No, its not pronounced
Dragonballs. This is one of the best anime series I have ever seen. It's characters are
well developed, the story is fluid, and the animation is great. Throw in lots of
ass-kicking action and you've got a winner in my book. But there's a problem, the US
Version cuts out too much and the Japanese version is too damn long-winded. They need to
form a middle ground, then it would be the best anime series of all time. The rating below
reflects more upon the Japanese version, since the American version still has a couple
hundred episodes to go. The story begins in the original Dragonball series. It follows the adventures of Goku, a boy with a tail and a giant can of whup ass, and his friends as they search the Earth for the legendary Dragonballs. If all seven Dragonballs are collected, the giant dragon Shenlon will appear and grant the person one wish.
Dragonball Z tells the story of the adult Goku, who is now a father to his son Gohan. It begins when a spaceship comes to Earth, carrying an alien being much more powerful than anyone on the planet. He seeks out Goku and tells him that he is Goku's brother, Raditz, and that Goku is one of the last descendants of the Saiyan race who once lived on the planet Vegita. The Saiyans are now a race of space pirates who destroy planets and live to fight. Goku was sent to Earth as a baby to destroy all of the Earth's inhabitants. Raditz tells Goku that he has no choice but to join him and the other Saiyans in destroying the Earth. Goku refuses, and demands that Raditz leave. Then Raditz notices his son Gohan, and decides to take him instead, but not before dishing out a beating to Goku. Goku sets out to bring back his son, but he knows that he will not defeat Raditz. Enter Goku's arch-enemy, Piccolo. Piccolo realizes that he does not want the Earth destroyed by Raditz, and forms an uneasy alliance with Goku in order to destroy Raditz. Later they find that the other Saiyans are on their way to Earth, and that they are much more powerful than Raditz. This leaves them one year to train for the oncoming battle.
This anime series is phenominal in all categories except one. IT MOVES TOO SLOW!!! I just want to scream in agony when a it takes two or three episodes for the characters to start fighting. They sit and they plan and it's all fine and dandy but I want some ass kicking EVERY EPISODE. This is all made up for when the fights actually occur. These take up four or five episodes most of the time, and are fast paced and action packed. EXPLOSIONS GALORE!!!
This is a series for the kiddies too. No nudity (unfortunately), and no swearing. So if you've got kids, and you love anime, this is the series that you can watch together. Hopefully Funimation will get the rights to produce the rest of the series here in the States (we only get up to episode 53 here). Currently Dragonball Z can be seen on the Cartoon Network every weekday at 5:00 PM. So check it out, you'll be glad you did.