Heya everypony, and welcome to my very first review! Today I will be taking a look back at a series that many of you have probably seen (Or at least heard about). Dragonball Z.

I will be talking about the original series, not 'Dragonball Z Kai', so filler will be included in this review. Also, if you haven't seen the series I must warn you; this review contains spoilers.

Dragonball Z is an anime series that follows the main character Goku, his son Gohan and the rest of his friends as they defend the earth from alien overlords, evil androids and many other threats. Unlike it's predecessor series 'Dragonball', which is a comedy/adventure series based on 'Journey to the West', Dragonball Z is primarily an action series with comedic elements thrown into the mix.

Dragonball Z is considered by many to be one of the most influential animes in history. The series is largely responsible for introducing western audiences to Japanese animation. I grew up watching this series as I'm sure many others have, though how does the original series hold up by today's standards? Does this legendary series truly stand the test of time?

While it is a great series, it does have some glaring flaws.

Probably the series greatest complaint is the pacing. The original series is a very slow paced show. Whilst many cartoons tend to wrap up most story arcs in a dozen episodes or so, Dragonball Z likes to take its time. Most fights can take upwards to five or six episodes to conclude, let alone an entire story arc. I have never had any issue with this myself; I actually prefer slower paced shows. It drives me nuts when a series feels rushed. I'd rather have a story arc take it's time than simply rush through it.

I believe that the show's pacing is actually one of it's strong suits. Dragonball Z does a fantastic job at hyping up it's villains and getting viewers truly invested in what's happening. I swear when I watched the series for the first time, I was truly scared of the villain Frieza. Whenever he entered the screen I felt a true sense of doubt and dread; no other villain in any series has ever given me the same feeling of utter hopelessness. It would seem that every single time the heroes gained even the slightest advantage over him, he would have yet another trick up his sleeve. In every one of his fights I would obviously root for the hero, but there was always that feeling at the back of my brain that Frieza would be victorious and slaughter the main cast. That feeling lingered with me all the way up until Goku finally made that transformation to the legendary status of Super Saiyan.

The Goku vs Frieza fight is by far my favorite fight in any cartoon series. It also happens to be the longest fight in any cartoon series ever, clocking in at a whopping 4 hours and 13 minutes.

The entire fight can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uq1hr3BkeE

That being said, I cannot recommend this series to those without an attention span. For those of you who still want to watch the series but don't feel up to sitting through the filler, watch 'Dragonball Z Kai'.

How about the shows animation quality? Well, the series' animation quality is... dated, to put it kindly. It is not the best looking series, considering it is nearly 24 years old. To it's credit however, the animation quality really picked up in the later seasons. Is it the best looking show? Not by a long shot.

Another complaint I hear constantly about this show is that it has nothing to offer except fights. While Dragonball Z is primarily an action series, there are plenty of episodes where they aren't fighting. The problem is that people instantly dismiss these episodes as filler. They complain when there is too much action, and then they complain whenever they take a break. There are plenty of fightless story arcs, such as the slice of life episodes with Goku and Gohan before the cell games. And how about Goku's adventures on snake way? It's true, the main focus of the series is action, but if you give the so called 'filler episodes' a chance, you'll notice there is more to the show than fighting.

Let's be honest though; the main focus of the series in indeed action. How do these fight scenes hold up? Fantastically. I can honestly say that Dragonball Z has some of the best action in any series out there, and in my opinion has only been matched by the fantastic 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' cartoon. Much like the rest of the show, the fight scenes can seem a bit drawn out, but when they hit home, they really hit home.

The series is far from perfect however. One of my major complaints is how it tends to discredit it's own villains. One thing you will notice when watching the series is that most of the villains seem laughable after they've been defeated. For instance, remember everything I said about Frieza? Well check this out:

I mean really? One punch? Frieza, the evil alien overlord who conquered thousands of worlds, destroyed the Saiyan race, killed several main characters was destroyed in one punch? Hell, it took Goku an entire season to take him down, and now I'm supposed to buy that he is little more than a laughingstock? I know one of the major themes of the series is 'growing stronger', but if you discredit your villain like that you also discredit everything your heroes went through in the past. I hate it when this series makes such a big deal out of a villain, just to turn him into borderline comic relief later on. This is a major issue; It makes everything our heroes struggled through in the past seem pointless and laughable.

Frieza was not their only offense either. One of the major villains 'Cell', is another prime example. This villain was built up for nearly two entire seasons as the biggest threat earth had ever seen. He was borderline unstoppable; hell, Goku even had to sacrifice himself, and it still wasn't enough!

Then, merely a few episodes after his defeat, he was smacked down by Pikkon in a matter of seconds.

The filler can tend to be drawn out. Some notable examples of bad Dragonball filler are 'Fake Namek', the Garlic Jr. Saga, and who can forget the infamous '5 minutes until Namek explodes'. While this can turn away some, I don't really see the issue. For every instance of 'bad' filler, there is really good filler. The episode where Goku and Piccolo learn how to drive is one of my favorites in the entire series. I always get a kick out of Goku's adventures on snake way, and the filler before the Cell games I consider to be some of the best episodes in the series.

The series has a solid mixture of pulse pounding action, as well as some comedic moments. I have found myself laughing quite a bit while watching this series (I always get a kick out of when Goku eats). The series can also include some genuinely emotional scenes. Possibly my favorite scene in the entire series is when Vegeta makes the ultimate sacrifice to save his family and friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj1V24sLsE8

Overall, it is not a perfect series, but it's still one of my favorites. I would recommend it to any anime/cartoon fan who has not already seen it.