Ranking the original 10 arcs.

[ABED]

The Saiyan arc wasn't that long. The long ones were RRA, Freeza, Cell & Buu. I know it's easier to get through shorter arcs but if an author has a long story that can only be told that way then so be it.

Agreed, and the Buu arc is too long. It's not because the number of episodes, it's because the story keeps going and I don't find Buu that interesting. It's a chore to sit through most of that arc. How long something feels isn't simply a matter of episode count. Case in point, the Garlic Jr. arc feels long.

The Boo arc can't be judged by traditional standards of good genre storytelling. (Though it is surprisingly thorough about capping off every remaining character arc, because Toriyama is a natural storyteller in his way.) The character interactions are all amazingly enjoyable, the scale makes for a natural and suitably absurd climax, and Toriyama's irreverence is infectious. While it might not be for everyone, I also like its ability to switch between humor and horror on a dime, with both modes feeling like they feed into each other. The situation is going off the rails faster than the characters can keep up with. The spot in the story in which the characters realize they have to pin their hopes on a cosmically powerful eight-year-old, who acts ... for the first time ever in Dragon Ball, about how you'd expect a spoiled, cosmically powerful eight-year-old might ... is sublime.

I mean, yeah, parts of it feel like Toriyama was writing by the seat of his pants, but that's because he was. No reason the final product can't be enjoyed despite, or even because of, that. To be on board with Dragon Ball is partly to be on board with Toriyama having fun.

What? Of course you can judge things by the standards of good genre storytelling. I love when stories mix tones (something modern critics seem unable to understand), but unfortunately, it doesn't work in this case because the comedy constantly undercuts the sense of stakes. I don't have an issue a writer writing off the cuff. It worked for much of the rest of the series, but it didn't work here. There's a lot of "and then this happened" instead of "Therefore this happened... but this happened." I don't care if Toriyama's having fun. I care if I'm having fun and enjoying the story.

[ekrolo2]

The Saiyan arc wasn't that long. The long ones were RRA, Freeza, Cell & Buu. I know it's easier to get through shorter arcs but if an author has a long story that can only be told that way then so be it.

Agreed, and the Buu arc is too long. It's not because the number of episodes, it's because the story keeps going and I don't find Buu that interesting. It's a chore to sit through most of that arc. How long something feels isn't simply a matter of episode count. Case in point, the Garlic Jr. arc feels long.

I generally give the Boo arc more of a pass since I think there are a couple of things about it that generally do work and Toriyama just kind of giving up, throwing whatever out there makes for a good enough time. It's definitely not the Cell arc where the story is both boring and total shit on every conceivable level.

[ABED]

I find the early Cell arc to be compelling. The mystery was interesting and I can forgive time travel created storytelling issues. They will always be there, it's inherent in subject. If I couldn't get past them, I couldn't enjoy The Terminator or Back to the Future because all I'd be thinking about was the paradoxes. Sadly, once Cell starts transforming, he becomes much less interesting and the fights aren't good enough to pull up the arc's ranking.

[Kinokima]

The Saiyan arc wasn't that long. The long ones were RRA, Freeza, Cell & Buu. I know it's easier to get through shorter arcs but if an author has a long story that can only be told that way then so be it.

Agreed, and the Buu arc is too long. It's not because the number of episodes, it's because the story keeps going and I don't find Buu that interesting. It's a chore to sit through most of that arc. How long something feels isn't simply a matter of episode count. Case in point, the Garlic Jr. arc feels long.

That's perfectly fair but I loved the Buu arc so for me it didn't feel too long or a chore at all. It was a good mixture of fun and comedy hijinks and satisfying emotional moments for me.

And personally I liked Buu as a villain more than Cell (who I just wanted to die because I found his arrogance annoying) especially Buu's first and last form. I loved the fact that Buu was completely irrational.


