Your ranking of the various arcs

[ABED]

Yes it's different. I mean it has diferent atmosphere. King Piccolo saga is something that would fit rest of franchise the most.

It's not different. The difference between Z and GT is greater than DB to Z, especially given that it's all DB.

[Asura]

1. Buu Saga
2. Freeza Saga
3. 23rd Budokai Saga
4. Tournament of Power Saga
5. Baby Saga
6. 22nd Budokai Saga
7. King Piccolo Saga
8. Cell Saga
9. 21st Budokai Saga
10. Saiyan Saga
11. Future Trunks Saga
12. Universe 6 Saga
13. Battle of Gods Saga
14. Shadow Dragons Saga
15. Garlic Jr. Saga
16. Black Star DBs Saga
17. Pilaf Saga
18. RoF Saga
19. Red Ribbon Army Saga
20. Super 17 Saga

I think that’s all of them... or at least the ones I care to remember. I said before that I’d probably only rank ToP above the Cell Saga in terms of Z arcs but now that I think about it I wasn’t that crazy about the Saiyan Saga. Super 17 is something else entirely, that arc is far below the rest, but I skip the RRA arc whenever I rewatch DB since I find it so boring and I don’t care for the RRA as antagonists.

[PacificOceanDub]

1. King Piccolo
2. Androids/Cell
3. Saiyan
4. Buu
5. 21st Budokai
6. Emperor Pilaf
7. Garlic Jr.
8. 23rd Budokai
9. Fortuneteller Baba/22nd Budokai
10. Namek/Freeza
11. Red Ribbon Army

As for GT
1. Super 17
2. Shadow Dragon
3. Black Star Dragon Balls
4. Baby

[Soppa Saia People]

Saiyan
Demon King Piccolo
22nd tournament
Boo
First arc
21st tournament
RRA
Freeza
23rd tournament
Cell

[DiegoBrando]

22nd tournament
Pilaf arc
Saiyan arc
Red ribbon arc
Piccolo daimao arc
Freeza arc
23nd tournament
21nd tournament
Boo arc
Cell arc

Those in the middle could be mixed up a bit, but I am certain of my top and lowest spot.

[Doctor.]

I'll try to leave my personal preference and favoritism out of this, and try to judge them based on their quality compared to your average Shounen battle series.

1/2. Saiyan arc/Namek arc - 10/10
Going back and forth about this one, I think both are fantastic. The Namek arc's climax is far more cathartic, but the Saiyan arc is slightly better written in retrospect (mostly because the power levels weren't so crazy back then, and the zenkai boosts weren't ridiculous to the point you couldn't buy them anymore; also Freeza had an unnecessary amount of transformations, two or three would suffice and still give him the imposing and terrifying aura he's known for, 4 transformations was overkill). But I guess a big detriment to the Saiyan arc is that it's pretty much fighting 24/7, whilst the Namek arc's plot is more interesting and varied.

3. 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc - 9/10
4. Red Ribbon Army arc - 8/10
5. Black Goku arc (so far) - 7.5/10
6. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai arc - 7/10
7. Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc - 7/10
8. Majin Boo arc - 6.5/10
9. Universal Tournament arc - 6/10
10. Artificial Humans arc - 6/10
11. Piccolo Daimao arc - 5.5/10
12. Battle of Gods arc - 5.5/10 (the movie would be about a 7)
13. 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc - 5.5/10
14. Baby arc - 4.5/10
15. Resurrection 'F' arc - 4/10 (the movie would be about a 3 or 3.5)
16. Shadow Dragons arc - 3.5/10
17. Copy Vegeta arc - 2.5/10
18. Black Star Dragon Balls arc - 2.5/10
19. Super #17 arc - 2/10

Something like that, I didn't put that much thought into it. I don't remember the Garlick Jr and Otherworld Tournament filler arcs well enough to put them on the list.

