anime to choose from and when I have already seen basically everything, DB was like a breath of fresh air that I needed like salt.
The plot is divided into 9 arcs and since the entire series has 153 ep., before the end I even forgot what I wanted to write about (idiot, I didn't start the review sooner) and so I will try to give my impressions.
The first arc and actually the beginning confused me a lot, since in the course of 13 ep. they managed to get all 7 DB and for the first time summon a mysterious dragon fulfilling one wish. Here I was thinking, wait, but what will happen after that?? I thought that the entire 153…
Read at the sourceBurhan3732
Most of it was decent. All of the tournaments, piccolo, and pilaf arcs were good. The first half of the red ribbon army saga (before tao), was genuinely horrible, needlessly long, and boring. The fights were shitty and the villains were forgettable weaklings. I'm surprised how I even managed to watch all of it. I almost dropped dragonball cuz of it. But in the first half, there is a very important development in goku's character, where we see him empathize and realize the value of life and implementing his "no kill" rule for the first time. Before which, he was a homicidal little asshole. Other than that, it's really bad.
Master Roshi was also one of the main highlight characters in this show, and his character has been nerfed in later renditions of dragonball. In OG dragonball, he is ver…
Read at the sourceStewPid_
Dragon ball is awesome.
The first arc is a charming beginning introducing the huge world in an entertaining way.
The first tournament arc mixes the series’ humour with hints of the epic fight cinematography that shows up later
The Red Ribbon army arc
Fortune Teller Baba arc has a lot of heart and allows Goku to see his Grandpa again Tien Shinhan arc is the best tournament, so many interesting fights and the last of the slapstick elements
King Piccolo arc has a menacing villain who’s moustache twirling dedication to evil makes him so fun to watch
The Piccolo saga brings the best elements of the previous arcs and delivers an epic fight full of twists and turns.
TLDR: I only watched for Krillin
Read at the sourceLancelotSB
The first few episodes were classic gold, filled with comedy, action, and adventure. However, it became boring, especially when Goku was by himself. It picked up during the power-up arc, but then got monotonous again. The Piccolo Daimao arc was okay, but felt a bit rushed in my opinion.
I love how overpowered Goku is, but I'm not a fan of adult Goku; I'd rather he stay young. The world-building towards the end gets ridiculous, with too many plot points that don't make sense, to be honest. The worst part is that there are too many filler episodes.
The opening and ending songs are classic and memorable, and the voice acting is terrific. Overall, it's okay, but I definitely prefer younger Goku.
Read at the sourcegokusolosfiction
This is my childhood show and the show that got me into anime. I would watch this on dvd at my grandma's house every day from grades 2-5. I will admit that there is weird shit with teen bulma here. I will admit that a lot of the fighting has not aged well. I admit a lot of it is choppy and more strong in concept than an actual work, and that we can see the full vision in DBZ. I still love it. But with all the flaws, I cannot give this any more than a 7. Still holds a huge place in my heart though.
Read at the sourceManjirin
Dragon Ball is a shonen classic, but not quite a shonen masterpiece. For those who grew up with Dragon Ball Z as their first and formative introduction to this IP, it can be hard not to approach Dragon Ball as this sort of silly prequel to a much larger and more ambitious space and time-faring epic. Despite that tendency, there is no denying that Dragon Ball maintains a high bar for quality throughout its run and influences so much of what comes after in the genre that the appropriate recognition is both due and earned.
The strengths here lie both in the characters Toriyama has designed and written, and the interesting blend of Wuxia martial arts fantasy with 1980s sci-fi aesthetics. There is something so charming and unique about the feeling and mood of the original Dragon Ball that it'…
Read at the source_Bubassotto_
Many expectations and few of them met...
