Dragon Ball Z is undeniably culturally important. It produced more western interest in anime and created a formula followed pretty closely by most shonen anime in the following years. I will not deny that the show is important or influential. I will deny that the show was good, however.

Looking back on Dragon Ball Z, it was more tiring than anything else. Good shows grip you, and you feel compelled to watch the next episode. I would argue that Dragon Ball Z never had that. I was never anxious or concerned or even interested in seeing what would happen next. Why? Probably because the show wore you out. In its 23-minute episodes, very little would happen to advance the plot. Meaningless shouting, boring banter, flat humor, and lots of charging-up and reaction shots were its forte. Your senses are bombarded by fights and action that the creators only plan to upstage in the next episode. When you upstage yourself every time, it starts becoming meaningless.

I will give the show props for character and world design and a fine plot. It just drags so slowly. The English dialogue is mostly stilted and unnatural, and the fights seem to have meaningless stakes. The plot, while flowing and natural, is so unbearably predictable. The characters are all shallow caricatures, and have little to no development, the humor is flat, and the only saving grace (the action) is yawn-inducing and almost never suspenseful.

I'd like to add in one caveat to this review: I have also read the Dragon Ball manga, so I could move at my own pace. That probably added to my frustration at the excruciatingly slow pace and meaningless stakes of the show.

Looking at Dragon Ball Z honestly, please tell me that it was very engaging, and that you felt deeply for the characters. You can't. I won't deny that Dragon Ball Z is great because of its cultural impact and legacy, but I can't say it's good, simply because it wasn't that good.