Updating:

1. Freeza arc
2. Saiyan arc
3. 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
4. Red Ribbon Army arc
5. Majin Boo arc
6. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai arc
7. Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc
8. Goku Black arc
9. Artificial Humans arc
10. Champa arc
11. Piccolo Daimao arc
12. 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
13. Battle of Gods arc
14. Resurrection 'F' arc
15. Tournament of Power arc

Removed the GT arcs because they're not very fresh on my mind considering I eventually drop GT whenever I try rewatching it. Solidified my position on numbers 1 and 2, I think Freeza's better because of the Goku v Freeza fight and the nice chase dynamic of the first third of the arc. The Boo arc rose a couple of ranks due to its entertainment value and the Goku Black arc went down a couple of spots due to how bad its last third was. Cell arc was more exciting than the mediocrity that was the Champa arc so it goes above it and I've been pretty vocal about how much I hate the Tournament of Power so the last position should be of no surprise. And the major change, I hate numerical ratings now.

[Lord Beerus]

Now with Super wrapped up, and with DB, Z and GT fresh in my mind. My definitive perspective (for now?) on Dragon Ball's arcs is this:

- All of the tournament arcs are wonderful entertainment.
- The early arcs in Dragon Ball are some of the most entertaining in all of Dragon Ball
- The everything from the 23rd Budokai to the early portions of Freeza arc is where Dragon Ball from a storytelling perspective peaks
- The Freeza arc is great for the first third of the story but then terribly drags with the occasional moment of brilliance afterwards
- The King Piccolo arc and the Cell arc are terrible
- The Majin Boo arc is extremely funny and charming but also full of nonsense and bullshit
- The Baby arc had aged wonderfully
- The last quarter of the Future Trunks arc doesn't hold up well but I still like the ending
- And... yeah... I really like tournaments in Dragon Ball.

And as such, here's where all of Dragon Ball arcs rank to each other (in my opinion):

1. Saiyan arc
2. Universal Survival arc
3. 23rd Budokai Tenkaichi arc
4. 22nd Budokai Tenkai arc
5. Future Trunks arc
6. 21st Budokai Tenkaichi arc
7. Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc
8. Red Ribbon Army arc
9. Baby arc
10. Majin Boo arc
11. Freeza arc
12. Champa arc
13. Shadow Dragons arc
14. King Piccolo arc
15. Cell arc
16. Black Star Dragon Ball arc
17. Battle Of Gods arc
18. Resurrection F arc
19. Garlic Jr. arc
20. Super 17 arc

[MajinMan]

Final complete list:

1. Majin Buu arc
2. 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
3. Saiyan arc
4. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai arc
5. 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
6. Freeza arc
7. Red Ribbon Army arc
8. Universe Survival arc
9. Piccolo Daimao arc
10. Future Trunks arc
11. Baby arc
12. Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc
13. God of Destruction Champa arc
14. Cell arc
15. Battle of Gods arc
16. Evil Dragons arc
17. Dark Dragon Balls arc
18. Resurrection F arc
19. Super 17 arc

[Cetra]

Exception: Last five episodes of the Shadow Dragon arc, little bits and pieces of GT episodes that felt like future
Zamasu arc, anime | Dragon Ball vol 1 - 17, incl. anime
Baby Arc, incl. Hunt f. Ultimate Dragon Balls
Universal Survival Arc
Dragon Ball vol. 28-35, incl. anime
Dragon Ball vol. 35-42, incl. anime
Dragon Ball vol. 17-28, incl. anime
Shadow Dragon arc | 6X7 arc
Kami to Kami arc
Super Cyborg 17 "arc"
Fukkatsu no F arc

[GreatSaiyaJeff]

1. Cell Arc
2. Saiyan Arc
3. 22nd World Tournament Arc
4. 21st World Tournament Arc
5. 23rd Tournament Arc
6. Freeza Arc
7. Red Ribbon Arc
8. Buu Arc
9. King Piccolo Arc
10. Pilaf Arc

That's how I would rank the original 10. Despite some of those arcs being near the bottom, I still enjoy them.

I still have to think how I would GT and Super to the mix, but I know Super 17 and RoF are definitely near the bottom.

