Should the Buu Saga have been the start of a new series?

[SuperSaiyanOzaru]

I was just thinking that the Buu Arc seems to be "the odd one" of DBZ. Opinions on it are split, and I was wondering if it wouldn't have worked better if it had been the beginning of a new anime series, rather than the ending of DBZ. It's tonally quite different from the Saiyan, Freeza, and Cell Arcs, and there's lots of little things that are different about it.

Okay, first off, it takes place a full seven years after the Cell Games end. All of the other DBZ arcs have taken place one after the other. The Freeza Arc follows immediately after the Saiyan Arc, and the Cell Arc is only three years after that, about the same amount of time as that between each of the Tenkaichi Budokais in Dragon Ball. But the seven-year gap is quite close to the five-year gap between DB and DBZ, which was enough to justify a new anime series. The cast is also completely re-arranged. Gohan is more or less an adult, or at least full grown, and is no longer a little kid or adolescent. New characters like Goten, Kid Trunks, and Videl are now added to the cast, and old characters like Tenshinhan and Chaotzu are nowhere to be found. Kuririn and Yamcha have also given up fighting and are now a part of the supporting cast. Even Piccolo is now a mentor more than anything, and no longer a loner since he now lives with Dende and Mr. Popo. Vegeta's a full-fledged family man and isn't really an enemy or even an anti-hero anymore. Characters like Erasa and Sharpener are also weirdly prominent, at least early on in the arc. They even show up on the title screen of the anime, whereas Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaotzu don't.

And then there's the fact that the Saiyan, Freeza, and Cell Arcs are also somewhat "related" to one another. The Freeza Arc is more or less a continuation of the Saiyan Arc, and again, takes place immediately after it. The Cell Arc is a little more incongruous, but it's still somewhat related to the other arcs because, storywise, Cell is a genetic combination of Vegeta, Freeza, Piccolo, etc. So he's an amalgam of everything Goku has faced up until now. He would've been a good final villain. Meanwhile, the Buu Arc is sort of like "And then seven years later, this weird shit happened." There are so many new concepts: the Kaioshin, the Z-Sword, fusion, Potara Earrings, Super Saiyan 3. When coupled with the new cast and time gap, it might as well have been a completely different anime.

And speaking of the anime, everything's different! Cha-La Head Cha-La is gone, ZENKAI Power is gone, and the "last time on DBZ" recap music is different. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's weird that Toei Animation would decide to do that, when the music's been the same up till now.

There's also some other little things. DBZ started out by expanding the universe a little bit, introducing us to the idea of aliens, Otherworld, Kaiosama, Enma-Daio, etc. If the Buu Saga had been the beginning of a new series, it would've fit the pattern: introducing the Kaioshin, Majin Buu, the Demon Realm, etc. Also, DB ended with Goku defeating Piccolo at the Tenkaichi Budokai and ushering in several years of peace. The Cell Saga ended the same way, but with Gohan beating Cell, followed by seven years of peace, so that would've fit the pattern, too. Finally, the original Dragon Ball anime series was something 153 episodes. If you remove the Buu Arc, and the Otherworld Tournament Arc, it would've been 190-something episodes. Take out the Garlic Jr. Arc that nobody likes, and it's only about 30 episodes longer than Dragon Ball.

So put all of this together and I think the Buu Saga would've worked better as the beginning of a new anime series, rather than the ending of DBZ. The problem is that Toriyama decided to end the manga immediately after the Buu Arc, so there wouldn't have been any new material for a hypothetical anime. It's too bad, because I think it would've made a much better DBGT than DBGT did. There's a lot of potential with the characters by the end of the saga. I would've liked to have seen more of Gohan and Videl as teenage crime fighters and superheroes, Kid Trunks and Goten always gettin' themselves into a whole mess of trouble and sometimes fusing into Gotenks, Mr. Satan and Mr. Buu...doing whatever they do, etc. And you can still break out Vegeta and Goku for serious stuff. Ah well, what could've been...

