Summary
Recently, my editor gave me a high-stakes mission: revisitDragon Ball. Actually, it was more of a gentle suggestion. It filled me with excitement, but also dread. I’m daunted by long series, a challengeDragon Ballshares with franchises likeOne Piecefor me. Making matters worse, there was a bigger problem:a younger me lovedDragon Ball.
I had countless VHS tapes ofDragon Ball Zand several games on the PS2 and GameCube. But the last time that I had touchedDragon Ballwas a decade and a half ago, and I’d forgotten basically everything. Lighthearted memes and frank criticism alike made me feel likeDragon Ballwas a series with fights that never end and things never really happen; a “nostalgia watch” at best. In the end, I’m glad I gave it a try, because I found out thatI was dead wrong.
Dragon Ball’s Creator Wanted to Kill Goku and Replace Him With Gohan
Goku is one of the most recognizable manga protagonists of all time, yet Dragon Ball’s creator originally wanted Gohan to take his place.
HowDragon Ball’s Influence Has Hurt It
Influence Hurts Just As It Helps
Talking aboutDragon Ball, it’s important to remember what can be calledthe paradox of influence. The same factors that cement a work’s influence also lead it to feel dated. Influence implies that other works pick up on its cues and build on them. Since every work is bound to a time, place, and context,the works it influences will seem “modern” by comparison. This has nothing to do with the quality of the work itself. It has more to do with how it’s perceived.
Anime and manga abound with this phenomenon. A great example isthe magical girl genre. Some series likeCardcaptor SakuraandSailor Moonwere foundational to it. As a result,their ideas became tropes and formulas, and their influence would result in the eventual emergence of the magical girl deconstruction series:Madoka Magica,Yuuki Yuuna, and, to an extent,Kill la Kill. The influence rounds back on itself so that now those foundational series seem dated or, at best, conventional.
This is also very common in shōnen: considerYuYu Hakusho,Rurouni Kenshin, andFist of the North Star. Each feels formulaic in contrast to today’s shōnen. However, this analysis conveniently forgets their role inestablishing the formulas to begin with. As a society, we tend to view things in terms of progress: over time, ideas are bettered, and bad ideas are displaced by better ideas. This viewpoint can be problematic.
Dragon Ballis full ofideas that have caught on and influenced other series: tournament arcs, filler arcs, energy attacks, and so on. What’s forgotten is that it’s also full ofideas that are exclusive to itself. Talking about “modern” expectations or “progress” with the development of tropes isn’t helpful with creative work. There’s always reciprocity ensuring that no work is truly “original” or “timely”, and every work has unique qualities.
Dragon BallHas A Weird Reputation
Even Devoted Fans Seem To Love And Hate It
The paradox of influence is important because I firmly believe that to enjoyDragon Ball,it’s crucial the viewer forgets about “modern” and “aged” shōnen, however difficult that may seem. Focusing onDragon Ball’s age and primacy, I think, does a disservice to the series. This approach would encounter unique problems, and it would have creative ways of addressing them that can easily be underappreciated.
There are certainly parts ofDragon Ballthat have aged poorly to modern eyes, like its occasional flirtation with racism and sexism. What I’m referring to here are storytelling, mechanics, and world-building.
Consider power creep. In a way, one could say thatDragon Ball Zitself is an answer to the power creep that developed with the original series. With Goku now the strongest on Earth, Toriyama adjusted by bringing in fighters from other planets. What the discussion leaves out is howDragon Ballis alsoa masterclass in handling power creep gracefully. The fact that Toriyama leaned into and expandedDragon Ball’s sci-fi elements shows his adaptability as a mangaka and, overall, the elements added inDragon Ball Zfit well with the series' atmosphere.
Hype power-up moments are one of the indelible marks thatDragon Ballwould leave on the shōnen battle genre, but it’s also one of the things it does more effectively than even “modern” shōnen. Building upon a steady conceptual foundation,Dragon Ballgives itself ways tointuitively implement new mechanics. This certainly stems fromToriyama’s skillful spontaneity while writing.
There seem to be two overarching camps withDragon Ball: those who vehemently love the show as a battle shōnen, and those who think its age and relative “immaturity” compared to today’s battle shōnen series make it overrated. I’d say that I fall into neither. I’m not saying thatDragon Balldoesn’t have flaws, or that its flaws should be ignored. I’mcautioning against viewing it in terms of genre and age.