[Super Saiyan Swagger]

1. Buu arc
2. Freeza arc
3. Future Trunks arc
4. Android arc
5. Universe Survival arc
6. Saiyan arc
7. 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
8. Champa arc
9. 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
10. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai arc
11. Battle of Gods arc
12. Red Ribbon arc
13. King Piccolo arc
14. Pilaf arc
15. Resurrection 'F' arc
16. All of GT's arcs go somewhere here in the bottom. They stink. Can't be bothered ranking them.

I realised that it's been a while since I've watched/read the original Dragon Ball. I was going back and forward on how I should rank them. I also realised while I was ranking this that I actually really enjoyed the Universe Survival arc compared to the other tournament arcs we've gotten. It's still very recent, so it might completely change a year from now.

The Buu arc will forever be my favourite. I'm very biased towards it. It's the first Dragon Ball arc I've ever watched. It just encapsulates what Dragon Ball is to me. Crazy transformations, weird designs, great humour, fantastic action and tons of standout character moments. Vegeta's whole character arc during this story was unforgettable.

Reasoning behind GT and its arcs being all the way at the bottom? They're boring. Simple as that. You'll often hear people say "Good ideas. Bad execution." when it comes to the story arcs in GT. I can look past that and try to enjoy what's there as long as the characters I love are actually doing something interesting or if the action on screen is entertaining. But GT can't even manage to do that for me. The only scenes that stick out for me are Goku's SSJ4 transformation and the ending scene in Episode 64. The show is completely forgettable.

[sunsetshimmer]

Since DBS ended i can now rate its sagas:

BoG > U6 > RoF > Future Trunks > Universe Survival

Where would they go in overall DB arcs rating?
Below everything else except Garlic Jr saga that would be somewhere between U6 tournament and Universe Survival
I am not sure in which arc Copy Vegeta was, but this trash was the worst thing ever.

BoG arc might slightly compete with Cell and Super 17 but that's it.
Overall i consider DBS a big failure not having even a single arc i could recommend to anyone (BoG movie was a lot better).

[SSJ Human]

Since DBS ended i can now rate its sagas:

BoG > U6 > RoF > Future Trunks > Universe Survival

Where would they go in overall DB arcs rating?
Below everything else except Garlic Jr saga that would be somewhere between U6 tournament and Universe Survival
I am not sure in which arc Copy Vegeta was, but this trash was the worst thing ever.

BoG arc might slightly compete with Cell and Super 17 but that's it.
Overall i consider DBS a big failure not having even a single arc i could recommend to anyone (BoG movie was a lot better).

I didn't think I would meet anyone with a harsher view of Super than myself. I'd say a few episodes sprinkled in the two movie retelling arcs are good, various episodes in the Future Trunks arc, most of the nine episodes between that arc and the ToP, and the latter arc would be watchable for the most part.

[GamerSkull]

I've already done the arcs from the main saga so I guess I'll do Super now.

1. Filler Slice-of-Life Stuff
2. Future Trunks arc (although it went of the rails eventually and I disliked the ending)
3. Universe 6 arc
4. Battle of Gods arc
5. Resurrection of 'F' arc
6. Universe Survival/Tournament of Power arc

[Spider-Man]

Just Z and Super I haven't watched DB and GT.

1-Saiyan

2-Future Trunks

3-Buu

4-Namek/Frieza

5-ToP

6-Cell

7-U6 tournament

8-BoG

9-RoF.

