Is the 'Majin Vegeta arc' one of the greatest in the series?

[ABED]

I won't say it isn't cool cause it definitely made for entertainment, and the fights that occurred because of it were awesome.

With that said, I agree with Jinzoningen MULE in that it felt rather random. To me it felt unnecessary as the character progression we received throughout the Frieza and Cell arcs pretty much already settled this. In fact, it felt as if they were recycling his redemption once more, and that's something the Buu arc tended to do in general was recycle things already done before from previous arcs such as Gohan having even more "hidden" power to unlock.

What progression? He was in no way redeemed, even in the Cell arc. I don't see how anything was recycled

but it was just fun competition, as indicated by Vegeta's tone regarding their sons' fights, but also the friendly tone in which he spoke. Vegeta didn't indicate otherwise until a certain disruptive Kaioshin essentially called off the tournament, and even then, he didn't make a big deal over it. But once Toriyama decided to get the ball rolling, all of a sudden, Vegeta gets upset over a fight that has nothing to do with him, acts like an absolute child and gets brainwashed, which is quickly revealed to have been Vegeta's plan for quite some time! There's more! Then, despite basically being in full control of himself, he goes and murders the audience of the tournament for no reason. And people think Super has out of character moments?! This is absolutely ridiculous!

The power up by Babidi changes the equation. Vegeta isn't acting differently out of nowhere. He's still Vegeta and that sort of ruthlessness doesn't just go away. This was in no way out of character for him. Takeaway Babidi and the Majin power ups, Vegeta likely wouldn't have done anything, but given the circumstances with Goku's limited time, of course Vegeta is going to force a fight. I honestly don't know why you take Vegeta's temperament during the Junior division finals and take that as his character as though people don't react differently in different situations.

[Big Green The Yoshi]

There are some out there that believe that Majin Vegeta is Vegeta's worst moment, and I can see why. Babidi's Ship is hands down the worst part of the Manga too.

[funrush]

I think so. It resolves and puts a bow on Vegeta's arc as a character.

[TheZFighter]

I don't know HOW great this arc is in comparison to other arcs in the series but it was certainly very good. They did such a good job with the Vegeta character throughout DBZ.

[Lord Beerus]

As far as character development goes, the only arc that outdoes it is the Saiyan arc.

I'd say a good chunk if not all of Vegeta's character development happens in Majin Boo (Majin Vegeta) arc. Prior to the Majin Boo arc we see Vegeta's fully aloof, narcissistic, vengeful, sadistic and spiteful nature on full display with it not really toning down until the Cell Games. In Majin Boo arc, we finally see that Vegeta has a genuine care for others but at same time he still holds that deep resentment and bitterness towards Goku for always being one step ahead of him in terms of strength. But when it truly it truly mattered, he put on full display his love for family and care for others and he showed he would be more than willing to send himself to hell if meant his loved ones remained safe.

But perhaps the most striking that happens in that arc for me is Vegeta's epiphany when he lets go of underlining animosity and superiority/inferiority complex that drives not only his character but was a driving force for molding the narrative in the fashion that it did, for better or worse. Vegeta finally coming to peace with himself felt like a huge moment in the story because you felt as though any future conflicts in the story would be very limited now that Vegeta's ego wouldn't be around to instigate them.

[LuckyCat]

I wouldn't say so. While the anime adaptation is beautiful and the moment Majin Vegeta turns on everyone is delicious, story-wise it doesn't add much. The big problem with Majin Vegeta's fight with Goku is that it could never reach the stakes the Saiyan arc battle set up between the two fighters. And even if the stakes were the same, the battle purely ends in an unsatisfactory stalemate. What makes matters worse is that you find out Goku wasn't fighting at his best the whole time.

People have brought up Vegeta respecting Goku and working together with him later in the Buu arc as being the best parts of Majin Vegeta, but those things don't seem like a natural consequence of the Majin Vegeta fight. Vegeta has already shown in the Cell arc that he's willing to pitch in to fight a Big Bad, so a monster even greater than Cell would realistically force Vegeta to help even more, regardless of his Goku rematch.

