Dragon Ball: Commander Red Saga by Akira Toriyama

Dragon Ball: Commander Red Saga by Akira Toriyama

This review covers Chapters 84-96 (Volume 8) in the Dragon Ball series.

Goodreads Synopsis

This installment shows us the epic battles between Goku and Mercenary Tao, Goku's quest for finding the Sacred Water, and the final battle between Goku and the Red Ribbon Army. The character Upa is also introduced.

It's surprising how dark this title can get at times. People die. Granted, it's usually minor characters, and Toriyama's art can make anything cheerful, but it is still a good story.

I think this shows Goku growing as a character and an individual, but also shows how strong his morals and ideals are. He also demonstrates how quick witted he is in tricking his opponents and that he is more than just sheer brawn -- he has some brains too. This makes him a more in-depth and interesting character and protagonist.

This arc was not as interesting to me as the rest of the series so far, but I do love all the comic relief that this series has -- especially when the main villains want the dragon balls for something ridiculous. This is also the first arc in which Goku fails at defeating a villain, only to train for like 2 minutes and then is able to beat up everyone. Which happens a lot in the rest of the series (but that's okay, I quite enjoy that).

Overall: 3/5 for this saga. I found it not as fun as the rest and bogged down with training again.