That was my first thought when I watched this part of Dragon Ball because I expected to see at least one fight that would be memorable in this part, but I ended up disappointed. I didn't see anything worth remembering. I was a little frustrated but I kept watching, thinking that would change that. Unfortunately, there was no change in that regard. For me, who always had a problem with Dragon Ball, watching the anime was a real war against the desire to abandon the work. The only thing that made me want to watch it was the fact that by watching this part of Dragon Ball I would have a better understanding of Dragon Ball Z and its other sequels, which are the parts I really want to see. I tried to watch this anime a long time ago but I didn't get past…
Read at the sourceIgoe
I’m giving this a 10 purely for the nostalgia.
Back in my teenage years, Dragon Ball was the greatest thing ever—it was the best animation I had ever seen. I didn’t even know the term "anime" back then. Even though I also watched Pokémon, Digimon, and Yu-Gi-Oh, I just saw them all as cartoons, and Dragon Ball stood above everything else I watched.
I’ve tried watching it again in my twenties, and of course, it didn’t hit the same. It didn’t bring back the same feeling. But this score is for how I felt the first time I watched it and for all the incredible memories it gave me during my childhood.
Read at the sourceTheDiablo
This is definitely Akira toriyama's greatest artwork and greatest series of all time.
It's an amazing coming of age story about our young shounen protagonist Goku who will soon become one of the greatest well written heroe's to ever be made.
Dragon ball has amazing music memorable across any decade with characters so in-depth so vast so deep it actually makes you feel like your not alone on this journey with Goku and his friends,
I think dragon ball might've been the peak of the story the fighting choreography reminds me of actual martial arts Goku although still an idiot he's far more bearable and more enjoyable as a kid because we get to see just how far he goes as he becomes his own master.
Goku actually loses and becomes the underdog in this series instead of being constantly held…
Read at the sourceAngeVNs
I’ll admit, I’m one of those millennial casuals who first watched Dragon Ball Z on TV and had little to no interest in watching the original Dragon Ball, since DBZ already got me hooked on over-the-top martial arts, flying, and magical beams.
Years later, after Dragon Ball Z finished its English air run, I finally watched the original Dragon Ball… and wow, I feel foolish for skipping it for so long.
Do I think the original Dragon Ball is better than Z? Not exactly, but there are so many references and moments in the original that are important for later Dragon Ball series, especially Super. It’s a shame that Dragon Ball didn’t take off nearly as easily as Z did.
But I guess that’s just one of the beauties of Akira Toriyama’s writing. He keeps things simple and entertaining enough that p…
Read at the sourceDompa112
Can only really repeat mostly from my Z review. A show which score is solely based on nostalgia. It should be respected seeing how much its done the the industry. But as someone not affected by it and only judge it for its material this is no more than a mediocre 6/10 show. No story. Find the Dragon balls. Ok done. Ok now do it again. No point doing it or some greater story or lore about the world. Just wanting to be strong. Flat one dimensional characters without interesting backstories or personality. Some sick fetishes from the writer. One OP for the entire show. Its quite good but not that good. No OP is.
Ill give this a 6/10 in respect to its importance. But without being a 7 year old kid or having the nostalgia factor it simply cant go higher.
Read at the sourceElyshion
Dragon Ball is an excellent anime, despite having quite a few flaws. For instance, the slow pacing of the story, the length of the episodes (not to mention the filler episodes), and the fan service, especially with Master Roshi (Kame Sennin in Japanese). However, these flaws don't stop me from loving Dragon Ball because they don't really bother me, and other qualities more than make up for them. One of the main strengths is the main character, Son Gokū.
He's the most naïve and endearing character in the anime. His naïveté is such that he marries Chichi after the World Martial Arts Tournament (Tenka Ichi Budōkai in Japanese) without even considering the future consequences. His early strength and carefree nature make him absolutely adorable! I simply can't wait for him to grow up... and be…
Read at the sourcefh1478
Like watching paint dry, but with iconic moments.
Sometimes it's not worth watching shows from your childhood because it certainty didn't hold up for me. appreciated From a Distance but god damn Dragon Ball is slow really slow. I completed Dragon Ball z without a problem, but this one this was too much.
