Dragonball Z is first and foremost, a Japanese cartoon. Let's face it: the Japanese are, well...Japanese.

On the surface, yeah, it's kinda lame at times, but underlying the goofiness and "I have horrible constipation" power-up grunts, there are some predominant themes that I enjoy: never give up, always push your limits, be a bad-donkey. The Japanese version contains swearing and blood, unlike the horribly censored and edited English version. The show has some very awesome animation, especially towards the end of the series. It also has the distinction of being the most popular and recognizable anime show of all time.

Goshi mentioned that the first series, Dragonball is about the solving the mystery of the balls. Dragonball Z continues where the first series left off and explains where Goku (main character) actually came from. What DBZ is really about is Goku discovering his roots and how he and the only other surviving pure-blooded Saiyans atone for the sins of their race by constantly struggling and suffering at the hands of villains who seek to destroy them or others. DBGT is about the main characters and their families again having to suffer for their abuse and overuse of the dragon balls in the previous two series. Here's a quote from wikipedia outlining some other themes to DBZ:

Quote:Themes

Throughout the series, there is a strong theme that young people can achieve great things, despite their inherent drawbacks. One example is during the Cell Games Saga, in which Gohan (at age nine in the Japanese version, eleven in the Funimation version) is given the responsibility of defeating the villainous Cell, which he does after unlocking his inner strength. In addition, Gohan starts out young in the series, and accomplishes much despite his young age.

Another theme is the turning of fortunes in a battle through desperation or righteous anger. Many battles proceed almost to defeat for the heroes, finally to be reversed through a desperate act to defend their home or loved ones. Characters who have used this to their advantage include Goku, Gohan and even Vegeta. This theme is found in almost every battle.

One of the main and deepest of themes is fatherhood. Not only is it seen in the obvious example of Goku and his sons, but also Vegeta, who has a hard time at first, but eventually learns what it means to be a father as seen in the Cell Games,and Buu Sagas, and most of Dragon Ball GT.

InuYasha is much like DB in many ways, but with better animation and less filler (although there is still a lot).

I'm sure I've forgotten some other animes I've watched and enjoyed, but I don't watch much because I find much of it to be intolerably annoying and too steeped in Japanese culture to be enjoyable by the rest of the world.

(This post was last modified: 07/04/2007 08:25 PM by Liquid.)