Goku Son is a young boy who lives in the woods all alone—that is until a girl named Bulma runs into
him in her search for a set of magical objects called the "Dragon Balls." Since the artifacts are said
to grant one wish to whoever collects all seven, Bulma hopes to gather them and wish for a perfect
boyfriend. Goku happens to be in possession of a dragon ball, but unfortunately for Bulma, he refuses
to part ways with it, so she makes him a deal: he can tag along on her journey if he lets her borrow
the dragon ball's power. With that, the two set off on the journey of a lifetime.
They don't go on the journey alone. On the way, they meet the old Muten-Roshi and wannabe disciple
Kuririn, with whom Goku trains to become a stronger martial artist for the upcoming World Martial Arts
Tournament. However, it's not all fun and games; the ability to make any wish come true is a powerful
one, and there are others who would do much worse than just wishing for a boyfriend. To stop those who
would try to abuse the legendary power, they train to become stronger fighters, using their newfound
strength to help the people around them along the way.
(Source: MAL Rewrite)
You probably hear many, many, many... many people complaining that Dragon Ball has basically no plot, the story sucks, and Kid Goku is annoying. I'm gonna have to say, being active in the Dragon Ball community for over five years and having seen this show and Z about seven times all the way through, all of those are wrong. I mean, the show doesn't have an outstanding plot or story, but they're enjoyable and fun. If you sense any form of bias in this review, it might be because this is my all time favorite show, but right here I'm going to explain why it's my favorite. The story, as I've said previously, is nothing impressive. You probably won't have to put on your thinking caps to analyze some deep, meaningful plot-line, you just get to sit back and enjoy a fun and excited action/adventure shonen show. A lot of fights have amazing choreography, the story is simple but sweet, and the slice of life aspects of this show are just as good if not better. The Red Ribbon Army arc is easily my favorite, it has so many iconic villains, the fights are very entertaining, and it's just such a good time. It's truly an endearing show that I hope you'll enjoy if you decide to check it out. Now, this section I will probably be very biased, because honestly I'm absolutely in love with Toriyama's art style. It's simple, unique, and to me beautiful. I love seeing fanart of it, and I love seeing the alternate cover pages he puts at the end of the manga. His art style is my favorite out of any other, but of course that's just me, so give this show a try and form your own opinion on the art. The voice acting? Nothing special and arguably poor (but not for it's time). The soundtrack? Exciting, up beat, feel-good music, makes you wanna dance, always makes me smile when the theme song's instrumental version plays in fights, and the ending song animates a lot of the cover art from the manga and... I know I've already said this about the art style, but I'm absolutely IN LOVE with the ending song/video. The song is nice and sweet, and the video is absolutely spectacular. It's always a good time with the Dragon Ball soundtrack. I have listened to the full soundtrack on loop. I love it. Even if you don't plan on watching this show, check out the soundtrack and see if you like it. Now, for the characters. Lets start with the second character we ever see in the show, Bulma Brief. I don't wanna say too much about her to keep things a mystery if you're not familiar with Dragon Ball (Which I doubt you aren't because who hasn't heard of this show, but just in case ya know?), but I can tell you that her personality isn't very likable. She complains just about 24/7, always looks on the negative side of things, is rarely happy, really is only happy when she's screwing someone over, etc., but she does have some very good moments, and some spectacular moments. Also, her design in this series (not necessarily Z) is one of my favorite designs in anime. It's so appealing, sometimes not so much, but most of the time it's amazing. Her design was real good when she first met Master Roshi if you know what I mean ;^)... actually you probably don't know what I mean because if you're reading this review chances are you don't know who Master Roshi is because you probably haven't seen the show. Let me enlighten you. Master Roshi is the master of martial arts, as he's called by the public, he's an extremely skilled fighter, despite his appearance. He's also the master of perversion, which leads to many funny moments in the show. Roshi is most likely the inspiration for many perverted old men in anime down the line, such as Jiraiya from Naruto. He's a legendary and underrated character. His moments with Launch are always amusing. Oh yeah, Launch is the women that ends up living with Roshi (You'll have to watch the show to figure out why a girl would willingly live with this man), and in this series she's Dragon Ball's best girl, which is later changed to another character in Dragon Ball Z; I won't spoil who. I might leave that for my Z review ;^). Wanna know my least favorite character in this show? That's right, Yamcha. Yeah yeah, I know it's a huge meme to make fun of him and all that, but he's genuinely a bad character. He does almost nothing for the show and you could take him out and not much would change. He does help in a big way like... once... but that's about it. He doesn't have the best personality either. He's just kind of there to be there, really. Now, the moment you've all been waiting for... the best character in the show... Goku. Goku is a twelve year old boy who was trained by his grandfather in martial arts, but he's not too good with the common sense. He's an extremely innocent and completely pure hearted boy that really just wants to eat and fight strong people. He's a simple character, but a very lovable one. Honestly, every character in this show is lovable in their own way. Yes, even Yamcha... he has SOME good moments. But Goku, he blows all the other characters out of the water. He's hilarious, adorable, endearing, honest, and just a fun person in general. The characters in this show are truly something else. Wow, the character portion was pretty darn long... sorry about that lol. Anyways, I definitely give this show a 10/10. You guys will most likely have varying ratings, but as I have a personal connection to this show, it has a very special place in my heart. Even without a personal connection, it's still one of the most enjoyable shows I have ever watched in my love. It's so much fun, and I really, really hope you give it a try.
