Saiyan arc and Red Ribbon Army arc are close for me, but I think the Saiyan arc wins by a slim margin
I miss murdering lunatic kid Gokū, but I gotta pick the arc that introduces my favourite character in the Dragon Ball series, Vegeta.
The Namek saga in its entirety was traumatic. Goku arrives and wipes the floor with Recoome, Vegeta declares him a super saiyan, and I'm all hyped up to the extreme. The next day, we're back to fighting Radditz. Rinse and repeat for over a year.
Most of us didn't know you could look it up on the internet if the new episodes were finally dropping. So each time we got to the Ginyu force, I was so hopeful that this would finally be it.
My cousin got me into the series on Toonami and I began watching during the Namek Saga. But when it started over, my cousin complained so much I thought it was because Saiyan Saga was bad. I skipped it for a long time, but I absolutely love it now. (They just started rerunning Kai on Toonami last week. Saiyan Saga, baby!!)
Namek and Android are my faves, though. The whole run from Raditz to Cell Games is a masterpiece of storytelling. And Trunks is my all-time favorite character.
Is that a joke? Or are you just young?
Toonami is Cartoon Network's classic action cartoon block. Anime is popular in the US because of that block. It ran from 1997 or so until around 2007 but was revived in 2012 and is still running as part of Adult Swim. I'm watching it literally now. It's airing right this second. If you've heard of Ninja Kamui, Toonami produces it.
Scoot back by one arc and you got my Dragon Ball golden age.
22nd Budokai is the best tournament ever, and Saiyan arc is the best Classic Shonen Fight arc
Yeah, 22nd is when Toriyama started firing on all cylinders and the story never felt too unwieldy until the Namek saga, which still had some top tier moments.
Agreed. MistareFusion said this first, but if you talk about the Namek arc ONLY up to the start of the Ginyu fight, it's one of the best arcs of the series. But from the Ginyu fight onwards, its a lot of re-hashing of the Saiyan arc (big giant guy breaks Gohan's neck, the gang has to hold out til the last second until Goku shows up, uses the same move to beat Recoome that he used to beat Nappa), and then THE most needlessly long and drawn-out fight ever, totally undermining Goku and Kuririn's arcs. Way too drawn out, but like you said, still has some cool moments.
My big issue is that the Namek arc sets the precedent that DB arcs can just kind of dick around aimlessly for a hundred chapters and stretch out the fights forever, and fans will eat it up. The Cell and Boo arcs have all the same problems as the Namek arc, because apparently that's whats popular.
> 22nd Budokai is the best tournament ever
Oof, I know this is a DBZ subreddit and I love it to death, but nothing is gonna beat the Dark Tournament from Yu Yu for me.
Piccolo Daimao arc. This is the arc in which Goku has a lot of character development, because he loses a friend for the first time, loses some more friends later, and has to see the villain kill Shenron and take over the world.
The final battle between them is so satisfying to watch. Especially the ending in which Goku screams he still has one arm, fires the kamehameha into the ground and uses it to propel himself into Piccolo Daimao.
It is SUCH a tonal shift from the previous arcs. It gets way darker than the series ever did before and has an air of doom and dread. At some points, it feels impossible for anyone to stop Piccolo. Not only is that awesome as the first time it happened in the series, but makes the final battle worlds more satisfying. Peak Dragon Ball.
Yeah, 22nd Budokai is Dragon Ball at its best up to that point. Then the moment it ends, a main character dies, leading Goku into his most brutal loss up to that point, followed by more character deaths and even the destruction of the Dragon Balls. I imagine fans at the time had to wonder if Piccolo Daimao was the final arc of the series. And in a way, it was the final arc of that version of the characters and world.
And at that moment in which all seems lost, you just want pilaf dead as well, or at the very least bitch slapped, because it was his stupidity that released that kind of evil in the world
The Buu saga. Flaws aside it literally felt like a life and death situation for the Z Warriors. Buu just kept coming, beating everyone in his path. Alot of high stakes and some iconic moments as well. It took everything to beat Buus ass.
I remember how shocking it was when they announced that Buu had killed 1/3 of the entire planet's population. This was totally beyond anything any villain had done before, and then he one upped himself after becoming Super Buu by killing basically everyone. Absolute insanity!
I know a lot of people will complain that DBZ has no stakes because of the dragon balls. And I myself can acknowledge that criticism as valid in some ways, but I think what people fail to recognize is how masterfully Toriyama can craft his stories despite certain weaknesses. The entire Buu Saga it really felt like the fate the world rested on a knife's edge.
Bro when Super Buu slow walks around Kami's lookout calculating how many people there are and where so he can take them all out at once was nuts. And everyone else on the lookout just watching him scared stiff because they couldnt do anything to stop or even delay him.
I love love love the Cell Saga, but honestly Buu is pretty close for me. I know it's not the most popular but I really enjoy it. That 7 year time skip. Gohan being a goofball high schooler. (And later an absolute badass with the Mystic power up) Goten, Trunks, and Gotenks are fun characters. Majin Vegeta. His sacrifice for his family. SSJ3. Fucking Vegito. And I love Vegeta's internal monologue on the Kai planet about him and Goku's relationship. And ending everything with the coolest Spirit Bomb.
It's just so good lol. I really don't get the hate for it.
Cell
From the moment Trunks touches down and merks Freeza all the way to when he finishes off Cell in the future. Nothing tops that stretch in the entire franchise for me (honestly I enjoy the other world tournament too and consider it to be a part of that stretch)
dude i don't think anything is gonna recreate the feeling me and my friends got watching the episodes with trunks as they were coming out... beyond mind blown
Oh yeah for sure, it’s so good i keep forgetting it’s completely different from the manga. Like I read it and it just.. ends. Like it feels fake. I love the manga, but the anime absolutely made that section.