And yes I completely understand people being upset that Buu took away from Gohan being the main hero & Goku passing the torch. I loved that aspect of the Cell arc too. But if it wasn't for the Buu arc I wouldn't have gotten Goku & Vegeta working together. And I would never want to lose that.

So for me the Buu arc doesn't take away from Gohan being a hero. He always will be to me. But the Buu saga gave me something else that I think is really special and also feels like a culimination of things that were set up in the Saiyan arc.

Sorry for not ranking the other arcs. I am not really good at ranking. Buu has just always been my clear favorite.

Although I didn't really like the EOB with Goku leaving his family to train Uub but it doesn't exactly ruin anything for me.

[ekrolo2]

I find the early Cell arc to be compelling. The mystery was interesting and I can forgive time travel created storytelling issues. They will always be there, it's inherent in subject. If I couldn't get past them, I couldn't enjoy The Terminator or Back to the Future because all I'd be thinking about was the paradoxes.

The time travel stuff is a huge issue for me that I can't get around. It isn't because time travel happens (although I certainly think the story would've drastically benefited by it not being there) it's because it gets horrendously convoluted with multiple time lines, none of which make any sense as their own universe, popping up to try and explain the whos and whats of events. Imagine if Back to the Future and Terminator just arbitrarily decided to have multiple Martie's and John Connor's around, each one from another timeline, it would be a hot stinking mess.

The mystery angle doesn't work at all for me since Trunks and Cell basically spell out everything out three chapters into their respective appearances that it doesn't matter. Super, for all its faults, actually has a genuine mystery where the good guys spend a lot of time trying to figure out who and what Goku Black is with various theories and enough time devoted to it to where a genuine mystery story sub plot does exist. With Cell & Trunks, first chapter they show up and by their fifth we know everything about them and what they want.

There's also a wide range of character stuff that just bugs me like Vegeta turning into another generic DB fighting junkie with no tactical intellect from Namek. Piccolo & Kami fusing should be a big deal and it's nothing but a power up that ultimately means nothing for Piccolo's character or to the story. Gohan's a non entity for most it but the arc hastily tries to make him into a thing, ignoring the fact he is and forever will be, boring as shit.

[ABED]

And personally I liked Buu as a villain more than Cell (who I just wanted to die because I found his arrogance annoying) especially Buu's first and last form. I loved the fact that Buu was completely irrational.

Arrogance is a great trait in a villain. Piccolo, Vegeta, and Freeza all had it. Buu has such little motivation for doing what he was doing and his irrationality was interesting to a point, but not 70 or so episodes worth.

Ekrolo, if you have issues with the time travel in DB, you have issues with it, then you have issues with it as a concept. Your last sentence doesn't apply to DB at all.

The mystery isn't spelled out at all. Trunks tells them the cyborgs will arrive and yet they are different and Cell doesn't show up until 1/3 of the way through the 70 episode arc. I really wish people would stop forgetting Cell doesn't actually show up for quite some time. If it was a movie, he wouldn't show up until about act II. I love a good thriller and I honestly believe the early Cell arc had those elements.

Vegeta's tactics on Namek were necessary because he knew he was outmatched. He couldn't delude himself into thinking he was stronger than Freeza, at least not until later.

Both Cell and Buu arcs have their good and bad elements, but both could've trimmed quite a bit of fat. I've also grown to enjoy the RRA arc more than when I first watched it and I like that there are a number of mini-arcs in it, but overall, it's not one of DB's better ones.

[Kinokima]

And personally I liked Buu as a villain more than Cell (who I just wanted to die because I found his arrogance annoying) especially Buu's first and last form. I loved the fact that Buu was completely irrational.

Arrogance is a great trait in a villain. Piccolo, Vegeta, and Freeza all had it. Buu has such little motivation for doing what he was doing and his irrationality was interesting to a point, but not 70 or so episodes worth.
.

Sure arrogance is fine for a villain. Arrogance comes before a fall and that is what happened to Cell. I just found his particular brand of arrogance got on my last nerves. It came to the point I just wanted him to die. I guess he wasn't a villain I loved to hate...I just couldn't stand him. That doesn't mean there weren't other aspects of the Cell arc I really did enjoy like Gohan's development and well Future Trunks.

