Dragonball GT
Dragonball GT is a non-canon continuation of the original series Dragonball Z. Dragonball GT begins with Goku, the protagonist, being transformed into a child by a hastily made wish upon the black star dragonballs, a variation on the regular dragonballs. This wish was made by one of his original enemies, the rueful Emperor Pilaf and his less then evil minions. Unbeknownst to Pilaf and crew, the evil energy stored within the black star dragonballs were expelled post wish, causing a chain reaction that gives the earth only a limited amount of time before it blows up in a massive cloud of space dust. Now a pint sized squirt, the first arc takes Goku, Pan (his granddaughter), and Trunks (a close family friend) on a journey across the universe to recover the black star dragonballs before the earth runs out of time.
Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high due to the pure awesomeness of the original anime, but was it just me or did the action seem a bit…. sluggish? The iconic high speed punch and kick sessions that made Dragonball Z famous were a scarce sight in GT. To make matters worse, the boss fights were way too short. In Dragonball Z, it took Goku at least eighteen episodes to take down Frieza from start to finish (rough guess). In contrast, it took Goku about six episodes to take down Baby, the first real villain of consequence to appear in the series. Simply put, I was terribly disappointed. It was as if the animators suddenly decided to condense about two hundred episodes worth of action into a measly sixty episodes. While we are on the subject of condensed action, I have another issue with GT. Dragonball Z mesmerized the viewer with giant power balls and power beam struggles that practically ripped the planet apart. GT did its best to replicate the original series, but it was way toned down. The destruction simply was not as epic as it used to be.
Despite my bad mouthing, GT still had its good points. The Dragonball franchise will always stand in a class of its own when it comes to guys with the power to blow up the planet on a whim. Also, even though it has been condensed to a severe degree, the action will always be unique to the Dragonball franchise. I’ll even admit that the last battle between Goku and Omega Shenron, the last villain before the series ends, was pretty freakin’ awesome, but that’s where I’ll draw the line when it comes to compliments.
Action, action, action. That’s all I’ve been focusing on, but then again, if you're familiar with the Dragonball franchise at all, that’s probably what drew you to the anime to begin with. Just for a moment now, strip away the heavy overlying theme of action and you’ll find a pretty decent story line that goes back to well over two hundred plus episodes, demonstrating some great storytelling.
Dragonball Z will always be an awesome anime in my book, but Dragonball GT was an epic fail with a capital E. I would give this anime a big fat 0 out of 10, but since there were a few things that I liked about the anime I’m throwing it a 3 out of 10. Keep in mind that Dragonball GT is not canon to the original Dragonball Z story line. This series is essentially its own continuity, and should be watched with that fact in mind. If you wish to continue the series where Dragonball Z left off, I suggest watching Dragonball Super. I recommend Dragonball GT to the fans of the series.