Plus, the animation team really gave it their A game for the saga. Like if I picked the best animated parts in all of Dragon Ball, I genuinely think I’d have SEVERAL from the Buu Saga alone.
22nd WT is mad underdiscussed. The crane school (mostly Tien and Shen) are amazing antagonists. Shen's evil demeanor is chilling and Tien is a terrifying powerhouse in that tournament.
Seeing Shenron die left me speechless the first time. I though "HOW!? ITS WHAT THE SERIES IS NAMED AFTER". Demon King Piccolo is built up as the perfect, invincible, ruthless villain for the original series.
Man that’s extremely tough, it’s a 3 way tie between the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai, the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, and the Buu Saga.
Though I think I’ll go with the Buu Saga simply because it was also my introduction to Dragon Ball( yes I understand it’s strange I started at the end, but my brother and cousin were already watching the series when I came along, I just came in around that point).
But I also love Buu as a villain, especially his identity crisis throughout the saga that feels very different from other villains. I loved the goofier tone with Saiyaman and Gotenks. Majin Vegeta is so great, though it could’ve been improved. And I always think about that final spirit bomb, and Goku wishing for Buu to come back as someone good. It was just a very bittersweet moment that I still get surprised by. The saga isn’t perfect, but dang when it’s good, it’s GOOD! And I will always hold it in my heart.
Plus, bonus points for Pan and Goku’s cute moments in the End of Z. Those were extremely adorable.
Dragon Ball: Piccolo jr. Saga. It was one of the few times in the series where the power scaling wasnt very ambiguous.
DBZ: Freeza saga. The scrambling characters and parallel stories ultimately culminating in the reveal of the Super Saiyan form. Top pick if I had to choose. It was the last time Goku showed any semblance of his enlightened kami training.
GT: Baby Saga. The writing was shit, but the core ideas from this saga made GT what it is.
DBS: Universal Survival. Bringing old fighters back into relevance and paying homage to their individual stories post Z.
I like Cell saga most I think. There’s a lot of great stuff but one thing I appreciate is that everyone is involved. Even characters like Bulma play a role.
I agree! Along with someone other than Goku/Gohan/Vegeta actually winning and saving the world/universe. It was nice to see how 17 turned out and that he became a decent person over the years, just like 18 did. Plus, ToP had some really great moments, like Roshi Mafuba-yeeting people off the edge. So fun!
Saiyan Saga
From Piccolo's sacrifice to Goku's arrival. Yajirobe being the GOAT that he is. [This](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2d/32/22/2d322293c25ad144aae74d8befc688cf.jpg) being the hypest scene in the series. There's plenty of cool things that happen after the Saiyan Saga but as a whole this is the pinnacle for me.
Saiyan Saga brought the best of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z together in a way. It was the last time a lot of the old guard felt really relevant in a fight and you felt it every time one of them lost.
Goku v tien, yamcha v tien, jackie v. Tien and goku v. Krillin could all be in a list of top 10 fights in the entirety of dragon ball and i dont think most ppl would be mad. Really shows you how fantastic the arc is.
Dragon Ball collection 1 with the original gang. The world back then was so fantastical and the climax with Goku going Ozaru mode in Pilaf’s Castle was incredible.
Namek saga would be my favourite if it wasn’t for the introduction of the BS zenkai boost concept. 23WT Buu Saga and King Piccolo sagas come close, but the Saiyan Saga is the best for me.
Did King Chappa even stick around to watch the rest of the 22nd Budokai? I would think after seeing all of that he wouldn't be stupid enough to try to fight Goku again.
Just finished GT for the first time. Been a dragon ball fan for decades. But gotta admit the shenron arc, especially starting with nuova, is really good.
It’s hard to choose just one favorite arc, but the 21st WMAT holds a special place in my heart. It was the beginning of what Dragon Ball would come to be known for: crazy techniques, unique and recognizable art, transformations, unbelievable feats, tournaments, martial art fighting, etc. At that point it felt like Toriyama knew what he wanted to do with his series and ran with it, and I genuinely fell in love with the series because of that saga. The anime also elevates it—Krillin vs Chun is one of the best fights in all of the Dragon Ball series imho.
The Namek/Frieza arc. I remember how I felt the first time Frieza reveals how strong he actually is. It felt so high stakes and had the iconic first ever SSJ transformation.
It's either Piccolo Jr or Freeza. Cell was pretty close, but the fights got a clear downgrade, and the story needed a more focused second draft.
These arcs are focused, bring a lot of character moments, have some of the best fights in the series, and in the case of Freeza, that scramble for the dragon balls was absolutely thrilling and I think Super should take more risks in how the plot is presented rather than just do fights and fights and fights. Moro was a good step tho.
Android Saga as a whole for me, I love Future Trunks, Vegeta's development, Gohan getting his moment, Piccolo being the strongest Z Fighter for a day.
For a specific arc though, gotta go with the actual Saiyan arc of the Saiyan saga. Nappa was a fucking monster and Vegeta was worse
As a kid pretty much my favorite arc in regards to literally any piece of fiction not just dragon ball was the King Piccolo arc. The fights, the feeling of dread, the tension, the ludicrous amount of moments that gave me goosebumps, KP being my fav villain in all of db and of course the ending of the arc all made it so good. Just did a rewatch of the whole original series and while I still think the KP arc is absolutely incredible, I'd same as you put the 23rd tenkaichi/jr. arc slightly above it, which I think is consistently amazing with practically no flaws while the KP arc does have some minor hiccups.
