Summary
Dragon Ball's influence has led to its datedness, but it's important to appreciate its unique qualities beyond modern standards. Focusing on Dragon Ball's plot and character motivations rather than just the battles gives it depth and originality. Nostalgia plays a big part in enjoying Dragon Ball, tapping into your inner child for a richer viewing experience.
Recently, my editor gave me an important assignment: to review Dragon Ball. Actually, it’s a gentler suggestion. It excites me, but also scares me. I’m frustrated by long series, a challenge that Dragon Ball shares with franchises like One Piece for me. Worse, there’s a bigger problem: a younger me love Dragon Ball.
I have countless VHS tapes of Dragon Ball Z and a few games on the PS2 and GameCube. But the last time I touched Dragon Ball was a decade and a half ago, and I’ve forgotten most of it. The hilarious memes and blunt criticism made me feel like Dragon Ball was a series with never-ending battles and things that never really happened; a “nostalgia watch” at best. In the end, I’m glad I gave it a try, because I found that I was dead wrong.
How Dragon Ball's Influence Has Damaged
Effects that hurt as well as help
Speaking of Dragon Ball, it is important to remember what can be called paradox of influence. The factors that strengthen a work's influence also make it obsolete. Influence implies that other works will take cues from it and build on them. Since every work is tied to a time, place, and context, The works it influenced would appear “modern” by comparison.. This has nothing to do with the quality of the work. It has more to do with how it is perceived.
Anime and manga are rife with this phenomenon. A great example is the magical girl genre. Series like Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon are cornerstones of this genre. As a result, Their ideas became metaphors and formulas.and their influence would lead to the eventual emergence of series that deconstructed the magical girl: Madoka Magica, Yuuki Yuuna, and, to some extent, Kill la Kill. The influence returned on itself so that now those foundational series seem outdated or, at best, conventional.
This is also very common in shōnen: consider Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, and Fist of the North Star. Each seems formulaic in contrast to today's shōnen. However, this analysis conveniently ignores their role in set up the formulas to startAs a society, we tend to think of things in terms of progress: over time, ideas improve and bad ideas are replaced by better ones. This view can cause problems.
Dragon Ball is full of ideas that have been embraced and influenced other series: fighting rounds, side rounds, energy attacks, etc. What's forgotten is that it's also full of its own unique ideas. Talking about “modern” or “progressive” expectations with the development of metaphors is not helpful to creative work. There is always a reciprocity that ensures that no work is truly “innovative” or “timely,” and that each work has its own unique qualities.
Dragon Ball has a strange reputation
Even loyal fans seem to love and hate it.
The paradox of influence is important because I firmly believe that to enjoy Dragon Ball, It is important that viewers forget about the “modern” and “old” shōnen genres.though that may seem difficult. Focusing on Dragon Ball's age and superiority, I think, is a disservice to the series. This approach will encounter unique problems and there will be creative ways to solve them that are easily underestimated.
There are certainly parts of Dragon Ball that feel dated to a modern eye, like the occasional flirtations with racism and sexism. What I'm referring to here is the storytelling, mechanics, and world-building.
Consider the power surge. In a way, one could say that Dragon Ball Z itself is a response to the power surge that developed with the original series. With Goku now the strongest being on Earth, Toriyama adjusted by bringing in warriors from other planets. What the discussion leaves out is how Dragon Ball is alsoA masterclass in how to handle power surges gracefully. Toriyama's reliance on and expansion of Dragon Ball's science fiction elements shows his adaptability as a mangaka, and overall, the elements added to Dragon Ball Z fit the atmosphere of the series very well.
Exciting power-up moments are one of Dragon Ball's most indelible marks on the shōnen fighting genre, but it's also one of the things it does better than many “modern” shōnen. Building on a solid conceptual foundation, Dragon Ball creates ways for itself to intuitive implementation of new mechanism. This certainly stems from Toriyama's skillful improvisation when writing.
There seem to be two main camps with Dragon Ball: those who absolutely love the series as a shōnen fighting manga, and those who think its age and relative “immaturity” compared to today's shōnen fighting manga makes it overrated. I suppose I'm in neither camp. I'm not saying that Dragon Ball doesn't have its flaws, or that its flaws should be overlooked. I Warning do not watch it by genre and age.
Why (and How) You Should Watch Dragon Ball
The best angle for Dragon Ball is a surprise
It seems like discussions about Dragon Ball always focus on its battles. I'm not sure if that's really what makes the series so compelling, and I don't think it's what will win over people who aren't “nostalgic fans.” If Dragon Ball is one of the forerunners of the “battle shōnen” genre, then it's also working outside of modern “battle shōnen” norms and expectations.
This is where one of the biggest criticisms of Dragon Ball comes in: that it “has no plot,” or that its plot is too simple and disjointed. Fun fact: in the original draft, I made a connection between Dragon Ball and the TV series. Upon further research, I found that this was phrased to explain Dragon Ball’s incredible popularity in Latin America. I think this provides The best lens to watch Dragon Ball.
The battle is just one of the means Dragon Ball uses to show the show's true purpose as a sci-fi show – and it's a great thing.
The joy of a good TV series is let yourself get caught up in the intrigue and fleeting drama. For the same reasons that TV series can be exhausting, they can also be exhilarating. Dragon Ball is the same. Even Dragon Ball Z starts with the sudden revelation that Goku is an alien from a planet seemingly inhabited only by villains. The list goes on: the pointless decisions made for dramatic effect (Goku helps his enemies), the constant shifting of alliances, and the way it easily creates new drama.
It's true that Dragon Ball has some great fights, that its protagonist is portrayed as a sort of Superman of the shōnen world, and that it's filled with the traits and characteristics of the shōnen fighting genre. However, at its core, it's not about fighting. Fighting is just one of the means by which Dragon Ball fulfills its true purpose as a science fiction series – and that's a great thing. Much has been written about how Dragon Ball stacks up against modern shōnen. What hasn't been explored much is how special it is between them.
Dragon Ball and the role of nostalgia
Nostalgia is inevitable
This is where the childlike wonder comes in. The question remains whether Dragon Ball is the best choice for “nostalgia viewing.” However, I’m not sure if there’s any other way to watch it, even if one isn’t familiar with the series. Dragon Ball has rewarded me only after forcing me to tap into a part of myselfThe childhood me who sat there devouring Dragon Ball, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Yu-Gi-Oh! without any “mature” perspective on “genre conventions” or “media metaphors.”
One of the lucky things about taste is that the answer really doesn't matter.
Does “real” nostalgia play a role? Maybe. I only have two memories of Dragon Ball Z before the rewatch: laughing out loud and rewinding over and over again as Buu ate dog food, and playing Budokai with two neighborhood kids my age (I remember them showing me Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” too.) Other than that, I was basically working from the same base as everyone else who didn’t know anything about Dragon Ball.
I knew who Goku was, I knew about the Saiyan transformation, I vaguely remembered the main characters like Vegeta, Piccolo, and Krillin (though I didn't remember Krillin's name). I was wise to start with Dragon Ball Z, because I could see some of the best arcs of Dragon Ball. What I didn't expect was How Dragon Ball Will Focus on Charactersand how arc charts are the envelope that encloses those dynamics.
One of the funny things about taste is that I don't know if my love of the TV series inspired my current appreciation for Dragon Ball, or if my childhood admiration for Dragon Ball later made me like the TV series. One of the lucky things about taste is that The answer really doesn't matter.. There is a saying, “don’t meet your heroes.” As an adult, I was worried about “meeting” Goku and the Kamehameha I pretended to do as a child. What I didn’t expect was that Dragon Ball will awaken the child within me.
