Many people consider Akira Toriyama’sDragon Ballfranchise to be one of the most influential series of all time, and there’s very good reason for that. Back in the nineties,Dragon Ball Zplayed a pivotal role in the popularization of anime in North America, paving the way for the likes ofOne Piece,Naruto, andBleachto make their way West.
Since the franchise’s debut back in the mid-eighties, there have beenfive mainDragon Ballseries, as well as a remastered version of the most popular one,Dragon Ball Z. As fans of the franchise will be all too aware of, though, some of theDragon Ballseries boast much better animation than others, particularly when it comes to consistency.
It’s difficult to compare a series that began airing almost four decades ago to ones that are much more recent, yet looking at them all side by side,Dragon Ballis probably the weakest link. Sure, it has its charm, andthe animation quality was fine for the era, but it could be very choppy at times and was also fairly inconsistent.
Things did improve towards the end of the series, withthe Tien Shinhan and King Piccolo sagasoffering some blistering highs. Even then, though,Dragon Ball’s animation is incredibly dated by today’s standards and holds up a lot worse thanZ’s despite the latter also having been around for several decades now.
Dragon Ball Superis generally considered to be the better of the threeZsequels when it comes to content, but its animation is arguably a huge step back. The production quality of the first few episodes was heavily criticized by the fandom, and although things did improve dramatically afterthe Beerus Saga, it just never quite looked right.
The main problem withSuper’s animation stems from its art style, which is a lot sharper than most otherDragon Ballseries and uses a much brighter color palette. This could often lead to some scenes looking strange and made the lack of detail in certain parts of the screen stand out that little bit more. All that said,Super’s highs were pretty amazing.
Considering the tight turnaround time for some of the episodes, the overall quality ofDragon Ball Zis really quite remarkable. Granted, it still has its fair share of lows and likely benefited from a much larger budget than its predecessor on account of the franchise’s growing popularity, but it remains impressive, nonetheless.
Save, perhaps, for the episodes produced by Last House, which often featured stiff animation and substandard detailing, some of the animation inZis right up there with the very best.Goku’s epic fight against Friezastill holds up reasonably well today, as too do elements of Gohan’s final showdown with Perfect Cell.
In stark contrast to its tone,Dragon Ball GTtends to use a lot of dark color palettes, which are great for hiding some of the series' softer edges. The animation is still pretty smooth, though, and surprisingly consistent, at least up until the final batch of episodes when interest in the series had begun to wane a little.
If we’re just measuring highs,GTwould likely be behindZand perhaps evenSuper, but taken as a whole,Dragon Ball GTis undoubtedly one of the most well-animatedDragon Ballseries. Unlike its storytelling,Dragon Ball GT’s visuals were always solid, which hasn’t always been the case with someotherDragon Ballseries.
The Perfect Remasterpiece
Dragon Ball Z Kai
For the first time in history, experience the legendary Z as the master intended: bigger, faster, stronger, and packed with the pulverizing power to blow your puny minds! Beef up your collection with this manga-centric, fresh take on Akira Toriyama’s original vision, featuring more action than you can handle, revitalized animation, and an amped-up audio experience that will make your ears beg for mercy!
Although theDragon Ballfranchise handles it better than most, the pressure of having to put out a new episode each and every week is always going to lead to dips in animation quality.Dragon Ball Z Kaitook away those pressures, allowing the team to go back in and touch up some of the existing animations in the places that needed it most.
Save for a new intro and outro,Dragon Ball Z Kaifeatures no new animation, instead offering a remastered version of the original serieswithout any of the filler. The faster pacing makes it much easier to ignore any blemishes that the team was unable to iron out, while the tweaks and touch-ups really help to make the series' highs pop.
Together withDragon Ball GT,Dragon Ball Daimais one of the most divisiveDragon Ballseries to date. However, one thing that most seem able to agree on is thatDaimahas some of the best animation quality in the history ofDragon Ball, thanks both to its all-star team of animators and the two years of production time they were given to get the series ready for broadcast.
Every episode feels like it’s movie quality and some of the fights are truly majestic. Even for some ofthe smaller skirmishes with the Gendarmerie, the choreography is top-notch and the animation is buttery smooth. If a new season ofDragon Ball Superis ever commissioned, fans will no doubt be hoping that it too is given the extended production time thatDaimaso clearly benefited from.