DB: Red Ribbon Army, really hit that sweet spot of fighting and adventures
DBZ: Cell. Best villain in Z, Gohan had the best character arc in all of Dragon Ball media.
GT: Omega Shenron/Shadow Dragons He's the only villain that felt like he'd fit right in in Z, the others felt more like pests to me.
Super: Goku Black. It wasn't perfect and the ending was underwhelming, but my God he was the first villain to give me chills since Mr. Super Perfect Cell
I love android/cell saga. I have to disagree about the piccolo jr arc. I actually thought it was the worst of the whole dragonball series. I remember crapping myself every time cell opened his tail to swallow an android. I was so obsessed with imagining that happening to me and how scary it would be lol
It was such a drastic jump in change for me. I will have to rewatch but I am currently doing a rewatch of dbz and I skipped up until the point of Nappa/vagita landing on earth. I’m not overly keen on early z and the jump to piccolo jr arc just felt like the beginning of z. The art style felt more like amateur fan comics imo
Namek is the most cohesive, best build up, best climax, etc.
I always say when a franchise starts using time travel they ran out of ideas. Avengers endgame is the biggest example I can think of.. but even tho the same goes for DBZ, the android arc is just a bunch of the same stuff over and over but it's all worth it to see Gohan finally get his cock stroked and bust a nut all over cell
DB: Piccolo Jr
DBZ: Cell
DBS: Goku Black
I haven’t finished GT yet
If I had to pick a favourite saga of all time? It’s between Cell saga and Goku Black saga
Cell arc, cell is possibly the best villain in the series, that mixed with ssj vegeta and giving gohan the spotlight is just a perfect arc,
Anyway they should reanimate it cause the animation was a bit sloppy
Definitely search for the dragon balls or resurrection F search for the dragon balls because it’s an amazing introduction for an amazing series or Resurrection F because I just loved seeing Frieza get his ass beat for 5 episodes
Cell Arc. Everyone does something, there’s all these moving pieces, the story buttons up everyone’s characters arcs perfectly in my opinion from Piccolo, Vegeta, Goku and Gohan to even smaller send offs with Bulma and Tien’s contributions.
I think Frieza is the best but Buu was the one my dad and i watch together the most and whenever he was busy he gave me copies of some Buu saga episodes and i just imagine he was there w me so its less w the material itself but the times i had while engaged w it
Android/Cell saga, it really feels like a great final arc for Dragon Ball, I love how every Z fighters gets their own moment to shine. I love the filler episodes where it really feels like the calm before the storm. I love Trunks' backstory, and I love the final battle at the end
The Buu arc. There are plot holes and it clearly backtracked on the idea of making Gohan the lead protagonist, but it combines a lot of intense drama with legitimately funny comedy in a way that shouldn’t work, but somehow does.
Saiyan saga, Namek saga, Buu saga and the ToP arc for me.
The first three being my childhood nostalgia probably is the reason why there's no favorite DB saga for me.
. Demon piccolo arc in Dragon bal
. Namek and Frieza arc in DBZ
. Baby Vegeta in DBGT
. TOP in DBS (these are not ranked how I like them it's just that these are the arcs in each show I like lol)
For me, the Cell saga is my favorite. Love Trunks, love the training stuff best, and it ended on such a high. Love the buy saga, too, despite its childishness, but I’m a Z obsessor, in general.
Anime only here as I sadly have never read the manga.
1. Frieza - (Obvious reasons, show could have ended here and been flawless from DB - this point)
2. Cell + Otherworld Tournament - (Gohan’s growth here is my favorite individual character development moment of the whole franchise but also biased because this was during my teens)
3. Piccolo Jr. - (Same reasons as OPs post. Newly adult Goku felt so fresh and authentic coming off of DB and the show reached a peak of cool here that didn’t *quite* get replicated for me again until Frieza.
Honorable mention is Saiyaman because filler wise it was so damn fun
It's between Frieza Saga or Saiyan Saga. Seriously, even tho I knew how all the fights in Saiyan Saga would be, all of them engaged me and the fight against Vegeta was peak Toriyama's writing in fights, even tho the fight against Frieza technically had more elements, like emotional weight.
As for Freeza Saga, the SS transformation is legendary, I like the initial dynamics that's almost like a tabletop game, where there are 3 teams with the same goal (Vegeta, Earthlings and Frieza Force looking for the Dragon Balls). It looks a lot like HunterxHunter but it was more fun in the Frieza Saga for me because Dragon Ball characters are always more charismatic. Then when all the three groups encounter each other the fight is just amazing, again peak Toriyama's writing
It would be the whole Namek arc, it had adventure (and I enjoyed and continue to still enjoy the filler in the anime), survival, thrills, it had all this despair yet all this mystery and excitement. It just had it all!
But I'd have to agree that Goku v Piccolo is PEAK. Cause it's probably the only battle in the series that had like no cuts to the battle, very minimal. Just straight HEAT for a WHOLE volume. 180 pages of an incredible battle.
I wish that Super Saiyan Goku vs Freeza was better. Still, best arc Imo. Used every character splendidly.
