With the tournament of power arc over, where does it rank in all the arcs of dragon ball?

[Vegokun]

In all of z and super, where would you rank the tournament of power, now that it’s concluded?

I’d rate it as the best arc of super and above the buu saga personally. Granted there were many plot holes and many horrible episodes but in all honesty, many of the series’s best fights and highest highs came from this arc I feel. I feel as if it could have been done better (ESPECIALLY THE BUILD UP) but all in all it was as a great arc

[PFM18]

To me it is clearly better than the buu and saiyan arcs. It was just beautifully handled getting all the characters involved and having amazing fight scenes inclusing what is by far the best episode of the series in episode 130. Here's my top 5:

1. Namek Arc
2. Cell arc
3. ToP
4. Piccolo Daimao
5. Zamasu Arc

[Bullza]

Well it's definitely at least second. It's the best saga of Super and better than any saga in Dragon Ball and GT.

I'd maybe say it was the best or the Cell saga. The Frieza saga being third.

[MKCSTEALTH]

In terms of entertainment, 10/10

In terms of length and consistency, very eh

I've loved this arc, but I feel the Goku Black arc is still the superior arc. The battles were fun, the character development was fun, and the overall quality got a lot better. But just fights got old. I enjoyed the gripping story and mystery of the Goku Black arc much more.

[Retan]

Middle; as it not close to the godly saiyan or namek sagas, but not nearly as bad as the god awful Red ribbon army saga, or android saga before cell arrived.

[Logania]

I'd have to wait and see if my views of it change as it JUST ended and I may like/dislike it further down in time like the Zamasu Saga. But right now I'd put it as the 3rd best Saga for me in Super and probably on the lower middle end of all the Dragon Ball Sagas.

1- Androids/Cell Saga
2- 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai Saga
3- Freeza Saga
4- Tournament of Destroyers Saga
5- Saiyan Saga
6- Zamasu Saga
7- Majin Buu Saga
8- Tournament of Power Saga

[Lord Beerus]

I think it's the second best arc in all of Dragon Ball. It's the epitome of what Dragon Ball is: a grand spectacle.

Here's my current ranking for all of the arcs of Dragon Ball:

1. Saiyan arc
2. Universal Survival arc
3. 23rd Budokai Tenkaichi arc
4. 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi 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. Afterlife Tournament arc
14. Shadow Dragons arc
16. King Piccolo arc
17. Cell arc
17. Black Star Dragon Ball arc
18. Battle Of Gods arc
19. Resurrection F arc
20. Garlic Jr. arc
21. Super 17 arc

[PFM18]

I'd have to wait and see if my views of it change as it JUST ended and I may like/dislike it further down in time like the Zamasu Saga. But right now I'd put it as the 3rd best Saga for me in Super and probably on the lower middle end of all the Dragon Ball Sagas.

1- Androids/Cell Saga
2- 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai Saga
3- Freeza Saga
4- Tournament of Destroyers Saga
5- Saiyan Saga
6- Zamasu Saga
7- Majin Buu Saga
8- Tournament of Power Saga

I am a bit puzzled as to why you put the U6 tournament arc the highest in db Super. Care to elaborate?

[Marlowe89]

Compared to the Z/Kai era of the original DB manga, I think it's superior to the Saiyan saga/arc and that's really about it. The Frieza and Cell arcs easily beat it out in terms of plot structure, writing, consistency and development. The Buu arc admittedly meanders, but not quite as badly and its character moments are more memorable. The ToP has a great premise, but ultimately falls incredibly short in execution in too many ways to count. In fairness, though, I could easily see myself rewatching it if only for its highs, which are actually solid Dragon Ball material.

Compared to the rest of Super, well... there's barely anything noteworthy to compare it to. It's better than the movie retellings pretty much by default, but I definitely don't believe it's as good as the Black / Future Trunks arc.

It's not so bad that I'd say it doesn't fit within the franchise because it absolutely does, but I do think it's a bit middling by its own standards.

