Dragon Ball - Episode 01 Review

Episode 1, "Bulma and Son Goku" *****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: A young boy named Son Goku, with a monkey tail, lives in the forest on a mountain, alone. A teen girl named Bulma hits him with her car, and is astonished to see he is unphazed by both that and bullets. Bulma makes peace with the child, telling him that she's looking for the seven Dragon Balls, orbs which summon a wish-granting dragon when collected, of which Goku owns one. Convincing him to come on her quest, Bulma and Goku head off but encounter a man-eating pterodon who takes Bulma away. Goku rescues Bulma from the dinosaur with his extending bo. Comments:

So here's the new series based on an Akira Toriyama manga. I always preferred the more straight-forward silliness of Dr. Slump, but I guess I can get used to this. I've read a few chapters of the manga for this, and it does get better. I don't know if it'll get any sort of ratings or recognition, though. The show, like the manga, is sort of a parody of Journey to the West, a Chinese fairy tale. Goku is apparently supposed to be a take on Son Wukong, the monkey king. He's an interesting character, with the way he's so naïve and uncultured. He's been living in the woods his whole life, and alone since his grandfather died. He's extremely strong, though, so perhaps his grandfather was some sort of martial arts hermit. I don't know whether I'm going to like Bulma, though. She's a bit of a manipulative bitch, but I guess most ordinary girls would do the same as her if in that situation. I don't think too many ordinary people would be searching for the Dragon Balls, though. For now it's just her and that little goblin guy. I guess he's the villain. Doesn't seem that threatening. The voice of Son Goku is Masako Nozawa, who is probably best known as the voice of the famous Doraemon from the 1973 incarnation. She was also Tetsuro in Galaxy Express 999. It's a good voice for a kid, but I hope they change it when he's an adult. I can't stand when female voice actresses do adult male voices. Ugh, imagine how Goku would be like that voice as an adult. You couldn't bear it.

Anyway, the show has some promise, but I can't see it being more popular than Dr. Slump. Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5

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