Also the 3 forms of Buu do change enough that he stayed interesting for me (actually I felt the 2nd form was a bit too similar to Cell).

[ekrolo2]

Ekrolo, if you have issues with the time travel in DB, you have issues with it, then you have issues with it as a concept. Your last sentence doesn't apply to DB at all.

The mystery isn't spelled out at all. Trunks tells them the cyborgs will arrive and yet they are different and Cell doesn't show up until 1/3 of the way through the 70 episode arc. I really wish people would stop forgetting Cell doesn't actually show up for quite some time. If it was a movie, he wouldn't show up until about act II. I love a good thriller and I honestly believe the early Cell arc had those elements.

Vegeta's tactics on Namek were necessary because he knew he was outmatched. He couldn't delude himself into thinking he was stronger than Freeza, at least not until later.

Both Cell and Buu arcs have their good and bad elements, but both could've trimmed quite a bit of fat. I've also grown to enjoy the RRA arc more than when I first watched it and I like that there are a number of mini-arcs in it, but overall, it's not one of DB's better ones.

Time travel is a concept I don't take issue with, it's a narrative device like anything else that can be used well or poorly. Terminator and Back to the Future keep it simple: guy from future goes into the past.

Dragon Balls is: guy from future goes into the past, but not the past he thought, the past made by the other guy from the other future who killed the first guy from that future who went into the past then died when another from his future stole his machine to create another past by going there from the future. What the actual fuck?!

The Androids are revealed to be 19 and 20 when Trunks first talks about them, Toriyama and then the anime hastily rewrite it into being 17 & 18 instead. There's no mystery there: Trunks says 19 and 20 are coming then they come 2 chapters later until a few more chapters later, Toriyama's retcon kicks in. Cell also isn't ever hinted at throughout the arc until a couple chapters prior to his appearance. Then a couple chapters later, he info dumps Piccolo about everything concerning him.

Once again, there is no mystery. If Cell was something Toriyama hinted at right from the get go then sparsely alluded to it more and more until Cell showed up, you'd be right. But much like 17 & 18, Cell's a hasty addition he throws in there then just as hastily explains. It's even worse in the anime where Trunks investiages the extra time machine in Ep 140 and by 143, Cell's revealed everything about himself.

[Cipher]

"Can't" was relative in my previous post. Take it to mean, "This is an arc that is best enjoyed being fully aware of its author."

Obviously anyone is free to dislike the Boo arc.

[Desassina]

Dragon Ball

1. Saiyans
2. Majin Buu
3. Piccolo Daimao
4. Tenshinhan Tournament
5. Red Ribbon Army
6. Emperor Pilaf
7. Piccolo Jr.
8. Androids/Cell
9. Namek/Freeza
10. 21st Tournament

Dragon Ball Super

1. Future Trunks & Zamasu (FTZ)
2. Universe 6 Tournament (U6T)
3. Tournament of Power (ToP)
4. Resurrection of F (RoF)
5. Battle of Gods (BoG)

[ABED]

Time travel is a concept I don't take issue with, it's a narrative device like anything else that can be used well or poorly. Terminator and Back to the Future keep it simple: guy from future goes into the past.

But it breaks down very quickly when you think of it. How can Marty cause himself to cease to exist? In the movie he accidentally interferes with his parents getting together which in turn would erase himself from existence, but if he doesn't exist, how could he have gone back in time to interfere? Those sort of questions always exist in time travel stories.

The Androids are revealed to be 19 and 20 when Trunks first talks about them, Toriyama and then the anime hastily rewrite it into being 17 & 18 instead. There's no mystery there: Trunks says 19 and 20 are coming then they come 2 chapters later until a few more chapters later, Toriyama's retcon kicks in. Cell also isn't ever hinted at throughout the arc until a couple chapters prior to his appearance. Then a couple chapters later, he info dumps Piccolo about everything concerning him.