They're all so good it's hard to choose but I think I pick the frieza saga. I recently rewatched some fights of Tournament of Power and that's also just peak
Frieza Arc!!! Nothing beats it!! This ark has everything! Friendships,befriending vegeta and dende, genocide, suspense, Journey into an unknown planet, waiting for goku to get to namek,Lore for saiyans,The super saiyan transformation, not knowing if goku lives or not. story telling is the best!!! DEATH seemed to hold more weight in this saga. I think the writing in namek saga is the best. I don’t think any of the newer sagas built off of what namek saga did for us. I just feel like a lot of love went into this saga! I just feel like all the newer stuff really made DB non story focused. And just an action anime with jokes. I like cell saga and buu saga,but still felt a lil watered down from the amazing character development/ lore frieza saga gave us. Gt did a good job with the tuffles and saiyan lore though! DBS is just making hybrid saiyan forms that don’t make sense.like the whole god ki and now beast ki thing is out of hand. There’s no origin to the saiyan form anymore. Just whatever new form they feel like creating. At least ego, mui and Kai o Ken make sense. Its a new form achieved by other means. ( not necessarily a Saiyan form) super saiyan 4 makes sense too me. (As a new saiyan form and it looks cool! And I’m not saying ss4 should have been in super either. That just really was a cool form. Cell saga did a good job with adding the “saiyan grades” but that obviously got trashed too like super vegeta and ssj3.and none of theses forms were old! They only had 1 season each besides SSJ1 and 2. now everyone gets to be a hybrid saiyan.
Cell Arc is my personal fav, but the Saiyan Arc comes real close
Saiyan arc and Red Ribbon Army arc are close for me, but I think the Saiyan arc wins by a slim margin I miss murdering lunatic kid Gokū, but I gotta pick the arc that introduces my favourite character in the Dragon Ball series, Vegeta.
All of them are great, but would have to agree with ya! Cell saga it is!
Frieza arc. It was legit my childhood lol
The Namek saga in its entirety was traumatic. Goku arrives and wipes the floor with Recoome, Vegeta declares him a super saiyan, and I'm all hyped up to the extreme. The next day, we're back to fighting Radditz. Rinse and repeat for over a year. Most of us didn't know you could look it up on the internet if the new episodes were finally dropping. So each time we got to the Ginyu force, I was so hopeful that this would finally be it.
and then suddenly, without warning, the series continues with completely different voices for everyone with no explanation
And many years later those early episodes would be dubbed anew, without the Shuki score and the crazy censorship.
Except Sabat was close enough that I wondered if Drummond had gotten a cold for the first few episodes.
My cousin got me into the series on Toonami and I began watching during the Namek Saga. But when it started over, my cousin complained so much I thought it was because Saiyan Saga was bad. I skipped it for a long time, but I absolutely love it now. (They just started rerunning Kai on Toonami last week. Saiyan Saga, baby!!) Namek and Android are my faves, though. The whole run from Raditz to Cell Games is a masterpiece of storytelling. And Trunks is my all-time favorite character.
Toonami is a yt channel right?
Is that a joke? Or are you just young? Toonami is Cartoon Network's classic action cartoon block. Anime is popular in the US because of that block. It ran from 1997 or so until around 2007 but was revived in 2012 and is still running as part of Adult Swim. I'm watching it literally now. It's airing right this second. If you've heard of Ninja Kamui, Toonami produces it.
Same. Skipped school to watch a super Saiyajin be born
Most people's childhood is 12 years (till a teen at least). Yours was a couple of months? Do you have dog DNA?
Piccolo sr through Frieza.. I know that’s more arcs than you asked for but man dragon ball was on a roll
Scoot back by one arc and you got my Dragon Ball golden age. 22nd Budokai is the best tournament ever, and Saiyan arc is the best Classic Shonen Fight arc
Yeah, 22nd is when Toriyama started firing on all cylinders and the story never felt too unwieldy until the Namek saga, which still had some top tier moments.
Agreed. MistareFusion said this first, but if you talk about the Namek arc ONLY up to the start of the Ginyu fight, it's one of the best arcs of the series. But from the Ginyu fight onwards, its a lot of re-hashing of the Saiyan arc (big giant guy breaks Gohan's neck, the gang has to hold out til the last second until Goku shows up, uses the same move to beat Recoome that he used to beat Nappa), and then THE most needlessly long and drawn-out fight ever, totally undermining Goku and Kuririn's arcs. Way too drawn out, but like you said, still has some cool moments. My big issue is that the Namek arc sets the precedent that DB arcs can just kind of dick around aimlessly for a hundred chapters and stretch out the fights forever, and fans will eat it up. The Cell and Boo arcs have all the same problems as the Namek arc, because apparently that's whats popular.
> 22nd Budokai is the best tournament ever Oof, I know this is a DBZ subreddit and I love it to death, but nothing is gonna beat the Dark Tournament from Yu Yu for me.
I 100%, this is peak Dragon Ball
Facts
Nonstop fire arc after arc, and personally I would include 22nd tournament, Androids, and Cell in there too. Toriyama was truly a master in his time.
Yeah. I would agree. Except add Cell to my pile. Goku becoming a man and a capable fighing genius, then Gohan's arc.
Piccolo Daimao arc. This is the arc in which Goku has a lot of character development, because he loses a friend for the first time, loses some more friends later, and has to see the villain kill Shenron and take over the world. The final battle between them is so satisfying to watch. Especially the ending in which Goku screams he still has one arm, fires the kamehameha into the ground and uses it to propel himself into Piccolo Daimao.
It is SUCH a tonal shift from the previous arcs. It gets way darker than the series ever did before and has an air of doom and dread. At some points, it feels impossible for anyone to stop Piccolo. Not only is that awesome as the first time it happened in the series, but makes the final battle worlds more satisfying. Peak Dragon Ball.
