5 Things I Love and 5 Things I Hate About: 'Dragon Ball'

Dragon Ball is one of those things that I feel a lot of 90's kids like me grew up with, or at the very least, were aware of, like Pokémon, Digimon, and Sailor Moon. It came to the U.S. around the same time that those other anime did, and I remember knowing a lot of kids who liked it, just as I did. Looking back, I can see why, since it had a lot of humor, but more than that, it had a lot of great action scenes, filled to the brim with long staredowns, big explosions, and lots of screaming - sort of like Michael Bay Transformers movie, only it was the characters screaming while they powered up, and not the viewer screaming at the movie for being boring beyond comprehension.

Still, I loved Dragon Ball Z for the longest time - and I still do, even though my love for it is a bit more sensible. I enjoyed the fight scenes, the character designs, and the characters themselves, and watching Goku and his friends beat the everloving crap out of each other and the bad guys. It wasn't until much later on that I realized, for as much of a pioneer as Dragon Ball may have become for manga and anime that followed it, the story as a whole was... flawed.

It's not a big surprise to me, really. I think it's fairly common to have strong nostalgia filters for movies or shows or video games or books that, when you're young or first read/play/see/experience, you love it to pieces, but then later, you start to realize that maybe it isn't as 'perfect' as you first thought it was. It's happened to me quite a few times, and I've known many people who have had similar experiences, but in the end, that isn't a bad thing. That show or movie or manga, whatever it may be, still holds a place in your heart, the only difference is that when you look back at it, you'll recognize that it has flaws.

For me, Dragon Ball fits into that narrative rather well.

I no longer have the blinders on from when I was a kid, and having re-read it and re-watched it, I feel I've gained a bit more insight into the series, and into how I feel about it as a whole. I don't hate it. I don't dislike it. But what was once 'love' for the series has weakened, its power level dropping significantly simply because I've come to realize that it isn't quite as amazing as it used to be. However, Dragon Ball has never hit the same low that something like Bleach did, another anime I had a similar passion for when it was still going strong, or even for Naruto, which I don't consider to be quite at the same level as Bleach for how much it wound up disappointing me, but I still don't like it half as much as I once did.

No, Dragon Ball has a weirdly special place in my heart, and I think the reasons are the center of this article: it has an equal number of things that I both really like and really dislike, things that balance each other out so much that it kind of prevents it from getting higher on my list for favorite anime, yet also ensures that it never drops any lower, either.

So, without wasting any more time, let's jump into the five things I love most about Dragon Ball, and the five things that I hate the most about it.

5. What I Love: The Action Scenes

I would be lying if I said that the action scenes in Dragon Ball weren't the best part of the whole series, because when you have superhuman characters capable of flying, firing energy blasts the size of a small planet, transforming into cool powered up states, and a whole lot of cool techniques at their disposal, it's kind of hard not to see it that way.

Action is kind of the main draw of Dragon Ball, since plot elements tend to be few and far between (more on that later), and there doesn't tend to be a whole lot of emotional depth for buff warriors trying to vaporize each other. I would never go as far as to claim that Dragon Ball is meant to be a scion for macho guys, especially since later Dragon Ball incorporated female fighters who could kick just as much ass as their male counterparts, but I would say it's skirting toward the edge of that line. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, and Dragon Ball did wind up serving as a catalyst for a lot of future Shonen-themed manga and anime, but still, the fighting in Dragon Ball is spectacular when it wants to be.

The best fight sequences are more than just punching and kicking; they are fast, high-octane battles filled with destruction and danger at every corner, since one wrong one can lead to you getting blown to smithereens or a gaping hole in your chest. I would have to say that Dragon Ball Z's action is best described like this, since by this point, the characters have grown up and are capable of flying and shooting big-ass energy blasts at each other. That's not to say every fight is like this, since some incorporate comedy to make the battles less tense, yet still entertaining, and a good number are relatively quick curbstomp battles where a character - typically a villain, but sometimes a hero - is taken down either to demonstrate how dangerous a villain is, or to prove some other point.

