movies/tv Why is DBZ so hated?

[thatoneguy 4]

Everywhere I go, it's nothing but DBZ-bashing. People always keep screaming about it had no real plot, character development, etc., and it never lets up. Why is Dragon Ball Z getting so much hate from the internet?

[Gone Airbourne 21,969]

Dbz is not hated!  I think that has too be among one of my favorite animes/shows of all time. I even think I like it just as much I do this show to be honest with you. You can't expect everyone to like the same thing though!

 

Bucking KAMEHAMEHA!

Edited March 25, 2013 by Gone ϟ Airbourne

[Hansel 1,511]

Because it's terrible.

 

/

on the other hand, is the work a true artist. The character development in it is unmatched. Edited March 24, 2013 by Hansel

[Friendship_Cannon 1,676]

to be honest, I don´t know many people who dislike DBZ...

I´m not a big fan, but I like it, and there sure are some real DBZ fans around here, recognizable, some of them, from their profile pics...

And even if not, I´ve not seen any bashing on other fanbases from bronie on this site, so... probably ain´t gonna happen.

 

btw, happy welcome, hope you´ll enjoy it here!

[DeiStar 248]

It's true. DBZ had no solid plot or characterization.

 

You have to remember this wasn't a show meant to have a solid plot or structure. It was about fights and hits and explosions and stuff.

 

Most people who hate on DBZ are the edgy kids who hate on popular things or childhood cartoons. The same people who hate on Naruto without giving any proper explanation. They just hate it because of the fanbase who praise those anime as the best thing ever.

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,090]

It is?

 

I never noticed that before. I've noticed a few people who bash it but still love the show. The show does have it's faults, but I personally don't mind them and I like Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.

 

Unless you can point me to a few places where you've seen this hate, I'm not really sure what to make of it. I guess if there are people hating on it, it's either because they have legitimate complaints I'm not aware of, or they're just being hipsters who want to hate on something popular.

 

Probably a mixture of both. Cause honestly, it's fun to hate what's popular sometimes, even if you're just joshing around.

[FractalMoon 378]

The reason? Because people act as if it's the greatest show (or anime) in history. People spend way too much time raving about it and most of the DBZ fans I know belittle any other show without seeing it (Firefly, Buffy, Steins;Gate, etc) and it just pisses people off.

[Dr. Love 88]

What websites are you on? I rarely see ANY criticism for the DBZ series, personally for me, the only thing I don't like about the DBZ franchise is the show itself (It's pacing is WAY to slow for me to enjoy), everything else is just fine, the story, the characters, etc. DBZ is one of the only animes that I can even like (besides Fullmetal Alchemist). 

[Shiki 5,853]

Faults with DBZ:

• Unreasonably exaggerated and lengthy fighting scenes
• Unreasonably exaggerated and lengthy powering up scenes
• Unreasonably exaggerated and lengthy story arcs that could have been fit into just a few episodes rather than a few dozen
• Unreasonable amount of fighting scenes
• Offers nearly nothing else to the viewer

(emphasis for humour)

 

Basically, people hate it because it's just eye candy fight scenes 24/7. It makes it a pretty "bad" show, overall. There's people that like to watch it just because it's cool, and whatever, sure, whatever floats their boat, but there's absolutely nothing else going for it beyond the fighting, muscles, and etc. A lot of people, especially in the anime world, make fun of DBZ because of this. It's a wannabe badass show for kids, and no otaku really take it all that seriously. Some like to preach that it's got some kind of super duper complex, epic deeper meaning to everything, but it's really nothing more than extreme post-hoc analysis.

 

Also, many have already stated this already, but it's the way the fans act that also kinda adds to it. The crazy fans give the show a negative annotation for others, because it connects bad memories to the title. This happened a bit with me and MLP, and that's why I just avoid talking about it, overall. While it's not a very mature/legitimate reason to dislike the show, it's still there.