Dragon Ball, where do I even start with this iconic show. Well, I guess I'll take it in a part by part evaluation. Personally, I absolutely love this show maybe this is due to me watching an overflow of shows with heavy themes or stuff that tries to take itself to seriously but Dragon Ball has none of that. It's just about Goku and his adventures to get stronger, make friends, and learn how to live and iteract with other humans and I think that it has a lot of charm because of that. Story: This story follows our protagonist Goku as he travels with Bulma to (most of the time) find the Dragon Balls. Now, while Goku himself isn't interested in the Dragon Balls many events happen that entice him to chase them, examples being Uppa's father's death and Krillin's death. It's not the most insanely in depth or most thought provoking story but it's very easy to understand and is a joy to watch. Characters: I think this is arguably Dragon Ball's strongest point with many iconic characters such as Goku, Yamcha, Krillin, Master Roshi, etc... All these characters and their character interactions are what really make the show as great as it is. Goku and Krillin have one of my favorite dynamics in anime as it's so simple being two kids who are just friends and I think there's really something to appreciate there. All these characters have so much charm, and if these characters weren't as great as they are this show would be infinitely worse. Art: I think the art here was great for its time and still holds up pretty well today. However, there's a ton of lights flashing which made me cover my eyes a lot more than I'd like to. Nothing much to say here but I really like the art style and I think it fits the show very well. Pacing: Here's where I think this show could've been a lot better. I read the manga before watching this show and I have to say, the manga is one thousand times better in terms of pacing, something that you can read in fifteen minutes in the manga takes 5 episodes in the show. I understand that they add more details and everything but I really believe that it's way to stretched out for it's own good. Conclusion: In a time where all shows need to have an incredibly profound message to appeal to the public Dragon Ball shines with it's simple story, great characters and art. The thing that's holding the show back for me is the pacing and this is where it falls behind the manga. I think if the pacing was better I could bump the score up more, but as it is I'm going to stick with my score. img1000(http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/34900000/Goku-Krillin-s-friendship-dragon-ball-34918036-713-395.jpg) Apparently this review isn't long enough?
