The last few years i have been watching a lot of Hayoa Miyazaki movies like Porco Rosso, Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbour Totoro and they are great and remain some of my favourite anime. I just wanted to wright this review on Dragonball Z because after watching just over 100 episodes (from the start) i am totally blown away by how epic and powerful the whole thing is. I needed this kind of thing after watching the gently paced and mega friendly movies above. Dragonball Z has so much going for it. The characters are brilliant and numerous and they are all used perfectly. The villains are super evil, check out frieza in his final form, and the story is unbelievably epic (especially if you have watched all of dragonball, which i recently have). The most noticable element of Dragonball Z, though, are the battles. Now i'm watching the original jap version and i've never seen anything like it, in a good way. I love the way the big battles last 30 episodes and the OTT fighting is genius. I don't know why people slag them of. This is animation! Actors can't do this sort of stuff so why not take advantage. It's so exhilararating. Like in the saiyan saga when Vegeta (a terrific character) is hit by the Ki bomb and sent flying into into oblivion, only to fall back down to earth, completely battered and angered, then launching a massive energy blast in all directions, utterly destroying the surrounding area. Thats just one of my favourite moments so far. Since ive only seen a third of Dragonball Z, im not going to give this a strict rating. Anime fans who have'nt seen it should definetly do so, and people who have'nt seen the jap version should watch it. I've seen a few of the dubbed and cut versions on sky and they don't capture the same intensity of the original. The ending theme of the original is really good, too. Mind you, who am i to talk, i've only just started watching it and i can't wait to continue. Long live Dragonball......
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