Dragon Ball GT Is One of Anime's Most Controversial Shows, But How Does It Hold Up After 20+ Years?

6 days ago 10

Dragon Ball might be one of the best anime franchises in history. It's so iconic that Dragon Ball has essentially become synonymous with anime itself. It all started with the original Dragon Ball, spawning an excellent sequel in Dragon Ball Z, then Dragon Ball GT, then Dragon Ball Super, with the latest Dragon Ball Daima finally putting Goku front and center once again. Out of all the entries in the franchise, it's widely agreed that Dragon Ball GT is the worst of the lot.

While GT certainly has a few strengths, it might have more weaknesses. There are a few key areas where Dragon Ball GT dropped the ball, very much unlike every other entry in the Dragon Ball franchise. While it's not the worst anime around, and some may not even consider it a bad entry in famed creator Akira Toriyama's universe, there are a few mistakes that can't be overlooked.

Dragon Ball GT Copied Dragon Ball’s Tone Too Much

Transforming Goku Into a Child to Recreate Dragon Ball's Whimsy

When Dragon Ball GT first came out, they copied the original Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball GT's creators at TOEI, not Akira Toriyama himself, didn't know what to do with the success Dragon Ball Z had left them with. They wanted to continue the franchise and decided to try and copy the original Dragon Ball's fun and lighthearted tone unsuccessfully. One of the biggest differences between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z was Goku himself. He was a child for most of Dragon Ball and became a lot older and wiser in Dragon Ball Z.

To recreate the whimsy that Dragon Ball was known for, the creators behind Dragon Ball GT turned Goku back into a child through a wish made by Pilaf on the Dragon Balls. It was a forced, frustrating change of pace that the series probably didn't need. It also showed that the creators behind GT didn't have powerful ideas that could carry a series and turned to Toriyama's other work for 'inspiration'.

GT Copied Too Many of Dragon Ball Z’s Villains

More Androids and an Evil Vegeta

Not only did Dragon Ball GT copy Dragon Ball's tone, but a lot of the villains felt like they were taken straight out of Dragon Ball Z. While all the villains were original, bar the episode where Frieza, Cell, and more villains from DBZ came back to life, most of them felt like derivatives of characters from the original series. Characters like Dr. Myuu, Super 17, and Baby all had direct comparisons to other characters already found within the franchise.

Dr. Myuu had a direct comparison to Dr. Gero. They're two mad scientists with a penchant for evil and a near-eternal grudge against Goku. They both made robotic creatures focused on destruction. Super 17 was yet another android created by a mad scientist. While he was a vicious villain in his own right, it felt weird to see a newly reformed Android 17 go back and become an evil character even if it was against his own will.

Dragon Ball GT Gave Goku’s Ultimate Finisher a Cosmic Upgrade

Goku's Spirit Bomb is his ultimate finisher move in DBZ, and in Dragon Ball GT, it gets a cosmic upgrade during his final fight with Omega Shenron.

Baby was another pretty cool villain with a lot of positives, but when he took over Vegeta's body, it felt too similar to Majin Vegeta. While all the villains in Dragon Ball Z were exceptional, if Dragon Ball GT were to be its own series, it needed to do it through new villains. Reusing old tools from a previous entry reminded everyone of just how good it wasn't. Showing off another series' strong points within GT didn't help it like the creators initially thought.

Some Villains and New Forms Were Great

The Shadow Dragons and Super Saiyan 4 Are a Highlight of the Series

Dragon Ball GT might have its flaws, but it also has a ton of strong points. Some of its strongest points come from the Shadow Dragons, a unique set of villains with an interesting concept behind them, and the legendary Super Saiyan 4 form. There were multiple Shadow Dragons in Dragon Ball GT, each with their own unique personality and set of abilities. Haze Shenron's abilities are based on pollution and gas attacks, while fellow Shadow Dragon Rage Shenron's abilities are based on fire.

The arguably best villain in Dragon Ball GT is Omega Shenron. He comes from a misuse of the titular Dragon Balls which is a very interesting concept. In most of the Dragon Ball franchise, the Dragon Balls are totally good with no negative side effects. In GT, however, the overuse of the magical items has spawned terrible villains that have forced the heroes of the series to ascend to new heights to take them on.

Dragon Ball GT Made Goku's Deadliest Technique Even Stronger

Out of all Goku's attacks, one stands out as being the most dependable when it comes to killing his enemies, and that attack was upgraded in GT.

Without Dragon Ball GT, Goku and Vegeta would never have reached the incredible Super Saiyan 4 transformation. It's one of the coolest, most iconic transformations in the series that spawned a bunch of fan theories about a possible Super Saiyan 5 and more. Goku and Vegeta condense the Great Ape form into a smaller, more mobile, yet equally dangerous form that gives them a fighting chance against the Shadow Dragons and Omega Shenron. They were also forced to fuse in order to defeat Omega Shenron, creating the red-haired Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta in the process.

Toriyama's Absence Was Too Notable in Dragon Ball GT

One of the World's Greatest Mangakas Wasn't Involved in the Story

To call Akira Toriyama a legend in the world of manga and anime would be an extreme understatement. He revolutionized art and storytelling in manga, creating the most popular franchise in the genre, which spearheaded anime's takeover of the entertainment industry. He's been involved in every part of Dragon Ball, including the brand-new Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball Daima series which have also received an outpouring of love.

Unfortunately, he had little to do with Dragon Ball GT. He designed a few characters and some other features that benefited the series, but that was it. He wasn't involved in the story at all, leading to a lot of the pitfalls DBGT suffered. If Toriyama had been more involved in the story, or involved in any capacity whatsoever, the series would have been much better for it.

It's rare for a series captained by a single individual to reach the same level of success when taking the original creator out of the picture. Dragon Ball GT is a great example. It's safe to say that, more than two decades after its airing, Dragon Ball GT remains an odd entry in the Dragon Ball franchise, one that lacks a lot of the elements that made the original series resonate so much with fans.