Favorite DBZ arc?

[Kappa]

Mine is the Buu Saga. It's a very fun arc. And it has a lot of good fights/characters.

[JulieYBM]

Each arc inevitably tires itself out, so it's hard to choose an arc that feels like it might be, like, good. The first half of the Namek arc (up through Piccolo's arrival) is good and fun. The Artificial Humans arc is good and fun until Perfect Cell appears. After those points it feels like those really fun arcs kind of just fall apart and lack strong direction and conclusion. Similarly, the Majin Buu arc is fun up until the tournament, where it falters in its focus by abandoning Videl after a cruelly brutal beating, and then stumbles around, not knowing who the protagonist is supposed to really be, while trying to juggle more Vegeta bullshit to justify Majin Buu being unleashed. Toriyama consistently undercuts any tension—and any character arcs—all because he feels a need to try and defy expectations and toss in gags.

The Saiyan arc, meanwhile, is kind of all over the place. I like the dramatic deaths and the bitter ending, but the character work in the comic isn't quite as strong as it should be, and the cartoon ignores its own improvements to Gohan's character in favor of following the comic story literally. I'm also just not really invested in Gokuu's battles. Like on Namek, Gokuu arrives out of nowhere to save the day, but he doesn't have a character arc that's really invested in by Toriyama, nor I the reader.

Dragon Ball is scraps, not a full meal.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

For me it's the Boo arc, I understand a lot of fans have issues with it, and that's fine, but I find it to be a wonderful mix of everything that's great about Dragon Ball.

It's Toriyama's return to his gag manga roots after how much more serious the series had become since the King Piccolo arc. It still has the right amount of tension, because as it goes on the stakes become bigger than ever with the Earth being destroyed for the first time and the whole universe being on the line.

The fact Gohan, Gotenks, Vegetto and Goku were all at one point seemingly being expected to defeat Boo made the arc very unpredictable and exciting. Conversely, an argument it felt like Toriyama was flying by the seat of his pants and didn't know how to wrap things up, but I think it worked in the arcs favour.

Its also very ironic that a character literally called Mr Satan is the key to everyone being saved as all it took was him telling Majin Boo not to kill people that he was redeemed, and of course when Goku was gathering energy for the Genki-Dama/Spirit Bomb it was Mr Satan's help himself and Vegeta needed to get through to the people of Earth because they trusted and worshipped him.

Goku defeating Kid Boo could be seen as the safe option, sure, but for me the fact it took the help of everyone on Earth, Namek as well as the Kais for him to gather enough energy validated all the friendships Goku made along the way, to the extent the victory felt like the ultimate team effort.

I still enjoy GT and most content that followed, but if this was where Dragon Ball ended I would still feel it had a satisfying conclusion. While flying off with Oob felt like a disservice to Goku's friends and family it was in character for both him and Toriyama as a writer as it exemplifies him being an eternal kid who will go on training and teaching new generations of fighters, so it doesn't bother me too much, even though GT's ending was deeper and more ambiguous.

[MasenkoHA]

I go back and forth between the Saiyan arc and Boo arc. I'll say Boo arc because the Saiyan arc feels incomplete without the Namek arc and the Namek arc has some problems.

[Zephyr]

It's hard to say, there's a lot to like across all four, particularly when it comes to Goku.

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The Saiyan arc was my introduction to the series, so it's got a lot of nostalgia going for it. It's easily got my favorite roster of protagonists, and it's pretty much where the art peaked, in my opinion. Goku letting Vegeta go for openly selfish reasons sees his desire to secure a good fight escalate past what he did during and after the grand finals of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.

The Namek arc has a fun game of cat-and-mouse between multiple competing factions, including multiple antagonists. Vegeta's team up with Gohan and Kuririn is probably my favorite "put our differences aside, for now..." moment of the original run. Goku's hunger for a battle with Freeza sees him ultimately disappointed by the strongest in the universe, and that's fun.

The Cell arc is fun for me in the way that it has the goal of surpassing the Super Saiyan as a race between what effectively act as rival martial arts schools headed by Goku and Vegeta. Cell comes to act like an evil mirror to Goku, which is fun. Also, Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 design is one of my favorites in all of Dragon Ball.

The Boo arc brings the whole story full-circle, with its share of self-referential humor and gags that poke fun at Dragon Ball's own formula. Bringing the funnies back in as much force as he does, Toriyama manages to basically bookend Dragon Ball's story with being funny. Super Saiyan 3 is another one of my favorite designs; since the first time I saw it I thought it was so fucking cool, but it's also kind of silly the longer you look at it, but it's still so cool. That the cool-ness and the funny-ness somehow complement and reinforce and inform each other makes it even more funny and cool. The arc ends with Goku getting a healthy outlet for his strength cultivation, and makes the true move from student to master, by taking on the final antagonist's reincarnation as a pupil.

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I could probably narrow it down to a race between the Saiyan and Boo arcs, like MasenkoHA, but in the end I'd probably give it to the Saiyan arc. My favorite "stretch" of the series is broadly from the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai through Namek, and the Saiyan arc is definitely my favorite "Z" arc from within that span.

[90sDBZ]

It's nice too see Buu getting some love.

I've always felt like the Frieza arc is my favourite, closely followed by the Saiyan arc.

But the Buu arc is so unapologetically over the top that I can't help but love it. I love how unpredictable it is, and how Buu is both menacing and goofy as a villain.

Vegeta is also at his most likeable in this arc, especially compared to the Cell arc. Same for Mr Satan actually.

And I honestly love all the over the top transformations like SS3 and Fusion.

[NintendoFan28]

The Namek/Freeza Arc is my favorite, with the Buu Arc being my second favorite. What made the Freeza Arc my favorite is:

-The constant cat-and-mouse between the three warring groups trying to collect the Dragon Balls.
-Enemies becoming allies to take on the Ginyu Force.
-Goku's epic arrival on Namek after leaving Earth about 20 episodes earlier.
-Piccolo finally being wished back.
-Everyone vs Freeza.
-Vegeta's speech to Goku before dying.
-Goku vs Freeza.
-Goku turning SSJ for the first time.
-SSJ Goku vs Freeza.

[Hellspawn28]

The Saiyan saga for me because

1. I love the general tone of the story. Giving us another darker arc and open a big can of worms for the series. Goku being an alien is a big shocker for the readers and the characters living in the DB universe. It really changes Goku as a character and Raditz is a testing ground to show powerful life outside of Earth can be.

2. I love the art in this saga because it still has the classic Dragon Ball art style from Toriyama before going into a new direction.

3. The Saiyan saga has a theme of war going for it. The conflict between the Saiyans reflects the brutal and unrelenting nature of war. The struggle against the Saiyans has resulted in the deaths of several individuals, and when someone dies, they display loss. Much like in real life, seeing that someone that you know is dead, and you can relate to the feeling that someone that fought hard is gone. Chaozu blowing himself up and not working does reminisce that making a sacrifice to kill the enemy doesn't always work. Showing us that all of that emotional power did nothing. When Chaozu blew up and didn't kill Nappa, it felt shocking. Meanwhile, the sacrifices that #16 and Vegeta did by blowing themselves up didn't have the same impact on me because it was already becoming predictable.

4. The saga does have some good filler moments except for the Planet Arlia which was totally pointless.