I LOVE DRAGONBALL Z!!!!

Yeah, I'm a big ol' dork.... And so damn proud of it!!! In case you don't know ( but i'm pretty sure you have because, i mean, who hasn't?), dragon ball z tells the story of goku:

He was sent to earth as a kid to spare him from the destruction of his planet. (actually, the story starts waaaaay back in Dragonball, but that's for another blog.... which i'll write after this one!!1) He has many adventures... many battles, makes many friends.... and then he disappears. (Read: he dies FINALLY in dragon ball GT) Anyway... The show is centered around the Z Fighters, who protect the earth. They have lots of battles and laughs and memories. The Z series is broken up into "sagas", so you have: The Saiyan Saga - Where goku learns that he is a saiyan, and meets vegetal for the first time. The frieze saga - The writers expand the Dragonball Z universe a bit, and introduce us to frieza, whose a little purl girl with a tail that can fight....and the Super Saiyan:

Only people with saiyan blood can transform into super saiyans, even if you're a half blooded saiyan There's four levels of super saiyan: 1)First level:

They get angrier, and stronger, hair changes color and stands up, and they generate a golden aura around them, which can offer some protection against attacks. The aura fluctuates size wildly. Super saiyan 1.5 = This is the pinnacle of the 1st super saiyan form. The saiyan can stay in this form for weeks before they have to revert back to their base state. In this state, they use their energy conservatively, instead of wasting it all in anger. The difference between super saiyan and super saiyan 1.5 is seen in the personality and the eyes: They are very cheerful by comparison.... and you can see it in the eyes:

I Compare this state to a regular person who has their base level of strength, but when they get angry, they get a bit stronger, because of the adrenaline rush. 2) Super Saiyan 2:

They get even stronger, and angrier, and faster. They still radiate the golden aura, but now you can see flashes of electricity dancing in it. I have no idea what functions the electricity serves, if any. They can't be reasoned with, and the only thing on their mind is "kill kill kill". 3) Super Saiyan 3: Goku, trunks and gotten are the only characters to achieve this stage of super saiyan:

This form is extremely powerful ad the usage of energy is dramatically increased. To give a comparison: If a saiyan can stay in the Super Saiyan form for a few hours, They can only stay in the Super Saiyan 3 form for 30 minutes. The energy usage is phenomenal, but the increases in the strength, speed, and power are worth it. There's another form that's seen in Dragonball and Dragonball z frequently, called the Oozaru Form ( means "great ape"):

I actually think that this form is one of the coolest, next to the Super saiyan 2 form. The persons power level increase by a factor of 10, meaning that whatever their power level is in their human form, it gets multiplied by ten. They get to turn into a big freakin ape that can fly and shoot a energy beam from their mouths!!! Anyway, the saiyans are the only characters that can transform, but need two conditions to make it happen: 1) Must be looking at the full moon 2) Must have a tail There's something about the tail... i like to think that the tail houses some kind of hormone/enzyme that is only catalyzed (activated) when the person looks at the full moon, or more specifically, the light of the full moon strikes the person's eyes. Maybe the light from the moon affects their pituitary gland, which releases another enzyme that interacts with the supposed enzyme release by the tail, which causes/starts the transformation... thats how I would explain it at least... Now, the cool thing about this form is that the the person can produce a energy ball which is essentially a mini full moon, so that they can transform when the go to planets that don't have a full moon. Cool, right? Here;s vegeta making use of the "full moon ball":

The only way to stop a saiyan once they are in this form: 1) Kill 'em 2) Cut off their tail 3) Destroy the moon, like Piccolo does once or twice...:

Now, can you see WHY i freakin love this anime?!?!?!?!? There's other forms, like the fused forms and the super saiyan for forms, but that would take too long to explain and i'm hungry.... The beginning of Dragonball Z marks the BEGINNING of it all of a rivalry that goes down in history. Meet Vegeta:

He's the prince of all Saiyans, literally. He is one of the cockiest sons of b@##$ in the universe. But he can back it up. Him and Goku starts out as fierce enemies:

And at the end of Dragonball gt, they are still rivals, but they are besties:

Now, this is one of the reasons why I f@##$ing love this anime: The dynamic between the two, easily the two most powerful beings in the galaxy, both so opposite: Goku is the quintessential choir boy, who would literally not hurt a fly unless it threatened to destroy the planet. Vegeta, who would literally destroy the planet to hurt a fly. Two immovable objects, generating a irresistible force.... There are other characters:

Each one is very important and has a lot of depth and personality to them As a kid, I just liked the anime for the bright colors and the intense fight scenes. (Its like a soap opera, but for REAL men... like me obviously) The story lines are actually very good, and even looking back on them from my age, they're still freaking awesome... But, having lived life and having had experiences, I guess now I can look at the anime from a different perspective, a more "adult" perspective, whatever that means... I guess I can fully appreciate the show for all that it is... And I can't wait to see what i think about it 5 years from now...:) I guess one of the things that i've taken away from the series is this: People are people, and when you add energy blasts to the mix, you get lots of explosions and commotion.... Amir