Brandon's Anime Lists: The Top Five Most Needed Dragon Ball Z Fixes

Two years ago, Toei Animation made the landmark decision to re-release the iconic anime series Dragon Ball Z as Dragon Ball Z Kai, with remastered HDTV animation and a more streamlined story. Funimation picked it up for America, handing it over to Nicktoons (instead of Cartoon Network, a decision that still stuns me to this day).

With the series almost ending (they completely cut the Buu story arc), I thought a lot about the two versions and whether the new versions fixed what was wrong with the original.

Now don't get me wrong; I am a HUGE fan of the original series, but it wasn't perfect. In fact, some things were so obviously wrong that I am surprised no one caught it. 

So, with that in mind, here is my list of the Top Five Dragon Ball Z Fixes, either done or not:

5. Dragon Ball GT should have never happened

I'm sorry to the people who actually enjoyed the series, but 90% of GT was an absolute mess that threatened to tarnish the franchise's legacy. Turning Goku make into a child was stupid, the designs for some of the characters were terrible (Trunks in particular) and the storylines were well-intentioned, but executed horribly. The only good thing to come from it was the ending, which actually ended the franchise in a fulfilling way. It would have been better to just tack that on to the series finale of DBZ, but it wasn't to be.

4. "It's a Super Saiyan bargain sale" - Vegeta

The Prince of All Saiyans wasn't the only one annoyed by the flood of Super Saiyans the series allowed for. When Goku became Super Saiyan to finally vanquish Freiza, it was one of the most epic moments in the series. When Vegeta became one after expressing his rage at not matching Goku, it was awesome. When Trunks did it, it was shocking. When Gohan did it, it was pretty cool. By the time Goten just popped on some gold hair, it lost a bit of its luster, especially since he didn't even have to try for it. Honestly, with all of the rage Chi-Chi dealt with, I was surprised she could go Super Saiyan. 

3. Vegeta should've beaten Buu, and that should've been the end of DBZ

Vegeta is an arrogant, narcissistic, self-serving, borderline maniacal idiot of royalty. Despite all of that, in order to atone for his sins and save his loved ones, Vegeta literally blew himself up to save the world from destruction-loving Majin Buu. It was a moment so epic that it even got its own voiceover tribute. The series ending a bit after that, with the world at peace, Gohan as the new savior of the planet, and Goku and Vegeta fighting in the Other World would've been brilliant. Instead, Buu survived and we had to deal with even more endless fighting with that annoying (although awesome in its own way) pink blob. Some may diasgree, but Vegeta really did deserve to beat Goku at something.

2. Character development, please

Yes, I know it's an intense action series filled with explosions and stuff. But Dragon Ball Z also had some amazing well-rounded characters that were worth exploring. Goku, Vegeta, and Bulma are three that could have been delved into a lot deeper. How did Goku really feel about constantly leaving the family he loved behind to save the world? How did Vegeta cope with his change from merciless villain to staunch anti-hero? How did Bulma fall for Vegeta? It may be the creative writer in me, but the series would have been a lot more fulfilling if they had focused on the characters when they weren't fighting (instead of the ridiculous fillers we had to sit through).

1. Better pacing of the story

Let's assume that Dragon Ball Z was airing the Frieza saga daily on Cartoon Network. I could watch one episode, wait a week, come back to watch another episode and still be in the same fight between Freiza and Goku. One of the show's biggest issues was that it took forever and a half to finish a fight, let alone a story arc. No wonder it last 291 episodes! One of the things DBZ Kai did really well was cutting a lot of the fat from the old series (including the useless Garlic Jr. saga), allowing for a swifter story that was easier to digest. It's a shame that we won't see how they handled the Buu saga (can we just pretend that the whole Gohan Z Sword thing didn't happen, since it didn't mean anything Buu laying waste to him and all).

Once again, DBZ was an amazing, iconic series, but there were places where things could've been improved.

Agree with the list? Disagree? Think there are other important fixes to be made, or was it absolutely perfect? Leave your response in the comments (either Facebook or regular Blogger comments). 

Also, let me know if you like these Anime versions of the Brandon's List series and I will definitely do more! Also, if you haven't check out the Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time post I did with Ryan Mason!