| Review:
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The Dragon Ball franchise has been around for nearly
30 years now. Akira Toriyama, also known for his work on
numerous video games and other series, created a classic
for the ages when he put the first volume of the Dragon
Ball manga into Shonen Jump magazine in 1984. Like many
manga series, it inspired an anime adaptation. ***
Dragon Ball GT is not based on the manga by Akira Toriyama,
but rather, is an anime-only sequel series made by Toei
Animation, on which Toriyama had minimal involvement. The
show attempts to recapture the adventure/comedy feel of
the original Dragon Ball in its earlier episodes, but gradually
reacquires the straight-up action approach of Z. ***
Dragon Ball GT gets a mixed reception from fans - with
many of them straight-up hating it, calling it a disgrace
to Toriyama's original work. I agree with much of the negative
criticisms, the series borrows too much from its predecessors
and feels like a compromise of them at best. There are some
great moments in this series, but you have to wade through
a bunch of uninteresting stuff in the process. GT is worth
watching ONCE if you were a fan of the older series (original
and Z), but don't come in here expecting something amazing.
There is a reason the series only lasted 2 seasons. ***
FUNimation originally skipped the first episodes of
GT, wanting to get right into the action parts. This got
an outcry from fans, prompting FUNimation to eventually
release those missing episodes - which they did. In the
long run, all of GT was released on DVD uncut, along with
the Hero's Legacy movie. Were Season Sets, after all that,
even necessary? --
Image And Sound:
FUNimation must have heard the fan outcry on the complaints
about the Z series, because the Dragon Ball GT sets are
presented in the original 4:3 ratio, with no cropping or
annoying noise reduction. These could very well be the same
transfers Toei used on the Japanese Dragon Box sets, though
I can't verify this since I don't own those. But the show
looks very good, and these transfers are, if nothing else,
a slight step up from the old Saga sets. ***
Sadly, the audio on the Japanese track is still fairly
weak in comparison to the quality that was given to the
dub. The dub version of the original Dragon Ball is more
accurate and appealing than that of the Z sets, though I
still have my quibbles here and there. I'll be sticking
with the Jap audio, but that's just me.
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| Special
Features: |
There aren't any features on the discs aside from textless
songs and trailers, however like the Z sets, each set comes
with an informative booklet. The Season 2 set, however,
has the Hero's Legacy movie, set 100 years after GT, as
a bonus.
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