Now, before anyone gets mad about my review synopsis, let me state that I do in fact love this anime. If you look at my rating for this review, I have it at a 80/100, I do quite like Dragon Ball, if I didn't I wouldn't have rewatched all 153 episodes (in addition to the 3 movies and 2 PSAs). If you want my condensed review, I think the anime is great and everyone should watch it, simple as. If you want to hear my personal misgivings with how this anime handled Toriyama's manga, please continue reading. I'm sure more than a few of you who have seen the anime will agree with my statements. Beginning in February of 1986, and ending in April three years later, Dragon Ball is a landmark anime of sorts, launching the careers of multiple people into "legendary" status, giving birth to one of the most lucrative anime franchises in history, and its sequel would go on to be one of the first major anime to break out into the Western sphere, alongside Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon and Yu Yu Hakusho among others. This status cannot be understated and cannot be ignored when discussing Dragon Ball, both as a franchise and as an anime or manga series, as it has fed into a cultural osmosis of sorts, particularly common in the aforementioned Western community. It is almost impossible to discuss this series without feeding into ideas of power levels, Super Saiyajins, internet memes, and even smaller things like Son Gohan or the "Saiyajin no Ouji". So, to paraphrase [MistareFusion's Dragon Ball Dissection, ](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpUvCDCHJKPNe8z2Il1tANb2fxld_KyMv) forget about all of that for this review. Forget about all of that when further discussing this series, let the trappings of franchise nostalgia, fatigue, and culture remove themselves from your brain, and focus only on the classic 1986 Toei adaptation, Dragon Ball. Got all that? Good, let's get started. img2000(https://i.imgur.com/98vhI2v.png) Dragon Ball is what I would tentatively call an underrated anime. Not the manga (God no), not Z (well, maybe, we'll get to that one when I watch all 291 + 2 episodes), nope, just the original anime. It sure gets a lot of lip service, but nobody really talks about what it does well, on its own, as an adaptation. From some well animated fights, amazing insert songs (some even being sung in character by the VAs (Yamucha's [Wolf Hurricane](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3XJzDTewOU) being a personal favourite of mine)), and by God is the filler underrated. People hear that term and act like it's the end of the world, but it really isn't, and trust me, we will get into that. But, before we get into that, let's start from the beginning, both for the anime and for a few of my grievances with it as it goes on. Dragon Ball was a series initially helmed by [Minoru Okazaki,](https://anilist.co/staff/156856/Minoru--Okazaki-) the chief director of the previous Toriyama-adjacent anime, Dr. Slump: Arale-chan (in addition to multiple other staff being brought over from Dr. Slump). It's very clear why Okazaki was put in charge of Dragon Ball, and in all honesty, for the first three arcs he does a mostly good job. Dragon Ball is very akin to Dr. Slump in its humour, and that vibe is especially present earlier on with the first arc essentially being a parody of the Asian fables (most notably, it parodies some of the characters in Journey to the West), and while the following arc is a slightly more serious tournament arc, it still carries an air of levity about it. Things like Namu's crisis are treated as a serious subject only to be questioned in a meta sense and then subverted comedically in story. Jackie Chun and Goku have a dramatic multi episode fight, that lends itself well both in the drama aspect and in the moments of humour (in particular, the end of the fight itself). img2000(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/716055630095581205/785348072875884554/mpv-shot0342.png) However, the cracks begin to show once the series enters the third arc, that being the Red Ribbon Army arc. While not as serious as later arcs in the series, it was decidedly shifting in tone as the story went on, going from the more comedic antics of Murosaki and Blue (even having Arale-chan and the rest of Penguin Village cameo) to the far more serious and sinister Tao Pai-Pai and death of Bora. While the presentation here is as good as it was before, it definitely feels like putting a round peg in a square hole. Tao's serious demeanour just doesn't jive with the aesthetic the anime itself had been setting up, but as a one off, that is fine. However, that's only as a one-off. Continuing into the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, the series struggles in its aesthetics and direction. Yamucha's broken leg, Tenshinhan's internal struggle, the Crane Hermit's revenge, Kuririn trying to prove himself against Goku, and the shocking conclusion all have great, even amazing elements backing them, but Okazaki's style derived from Dr. Slump feels like it's holding the series back at this point. These chunky characters, minimal use of interesting character shots, and flat feeling designs all lend themselves well to a comedy anime like Dr. Slump and even earlier arcs in Dragon Ball, but here they just begin to wear thin on me. This issue becomes exasperated come the Piccolo Daimao arc, one of the most serious arcs in this series. It was clear that a change in direction was needed, and so there was a shakeup in staff, with