Well, I was going to do a summary... But it didn't take me long to discover that it would take an eternity to do so, and my time would be better spent just typing up something that would give people who have never heard of the series (you know, all those freaky hermit people living in caves and such) a general idea of what it's all about. Besides. This is DBZ we're talking about. The story isn't all that important. In order to enjoy this show, you simply need an appreciation for violence and all-powerful beings. There's nothing complicated about it at all.
DBZ is a sequel series to the popular Dragonball manga/anime created by Akira Toriyama.
It stars a grown up version (physically, anyway... I think he kept the same mental
level... ^_^) of the hero of Dragonball, Son Goku. He's your basic goody-goody, cutesy main character; this guy wouldn't swat a fly if he didn't have to. But, of course, he's amazingly powerful. Although I've heard a lot of arguments on the subject, in my opinion Goku is the strongest character in the entire series. But that's only if you don't count fusions, or Gohan's "Mystic" power which he has control of once and then only for a very short amount of time. ... That's totally off the subject though. *coughs* Anyway.
The series is quite simple and straight-forward, following a very basic pattern. Step 1: Bad guys invade, planning to take over/kill everyone/steal something important. Step 2: Good guys do some training, go out onto the battlefield, and get their butts kicked by the Saiya-jins/Ginyu/Furiza/Androids/Cell/Buu/etc. Step 3: Goku gains some sort of miracle power from somewhere deep in his soul and manages to conquer the evil to save his friends. (The only exception to step 3 is in the Cell saga... but that story's for another day.) Step 4: Repeat steps 1-3, with a few variations of scenery thrown in every now and again. A very, very shallow concept... but still strangely entertaining... >_> Though I'm nowhere near as in love with it as I used to be. Yet there will always be a place in my heart for this show... It introduced me to the wonderful world of anime. And, for that, I shall always be grateful.
I got off subject again. >_< Bah. Bottom line: Dragonball Z is a simple, shallow, but wholly entertaining series for those of you who like testosterone-filled action. There are a zillion different characters who run in and out, but most of them have so little depth or character development that they're quite forgettable. The only exceptions would be Gohan and definitely Vegita. Everyone else basically stays the same throughout the entire show. This is not a series for people who love intricate plots... But if you ever need a mindless action fix, it doesn't get much better than DBZ.
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