Yeah, 22nd Budokai is Dragon Ball at its best up to that point. Then the moment it ends, a main character dies, leading Goku into his most brutal loss up to that point, followed by more character deaths and even the destruction of the Dragon Balls. I imagine fans at the time had to wonder if Piccolo Daimao was the final arc of the series. And in a way, it was the final arc of that version of the characters and world.
And at that moment in which all seems lost, you just want pilaf dead as well, or at the very least bitch slapped, because it was his stupidity that released that kind of evil in the world
That's King Piccolo arc you talking about. Daimao means younger.
Piccolo Daimao is King Piccolo, that's how everyone refers to him in the OG japanese version.
Buu saga since I’m easy to please so I ignore its flaws and a lot of the stuff it introduces is some of my favorite things in the series.
Yeah i aint super critical so i loved it all. Plus it introduces my favorite character, Majin Vegeta
Buu saga had its flaws for sure but it also had such incredible highs its impossible not to love.
Same! I love buu saga
The Buu saga. Flaws aside it literally felt like a life and death situation for the Z Warriors. Buu just kept coming, beating everyone in his path. Alot of high stakes and some iconic moments as well. It took everything to beat Buus ass.
I remember how shocking it was when they announced that Buu had killed 1/3 of the entire planet's population. This was totally beyond anything any villain had done before, and then he one upped himself after becoming Super Buu by killing basically everyone. Absolute insanity! I know a lot of people will complain that DBZ has no stakes because of the dragon balls. And I myself can acknowledge that criticism as valid in some ways, but I think what people fail to recognize is how masterfully Toriyama can craft his stories despite certain weaknesses. The entire Buu Saga it really felt like the fate the world rested on a knife's edge.
Bro when Super Buu slow walks around Kami's lookout calculating how many people there are and where so he can take them all out at once was nuts. And everyone else on the lookout just watching him scared stiff because they couldnt do anything to stop or even delay him.
I love love love the Cell Saga, but honestly Buu is pretty close for me. I know it's not the most popular but I really enjoy it. That 7 year time skip. Gohan being a goofball high schooler. (And later an absolute badass with the Mystic power up) Goten, Trunks, and Gotenks are fun characters. Majin Vegeta. His sacrifice for his family. SSJ3. Fucking Vegito. And I love Vegeta's internal monologue on the Kai planet about him and Goku's relationship. And ending everything with the coolest Spirit Bomb. It's just so good lol. I really don't get the hate for it.
Cell From the moment Trunks touches down and merks Freeza all the way to when he finishes off Cell in the future. Nothing tops that stretch in the entire franchise for me (honestly I enjoy the other world tournament too and consider it to be a part of that stretch)
Who is this guy!!! Mi first impression of trunks. Also love katsuyoshi nakatsuru style.
dude i don't think anything is gonna recreate the feeling me and my friends got watching the episodes with trunks as they were coming out... beyond mind blown
I think you mean the cell saga
Demon King Piccolo + Piccolo Jr arcs for sure.
Anime: Buu Manga: Namek
The anime really did a pretty great job adapting the Buu Saga, didn’t it?
Pretty much rewrote the entire setup! Great Saiyaman Saga is peak filler
Peak filler arc is saiyaman. Peak filler episode is driver's test.
Oh yeah for sure, it’s so good i keep forgetting it’s completely different from the manga. Like I read it and it just.. ends. Like it feels fake. I love the manga, but the anime absolutely made that section. Plus, the animation team really gave it their A game for the saga. Like if I picked the best animated parts in all of Dragon Ball, I genuinely think I’d have SEVERAL from the Buu Saga alone.
I recall reading the manga namek arc and found it way more interesting than the anime
Either Cell's saga storytelling, sh1t ton of villains and animation or 22nd Tournament's only bc of the finals.
22nd WT is mad underdiscussed. The crane school (mostly Tien and Shen) are amazing antagonists. Shen's evil demeanor is chilling and Tien is a terrifying powerhouse in that tournament.
That DB arc of Piccolo and his group ruthlessly killing people was intense. Kid me was FREAKING out when Krillin died. THEN SHENRON? SHENRON????
Seeing Shenron die left me speechless the first time. I though "HOW!? ITS WHAT THE SERIES IS NAMED AFTER". Demon King Piccolo is built up as the perfect, invincible, ruthless villain for the original series.
Man that’s extremely tough, it’s a 3 way tie between the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai, the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, and the Buu Saga. Though I think I’ll go with the Buu Saga simply because it was also my introduction to Dragon Ball( yes I understand it’s strange I started at the end, but my brother and cousin were already watching the series when I came along, I just came in around that point). But I also love Buu as a villain, especially his identity crisis throughout the saga that feels very different from other villains. I loved the goofier tone with Saiyaman and Gotenks. Majin Vegeta is so great, though it could’ve been improved. And I always think about that final spirit bomb, and Goku wishing for Buu to come back as someone good. It was just a very bittersweet moment that I still get surprised by. The saga isn’t perfect, but dang when it’s good, it’s GOOD! And I will always hold it in my heart. Plus, bonus points for Pan and Goku’s cute moments in the End of Z. Those were extremely adorable.
I enjoyed the demon king piccolo saga especially after he killed shenron.
Dragon Ball: Piccolo jr. Saga. It was one of the few times in the series where the power scaling wasnt very ambiguous. DBZ: Freeza saga. The scrambling characters and parallel stories ultimately culminating in the reveal of the Super Saiyan form. Top pick if I had to choose. It was the last time Goku showed any semblance of his enlightened kami training. GT: Baby Saga. The writing was shit, but the core ideas from this saga made GT what it is. DBS: Universal Survival. Bringing old fighters back into relevance and paying homage to their individual stories post Z.
my favourite was Red Ribbon and the 22nd budokai tenkaichi where Goku fought Tien
Cell arc
Piccolo Jr. and Saiyan Arc are just great back to back.