[Super_Divine_Genki]

Anime Adaptation -

1. Cyborgs/Cell Arc: Anyone notice how more prominent the nature sounds were throughout this arc? -- it's such a nice touch. A more grounded story by DB standards, as we are introduced to a memorable character that suffers from possible borderline PTSD and a virus (a virus!) takes out our main protagonist in an alternate reality. A sort of "last hurrah" to some of the recurring cast before they became semi-retired, reminding us a bit of the "old days". The Goku/Gohan relationship as seen here is one of my favorite things to come out of the franchise. Perfect Cell is my favorite antagonist in the franchise even considering the very short time in-universe that he was around, with Wakamoto's performance really giving the character a strong screen presence. Goku VS. Perfect Cell was spectacular and may have stole the show during that run. I probably have an unpopular opinion with enjoying Vegeta's run during all of this because of how humbled he was by the end of it all. It's primary shortcoming for me is that the arcs' art style looked ugly at times and a lot of fight choreography seemed to be handled by the "cheaper" studios. Still, there are so many great looking episodes and good filler. Admittedly, there wasn't really a compelling antagonist until Cell arrived on the scene as the cyborg trio weren't in any hurry to stir up some chaos yet with Goku still being alive. However, so many nice interactions involving the entire cast and memorable moments occurred throughout. Any supposed plotholes involving time travel doesn't affect how I view it -- I just see it as "time travel happened".

2. Saiya-jin Arc: By far the shortest of Z's major arcs -- which is something that favors its tighter, less tedious storytelling. But, it was an awesome setup going into its companion arc. A great setup for letting us get to know Gohan as well. A few of DB's most interesting elements come into play here, such as adventures in the afterlife and space travel. Goku and everyone VS. Vegeta is probably the best major battle in the franchise with its pacing being very well handled -- K.O. or T.K.O to all involved. I guess that Gohan's tail conveniently grew back as a result of being exposed to the artificial "moon", so I'll let the conclusion slide. :p

3. 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai Arc: I'll give this one the slight edge over the next one because Goku is finally declared the winner and Kami's involvement. It's also helped by looking really good, as the art/animation teams seemed to catch fire throughout.

4. 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai Arc: Goku VS. Kuririn finally happens. Really liked seeing Muten Roshi's/"Jackie Chun's" influence on Tenshinhan's turnaround.

5. Piccolo Daimao Arc: Introduction of the series' more serious and more personal way of storytelling, with Piccolo Daimao being the first real big bad of the story. The section where the Daimao evades being contained by the Mafuba!!, the subsequent deaths of a couple more characters, and Shen Long getting destroyed after he gets his wish was some crazy stuff for its time. The conclusion was unforgettable.

6. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai Arc: A lot of fun and an interesting direction to take the story in.

7. Red Ribbon Arc: Chibi Son Goku seemed to be at his most invincible here. I will include the Uranai Baba mini-arc with this one.

8. Freeza Arc: If I were to rank just the first half after the characters arrive on Namek on its own (the three-way dance for the DB's section), it's up there with my top 2. Once Goku lands on Namek until the arcs conclusion, the pacing of the story becomes very draggy and the art begins to look noticeably more inconsistent. Of course, it still contains a few of the series' best moments along with perhaps its most iconic singular moment. From just a pure story perspective, this arc may be the franchises' strongest but it's hurt a lot by the way in which it was presented. Oh yeah... there's that Freeza guy too.

9. Hunt for the Dragon Balls Arc: Just simple little beginnings.

10. Boo Arc: Coming off of the sketchy-at-times art of the Cell arc, the art/animation here appears to have taken a noticeable bump up in more consistent quality. Such an engaging first third of the arc. However, anything to do with Fusion can stay far away, imo (maybe I'll come around to it one day ). The middle section is a real tough run for me to get through. From memory, the arc just didn't seem to want to end, and the pacing/storytelling was very imbalanced - it was either highly engaging or more leaning towards boring. A few moments were built up only to be undercut by wacky hijinks as if it were a self-parody (that's probably a lot of its charm for some) - I think that it's still fun, and it contains some of the series' best stuff. The Majin Vegeta run was some heavy stuff as far as DB goes. I'm probably not giving this arc enough credit, but it had such a satisfying conclusion with Boo finally going down.

Even with Boo being at the bottom, I still get a lot of enjoyment out of it. It may even take the number nine spot. Hey, it's more original run Dragon Ball!

Anyway, a couple of these could possibly be slightly shuffled around, I guess. Maybe. I think.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around Super being a part of main series continuity, so I'll leave it out for now. All that I know is that It doesn't touch any of the above.