Dragon Ball's action (the first part of the series, not the franchise as a whole) are more like the latter two things, with a whole lot of comedic moments interspersed with slightly more serious action. Usually, it just involves Goku beating the crap out of someone, at least until closer to the end of Dragon Ball, when Goku starts fighting enemies that are much more powerful than he is. These bouts are where the emotion and the tension come into play, and I feel like once this started happening, the fight scenes became so much better than they had been before.

More often than not, when the action gets to a certain level, it's hard for me to find it boring. I've often re-read several of the manga battles of Dragon Ball Z simply because I love the fight choreography on display. The fights are bigger, longer, and full of fast-paced movement and energy attacks that create the perfect atmosphere for a fight scene. These fights mix in trash talk, surprise attacks, and humor, and they're chock full of great action spots, the kind you expect from movies or video games. They're tense, they're fun, and they have a certain beauty to them, no matter how bloody and beaten the characters involved wind up getting. Perhaps the best fights are also the ones that actually bring in some genuine emotion, which as I mentioned above, starts seeping into the series midway through the early parts where Goku is still a kid.

From Dragon Ball, I'd say the best fights were Goku facing off against Tien, Goku fighting King Piccolo, and then the last battle of the that part of the series, Goku and Piccolo Jr.'s bout during the World Tournament. These were intense, quick-paced, and full of entertaining spots from both sides, and the latter two really showcased where the action would go in the second part of the series. From there, we have Goku and Vegeta's incredibly long battle on Earth, Goku's climactic, rage-fueled battle Freeza (or Frieza, if you prefer the dub spelling) on Namek, and Gohan's utter beatdown of Cell are two of the best examples from Dragon Ball Z, and probably two of the most well known and beloved battles throughout the series, since I see people gushing about them all the time.

There are a bunch of other really good action moments throughout Dragon Ball, and while a handful weren't as entertaining as the ones I listed above, I can't think of any that dragged on endlessly (in the manga, we're not counting anime and filler for this particular point), or any that bored me enough to want to skip over it.

5. What I Hate: The Action Scenes

No, your eyes don't deceive you, the action scenes are both a love and a hate, for similar, but different enough, reasons. As far as the manga action scenes go, many of them are good and I have no problems with them. However, there are certain fights - primarily in the last part of Dragon Ball Z - in the manga that I'm... less fond of. I'm talking specifically about the fights against Majin Buu, the final villain for the canon Dragon Ball story.

Now, Majin Buu is an interesting character, to say the least. Design-wise, Buu is... unique, especially when you compare him to the previous major villains throughout both Z and Dragon Ball. But my main gripe is that a lot of the fights against Buu, regardless of what version of Buu is being fought, tend to be a bit lackluster when you compare them to the big fights from the previous sagas. There's more of an emphasis on humor, as opposed to the battles being intense and serious with maybe an occasional humorous moment thrown in. The fight between Goku and Vegeta when they're both going at it at full power (well, Vegeta is, Goku is holding back) is probably the closest battle that feels more like the bouts I mentioned in the previous section, the ones with emotion and impact, and a whole lot of really good fight choreography going on. But the rest? Not so much.

I feel like the biggest problem I have with the later action scenes is that they don't have any weight to them. Buu is meant to be the biggest and baddest enemy that Goku and his friends have ever fought against, and yet, we're treated to a whole lot of slapstick at the characters' expense. There are a few tense moments, sure, and the final fight against Buu in its true form is relatively serious, but, even then, I didn't care for the ending, and I feel like it was so much less interesting and investing compared to the other big battles.

Now, I know that Akira Toriyama, the author and creator, probably did this on purpose. He's admitted in interviews that he writes by chapter, and doesn't really focus much on story or emotion. That's fine, since he's done a decent enough job at throwing these elements in at good moments, but I just think he didn't put enough, shall we say, heart, into the final arc's fights.