[SupremeKai25]

It was not as good as the Future Trunks arc. While it was much shorter, the Future Trunks arc had a much better and more intriguing story, the character development (especially for characters like Vegeta) was done better, and Zamasu is the most unique and creative villain in all of Dragon Ball. The fights were also more iconic and memorable. And obviously Vegito, one of the most popular characters ever, made a cameo in this arc. The ending was also original and unexpected, unlike the ending of the Tournament of Power arc, which was quite predictable.

[Lord Beerus]

Made mistake with the numbers

1. Saiyan arc
2. Universal Survival arc
3. 23rd Budokai Tenkaichi arc
4. 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi 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. Afterlife Tournament arc
14. Shadow Dragons arc
15. King Piccolo arc
16. Cell arc
17. Black Star Dragon Ball arc
18. Battle Of Gods arc
19. Resurrection F arc
20. Garlic Jr. arc
21. Super 17 arc

[Logania]

I am a bit puzzled as to why you put the U6 tournament arc the highest in db Super. Care to elaborate?

Zamasu Saga really shot down for me massively after Trunks's SSJ Rage transformation, and ToP Saga while having cool moments, felt like it was pointless in the long run as everything was back to normal in the end.

Tournament of Destroyers Saga wasn't any high stakes or fate of the universe, It's just a fun tournament. It gave me my favorite character in Super (Hit) and my favorite fight in Super (Goku vs Hit). It didn't drag on too long and it was light hearted fun.

[Zephyr]

It's difficult for me to look at each individual arc, across all three series, and rank them all individually against one another. Each series is cut from significantly different creative threads. The original series is Toriyama through and through, the second series doesn't involve him at all, and the third series has him distantly in the background. At the very least, I can compare all three distinct series to one another; and within the original series, at least, I can break it up into three distinct additional chunks. The best I can do is rank each of the five resulting broad chunks against one another. So let's break them down, in (real world) chronological order:

Block A: Dragon Ball

Chunk 1: Finding Itself
- First Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc
- 21st Tenkaichi Budokai arc
- Red Ribbon Army arc

During this narrative chunk, Toriyama is still working out what Dragon Ball is. He starts off with a comedic adventure story, moving on to a comedic tournament, and ending this era with slightly more serious adventure punctuated largely by fights. We're introduced to Son Goku, and the various martial arts masters to whom he has various ties. We see him interact with the world, train with his master, and eventually reunite with his dead grandfather. Afterwards, he goes off on his own, we get the series' first significant timeskip, and a different era begins.

Chunk 2: Peak Dragon Ball
- 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
- Piccolo Daimao arc
- 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
- Saiyan arc
- Namek arc

During this narrative chunk, we see what I'd consider the most essential piece of Dragon Ball. Finally having worked out what kind of story it is, broadly serious battles punctuated by bits of comedy here and there, it really hits its stride. This chunk contains Tenshinhan's character arc, Goku's rivalry with Piccolo, and Vegeta at his finest. I also find that this is where the art peaks.

Chunk 3: Showing the Seams
- Artificial Humans arc
- Majin Buu arc

The previous narrative chunk hit a "where do you go from here?" sort of spot. I believe that Toriyama handled the answer to that question splendidly, but I don't think the resulting material was quite as good as that which preceded it. While I think things are mostly solid here, his fatigue definitely begins to show. During this era, we see the next generation of fighters really pull their weight, we see Vegeta develop into a better person, and we see Goku develop into a much, much worse person.

Block B: Dragon Ball Plus

Chunk 4: The Sequel
- Ultimate Dragon Balls arc
- Super 17 arc
- Evil Dragons arc

In other words, GT. This narrative chunk doesn't have Toriyama on deck at all for the narrative ideas. And, yet, it retains a lot of the spirit of his touch. Throwing caution to the wind and moving things forward in time, rotating the cast, and really depicting changes in everyone's lives. Lacking a Toriyama manga as its backbone, a lot of its narrative steps are episodic, and needlessly consisting in "two-parters".