new planners and even a new role being added to the anime, (that being the role of "Series Composition"). img2000(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/811111525729042453/853074164389904404/mpv-shot0073.png) Even in the Heavenly Training filler arc, you can see a definite shift in the anime. There's a heavier focus on picturesque moments in certain episodes, with a keen eye for visuals always being present. But, to the untrained eye, this would go fairly unnoticed. What would go noticed though would be the dramatic shift come the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. The series would slowly begin to adapt to a more "gritty" look, with thick outlines, a focus on both the picturesque and fluid fight animation, heavy use of postcard memories (among other techniques lifted from Osamu Dezaki), and some other familiar attributes rear their head (like Piccolo taking half an episode to charge an attack). This arc is effectively, the first time I would consider the Dragon Ball anime superior to its manga counterpart. From the music, to the visuals, to the animation, everything about this arc is perfected here. img2000(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/811111525729042453/853830167444193280/mpv-shot0127.png) That's not to say the arc doesn't come without its faults (though I do struggle to list them), but this is both such a radical step up and departure form what came before in the anime that I don't care for the faults, however minor. This feels like the first time in a long time Dragon Ball has been Dragon Ball. Every moment is given its proper impact to the fullest extent, not a single thing feels undercut here, and I could very well gush about this all day. But, that's not what this review is for. While I have tackled my thesis statement, I have yet to actually discuss a topic I mentioned earlier, that being the filler issue. Dragon Ball is an anime notorious for filler, and it in fact does end on a 5 episodes filler arc (and quite a good one I may add). But, because it's not from the manga, this content is deemed to be automatically worse... for a reason I can't ascertain. It's not like Toriyama was the only writer ever, every filler episode had a writing credit tied to it, hell, some moments that dramatically flesh out the arcs here are themselves filler. The expansion to the Super God Water, Tenshinhan's early introduction, multi-day tournaments, all of these are anime original. The last one especially is a big point for me, as the tournaments lack a big chunk of their significance when they become single day affairs, while in the anime they're multiple day events. However, there's a far greater issue I'm sure some of you are itching to complain about, so I'll get to it right away. That issue is filler arcs. Whole arcs of anime original content, of which Dragon Ball has three, all lasting just around five episodes each. Two of them are adventure arcs, with the odd one out being a training arc. I feel all three of them are great. The first one, which doesn't have a name but is just Goku adventuring post-Red Ribbon Army, is a nice look at the world of Dragon Ball, showing Goku having other adventures, even drawing on some Journey to the West. While some episodes aren't as good as others, I found the whole arc to be quite a good time, especially Tenshinhan's introduction here. The second arc, that being the Heavenly Training Arc, is a worthwhile expansion to his training, while also keeping up the mystery of everything Goku learned up on the lookout. It doesn't show too much but does show Goku slowly learning more and more from Kami and Popo. The final arc, the Wedding Dress arc, isn't talked about all that much, and I can understand why. It's just five extra episodes added on, but they are quite fun, showing some characters that aren't utilized as much and this is the only time you actually get to see Goku and Chichi's wedding. It's pretty fun. img2000(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/811111525729042453/854010130944491520/mpv-shot0026.png) Now, I know not everyone will agree with me on this subject, and my paragraph above was HIGHLY subjective in nature, but I really feel that when it comes to filler, you ought to approach it with more of an open mind. Too many people see it as this pointless endeavour, something to be cut out in a fan recut or just skipped over, instead of something that people worked on and wanted to be shown. Filler usually doesn't matter in the longrun, that is true, but it's still additive to the media it is a part of, for good or for bad, and quite honestly, I can hardly imagine Dragon Ball without a lot of the anime's additions. By the way, one last thing to stir the pot. Sub > Dub. I tried listening to the dub and Goku sounds like a goddamn chain smoker, how can people honestly prefer this over Nozawa's performance? Hell, Amuro Motherfucking Ray voices Yamucha, for the whole series, and people will honest to God pick the dub over this. The dub doesn't even have the insert songs to my knowledge, what is this blasphemy, how can you watch gimped Dragon Ball. Anyways, review over. Please, reconsider sleeping on filler. Maybe reconsider writing off this adaptation as inferior. Even if you don't want to watch the whole thing, I do highly recommend the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, it is an astounding adaptation. Here's a little webm to convince you. webm(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/520026061468073986/856381873186275408/SOUKIDAN.webm)
