The Dragonball Z Thread!

[Chicago1989]

I'm a big Dragon Ball Z fan. The best action anime series I've ever seen. I grew up on it and just the introduction of so many new and interesting characters is what had to make it the most successful. DBZ is what put the whole series on the map over here. Back then, it was all about Pokemon and DBZ right after school. That was my childhood lol...

As for my favorite saga, I loved the Frieza Saga. Up to this point in my life, knowing how it all started is what made this Saga very interesting. This is where Goku avenges the Saiyan race and faces his most ultimate enemy, Frieza. You just gotta watch the Bardock movie to really get into this Saga because if you don't, you'll be pretty confused as to why this whole Saga started, you know?

 

[SalvIsWin]

I think Freiza was hands down the best villain. I didn't like how the progression of DBZ villains was a power creep. Radditz, Vegeta & Nappa, Ginyu Force, and Freiza were all simply men, they could be beaten, it was just that they were so strong. That dynamic began to change with Cell, who could regenerate, and gained a degree of invincibility in that regard. Majin Buu took this even further, where he was extremely hard to kill, even when Vegeta self-detonated - it made them feel like cheap villains IMO.

I love Dragonball Z very much, but that's why I feel like Freiza was the highlight of the series, and why I feel like it was downhill from that point on.

 

[SalvIsWin]

Okay so there are two things about the series I never quite understood. One of them being how many times goku officially dies. Is it twice? Once fighting Raddits and then the other time saving the plant from cell right? Well Im not sure if this counts but during the fight with freiza on Namek just after Freiza reach 100% of his power and then they had that bean struggle bit where Freiza got the upper hand and burried under all that rubble and rock where the lava eventually came spewing up. Did he die? I mean Gohan clearly said he couldnt feel his fathers presents anymore. I think King Kai also mentioned it. Then it wasent until Kami and King Kai made the wish to bring back everybody who was killed by frieza back to life that Goku returns to the fight. So was he dead for that brief period of time? or just resting his eyes haha.

Another thing that I dont get is when ultimate Gohan was fighting buu and he absorbed Gotenks and Piccolo. He then proceeded to get his ass handed to him. How come he never transformed Into a super saiyan? I mean Old Kai did say that if he transforms into a super saiyan that he'd be unstoppable. So why didnt he? I mean its not like transforming would of weaken him, thats just not what happens when you transform. Plus he also did have the ability to go S.S 2. which probailly could of easily matched buu. So im confused as to why this never played out. Was he already to beaten up for this to have made a difference or was he to sure of himself that he could beat Buu without the transformation and waited to long for it to actually chance the pace of battle? Or did this just happen to further the story?

Somebody please elaborate some clarity on this for me as this has been bugging me since I first saw the episodes.

Even though it's already been answered, I will explain a bit further. Goku didn't die while fighting Freiza. The anime segments with Gohan mentioning that he cannot feel the power of Goku anymore were strictly filler, the manga doesn't have any mention of this whatsoever. Furthermore, during the episode, Freiza tackles Super Saiyan Goku into the ground, and then lava bursts out afterwards, seemingly killing Goku. Mr. Popo meanwhile on Earth summons Shenron, and wishes to restore every one killed by Freiza, which would then resurrect Guru, and therefore Porunga, etc.

Shenron however can only wish people back to life once, and Goku had been revived earlier in the series, making that wish impossible to fulfill. So in short, no Goku did not die, and even had he, it would have been impossible to bring him back.

 

[lenguy]

So in short, no Goku did not die, and even had he, it would have been impossible to bring him back.

Not Impossible. They use Shenron to bring back Everyone killed by freiza and his henchmen. Therefor causing guru to come back to life. Which also gave rise to parunga(not sure if that's how its spelt) Parunga has the ability to wish people back to life more than once. But assuming goku did die then that would fuck up there whole plan to begin with. Its ether move everybody to earth or wish goku back to life. But in short, not impossible.

 

[Барбоса]

I think it might have been me who brought up the whole Goku dying on Namek/revived by Shenron in the GSD thread. It is one of the problems with the filler from the Anime and translations from the original Japanese and on this occasion the timings of certain phrases, particularly Gohan and King Kai, and actions conspired to produce something that really was not there by making it seem like Goku had been revived by Mr Popo's wish to Shenron and then arose from the fiery lava like a Phoenix to continue the fight with Freiza.

 

[SalvIsWin]

Not Impossible. They use Shenron to bring back Everyone killed by freiza and his henchmen. Therefor causing guru to come back to life. Which also gave rise to parunga(not sure if that's how its spelt) Parunga has the ability to wish people back to life more than once. But assuming goku did die then that would fuck up there whole plan to begin with. Its ether move everybody to earth or wish goku back to life. But in short, not impossible.

What I meant was it was impossible for Shenron for resurrect Goku. It's simply a matter of logic to realize that Goku wouldn't have been wished back to life when Mr. Popo made the wish to resurrect every one killed by Freiza.

