Need everyone's opinions on arc divisions of the series

[PiccoloFan7289]

I'm working on a project and need everyone's opinion on concise and clean arc divisions for the three Dragon Ball Series. I have had my own opinions on this for a while, but I think hearing other people's opinions as well will help me with mine.

[penguintruth]

Pilaf Arc
21st Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Red Ribbon Arc
22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Piccolo Daimao Arc
23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc

Saiyan Arc
Freeza Arc
Cell Arc
Buu Arc



None of that "Semi-Perfect Cell arc", "Fusion arc", "Kid Buu arc" bullshit.

[PiccoloFan7289]

Pilaf Arc
21st Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Red Ribbon Arc
22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Piccolo Daimao Arc
23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai

Saiyan Arc
Freeza Arc
Cell Arc
Buu Arc



None of that "Semi-Perfect Cell arc", "Fusion arc", "Kid Buu arc" bullshit.

I agree with you on this 100% and I liked how you kept the filler out of it. When it comes to filler I just classify it as extra episodes at the end of the main arcs. The only thing that is up for debate imo on this though is keeping the Red Ribbon Army and Uranai Baba Arc's together.

[Pokewhiz7]

None of that "Semi-Perfect Cell arc", "Fusion arc", "Kid Buu arc" bullshit.

Saga, good sir.

[Herms]

It would probably help if you explained why you needed these story arc divisions for this project. Different divisions might make more sense depending on the exact nature of the project.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

Pilaf Arc
21st Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Red Ribbon Arc
22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Piccolo Daimao Arc
23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc

Saiyan Arc
Freeza Arc
Cell Arc
Buu Arc



None of that "Semi-Perfect Cell arc", "Fusion arc", "Kid Buu arc" bullshit.

I have to agree, but when talking about the anime, I do think the Garlic Jr. and Anoyoichi Budokai deserve their own mentions as well. However brief, they are distinct enough arcs to be separated from the others.

[DanielGClapp]

Pilaf Arc
21st Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Red Ribbon Arc
22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Piccolo Daimao Arc
23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc

Saiyan Arc
Freeza Arc
Cell Arc
Buu Arc



None of that "Semi-Perfect Cell arc", "Fusion arc", "Kid Buu arc" bullshit.

I have to agree, but when talking about the anime, I do think the Garlic Jr. and Anoyoichi Budokai deserve their own mentions as well. However brief, they are distinct enough arcs to be separated from the others.

I agree with this. Even though Garlic Jr. is pretty much just filler, I think it deserves it's own arc. And for the most part, I think GT could be split into 2 different arcs. One in space and one on Earth. Or just the Shadow Dragon Ball saga and then the Baby saga. I haven't seen GT in a while, but I don't think I'm forgetting anything.

[Cipher]

I agree with this. Even though Garlic Jr. is pretty much just filler, I think it deserves it's own arc. And for the most part, I think GT could be split into 2 different arcs. One in space and one on Earth. Or just the Shadow Dragon Ball saga and then the Baby saga. I haven't seen GT in a while, but I don't think I'm forgetting anything.

The tough thing with GT is that the Super 17 arc plays the exact same role as the Saiyan arc in Z. It's a self contained narrative, but it leads directly into the next arc and its fallout isn't really resolved until the end of said next arc.

And I suppose the distinction between the hunt for the ultimate Dragon Balls and the actual Baby material could be up for debate, somewhat like the distinction between the Red Ribbon Army and Uranai Baba material. You have a kind of/sort of climax followed by a radical shift in focus, but they're part of the same arc, plot-wise.

Basically, I feel that if you're going to lump the Red Ribbon Army arc together with the Uranai Baba arc, you have to do the same for the ultimate Dragon Balls and Baby (both of which I agree with). Likewise, if you're going to separate the Saiyan and Namek arcs, you have to apply the same logic to the Super 17 and Evil Dragon arcs as well.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

^ If you really want to get nitpickey, you could argue Sayain, Freeza, and Cell are ultimately one continuous struggle, since the Freeza story doesn't really end on a "complete" note, while after Cell we get a full seven years of straight peace.

Oddly enough, what sparked my thinking is way was a dub line; Tenshinhan and Krillin (What kind of bilingual folly did I just commit?) tell Yamcha that the fight with Cell is actually over, and Yamcha's response? "Man, it's been a few years since I heard someone say that." And then boom, gears turned.

For my vote, I go with Penguintruth's divisions.

[Super Sonic]

The way I saw it for DB and Z:

DB Quest
Roshi Training/21st Budokai
Red Ribbon Army
Baba
22nd Budokai
King Piccolo
23rd Budokai

Saiyan
Frieza
(Garlic Jr)
Androids/Cell
(afterlife tournament)
Saiyaman
Buu

[PiccoloFan7289]

I believe I am going to go with this for my project. I have decided that since this is the anime and not the manga Filler Arc's need to be separated from the original story arc's created by Akira Toriyama.

Dragon Ball Quest Arc
21st Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Red Ribbon Army Arc
Uranai Baba Arc
Solo Training Arc (079 to 083)
22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Piccolo Daimao Arc
God's Training Arc (127 to 132)
23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Wedding Arc (149 to 153)

Saiyan Arc
Namek Arc
Garlic Jr. Arc (108 to 117)
Artificial Human Arc
Ano Yo-ichi Budoukai Arc (195 to 199)
Majin Buu Arc

Black Star Dragon Balls Arc
Super Artificial Human 17 Arc
Shadow Dragon Arc

[Gotham22]

Goku Arc
Red Ribbon Army Arc
Baba Arc
Tienshinhan Arc
King Piccolo Arc
Piccolo Jr. Arc

Saiyan Arc
Namek Arc
Freeza Arc
Garlic Jr. Arc
Androids Arc
Cell Arc
Saiyaman Arc
Buu Arc

Black Star Dragon Balls Arc
Super Android 17 Arc
Shadow Dragons Arc

[DanielGClapp]

Cell isn't really an "artificial human". I think it's fair to name it "Cell Arc" or maybe even separate the two.