There is a mystery. Mysteries continually ask and answer questions. Who is this kid? How is he able to turn Super Saiyan? Why is Goku's heart disease occurring so much later? There are more cyborgs? Who is 16? Why are the cyborgs so much stronger in this timeline than Trunks'? Why is there another time machine and why is it from even further into the future than Trunks and why did it arrive a year before Trunks showed up?
Cell is hinted at. You simply missed the point that there's a lot of stuff that isn't lining up with what Trunks said, the reason ultimately being revealed that when Cell traveled to the past, he butterfly effected the timeline. Cell was hinted at and you don't see it. What do you constitutes a hint?
Again, Cell isn't introduced until over 20 episodes in. That's a good chunk of story.

17 and 18 aren't hasty additions. I didn't even know about the retcon because it was fixed in the anime. Also given how quickly the Z Team confronts the cyborgs, there was a good chance they weren't the endgame villains. I don't consider that "hastily" at all. If you don't know anything about how the story was written, I think it holds together much better than you assume. I think people knowing the behind the scenes details of how the Cell arc was written has influenced their views of it.

"This is an arc that is best enjoyed being fully aware of its author."

Not sure what you mean here.

[ekrolo2]

Time travel is a concept I don't take issue with, it's a narrative device like anything else that can be used well or poorly. Terminator and Back to the Future keep it simple: guy from future goes into the past.

But it breaks down very quickly when you think of it. How can Marty cause himself to cease to exist? In the movie he accidentally interferes with his parents getting together which in turn would erase himself from existence, but if he doesn't exist, how could he have gone back in time to interfere? Those sort of questions always exist in time travel stories.

And these are questions I can swipe to the side as long as they aren't overwhelming. Both times Trunks shows up, massive levels of story inconsistency just keep pilling up more and more. Hell, DBs idea of making a separate timeline whenever you go into the past to avoid the pit falls of Terminator and BTTF is actually fairly smart, but when you create two more time lines that really shouldn't exist given what was setup beforehand, everything goes to hell.

There is a mystery. Mysteries continually ask and answer questions. Who is this kid? How is he able to turn Super Saiyan? Why is Goku's heart disease occurring so much later? There are more cyborgs? Who is 16? Why are the cyborgs so much stronger in this timeline than Trunks'? Why is there another time machine and why is it from even further into the future than Trunks and why did it arrive a year before Trunks showed up?
Cell is hinted at. You simply missed the point that there's a lot of stuff that isn't lining up with what Trunks said, the reason ultimately being revealed that Cell coming to the past butterfly effected the timeline. Cell was hinted at and you don't see it. What do you constitutes a hint?
Again, Cell isn't introduced until over 20 episodes in. That's a good chunk of story.

Mysteries also tend to pace themselves and not just info dump everything five minutes into their existence which is what Trunks and Cell do. They show up, you wonder about it for the littlest of whiles then everything just gets dumped into your shoulder about who they are and what they want. Cell also isn't hinted at through the story before Piccolo and Kami talk about him which is episode 140 and his entire back story is laid bare by 143 which is roughly about a dozen chapters in the manga. There are no hints about Cell beforehand because Cell, much like everything after 19 and 20 wasn't supposed to exist. If you want to count Toriyama's shit job of retconing things a mystery, by all means, I don't, I see it for what it is: an editor kept asking him to change things around and he did a slap dash way of going about it. Hell, Trunks even magically changes his Androids numbers from 19 and 20 to 17 and 18 because... reasons!

Also, half the things you cite as questions the mystery brings up are not answered. Why are there more cyborgs? Never answered. Why's Goku getting sick later? Never answered. Who's 16? Never answered. Why are the cyborgs so much stronger? Never answered. They aren't even answered in a purposefully vague way where the story wants offers conflicting info and lets people interpret it how they want, it's not answered period.

