I'm posting this one long response paper in place of two, I hope that's ok.
Every once in a while it seems an author or screenwriter hits on a story that has no end, or at least is so long it seems like it will never end. Sometimes this is intentional, as is the case with Dragon Ball Z, the popular anime series that loves to drag out every little action from powering up for a fight to training for a day. Other stories, like Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time series just seem like they last forever due to natural circumstance. The story just wouldn't be as good if it ended any sooner. In contrast to the writer of the DBZ script, Jordan doesn't intentionally drag anything out, he moves fairly quickly along his plot, he simply has a huge plot to cover. Both the Wheel of Time and Dragon Ball Z leave the reader/watcher feeling annoyed anticipation, wondering what will happen next for extended periods of time is frustrating to anyone, but the waiting is for completely different reasons. While DBZ, gives steady one-a-day episodes, several episodes at a time often consist of preparing for a minor fight, or endless walking or flying to get from one point to another, all of which could easily be cut out with no detriment to the plot. On the other hand, The Wheel of Time is exciting and full of consequential happenings on every page, but due to the length of each novel it sometimes takes Jordan in excess of two years to write the next one (the first one was released in 1990 and the series is still not complete). Granted, like every novel it has its slow points, but these are few and more than compensated for by all the action sequences and dramatic interaction between characters. Both DBZ and WoT are stories on the epic proportion; the plots respectively span worlds and nations and both explore other dimensions of reality. Both use “magic” in a sense, personified by martial arts powers in DBZ and the One Power in WoT, and both have multiple protagonists involved in the battle between good and evil. Obviously, because DBZ was made for a younger audience, and lacked in funding during some of its original air time, its character development, dialogue, and plot are no where near as complex or well-done as the Wheel of Time, but the basic plot, with its world-spanning battles and incorporation of mythological and purely creative characters, does retain a certain charm, and definitely keeps new viewers in suspense, although battles that last 20 episodes (Freeza) are a little much.
Every once in a while it seems an author or screenwriter hits on a story that has no end, or at least is so long it seems like it will never end. Sometimes this is intentional, as is the case with Dragon Ball Z, the popular anime series that loves to drag out every little action from powering up for a fight to training for a day. Other stories, like Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time series just seem like they last forever due to natural circumstance. The story just wouldn't be as good if it ended any sooner. In contrast to the writer of the DBZ script, Jordan doesn't intentionally drag anything out, he moves fairly quickly along his plot, he simply has a huge plot to cover. Both the Wheel of Time and Dragon Ball Z leave the reader/watcher feeling annoyed anticipation, wondering what will happen next for extended periods of time is frustrating to anyone, but the waiting is for completely different reasons. While DBZ, gives steady one-a-day episodes, several episodes at a time often consist of preparing for a minor fight, or endless walking or flying to get from one point to another, all of which could easily be cut out with no detriment to the plot. On the other hand, The Wheel of Time is exciting and full of consequential happenings on every page, but due to the length of each novel it sometimes takes Jordan in excess of two years to write the next one (the first one was released in 1990 and the series is still not complete). Granted, like every novel it has its slow points, but these are few and more than compensated for by all the action sequences and dramatic interaction between characters. Both DBZ and WoT are stories on the epic proportion; the plots respectively span worlds and nations and both explore other dimensions of reality. Both use “magic” in a sense, personified by martial arts powers in DBZ and the One Power in WoT, and both have multiple protagonists involved in the battle between good and evil. Obviously, because DBZ was made for a younger audience, and lacked in funding during some of its original air time, its character development, dialogue, and plot are no where near as complex or well-done as the Wheel of Time, but the basic plot, with its world-spanning battles and incorporation of mythological and purely creative characters, does retain a certain charm, and definitely keeps new viewers in suspense, although battles that last 20 episodes (Freeza) are a little much.
posted by Matthew at
1:45 PM