My only other gripe is the filler elements in the anime when it comes to the fights. A few things additions - like the Z fighters firing attacks at Cell in the anime while Gohan and Cell were in the midst of a beam struggle - were nice, and I liked seeing Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu taking on the Ginyu Force. Outside of those, a lot of additions felt unnecessary, and, I'll just say it: there is way, way, way too much padding.

Whether it was recycling animation, adding in long pauses, stretching out transformations, or a lot of screaming, the padding was atrocious. They cleaned a lot of that up with the release of Dragon Ball Kai, but, in doing so, they also took out the good filler fights that I felt added more to the story and gave some spotlight to side characters that needed it.

4. What I Love: The Villains

The Dragon Ball series has had its fair share of very interesting baddies.

Back in the early days, when Goku was a kid with a monkey tail, rather than an alien, most of the villains were pretty subpar, but still kind of humorous to watch/read. Then we got to the Red Ribbon Army, and things became much more interesting. True, the bad guys were still silly as hell most of the time, but they were more threatening, and it was easier to take them seriously. I don't think it was until the Red Ribbon Army was defeated, and the great Demon King Piccolo came into the picture, however, that the villains of this series took a severe level in badass; meaning, they became way, way, way more fun, despicable, and powerful.

King Piccolo is one of the original series' best villains. He's big and imposing, with a unique, yet deadly design, a handful of powerful minions, and a moveset comprised of some pretty cool techniques that serve him well. He also comes dangerously close to being the only villain in Dragon Ball to almost achieve his ultimate goal (world domination, as you'd expect), and he leaves a trail of broken bodies and corpses in his wake. He's responsible for the deaths are three major characters, and he would've likely succeeded were it not for Goku. He represented a serious threat, the most serious one Goku fought when he was young, and in truth, his actions actually led to Goku developing as a character, since he grew a bit more mature and smarter when it came to fighting. King Piccolo is without a doubt one of the best villains in Dragon Ball, and he's only overshadowed by the other two picks of mine primarily because these other two baddies just so happen to be much, much stronger.

I'm talking, of course, about Freeza and Cell.

These are both incredible villains, since each has their own unique personality, fighting style, and each has their own unique end goal. They don't quite come as close to achieving that goal as King Piccolo did, but in the end, they both left a huge impact. Freeza is probably the most popular in general, since he's returned more often, but I would have to say that Cell is the best villain in Dragon Ball.

First off, when you talk solely about design, they're both pretty unique. Both of these baddies have various stages of transforming that they undergo. Freeza's first form is small, thin, and kind of cute in a creepy, space alien sort of way, but his proceeding transformations change that. His second and third forms are much bigger and more monstrous, only for his final (and true) form to be similar to the first. He's shorter, leaner, and almost effeminate in a way, and yet, his appearance is completely offset by the fact that he is immensely powerful. He nearly splits a planet in half with the flick of his wrist, he very easily beats Goku down without even using full power, and when he gets angry, things - and people - start blowing up.

Freeza serves as the probably one of the largest stepping stones in power in this series. His fight with Goku leads to Goku gaining a power-up that would continue throughout the rest of Dragon Ball, but more than that, his sheer brutality and strength would put him leaps and bounds ahead of every villain that came before him. His body count is higher than King Piccolo's, the destruction he brings about is much wider-spread, and he makes Goku and his friends really struggle for their victory. And even then, Goku isn't able to outright defeat him. He gets badly injured due to his own flaws, then gets turned into a cyborg and comes to Earth looking for revenge. Time and convenience were the only things against him then.

And then there's Cell. Yet another villain with a striking design, Cell's first form brings to mind a humanoid cicada monster, but unlike Freeza, his other two transformations make him look more like a human. This, however, again serves as a means of showing that you really shouldn't judge someone based on how they look, because as destructive as Freeza was, Cell is even more powerful. And unlike Freeza, Cell is smart.

