The story: A transforming super villain named Frieza is in search of the magical Dragon Balls in order to get a wish granted. When he finds out that Gohan and Krillin have found the balls and made a wish, he becomes a raging bull and begins to fight everyone in sight. When things begin to look grim for the band of heroes, the star of the show (warrior hero Goku) enters the picture to engage in one epic battle. Is Goku powerful enough to defeat Frieza?

“Dragon Ball Z” is a show that can be both fun and frustrating. On one hand, DBZ is an engrossing anime series filled with well-developed characters (Piccolo rules) and rich mythology. I also enjoy the fact that the show is a serialized adventure and that there are plenty of sub-plots for the secondary characters. It’s refreshing to get a side-story with doses of comedy from characters like Bulma or Master Roshi after a tense and serious fight. Speaking of the fights, the battles are epic to say the least. The heroes and villains fight on land, in the air, and use several explosive powers that will literally cause their surroundings to crumble into pieces.

On the downside, the series tends to go overboard by having long drawn out fights that can last many, many episodes (I am not exaggerating). True, you aren’t likely to get bored, but seeing the hero and the villain talk each other to death or stare each other down for hours on end can become repetitious and tiring. Another aspect of the show that bothers me is that characters are constantly dying and being brought back to life. I realize the writers don’t want to disappoint their fans by having a character permanently get killed off, but these endless resurrections are ridiculous!