[funrush]

I'm working on a project and need everyone's opinion on concise and clean arc divisions for the three Dragon Ball Series. I have had my own opinions on this for a while, but I think hearing other people's opinions as well will help me with mine.

I like to have it, at least for Z, to go like:

Saiyan Arc: (Start of Z until defeat of Vegeta)
Namek Arc: (Arrival on Namek until defeat of Captain Ginyu.)
Freeza Arc: (The Freeza fight.)
Trunks Arc: (Trunks kills Freeza and Cold, training episodes. Can be combined with Artificial Humans arc.)
Artificial Humans Arc: (Fight with 19 and Gero up to Piccolo's merging/ Cell's first appearance.)
Cell Arc: (Piccolo Vs. Cell in Ginger Town up to Perfect Cell defeating Trunks.)
Cell Games Arc: (The entire Cell Games.)
Babidi Arc: (Great Saiyaman/High school stuff up to Buu's awakening.)
Majin Buu Arc: (Buu's awakening up to Mr. Satan being shot.)
Super Buu Arc: (Evil Buu absorbing Majin Buu up to the end of the series.)

[Herms]

Cell isn't really an "artificial human". I think it's fair to name it "Cell Arc" or maybe even separate the two.

He is indeed a jinzou-ningen; an android, or if you want to translate it (overly?) literally, an artificial human. That's how he introduces himself to Piccolo, and he's referred to as such several other times, most notably the title page that summarizes all of Gero's creations.

[dprez]

Pilaf Arc
21st Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Red Ribbon Arc
22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc
Piccolo Daimao Arc
23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai Arc

Saiyan Arc
Freeza Arc
Cell Arc
Buu Arc



None of that "Semi-Perfect Cell arc", "Fusion arc", "Kid Buu arc" bullshit.

Well, I am apart of "everyone" I suppose, so I will say that this is nice and neat, and actually looks like an "official" list of the arcs.

I always hated how they divided up the sagas like that. This list is the best imo.

[penguintruth]

My list of story arcs was based soley on the manga, by the way, as it is the source. Add anime filler arcs where necessary.

[dprez]

Still, the filler arcs could be combined with the major ones, but to be specific, I guess they could/should be listed.

[andrewtuell1991]

I've always divided it up by seven major arcs based around when the opening animation changes which can then be broken down into 25 smaller arcs based on the Dragon Boxes division with some minor alterations.

I. Boyhood Arc (DB 1-101)
A. Son Goku arc (DB 1-13)
B. Turtle School Training arc (DB 14-18)
C. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai arc (DB 19-28)
D. Red Ribbon Army arc (DB 29-68)
E. Uranai Baba arc (DB 69-78)
F. Goku's Solo Training arc (filler) (DB 79-83)
G. 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc (DB 84-101)

II. Piccolo Daimao Arc (DB 102-153)
H. Piccolo Daimao arc (DB 102-126)
I. Heavenly Training arc (filler) (DB 127-132)
J. 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc (DB 133-148)
K. Wedding Dress arc (filler) (DB 149-153)

III. Saiyan and Freeza Arc (DBZ 1-117; Kai 1-54)
L. Saiyan arc (DBZ 1-35; Kai 1-17)
M. Namek arc (DBZ 36-74; Kai 18-35)
N. Freeza arc (DBZ 75-107, Kai 36-54)
O. Garlic Jr. arc (filler) (DBZ 108-117)

IV. Artificial Human and Cell Arc (DBZ 118-199; Kai 55-98)
P. Artificial Human arc (DBZ 118-149; Kai 55-73)
Q. Cell arc (DBZ 150-194; Kai 74-98)
R. Anoyoichi Budokai arc (filler) (DBZ 195-199)

V. Majin Boo Arc (DBZ 200-291; Kai n/a )
S. High School arc (DBZ 200-207)
T. 25th Tenkaichi Budokai arc (DBZ 208-219)
U. Majin Boo arc (DBZ 220-291)

VI. Black Star Dragon Ball Arc (DBGT 1-41)
V. Black Star Dragon Ball arc (DBGT 1-26)
W. Baby arc (DBGT 27-41)

VII. Broken Dragon Ball Arc (DBGT 42-64)
X. Super No. 17 arc (DBGT 42-47)
Y. Evil Dragons arc (DBGT 48-64)

To me, I just don't think the Saiyan arc should be counted as a major arc because that would be saying that Vegeta was a major villain, which, IMO, he isn't. Daimao, Freeza, Cell, and Boo are definitely major villains whereas Vegeta is more of an overrated anti-hero if anything else.

Also, it would seem Toei agrees with the notion of lumping Saiyan arc under the Freeza umbrella along with the Namek arc based on the way they released the Kai DVDs / Blu-Ray Box sets. The three arc really do bleed into one another to create one mother of story arc.

[Fionordequester]

To me, I just don't think the Saiyan arc should be counted as a major arc because that would be saying that Vegeta was a major villain, which, IMO, he isn't.

He was for a good amount of Episodes, being pretty much the ultimate villain up till that point, with like 18+ Episodes worth of build up to the final confrontation with him