Before we start, I just have to say I LOVE THIS SHOW. At first, I didn't understand why it was so important to watch if you like Dragon Ball Z, because most skip straight to Z and don't watch the original. But, now that I've finished, I can confidently say that if you enjoy DBZ, or even DBS, you will definitely enjoy the original Dragon Ball. Everything that happens in the later anime is all built on this anime, which is kinda crazy to think about. Anyway, let's just get to the review. I'll try not to make this review too long. For the story, in the beginning it starts off with Goku and Bulma traveling in search of the 7 dragon balls, that when collected can grant any wish desired. At this point, the show is less action-focused besides a few fights and is more focused on comedy, which makes sense because Akira Toriyama made gag manga before making Dragon Ball. You can see the roots of that in early Dragon Ball. It's only when Goku meets his friend Krillin and starts training under Master Roshi that the series becomes more action-focused. I don't want to get too deep into the story for those who haven't seen it, so I won't say too much. Just know that there are 3 major tournament arcs, and in my opinion, each tournament gets better and better. This is when Dragon Ball goes from a gag comic to a true battle shonen manga. It's more of a gradual process, but when you get there, you really notice the shift in direction of the series. My absolute favorite arc in this series is the King Piccolo Saga. Most of you know who Piccolo is from Z, but surprisingly not many know of his origins. That's all explained in this arc, and plus it's got the best fights in the series, in my opinion of course. Possibly the scariest villain out of all of DB. Sadly, Toriyama's writing flaws really shine in some parts of this arc. Without getting too deep into it, there's a major plot point that leads to the conclusion of this arc, but I feel it was done in such a lazy way. Turns out Toriyama was sick when he wrote what I'm talking about. I will say sometimes the animation is absolutely amazing. Smooth art, smooth frames, just an all-around well-looking anime. Other times...well let's just say the anime reminds you that it was made in the 80's. It's pretty inconsistent, and you might notice that when watching for the first time. Some parts of this show have aged like fine wine, and others haven't so much. I can say you can expect most important fight scenes to be animated nicely, like just like DBZ. Toriyama's art style is still magnificent, but this was back when DB had a more cutesy and round art style, in sharp contrast to the sharp angles and seriousness of DBZ. It really is a whole different vibe from DBZ, despite Z taking place a few years after DB. All in all, I believe that if you're reading this and you've seen Z but not the original, I highly recommend it. Arcs like the King Piccolo Saga really cement the foundation of everything this series offers later on. If you haven't seen anything Dragon Ball related, I suggest you watch Dragon Ball Z Kai first before any other series. Now I know that's not the right way of watching the series, but it's how I and most did it, and I'd say it enriches your experience of the original having already seen Z, or Z Kai. I wish I could get into all of my favorite moments from this show, but I'm trying to keep this review spoiler-free xD (One thing I forgot to mention is the filler. The anime is only 153 episodes, so I understand why some wouldn't want to skip it. But I promise you if you do it will make your experience better. The filler is fine but really pointless. Good thing there are really not that many filler episodes, only 14%, or 21/153 episodes.) If you want a more straightforward and coherent story, no random filler arcs and slow-paced episodes, I highly recommend just reading the manga. Anyways, that'll be all for me. Peace out. img220(https://c.tenor.com/JcuSfsgy_IoAAAAC/goku-dragon-ball.gif)
# __INTRO__ I didn't make this review to slander the sequels but honestly I find this better than the sequels because of the original fighting aspect of the series. Compared to the sequels that introduce transformations and forms and beams (even though OG Dragon Ball had beams too) this series still manages to capture the original aspect of tournaments and martial arts as a whole. #__CHARACTERS AND SCREEN TIME__ Compared to the sequel, Dragon Ball gives the spotlight to almost all the characters in the show and doesn't just leave them behind them. In Dragon Ball Z, characters like Yamcha are just the villain's sandbags and Launch just disappears. Even though Yamcha loses a lot in DB, he's still kept relevant as a character and not the dude that got beat by that Saibaman. The characters in general though are just people that are easy to like and not people worth sending death threats to. I’m just adding to this that after Saiyan Saga in DBZ, all Non-Saiyan characters are immediately irrelevant. img220(https://files.catbox.moe/w3k42h.jpeg) # __PLOT AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT__ Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super's plot is good but sometimes it just feels out of place. It reached the end point where it turned from simple martial arts tournaments to saving the world every single arc. ~!Taking DBZ's Majin Buu saga as example, at first it was a simple plot of but before you know it they're on another planet.!