[ABED]

I'm making this issue its own thread.

[LowRyder2005]

The Boo arc can't be judged by traditional standards of good genre storytelling. (Though it is surprisingly thorough about capping off every remaining character arc, because Toriyama is a natural storyteller in his way.) The character interactions are all amazingly enjoyable, the scale makes for a natural and suitably absurd climax, and Toriyama's irreverence is infectious. While it might not be for everyone, I also like its ability to switch between humor and horror on a dime, with both modes feeling like they feed into each other. The situation is going off the rails faster than the characters can keep up with. The spot in the story in which the characters realize they have to pin their hopes on a cosmically powerful eight-year-old, who acts ... for the first time ever in Dragon Ball, about how you'd expect a spoiled, cosmically powerful eight-year-old might ... is sublime.

I mean, yeah, parts of it feel like Toriyama was writing by the seat of his pants, but that's because he was. No reason the final product can't be enjoyed despite, or even because of, that. To be on board with Dragon Ball is partly to be on board with Toriyama having fun.

I more or less agree with this, or at least I agree with part of it a whole darn lot. I think the Buu arc has the dinstinct characteristic of eliciting the widest range of emotions in the reader: I seriously find myself laughing out loud at some sequences in the manga unlike anywhere else except the pre-Z portion, although I get the most out of the serious/dramatic moments (which are easily the best in the entire series for me) as they are rendered in the anime.

The rendition of Vegeta's sacrifice, Vegeta's #1 speech, Goku's speech to Buu are for some reason enough to ever-so-slightly move me; maybe because they are a reflection on the series as a whole. It's honestly incredible. Add the scale of the battle against Buu, his relentlessness - underlined in some way by the enormousness of the arc - the constant turning the tables with (gratuitous but cool) concepts like Fusion and absorptions also quenched my thirst for battle shonen as a youngling.

[Kunzait_83]

1) 23rd Budokai: Dragon Ball firing on all cylinders. Everything is peak perfection: a simple revenge story of gods and demons mixed with a martial arts tournament setting, fantastic character payoffs to long-standing story threads from the previous few arcs, some of the best ever conceived and executed fights and martial arts techniques in the series, and all with tons of hyperkinetic energy and propulsive momentum to spare. Anyone who continues to claim that there is a clear line in the sand between the moment original DB ends and Z begins is just flat out incorrect.

2) Saiya-jin: Seamlessly continues the confident stride from the 23rd Budokai. Brutal, vicious space barbarians vs mystical martial arts masters with the latter as the underdogs is an excellent recipe and an awesome contrast. Killing off Goku after the first fight was incredibly ballsy, and the introduction of DB's endearingly Toriyama-ish afterlife is most welcome. An effective "doomsday clock" style first half builds up to a devastating gut punch of a final showdown that racks up a horrific body count and punctuates it with an admirable amount of dread and suspense. The beginning of a long daisy-chain of events and stories where the main cast are hopelessly in over their heads and their complete and utter demise is always hovering just a razor inch away at nearly all times.

3) 22nd Budokai: Another great use of a martial arts tournament setting, this time to tell a redemption story. Tenshinhan is one of the most underappreciated antagonists the series has ever had, and is nicely conflicted, humanized, and developed throughout. Not to mention more show stoppingly creative fights and increasingly weirder martial arts techniques. Also the best material that Muten Roshi has ever had in the series, hands down. Also where the Goku/Kuririn bromance, the most affecting relationship in the series, fully solidifies itself in nicely understated fashion. Everyone in the core cast shines like a beacon here.

