Your top 10 favorite story arcs in the DB franchise

[PFM18]

I don't really know how to rank the various arcs, but what I do know is that the Zamasu arc is in number 1. And No, It's not just because the main villain of the arc is the most complex and developed antagonist in Dragon Ball history, but also because the atmosphere and soundtrack of the arc were astonishing, and the dark ending personally made the arc much more adult than the rest, since you could no longer wish everyone back.

Also because apparently you've never seen any of the other arcs......

[SupremeKai25]

I don't really know how to rank the various arcs, but what I do know is that the Zamasu arc is in number 1. And No, It's not just because the main villain of the arc is the most complex and developed antagonist in Dragon Ball history, but also because the atmosphere and soundtrack of the arc were astonishing, and the dark ending personally made the arc much more adult than the rest, since you could no longer wish everyone back.

Also because apparently you've never seen any of the other arcs......

My opinion wouldn't change anyway. The only arc who will ever top the Future Trunks arc for me is an hypothetical arc about Zamasu's glorious return.

[sunsetshimmer]

Stop pretending you are part of any discussions on this site.
You are just looking for every, even most stupid opportunity to talk about this character, even in topic about saiyans with best hair despite him not even being a saiyan.
Your opinion wouldn't change because right now you don't even have any opinion. You can't say something is better than things you don't know.
Of course Zamasu is the best:
-DB character
-DB villain
-DB design
-DB arc
-DB soundtrack
-DB everything

When he is the only thing you know from this franchise.
And of course you don't know how to rank other arcs, because you can't rank something you never saw

And since it's the only arc you ever watched then guess what:
if this is the best DB arc to you, it's also the worst DB arc at the same time

-----------------------------------------

Anyway, to stay with the topic. Ranking my top 10 favourite arcs would be hard without really long thinking. But the first 5 places could look like this or close to that:
1. Baby saga
2. Buu saga
3. King Piccolo saga
4. Shadow Dragons saga
5. Saiyan saga / Namek saga

[ABED]

Pretty sure he's messing with us.

Keep in mind that these rankings can and have switched:

1 - Saiyan
2 - Piccolo Daimao
3 - 23rd TB
4 - Freeza
5 - 22nd TB
6 - 21st TB
7 - Pilaf
8 - Cell
9 - Buu
10 - Red Ribbon Army/Fortuneteller Baba

I haven't seen Super yet, so rankings are subject to change.

[SupremeKai25]

Stop pretending you are part of any discussions on this site.
You are just looking for every, even most stupid opportunity to talk about this character, even in topic about saiyans with best hair despite him not even being a saiyan.
Your opinion wouldn't change because right now you don't even have any opinion. You can't say something is better than things you don't know.
Of course Zamasu is the best:
-DB character
-DB villain
-DB design
-DB arc
-DB soundtrack
-DB everything

When he is the only thing you know from this franchise.
And of course you don't know how to rank other arcs, because you can't rank something you never saw

And since it's the only arc you ever watched then guess what:
if this is the best DB arc to you, it's also the worst DB arc at the same time

Are you feeling better now?

[sunsetshimmer]

Pretty sure he's messing with us.

Don't care. Either way it's a already much too long living spam and nothing more.
Even if he is just a troll trying to be funny.

[ABED]

Pretty sure he's messing with us.

Don't care. Either way it's a already much too long living spam and nothing more.
Even if he is just a troll trying to be funny.

It's best not to engage.

[VegettoEX]

Many of these posts - from sunsetshimmer in particular - are not shining examples of how to hold a conversation on this forum. If you see a post that you do not believe lives up to the community guidelines, use the built-in functionality to report it. A moderator will assess it and may take action from there.

Reports made in bad faith, or wholly inappropriate responses such as these, will result in action being taken against your own account. Please do not add to the noise.

This is the first and last free warning in this thread.

(And yes, the shticky Zamasu posting style nonsense is indeed bizarre and unnecessary. Please, dare I say, "act normal".)

[PFM18]

Many of these posts - from sunsetshimmer in particular - are not shining examples of how to hold a conversation on this forum. If you see a post that you do not believe lives up to the community guidelines, use the built-in functionality to report it. A moderator will assess it and may take action from there.

Reports made in bad faith, or wholly inappropriate responses such as these, will result in action being taken against your own account. Please do not add to the noise.

This is the first and last free warning in this thread.

(And yes, the shticky Zamasu posting style nonsense is indeed bizarre and unnecessary. Please, dare I say, "act normal".)

Alright but what are your top 10 arcs in the franchise?

[Doctor.]