 

If you go really deep into the anime world, and I mean really deep (the older men, anime nutjobs who need to watch some every day), you'll find that a lot of people dislike most mainstream shounen, in general. This includes Naruto, Bleach and One Piece along with DBZ. And just a protip: "shounen" would be a type of demographic, which would be for younger boys. For kids, mostly. Not our "kids" kind of rating, which would be like Spongebob, but their kids meaning around 8 or 9 to teens up to 17 or 18 or so. You can only expect them to dislike anime for the younger people, as it's not going to hold as complex of a story in comparison to an anime targeting adults. I am personally also biased against most shounen, because it's true that most require a lot less thought and/or attention span to fully understand, because it's more simple. 

 

Getting a bit more on track again, though, I have to say that I don't see many people hate on DBZ as much as I do Bleach and Naruto, so I'm a bit confused as to why you (OP) act as if it's extremely hated... But eh, whatever. Hopefully you got my point in this post. 

Edited March 24, 2013 by Plummy

[Bardock 139]

Faults with DBZ:

• Unreasonably exaggerated and lengthy fighting scenes
• Unreasonably exaggerated and lengthy powering up scenes
• Unreasonably exaggerated and lengthy story arcs that could have been fit into just a few episodes rather than a few dozen
• Unreasonable amount of fighting scenes
• Offers nearly nothing else to the viewer

(emphasis for humour)

 

Basically, people hate it because it's just eye candy fight scenes 24/7. It makes it a pretty "bad" show, overall. There's people that like to watch it just because it's cool, and whatever, sure, whatever floats their boat, but there's absolutely nothing else going for it beyond the fighting, muscles, and etc. A lot of people, especially in the anime world, make fun of DBZ because of this. It's a wannabe badass show for kids, and no otaku really take it all that seriously. Some like to preach that it's got some kind of super duper complex, epic deeper meaning to everything, but it's really nothing more than extreme post-hoc analysis.

 

Also, many have already stated this already, but it's the way the fans act that also kinda adds to it. The crazy fans give the show a negative annotation for others, because it connects bad memories to the title. This happened a bit with me and MLP, and that's why I just avoid talking about it, overall. While it's not a very mature/legitimate reason to dislike the show, it's still there.

 

If you go really deep into the anime world, and I mean really deep (the older men, anime nutjobs who need to watch some every day), you'll find that a lot of people dislike most mainstream shounen, in general. This includes Naruto, Bleach and One Piece along with DBZ. And just a protip: "shounen" would be a type of demographic, which would be for younger boys. For kids, mostly. Not our "kids" kind of rating, which would be like Spongebob, but their kids meaning around 8 or 9 to teens up to 17 or 18 or so. You can only expect them to dislike anime for the younger people, as it's not going to hold as complex of a story in comparison to an anime targeting adults. I am personally also biased against most shounen, because it's true that most require a lot less thought and/or attention span to fully understand, because it's more simple. 

 

Getting a bit more on track again, though, I have to say that I don't see many people hate on DBZ as much as I do Bleach and Naruto, so I'm a bit confused as to why you (OP) act as if it's extremely hated... But eh, whatever. Hopefully you got my point in this post. 

The faults you listed seem to be strictly based off the original DBZ anime version. Have you tried Kai? Gets the point across much faster and kills a lot of the exaggeration.

 

As for offering nothing else but fighting? Yeah, I disagree strongly. Character growth, wonderful character interactions, lovable characters, simple yet likable story arcs, interesting back stories,  great music, a unique, magical charm, etc. I'm not going to preach to you that DBZ is some super-duper deep and complex series, because it isn't. However, there is some depth to it that generally flies over most people's heads.

 

Another thing I'll add: DBZ wasn't originally made to be a "wannabe badass" anime, as you put it. No, it's the original Funimation English dub that did that. Why do you think they changed the music to more "hardcore" stuff and tried their best to make "hip and cool" dialogue?  Funimation thought that they'd get DBZ more popularity by doing this, in which they did succeed in doing so, but they also ended up butchering half of DBZ in the process and gave people the wrong impression of it.

