Dragon Ball franchise.
It’s time to wrap up the first story arc in the Z portion of Dragon Ball, although unlike the other story arcs in the series this ends by going straight into the next one, with several plot-threads not resolved until that arc’s ending. Still, the fight between Goku and Vegeta is iconic within anime circles in general let alone Dragon Ball, so let’s have a good look why!
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After a long stay in filler land we return to the actual manga source material for more Dragon Ball Z Saiyan Arc… for the most part. This is DBZ after all, there are still some filler added, but at least we get a majority manga stuff section this time. The Saiyans Nappa and Vegeta arrive on Earth and waste no time tracking down the heroes of Earth, but what’s this? The side characters get the spotlight because Goku can’t make it to the battle? Shocker! Let’s take a look…
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It’s time for ten straight episodes of almost entirely filler as the Saiyan Arc grounds to a stop for “not catching up to the source material” reasons, something that actually stops for the most part after this, adopting the “making each episode agonisingly slow” method instead. Having said that I have strong and very happy memories of watching some of these episodes on TV when they first aired (two episodes a day, it has to be said, and some of these filler stories were cut entirely) so I don’t mind some of these stories purely with nostalgia goggles on. Let’s take a look!
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My review of the first 12 episodes can be found by clicking HERE.
Quick dive back into currently-airing anime but sticking with Dragon Ball, the latter half (ish) of Dragon Ball DAIMA has now aired and its time to look at how the series ended. It’s a very odd one honestly and it sets up something of a new continuity going forward rather than sliding in between Z and Super. It also has some extremely lazy writing and some very odd plot thread drops that makes me think that maybe Toriyama didn’t finish his draft for the finale before he passed… Well, either way, let’s take a deeper look.
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It’s been a long time coming but after covering the whole of the original series it’s time to finally start covering Z. This is definitely one of those things I put up thinking “doesn’t the internet really need someone reviewing such an iconic series in 2025? What’s left to say?” Well… nothing really, but after covering the criminally under-looked original series I wasn’t going to leave it there! So let’s take a look at the first 10 episodes, because the Saiyan Arc is so comparatively short but I still wanted a consistent four-ish parts. Thanks to pacing issues future arcs will have higher episode chunks, I have no doubt…
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Dragon Ball DAIMA (is it all caps? Not sure, I’ll go with it…) was originally just a 40th Anniversary celebration mini-series, but sadly it’s now turned into Akira Toriyama’s swansong with the franchise after his passing last year. So does it work as both? Yes! DAIMA has Toriyama’s old sense of fun adventures with the odd childish gag here and there that he loved to write so much, but it also has added a lot of lore and continuity to the franchise to give it a little bit of a kick as it enters its 41st year. What will happen to the franchise after DAIMA is up in the air, so let’s just enjoy the start of this full stop at the end of the original creator’s run, shall we?
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Sometimes films can be great ways to tell stories but other times you’re left wanting a bit more behind the characters and story, and in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero’s case… I wasn’t really left with that feeling. Hey-ho, I also wasn’t going to say no to this Manga version adding a larger focus on Trunks and Goten as teenagers as a prologue, and the extra couple of chapters worth of epilogue was good fun too, but the actual adaptation in the middle was nearly entirely just that: a straight adaptation. Obviously now that Akira Toriyama has passed the manga has gone on hiatus with no idea whether Toyotarou will continue the series without his idol’s story guidance it might be the end of the series entirely, and in that sense it does end on a very pleasant note. Let’s take a look!
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In a sentence I never thought I’d ever type, I wrote an obituary for Akira Toriyama for Anime UK News, which can be viewed by clicking HERE.
Heartbroken doesn’t even cover it… My reviews of Dragon Ball Z later in the year will have a slightly more impactful feel now. RIP.
The original Dragon Ball series comes to a close with these five filler episodes, and while most of the time its perfectly normal to shudder at the phrase “Filler Arc” this one is actually quite entertaining. I mean I still don’t think it really adds anything beyond seeing Goku and Chi Chi’s wedding at the end (Spoilers? Though it’s sort of in the title of the arc… and my thumbnail…) but if you’re going to artificially add more episodes then this was at least fun and told a mini-story rather than random singular episodes or a really obnoxiously long arc. So let’s take a look and finally close the book on the original DB series!
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It’s time to wrap up the final story arc of the original Dragon Ball series… well, it would be if this was the manga (though that was technically just called “Dragon Ball” the whole way through) but ignoring the post story filler arc, this is the big finale as Goku and Piccolo do battle in one final epic Dragon Ball battle before the beam-fests and teleporty fights that follow in Z. How does it hold up? Why, let’s take a look, shall we?
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Hogan Reviews 