[TheGmGoken]

Didn't we have a similar topic to this in December? Anyways no. It should't. Unless the manga was going to continue further. Even then I'll disagree. Unlike the transition from DB to DBZ. Boo Arc was a follow up from Cell Arc. With Gohan taking his dad's place for a short time and lots of references to the "old" Gohan. Vegeta still acting the same and getting IMPORTANT screen-time. I mean sure they added FAMILY members and new friends but DragonBALL did that as well. The Boo Arc to me showed that Z was ending. Hence why the intro and outro was changing. It was showed that we had a great time with this anime and it's time to say goodbye(Until GT....). Hell most of the intro has lots of flashbacks which showed character's growth. The ending of Boo Arc fits the ending to Z not an ending to an Arc. Think about it. It showed Goku becoming the master and continuing to be a fighter that we always seen him as. The tone in the arc while more humorous wasn't that much different. In fact in terms of "tone" the Cell Arc was the odd one out as it lack humor. Freeza arc had Ginyu Force and still had plenty of humor in it. Boo Arc was just a tad bit more silly. But it easily got just as serious as Freeza arc.

[Nanotchi]

Maybe they could have just kept the series as DragonBall.

[thatdbzguy]

No, it should have just replaced the Cell saga entirely.

[dbboxkaifan]

The Buu arc feels like something taken out of Dr Slump and Arale-chan with a mix of also the original Dragon Ball, so no.

[Gaffer Tape]

The Buu arc feels like something taken out of Dr Slump and Arale-chan with a mix of also the original Dragon Ball, so no.

Why no? If anything, I would think your logic would be leading towards agreement.

Anyway, I could go either way. On the one hand, I don't really see the need to split the series at all, but the split between the Cell and Boo arcs is just as good a place as the split between 23 and Saiyan. They both tie things up and then move somewhat into a new generation.

[B]

What purpose would a 90-episode series have served in the grand scheme of things?

[TheGmGoken]

What purpose would a 90-episode series have served in the grand scheme of things?

The same purpose a 64 episode did. Unless you mean a series that follows the manga...

[B]

Except GT told multiple stories. It doesn't really make sense for the Buu arc to be all by itself when none of the arcs were.

[Gaffer Tape]

Yeah, but Z happened despite Toriyama claiming that he was soon going to be ending the series. Toei didn't know if it was going to be more than one story. And similarly, no one, perhaps not even Toriyama, knew going in that the Boo arc would be the last one.

Then there's the fact that most sources (not me, but most sources) divide the Boo arc into multiple stories anyway, so... there you go. If Kai can be 97+1 episodes, I don't see why Dragon Ball 93 or whatever couldn't have been 92 episodes.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

No, it should have just replaced the Cell saga entirely.

That would be a terrible move.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Yes, I believe that Boo arc should be on its own. It has a new set of characters, many of the old characters have changed, and some old characters are not in the main cast anymore. Plus, there is a new score, along with OP & ED songs, and the whole thing has a different atmosphere. Not to mention that even the main protagonists are different: Goku is the main protagonist in DB, Goku & Gohan are the main protagonists in DBZ (Saiyan-Cell arcs), and now, Gohan with Goten & Trunks are the main protagonists (Goku only takes back the place in the very end), the main villain doesn't have any connections with the previous ones, and the story could have ended in Cell arc, like it could have ended in the 23rd TB arc (end of DB).

And this is why I hope that the Boo arc of DBKai will be renamed into a new series.

[ShinRogafuken]

Yes, I believe that Boo arc should be on its own. It has a new set of characters, many of the old characters have changed, and some old characters are not in the main cast anymore. Plus, there is a new score, along with OP & ED songs, and the whole thing has a different atmosphere. Not to mention that even the main protagonists are different: Goku is the main protagonist in DB, Goku & Gohan are the main protagonists in DBZ (Saiyan-Cell arcs), and now, Gohan with Goten & Trunks are the main protagonists (Goku only takes back the place in the very end), the main villain doesn't have any connections with the previous ones, and the story could have ended in Cell arc, like it could have ended in the 23rd TB arc (end of DB).

And this is why I hope that the Boo arc of DBKai will be renamed into a new series.

Agreed with you and the topic creator. The Boo Arc really does feel like its own series.

[90sDBZ]

No I think it works fine as it is. The Buu saga is similar to the Cell saga in a lot of ways and feels like a natural progression. The Cell saga had a sad ending. The Buu saga gave us a happy ending again with Goku coming back as the hero which felt like the right way to end Z.

[Hellspawn28]

Nah. I think it was fine how it was.