[Pokota 28]

DBZ is hated? 

 

No, seriously, hated? Yes, Dragonball is certainly disliked for pushing the Shonen genre towards epic-yet-ultimately-meaningless fights such as what are seen in the later half of the series (as much as I hate the Buu saga, it was closer in tone to Classic (pre-Saiyans) Dragonball than the rest of DBZ put together - which is probably why I can't stand it, now that I think about it)...

 

...I think I just proved somebody else's point. 

Edited March 24, 2013 by Pokota

[Shiki 5,853]

The faults you listed seem to be strictly based off the original DBZ anime version. Have you tried Kai? Gets the point across much faster and kills a lot of the exaggeration.

 

As for offering nothing else but fighting? Yeah, I disagree strongly. Character growth, wonderful character interactions, lovable characters, simple yet likable story arcs, interesting back stories,  great music, a unique, magical charm, etc. I'm not going to preach to you that DBZ is some super-duper deep and complex series, because it isn't. However, there is some depth to it that generally flies over most people's heads.

 

Another thing I'll add: DBZ wasn't originally made to be a "wannabe badass" anime, as you put it. No, it's the original Funimation English dub that did that. Why do you think they changed the music to more "hardcore" stuff and tried their best to make "hip and cool" dialogue?  Funimation thought that they'd get DBZ more popularity by doing this, in which they did succeed in doing so, but they also ended up butchering half of DBZ in the process and gave people the wrong impression of it.

It doesn't help that I am completely ignorant to all things Dragonball Z. I used to watch it as a child, but not after 10 or maybe 11 years old at most. My entire post was extremely filled with generalisations and assumptions that are both about DBZ and most mainstream shounen out there.

 

There's always going to be "more" good things about the show whenever a fan discusses it, and it would only make sense. Again, I know very little about DBZ as an anime, so I don't know what the deal is with the dub vs. sub, etc. and etc., so I cannot debate that DBZ is particularly bad, if that's what you thought what I was doing. I was just answering the question in the thread title, "Why is DBZ so hated?"

 

It was as if I was explaining to everyone why people dislike MLP. "It's a show for little girls." "It's gay." Whether these are true or not are irrelevant, because this is what the haters think. It goes the same way for DBZ haters, really. Just for different reasons for the unjustifiable amount of hatred and bias against it. 

[Stratos 109]

I dunno I thought people liked DBZ.  Lots of memes come from it and lots of macros are made from screencaps.  I actually like DBZ and I think the abridged version is hilarious.  But for real I would love to watch a whole season of DBZ smashed together like a movie without the 10 min of LAST TIME and the 10 min of NEXT TIME.  Edit it like a normal person and I'd never watch anything but DBZ and MLP.

[Scootalove 10,684]

I really don't know. I guess some people aren't used to watching Dragon Ball Z. It really is a mystery to me, but there will always be that one thing that someone hates.

[Bardock 139]

It doesn't help that I am completely ignorant to all things Dragonball Z. I used to watch it as a child, but not after 10 or maybe 11 years old at most. My entire post was extremely filled with generalisations and assumptions that are both about DBZ and most mainstream shounen out there.

 

There's always going to be "more" good things about the show whenever a fan discusses it, and it would only make sense. Again, I know very little about DBZ as an anime, so I don't know what the deal is with the dub vs. sub, etc. and etc., so I cannot debate that DBZ is particularly bad, if that's what you thought what I was doing. I was just answering the question in the thread title, "Why is DBZ so hated?"

 

It was as if I was explaining to everyone why people dislike MLP. "It's a show for little girls." "It's gay." Whether these are true or not are irrelevant, because this is what the haters think. It goes the same way for DBZ haters, really. Just for different reasons for the unjustifiable amount of hatred and bias against it. 

Ah, okay. I understand where you're coming from. Sorry if I seemed like a jerk or something, I just assumed that you did have some knowledge of the series, which was wrong of me.

