Dragonball GT, or more specifically, the
Dragonball: Grand Tour series, is the last series and episodes
of the entire Dragonball saga. It was created and aired in Japan
in the mid 1990's and has yet to make its appearance commercially,
in the United States. It was given the "go-ahead" by
Dragonball's creator, Akira Toriyama, though he didn't work directly
with this series.
DBGT takes place 10 years after the final episode of Dragonball Z and is broken down like DBZ into mini-sagas. There are four mini-sagas within DBGT, beginning with the Universal Dragonball hunt (hence the name, "Grand Tour"), culminating into the Baby saga, which leads into the Super-17 saga, and then ends with the Evil Shenlon saga. In total, DBGT stretches 64 episodes and has one movie special highlighting the Dragonball realm several generations after the main characters of DBGT. Pan is the only DBGT member still alive in the DBGT movie. This series faces the most scrutiny of the Dragonball variants and it is really undeserving if one views it in context. DBZ was a fantastic climax to the Dragonball series and so naturally, it wasn't going to be bested by its follower, DBGT. DBGT was more of a "smoothing over, return to its roots" type series that brought the Dragonball series to a comfortable close. Anyway, I'll try to address a few of the pros and cons to this series
Perhaps
the greatest gripe among Dragonball fans in this series is its
opening saga, the Grand Dragonball hunt. It did start out slowly
and was somewhat slow action-wise, but the character development
and interaction was going strong within it. It wasn't those drawn-out
sock 'em battles like DBZ, but rather a quest or exploration that
hinted at vibes from the original Dragonball series. A trio of
characters take on this endeavor to acquire the Black Star dragonballs
within a year. If the dragonballs are not gathered and brought
back to the Earth within the year, the planet will self-destruct.
Goku, who's been turned back into an 8 year old kid thanks to
Pilaf's wish, Pan, Gohan's now rebellious teenage daughter, and
Trunks, the almost 30 year old bachelor son of Vegeta are the
only hope for the planet and its inhabitants. Goten, Goku's second
son, who's also in his late 20's and single was supposed to go,
but a distracting phone call from his current girlfriend caused
him to miss his ride. Then again, Pan wasn't supposed to be on
the journey at all. She stowed away and hit the ignition as soon
as Trunks and Goku were aboard. This trio struggles with one pitfall
after another and can't seem to develop a team effort. Trunks
becomes what could almost be termed as the babysitter and leader
of the group, but he can't seem to control the always-looking-for-a-battle-or-food
Goku or the disrespectful I'm-not-a-kid-anymore Pan. Or perhaps
he doesn't care enough to bother. He was dragged into the mission
anyway...literally, thanks to his father (one of my favorite scenes).
Like
I mentioned earlier, this mini-saga is more about character interaction
and less about action-packed battles. I often see this mini-saga
trashed by male fans and the lack of battles may be the reason.
I haven't seen too many female fans review GT, but from the amount
of Trunks/Pan sites, Goten/Bra sites, Trunks/Marron sites, etc.
one can see that the female fans do take some form of liking to
the GT series and are focusing on the character interaction rather
than battles.
This leads to another fan gripe,
but it's more specialized. This is the difference between Mirai
(future) Trunks and the Trunks of DBGT. The fans bringing this
one up are primarily female. There are slight differences in drawing
style between DBZ and DBGT. This is also reflected in some of
the color scheme as well. Many fans are disappointed in what GT
Trunks has become. He's certainly not the innocently sexy warrior
like his future self. But again, there's a difference in how these
two grew up...one in peace and the other in turmoil. GT Trunks
has no reason (okay, maybe his dad is a reason) to train regularly.
He even takes over as President of Capsule Corporation thus assuring
his family's fortune and future and freeing up his mother to do
work on her inventions,etc. He also has a little sister, Bra and
his best friend Goten. Neither Bra nor Goten existed in future
Trunks' timeline. And unlike the Dragonball Z saga that had saiyan
males being bonded to a female early (Goku, Vegeta, even Gohan),
GT Trunks is never seen displaying any interest in dating,etc.