I think it might have been me who brought up the whole Goku dying on Namek/revived by Shenron in the GSD thread. It is one of the problems with the filler from the Anime and translations from the original Japanese and on this occasion the timings of certain phrases, particularly Gohan and King Kai, and actions conspired to produce something that really was not there by making it seem like Goku had been revived by Mr Popo's wish to Shenron and then arose from the fiery lava like a Phoenix to continue the fight with Freiza.

Exactly, it's just a case of the English dub and the anime filler being misleading.

 

[SSJPhenom]

Finally!!! A non spam thread about the greatest anime ever created!!!

Like a lot of people my age, I watched DBZ before Dragon Ball and I didn't start with the first episode. Ah, I remember it well. It was the episode where Goku was on his way to Namek and his ship got thrown off course by the gravity of that giant star. That episode was pretty tame compared to other episodes of DBZ that kicked utter ass, however, I was hooked from that point on. If a show can get me hooked off of a lame episode like that, it has to be good.

Freiza is the all time ultimate villian from the DB universe. No other villian kicked as much ass as Freiza did. Sure, King Piccolo was pretty cool, Vegeta rocked, Cell was afraid of and got his ass kicked by a kid, and Buu just plain got on my damn nerves. You know, all the times he kept changing and how Goku and the others had multiple times that they could've taken him out. It just pissed me off.

Back to Freiza. Freiza was awesome because Freiza knew he was awesome. From stabbing Krillin with his horn, to killing Vegeta. He was just beast. I remember one fight segment where Goku got the best of Freiza and when the dust cleared, there was Freiza standing there. He cracked his neck twice, looked up with a smile and said, "Well, you're the first person to hurt me besides my loving parents that is. Ah, pain. It's such a stange sensation. I've forgotten." He then goes on to challenge Goku without the use of his hands. Who does that? Frieza that's who. He was just awesome.

Dragon Ball was ten times better than Dragon Ball GT. The story, the characters, and the fights were all better. First off, in Dragon Ball, the Saiyans were not the be all end all in the universe. In Dragon Ball GT, who else did we get to see destroy or even challenge an enemy in a fight besides a Saiyan? It got crazy. They strayed away from awesomeness such as Piccolo. GT just sucked ass.

 

[SSJPhenom]

We all know that Dragon Ball Z is one of if not the greatest anime ever created. So I pose a question: What is the best fight from Dragon Ball Z?

IMO, the best fights were between people who were close in power. Frieza vs. Piccolo before his second transformation, Android 17 vs. Piccolo, Goku vs. Cell, and so on. So here's my choice.

Goku vs. Majin Vegeta

This contest was epic. They matched each other move for move. Mind you it wasn't really a long drawn out fight like Freiza vs. Goku, but it was amazing none the less. It didn't have the ridiculousness of their first fight with the Great Ape and the stupidest move from the DB universe the Kai O Ken. They didn't talk that much to each other. They just fought this time around. And at the end of the fight, you realise that they were just doing it for kicks. It was great.

So what's your choices?

 

[lenguy]

Oh man, There's only one greatest fight? There all pretty epic in my opinion. I made a thread awhile back Called Dragonballz most painful moments. Where I talk about the brief moment in Goku and Vegetas first encounter where Goku use the Kai O Kenx3 and just rapes Vegeta in what I think is one of the greatest action sequences in the entire series. But I wouldn't say it was the greatest battle.

I also have to mention the fight between Kid Buu and Goku was pretty epic. Every move was hard hitting and you could just tell. Most notably in the very beginning when Goku was still in his S.S2 form. That episode had some well choreographed moves with each other, similar between bits and parts between Goku and Majin Vegeta. However its not close to my pick as most epicest battle in the history of battles.

That honor goes to The fight between Goku and Frieza. It was so epic, hell in the newly re-released box sets there`s an entire season dedicated to the battle with frieza, that right there should tell how great it truly was. It was essentially an all out war between goku and frieza. In every episode is escalated as things got more and more desperate between the Z fighters. With the death of everybody but Gohan and Goku(Piccolo Just barely holding on himself) This triggered Gokus transformation, and when your a little boy watching that for the first time don't you just think, damn ain't that the raddest fucking thing ever? I was completely Mesmerized and couldn't wait till the next episode. Everything all that moment was just a legendary showing in the series. It had come full circle. With Frieza seemingly eradicating the entire Saiyan Population as from a chosen few. His fear being realized that his end might come at the hands of the very race he thought he vanquished and coming face to face with a newly born Super Saiyan in Goku no less. It was the ultimate confrontation between Good and Evil and it was going down in my Living room!

After all was said and done you can tell the battle had taken its toll on both fighters. No other fight was more grueling and punishing as this one. Even the planet they were fighting on had leaven all there scares(but I gotta say that must of been a long ass 5 minutes lol) To me nothing comes close to the Goku and Frieza encounter. It was truly epic.