Cell bides his time when he's first introduced. He kills countless innocent people, draining their life forces to give himself sustenance, but he never engages directly with the heroes until he's strong enough to do so. He uses cunning and intellect to ensure that he's able to achieve his goal, the first of which is to become 'perfect.' Cell maintains this cunning, using bribery and trickery to get what he wants when his ability to become perfect is within his grasp. And the moment he becomes perfect, he utterly destroys the good guys. The only reason he isn't defeated then is because he decides he wants to have some fun. He becomes so confident and carefree, it's legitimately scary, and like Freeza, he came back quite a few times before he was ultimately put down.

Suffice to say, the villains of the Dragon Ball series are amazing. So many of them have unique designs and personalities, and so many of them are fun and truly vile beings you can't help but love seeing on screen.

4. What I Hate: The Lack of Plot

And yet, while the villains are entertaining as hell to watch, I can't help but feel that Toriyama's method of writing everything as he went - chapter by chapter - kind of did more harm than good in the long run. Don't get me wrong, there is story present in the Dragon Ball series, especially in the later parts, with Dragon Ball Z. But what I feel damages this is the fact that the story is a bit weak, and a lot of interesting potential is never utilized. There is so much that could have happened, starting all the way back when Goku was a kid, and for me, I personally believe that, had Toriyama sat down and plotted this whole thing out, he might've been able to explore a lot more with the story, and it might've actually made Dragon Ball even better.

As an example, Goku is introduced to us as a boy living by himself in the wild. He's a normal-enough boy minus the weird spiky hairdo and the monkey-like tail, and we're told that his adoptive grandfather, Gohan - whom he would name his first son after - has died recently, though Goku doesn't know why. We learn later on that Goku is a Saiyan, an alien race of warriors with the ability to transform into giant, monkey-like states during the full moon, and a race that continually grows more powerful after each battle if they survive severe enough injuries. There's no foreshadowing to this, however. There's a one off comment made by one character, but aside from that, Goku's origins are never hinted at. We later learn when Z begins that Goku was sent to Earth to destroy it, and that he has an older brother and, by the way, his parents and people are all dead.

Instead, the story revolves around Goku joining a genius girl named Bulma on a quest to get the titular dragon balls. From there, various shenanigans ensue, including Goku facing off against a bandit, Goku facing off against a tyrannical shapeshifting pig, and Goku becoming the martial arts student of a lecherous old man. The characters introduced are all fun, I'm not denying that, but it feels very scattered during these parts of the story. It really does read like something being made up on the fly, which isn't a bad thing, but considering what happens later, I still believe that it could've been so much better if the story was more tightly knit.

I think Dragon Ball Z is where the lack of foreshadowing and the lack of hinting hits the hardest, since we are introduced to a whole lot of stuff that's just sort of thrown our way - Goku's alien origins, true purpose, the reason he's so strong, his brother, and so on - and most of this is promptly forgotten once Raditz is dead and two more Saiyans are on the way to Earth. There's kind of a story going on, what with Goku and his friends training to fight the Saiyans, then Goku and his friends heading off to a planet called Namek in order to find a way to bring their deceased friends back, but so much of it feels random and jumbled.

I guess for me, while I enjoy the various arcs present in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, I just get caught up on all the potential, the could've beens, and the what ifs. I'm someone who likes to have a solid enough plan on what I want to have happen in a story, and so, while Toriyama's method may work fine, I still feel that it might've been even more amazing had he plotted out a lot of what would come later on in the future.

3. What I Love: The Lore

It's probably no surprise to hear this after what I just got finished yammering on about, but I really like the lore within the Dragon Ball world. Even when it was still in its early parts, when Goku was a kid, when there were no Saiyans, when times were simpler, I still found the world to be super interesting. Humans co-existed with dinosaurs and animal-people that remind me a little of furries, as if Toriyama knew what that was before the term became too popular - the president in the Dragon Ball world was a dog-man, for crying out loud. But I loved this. There was a sense of silliness mixed in with an air of fantasy, and as a fantasy lover, it was pretty cool to see. True, it didn't get a lot of exploration or depth, but, I enjoyed what little of it I got at the time.