4) Freeza: Probably the most, in many ways unfairly, over-derided arc in the series. Sports some of the most byzantine - but in a good, well handled way - twist-laden plotting in the series, as well as easily its very best Dragon Ball Hunt storyline. Amazingly well structured, considering Toriyama's "by the seat of his pants" reputation. Continues and further ramps up the dread-fueled "the heroes are doomed" tension of the Saiya-jin arc allowing the series to go to some of the darkest places its ever been. I'm actually fond of Namek as a setting: its just alien and odd enough to feel legitimately disquieting (which adds more of an eerie etherealness to the aforementioned "shit's gonna end badly for everyone" vibe), and the weird, distinctive architecture is some of my favorite bits of Toriyama visuals in the series. Some of the most down and dirty, brutal and violent fights in the whole series, to compliment the barbaric, heinous nature of the villains. Oh yeah, and also SSJ. Other than the back stretch of the anime sporting some of the unquestionably worst filler in the series, I have relatively fewer complaints with this arc than most tend to.

5) Piccolo Daimao: Everything in this arc hinges on Goku's revenge story, and its executed extremely well. Kuririn's death and the ensuing events after are handled very effectively, and Daimao remains one of the top 3 most iconic villains in all of Dragon Ball (alongside Freeza and Vegeta or maybe Cell), and not without good reason as his amazing design and general creepiness (not to mention kickass backstory) cement him fairly well as an intrinsic part of Dragon Ball's lore. Also contains more of Muten Roshi's A game material, as well as the debut of the Shinden (Kami's Temple) which is for my money the single coolest location in a series known for and chock full of cool locales. The final showdown at King's Castle is one for the books indeed, with easily the best and most instantly recognizable finishing off of a main villain in the series.

6) Majin Boo: Possibly the single weirdest arc in all of Dragon Ball, which is saying a lot. A divisive arc among fandom, and I'm honestly baffled as to why: its as pure DB and pure Toriyama as it gets. Adds a whole ton of fun elements to the series universe and lore (Kaioshin, Fusion, Madoshi & Majin, vaguely Persian design motifs, Boo's amazing innards) and the balancing act of the tone is as emblematic of the essence of what DB is at its core as well as of the time period in which it was made. Its so distinctive, idiosyncratic, bursting with imagination, ideas, and high energy, and just generally leaps out of the page at you so much that you'd almost never guess in a million years that it represented the swan song period of a massive global franchise of a children's phenomenon from an author who was by this point running on fumes.

7) Cell: Perhaps the least deftly executed arc in the series (being the most heavily effected by Toriyama's editors and without direction for certain stretches), what it lacks in narrative focus it makes up for with a lot of fun ideas, indispensable characters, and memorable setpieces. Trunks and the time travel-laden origins/B movie monster build up of Cell is easily the strongest stretch, adding perfect doses of sci fi and horror into the mix. There's some drag in the middle (namely the marathon of island battles, though Piccolo vs #17 is a series highlight), but the Cell Games is a memorable and iconic enough climax to make up for it. Cyborg Freeza is also just an awesome visual design, and Cell's initial form rivals Daimao and Boo as one of weirdest in the series.

8 ) 21st Budokai: The arc that originally made Dragon Ball gain some steam as the titanic name in manga/anime that it is, and its a fun, irreverently Slumpian ode to all things Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. Muten Roshi's Jackie Chun persona is infectiously fun, Namu's a cool proto-Tenshinhan-esque straight man, and Kuririn's debut is just about perfect. Its still kinda slight, but the atmosphere and tone is already spot on. Great fun, more so if you were ever a Shaw and Harvest junkie. Goku vs Jackie Chun remains a contender for one of the best ending fights in the series that isn't Goku vs Piccolo Ma Junior or Vegeta.

9) Red Ribbon Army: Its almost more of a daisy chain of mini arcs haphazardly strung together, but the variety is nice and keeps it moving along while giving off probably the biggest (and most infectiously fun) sense that Toriyama is literally just pulling random shit out of his ass as he goes. Muscle Tower, Tao Pai Pai, and Baba are easily the most prominent highlights with Blue and the Pirate's Cave taking the silver. One of the two arcs in the series that people are generally thinking of when they (incorrectly) say that pre-Z Dragon Ball is "more adventure than fighting".

