Dragon Ball is a hugely popular and influential anime series known around the world. Because of its lasting impact, both new and longtime fans are eager to watch or re-watch the show.
While both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z are fantastic series, certain aspects might make them difficult for some viewers to enjoy. Here’s a look at the most common reasons why someone might not connect with Dragon Ball.
There Are Lots of Filler Episodes
Anime Was Made to Run for Years Without Pauses
A common issue with older anime series like Dragon Ball, especially those made over a decade ago, is the large amount of filler content – episodes and story arcs that aren’t part of the original source material. Before anime seasons became the standard around 2015, studios like Toei and Pierrot often aimed for continuous, year-round production.
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As a huge anime fan, it’s always been interesting to me how they handle adapting stories that are still being written in manga form. Sometimes the anime would actually catch up to the manga! To give the manga author time to get further ahead, the anime creators would often come up with completely original story arcs – we call them ‘filler’ – just to buy some time and avoid overtaking the source material. It’s a clever way to keep everything flowing!
Sometimes stories include original side plots to keep things interesting and delay the main story, but these were mainly intended as temporary diversions. Often, however, later events would end up ignoring or even contradicting these side stories, making them feel pointless.
Pacing Is Different from Today
Everything Is Slower Compared to Newer Series
Anime production has changed dramatically over the years, especially with the rise of computer-generated (CG) animation. Today, almost all popular TV anime uses CG in some way.
Computer-generated (CG) animation makes creating action sequences much faster and cheaper than traditional hand-drawn animation, which requires drawing every frame. Plus, a seasonal release schedule lets creators focus on telling a tighter story without needing to stretch the content to last a full year.
Older anime shows often felt slower and more repetitive than modern ones because they used techniques like looping animation and repeating music to save time and money. Before affordable computer-generated imagery became common, animators relied on these methods to create dramatic effects without the expense and effort of drawing every frame. For example, a character taking several episodes to charge up an attack, like Goku with the Spirit Bomb, was a common way to stretch out content, but it’s something you rarely see in anime made today.
Outdated Tone and Content
Some Things Just Aren’t Funny Anymore
I’ve been a Dragon Ball fan for years, and it’s amazing to see how much things have shifted over time! It’s not just technology, really – the whole world changes. And honestly, some of the jokes and gags in older Dragon Ball episodes? They don’t really land the same way now. What was funny back then might not be appropriate for kids today, and even some of us long-time fans might cringe a little!
Some of the jokes about women, especially those featuring Bulma with characters like Master Roshi or Goku, haven’t aged well and don’t resonate with viewers today. Fortunately, these moments aren’t essential to the main storyline, so they can largely be overlooked.
Animation Quality
Not Bad, But Different and Repetitive
As animation technology improved, studios could create higher-quality cartoons. Because of this, older TV animation from the 1980s may not look as polished to viewers today. While these classic shows still have a special appeal, the quality of episodes could sometimes vary quite a bit, probably due to the challenges of making them at the time. Production standards and processes were simply different back then.
As we’ve discussed, the consistent style of Dragon Ball wasn’t a mistake – it was a deliberate choice. While the animation wasn’t poor for the 1980s, viewers accustomed to modern anime might find it unusual or lacking polish. However, Dragon Ball was probably one of the best-looking TV anime series of its time.
Too Many Episodes
It Takes Time to Watch Everything
Older anime series tend to be very long, often without being broken into seasons like many shows today. This is because they were originally made with continuous broadcasting in mind and frequently included filler content. For example, the original Dragon Ball has 153 episodes, while Dragon Ball Z has a whopping 291.
Getting into the world of Dragon Ball requires a significant time commitment, as the series forms a large and complex universe. This can be daunting for new fans, who might be put off by how much content there is. Even the streamlined version, Dragon Ball Z Kai – created to remove unnecessary episodes – still has 167 episodes internationally.
You can stream Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and other shows from the Dragon Ball series on platforms like Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Hulu.
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2026-03-27 02:07