Do you like fighting games? Are you a big fan of superhero comics? Have you ever wanted to shoot fireballs out of your hands and blast someone right through a mountain?         If you answered yes to any, or all of these questions then you may be very interested in Dragonball Z.         Dragonball Z is the continuation of the popular TV series Dragonball. In the original manga series, created by Akira Toriyama, the name has always just been Dragonball from the begining to the end of the series. On TV however they wanted to let the veiwers know that the show was changing it's focus, so they added the Z to the title (this is a common practice with Japanese shows, Sailor Moon has added an S, R, and I believe some other letters). Dragonball started out as a very humorous and light hearted story with lots of potty humor and juvenile sex jokes. It told the story of Son Goku, an orphan that is remarkably strong and oddly enough has a monkey's tail. It was loosely based on an old Chinese legend. In Toriyama's version, Goku helps a girl named Bulma travel the globe to find the seven magical dragonballs. When brought together, the balls will summon a great dragon who will grant one wish, then scatter the balls across the globe to be searched for again. Dragonball covered Goku's life from childhood until his late teens. As the series progressed the emphasis moved more into the genre of fighting/action and less of the humor/adventure, but the humor didn't leave completely. Dragonball Z continues after Goku is married and has a boy named Son Gohan, who is around the same age Goku was in the beginning of the first series. It is during this second series that we learn that Goku is a Saiyin, a race of warriors, and was sent to Earth as a child to destroy it! There are tons of fights in this show, some that take several shows to complete. And when I say fights I don't mean just punching and kicking, I'm talking about super powered beings destroying city blocks, and even planets, these are fights you have to see to believe.         Some of the fans of Dragonball aren't as keen on Z for most of the reasons listed above. They have referred to it as Drag-on Ball Z, because of the multi-episode battles, and complain that there isn't as much story. I like both series, and while it can be annoying to wait a week to find out how the battle is going, it also adds to the tension.         There is was a third show in the series called Dragonball GT (for Grand Touring). This show is done with Akira Toriyama only acting as a consultant, and fans are split about it. I have heard that due to fan outcry Akira Toriyama is planning on bringing back HIS Dragonball, but this is still a rumor. GT goes back to the hunting for the dragonballs storyline except Goku gets turned back into a kid and this time they have a year to find the black dragonballs or the Earth will be destroyed. Also instead of being scattered across the planet they are spread across the galaxy, so there is a lot of space flight involved.         So far only 13 episodes out of 150 of Dragonball have been released in the US. They ran those in syndication and are available on video now. They did a major hack and slash job of it, and decided to skip right to Dragonball Z instead. They are starting out with the beginning of Z and hopefully won't edit as much of it. Evidently they decided to go with the show that has excessive violence rather than the show with some sexually "inappropriate" humor. "Teach the kids violence not love" - American Broadcasters -         If you happen to get the International Channel on your cable system then you can watch Dragonball in it's original Japanese. Check their listings for date and time. Les' Review:         Okay, I'm going to take a lot of heat for this from Dragonball Z fans, but I just don't like this show. I've seen both the syndicated American dubbed versions of both Dragonball and Dragonball Z as well as fan translated and completely untranslated versions from various sources. The original Dragonball was actually not bad. I kinda liked it and watched quite a few of the American syndicated shows. Dragonball Z, though, suffers from what I call the Superman Syndrome meaning that the characters are so powerful that it makes all the battles into ridiculous events that almost end up turning Dragonball Z into a parody of itself. Still, judging from the number of webpages devoted to this series, it is very popular and may be worth looking into if you like this sort of thing. Hairboy's Review:         Yes, I am another DBZ otaku. I love the totally over the top fights and Akira Toriyama's wonderfull artwork. I really like the long storylines and the way that the characters actually grow older as the series progresses. Sure they do have the problem of not being able to keep the characters dead, like in most American comics, but they do have a better way to rationalize bringing people back.         I must say that I wasn't to impressed with the Americanized version of Dragonball, due to the editing and the voice acting. But I think they are doing a better job with Z. They aren't editing quite as much and they voices seem a bit better. I just wish they left the original opening and closing, including the music.         If you haven't yet seen Dragonball, but think that the characters look familiar, you may have seen Toriyama's work in some video games. He designed the characters for CronoTrigger for the SNES and most recently Tobal No.1 for the Sony Playstation. Eric's Review: Eric's review is pending... Mirahla's Review: Miri's review is pending... The following web pages are sites for learning more about the characters and background behind Dragonball and Dragonball Z. The Akira Toriyama Super Database has just about everything you could ever want in the way of background material and character descriptions for Dragonball. You can also find links to many other Dragonball sites. The Dragonball Files is a nicely done Dragonball site with quite a bit in the way character geneology as well some pitures and links. The Saiyajin's Pride is chock full of news on Dragonball's future (and past) here in America ,in Japan, and around the world. The Anime Web Turnpike is always a good place to look for any anime show, and Dragonball is no exception. They have tons of links to some really good sites. Give them a look. Reviews | Anipedia | Resources | Essays | Zines | What's New Images from Dragonball and Dragonball Z copyrighted by Funimation. All other content copyrighted 1996, 1997, 1998 Les's Place Productions, Ltd.