character development is lacking?? really?? we see goku grow up as a boy into the hero of the universe, vegetas character development is arguably the best in the series and while I do think the plot could be better it doesn't deserve a D-.
I'm talking strictly DBZ. Dragonball was fantastic, don't get me wrong. DBZ, on the other hand, was terrible in terms of a storyline.
What sets the plot apart from the D- I gave it was the Saiyan and Freeza arcs. We finally know why Goku is as strong as he is and find out there are others like him and develop into what happened to his race and who is responsible for it. This was good plot. It's what saved it from receiving an F.
Now for the Android, Cell, and Buu arcs. The androids had no drive to be villains. They were just imprisoned by Dr. Gero and detested being locked up. So they killed him. That was okay. But what drives them to do evil? If they are programmed by Gero to be evil, yet detested him and are shown to be great, sentient thinkers, why be villains? They don't have a reason to do what they want to do, unlike Naruto villains. Naruto villains have drive and backstories to back up their reasons for their Vigilantism. Cell is a little bit more reasonable. He thoroughly enjoyed his development and heeded Dr. Gero's orders to a T. Why in the world did he decide to make a tournament for it when he could have just targeted the Z Fighters and blow up the planet? It's not villainous of him to do such a thing! It's a ridiculous notion. The Z Fighters had multiple chances to destroy him completely, but they squandered their aggressiveness and Viking-like thinking just to savor more combat, even from Gohan, who has no wishes for excessive violence. You're risking the fate of the planet by doing this, you know!
Don't get me started on the Majin Buu arc. The setup for the arc was ridiculous in itself. The gods who oversaw the destruction of Majiin Buu did not want to destroy it, lest they believed they would upset the balance and let it loose, when Gohan's main attack did nothing to it! They did not seek to destroy Bibidi's son, because they did not realize he had the power to awaken them. They are gods! Where is their omnipotent intelligence? The whole mess could have been stopped by their hands if they didn't *****foot around. What's with Goku's reluctance in defeating Majiin Buu when he had the chance? "I wanted my sons to defeat him so they could better protect this world." You would risk the entire
universe on this ideal when you have friendly ties with the Overworld!? I've always doubted Goku's reasoning before, but this takes the cake!
I won't harp on DBGT, because I know it's a fanfiction.
Character development: Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan, Goten. Five people oversee 99% of the combat relayed in DBZ, out of over a dozen other characters that were ripe with the good, dynamic character development that we had in Dragonball. This is if in Naruto only the Senju clan and their descendants had the only chance of defeating evil. Except in Naruto, multiple clans, ripe with their own backstories and plot drives have significant chances of helping to defeat evil. Some members don't even belong to clans with clan blood!
It's utterly sterling how I received negative reputation for disputing a lack in plot quality from an anime. The way in which I ruffled feathers for providing detailed explanations for my dispute was wondrous. I enjoy the "russled jimmies" people get in view of my insightful posts. The reason for the negative reputation? "."