So yeah, I know this isn't a popular opinion, but I prefer the manga's take which emphasizes Majin Buu's hatching over "Goku vs. Vegeta, Revisited" overall.

[floofychan333]

It's good, but its pacing is very mixed. Sometimes it kept me so interested I'd watch 4 episodes a night, but at other times I would get so bored that I'd maybe watch one episode every 3 weeks.

[ABED]

I wouldn't say so. While the anime adaptation is beautiful and the moment Majin Vegeta turns on everyone is delicious, story-wise it doesn't add much. The big problem with Majin Vegeta's fight with Goku is that it could never reach the stakes the Saiyan arc battle set up between the two fighters. And even if the stakes were the same, the battle purely ends in an unsatisfactory stalemate. What makes matters worse is that you find out Goku wasn't fighting at his best the whole time.

People have brought up Vegeta respecting Goku and working together with him later in the Buu arc as being the best parts of Majin Vegeta, but those things don't seem like a natural consequence of the Majin Vegeta fight. Vegeta has already shown in the Cell arc that he's willing to pitch in to fight a Big Bad, so a monster even greater than Cell would realistically force Vegeta to help even more, regardless of his Goku rematch.

So yeah, I know this isn't a popular opinion, but I prefer the manga's take which emphasizes Majin Buu's hatching over "Goku vs. Vegeta, Revisited" overall.

Would you explain why you think the stakes were greater in the Saiyan arc?

[LuckyCat]

Would you explain why you think the stakes were greater in the Saiyan arc?

Sure, in the Saiyan saga, Vegeta had no ties to the Earth and had no qualms using an attack capable of destroying the Earth. Majin Vegeta, on the other hand, is narrowly focused on Goku. MV only does bad things as far as it's necessary to get Goku to fight. And even then MV is willing to stop both fighting and doing evil things when he realizes Goku's heart isn't into the match. So, MV comes off as faux evil to me.

[Vijay]

I do find it funny how the manga glosses over most of the Goku/Majin Vegeta fight, like it's the unimportant side-story in this arc.

The manga did that with most of the arc's fights.

Except Gotenks & entire Kid Buu fight at Kaioshin Realm

On topic: I think Majin Vegeta's mini Arc within Buu Arc along with Kid Buu's to be da reason on why I love Buu Arc

Pure fun with great character moments. Veggie was undoubtedly the Knight of both mini arcs imo

As for Majin Veggie Arc itself, its a revelation that Veggie reclaimed his position Saikyoo no Senshi at least for a short span, since his intro at Saiyan Arc

Anime gave thorougly enjoyable filler moments (fights, talks etc) with Majin Vegeta & Ryo Horikawa as always gave an honourable performance

[ABED]

Would you explain why you think the stakes were greater in the Saiyan arc?

Sure, in the Saiyan saga, Vegeta had no ties to the Earth and had no qualms using an attack capable of destroying the Earth. Majin Vegeta, on the other hand, is narrowly focused on Goku. MV only does bad things as far as it's necessary to get Goku to fight. And even then MV is willing to stop both fighting and doing evil things when he realizes Goku's heart isn't into the match. So, MV comes off as faux evil to me.

The stakes are still just as high. Vegeta succeeding in his goal puts the Earth in danger of destruction. And then there's the matter of personal stakes which can often be more meaningful than the macro stakes.

[Super Saiyan Swagger]

Love the whole Majin Vegeta arc. The Buu arc is my absolute favourite in the entire series. Vegeta after Goku's sacrifice was kinda just thrown into a typical Earthling life (minus the whole being an alien warrior person). Gets married (I think?), has a kid that he takes care of, trains a lot and... that's it. His whole deal prior to that was to overpower Goku, but ever since he died Vegeta had no motivation.

