Let’s be honest, you’ve heard of Dragonball Z. If you didn’t, at some point during your childhood, try to go Super Saiyan then you definitely know someone who did. For so many nineties kids, living vicariously through Gohan and watching in awe as Goku shattered every limit set in front of him, was an essential part of our lives.
But before all that was the story about a goofy kid with a tail.
Reading Dragonball at thirty after growing up with the franchise is a surreal experience to say the least. Not just because so much of my familiarity is with Z and later, but because the anime I grew up watching was heavily censored and for good reason.
If I’m being honest, the first arc, which amounts to Goku making friends and seeing out the Dragonballs, was tough to get through at times. Even if I had been given a trigger warning for extremely uncomfortable situations that play out, actually watching it play out almost doesn’t computer.
However in between seeing Goku full frontal several times, checking gender like Crocodile Dundee and Bulma’s infamous flash of Master Roshi, I did find myself enjoying the plot. It was simple, clean and fun.
Then the second arc kicks off. Krillin is introduced (and Launch who I forgot about altogether) and the boys spend months training before entering the World Martial Arts Tournament! From this point until the end of the arc, I couldn’t stop. The content was notably less gross, but even so it was so much fun to see the boys competing against strangers and the comically named Jackie Chun.
Besides all of that, Toriyama’s art is excellent and seeing the origins of characters so integral to my childhood made this a worthwhile read.
No Strong Opinions 