DB Movie Positions??

[Brodes_Vegetto]

I'm sure this has been a thread on here before but I can't seem to find it and the net isn't giving me a straight answer. :s

Has anyone done a full positioning of when the movies are supposed to be viewed along side the series from DB to DBGT?

[Herms]

Has anyone done a full positioning of when the movies are supposed to be viewed along side the series from DB to DBGT?

Depends on what you mean by "supposed to". Do you mean when the movies were actually released in relation to the TV series, or when the plots of the movies are intended to fit relative to the main series timeline?

[Brodes_Vegetto]

...or when the plots of the movies are intended to fit relative to the main series timeline?

Yea where they fit into the timeline of the series. If someone wanted to watch the whole series in order including the movies, when would they pop in the first movie upto the last movie.

[Bussani]

Yea where they fit into the timeline of the series. If someone wanted to watch the whole series in order including the movies, when would they pop in the first movie upto the last movie.

Most of the movies don't fit into the timeline of the series. You end up with a lot of things like, "This is before this arc, but how can Yamcha be there when he was supposed to be dead until the arc after the next?" I think only one or two can easily be tossed into the series timeline, so the best you can probably do is watch the movies at the point they were released.

Edit: That's with the theatrical movies, at least. The Bardock and Trunks specials fit with the series, but they're side stories, so...where would you watch them? You could watch Bardock before even watching the first episode of Dragon Ball, since it happens before Dragon Ball, but that's probably not the best idea. Similarly you could watch the Trunks special before Trunks first appears, since it's his back-story, but that's probably not the best idea either.

[Brodes_Vegetto]

Yea where they fit into the timeline of the series. If someone wanted to watch the whole series in order including the movies, when would they pop in the first movie upto the last movie.

Most of the movies don't fit into the timeline of the series. You end up with a lot of things like, "This is before this arc, but how can Yamcha be there when he was supposed to be dead until the arc after the next?" I think only one or two can easily be tossed into the series timeline, so the best you can probably do is watch the movies at the point they were released.

Oh thats true... There are a lot of things that don't match up between the movies and the series.(deaths and what not) So the best way would be to watch by date of release?


Cheers!

[Bussani]

That's probably what I'd do. Then you at least get the same experience as someone who was watching the series weekly and went to see the movies as soon as they came out.

[Monkey D Goku]

There are too many inconsistencies in the Movies to be properly fit in the manga timeline that we know. But if we take into consideration that there are multiple time lines in dbz. Then they would all probably go somewhere. I like to think of the movie as alternate universes or continuation of things in a different timeline.

[sanorin]

This is interesting. Many years ago I did a list trying to fit the movies in the main story, and for the inconsistencies I made up funny explanations like "Piccolo, Yamcha, Chaoz and Ten are alive and Goku is there because Nappa and Vegeta decided to take a vacation before going to Earth" (I think this one was for the Tulece movie) . I wish I could find that list file in my old archives.

As said before, only very few movies could fit without problem in the story, one of them being the Boujack movie. It only has one little tiny inconsistency, Trunks' hair length. In the movie it's long, but it was short when he killed Cell and he was going to the past at that moment.

What other movies do you think could easily fit in the story? And what solutions would you give to the inconsistencies, so that they fit in the main story, and not in alternate universes/timelines?

[Piccolo Daimao]

Only DBZ Movie #9 and #13 can fit in perfectly without any inconsistencies or plotholes. With Trunks' long hair, you could say that he found out about the Tenkaichi Dai-Budoukai and decided to stick around and participate with the rest of his friends. In that time, his hair grew back and he didn't bother to cut it, and either Bulma mended his sword or he got a new one at some point. Also, his jacket sleeves ripped.

As for Gokuu faring better against Hildegarn than Gotenks and Gohan, that's entirely subjective. But you could say that he'd trained hard enough to surpass Gohan, or handwave it away as more of Toei's Gokuu-wanking.

