Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball remains a titan of the anime industry and it’s hard for fans to engage in conversations about action-heavy shonen series without touching on this foundational series. Dragon Ball has kept audiences entertained for more than 35 years with the ongoing adventures of Goku and company as they protect the Earth from progressively powerful forces.
Dragon Ball is always looking forward to the future and the anime’s scope has expanded in impressive ways. Toriyama’s series has made certain decisions that have forever changed the trajectory of Dragon Ball, but they’re not always for the best.
10 The Introduction Of New Sets Of Dragon Balls
The wish-granting Dragon Balls are the whole reason that Goku meets Bulma and heads out on a fantastical adventure that forever changes his life. Dragon Ball establishes the simple rules that surround this treasure, but as the series grows bigger it repeatedly attempts to revise these conditions. The prevalence of death and other extreme dangers results in Earth’s Dragon Balls becoming more powerful once Dende becomes their guardian, but there are also other Dragon Ball sets that come into play that possess even greater special abilities. It’s a slippery slope once the series messes with these rules.
9 Scouters & Explicitly Stating Power Levels
Dragon Ball’s characters are obsessed with the pursuit of greater power and Dragon Ball Z decides to actually apply numbers to individuals’ strength courtesy of scouter technology. Scouters provide exact readings of a character’s power level, which makes it very easy to confirm who is the strongest. However, characters continue to grow stronger in unprecedented ways and these detailed readings only create inconsistencies. It originally makes sense to keep stock of everyone’s strength, but new transformations and power creeping only turn this data into a liability. Scouters stop working once characters get too strong which feels like a remedy to this problem.
8 The Popularity Of Movie & Filler Characters
The emergence of anime-only filler material is inevitable for many long-running shonen anime series. Dragon Ball often indulges in this area, but the anime’s popularity has also led to many movies that exist in their own canon that’s independent of the original manga.
Dragon Ball’s feature films are great opportunities to tell particularly grandiose stories, but they also introduce several original characters that have become huge in the fandom. It can be problematic when audiences are eager to get more stories that involve Broly, Cooler, Janemba, or other movie-only villains since their canonical standings are questionable.
7 Making Humans Irrelevant
One of the more endearing aspects of the original Dragon Ball is that it feels like Goku is on even footing with Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, and the rest of the humans that he trains with. Dragon Ball Z reveals that Goku is actually a Saiyan and it doesn’t take long for these warrior aliens to become the most important and powerful characters in the series. To fans, the power boost that Saiyans experience is too drastic and it ends up making all of Dragon Ball’s human characters become irrelevant. Some of the series’ most interesting fighters are human and Dragon Ball never fully recovers from sidelining so many of these individuals.
6 An Over-Reliance On Fusion
The villains in Dragon Ball are increasingly dangerous, which leaves the heroes desperate for quick ways to grow stronger. New Super Saiyan transformations are the most common solutions in Dragon Ball. However, Majin Buu poses such an immense threat that the concept of fusion comes into play. Fusion allows two — or more — individuals to combine their strength together into a new amalgamated warrior. It’s inherently exciting for fans to think about characters like Goku and Vegeta combining together, but it’s a principle that’s become overused in Dragon Ball. There’s even a video game, Dragon Ball Fusions, that revolves entirely around the concept.
5 Dragon Ball GT & Contradicting Chronology
Dragon Ball GT remains a controversial chapter in the Dragon Ball franchise due to Akira Toriyama’s limited involvement and the initial growing pains that are present at the start of the sequel series.
Dragon Ball GT isn’t bereft of good ideas, but it still has its share of detractors. The narrative decisions made in Dragon Ball GT are also now largely non-canonical due to the emergence of Dragon Ball Super, which forges its own path forward.
4 Frieza’s Repeated Returns
An effective entrance can be paramount to a villain’s success and one of the more chilling moments in Dragon Ball is when Frieza shows up on Earth, repaired from his seemingly fatal battle against Goku. While initially effective, Dragon Ball repeatedly returns to Frieza as an unexpected threat — with increasingly diminishing returns. The series’ obsession with Frieza has gone too far and he becomes part of the main cast during the Tournament of Power. Spreading this wealth to other former foes, like Cell, would be more effective all around.
3 Kid Goten & Trunks Are Turned Into Comic Relief
One of the more appealing qualities of Dragon Ball is that it allows its characters to grow older and even start their own families. It’s incredibly exciting for fans to see Goku and Vegeta train their young children to be the next generation of heroes, especially when Goten and Trunks master the basics of Super Saiyan transformations at a very early age. This promising start gives the impression that Goten and Trunks might surpass everyone else in the series. Unfortunately, following the events of the Buu Saga, these two formidable young Saiyans are treated like comic relief or someone else’s responsibility to babysit.
2 The Messy Development Of Dr. Gero’s Androids
Akira Toriyama creates a thoroughly engrossing narrative with Dragon Ball, but there are still occasions where his original plans are revised at the guidance of his editor. Toriyama intended for Androids 19 and 20 to be the only Androids during the Cell Saga, but Toriyama’s editor thought their designs were ridiculous and old fashioned, which led to Androids 17 and 18 as the dominant ‘droids. Androids 17 and 18 are fantastic characters, but all of Dr. Gero’s plotting becomes sloppier with these extra Androids that don’t really serve a purpose.
1 Gohan Doesn’t Replace Goku As The Main Character
The ongoing Dragon Ball saga is Goku’s story, but for an extended period of time it seems as if the series’ endgame goal is to elevate Gohan as Dragon Ball’s main character, officially usurping his father as the Earth’s strongest. This trajectory is teased right from Gohan’s first appearance in Dragon Ball Z and it temporarily comes to fruition during the Buu Saga while Goku remains deceased. It’d be considerably more satisfying if Gohan were to use his Ultimate upgrade to defeat Buu and protect the planet, but instead Dragon Ball regresses and once again gives Goku the win.
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