The franchise's biggest strength

[Captain Cadaver]

It goes without saying that Dragon Ball is a flawed series filled with many plot holes, contrivances, character inconsistencies and numerous retcons. Still, it must also have a fair amount of positives to keep us interested in it for so long (assuming it's not just nostalgia that keeps you going). That said, what would you cite as the best aspect of the franchise?

I'd say one that comes to mind is seeing how vastly characters change over time, particularly in settling down to their new lifestyle, growing up and having children to make it somewhat of a generational story in a way that many of the Shonen inspired by it don't accomplish to the same degree; mainly due to being either purely superficial "growth" or leaving things such as becoming family leaders down to just the finale (cough cough Naruto). It wasn't accomplished anywhere near as well as in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure due to the insistence to keep Goku in the spotlight, but was still something that allowed it to stand out from a lot of other Shonen both at the time and since.

Another is more to do with a specific period of the franchise, being the training segments up to the end of the Saiyan Arc. Dragon Ball and early DBZ put a lot more effort into portraying interesting training regimes with steady in-universe pacing and a clear philosophy behind them that helped them stand apart from many other Shonen of the time and still hold up well today. This unfortunately was phased out from the Freeza Arc and onwards where training methods just became extreme versions of Kaio's gravity training without any additional lesson behind them and were nowhere near as prevalent as quick, cheap power ups, but this strength of early DB is one still worth giving praise to.

What element probably holds up the best for the longest stretch of the series, however, is its balancing between genre and tone. The gradual transition from a primarily comedic action/adventure series to a serious battle Shonen was well done due to the tones of comedy and seriousness being well placed and perfectly balanced as all things should be from the Red Ribbon Arc and onward until fully establishing itself as a serious work with comedic elements around the Piccolo Daimao Arc. On top of that, it managed to transition from a series rooted in eastern martial arts and mythology into what was mainly a sci-fi action series without becoming dissonant from the story's core genres by building upon it and providing the proper context for them to mesh well, something that is worth a lot of praise when so few series nowadays are able to maintain the elements that drew in fans initially by becoming completely different.
Unfortunately, this strength hasn't remained constant throughout the series' run. Many could cite the Boo Arc as seeming a bit out of place in its return to very comedic moments and more of a mystical element than most of Z. Whilst I'd say the tones were still well balanced enough once the arc's main conflict started to kick off, I will cite GT and Super as being unable to keep tones balanced by both wanting to immediately go back to Part 1's comedic roots and than shift entirely to serious DBZ elements without the proper transition. Still, the fact that this element managed to hold up for at least the majority of the manga's original run is worth commending and an aspect that is fairly overlooked as a great strength of the series.

Enough of me rambling about what I consider the best things about DB. Feel free to share your own thoughts now.

 

[Boo Brand Milk]

- the fights, the fights are so insane they shoot lasers out of their hands and when they miss it's like atomic bombs exploding
- redemption. Villains turn good, everything is dramatic in a light hearted way.
- the dearth of characters and villains. Everyone has someone to root for and against.
- kenny dies each episode :Krillin

 

[Fantastische Hure]

One of them is definitely the passage of time, like you said there's a true sense of seeing the characters grow-up. DragonBall GT ending actually showed that beautifully (and in an emotional way).

 

[Boo Brand Milk]

One of them is definitely the passage of time, like you said there's a true sense of seeing the characters grow-up. DragonBall GT ending actually showed that beautifully (and in an emotional way).

The end of GT is the true end of the franchise.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Pacing and character growth are like a coin to me. While there’s a sense of evolution as we watch Goku from child to grandparent, there’s a point in the series that character growth becomes stale and things merely happen so the plot can go on.

I’d say the lore is very cool. Toriyama created such a vast and interesting universe, taking basic eastern culture and making them magic with so colorful characters of every kind and place. Lore wise DBZ is like Star Wars but Japanese.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Lore wise DBZ is like Star Wars but Japanese.

"Did you ever hear the tragedy of LSSJ Broly the Non-Canon?"
"No."
"I thought not. It's not a story the Super canon would tell you. It's a Toei legend."

 

[ahill1]

Tough for me to pinpoint one exact reason, I just happened to like it a lot, but speaking in terms of what I think held the story's reins for so long was the unique characters, with intriguing personalities and goals, their interaction and the, while simple for the most part, plot that caught the interest and attention of most fans. The characters weren't the most deep and interest ones, but they had enough going on to draw people's attention and wish to see their conflict coming to an end. The plot managed to be simple but at the same time enjoyable, intriguing and worth for most to seeing to an end. The simplicity but intriguing of the story meshed well, imo.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Lore wise DBZ is like Star Wars but Japanese.

"Did you ever hear the tragedy of LSSJ Broly the Non-Canon?"
"No."
"I thought not. It's not a story the Super canon would tell you. It's a Toei legend."

It’s outrageous, it’s unfair! How can you be Broly and not be canon?

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

I never thought about the things you said like how the franchise is a generational show compared to other anime/manga franchise out there but it's true.

Other than nostalgia, I think the fighting style of the series is what keeps me coming back to this series along with cool characters imo.