And then Dragon Ball Z came into the picture, and suddenly we had alien races all over the place, along with super cool transformations and a whole lot more of a universe to explore. We learned that Goku was an alien called a Saiyan, and I was immediately invested by this warrior culture. We got a sense of that race and what made them tick, and it filled me with ideas and concepts and questions, which is always something I consider to be a good thing, since it means I am thinking. And thinking means I am getting inspired. Saiyans did just that, and then we got even more on Namek, which introduced even more alien races into the mix.

As someone who was never a huge sci-fi guy, this kind of changed my opinion, and gave me a sudden interest in alien and space-related stuff. True, I was a bit too young to think too hard on it, but even so, looking back, I really liked what I saw and I wanted more.

There is a lot of lore within the Dragon Ball franchise. From the Saiyans to the Namekians, all the way back to the human-animal hybrid peoples living with normal humans, there's a lot to take in and a lot to think about. The biggest downside is that while we do get some information on some of this lore, a lot of it is left untouched. Again, I think it mostly has to do with Toriyama's preference in how he wrote the series. I have no qualms with the fact that he did what he did, I just wanted more fascinating lore. I wanted to know more about these alien peoples, about the way the cultures on Earth worked since dinosaurs and animal-people existed.

Dragon Ball Super, the anime continuation of Dragon Ball Z, has only re-stoked the flames of my interest by introducing more Godlike beings into the world, and that isn't even touching the fact that it introduces whole other universes into the mix. We've got Gods of Destruction, we've got angels, we've got an alternate world where Saiyans aren't a bloodthirsty, overly proud race of warriors; there is so much potential and so much to explore. Unfortunately, given the current arc in Super, it seems unlikely that any of this will occur. Still, as someone who loves to write and just think up things, it's given me a spark of inspiration that I hope to put to work some day in the future. And for that, I am super happy.

3. What I Hate: The Lack of Detail Given to the Lore

I think it's safe to say that this one is a bit obvious given the above. I kind of made my point by saying how much I wished the lore was more explored, so instead of repeating myself (as I have no doubt already done), I want to instead pose a handful of questions I've come up with over the years of being a Dragon Ball fan, many old, a few of them new and recent.

• What is the name of Freeza's race?
• Can all of his race transform like he does or is it exclusive to him?
• Is the cold-related theme naming common amongst all his people, or just his family?
• Was Nail the only Warrior Clan Namekian or were there others before him?
• How many times does a Saiyan's tail grow back before it stops growing altogether?
• Did Goten and Trunks have tails when they were born? Does it eventually stop forming due to the human genes overpowering the Saiyan genes?
• Is the Super Saiyan a form any Saiyan could achieve, since so many have learned how to tap into that power?
• What race was the first Kami of Earth? A human or something else?
• How many Kamis are there? What planets/races have them?
• Were the Saiyans always a race of bloodthirsty warriors, or did they evolve into this over time?
• Do the animal-human beings on Earth have a separate species name?
• How does one become a God of Destruction exactly? And how does it get passed on if killing them kills their Supreme Kai?
• Is Tien an alien or did he gain his third eye through some other means?
• What exactly is Chiaotzu? Is he a human or not?
• How did Yamcha gain his trademark scars?
• Is that Captain Ginyu's original body, or is it one he switched into?
• Who was Vegeta's mother? When did she die?
• Could King Cold transform like Freeza? Was he in his second form?
• What about Freeza's mother? Are there females in his race or are they one-gender like the Namekians?
• If Namekians are a one-gender race, does that mean that there could be a variation somewhere that is all 'female'?
• Is it possible some other Saiyans survived the destruction of Planet Vegeta? Since weaker Saiyans were sent offworld frequently, why was Goku the only one to survive since there were other weaker babies?
• Whatever happened to Launch?
• In Trunks' future, why couldn't he go to New Namek and use their dragon balls to wish his fallen comrades back?
• Did the Ginyu Force have a base of operations or were they summoned on the way to a mission?
• How can the Yardrats exist in Universe 7 and in Universe 2 if Universe 2 isn't the companion universe for 7? Does that mean Saiyans can exist in more than Universe 7 and 6? Humans? Freeza's race?
• How are the Namekians from Universe 6 different than those of Universe 7? Are they more warrior-esque than the peaceful Namekians of 7?
• Where is the Demon Plane located? Is it in Hell, or is it a separate realm?
• Is Shin the only current Supreme Kai, or did he find replacements for his deceased companions? How does the Kai system work when one dies?
• Does every universe have five Supreme Kais like Universe 7 did? If so, then is their God of Destruction's life tied to all of them or just one?

