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As you well might have guessed, this will be my rant page, a little corner of my site where I will basiclly be flapping my yap consantly about the things which really get onto my fragile nerves, or about the things I'm excited about, or practicly anything that's seems pointless to point out. ^_^ Don't mind me. This is my territorial bubble.



DBZ and why it sucks - Mon Oct 29, 2001 7:04 pm

This is a long rant. It contains material that may offend devote Akira Toriyama or Goku fans. Please keep in mind that these are my thoughts and opinions and have respect for them just as I have respect for yours. I'm not looking for an arguement. Just for someone to listen.


Ok. I'd just like to declare, with as much respect possible to all the DBZ, Akira Toriyama, and Goku fans out there that might be reading this, that I offically dislike Dragonball Z as a WHOLE.

Now you all may be wondering why a devote Vegeta fan like myself can possibly hate the storyline in which Vegeta is part. It's all very simple. I think of DBZ as a very poorly written fanfiction. It has a lot of potental with plenty of interesting characters and even some decent plot ideas. But all of it's good potential is wasted on the fact that Akira did something that every good fanfiction writter tries to avoid doing.

He made Son Goku, the main character in the story, a perfect, all powerful, pure hearted being whom no one in the known universe could ever hope to possibly surpass in strength. Essentially, he's like a very bad self insertion. The fact that he's never once had an impure thought in his mind alone makes him bizarrely unrealistic and ultimately uninteresting. Also, the fact that his only faults are his eating habits and his simple mindedness only make him more annoying rather than more interesting.


There is another fault in Akira Toriyama's work that makes the series as whole all the more ununique and unoriginal. Every other plot line is in essance a repeat of the same old idea:

1. Powerful villian threatens earth/universe with tyranny/destruction.
2. Hero trains to meet the challenge.
3. Hero goes through some power altering transformation.
4. Villian is defeated by transformed hero.

There's hardly ever any change! I can't even think of there being any change to this pattern.


I mean, seriously, where is the skill in getting really pissed off and transforming into several differant levels of Super Saiya-jin? The only technique that ups powerlevel that I can think of that took some practice to learn was the Fusion Dance. That technique had STEPS to it, like a real kata or fighting style. You hardly ever see Goku learning any new styles of fighting like dragon stance or grappling, or shoalin stance, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. All the training you ever see is punching and kicking air under high gravity or with weighted clothing. It takes more that strength and speed to win a fight. It also takes good old fashioned SKILL.

I'm in no way insulting Vegeta's training. At least it's been shown that HE knows differant fighting styles and has worked on making his DEFENSE stronger rather than always working on his offense.


And why on earth didn't Vegeta turn Super Saiya-jin 2 when Trunks was killed by Cell? His emotional situation was even worse than Gohan's when he turned SSJ2. If Akira is so hot on the idea of emotion upping your power, why didn't this same rule apply to Vegeta, who was one of the most emotional characters in the series?! The man can't even stick to his own rules about how to turn Super Saiya-jin! His inconsistancy in this respect is a big fault.


And btw, what kind of writer hates his own creations? I'm a writer, and even I appeciate my villians and their character, no matter how terrible they may act. I create interesting characters, be they villians or heros. An empty villian with no depth, method, or reason for his evil makes for a cliche and ultimately pointless addition to the plot. That is what made Vegeta so great, even when he was a villian. He had reason to act the way he did. He was orphaned as a boy and raised by his father's very murderer. He's alone in the universe, a Saiya-jin alien with no home and hardly any of his kind left. He was used by his father's murderer as a tool of war. He'd never known anything but anger, hate, and cruelty. If I had been brought up in those same circumstances, I'm sure I might have turned out much worse than Vegeta had. The faults Toriyama gave him is what made him so great. A truly good character is someone with whom the reader can on some level sympathize, if not empathize, with.

And yet, for these very same faults, Akira hated Vegeta. And he continued to glorify the Christ figure that was Goku.

Akira's ultimate failure as the writter of Dragonball Z was the fact that he didn't know what makes a good hero. The hero's journey in liturature clearly dictates that the hero of any story undergoes a personal character transformation. This is universally true in every story. And this is true for Vegeta himself, along with almost every other character in DBZ EXCEPT Goku himself. Piccolo, Gohan, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Yamucha, Chichi, Bulma, Trunks, Goten, Videl, even Mr. Satan have undergone this transformation in one form or another. And yet the "hero" of the story himself, the ever pure Goku, remains basicly unchanged throughout all of Dragonball and Dragonball Z.


And so these are my true feelings on the matter. Dragonball Z has many good things about it. But all the most important parts that make a story great are lost. This is the unfortunate truth. Thus, millions have turned to the safe haven of fanfiction to make up for Toriyama's short comings. Myself included. I theroughly enjoy DBZ fanfiction, even more so than I do the actual series itself.

And yet, we all must give credit where credit is due and thank Mr. Akira Toriyama for giving us such memorable characters as he has given us. DBZ has become apart of American culture, influencing many other shows and art styles. And most importantly to this group I believe, is that because of Akira, we now have Vegeta. To talk about. To write about. To dream about. To bring us togather as fans. As people. For that, I appreciate Akira Toriyama and the work he has commited himself to doing. And to you, member of the group, who have given your open minded attention to my rant, I thank you for listening. I feel much better now that I've said what has been weighing on my mind for a long time now. Thank you. *bows*


More to come soon!