I could literally go on about this all Day, and I could! but I won`t so bottom line is Goku vs Frieza hands down. Nothing comes close to that war.

http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=133653

Dragonball z most painful moment. Come a discuss the holy shit that must of hurt moments in the series.

 

[SSJPhenom]

Oh man, There's only one greatest fight? There all pretty epic in my opinion. I made a thread awhile back Called Dragonballz most painful moments. Where I talk about the brief moment in Goku and Vegetas first encounter where Goku use the Kai O Kenx3 and just rapes Vegeta in what I think is one of the greatest action sequences in the entire series. But I wouldn't say it was the greatest battle.

I also have to mention the fight between Kid Buu and Goku was pretty epic. Every move was hard hitting and you could just tell. Most notably in the very beginning when Goku was still in his S.S2 form. That episode had some well choreographed moves with each other, similar between bits and parts between Goku and Majin Vegeta. However its not close to my pick as most epicest battle in the history of battles.

That honor goes to The fight between Goku and Frieza. It was so epic, hell in the newly re-released box sets there`s an entire season dedicated to the battle with frieza, that right there should tell how great it truly was. It was essentially an all out war between goku and frieza. In every episode is escalated as things got more and more desperate between the Z fighters. With the death of everybody but Gohan and Goku(Piccolo Just barely holding on himself) This triggered Gokus transformation, and when your a little boy watching that for the first time don't you just think, damn ain't that the raddest fucking thing ever? I was completely Mesmerized and couldn't wait till the next episode. Everything all that moment was just a legendary showing in the series. It had come full circle. With Frieza seemingly eradicating the entire Saiyan Population as from a chosen few. His fear being realized that his end might come at the hands of the very race he thought he vanquished and coming face to face with a newly born Super Saiyan in Goku no less. It was the ultimate confrontation between Good and Evil and it was going down in my Living room!

After all was said and done you can tell the battle had taken its toll on both fighters. No other fight was more grueling and punishing as this one. Even the planet they were fighting on had leaven all there scares(but I gotta say that must of been a long ass 5 minutes lol) To me nothing comes close to the Goku and Frieza encounter. It was truly epic.

I could literally go on about this all Day, and I could! but I won`t so bottom line is Goku vs Frieza hands down. Nothing comes close to that war.

http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=133653

Dragonball z most painful moment. Come a discuss the holy shit that must of hurt moments in the series.

This is the most epic battle through out all of the DB Universe IMO. It was built up so great. From Goku on his way to Namek thinking about it. From Freiza worrying that the Saiyans had finally got the edge up on him. From Frieza killing Vegeta. It had everything and it made a great story.

However, IMO, it lasted way to long. I mean they just fought and fought. I think that 5 minutes was about 10 episodes worth of fighting. And when they weren't fighting, they were monolouging. I appreciate this battle so much for the story that it told, but even you have to agree that it got kinda redundant after awhile.

 

[SalvIsWin]

Hercule versus Spopovich in the World Martial Arts Tournament flashback easily... just kidding!

You simply cannot top Goku versus Freiza. The buildup was very long, and very rewarding. They spent ~30 episodes where the threat of Freiza was simply looming, and you heard all about his strength and power without ever seeing him do anything. You got a taste when he fought Nail, but it was such a payoff and it was a feeling of, 'Finally!' when Freiza started to battle Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, and Vegeta.

Even besides the tremendous buildup though, the fight was very long and drawn out, and had a lot of firsts. The first super saiyan transformation, and the first real 'Well he's dead... oh wait he isn't!' moments of the series, which they would endessly repeat with Cell and especially Buu.

Really, the DBZ series could have ended with the Freiza fight and that would have been a great ending. The legend of the Super Saiyan was real, Goku died eliminating the greatest threat the Universe had ever seen, and Vegeta even had his face turn at the end (which they promptly slightly went back on to make him more of a badass, but lest we forget his tearful goodbye and talk with Goku during the Freiza fight) - really, you could have wrapped up that series and everything would have jived.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

I'll go ahead with Vegeta vs. Goku, Krillin, Gohan and Yajirobe

This fight had it all. This was the showdown between the Saiyan Elite and the Saiyan Warrior. These two really wanted to prove that they were the best and they brought the best out of one another, but Vegeta had a little trick up his sleeve; the Ozaru. By turning into the Great Ape, Vegeta managed to totally dominate the fight. Goku was doomed. But Vegeta didn’t realise that there was help on the way. Gohan & Krillin returned to the fight but were no use, when Yajirobe who had been there the whole time, cut Vegeta's tail off.

Vegeta was still dominant though and took down all three remaining Z-Warriors. But Goku had been training and he had his own secret; the Spirit Bomb. Goku was so badly beaten that he had to have Krillin used the move, which he did, successfully. Vegeta was defeated...or so it seemed! Still Vegeta was able to get up and he continued to dish out punishment. Goku then had to take the ultimate risk and allowed Gohan to become the Ozaru and he finally defeated Vegeta. The Saiyan prince was still able to move though and he crawled to his escape, with Goku allowing him to go. A great fight and my personal favourite.