 

Apologies for my jumping to conclusions.

 

I dunno I thought people liked DBZ.  Lots of memes come from it and lots of macros are made from screencaps.  I actually like DBZ and I think the abridged version is hilarious.  But for real I would love to watch a whole season of DBZ smashed together like a movie without the 10 min of LAST TIME and the 10 min of NEXT TIME.  Edit it like a normal person and I'd never watch anything but DBZ and MLP.

Well, there is Dragon Ball Z Kai, which gets rid of most of the filler and helps things move at a much faster pace. Maybe give that a go?

[Pony Of The Month 534]

It's hated just about as much as every popular anime there is. If it's popular than it's guaranteed to have a hatedom. Just enjoy it, and don't worry about the "haters."

[MVC NVMXD JVRXD 2,406]

I liked the original Dragon Ball a bit. But even with that, it started to degenerate into "LONG FIGHT WHERE MC ALMOST DIES UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE WHERE HE GOES SUPER SAY-IN".

Have you seen how much of a cash-whore DBZ is? Yeah, almost every show starts out aiming to make money, but there is almost no stopping point for DBZ. There's too much added on story. A lot of series accomplish more in a season or two than what DBZ has in it's boatload of seasons, which kind of just makes it pointless.

[Bardock 139]

I liked the original Dragon Ball a bit. But even with that, it started to degenerate into "LONG FIGHT WHERE MC ALMOST DIES UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE WHERE HE GOES SUPER SAY-IN".

Have you seen how much of a cash-whore DBZ is? Yeah, almost every show starts out aiming to make money, but there is almost no stopping point for DBZ. There's too much added on story. A lot of series accomplish more in a season or two than what DBZ has in it's boatload of seasons, which kind of just makes it pointless.

The reason for the endless padding was because the anime was being made along side the manga. In order to not get ahead of the manga, they added filler and a bunch of drawn out scenes.

 

Kai does a wonderful job getting rid of said filler and drawn out scenes.

[Staticthor Draconus 958]

since when has dbz been hated

 

infact, im pretty sure that anything that has been abridged is most likely the best shit on earth

 

on a side note, tfs abridged parody episode 33 came out today

[Lionheart27 33]

The original DBZ took forever to actually finish a fight, and a lot of the filler episodes were just that. Filler, and not very good filler more often than not. From what I've seen of Kai, it's pretty decent, and has better pacing, which always helps.

[Zygen 6,065]

I dunno its kinda more focused around action and fighting then a very deep story i guess, which people don't like, atleast thats the reason I hear.

 

I myself haven't watched much, so I'm not really in room to judge it. I personally like what I've seen though.

[Phoenix237 353]

I havn't seen or heard of much people hating on Dragon Ball Z

Now granted I have seen the series and I admit it has it's flaws.

But

I have also read the original manga which isn't bad. It gets to the point faster and doesn't have the filler episode and long dialogs an long transformations.

So if it's the the show then yes it has some flaws for people to not like it.

If its about the manga then it's an okay manga, but if that genre isn't for you then neither is this.

[Display Name 448]

I don't care about DBZ, or neither will i ever care about it.

Its not my type of show, but i respect the people who enjoy & watch it.

 

But its probably hated because it was too mainstream.

Kinda like *dare i speak of this* Gangnam Style, its too mainstream.

Thus there were mixed views about it and there were haters and there were people who loved it. *i hated it*

[Lionheart27 33]

I will say that the DBZ Abridged series put out by Team Four Star is extremely hilarious, and manages to stay reasonably true to the story, while condensing it down even further than Kai did. The only negative is the fact that we have to wait a month for a new episode, but considering the quality, it's worth the wait.

[Bardock 139]

Really, it's just something you have to get used to. Anime fans tend to look down on anime primarily aimed at kids, and a lot of people are turned off by DBZ's abysmal pacing (even though they could just watch Kai or read the manga, but whatever).

 

Dragon Ball Z is a classic, but a hated classic. If that makes sense.