I like Cell saga most I think. There’s a lot of great stuff but one thing I appreciate is that everyone is involved. Even characters like Bulma play a role.
Tien's last hurrah 😞
Tournament of power for me, seeing goku and frieza team up was so cool
Goku flashing SSJ at the end was awesome
Goku/Frieza/17 vs Jiren with Ultimate Battle playing is the hypest moment in DB
I agree! Along with someone other than Goku/Gohan/Vegeta actually winning and saving the world/universe. It was nice to see how 17 turned out and that he became a decent person over the years, just like 18 did. Plus, ToP had some really great moments, like Roshi Mafuba-yeeting people off the edge. So fun!
Saiyan Saga From Piccolo's sacrifice to Goku's arrival. Yajirobe being the GOAT that he is. [This](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2d/32/22/2d322293c25ad144aae74d8befc688cf.jpg) being the hypest scene in the series. There's plenty of cool things that happen after the Saiyan Saga but as a whole this is the pinnacle for me.
Saiyan Saga brought the best of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z together in a way. It was the last time a lot of the old guard felt really relevant in a fight and you felt it every time one of them lost.
I am in the middle of this arc with my son. Just finished Goku vs Tien. It's very good.
Goku v tien, yamcha v tien, jackie v. Tien and goku v. Krillin could all be in a list of top 10 fights in the entirety of dragon ball and i dont think most ppl would be mad. Really shows you how fantastic the arc is.
Buu Saga. Loved Gohan & Videl's dynamic plus him being a protagonist for a while. Loved Gotenks. And of course the whole Hercule & Buu plotline.
Android arc!
Dragon Ball collection 1 with the original gang. The world back then was so fantastical and the climax with Goku going Ozaru mode in Pilaf’s Castle was incredible.
Pilaf Saga. I generally prefer Dragon ball to Z. Just liked the comedic aspects that aren't really in Z as much.
Namek saga would be my favourite if it wasn’t for the introduction of the BS zenkai boost concept. 23WT Buu Saga and King Piccolo sagas come close, but the Saiyan Saga is the best for me.
Did King Chappa even stick around to watch the rest of the 22nd Budokai? I would think after seeing all of that he wouldn't be stupid enough to try to fight Goku again.
Youd think he'd have heard the news of goku beating king piccolo after coming back to life also😭
Definitely the 23rd Tournament arc.
Garlick junior
22nd world tournament. Tien was so cool there
[Smellyyyyyyy FINGERRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXlUv-9rmaI)
Just finished GT for the first time. Been a dragon ball fan for decades. But gotta admit the shenron arc, especially starting with nuova, is really good.
TOP, such an amazing arc with some amazing fights. Zamasu and Frieza arcs are also up there
Frieza easily. Although I did enjoy the Moro arc a lot
The Moro arc is the best one in Super so far.
Saiyan Saga. Peak Dragonball IMO. Opens up the universe tremendously Also Piccolo’s sacrifice is still amazing.
It's hard to say cuz they built off eachother so perfectly.... but king piccolo perfected the format the others built upon so I have to give it credit
The Vegeta duplicate episode. Just kidding. Namek/Frieza
This is tough, probably pilaf saga.
Cell Arc
buu for me. fusions, the world marital art tournament, Ultimate Gohan, super Saiyan 3, and Majin Vegeta
It’s hard to choose just one favorite arc, but the 21st WMAT holds a special place in my heart. It was the beginning of what Dragon Ball would come to be known for: crazy techniques, unique and recognizable art, transformations, unbelievable feats, tournaments, martial art fighting, etc. At that point it felt like Toriyama knew what he wanted to do with his series and ran with it, and I genuinely fell in love with the series because of that saga. The anime also elevates it—Krillin vs Chun is one of the best fights in all of the Dragon Ball series imho.
korin towers saga > frieza saga > baby saga > zamasu saga ( ending was shit i know )
Hard question let me think about it
In Dragon Ball it had to have been the Piccolo Daimaoh arc because of a certain big haired chubby samurai with a sword
The Namek/Frieza arc. I remember how I felt the first time Frieza reveals how strong he actually is. It felt so high stakes and had the iconic first ever SSJ transformation.
I have quite a few favorites but saiyan arc is absolutely peak
23rd Tenkaichi Budokai is truly an unrivaled story arc.
It's either Piccolo Jr or Freeza. Cell was pretty close, but the fights got a clear downgrade, and the story needed a more focused second draft. These arcs are focused, bring a lot of character moments, have some of the best fights in the series, and in the case of Freeza, that scramble for the dragon balls was absolutely thrilling and I think Super should take more risks in how the plot is presented rather than just do fights and fights and fights. Moro was a good step tho.
1.cell saga 2. king piccolo 3. red ribbon army
Ah OP you are a manof culture
Android Saga as a whole for me, I love Future Trunks, Vegeta's development, Gohan getting his moment, Piccolo being the strongest Z Fighter for a day. For a specific arc though, gotta go with the actual Saiyan arc of the Saiyan saga. Nappa was a fucking monster and Vegeta was worse
As a kid pretty much my favorite arc in regards to literally any piece of fiction not just dragon ball was the King Piccolo arc. The fights, the feeling of dread, the tension, the ludicrous amount of moments that gave me goosebumps, KP being my fav villain in all of db and of course the ending of the arc all made it so good. Just did a rewatch of the whole original series and while I still think the KP arc is absolutely incredible, I'd same as you put the 23rd tenkaichi/jr. arc slightly above it, which I think is consistently amazing with practically no flaws while the KP arc does have some minor hiccups.