These are just a handful of questions I've found myself asking. Some are more lore-related, while others are more specific to character lore, but either way, I often wonder what the answers are. Some of these questions may have answers, like the one about Tien and his heritage, and yet, I've yet to hear that anything was confirmed by Toriyama himself. I'm the kind of person who would prefer an official confirmation from the creator before I believe it, even if the idea that Tien is descended from a race of three-eyed aliens is really interesting and adds something to his character.

In my mind, a good series should always have you asking questions. So for Dragon Ball to have this many - there are more in the back of my head - questions isn't a bad thing. I just wish that some clarifications and answers to these and more had been given at some point, especially since some of these like the name of Freeza's species just wind up baffling me nowadays given how much focus Freeza has once again.

2. What I Love: The Supporting Cast

Dragon Ball has a pretty diverse cast of supporting characters, but thankfully, there isn't as many as a lot of the manga/anime that wound up following it, like Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. Its core cast has grown only slightly over the years, since most of the characters are relegated to the friends Goku made when he was young, with a few new friends that came in during Z, and of course, the kids. This is actually to the franchise's benefit, since the smaller group of characters allows for us fans to better get attached to or enjoy seeing them have screen time. It makes it easier, rather than getting lost in a shuffle comprised of ten, twenty, thirty, and so on side characters. That's a little too many, even for me.

In early Dragon Ball, the core group of Goku's supporters was made up of a slim number: Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, Master Roshi, and Puar. Krillin came a little later, and Tien and Chiaotzu even further after that, but besides a few minor characters appearing now and then, this was the main group. Granted, as it was an old school Shonen manga, only the boys got fight time, and both Puar and Oolong were mostly relegated to comedy or just being there after a certain point, so I guess you could say that, really, only Master Roshi, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, and sort of Chiaotzu fit the bill, with Bulma as the exception since she was Goku's first friend.

Each of these characters was unique in some way. Krillin was short, bald, and had no nose. Tien had three eyes. Chiatozu was as pale as a ghost, tiny, and always floating. Yamcha had long spiked hair, later gaining his iconic facial scars. The details go on, but you could always recognize a character thanks to their design, and their personalities became much more fleshed out as the series went on - and the characters developed. Yamcha's nervousness around girls dissipated and he became more confident. Krillin started off as rude and self-centered, but warmed up after striking a friendship with Goku. Even Bulma, who was selfish and only after the dragon balls for herself, became nicer and - gradually - got used to the antics that she found herself trapped in due to being around Goku.

The characters aged and became even cooler and stronger toward the end of Dragon Ball, with each developing their own unique techniques and each getting to show their various fighting styles. We also gained new supporting characters, like Yajirobe at the closing of Goku's youth, and then later the reforming Piccolo and Vegeta, along with Gohan, Future Trunks, and so on. Now, there was a downside, but I'll be going into that below rather than here, and instead, I'll simply say that I appreciated how the supporting cast was always around, even if they weren't always doing things.

In fact, I often found myself preferring the supporting characters over the main one. I liked Goku, sure, but in recent years, it seems what I liked was the English dub's incarnation of Son Goku, rather than the canon Goku envisioned by Akira Toriyama. Knowing that, while I do like Goku, I honestly prefer his friends and companions. I would rather see Piccolo or Yamcha or Krillin get time to shine instead of Goku saving the day the way he always winds up doing. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen much - and it happens less and less as the series continued, which leads me into...