I feel like we've had this thread not too long ago. Anyway:

1. Freeza arc
2. Saiyan arc
3. 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
4. Majin Boo arc
5. Red Ribbon Army arc
6. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai arc
7. Pilaf arc
8. Goku Black arc
9. Artificial Humans arc
10. Piccolo Daimao arc

I always go back and forth between numbers 1 and 2, but I consistently reread the Freeza arc on a more frequent basis, so I'm picking that one. The ending of the arc is extremely cathartic, Super Saiyan is amazing, all of the fights are great and the plot is interesting and engaging with the three different factions each having their own screentime. The Saiyan arc is also great due to how strategic and brutal the fights are and the bleak tone that permeates the first half of the arc. Also debated between who gets number 3 and 4. 23rd TB probably gets the spot due to having my favorite fight in the series, Piccolo Jr vs Goku, but there were some pretty great character interactions and dynamics all throughout. The Boo arc has its flaws but it's very entertaining and epitomizes what Dragon Ball is about. After this, I don't really have a concise list. I think the Red Ribbon edges out all of the rest because of the variety in the settings and fights, not to mention it's a completely Goku-centric arc, which I appreciate. The 21st TB and the Pilaf arcs are solid, very competently written, albeit somewhat bland after the novelty of Toriyama's comedy wears off. Super is garbage but the Goku Black arc had a great premise and solid start, with some very entertaining moments sprinkled in there and a great villain. Shame it goes downhill in the last third, but I don't think that's enough of a reason to discredit it entirely. Likewise with the Cell arc, though I debate whether or not to put it above the Goku Black arc, considering how many more iconic moments it has; but there's nothing in the Goku Black arc that puts me off to it quite as much as the middle portion (after Cell's reveal all up to the Cell Games) of the Cell arc does. Piccolo Daimao has its issues, but still decent nonetheless. Outside of this list, still in the realm of mediocrity, comes the 22nd TB and, following that, the Champa and Battle of Gods arcs. After those two, the absolute dumpster fires that are the remaining Super and GT arcs, with the Tournament of Power at the very, very bottom.

Can you really say an arc is your favorite when all that exists of it is an 8 minute episode of an incomplete arc?

There is also the manga and the arcade game. And yes, even this incomplete saga has brought more (amazing) content/lore than most of the finished sagas to this franchise. I mainly consider the content something brings to the table, along with which characters are in it and what the saga is about.

So you only care about the lore? What about characterization and character development? What about storytelling itself (Heroes is just a checklist of plot points) and the execution of the narrative's concepts?

[ABED]

How is the 22nd TB mediocre? It has some of the best and emotionally compelling moments in all of DB.

[Doctor.]

How is the 22nd TB mediocre? It has some of the best and emotionally compelling moments in all of DB.

We've already had this discussion. I don't think Tenshinhan's arc is very engaging despite being pretty competently and neatly written and the fight is underwhelming (all of the fights in the tournament are, really). I appreciate the arc for what it tried to accomplish with Roshi and Tenshinhan, but I don't rank it highly.

[PFM18]

I feel like we've had this thread not too long ago.

I feel like if anybody else made this topic you wouldn't have made this comment.

We've already had this discussion. I don't think Tenshinhan's arc is very engaging despite being pretty competently and neatly written and the fight is underwhelming (all of the fights in the tournament are, really). I appreciate the arc for what it tried to accomplish with Roshi and Tenshinhan, but I don't rank it highly

What is underwhelming about the fight?

[Doctor.]

I feel like if anybody else made this topic you wouldn't have made this comment.

I'm not targeting you. Please don't play the victim. I made an observation.

What is underwhelming about the fight?

It is a continual back-and-forth of Goku constantly one-upping Tenshinhan's every move. The end-result doesn't feel justified when Goku proved himself superior constantly throughout the entire fight. All the Tenkaichi Budokai final fights suffer from this to a certain extent, but there was always a period where Jackie Chun and Piccolo Jr. were clearly dominating the fight and everything seemed lost. With Tenshinhan vs Goku, it feels like every attack Ten throws is just an obstacle Goku inevitably climbs over.

[ABED]

It is a continual back-and-forth of Goku constantly one-upping Tenshinhan's every move. The end-result doesn't feel justified when Goku proved himself superior constantly throughout the entire fight. All the Tenkaichi Budokai final fights suffer from this to a certain extent, but there was always a period where Jackie Chun and Piccolo Jr. were clearly dominating the fight and everything seemed lost. With Tenshinhan vs Goku, it feels like every attack Ten throws is just an obstacle Goku inevitably climbs over.