 

[Kashagi]

To repeat a few people, for me its easily Goku Vs Frieza

I remember in Australia as a kid, an episode played at 8am every day, just before school and that is all us kids would be talking about. Most people got into it from Raditz, we loved the fight with the Saiyans, we loved Namek, and just as Goku arrives to fight Recoome... The show restarted.

I remember this went on for a long time, I suppose we didnt have anymore episodes after that for a while, the series got up to Goku Vs Recoome at least 5 times and it would restart back to Raditz. I remember how excited everyone got every single time, maybe this would be the time the show continued!

I remember for at least a year, all the talk of what would happen when Goku met Frieza, and this constant restarting was just a tease.. How much stronger could Goku have become? Recoome destroyed the others, how could Goku beat him?! Why the heck did Goku's hair always turn blonde in the opening credits?!!? Who the heck is that guy next to Goku with the sword?!

After so much buildup, we eventually got the privelage to see the continuation. Goku fought Frieza, and after so much anticipation, there isnt quite anything I remember that was as exciting to us as kids, then the moment Goku and Frieza first met.

Cell vs Gohan gets closest for me, but nothing beat the hype, anticipation and questions my school and myself asked everyday about what would happen when Goku met the most powerful monster in the universe (1000 times stronger then Vegeta!!!)

 

[SSJPhenom]

I have another question for the masses.

Who is your favorite/best DBZ character? For me it's simple.

Piccolo

I like Piccolo for many reasons but the most important reason is that he is just kick ass. What I mean by that, is that, when he fights, he doesn't monolouge about justice like Goku, he doesn't talk about how he is the most powerful like Vegeta, he doesn't tell the other oppenent that we don't have to do this like Gohan, and he isn't always afraid like Krillin. When it's time for Piccolo to throw down, he simply removes his weighted clothing, usually cracks his fingers and neck, and then he's ready to kick ass. I also like him because he is a fighting genius. This was proven in his fight with Frieza while Frieza was in his first transformed state. Piccolo was weaker than Frieza in terms of power, but Piccolo was a better fighter and strategist. So he was able to keep up with Frieza and in most of that battle, he had the upper hand on Frieza.

When it comes to DBZ characters, you can't get much better than Piccolo IMO. What do you guys think?

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

I have another question for the masses.

Who is your favorite/best DBZ character? For me it's simple.

Piccolo

I like Piccolo for many reasons but the most important reason is that he is just kick ass. What I mean by that, is that, when he fights, he doesn't monolouge about justice like Goku, he doesn't talk about how he is the most powerful like Vegeta, he doesn't tell the other oppenent that we don't have to do this like Gohan, and he isn't always afraid like Krillin. When it's time for Piccolo to throw down, he simply removes his weighted clothing, usually cracks his fingers and neck, and then he's ready to kick ass. I also like him because he is a fighting genius. This was proven in his fight with Frieza while Frieza was in his first transformed state. Piccolo was weaker than Frieza in terms of power, but Piccolo was a better fighter and strategist. So he was able to keep up with Frieza and in most of that battle, he had the upper hand on Frieza.

When it comes to DBZ characters, you can't get much better than Piccolo IMO. What do you guys think?

I have more than one favorite. So I'm going to give my top 10.

10. Zarbon
I dont know what it is about Zarbon that makes me like him, maybe it's the cocky attitude that gets me. He was an interesting character to say the least. His transformation is something nobody saw coming in terms of physical appearance. But even though he became bigger and uglier, he became a hell of a lot stronger. He proved to be a challenge for Vegeta at that point. I would have liked to see more of Zarbon.

9. Cooler
I personally liked Cooler more than Freiza. He was just so much more intriguing to me. He was vicious, but he also showed respect and honor towards his opponents. Also, instead of toying around with a person like Freiza would do, Cooler would just straight-up kill you. I liked that.

8. Cell
In my eyes, Cell was the only villain to completely dominate for an extended period of time. You could make an argument for Freiza, but once Goku went Super Saiyan, Freiza proved to be no match. However, nobody could really beat Cell on their own. Hell, even a Super Saiyan 2 Gohan needed assistance from both Vegeta and Goku to finish Cell off. He was really the only villain to actually play the role of a "Super-Villain."

7. Mr. Popo
Who doesn't like Mr. Popo? He provided that relief to the series. Whenever there was something that was wrong, and no matter how many people were getting hurt, you always knew that Mr. Popo was going to be on Kami/Dende's Lookout. If I recall correctly, he doesn't formally die in the series.

6. Broly
I just liked the concept of there being a level of Super Saiyan that was impossible to achieve -- Unless you were Broly, of course. There was something about Broly that just kept me interested in his character. Hell, even Bio-Broly was interesting to me. I also liked the feature where his hair didn't turn gold when he went to his first Super Saiyan form, it turned blueish. That was pretty cool to see.

