MMBosstones86
Member
Spoilers Obviously.
I grew up watching DBZ (N. American release), but never finished the Buu arc. I stumbled across the translated manga online and thought it'd be good to start at the beginning, having missed out on the original Dragon Ball.
Overall, the manga moves a lot quicker than the show which draws out a LOT of the action. There were also a couple sub plots from the show that I didn't see in the manga. I really enjoyed the read and actually a little sad the ride is over. Some overall thoughts below.
Dragon Ball :
This seemed to be more toned down and simpler than DBZ while being wildly more inappropriate (naked Bulma?). The story was pretty basic - find the dragon balls, then do it again - but I didn't think it got too boring. They really went over the top with the whole 'Goku lives in a bubble' angle.
Dragon Ball Z :
This is basically Power Creep : The Anime. Each arc has some variation, but it basically comes down to Goku finding a new level and doing work. It was nice to see some more character development throughout the series, specifically on Vegata.
I love Goku as much as the next guy, but I was a little disappointed that Gohan wasn't able to fill the void Post-Cell arc. Saya-man as a complete fucking joke, but things seemed set up nicely for him to have a huge hand against Buu....and then he gets fucking absorbed. Once again, Goku to save the world. I did get tired of the Hercule shtick though. That fucking guy wouldn't go away.
Again, I really enjoyed DBZ growing up and the manga gave me a little more appreciation for the work.
I guess the next progressive step would be Dragon Ball GT and maybe some of the movies that were released. Need to see how they fit into the DB universe.
I grew up watching DBZ (N. American release), but never finished the Buu arc. I stumbled across the translated manga online and thought it'd be good to start at the beginning, having missed out on the original Dragon Ball.
Overall, the manga moves a lot quicker than the show which draws out a LOT of the action. There were also a couple sub plots from the show that I didn't see in the manga. I really enjoyed the read and actually a little sad the ride is over. Some overall thoughts below.
Dragon Ball :
This seemed to be more toned down and simpler than DBZ while being wildly more inappropriate (naked Bulma?). The story was pretty basic - find the dragon balls, then do it again - but I didn't think it got too boring. They really went over the top with the whole 'Goku lives in a bubble' angle.
Dragon Ball Z :
This is basically Power Creep : The Anime. Each arc has some variation, but it basically comes down to Goku finding a new level and doing work. It was nice to see some more character development throughout the series, specifically on Vegata.
I love Goku as much as the next guy, but I was a little disappointed that Gohan wasn't able to fill the void Post-Cell arc. Saya-man as a complete fucking joke, but things seemed set up nicely for him to have a huge hand against Buu....and then he gets fucking absorbed. Once again, Goku to save the world. I did get tired of the Hercule shtick though. That fucking guy wouldn't go away.
Again, I really enjoyed DBZ growing up and the manga gave me a little more appreciation for the work.
I guess the next progressive step would be Dragon Ball GT and maybe some of the movies that were released. Need to see how they fit into the DB universe.