But it wasn't just Goku one upping Tenshinhan. They were one upping each other. If it was just Goku one upping, the fight wouldn't have ended the way it did, with both men completely spent. If that wasn't true, Goku wouldn't have lost due to bad luck at the very end.

Then there's Tenshinhan's character arc, Roshi stepping down and gladly going into retirement, and Goku's fight with Kuririn. The Man-Wolf shtick is also very funny, and some of Toriyama's best humor that isn't sexual in nature.

[Doctor.]

But it wasn't just Goku one upping Tenshinhan. They were one upping each other. If it was just Goku one upping, the fight wouldn't have ended the way it did, with both men completely spent. If that wasn't true, Goku wouldn't have lost due to bad luck at the very end.

Then there's Tenshinhan's character arc, Roshi stepping down and gladly going into retirement, and Goku's fight with Kuririn. The Man-Wolf shtick is also very funny, and some of Toriyama's best humor that isn't sexual in nature.

But they're not one-upping each other. Each chapter is entirely episodic in nature: Tenshinhan pulls out a new technique; Goku either gets hit and then one-ups it with his own version, or counters it entirely; repeat for the next. Again, this is largely the same structure in the Jackie Chun and Piccolo Jr fights as well, but in both those fights, Goku is cornered at some point. In the former, by Jackie's electric attack (and Goku only breaks free due to the completely unpredictable circumstance of Oozaru), and in the latter, when all his limbs are broken. The part where Tenshinhan "corners" Goku is when he flies up and fires the Kikoho, but Goku immediately counters the move by jumping high and headbutting him (and he manages to pull of a KHH to gain leverage in mid-air when they're falling). With the fight ending with Goku one-upping Tenshinhan, the result of Tenshinhan's victory feels entirely undeserved. Goku also countered Piccolo Jr, but he actually won that fight with his counter-move. I don't like the fact that Tenshinhan is given the victory literally because of dumb luck. Tenshinhan even acknowledges this at the end. You could argue that it's interesting storytelling and a creative way for the fight to end, but I'd argue that it's just arbitrary and dumb.

I know both of them were completely spent at the end, but that's just a case of the fight being portrayed incompetently. Goku clearly had the upper-hand throughout the entire fight, and this is reflected in Tenshinhan's words after the fight is over. There is a huge dissonance between the way the fight is read and the way the fight is actually drawn.

Again, I appreciate what Toriyama tried to do with Roshi and Tenshinhan but I feel it isn't enough to elevate an otherwise lackluster arc. Goku's fight with Kuririn was neat but it wasn't anything spectacular in terms of character dynamics or fight choreography. The arc is pretty good in terms of humor though, I will admit, but all of the arcs are great in humor after the more juvenile sexual humor and poop jokes of the first two-three arcs are gone.

[Grimlock]

So you only care about the lore?

No, but it is the thing I care the most. I'm always hungry for more content/lore, I want this franchise to expand story-wise and bring other concepts.

What about characterization and character development? What about storytelling itself (Heroes is just a checklist of plot points) and the execution of the narrative's concepts?

What about them? I also care about them, why do you ask? And about the execution, as long as it isn't being dragged for too long, i.e. slow pacing, I'm fine.

[Doctor.]

So you only care about the lore?

No, but it is the thing I care the most. I'm always hungry for more content/lore, I want this franchise to expand story-wise and bring other concepts.

But Heroes is all about meaningless lore that isn't expanded upon in any way. It's just a list of interesting concepts that don't get fully explored due to the format of the arcs.

[Grimlock]

But Heroes is all about meaningless lore that isn't expanded upon in any way. It's just a list of interesting concepts that don't get fully explored due to the format of the arcs.

Yes it is. We get to see Demon Realm, more of its inhabitants, we know more about Dabura from Heroes than everything the manga did and provided about him.

And then there are new concepts, like Prison Planet, while we still get tournaments in the "main series".

[Doctor.]

But Heroes is all about meaningless lore that isn't expanded upon in any way. It's just a list of interesting concepts that don't get fully explored due to the format of the arcs.

Yes it is. We get to see Demon Realm, more of its inhabitants, we know more about Dabura from Heroes than everything the manga did and provided about him.

And then there are new concepts, like Prison Planet, while we still get tournaments in the "main series".

But that's what I'm saying. That's just a list of concepts that are not really used to their fullest. Characters don't have an arc, they're just thrown into the middle of a setting and fight.

I mean, like what you want, I just find it weird that you think what amounts to a glorified sketchbook compares to a fully planned out and written story.