Dragonball Z Abridged
When I was young, I somehow seemed to watch quite a lot of Dragonball Z. This was back when I lived in the UK and we had things like Sky and Cartoon Network. The show 0n Cartoon Network was dubbed into English, and I recall it never ever seeming to end. There were endless power-ups and new forms to take and things like that. Back then, being a 10-year-old girl, I preferred things like Dexter’s Lab and the Power Puff Girls, but after those, we’d watch a bit of Dragonball Z. We probably watched bits from other series of Dragonball, but Dragonball Z was what we mainly watched, since my dad and my brother enjoyed it.
For a very long time, I didn’t watch much TV at all. It was mostly just rented DVDs and the occasional showing of WWE Raw, which was dubbed into French for some reason. Those French commentators used a lot of curse words for some reason. But yeah, I kinda missed out on a lot of kids’ TV shows.
Moving forward in time, I eventually came across Dragonball Z Abridged. Probably about 15 years since I last actually watched anything Dragonball-related. That being said, I did watch Dragonball Peepee, but aside from that, no extra Dragonballs in any language.
Either way, I started watching Dragonball Z Abridged, and I was super surprised at how good it was. I actually started watching the show with my then-boyfriend, he recommended it. And I’m glad he did recommend the abridged version. The show is really well put together and, more importantly skipped all the things I disliked from the original show. Like people taking forever to power up. In my now rather old memories, I recall the fact that I hated watching all the silly powering up, but Dragonball Abridged worked around that and managed to put together an excellent show. There’s 60 episodes that are covered by Team Four Star, and part 60 is split into four parts, since there is a LOT to cover. And there are so many quotable lines and clever jokes, as well as throwbacks to previous episodes. It’s definitely something that will brighten your mood.
What’s really sad though is that they couldn’t really continue any further, and constantly had to point out that it was all a parody. Every episode flashed the same warning about being a fan-made parody, they credited any music they used and did everything as right as possible, only to keep on having to deal with copyright strikes and things like that. It’s a real shame because there’s a ton of talent behind Team Four Star, and it would have been awesome if they had continued further.
On the plus side though, they ended the whole series on a high note. Everyone gets what they want, we get to see the dragon balls and wishes are made. That’s nice at least.
Honestly, even if you’re not interested in Dragonball Z, I’d definitely give the abridged show a try. It’s full of laughs even when it’s trying to be serious. And if you fancy something much darker or bloodier, then I recommend Hellsing Ultimate Abridged. Which is also a barrel of laughs.