2. What I Hate: The Overshadowing of the Supporting Cast

It's not surprising to me that in a franchise like Dragon Ball, the main character is the one who shines the most often and saves the day more than anyone else. It's a staple trope for any kind of series, and I can understand that. But, just because I understand it doesn't mean I have to like it, and indeed, this series is one of a handful where I feel that trope is more of a detriment than anything else. Goku is usually always the one who wins in the end, and everyone else is just sort of... there. Well, in best case scenarios, that is. In the worst case, Goku's friends wind up dropping like flies and do little to nothing in the grander scheme of things.

Back in Dragon Ball, when Goku was a boy, it kind of made sense. The whole point was for this tiny, weird-looking kid to be incredibly strong and talented - and stubborn and nigh unkillable - while he went around beating the tar out of anything and anyone that just so happened to be there. He did this rather well, and yet, he also lost now and then, to show that despite his strength, Goku was still a kid with little skill and no discipline as a fighter. This allowed for Goku to develop as a character and a warrior as the series continued, and even though he still lost from time to time, his winning streak became more pronounced - especially when the fight of the Earth and everyone on it fell on Goku's head.

His friends were always weaker than him, but they compensated by still being somewhat close behind him. There was never a big gap in power, or at least it wasn't overly noticeable, since the supporting cast put up solid fights even when they wound up losing in the end. But then Z came along, and, unfortunately, the gap started getting bigger and bigger as the series continued, until Goku - along with Vegeta, sort of Gohan, and Piccolo to an even slimmer degree - stood at the top, while everyone else was way, way in back.

On the one hand, I can see why. Goku, Vegeta, they're the major characters of the series, and due to their alien biology and personalities, they're going to continue to get stronger. On the other hand, it's just unfortunate that so many good characters wound up getting lost in their dust.

Chiaotzu and Yamcha got hit with it the hardest, especially poor Yamcha, who has become a joke by many fans due to the way the manga and anime portrayed him. Krillin and Tien have gotten a slight resurgence lately in Super, but even they haven't done much outside of the latest arc in the anime. These are staples from Dragon Ball when it was still young, yet no matter what they do, they can never catch up. It's a sad reality for characters that are both iconic, fun, and have so much more potential.

1. What I Love: Son Goku

This might be a bit of an odd pick for my number one reason as to why I love Dragon Ball, because if I'm being honest, the Goku I grew up with and see as the real Goku is the character from the English dub of Dragon Ball. Yet as I mentioned previously, it turns out the representation given to Goku in the dub isn't quite the same as Toriyama intended. In fact, it's rather clear from watching the Japanese Super anime - and from reading and hearing more about Toriayama's various interviews on the subject - that Goku in the English dub is much, much kinder and more heroic than he was meant to be in the first place. That puts me in a... difficult position.

The Goku I grew up with was a simple-minded fellow with a good heart and a whole lot of power. He wasn't the smartest person around, due primarily to having grown up in the forest by himself after his adoptive grandfather's death, but he wasn't a complete idiot, either. He was mostly naive and innocent when it came to the world, and as he adventured with Bulma, he grew to understand more. He grew as a character in Dragon Ball, learning to control himself and become a better character as he made friends and fought off against bigger, badder enemies.

Then came Z, and Goku was an adult. He was still Goku, still prone to bouts of naivety and silliness, but he was a dedicated fighter who went out of his way to protect the innocent and would always do what was best for the people he cared for. This was the Goku I grew up with. Sure, he liked a good fight and enjoyed challenging himself, and he sometimes got a little in over his head when it came to his confidence, but Goku was still a good guy and a heroic character. He wouldn't let his selfishness get the best of him, and he never did things that would become a huge detriment to himself or to others. Vegeta was the overly proud one who screwed up more often than not, forcing Goku to clean up his messes. I didn't mind this, and I liked that Goku balanced out Vegeta.

But then Super came along and I learned that this heroic Goku was not meant to be the real Goku. The real Goku was more selfish and uncaring, focused entirely on his love for fighting and challenging himself. Gone was his kindness and genuine good nature, replaced by a one-track mind dedicated to how much Goku wanted to fight people. And that was it.