“The Strongest on the Earth”: Dragon Ball’s Frieza & Cell Share the Same Genius Real World Origin
With Goku undeniably the strongest being on Earth, Dragon Ball was forced to head to unknown territory to find new villains that could challenge him.
Why (and How) You Should WatchDragon Ball
The Best Vantage ForDragon BallIs Unexpected
It seems likeDragon Balldiscussions always center around its fights. I’m not sure if this is actually what makes the series so compelling, and I don’t think that it’s what will win over people who aren’t “nostalgia fans”. IfDragon Ballwas one of the progenitors of the “battle shōnen” genre, then it was alsoworking from outside modern “battle shōnen” norms and expectations.
This is where one of the biggest criticisms ofDragon Ballcomes up: that it has “no plot”, or that its plot is overly simple and sporadic. Funny story: in an initial draft, I’d made a connection betweenDragon Balland soap operas. Researching further, I found this has already been expressed to explainDragon Ball’s incredible popularity in Latin America. I think this providesthe most productive lens for watchingDragon Ball.
Battle is only one of the vehiclesDragon Ballutilizes to effect its true intentions as a sci-fi melodrama - and that’s a beautiful thing.
The joy of a good soap opera isletting oneself be swept up in the transient plots and melodrama. For the same reasons that soap operas can be exhausting, they can also be exhilarating.Dragon Ballis similar. Just inDragon Ball Z, one starts with the sudden revelation that Goku is an alien from a planet seemingly inhabited solely by villains. The list goes on: senseless decisions for dramatic effect (Goku helping his enemies), constantly shifting alliances, and the way it effortlessly invents new drama.
It’s true thatDragon Ballhas many amazing fights, that its main character has been characterized as a sort of Superman archetype of the shōnen world, and that it’s full of the hallmarks and tropes of battle shōnen. However, it isn’t, at heart,aboutbattle. Battle is only one of the vehiclesDragon Ballutilizes to effect its true intentions as a sci-fi melodrama - and that’s a beautiful thing. Plenty has been written abouthowDragon Ballholds up against modern shōnen. What hasn’t been explored as much ishow it’s exceptional among them.
Dragon BallAnd The Role of Nostalgia
Nostalgia Is Inevitable
This is where childlike wonder comes into play. The question lingers on whetherDragon Ballis best as a “nostalgia watch”. However, I’m not sure if there’s any other way to watch it, even if a person is unfamiliar with the franchise.Dragon Ballrewarded meonly after forcing me to tap into a part of myself, childhood me, who sat there guzzlingDragon Ball, Sonic the Hedgehog, andYu-Gi-Oh!without a “grown-up” view of “genre conventions” or “media tropes”.
One of the fortunate things about aesthetic taste is that the answer doesn’t really matter.
Does “authentic” nostalgia play a part? Maybe. I only had two memories ofDragon Ball Zprior to my rewatch: laughing extremely hard and rewinding over and over when Buu eats dog food, and playing theBudokaigames with the two neighbor kids around my age (they also showed me “Last Resort” by Papa Roach, I recall.) Aside from that, I was essentially working from the same base as everyone who doesn’t know anything aboutDragon Ball.
I knew who Goku was, I knew about the Saiyan transformations, I vaguely remembered major characters like Vegeta, Piccolo, and Krillin (though I couldn’t remember Krillin’s name). I was clever to start withDragon Ball Z, because I was able to seesome ofDragon Ball’s best arcs. What I didn’t expect wasjust how character-drivenDragon Ballwould be, and how arc plots are the shell encasing those dynamics.
One of the funny things about aesthetic taste is that I don’t know whether my love for soap operas inspired my present-day appreciation forDragon Ball, or whether my childhood adoration forDragon Ballwould later lead me to enjoy soap operas. One of the fortunate things about aesthetic taste is thatthe answer doesn’t really matter. There’s that saying, “don’t meet your heroes”. Adult me was worried about “meeting” Goku and the Kamehameha I pretended to do as a kid. What I didn’t expect was howDragon Ballwould awaken the child within me.
Dragon Ball
From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku’s never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