It has some humorous moment and I still enjoy the beginning of the show but when the fights begins they feel so drawn out and the tournaments are the worst part of it because we have the Spectators the people fighting and announcer talking about every fighting moves and it begins to take a long time for them to keep fighting.
The characters I like family to me after all of these years even if the show is slow. I still enjoyed a company when they are just relaxing and being at master Rash…
Read at the sourceJastereich
Dragon Ball is a timeless and creative franchise in the entertainment industry. The story tells of young Goku’s quest to gather mystic Dragon Balls. Along the way he meets many friends and foes resulting into great battles, laughters and a lot of emotions. The show is an amalgam of action, adventure, humor, and fantasy for all ages.
Taking its age into account, the show is an impressive animation. 153 episodes remain consistent and delightful in style, appearance including character design is unique and full of energetic action.
The soundtracks have memorable scores that contribute to the full experience. Voice acting brings these characters to life and is very instrumental in making the show so popular.
It is full of different characters that have their own unique personality and abili…
Read at the sourceRealYRC
ah yes , Dragonball the grand daddy of Shonen , just like Saint Seiya , Kinnikuman , and Fist of the North Star , of course its good as a anime , and manga , its the series everybody needs to watch , the only bad parts were the early gag eps are gonna weird viewers out , seeing Toriyama himself is a gag mangaka first before he undid it later on , but just like Kinnikuman before him , its makes this series way more popular than ever before , the filler is not bad , and the animation holds pretty well for its time too , other problems I have is with Z so I cannot talk about that here , I think Goku is a pretty good MC
Read at the sourceHerkrone
Here is one of the animes that have paved the way for many shounens we know.
This anime is one of the most entertaining i ever watched. the adventure of our MC, the fun cast, the comedy made me laugh so many times and some really good themes. There were some good fights with actual creativity involved in, and the fighting techniques are way cooler than your sequel. But i would say it kind of falls off later on, the main cast was forgotten, some arcs were sort of repetitive, and most of the villains were not it. Plus there were some unnecessary arcs and there were some moments where felt way too dragged.
Read at the sourceRoving
I've been watching the Dragon Ball franchise since it aired in the United States growing up in the 90's and 00's era of Saturday morning cartoons and we didn't even know or use the term "anime" back then. Shows like Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Pokemon are what many 90's kids consider to be what got them into anime! So, with that said, is Dragon Ball a masterpiece? Yes...yes it is. The adventure, the pacing, the characters. Everything about anime today should take lessons on Dragon Ball because it's what defined a generation and everything thats good about storytelling can be found in the Dragon Ball franchise. Additionally, I will take it a step further and say that I personally believe Dragon Ball is even better than Dragon Ball Z and I grew up watching Z before I ever watched D…
Read at the sourceZYoshiYoshi64
Some of the best DB ever. The first arc is a great introduction into all the characters, most of which become irrelevant immediately after, unlucky, but is otherwise just alright. The whole series, but especially early on, has a lot of weird sex jokes that don't really hit for me (they're usually "here is a woman, now we're going to sexualize her. Pretty funny, huh?"), which sucks, but it's a product of a different time I guess. The rest of the series is absolutely phenomenal. All the tournament arcs are written to perfection (Tenshinhan is probably the most interesting and well-written character in the show, just really solid). The Red Ribbon arc is a little slow in the beginning but is well worth it. The King Piccolo arc is the only reason I'm not giving this a 10/10, because while it's…
Read at the sourceFanserker
As the very first adaptation of Dragon Ball, it holds up with great excellence. The gags are hilarious, the fight scenes are impeccable, and there are a lot of emotional scenes! Dragon Ball has 9 sagas of thrilling adventures, fun, and excitement that makes you want to watch more. Character development is at its finest for 1986, and can sometimes, even hold up to this very day.
There are some complaints like some of the antagonists can be very boring & the Pilaf Saga just contains gags and little action. Some sagas sort of copy one another like the Tien Shinhan Saga is just a Tournament Saga, but a little better. However, the more you watch it, the better it gets. Highly recommend watching this.
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