Chunk 5: The Midquel
- Battle of Gods
- Revival of F
- Champa arc
- Goku Black arc
- Universe Survival arc

In other words, Super. Unlike GT, Toriyama is (at least from a distance) on deck here for the broad narrative strokes. And, yet, the typical touch of his, where time moves blindly forward, with no regard for the status quo, seems absent. Characters seem to be largely doing the same things they were at the end of the Buu arc (if not the beginning of the Buu arc) when Super begins, and they're largely doing the same things when Super ends. No doubt I think this results from taking place during a timeskip, and thus being constrained by what comes after it. During this era we see Goku and Vegeta training with a new realm of godly beings and techniques, and we see Freeza come into his own as a martial artist and reluctant ally.

---

At the end of the day, Block A (and the chunks that comprise it) is Dragon Ball, beginning to end. It is the comic that Akira Toriyama drew (and its direct anime adaptation). Block B's chunks are both optional supplements. Neither was essential for Dragon Ball's story to be complete. They are superfluous. As such, in my eyes, they are categorically lower than the entirety of Block A. In addition to being superfluous, they are cut from a different creative cloth than Block A was. GT didn't involve the creator who gave the series its identity to begin with, and Super didn't see said creator channeling the same creative juices in the same way. So they are decidedly less authentically Dragon Ball as a result.

Now, within Block A, I've already spoiled that Chunk 2 is what I consider the peak, so that takes the top spot within Block A. It's largely a toss-up for me between Chunk 1 and Chunk 3, with the former not yet within Chunk 2's stride, and the latter running on Chunk 2's fumes. I think I'm more inclined toward Chunk 3 at the moment, though.

Within Block B, things get much more complicated. On the surface, within the broad strokes, I'm inclined to place Chunk 4 and Chunk 5 on par. They seem to have diametrically opposing strengths and weaknesses. While Chunk 4 (GT) legitimately moves things forward, Chunk 5 (Super) at least still has the original creator (Toriyama) somewhat involved. However, Chunk 5 has a major setback for me: the anime. If I was to compare GT to Super's manga, I think they're both equally unnecessary, but reasonably solid, additions. But when we bring Super's anime into the picture, I think GT blows it out of the water. So while I'm largely operating on a "Chunk 4 = Chunk 5" thought-process for the broad strokes, I have to place Chunk 4 over Chunk 5 if we're talking about strictly the anime.

So, putting everything together, I get something like:

[spoiler]Tier 1:
Chunk 2: Peak Dragon Ball
- 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
- Piccolo Daimao arc
- 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc
- Saiyan arc
- Namek arc

{POWER GAP}

Tier 2:
Chunk 3: Showing the Seams
- Artificial Humans arc
- Majin Buu arc

Tier 3:
Chunk 1: Finding Itself
- First Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc
- 21st Tenkaichi Budokai arc
- Red Ribbon Army arc

{POWER GAP}

Tier 4:
Chunk 4: The Sequel
- Ultimate Dragon Balls arc
- Super 17 arc
- Evil Dragons arc

Tier 5:
Chunk 5: The Midquel
- Battle of Gods
- Revival of F
- Champa arc
- Goku Black arc
- Universe Survival arc[/spoiler]

So I'm stuck placing it pretty low, all things considered.
---

Re: the actual arc in question
But I mean, shit, I had fun watching (parts of) it. The Zen Exhibition Match was entertaining while Buu was fighting, recruitment was entertaining for one of the #17 episodes, and the Freeza episodes. Sadly though, most of that dragged, and outside of the Ultra Instinct debut, the fight against Kefla, and the two final episodes, there's nothing I'd be super eagerly in a hurry to rewatch. So for all the praise on its spectacle, it was boring as hell for me a lot of the time. I love the idea of it, and the animation that came from it, to the point where I'm really excited to watch some eventual "48 minute cut" of the tournament. But the fact that I feel that it so desperately needs one speaks volumes.