the OG Dragonball cartoon is massively better than anything that came out after. It is charming and tells a much more grounded and building story around Goku growing up.
DBZ is just like a kid who loves action fights on steroids. The series at that point has good moments but half of the time its just people floating in the air telling endless monologues and going "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH" and then a "next time on Dragonball Z!".
In Dragonball at least episodes flowed much more and continued forward. It was more varied with a focus on humor and side characters and random things. DBZ and anything beyond is just so flawed in obsession with the action. When what made Dragonball great was its charm and the fact that a lot of the action was more realistic in terms of Goku just seeming like a particularly strong kid in a lot of scenarios.
love the original series and agree with the OP