The moment Goku announced that he'd be back for a day you could just tell that Vegeta was thrilled. He was even more thrilled when his first fight in the tournament was his rival Goku. The whole Buu situation prevented that fight from happening but Vegeta wanted this too much. He willingly fell under Babidi's just so he could fight Goku.

I don't know why, but I love it when shit just goes horribly wrong during an event. Vegeta murdering civilians in the crowd followed up with that shit-eating grin is one of my favourite moments in the arc. There were sooo many cool dialogue moments (and bless the Kai dub for making them even better). Goku vs Majin Vegeta is my favourite fight in all of Dragon Ball.

Of course, his sacrifice to kill Buu was fantastic. Beautiful moment between him and Trunks. The Majin Vegeta arc is definitely one of the best and is a highlight in the Buu arc. I recall Chris Sabat saying that the Majin Vegeta arc is his favourite in the entire series.
[spoiler]
luv it.[/spoiler]

[MrWalnut4]

It would have been better if it weren't rendered completely useless by Majin Buu not being destroyed and Vegeta being brought back later to fight Buu again. It would have been much better if that plot line were much later in the Buu arc and was a climactic ending instead of a futile attempt at redemption. A sacrifice ending in a resurrection isn't nearly as satisfying as a definitive sacrifice to save loved ones.

[ABED]

It would have been better if it weren't rendered completely useless by Majin Buu not being destroyed and Vegeta being brought back later to fight Buu again. It would have been much better if that plot line were much later in the Buu arc and was a climactic ending instead of a futile attempt at redemption. A sacrifice ending in a resurrection isn't nearly as satisfying as a definitive sacrifice to save loved ones.

I like that it proved futile. The value in it wasn't in the result, it was in the attempt. Vegeta might not have succeeded, but he still did something good. His arc was still not fully complete anyway. I think a better ending would've been Vegeta helping defeat Kid Buu but not coming back to life and being at peace with that. No matter what good deeds he does, he's done so many awful things, there is no redemption for him.

[LuckyCat]

The stakes are still just as high. Vegeta succeeding in his goal puts the Earth in danger of destruction.

That's true, but specifically during the Goku versus Vegeta fight we have no idea how strong Majin Buu is. And after they kind of get an idea the fight stops. If Vegeta kept fighting and ignored Majin Buu, that would certainly raise the stakes.

[ABED]

The stakes are still just as high. Vegeta succeeding in his goal puts the Earth in danger of destruction.

That's true, but specifically during the Goku versus Vegeta fight we have no idea how strong Majin Buu is. And after they kind of get an idea the fight stops. If Vegeta kept fighting and ignored Majin Buu, that would certainly raise the stakes.

Given that it's all building towards Majin Buu, it would hardly be going out on a limb to say that Buu is VERY strong. The fight between Goku and Vegeta did raise the stakes since the more damage Goku took, the closer Buu was to being released.

[GreatSaiyaJeff]

While I still think the Buu arc is one of the more weaker arcs, I loved Vegeta every single moment in this arc. His storyline gets resolution. From where he sacrificed himself and him having the revelation that Goku was a better fighter then him.

[DBZAOTA482]

Yes. The Majin Boo Saga would've sucked without it.

[Big Green The Yoshi]

Yes. The Majin Boo Saga would've sucked without it.

I don't know... The Boo Arc does suck, but I actually really like the Kid Boo fight.

[Metalwario64]

I really enjoy Vegeta's struggle with becoming "soft", to the point that he basically flips and tries to become "evil" again, only for Goku to help him realize that he really was no longer like that, which culminates in him sacrificing his life in an attempt to right his wrong.

One could probably say Goku intentionally withheld Super Saiyan 3 because he knew Vegeta would freak out, which would probably destroy Goku's attempt at reasoning with him. Pretty much like how Trunks didn't want to show Vegeta that he was stronger than him because he thought it would really hurt him. Considering the maturity Goku showed in the fight, like when he asked Vegeta if he really believed he was still a cold blooded killer like he claimed, I wouldn't put it past him.