5. Future Trunks
I liked the whole backstory to him. The destroyed future, no hope for anyone... But I also liked that fact that when he did go to the present timeline, nobody knew who he was -- let alone the fact that he could turn into a Super Saiyan. Vegeta's expression was priceless when it happened. Also, for a few episodes, he was the strongest character. He took out Freiza and King Cold relatively easily, and even put up a good fight against Goku. His Super Saiyan transformations were reallly cool looking, and overall, he was just different.

4. Nuova Shenron
At first he was a villain, but he proved to be very important in the fight against Omega Shenron. His transformations were different. Instead of drastically changing physically, his body was only covered in a gold-plate like structure, but his mind also grew stronger. It was cool to see a villain help out in the final battle.

3. Goku
How can he not be on this list? He's what Dragonball revolves around. He's a class act, a true hero, and a very powerful character. He's basically the Rocky of Dragonball. He always fights the good fight, and has the heart to know when he's in over his head, and will admit defeat. His Super Saiyan transformations were the basis for other character's transformations, and they were pretty cool looking and he got incredibly more powerful with each one.

2. Future Gohan
Everything that Present Gohan should have become. He was just like his father. Powerful, heroic, and always fighting the good fight. He was brave, and was just an all around interesting character. I really wish we could've seen more of him as I find him to be 100x better than any version of Gohan in the series.

1. Vegeta
The most interesting character in the series. Unlike Goku, Vegeta had character development all throughout the series. He went from a villain to a hero and proved to be a very valuable asset to the Z-Warriors. His transformations, both his Super Saiyan and Baby transformations were incredibly intriguing, and you never really knew when he could snap and turn into a villain again. He also had a lot of heart. When he was Majin Vegeta, he risked his like for his family, and I have respect for that. He's the msot interesting character in the series, but in my eyes, he's the best character in the series.

 

[SSJPhenom]

1. Vegeta
The most interesting character in the series. Unlike Goku, Vegeta had character development all throughout the series. He went from a villain to a hero and proved to be a very valuable asset to the Z-Warriors. His transformations, both his Super Saiyan and Baby transformations were incredibly intriguing, and you never really knew when he could snap and turn into a villain again. He also had a lot of heart. When he was Majin Vegeta, he risked his like for his family, and I have respect for that. He's the msot interesting character in the series, but in my eyes, he's the best character in the series.

I like your list, save for this one pick.

I just could never get behind Vegeta. As I stated in my post, for the majority of the series, he just ran his mouth to much. All the talk about him being a Saiyan elite or whatever. To when he finally turned Super Saiyan saying, IMO, his most famous line, "I am the Prince of all Saiyans once again." He was just to caught up on being the best and IMO, it took away from his character.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

My favourite character is Vegeta.

Vegeta was a Saiyan Prince, bitter at the cosmos because of what Freeza did to his father and to his home planet. Being held back in the lower parts of Freeza's army when he knew he could ascend to greatness, possibly even become the legendary Super Saiyan. So it was devastating for him to come to a back-water planet like Earth and be beaten by their 'low class' warriors. He continued to attempt to surpass his rivals: Cui, Freeza, and Goku. More often than not, he failed. He was son devastated by his failures that he even vowed to quit fighting at one point. Of course that didn't work out but in the mean time he had a family. His desire for power was so great that he even sacrificed his family in order to obtain it. But his love for his family was more powerful than he suspected and he eventually became a hero once more. Vegeta's character arc is so great and massive. I love that arc and I love his character.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

Why I love Dragonball Z, Anonymous/Superthrust/Pocket Mozzarella​

I realize I can't write some extensive essay like some of the others here, but I can tell you exactly why I loved Dragonball Z as a kid, and why I love it now. It was a fucking entertaining show. Period. While you could predict the outcome of all the storylines, you couldn't predict how they were going to happen.

I remember, back during middle school, there was a trend, where kids would print out Dragonball Z pictures from all over the internet, and just collect them, and have some giant fucking binder of them, to show off to their friends. The more pictures you had, the more hardcore you were. And it was cool, too, people actually traded pictures, as if they couldn't go on the internet and grab them for free.

Before the end of the Freeze saga, before Goku turned Super Saiyan for the first time, we all knew what a Super Saiyan looked like, but no one had any goddamned information on what a Super Saiyan actually was. We all waited for the episode where Goku finally turned Super Saiyan, and as it turned out, Toonami's highest rated program ever was the episode of DBZ where that actually happened.

--------------------------------------------------

Personally, my favorite saga (and the saga I believe the entire series should have ended at) was the Cell saga. Everything was brought full circle during the cell saga. We brought back the Dr. Gero/Android storyline from the original Dragonball series, and as expected, they came back stronger than ever, and like father, like son, Gohan became strong enough to save the world, surpassing even his father. All the storylines were tied up, and everything ended the way it should have ended.