[sanorin]

Totally agreed with both 9 and 13. And it does look like some time has passed after the Cell Game, Gohan looks like a year older or so, at least taller. So yeah probably Trunks went to a moment soon after the Cell Game and stayed for a few months.

[nathantheguitarist]

If you watch a couple of them along with the series, you'll realize that there's always something that isn't quite right. I always thought this was kinda obvious back in the days of the first two seasons along with the first 3 movies on Toonami. Or even Movie 3 playing as separate episodes after the Namek arc before that. But it gets more convoluted later on (or mainly Broli).

This is a case where it either doesn't matter where you watch them, or you go by when they premiered in conjunction with the anime. Or... you could watch them in conjunction with the manga chapters' anime counterparts. I don't know if anyone ever thought of that before, but Kanzentai's "premiere timelines" mentioned the manga, and then anime. If that's any alternative for watching them story-wise, there you go. Kinda... confusing, but whatever. It's mainly thinking about what Japan actually knew of the characters and such when the movies came out, but for someone who doesn't read the manga, I guess.

The only problem with this is that some episodes will contain parts or all of the chapters where the movie would have debuted between. I'm going to go with "oh well," on that. I'd personally watch it after.

Now have a chart (that I'm probably only making for my own reference).

Movie 1 - DragonBall – The Legend of Shenlong
Manga Chapters: 103-->Movie1-->104
Episodes Airing: 43-->Movie1-->44
Chapter Episodes: 73-->Movie1-->74

Movie 2 - The Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
Manga Chapters: 131-->Movie2-->132
Episodes Airing: 70-->Movie2-->71
Chapter Episodes: 99-->Movie2-->100

Movie 3 - A Mystical Great Adventure
Manga Chapters: 180-->Movie3-->181
Episodes Airing: 118-->Movie3-->119
Chapter Episodes: 142 Contains both chapters.

Z Movie 1 - DragonBall Z – Return My Gohan!!
Manga Chapters: 230-->Movie1-->231
Episodes Airing: 11-->Movie1-->12
Chapter Episodes: 30-->Movie1-->31
(Episode 31 covers more of 230, but then it covers 231 and 232. So... personal choice, I guess.)

Z Movie 2 - The World's Strongest Guy
Manga Chapters: 263-->Movie2-->264
Episodes Airing: 39-->Movie2-->40
Chapter Episodes: 53-->Movie2-->54

Z Movie 3 - A Super Decisive Battle for Earth
Manga Chapters: 279-->Movie3-->280
Episodes Airing: 54-->Movie3-->55
Chapter Episodes: 66 Contains both chapters.

TV Special 1 - A Final Solitary Battle
~The Z Warrior Kakarot's Father Challenges Freeza~
Manga Chapters: 294--Special1-->295
Episodes Airing: 63-->Special1-->64
Chapter Episodes: Well, Bardock makes his appearance/flashback in the manga in 308, which is animated in episode 86, which shows scenes from the Special. The Special takes place before the whole series... You could watch it anywhere before 86, but really, I'd just watch it where it originally aired. And in between the movies I put it between. :p

Z Movie 4 - Super Saiyan Son Goku
Manga Chapters: 315-->Movie4-->316
Episodes Airing: 82-->Movie4-->83
Chapter Episodes: 93-->Movie4-->94

Z Movie 5 - The Incredible Strongest vs Strongest
Manga Chapters: 331-->Movie5-->332
Episodes Airing: 99-->Movie5-->100
Chapter Episodes: 120-->Movie5-->121

Z Movie 6 - Clash!! 10,000,000,000 Powerful Warriors
Manga Chapters: 361-->Movie6-->362
Episodes Airing: 130-->Movie6-->131
Chapter Episodes: 141-->Movie6-->142
(Episode 141 ends with the first 2 pages of 361; 142 contains the rest of 361 as well as 362)

Z Movie 7 - Extreme Battle!! The Three Great Super Saiyans
Manga Chapters: 379-->Movie7-->380
Episodes Airing: 147-->Movie7--148
Chapter Episodes: 157-->Movie7-->158

