Hello, this is my first review on MAL, and I thought I’d talk about one of the classics. I avoided watching the famous anime that literally everyone I ever knew personally watched just so I can experience it the same way that the Japanese first did in 1984- through the original manga. So let’s dive into it…

Well as for the art, it’s still great. Toriyama’s art is cartoony but rich in detail at the same time. It definitely holds up after over 30 years.

I love how the series is off-the-wall funny along with the fast pacing and the intensity of the battles. Yeah, I just called this manga “fast-paced”. The anime was notorious for many scenes where it would take several episodes for someone to launch a single attack. Well, in this it does take a few chapters to do and back when it came out in Japan they had to wait one week for each chapter. But nowadays, with the full series complete and able to be read through all in succession, there isn’t really a problem here.

Oh, and I also called the fights “intense”. Despite how goofy this series is, I found myself sweating in a lot of the combat scenes, especially in the classic Tenkaichi Budokai arcs. It was all invigorating stuff. All the way up to the end, I never thought the fights themselves were bad. Although I’d argue that’s the only constant “good” throughout the series. And now for my complaints...

I’m willing to argue that volumes 17-42 (sorry, I’m counting them by their actual volume number, not when Viz reset the counter and stuck a Z onto the end of it), which were the basis for the mammothly popular Dragon Ball Z that every kid in my generation other than me grew up with, are weaker than the previous 16 volumes.

Okay, first complaint: the characters. I liked pretty much everyone in the first 16 volumes (even Yamcha). I wasn’t emotionally attached to them like with the cast of One Piece or Boku no Hero, but I liked them enough to care. Most of them carry over to Z, but they might as well not have. Goku, and one other are the only returning characters who matter. EVERYONE ELSE is useless. Although the fights are still great by themselves, this aspect still bothered me to death.

My other big complaint is that I think the manga has overstayed its welcome. I think the series would’ve ended perfectly at the arc covered from volume 21 up to some point in volume 28. But it didn’t, and I honestly didn't care too much about whatever happened after that. It's not as bad as the final arc in Fairy Tail, but it's still pretty bad.

If this manga went on for any longer than volume 42, I would’ve probably stopped liking it, which is why I have no interest at all in Super. But nonetheless, the action and pacing stay solid for all 42 volumes, and I recommend that you read this because it’s better than the anime and it’s a classic that you should read at least for educational purposes.