Although there has been many abridged series sine Little Kuriboh's Yugioh abridged, in my mind there are 3 abridged series above all others, the ones that all other abridged series are compared to, the holy trifecta of abridged series, the trinity of abridged goodness: The Original Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged series, Megami33's Sailor Moon Abridged, and Team Four Star's Dragon Ball Z.
Now quality can vary, Yu-Gi-oh abridged probably suffered the worse, one brilliant now its sort of just okay. Miles better than most abridged series (mainly because a lot of would be abridgers can't be bother to get equipment that doesn't make them sound like they swallowed the mic) but not in its prime anymore. Sailor Moon Abridged was perhaps best left alone at the end of the first season as the second (and last) season seems to not nearly have the same heart and love, plus its been a year sine the last episode suggesting the series has been on hiatus indefinitely, maybe even permanently, right at a cliffhanger before the promised finale no less. Somehow though 35 episodes later (which is admittedly less than both SMA and YGOTAS) Team Four Star remains as good as ever.
For one thing the voice acting is quality, while its worth pointing out that SMA and YGOTAS also have top notch quality voice acting (heck Megami33 voices 3 different characters in DBZA and Little Kuriboh voices (voiced?) Frieza and sometimes the Narrator) You also get Lanipator who manages to sound almost EXACTLY like dub Piccolo and Vegeta and even a pretty good Krillin. Masako X who voices both Goku and Gohan doesn't sound as much like the dub, but his Goku perfectly fits the character (both in the actual show and abridged) as does his Gohan. And they sound like distinct characters. He also does Master Roshi. Takahata and Kaiser Neko talent can't also be dismissed.
Also while I definitely enjoy SMA and YGTAS better than their canon counterparts, they're still parodies. Enjoyable mockery of the source material. Dragon Ball Z Abridged is very much a parody but it also plays the material much straighter than most other Abridged Series, allowing the viewer to sort of see DBZ Abridged as a definitive alternative to watch over the canon, rather than just an enjoyable parody. Hell I suspect once the series is finished I won't have any reason to watch the canon version.
This is what they meant when they said better than Canon
Although there has been many abridged series sine Little Kuriboh's Yugioh abridged, in my mind there are 3 abridged series above all others, the ones that all other abridged series are compared to, the holy trifecta of abridged series, the trinity of abridged goodness: The Original Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged series, Megami33's Sailor Moon Abridged, and Team Four Star's Dragon Ball Z.
Now quality can vary, Yu-Gi-oh abridged probably suffered the worse, one brilliant now its sort of just okay. Miles better than most abridged series (mainly because a lot of would be abridgers can't be bother to get equipment that doesn't make them sound like they swallowed the mic) but not in its prime anymore. Sailor Moon Abridged was perhaps best left alone at the end of the first season as the second (and last) season seems to not nearly have the same heart and love, plus its been a year sine the last episode suggesting the series has been on hiatus indefinitely, maybe even permanently, right at a cliffhanger before the promised finale no less. Somehow though 35 episodes later (which is admittedly less than both SMA and YGOTAS) Team Four Star remains as good as ever.
For one thing the voice acting is quality, while its worth pointing out that SMA and YGOTAS also have top notch quality voice acting (heck Megami33 voices 3 different characters in DBZA and Little Kuriboh voices (voiced?) Frieza and sometimes the Narrator) You also get Lanipator who manages to sound almost EXACTLY like dub Piccolo and Vegeta and even a pretty good Krillin. Masako X who voices both Goku and Gohan doesn't sound as much like the dub, but his Goku perfectly fits the character (both in the actual show and abridged) as does his Gohan. And they sound like distinct characters. He also does Master Roshi. Takahata and Kaiser Neko talent can't also be dismissed.
Also while I definitely enjoy SMA and YGTAS better than their canon counterparts, they're still parodies. Enjoyable mockery of the source material. Dragon Ball Z Abridged is very much a parody but it also plays the material much straighter than most other Abridged Series, allowing the viewer to sort of see DBZ Abridged as a definitive alternative to watch over the canon, rather than just an enjoyable parody. Hell I suspect once the series is finished I won't have any reason to watch the canon version.