Dragon Ballis a pretty funny series at its core when you really think about it. Branching off from series creator Akira Toriyama's experience with gag series Dr. Slump, the early days of the franchise are a lot more based in ridiculous situations than they are these days. But at the same time, there has been a semblance of that ridiculous remaining within the core of the franchise's storytelling to this day. For example, death means nothing in Dragon Ball unless Toriyama wants it to.Characters die and come back to life constantly, and even some of the biggest foes can become the biggest allies when up against even more ridiculous threats.