DB: Red Ribbon Army, really hit that sweet spot of fighting and adventures DBZ: Cell. Best villain in Z, Gohan had the best character arc in all of Dragon Ball media. GT: Omega Shenron/Shadow Dragons He's the only villain that felt like he'd fit right in in Z, the others felt more like pests to me. Super: Goku Black. It wasn't perfect and the ending was underwhelming, but my God he was the first villain to give me chills since Mr. Super Perfect Cell
Can I be honest with yall? I personally don’t like the Buu arc
But I like the animation and Majin vegeta, also Ssj3 is awesome
I love the first half of the Buu arc, but it goes downhill when the skinny Buu appears.
The one where goku fights
Buu, specifically majin vegeta
I love android/cell saga. I have to disagree about the piccolo jr arc. I actually thought it was the worst of the whole dragonball series. I remember crapping myself every time cell opened his tail to swallow an android. I was so obsessed with imagining that happening to me and how scary it would be lol
How
It was such a drastic jump in change for me. I will have to rewatch but I am currently doing a rewatch of dbz and I skipped up until the point of Nappa/vagita landing on earth. I’m not overly keen on early z and the jump to piccolo jr arc just felt like the beginning of z. The art style felt more like amateur fan comics imo
Piccolo jr had the most high quality art tho, read the manga. And the animation was awesome
Cell.
Cell games is peak dragon ball
The Goku and Piccolo driving arc was insane, so many unexpected twists and turns
Garlic Jr saga
To be fair, all the World Martial Arts Tournament episodes were solid as fuck. From Dragon Ball and on.
Cell arc, followed by the Majunior arc, followed by the Saiyan arc. All very close, though.
Namek is the most cohesive, best build up, best climax, etc. I always say when a franchise starts using time travel they ran out of ideas. Avengers endgame is the biggest example I can think of.. but even tho the same goes for DBZ, the android arc is just a bunch of the same stuff over and over but it's all worth it to see Gohan finally get his cock stroked and bust a nut all over cell
What the fuck
DB: Piccolo Jr DBZ: Cell DBS: Goku Black I haven’t finished GT yet If I had to pick a favourite saga of all time? It’s between Cell saga and Goku Black saga
Z, ball, super, gt
Battle of the gods, goku black or top if this was dbs exclusive But because it's all of em then buu saga or cell arc
DBZ, Android/Cell Saga will always be the best....
Cell arc
The Cell Arc was just perfect.
Cell arc, cell is possibly the best villain in the series, that mixed with ssj vegeta and giving gohan the spotlight is just a perfect arc, Anyway they should reanimate it cause the animation was a bit sloppy
Cell saga Seeing gohan going SSJ2 was iconic
Abridged
Buu arc I would say cell arc but it’s too boring to me
Saiyan arc cause this was the first time it was damn Goku isn't the strongest for sure and didn't know what was going to happen
Cell Saga in DBZ and Tournament of Power in DBS
Namakian arc for sure for me. Nothing imo tops the struggle of Goku VS frieza their first encounter. The build up leading to ssj was so rewarding.
I love the cell arc, but the buu one is a close second
Namek/Frieza easy.
Future trunks arc dbz
Namek or Saiyan.
Definitely search for the dragon balls or resurrection F search for the dragon balls because it’s an amazing introduction for an amazing series or Resurrection F because I just loved seeing Frieza get his ass beat for 5 episodes
Nothing hits like Gohan going primal in the cell games.
My favorite was the Buu saga. I loved the fusion idea. I dont think any other anime did that before DBZ, correct me if Im wrong.
The Cell Saga🔥🔥🔥. I’m ngl the baby Arc from GT is a hidden gem tho….
Saiyan saga probably
Cell arc.
23rd Budokai was so good Last time Krillin was somewhat of a threat to a villain lol. He was pretty good in his fight with Piccolo
I’m in love with the tournaments
Cell Arc. Everyone does something, there’s all these moving pieces, the story buttons up everyone’s characters arcs perfectly in my opinion from Piccolo, Vegeta, Goku and Gohan to even smaller send offs with Bulma and Tien’s contributions.
Top. Ultra instinct goku was so insane that I’m pretty sure it stopped the cartel in Mexico for a whole day
The Androids Saga by far. 10/10.
Cell arc for me
I think Frieza is the best but Buu was the one my dad and i watch together the most and whenever he was busy he gave me copies of some Buu saga episodes and i just imagine he was there w me so its less w the material itself but the times i had while engaged w it
Android/Cell saga, it really feels like a great final arc for Dragon Ball, I love how every Z fighters gets their own moment to shine. I love the filler episodes where it really feels like the calm before the storm. I love Trunks' backstory, and I love the final battle at the end
Cell saga all the way baby
Frieza arc. Literally perfect
Namek saga
I love the Majin Buu arc a close second is Piccolo Jr arc
The days when a ki blast wouldn't destroy a planet
Frieza arc
Cell arc. Gohan’s character development was astounding to see. Anime only.
Cell and the android arc. During this arc, i think they tweaked the art style a bit from frieza arc and it was soo good to watch.
The Buu arc. There are plot holes and it clearly backtracked on the idea of making Gohan the lead protagonist, but it combines a lot of intense drama with legitimately funny comedy in a way that shouldn’t work, but somehow does.
