“YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED!”
Long ago, ok, 23 years ago, a great man created a series that has become synonymous with anime. That man is Akira Toriyama and the series is Dragon Ball. This box set is only Season 1, but a lot of good is packed in its 5 disks. This re-release of Dragon Ball: Season 1 has been digitally remastered and uncut with the original musical score.
Highlights
As stated, Season 1 covers the Dragon Ball series' first 2 sagas (Emperor Pilaf and Tournament) and the fist 3 episodes of the Red Ribbon Army saga. The first saga starts off with the meeting of the genius Bulma Briefs and the naïve monkey boy Goku, who has been living in the middle of the nowhere since his grandfather passed away. The whole Pilaf Saga is the introduction of Goku, Bulma, and the perverted Turtle Hermit Master Roshi, the shape shifting Oolong, the desert bandit Yamcha and his partner Puar, and finally Chi-Chi and her father, the Ox King. But that is just the first half of the saga: After Goku learns the powerful Kamehameha Wave attack the story progression kicks up and we see more of how strange and mysterious Goku really is. The ending is both funny and a nice way to end as Goku leaves to train with Master Roshi.
The Tournament saga starts off introducing Krillin, who as Goku’s rival is a bit of jerk at first. There is good humor in here and a lot of action in the later half, once the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament starts after the 5 episode bizarre training that Goku and Krillin have to go through. While the training is funny, once the tournament starts the martial arts really kick off. The tournament is full of unusual characters that show off a lot of martial arts skills, much more than in the previous saga. After the tournament and a filler episode, the last two episodes introduce the more menacing Red Ribbon Army.
Overall
I love this box set. Not only because I haven’t seen Dragon Ball since it had last aired on television. Much of the humor is from the naiveté of Goku and from Pilaf and his group as he tries to acquire the dragon balls for himself. I love the voice work and the use of the original music that was changed when it aired over here a few years ago. What I really liked is that with the box set was a small booklet that had summaries for all characters. The Heroes had who played them in Japanese and English, what their dreams are, and their personalities and techniques. It also gave summaries of all the episodes that appear in this season. It’s a nice little touch for any Dragon Ball fan.
ComicsOnline gives Dragon Ball: Season 1 5 out of 5 Kamehameha Waves