Then came the next storyline, and I just couldn't get into it. Everything just seemed forced. Super Saiyan 3 looked goofy, and I couldn't understand why Goku's eyebrows were gone, Majin Buu was literally the least intimidating enemy I've ever seen, and it was just a bad saga from start to finish. Dragonball GT wasn't any better, even though GT was probably one of the highest anticipated shows from my middle school, while we all were collecting pictures of what a Super Saiyan 4 looked like, and even printed out fake pictures from SS5, 6, and 7's from the mythical "Dragon Ball AF."

To this day, I can go back and watch episodes from the start of Dragon Ball Z up until the Cell saga, and still enjoy it. I tried watching Dragon Ball GT recently, and it was just... bad. In fact, it was worse than anything after the Cell saga. I was surprised at how bad it was. I was even more surprised to find out that the entire show was canceled in Japan, and cut short, because of how bad it was. I didn't understand why they were so excited to bring it to America. But beyond all of that, I can still really enjoy the series even to this day, based on the sheer entertainment value it presented. This show basically defined my childhood, along with some other shows on Toonami, as well as Pokemon.

Edit:

I realize I can't write some extensive essay like some of the others here

Derp.

 

[lenguy]

A Run down of my favorite characters, Goku, Vegeta, Krillen,Frieza, Buu, Goten(Before GT) and Jenamba

I have more than one favorite. So I'm going to give my top 10.

10. Zarbon
I dont know what it is about Zarbon that makes me like him, maybe it's the cocky attitude that gets me. He was an interesting character to say the least. His transformation is something nobody saw coming in terms of physical appearance. But even though he became bigger and uglier, he became a hell of a lot stronger. He proved to be a challenge for Vegeta at that point. I would have liked to see more of Zarbon.

Zarbon was a rather meh character to me, nothing really stood out for him. Sure he was cocky but then again most DBZ villains are. To me he was Friezas right hand man and nothing more.

9. Cooler
I personally liked Cooler more than Freiza. He was just so much more intriguing to me. He was vicious, but he also showed respect and honor towards his opponents. Also, instead of toying around with a person like Freiza would do, Cooler would just straight-up kill you. I liked that.

Cooler was pretty bad ass but he wasn't much different from Freiza. I wouldn't go as far as saying he showed his opponents respect an honor but he did have something frieza didn't..I just can't put my finger on it

8. Cell
In my eyes, Cell was the only villain to completely dominate for an extended period of time. You could make an argument for Freiza, but once Goku went Super Saiyan, Freiza proved to be no match. However, nobody could really beat Cell on their own. Hell, even a Super Saiyan 2 Gohan needed assistance from both Vegeta and Goku to finish Cell off. He was really the only villain to actually play the role of a "Super-Villain."

Um Buu? The Z fighters tried everything to take buu down but failed everytime. Buu always had the upper hand even when it looked like he was about to be destroyed he would always come back. Buu gave you that shit! what is it gonna take more me to get rid of this guy kind of factor.Goku at super saiyan 3 wasn't enough! Cell wasn't nearly as dominate as you think. Piccolo had him on the run for a bit, Vegeta could of taken him down if not for his sayian pride, even trucks had the power at that point. Goku had he trained that extra year in the time chamber might have easily possessed the power to take cell down. The only reason Gohan needed assistance was because he was injured. Had it been a one on one fist fight, it would of been pretty even but gohan would have come out on top in the end. To me Cell was just a giant grasshopper lol He was just like Frieza as he was all chit chat. While the story was interesting, I just found cells character hardly any different from you typical DBZ villain

7. Mr. Popo
Who doesn't like Mr. Popo? He provided that relief to the series. Whenever there was something that was wrong, and no matter how many people were getting hurt, you always knew that Mr. Popo was going to be on Kami/Dende's Lookout. If I recall correctly, he doesn't formally die in the series.

I can see the allure in Popo, He always made me smile.

6. Broly
I just liked the concept of there being a level of Super Saiyan that was impossible to achieve -- Unless you were Broly, of course. There was something about Broly that just kept me interested in his character. Hell, even Bio-Broly was interesting to me. I also liked the feature where his hair didn't turn gold when he went to his first Super Saiyan form, it turned blueish. That was pretty cool to see.

Broly was a beast, simple as that. He was a blood thirst animal without a shred of heart. He was essentially the ultimate super saiyan and none of the other super saiyans had nearly half the power Broly possessed. Even in the second coming after 7 years, gohan was still no match for Broly. He was an animal.

5. Future Trunks[/B]
I liked the whole backstory to him. The destroyed future, no hope for anyone... But I also liked that fact that when he did go to the present timeline, nobody knew who he was -- let alone the fact that he could turn into a Super Saiyan. Vegeta's expression was priceless when it happened. Also, for a few episodes, he was the strongest character. He took out Freiza and King Cold relatively easily, and even put up a good fight against Goku. His Super Saiyan transformations were reallly cool looking, and overall, he was just different.

Future trunks was a whole lot of meh. He lacked the experience a lot of the other Z fighters had. This is evident through the whole cell saga and the little mistakes he makes in his battle knowledge. This was most clear in his fight with Cell. I agree that his back story was interesting I just feel he lacked a certain attitude like the rest of the Z fighters. Kid Trunks I found more entertaining because he had his fathers attitude.