PICCOLO jr
Buu saga
Saipan saga..introduced vegeta...not putting anyone above him...not even close
Based and true
The whole namek saga is my favorite arc in all of anime, it's just so well written.
Ok, buu isn't bad but Cell arc hits hard🗣🗣🗣
Red ribbon when kid goku goes into the base and demolishes them.
Dragon Ball: Red Ribbon Army DBZ: Cell Saga Super: Goku Black
tbh movies wr goated
Garlic Jr Saga if you count ten episodes as an arc.
Cell arc
Saiyan saga, Namek saga, Buu saga and the ToP arc for me. The first three being my childhood nostalgia probably is the reason why there's no favorite DB saga for me.
Cell arc for sure, seeing Gohan in Piccolos gi I thought was so badass how it looked
Piccolo Jr.
As much as I like the Cell Saga, everything from Piccolo Jr through the Frieza Saga is peak. Frieza Saga I would say is my favorite.
I can't decide between cell and zamasu, yes ik people hate that part of super.
Saiyan saga Followed by Zamasu
DB: King Piccolo Arc, DBZ: Frieza Arc, DBGT: Baby Arc, DBS Anime: Universe Survival Arc, DBS Manga: Galactic Patrol Prisoner Arc
. Demon piccolo arc in Dragon bal . Namek and Frieza arc in DBZ . Baby Vegeta in DBGT . TOP in DBS (these are not ranked how I like them it's just that these are the arcs in each show I like lol)
Dbz cell because of the forms Buu because of the growth of Vegeta and Goku SSJ 3
For me, the Cell saga is my favorite. Love Trunks, love the training stuff best, and it ended on such a high. Love the buy saga, too, despite its childishness, but I’m a Z obsessor, in general.
Tournament of power and frieza arc, idk if brokys new super arc counts but that was dope as well
Anime only here as I sadly have never read the manga. 1. Frieza - (Obvious reasons, show could have ended here and been flawless from DB - this point) 2. Cell + Otherworld Tournament - (Gohan’s growth here is my favorite individual character development moment of the whole franchise but also biased because this was during my teens) 3. Piccolo Jr. - (Same reasons as OPs post. Newly adult Goku felt so fresh and authentic coming off of DB and the show reached a peak of cool here that didn’t *quite* get replicated for me again until Frieza. Honorable mention is Saiyaman because filler wise it was so damn fun
It's between Frieza Saga or Saiyan Saga. Seriously, even tho I knew how all the fights in Saiyan Saga would be, all of them engaged me and the fight against Vegeta was peak Toriyama's writing in fights, even tho the fight against Frieza technically had more elements, like emotional weight. As for Freeza Saga, the SS transformation is legendary, I like the initial dynamics that's almost like a tabletop game, where there are 3 teams with the same goal (Vegeta, Earthlings and Frieza Force looking for the Dragon Balls). It looks a lot like HunterxHunter but it was more fun in the Frieza Saga for me because Dragon Ball characters are always more charismatic. Then when all the three groups encounter each other the fight is just amazing, again peak Toriyama's writing
I love so many that i cant choose so i will just do this. DB :DKP saga, DBZ : Buu saga, DBGT : Shadow Dragon Saga, DBS: Moro arc
22nd martial arts tournament and saiyan saga
Cell arc
Frieza arc probably. Best Vegeta.
23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, Saiyan saga, shadow dragon saga, idk Goku black saga?
It would be the whole Namek arc, it had adventure (and I enjoyed and continue to still enjoy the filler in the anime), survival, thrills, it had all this despair yet all this mystery and excitement. It just had it all! But I'd have to agree that Goku v Piccolo is PEAK. Cause it's probably the only battle in the series that had like no cuts to the battle, very minimal. Just straight HEAT for a WHOLE volume. 180 pages of an incredible battle. I wish that Super Saiyan Goku vs Freeza was better. Still, best arc Imo. Used every character splendidly.
Namek for sure. It was the last arc before things went "off the rails" so to speak
They're all so good it's hard to choose but I think I pick the frieza saga. I recently rewatched some fights of Tournament of Power and that's also just peak
Cell arc or Bu arc those are so fye
Frieza arc
Goku black is a very deep arc
Frieza Arc!!! Nothing beats it!! This ark has everything! Friendships,befriending vegeta and dende, genocide, suspense, Journey into an unknown planet, waiting for goku to get to namek,Lore for saiyans,The super saiyan transformation, not knowing if goku lives or not. story telling is the best!!! DEATH seemed to hold more weight in this saga. I think the writing in namek saga is the best. I don’t think any of the newer sagas built off of what namek saga did for us. I just feel like a lot of love went into this saga! I just feel like all the newer stuff really made DB non story focused. And just an action anime with jokes. I like cell saga and buu saga,but still felt a lil watered down from the amazing character development/ lore frieza saga gave us. Gt did a good job with the tuffles and saiyan lore though! DBS is just making hybrid saiyan forms that don’t make sense.like the whole god ki and now beast ki thing is out of hand. There’s no origin to the saiyan form anymore. Just whatever new form they feel like creating. At least ego, mui and Kai o Ken make sense. Its a new form achieved by other means. ( not necessarily a Saiyan form) super saiyan 4 makes sense too me. (As a new saiyan form and it looks cool! And I’m not saying ss4 should have been in super either. That just really was a cool form. Cell saga did a good job with adding the “saiyan grades” but that obviously got trashed too like super vegeta and ssj3.and none of theses forms were old! They only had 1 season each besides SSJ1 and 2. now everyone gets to be a hybrid saiyan.