When you think of Dragon Ball, doubtless the first thing that springs to mind is the combat. Okay, so maybe you’ll imagine a meme first, but you get the general idea. The fight scenes are inseparable from the whole Dragon Ball package, coded into its DNA. Yet, for me, the franchise isn’t defined by it. I recently finished watching the last fifteen or so episodes of Dragon Ball Super and had something of an epiphany. I enjoyed the fisticuffs well enough, though like all the franchise’s fights it dragged on and on, but it was in the space between the combat that most appealed to me. After this revelation I started thinking about what exactly it was I liked about the show, and I came to a simple conclusion: the characters. Dragon Ball Z was one of – if not the first – anime I was ever exposed to and so it will always hold a special place in my heart. Though it was fun to re-enact battles from the Cell and Androids sagas on the playground, even then, it was always the moments of training, of domesticity and, frankly, the filler, that resonated with me most. It seems obvious [...]

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