The way action is presented in Dragon Ball has changed massively over the anime’s lifetime. Fights in the early arcs are largely based around gags, with only the most important clashes focusing on traditional martial arts, while battles in Dragon Ball Z feature combatants flying around the sky launching increasingly powerful ki blasts at each other. While most fans focus on the ki blasts when examining how combat in the series changes overtime, flight is an even more important factor.
Flight, as well as Instant Transmission, give Goku complete freedom to move wherever he needs to in battle, and to travel anywhere outside of it. With the iconic hero having these abilities, his fighting style is completely different from when he was a kid, and viewers are unable to spend time with him on any long quests from one destination to another. For the first time in many years, Dragon Ball DAIMA limits Goku’s mobility, keeping him as grounded as the anime itself.
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Flight and Instant Transmission Are Key Tools in Goku’s Arsenal
Goku has had a method of flying since the franchise’s earliest days. At the beginning of the original Dragon Ball, none of the human characters can fly on their own, but Goku is able to get around on the Flying Nimbus. A small flying cloud given to Goku by Master Roshi as thanks for him helping Turtle, the Nimbus is a mode of transportation that can only be ridden by pure-of-heart individuals. In the three non-tournament arcs in the original series, this forces Goku into situations during his adventures where flying isn’t an option. Most battles being flightless helps to emphasize strategy and traditional martial arts, and Goku’s lack of ability to fly on his own is repeatedly used as a source of drama, such as in his first clash with Tambourine.
The idea of humans being able to fly purely by manipulating their own ki is first presented in the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament Arc. As an extension of the two being students of the Crane School, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu are practitioners of the Sky Dancing technique, something that gives them a massive advantage in their respective fights against Goku and Krillin. It isn’t until half-way through the Saiyan Saga in Dragon Ball Z that flying becomes a standard skill known by nearly every Z-Warrior. From that point onward, fights in Dragon Ball completely change, and the series ceases to be an adventure anime.
Fights in Dragon Ball Z are unquestionably some of the best in the Shōnen genre. In most cases, however, this comes down to their spectacle, the character drama weaved into the battles, and/or their animation quality. The actual choreography, meanwhile, pales in comparison to Dragon Ball’s fights. Even leaving aside DBZ’s prioritizing of ki blasts over hand-to-hand combat, there’s little strategy that can be implemented into the fights when the combatants are zipping around the sky as near light-speed.
More so than its effects on fights, the standardization of flight changed the types of stories Dragon Ball was capable of telling. The Pilaf Saga, The Red Ribbon Army Saga, and the King Piccolo Saga are only able to work the way they do because of the limitations placed on Goku and his friends. The episodic structure of the Pilaf Saga, which sees the characters slowly traveling from one interesting location to the next, only functions because Yamcha and Bulma can’t fly, and need to rely on their vehicles. The Red Ribbon Army Saga involves Goku traveling around the world on his Nimbus, but this forces him to primarily travel alone, leading him to meet and work with a variety of new characters. In these instances, there especially wouldn’t have been any tension if Goku had access to Instant Transmission, the power he gains in the Cell Saga that lets him teleport anywhere in the universe in an instant.
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