Summary
The original Dragon Ball series had mature themes and off-putting humor, but still holds up despite its dated feel. The early days of Dragon Ball were heavily influenced by the folk tale Journey to the West, evident through the characters and the quest for the Dragon Balls. The Emperor Pilaf Saga captures the light and humorous tone of early Dragon Ball, with fast-paced storytelling and a focus on martial arts, but some of the crude humor may not resonate with modern readers.
The original Dragon Ball series contains adult themes and crude humor that some readers may find offensive.
The Dragon ball The franchise has been going strong since the 1980s. Since then, Dragon Ball has become one of the most popular manga and anime franchises of all time. Although much of the original Dragon Ball has been overshadowed by Dragon Ball Z in popularity, much of the original Dragon Ball series still holds up, although some of the humor seems quite dated.
The new Dragon Ball DAIMA series was announced to celebrate the franchise’s 40th anniversary. This is the perfect opportunity to revisit the early days of the franchise. Nostalgic fans will be interested to see how the series has changed over the years and how the characters themselves have changed. The first season of the anime, known as the Emperor Pilaf Saga after its main villain, captures the tone of the early days of the Dragon Ball franchise, including aspects that haven’t really grow old.
Early Dragon Ball feels very different from later installments of the franchise
Dragon Ball was originally created by Akira Toriyama
Akira Toriyama was originally inspired by a famous Chinese folk tale called Journey to the West, and this influence was most evident in the early days of the original Dragon Ball. The hero of Journey to the West is Sun Wukong, Sun Wukong, and Son Goku is the Japanese form of the name. In terms of design, Sun Wukong’s influence is the reason Goku has a monkey-like tail and a magical, elongated staff. More broadly, the influence of Journey to the West also inspired Goku and his friends in their quest to find the Dragon Balls. Later in the original Dragon Ball, this angle seems askew, but it is a major part of the Emperor Pilar Saga.
Given the popularity of beloved Dragon Ball characters like Piccolo and Vegeta, it can be easy to forget that both are relatively late additions to the franchise. Piccolo was originally a villain at the end of the original Dragon Ball and Vegeta wasn’t introduced until the first season of Dragon Ball Z and didn’t start becoming a good guy until over 100 episodes in. Even Krillian doesn’t appear until after the Pilaf Saga. Likewise, given Yamcha’s reputation as an underdog, it’s hard to forget that he was originally the second most important male character after Goku. There is no mention of the Saiyans, no hint that Goku is one of them, and Goku does not learn the Kamehaha, which became his signature technique until the end of the Pilaf Saga.
Overall, Emperor Pilaf Saga has a very unique tone compared to later series. Returning to the original Dragon Ball for the first time in years can be jarring, given how different it feels from the later series. Still, it provides fascinating insight into how Akira Toriyama’s storytelling style has changed. The original Dragon Ball’s Pilaf Saga still holds up, and there are some aspects of it that are arguably better than later installments in the series.
The Emperor Pilaf Saga is a fun, light adventure
Dragon Ball established itself as a shonen staple early on.
As the Dragon Ball series has continued, while it has never completely abandoned its comedic foundations, it has gradually shifted towards darker stories and darker stories. Very little of this appears in the Emperor Pilaf Saga. Early Dragon Ball was a lot of fun. Despite Pilaf’s stated goal of world domination, like most of the villains at the beginning of the series, Pilaf is never really seen as a real threat, as villains are. later like Frieza or Cell. If anything, he feels like a parody of the stereotypical supervillain, complete with a lair filled with ridiculous traps and gadgets, like an old Looney Tunes short dictionary.
Similarly, Dragon Ball was initially presented as a Martial Arts series, a perspective that eventually lost prominence as the series took on a broader cosmic and even multiverse scope. Although the second season naturally focuses more on this theme, due to its involvement with the World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku’s status as an aspiring Martial Artist is still clearly established and prominent in the Pilaf Saga. Characters like Goku and Yamcha actually take the time to explain their martial arts techniques and there are plenty of references and homages to the classic films.
The plot itself is surprisingly fast-paced. This might be especially surprising since Dragon Ball Z later became notorious for Goku spending episodes powering up and then talking to his enemies instead of actually fighting them. The season itself is only 13 episodes long. For comparison, in Dragon Ball Z, Goku’s confrontation with Frieza lasted about 20 episodes. Goku and his friends average about one new Dragon Ball per episode, have the Dragon Balls stolen by Pilaf and his gang, then spend the last few episodes getting the Dragon Balls back before Pilaf may wish to rule the world. Although the dragon Shenron’s first appearance was climactic and impressive, the gravitas was quickly undone by Oolong saving the world by preempting Pilaf’s desire to rule the world with his own. We have a truly comfortable pair of underwear. The moment at the end of the act is a perfect example of how the original Dragon Ball was largely driven by comedy.
The adventure continues, but some of the humor does not
Nowadays, some of the original Dragon Ball jokes don’t reach readers.
While the later installments of the series are noticeably more violent than the original Dragon Ball, the original was the only series in the series to be rated 14+ on Funimation before their library was moved to Crunchyroll after Sony merge the two services. Crunchyroll does not use the same type of rating system. This higher age rating is largely due to the crude, raunchy humor throughout the original Dragon Ball series. Unfortunately, much of this humor is long gone.
Dragon Ball’s most mature source of humor comes from Master Roshi or Oolong, both of whom are portrayed as unrepentant womanizers who frequently harass female characters, primarily Bulma. In addition, Bulma was placed in various humiliating situations for comedic or fan service purposes. It’s pretty gross, although it gradually fades away as the series and franchise progresses. Abandoning this type of crude, sexist humor is perhaps the biggest benefit as Akira Toriyama’s writing style changes and matures over time, and as Dragon Ball is so reliant on humor As crude and uncomfortable as this is, there are some truly unmissably hilarious moments. does not involve crude or demeaning jokes.
With the new series, DAIMA, scheduled for release in 2024, it’s the perfect time to revisit the series’ early days. The Emperor Pilaf Saga is a great look back at the early days of the series. These first few episodes were a nostalgic trip for fans and it was a surprise to see Dragon ball Franchising has changed for the better over the past four decades.
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