[SorikaiWolf89]

I'll try to leave my personal preference and favoritism out of this, and try to judge them based on their quality compared to your average Shounen battle series.

1/2. Saiyan arc/Namek arc - 10/10
Going back and forth about this one, I think both are fantastic. The Namek arc's climax is far more cathartic, but the Saiyan arc is slightly better written in retrospect (mostly because the power levels weren't so crazy back then, and the zenkai boosts weren't ridiculous to the point you couldn't buy them anymore; also Freeza had an unnecessary amount of transformations, two or three would suffice and still give him the imposing and terrifying aura he's known for, 4 transformations was overkill). But I guess a big detriment to the Saiyan arc is that it's pretty much fighting 24/7, whilst the Namek arc's plot is more interesting and varied.

3. 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc - 9/10
4. Red Ribbon Army arc - 8/10
5. Black Goku arc (so far) - 7.5/10
6. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai arc - 7/10
7. Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc - 7/10
8. Majin Boo arc - 6.5/10
9. Universal Tournament arc - 6/10
10. Artificial Humans arc - 6/10
11. Piccolo Daimao arc - 5.5/10
12. Battle of Gods arc - 5.5/10 (the movie would be about a 7)
13. 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc - 5.5/10
14. Baby arc - 4.5/10
15. Resurrection 'F' arc - 4/10 (the movie would be about a 3 or 3.5)
16. Shadow Dragons arc - 3.5/10
17. Copy Vegeta arc - 2.5/10
18. Black Star Dragon Balls arc - 2.5/10
19. Super #17 arc - 2/10

Something like that, I didn't put that much thought into it. I don't remember the Garlick Jr and Otherworld Tournament filler arcs well enough to put them on the list.

9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999. Majin Buu

Fight me.

What about the Cell Arc ?

[FortuneSSJ]

01- Saiyan arc
02- Androids arc
03- Buu arc
04- Zamasu arc
05- Tournament of Power arc
06- Freeza arc
07- Moro arc
08- Piccolo Daimao arc
09- Baby arc (filler)
10- 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
11- 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
12- Champa arc
13- Other World Tournament arc (filler)
14- Garlic Jr. arc (filler)
15- Battle of Gods arc
16- Revival of F arc
17- Super C17 arc (filler)
18- Evil Dragons arc (filler)
19- Black Star Dragon Balls arc (filler)
20- 21st Tenkachi Budokai arc
21- Uranai Baba arc
22- Red Ribbon Army arc
23- Pilaf arc
24- Solo Training arc (filler)
25- Heavenly Training arc (filler)
26- Potaufeu arc (filler)
27- Fake Namek arc (filler)
28- Wedding Dress arc (filler)

[Super Saiyan Swagger]

What about the Cell Arc ?

It's kinda frowned upon to revive old threads such as this one, but you're also trying to get an answer out of someone that's been banned for a while.

But to try and answer your question, the 'Artificial Humans' arc is the Cell arc.

[FPSSJ4_Goku]

I generally like all of DB, but if I had to rank what I've seen and played in the video games, here it is:

Dragon Ball Super: Broly - 9/10
Freeza arc - 8/10
Saiyan arc - 7.5/10
23rd Tenka'ichi Budokai arc - 7/10
Artificial Humans arc - 6/10
God to God - fun movie. 6/10
Pilaf to Piccolo Daimao - I experienced this through Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure and it was one hell of a ride. I got stuck and kept dying sometimes though. GBA version - 5.5/10
Boo arc - didn't finish the anime, but played through it in the video games. Video game versions - 5.5/10. Underwhelming
Super Hero - 5/10
Goku Black arc - only saw the English dub and part of the original Japanese version. Solid 4/10
Resurrection F - 3.5/10. Vegeta should've killed Freeza, not Goku!

DragonBall Z Abridged material - best 11 hours of my life. Almost worthy of a 10/10, but it fell short sometimes. 9.99/10.
Dragon Ball Z movies - mostly hit or miss. Solid 5.5/10 for most of them.