TV Special 2 - Defiance in the Face of Despair!!
The Remaining Super Warriors – Gohan and Trunks
Manga Chapters: 385-->Extra Chapter+386-->387 OR 409-->Special-->410
Episodes Airing: 175-->Special-->176
Chapter Episodes: This one is hard, because it was based on an extra manga chapter. Go with where it aired in the anime? I don't knowww... :s

Z Movie 8 - Burn Up!! A Close – Intense – Super-Fierce Battle
Manga Chapters: 410-->Movie8-->411
Episodes Airing: 176-->Movie8-->177
Chapter Episodes: 187-->Movie8-->188
(Episode 187 contains about half of Chapter 411)

Z Movie 9 - The Galaxy at the Brink!! The Super Incredible Guy
Manga Chapters: 427-->Movie9-->428
Episodes Airing: 192-->Movie9-->193
Chapter Episodes: No! I ran out of Kanzentai! Oh well. Watch it before the time-skip like everyone says. Duh. Oh, that's episode 200. Or... before the Ano Yo-ichi Budokai (195)?

Z Movie 10 - The Dangerous Duo! Super-Warriors Can't Rest
Manga Chapters: 459-->Movie10-->460
Episodes: 220-->Movie10-->221
Chapter Episodes: 230-->Movie10-->231
(I'm sorta guessing at this point. I guess this came out before Buu debuted in the manga?)

Z Movie 11 - Super-Warrior Defeat!! I'm the One Who'll Win
Manga Chapters: 475-->Movie11-->476
Episodes Airing: 232-233
Chapter Episodes: 246-->Movie11-->247
(After the Super Saiyan 3 fight looks about right.)

Z Movie 12 - Rebirth of Fusion!! Goku and Vegeta
Manga Chapters: 506-->Movie12-->507
Episodes Airing: 258-->Movie12-->259
Chapter Episodes: 272-->Movie12-->273
(Right after Vegetto is absorbed?)

Z Movie 13 - Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Goku Won't Do it, Who Will?
Manga Chapters: Manga was over.
Episodes Airing: 270-->Movie13-->271
Chapter Episodes: 288-->Movie13-->289
(Before the end of the series time-skip is a good spot for it.)

GT TV Special - Goku's Side Story! The Proof of his Courage is the Four-Star-Ball
Manga Chapters: lol
Episodes Airing: 41-->GTSpecial-->42
Chapter Episodes: While it takes place before the Goku Jr. and Vegeta Jr. fight at the end of 64, to watch it in absolute chronological order, you'd have to stop the episode, watch the special, and then go back to the episode. Like a crazy person. Watch it after 64, or where it aired.

10th Anniversary Movie - The Path to Ultimate Strength
Manga Chapters: Manga was wayyy over.
Episodes Airing: 4-->Very-not-GT-Movie-->5
Chapter Episodes: ... This movie shouldn't count. Why is it here?!

*dies*

[Daimakku]

I know I'm bumping a thread that's almost a year old, but I just have to reply to thank nathantheguitarist for his great list! I have been trying to find a website that lists where all the movies would be in between the show's episodes for the longest time, and that is a pretty spot on list! I think I will watch the movies using the chapter episodes guide rather than where the movies premiered in conjunction to the on-going anime since the chapter episodes seem to make a little more sense. For example, Z Movie 5 premiered between episodes 99 and 100 in the anime, between the final moments of Goku's fight with Freeza before the destruction of planet Namek, yet in the movie, it is stated that Freeza had already been killed by a saiyan and thus Freeza's brother went to Earth to avenge him. It doesn't make sense to watch it in between those episodes since Freeza was not dead yet in the anime. Whereas if you follow the chapter episodes guide, it takes place between episodes 120 and 121, when Trunks cuts and kills Freeza in half and when Goku returns back to Earth. If you watch between these episodes, Freeza is already dead (for good this time!) and thus the movie is a little more coherent.

Thanks again for the list, I can now finally move on to my Dragonball marathon before Battle of Gods comes out!