And you know, even though this may be the 'canon' version, as a fan, I have the unique ability to reject that description entirely. I can accept that Goku has character flaws and I am fine with those, but I reject the notion that Goku is selfish and fight-happy just because. That isn't the Goku I grew up with, and so, I maintain the character he was when I was a kid watching the show. I respect Toriyama's initial intentions, sure, but his Goku and the Goku in my head are polar opposites to each other.

I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, either. The English and Japanese versions of Goku differ, sometimes drastically, but he is the same character at its core. It's an interesting spin on the way different cultures view characters, and I find it fascinating to think about. I think it adds more to Goku as a character, especially since different fans can come away with different opinions on the character.

I just happen to prefer the English version of the character.

1. What I Hate: The Overuse of Tropes

At last, we come to the final number on my list, the counter to the point about Goku, is the thing I feel is the Dragon Ball franchise's main weakness for me: the fact that it relies too heavily on the same tropes and it - and the characters - never really seem to learn from their mistakes.

Vegeta's pride always gets the better of him. He'll get strong, stronger than Goku for a brief period of time, only to wind up mucking everything up. His pride led to Freeza transforming, Cell gaining his perfect form, and Majin Buu being awakened, all because he was too proud and too stubborn, and he never learned that having too much pride would always be his greatest weakness. But he wasn't the only character who never learned. Goku fell victim to his own trope problems, and so did the other characters, including the villains.

Characters would just stand there and let their opponent power up and/or transform. Characters would start to win a fight and become cocky, only for their opponent to pull something new out of thin air and the fight would usually just end there. Goku having to be the one to finish a fight with a main villain. Goku getting injured or forced onto the sidelines for a majority of an arc until the point where Goku had to step in and finish a fight. Goku's friends doing okay at first, but in the end, proving to be ineffective against the bigger threat.

These are a handful of tropes that the Dragon Ball series is both famous and infamous for. Super has continued with these trends, although I will give Super some credit for actively lampshading, poking fun of, or subverting some of them. Not all, but enough to see that at least Toriyama is self-aware of the tropes he's used for so long.

Tropes as a whole are not always a bad thing. Sometimes, they make a story what it is, and they can be a genuine boon to making characters or plots interesting. But when tropes continue to be used on and on, without ever being changed or tweaked or even acknowledged, it can take away from how much you enjoy a series - or at least, that's how it is for me. The characters never learn. Sure, some of them develop gradually over the series, but when it comes to the tropes that define everything the story is centered on, I honestly feel there's more damage being done than good.

The constant presence of tropes are probably the biggest issue I see with the series. They were fine in the earlier years, especially since Toriyama actively went out of his way to go against his reader's expectations. And yet, as Goku and his friends got older and stronger, the tropes became more prominent, and the times when our expectations would be challenged became few and far between. Even when I was young, I could notice the tropes, and I could usually predict what would wind up happening when it came to the characters and how well they would/wouldn't do in the long run. That wasn't even bringing the other tropes into the fray. Either way, it's the biggest thing about the Dragon Ball series I dislike, because for me, it's the thing that makes a series that could've been so much more just a bit weaker in the grander scheme of things.

I love Dragon Ball.

I grew up with it and I recognize the impact it's had on other manga and anime, as well as other shows and books in general. There's something to be said about this, and how about how memorable the world and the characters are. It's a big part of my childhood, and will likely always be my favorite manga/anime series, simply because of the nostalgic value and how big of a fan I was growing up with Goku and his friends fighting all kinds of crazy opponents.

True, I've listed things I like and dislike with equal value, but regardless, I can look past its flaws and enjoy it for what it is: a fun, action-packed story with explosions, transformations, and enough screaming to fill three heavy metal albums and then some. But no matter what I feel, Dragon Ball is still going strong, and will continue to grow as a franchise. Super is still running, the video games are still as popular as ever, and I have no doubt that Goku and his friends will continue to be recognized for many years to come as one of the best manga and anime of all time, and as a catalyst for so many amazing things as the years go by. That just shows the level of impact a good series can have, flaws or no flaws.