4. Nuova Shenron
At first he was a villain, but he proved to be very important in the fight against Omega Shenron. His transformations were different. Instead of drastically changing physically, his body was only covered in a gold-plate like structure, but his mind also grew stronger. It was cool to see a villain help out in the final battle.

Nuova was cool but I like Syn/Omega more. While GT was rather a let down it only fitting the the end of the series starts just like it began. Storyline revolved around the dragonballs. The series had come full circle and syn/omega was by far the most interesting dragon, aside from Nuova of course.

3. Goku
How can he not be on this list? He's what Dragonball revolves around. He's a class act, a true hero, and a very powerful character. He's basically the Rocky of Dragonball. He always fights the good fight, and has the heart to know when he's in over his head, and will admit defeat. His Super Saiyan transformations were the basis for other character's transformations, and they were pretty cool looking and he got incredibly more powerful with each one.

Goku is my all time personal favorite because growing up with the series, Goku was the perfect role model and he was somebody to look up to despite being an anime character. He lived by a code, to fight to test his skills but never to kill unless completely necessary. Hes full of heart and compassion even for his most ferocious of villains. But like you pointed out Stinger, he always knew when things weren't going so well. Gokus back story is by far the most intriguing and it plays out throughout the series. From DB, the mysterious little boy with a tail with what seemed like other worldly powers who at times seemed invincible. To DBZ, realizing that he is indeed not from Earth but from a far off distant planet and part of the sayian race, having to come to terms with this and redeem his entire race with frieza then to deal with foes from the past in the androids and Cell even to broly then to the ultimate test of skill in the fight with buu. All the way to GT with his fight with the dragons. Goku is heroic and selfless and even to this day his character influences mine.

2. Future Gohan
Everything that Present Gohan should have become. He was just like his father. Powerful, heroic, and always fighting the good fight. He was brave, and was just an all around interesting character. I really wish we could've seen more of him as I find him to be 100x better than any version of Gohan in the series.

Meh I've always though of gohan as much of a pussy and a baby lol. He was really only interesting during his fight with cell and his fight with Super Buu. Future Gohan was much like his father But I never really could attach myself to future gohan because you don't see him for very long.

1. Vegeta
The most interesting character in the series. Unlike Goku, Vegeta had character development all throughout the series. He went from a villain to a hero and proved to be a very valuable asset to the Z-Warriors. His transformations, both his Super Saiyan and Baby transformations were incredibly intriguing, and you never really knew when he could snap and turn into a villain again. He also had a lot of heart. When he was Majin Vegeta, he risked his like for his family, and I have respect for that. He's the msot interesting character in the series, but in my eyes, he's the best character in the series.

I'll admit, as a kid growing up with the series, I fucking loathed Vegeta. I thought he was such a selfish ass full of pride, I hated his attitude,always out for himself. But as a continued to watch the series, I found myself getting more involved with Vegeta and his character arch. As you pointed out, out of all the Z Fighters, Vegeta has the most Character development. Being one of the last of his once proud saiyan race, Being a Prince no less. To always trying to surpass goku only to realize that no amount of training to combat his natural ability. His speech as Majin vegata to goku made an impression on me and that was what sold his character to me.HE HAS STOLEN MY HONOR..AND HIS DEBT..MUST BE PAYED! Goku and Vegeta, while both Saiyans..they are very different. That's what makes their encounters so interesting. Vegeta is a Bad Ass mother fucker.

I'd post about some of my favorites but I already covered most of them in another post when I asked who are your favorite villains.

 

[SSJPhenom]

All of this talk about Vegeta leads me to ask another question to the DBZ masses. What is your favorite speech from the series? For me, yet again, it's a rather simple matter.

Majin Vegeta to Goku during their fight.

And I Quote........lol

"Because I wanted him to reawaken the evil in my heart. I wanted him to return me to the way I was before! I was the perfect warrior; cold and ruthless. I lived by my strength alone. Uninhibited by foolish emotion. But slowly, over the years, I became one of you. My quest for greatness gradually giving way to life of mediocrity. I awoke one day to find that I had settled down and formed a family. I had even grown quite fond of them. Would you believe, I almost started to think that the Earth was a nice place to live? Do you understand now Kakorot? That's why I needed Babidi, to set me free. By releasing the evil in my heart, he has freed of these petty attachments. Hmmm, and I'd have to say it feels pretty good."

 

[Ultra Awesome]

Lulz. I never even knew this thread even existed. Why the fuck didn't any of you tell me?! And where the fuck is the GSD thread?! I demand it to return!

Ah well.

Why I love Dragonball Z

There is no simple way to put it. Dragonball Z is by far my most favorite anime series in the entire, well, world. I think the best part of Dragonball Z was that it had the one thing that no other anime series could have and pull it off as succesfully. And that was: the simplicity of their storyline.