~ If were also including dragon balls in general, then the difference is obvious. Majority of OG DB's arcs were centered around them but from the sequels on they were only used at the end of each arc to restore everything back to normal. Once again I didn't make this to slander the sequels but they just feel like the entire point of the plot has been shifted and the original premise of the series disappeared. I doubt I'm making sense with this review only taking about keeping the series original but the sequels have their own good parts as well including animation and development. Dragon Ball Z really does a good job with the character development allowing characters to change and DBS's hype and animation are better than both. People usually complain that death in the series is just cast aside but from before DBZ people could only be revived once and even then, deaths in the series had actual impact on the characters and the show. img220(https://files.catbox.moe/58s2pa.jpeg) #__Soundtrack and Music__ Comparing the soundtrack won’t be easy but this probably goes to DBZ and DBS based on my personal enjoyment. DB isn’t really the best with soundtracks in general but once the producers got more material for DBZ and DBS, they were able to go all out and create really good soundtracks. So don’t remember much but Og Dragon Ball didn’t have that much soundtracks compared to it’s sequel. img220(https://files.catbox.moe/mknrlh.jpeg) # __Final Verdict__ As much as I love Dragon Ball and it's sequels, OG DB is the only one able to capture the original essence of what's called a fighting and tournament manga. I still love DBZ and DBS for specific things and reasons that OG DB doesn't have but I still recommend you give them all a try and don't skip anything because it's a ride you won't regret. img220(https://files.catbox.moe/xdfa9w.png)
Dragon Ball's anime is one of few anime that manage to make people outside of Japan into anime fans. Until that point the term wasn't common. It's also the series that people believe set all the standards for fighting shonen, which it didn't, but perhaps popularized it. The Dragon Ball anime is adapting only a part of the Dragon Ball manga. The other part is adapted as Dragon Ball Z which is far more popular but less consistent. But how do the two shows differ from each other? Btw, I will use Japanese terms sometimes and the review is written as someone who didn't watch the American dub. That is because Dragon Ball outside of America was more faithful to the original even in terms of soundtrack. Story Many consider Dragon Ball Z to be a show where badguy appears, threatens the planet, Goku or Gohan get a new form and win. Afterwards the Dragon Balls fix everything taking away all consequences. Well, that is partially true, but Dragon Ball is a little different. It is about the adventure of the young Son Goku who lived most of his live in the forest until he met Bulma. Bulma and Goku would go to an adventure seeking the Dragon Balls meeting various people on their way like Yamcha, Puar and Oolong. But they aren't the only ones after the Dragon Balls as the Pilaf and his underlings are also after them. The first arc of Dragon Ball is probably the best in terms of storytelling and character dynamic. There are no epic fights and jokes were build up very well. The main appeal is the interaction between the main cast since nobody trusts each other or tries to manipulate them: - Goku only goes with Bulma to see the outside world, but won't hand her the Dragon Ball - Bulma uses Goku for protection and intends to take his Dragon Ball for herself. She manipulates Oolong through let's say blackmailing - Oolong is a selfish pig and just tries to survive. He is pretty much held captive by the later two. - Yamcha is a bandit who acts as a friend in need but uses Bulma and the others to collect the Dragon Balls for him. Sadly there are no amazing fights Dragon Ball is usually known for. The arc after establishes the basic formula of Dragon Ball: - adventure to hunt Dragon Balls - Tournament arc and then these loop. Besides fighting to become the strongest under the heaven, Goku gets trained by Master Roshi who is considered the strongest human on earth despite him being retired. He fights an army later on, the Red Ribbon Army who have enough resources to make someone like Prince Pilaf shit his pants out of fear. Goku gets trained by God of Martial Arts Korin learning to make the most out of his movement. Goku would fight otherworldly beings like Mummies, the death and even demons including the Demon King Piccolo who surpasses Master Roshi even in his weakened state in power. Goku would receive training from the God of Earth also known as Kami learning about moving without thinking. There were lots of things based on mythology especially considering Dragon Ball started as some kind of parody of Journey to the West but was dropped at some point. But the anime would continue adding stuff in filler like the Gold and Silver brothers. It certainly is a much better product in terms of quality to the manga especially how the cast gets fleshed out and many wasted characters have their best moments in the anime. Characters I talked about some of them somewhat but here a few that stick out. Goku is the main character pretty much. In the first arc he is more a bystander but after that he becomes the most active. He learns the importance of training. Learns about the world and adapts. It is fun to see Goku react to woman. Or when he saw a TV the first time he thought a man was trapped inside so he broke it. But eventually he