I Started Watching Dragon Ball

Admittedly, I didn't watch Dragon Ball Z while I was growing up. I knew it was a thing, I knew it was popular, and I heard all the jokes about Goku dying and how long the fights took, but that was about it. It wasn't until recently that I decided to give the series a shot, and decided to start at the very beginning by watching Dragon Ball. 

I haven't finished it yet, but I have finished watching the Emperor Pilaf Saga, which basically spans the first 13 episodes of the show. I'll write these blog posts as I go through the series, with each post briefly summarizing my thoughts on each saga.

Now, the Emperor Pilaf Saga sure was... something. This show is definitely a product of its time, as a lot of the "jokes" this early on are basically just Bulma, one of the girl protagonists, getting sexually harassed. Like, almost constantly. It was really uncomfortable to sit through, and it just made the show feel like it was dragging on longer than it was. 

Speaking of dragging on, the show's pacing is incredibly slow. I don't mind this personally, I enjoy downtime in a show so it can take the time to further establish characters' personalities and flesh them out, but I don't think this show does that really well. There's a lot of episodes where nothing really happens, which again, can be FINE, I think in this case it just gets to me because. Again. A lot of the jokes are just Bulma being subjected to harassment, or after Oolong comes into the picture, potty humour. Which I've never really been a huge fan of.

I dunno, I can't say I really enjoyed the Pilaf Saga. I think you would miss a lot of worldbuilding and character introductions if you skipped it though, so I also can't say it's best if you skip it? This part of the show just... exists. It serves it's purpose to introduce our protagonists, tell us about the dragon balls, and show us the world this story takes place in. But it's not really good. 5/10, I guess.

But, I will say, I did start getting more interested near the end of this saga, and it DOES get better afterwards as the show gradually finds its footing.