Yup. If you look back to other animes, you will see how much of a complicated storyline they had. Death Note, for example, had a dark tone - it was very complicated in the sense that the good guy was actually a bad guy. Light Yagami was more of an anti-hero than anything. Moreover, Death Note was not all peaceful and innocent. it was quite the contrary - it had all sorts of twists and turns in ever direction showing the horror of mankind and how it affects human beings etc etc.

Dragonball Z, on the other hand, was not like this at all. DBZ was very straight forward with it's stories. Good guy is good. Bad guy is bad. Bad guy is powerful. Good guys have to train to beat bad guy. In the end, good guy beats bad guy. That's all. No twists, no turns - just one simple straight forward story. Now, judging by the pure description, one may begin to think that such a anime (or manga) would be rather boring. But to the contrary this is the basic unit that made Dragonball Z function so superbly. I sincerely doubt that any other anime series could ever hope to achieve the levle of brilliance DBZ has achieved.

DBZ had a uniqueness that no other anime could copy and pull off as successfully. Nowadays, people are more interested of having stories where they are complicated or have characters that are complicated. Dragonball Z had no such thing and thus, for it to be known as the best anime of all time is without a doubt a great accomplishment.

Of course, the storylines weren't the only thing that were awesome about Dragonball Z. The fighting was another reason why it was so appealing to me. The Dragonball Z fights were without a doubt epic. All of them were of high quality and very enjoyable. Goku - the strongest man in the entire Dragonball Z series and quite possibly the anime world - he was a man who could do far beyond any mortal's comprehension. Needless to say, he was awesome.

Shit, I could go on, but I'm getting lazy. To end this post, I'll end it with something relating to the trend that seems to be going on at the momment.

My favorite quote of DBZ is:

[YOUTUBE]SEXWx9GTjww[/YOUTUBE]

 

[lenguy]

Oh man, I love this thread

As far as quotes go there is only one that truly sticks out in my head as memorable and that was gokus speech to frieza.

[YOUTUBE]ZB05kadeV5o&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

In my mind this stands as the single greatest dialogue from the entire series. Its the only quote the really truly sticks out as far as favorites go.

 

[SalvIsWin]

You've all posted some good quotes, but my favourite (unless I am forgetting one..) would have to be in this clip:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gP9hzyTars[/YOUTUBE]

Piccolo: You'll die.. you know that..

Vegeta: There is one thing I'd like to know; tell me, will I meet that clown Kakarot in the other world?

Piccolo: I'm not going to lie to you Vegeta, although the answer may be difficult for you to hear. This is the truth: Goku devoted his life to protecting the lives of others, because of his selflessness, when he died, he was allowed to keep his body and travel to King Kai's planet. You on the other hand have spent you life in pursuit of your own selfish desires, you've caused too much pain. When you die, you will not receive the same reward.

Vegeta: Oh well. So be it.

When Vegeta's eye twitches, like in fear, when Piccolo says, "This is the truth..." is great - makes the scene much more realistic.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Regarding the best quote. I'd have to go with this:

[YOUTUBE]MN8HupLjEdM&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

Goku: Save your strength, Vegeta.

Vegeta: (dying) No. There's more. He killed our home planet. It was him.
Freeza: He's just a corpse and he's still blabbing. I'll have to gag him to shut him up.

Vegeta: Your father and mine...the whole planet...he blew it up, it's true. No one survived but us. Ask him if you want. He'll tell you. He's proud of it.

Goku: Please, stop talking, Vegeta. It's sapping all of your strength.

Vegeta: No. Listen. You have to hear this. (Vegeta begins to cry) We worked so hard for him. We did everything he asked of us and more. He took me from my father when I was just a little boy. He made me do whatever he wanted and said he would kill my father if I didn't. I did everything he asked but he killed him anyway along with everyone else. He was scared of us. Scared that a Super Saiyan would be born to rise up and overthrow him.

Freeza: A touching story.

Goku: Please, no more. Save your strength.

Vegeta: Kakarot, please. Destroy Freeza. He made me what I am. Don't let him do it to anyone else. (Vegeta raises his hand to Goku) Whatever it takes. Stop him. Please (Vegeta's hand falls to the ground as he dies).

This moment is so heart-wrenching. Vegeta is a man of pride, of honour and of dignity. For him to literally beg his greatest rival to take down Freeza is so difficult to watch. It's emotional, it's difficult to sit through and it's a masterful moment. I can't help but feel a great deal of sadness every time I watch this moment.

 

[Spanky StretchPants]

Regarding the best quote. I'd have to go with this:

[YOUTUBE]MN8HupLjEdM&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]



This moment is so heart-wrenching. Vegeta is a man of pride, of honour and of dignity. For him to literally beg his greatest rival to take down Freeza is so difficult to watch. It's emotional, it's difficult to sit through and it's a masterful moment. I can't help but feel a great deal of sadness every time I watch this moment.

I completely agree with what you've just said. Vegeta was always that very headstrong type of guy, and to see him just completely melt and ask for help was just very emotional to watch.