understands how the world works around him and even knows how to do basic maths by the time he became a teenager. Goku is also very oblivious to trickery which turns him into victim of pranks of Krillin. It never gets old seeing Goku react to something new or trying a new technique in battle. Bulma is probably the least likeable character which is also her appeal. She is corrupt and manipulative. She is weak to cute boys which balance out her "intellect" which is pretty much being able to build any device to solve any situation. After the first arc she falls off to the background and becomes pretty much a filler character. She would accompany Goku in a few adventures but otherwise she is just there for comic relief. Yamcha is another character that fell behind after the first arc. He would still train to take part in tournaments and eventually become Roshi's student. He is pretty much used as a jobber to put over a certain character in tournaments as he loses in a humiliating way. But aside of that Yamcha had some really good moments in filler where he went to an adventure to train under Korin with Krillin, Tenshinhan and Chaotzu. Oolong is comic relief and another main character that fell off after the first arc. His attempts to escape Bulma's wrath always backfire but he did come in clutch during his arc. After that he just exist as a punching bag. Master Roshi or Muten Roshi is the strongest human at the start of the story. He is your average pervert master who always gets punished for peeking. That is why his jokes work since he can't overpower women despite his lust. But behind these funny scenes there is a very wise master. His training is entertaining to watch as he teaches the importance of mundane work and morning workout. Learning how to use tools. Learning math. Learning the importance of rest. There is also some other generic weight lifting training and some stupid things, because it is still a comedy. Roshi has also some of the best fights in the series and whenever he enters the battle, you know shit is real. You can't talk about Dragon Ball without talking about Kuririn or Krillin. He starts off as a jerk trying to get all the training from Roshi for himself and tricks Goku several times. Eventually he softens up and becomes Goku's best friend. He is one of few characters that get the most involved, but not as much as you would hope. Tenshinhan or Tien starts off as an antagonist from a rival school. He wants to be like his idol Tao Pai Pai who kills people without mercy and strong. He is one of many characters that turn from bad to good. And its a nicely done story where he learns to be more confident in his own capabilities instead of relying on others. His redemption arc even goal all through the anime adaptation. King Piccolo is probably the best villain who actually brought real tension to the story. He killed several martial artist and even rendered the Dragon Balls useless (well... you know...). He is your average badguy who lies and is just a personification of evil but still on a comical side because its Dragon Ball. Piccolo Jr is the offspring and a copy of his character at this point. For the humiliation he suffered he wants to beat Goku in a "fair" fight to confirm his dominance as the demon king over the world. Pilaf Gang are a real highlight of comic relief villain. They are basically Team Rocket from Pokemon before it gets repetitive. Pilaf has great knowledge about the world but his stupid decision making always ends up punishing him and his underlings. But he would never admit that and would ask his underlings to confirm, if they don't give him the answer he wants to hear, he would punish them feeding them to crocodiles. Lunch is many people's favourite female Dragon Ball character. And in the anime the blond version really shines. She has a split personality which appears when she sneezes. Her blue form is nice and good at cooking, but she is kinda stupid. The blond version is a criminal using guns and other weapons. She will soften up eventually too and has some of the best character interaction. Art and animation aren't my thing but both are good for the time. The animation is fluid and the action is great. Dragon Ball has some of the best soundtracks like the Piccolo theme. Enjoyment Dragon Ball is known for its comedy telling a story about an overpowered kid to beats everyone with little effort. Because action is so loved by many, the author decided to give Goku actually competent opponents. The fights are well choreographed but not as flashy as Dragon Ball Z. But there is far more strategy and martial arts techniques in this which makes it superior to all other Dragon Ball series. Sadly some jokes didn't age too well because of modern censorship and modern standards in general. Also characters besides Goku became less proactive or rarely affected the plot. Roshi tried something in the Piccolo arc and failed. Krillin and Yamcha never managed to be helpful to Goku. Yamcha was useful in the first arc but was pretty much irrelevant after that besides being a jobber. Most of the cast exist as comic relief. They started with a good first impression but it seems like the writers didn't know what to do with them. Still better than what the manga did obviously. Overall Dragon Ball may not have planet shattering fights and massive explosions all the time. Nor does it have transformation that are used to like in Z, GT or Super. If you like world building, some good humor and enjoy a kid beat up adults, you will love Dragon Ball.