During their journey in space, the group runs into Dr. Mu and his creation, Baby. Dr. Mu is similar to Dr. Gero from the Dragonball Android saga. Baby is designed to take revenge against saiyans for destroying the Tugaloid (sp?) race, which is what Baby is developed from. Baby makes it to Earth before the trio can and begins possessing the bodies of the saiyans present there. He begins with Goten and finally ends in Vegeta's body--the perfect body to battle Goku with. Baby also manages to control all the humans on the planet as well, aside from Buu, Uub, and Mr. Satan. Upon their return to the Earth, Trunks, Pan, and Goku quickly realize the danger they are now in. Trunks is possessed, and Pan and Goku make their escape thanks to Mr. Satan filling them in on what's going on. To defeat Baby, who's extremely powerful thanks to Vegeta's saiyan powers, Goku must attain another level of super saiyan. And thus, the level above Oozaru (Giant ape) is discovered and super saiyan 4 is reached.
There's
alot of action and battle within the Baby saga as well as the
saga that follows, the short, but brutal Super 17 saga. There
is an obvious shift from character development to action/battles
which is very similar to that of Dragonball Z. Various characters
come into the spotlight only to take a step back to allow Goku
to shine to the max. GT's final mini-saga, the Evil Shenlon saga
combines both character development (particularly Goku and Pan)
and action/combat. The Super-17 and Evil Shenlon sagas also allow
more action time for other characters though Goku, naturally,
takes the bulk of it. Uub is now an adult and shows his skills
that he mastered under Goku's training. Goten and Trunks mention
fusion, but never actually get to do it (it would've been neat
to see what Gotenks looked like as an adult) and are as reckless
as they were as kids, Gohan's fighting pathetically, and Vegeta
shows he's at the level of Goku by displaying his super saiyan
level 4 with the help of Bulma. The dependence on Goku to get
the Earth and its inhabitants is obvious in GT as much as it was
in Z.
GT does bring some closure to
the entire Dragonball series though some plotlines are still left
for fans to speculate. Goku's fate is revealed at the end of the
series, but many supporting characters' lives aren't, especially
the "second-generation." This is perhaps my largest
gripe. We never know if Trunks or Goten marry or secure a future
for their bloodlines. Even Pan, Marron, and Bra's lives are unfulfilled.
Bra's half-saiyan warrior heritage is not even 
explored which is sad considering
she surely would have the ability to go super saiyan like her
brother thus making her the first female as such. Marron, Krillin's
and 18's girl is shown only fleetingly and as a wimp at that.
Both her parents are skilled warriors, you'd think there'd be
more to her. Gohan and Videl who are now in their mid/late 30's
are completely domesticated and 'normal' though Videl does hilariously
don her Great Saiyaman 2 outfit in one portion of GT. Even Uub's
downplayed though he showed so much promise at the end of Dragonball
Z. Everything seems to revolve around Goku, perhaps too much in
GT. Vegeta would be second in the spotlight, but in true Vegeta-fashion,
he ends up in Goku's shadow. There's just a little too much Goku
and not enough of everybody else.
I can't really find any truly consistent gripes for this series aside from those mentioned above. What others mention about GT is merely opinion and perhaps speculation because I can find little to back up their complaints. Dragonball:GT returns the Dragonball series to its original roots complete with an adventurous Dragonball hunt, child-form Goku, and comedy (such as the trio doing some funky dancing, Trunks as a bride, etc.). It also incorporates Dragonball Z by having some fantastic battles and enemies such as Baby and Super 17. Super 17 himself is an upgraded return of a couple of Dragonball Z characters. Even Cell and Frieza get some action in GT. GT carries the Dragonball series well enough in plot, music, action, and character development. Even more history of the Dragonballs is revealed here. So, all I can say is, ignore the rumors you may see or hear from other Dragonball fans and sites and check out the GT series for yourself. Of course if you may be in for a long wait if you're only watching what is available from the Cartoon Network and Funimation. Dragonball Z is a VERY long, and I stress 'very long' series. If you're dying to check out GT, try some of the fansub distros online. It's not that expensive to acquire fansubs and GT is in decent quality as such though some episodes are still untranslated.