10) Pilaf: Humble beginnings. This is Toriyama fresh off of Slump, and it definitely shows to one degree or another. Still with one foot steeped in gag manga shenanigans, its simultaneously works as a self-contained little one-off Journey to the West riff as well as representing a deceptively much bigger series only just starting to find its voice and its footing. Establishes Goku very well at the offset, and his initial meeting with Bulma has a suitably fairy tale-like feel (with stupid toilet jokes thrown in, cause its Toriyama). Its hardly the most indicative of what's to come, but it's cute and harmless enough.

[GreatSaiyaJeff]

My only big issue to Buu is that it's original theme is the next generation will be taking over and Goku has stated that he didn't want to be relied on and that they need to do things themselves. That was pretty mature i thought, however Toriyama not thinking Gohan was right for the role, back tracked and gas the focus go back to Goku.i think it was nice that Vegeta and Goku finally worked out their differences but that to me still made this the weakest of the Z era. Although Goku training Uub did bring that them back since he told Gotten and Trunks that he will have Uub look to them for guidance in the future. Sure he is also training Uub so he can fight him but it still fit the original theme of this arc.

[ABED]

So the next generation taking over is a better idea than staying with the current generation and allowing one of the main characters to complete their arc? Why do so many love the idea of the next generation taking the spotlight?

being the most heavily effected by Toriyama's editors

I think for the better. Did anyone want 19 and 20 as the big bads or semi-perfect Cell to stay around? I think they made good calls on both issues.

its as pure DB and pure Toriyama as it gets. Adds a whole ton of fun elements to the series universe and lore (Kaioshin, Fusion, Madoshi & Majin, vaguely Persian design motifs, Boo's amazing innards) and the balancing act of the tone is as emblematic of the essence of what DB is at its core as well as of the time period in which it was made. Its so distinctive, idiosyncratic, bursting with imagination, ideas, and high energy

It's the execution that's the issue. It has a lot of ideas and that's the issue. It's too many ideas and it doesn't seem focused. The tone doesn't seem balanced. It veers too far into comedy for the stakes to land.

[ekrolo2]

So the next generation taking over is a better idea than staying with the current generation and allowing one of the main characters to complete their arc? Why do so many love the idea of the next generation taking the spotlight?

Because people are still under the wrong assumption that Gohan wasn't boring from the start and want a bunch of new kids like him to be "SSJ2 CELL GAMES BADASSES!" like Gohan was in that one really, really, really boring fight he had with Cell.

[ABED]

So the next generation taking over is a better idea than staying with the current generation and allowing one of the main characters to complete their arc? Why do so many love the idea of the next generation taking the spotlight?

Because people are still under the wrong assumption that Gohan wasn't boring from the start and want a bunch of new kids like him to be "SSJ2 CELL GAMES BADASSES!" like Gohan was in that one really, really, really boring fight he had with Cell.

True, though this isn't confined to just DB. I think a lot of people love ideas such as the next generation taking over. I read those sorts of opinions all the time.

The Saiyan arc has some of the best animation and designs of the series, the characters are used very well, and the fight against Vegeta is one of the best in the entire story. I love seeing the bad guy take a beating and keep coming. I prefer that as a way to show his toughness than just tank attacks.

[ekrolo2]

So the next generation taking over is a better idea than staying with the current generation and allowing one of the main characters to complete their arc? Why do so many love the idea of the next generation taking the spotlight?

Because people are still under the wrong assumption that Gohan wasn't boring from the start and want a bunch of new kids like him to be "SSJ2 CELL GAMES BADASSES!" like Gohan was in that one really, really, really boring fight he had with Cell.

True, though this isn't confined to just DB. I think a lot of people love ideas such as the next generation taking over. I read those sorts of opinions all the time.

It's a case by case basis for me. With JoJo it's fine since the series early on sets itself up as being a generations spanning series where you WILL swap protagonists sooner or later. I'm even fine with superhero fiction doing it since it's been proven to succeed (Wally as Flash for 20 something years).