What do you call each arc and why?

[nickzambuto]

There doesn't seem to be any single, official and agreed upon naming scheme for all of the arcs. Several of them have multiple different potential titles that fans use just out of preference.

Popular examples-

"Pilaf arc" vs "First Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc"

Personally, I go with the "First Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc" simply because Pilaf was not actually the main villain like most people assume. In the manga he doesn't appear until the very end, you might as well call it the "Boss Rabbit arc" or the "Yamcha arc" because the only difference between Pilaf and those guys is that Pilaf is at the end. The arc does not revolve around the conflict with Pilaf, only his specific section does just as Boss Rabbit's specific section revolves around him. The arc as a whole revolves around the Dragon Balls. Only in the anime does Pilaf have a presence throughout, and if we're talking about the anime specifically I WILL refer to it as the Pilaf arc.

"Red Ribbon Army Arc" vs "Second Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc"

I never followed the logic of naming this arc after the RRA. They were such an inconsequential threat, not once was Goku ever genuinely threatened by them. The arc did not revolve around them or Goku's quest to stop them, rather, it revolved around gathering the Dragon Balls, and the RRA was just involved with that plot. But they were never a threat, midway through the arc Goku just decides to go stop them, so he storms the base and destroys the entire army singlehandedly. Boom there done and gone before the arc is even finished. Afterwards, the hunt for the Dragon Balls still continues.

"Piccolo Jr arc" vs "23ed Tenkaichi Budokai arc"

Personally I prefer keeping with the scheme of naming arcs after the Budokai, although I totally understand the logic of naming it after Piccolo, since stopping him is the ultimate goal whereas in previous Tournament arcs, all opponents Goku faced shared equal significance as obstacles in the way of his path to the championship.

"Freeza arc" vs "Namek arc"

I go with Namek arc. Freeza is definitely the main opposing force, but the goal isn't really to stop him specifically, he is just an obstacle in the way. The arc as a whole is really about Namek, finding the Dragon Balls, and the various DIFFERENT enemies the crew faces along the way in their mission to explore/help Namek and revive their friends.

There's also the FUNimation way of splitting it into the Namek arc, Ginyu arc and then Frieza arc, which I can actually appreciate, but that would be inconsistent with the rest of the series.

"Androids or Cyborgs arc" vs "Cell arc" vs "Artificial Humans arc"

Personally I hate the idea of calling them Artificial Humans. How are 17, 18, and Gero "artificial humans"? They aren't, they ARE humans, or you might say were, but there's nothing artificial about them. I understand the exact Japanese term doesn't have a 100% equivalent, but just call them Cyborgs, man.

I also dislike calling it the Cell arc since he's not the main opposing force. Before Cell even shows up, we have 19, 20, 17, 18 and 16. They are part of the arc too. So overall I go with the Androids arc, which is kinda hypocritical of me since calling them androids is the same as calling them artificial humans, but artificial humans is just so much more of a mouthful and Cell can't really be aptly described as a "Cyborg." Maybe we need a brand new name for this arc? Something that encompasses androids, cyborgs and whatever Cell is all at once.

These are the popular variations on arc names that I see, any others you guys have in mind would be interesting to hear as well.

[Cipher]

Huh. I guess I do have a few consistent naming conventions I tend to use.

I generally just call the opening arc the opening arc, no proper noun, because it's structured like a one-off story and avoids both the inaccuracies of "Pilaf arc" and the wordiness of "First hunt for the Dragon Balls."

I tend to refer to the second hunt for the Dragon Balls as the "Red Ribbon Army arc," but that does leave the stuff at Uranai Baba's palace in an odd spot, so I acknowledge that referring to the whole story line as the second hunt for the Dragon Balls is a bit more accurate.

What some refer to as the "Freeza arc" I always refer to as the "Namek arc," because the setting and all its cat-and-mouse games is at the fore before Freeza really steps up as the main focus. It's just a more holistic way to refer to the story line while still being clear about what part of the series you're referring to.

Likewise, I call the next arc in whole the "Android arc," because they're a consistent focus from the beginning until the defeat of Cell, who doesn't show up until quite a ways in.

Everything else is pretty standard, although I don't tend to divide the hunt for the Dragon Balls and the Baby material in GT when discussing them. It's all one story line, which happens to climax with Baby. Again, either "opening arc" or just "Baby arc" for the whole thing works.

[Kuririn Fan]

All 10 arcs that i use have perfectly clear beginnings, middles and endings. The hunt for dbs, 21st TB, rra, 22nd, p. daimao, 23rd, saiyan, freeza, cell, majin boo. I don't see nothing wrong with the name of the first arc, some fans probably call it Pilaf arc because of his dominance in anime filler. Red Ribbon Army is a threat big enough to carry the name of the third arc, Goku only wanted 4 star ball, battling general after general and was forced to collect them all because of rra. 23rd tb is also perfect name because Piccolo conveniently obeys all the rules the whole time. Freeza is better than Namek because Namek isn't this franchises most iconic villain, Namek isn't the boss of all those henchmen and Ginyu special squad, Namek isn't the sole reason of Goku coming to Earth in the first place, etc. The Cell Arc is probably the most controversial naming, but i think it fits, everything before Cell's appearance was just a prologue for his creation: Freeza, Gero, 18,17... And he is the center of attention in 2/3 of the arc.

[sintzu]

There doesn't seem to be any single, official and agreed upon naming scheme for all of the arcs.

The Wiki says these are Toie's official names for them :

DB :
Son Gokū (Episodes 1~28)
Red Ribbon Army (Episodes 29~68)
22nd Tenkaichi Budōkai (Episodes 69~101)
Piccolo-Daimaō (Episodes 102~132)
23rd Tenkaichi Budōkai (Episodes 133~153)
Z :
Saiyan (Episodes 1~35)
Frieza (Episodes 36~107)
Cell (Episodes 108~194)
Buu (Episodes 195~291)

[TheSeductiveTomato]

I group Pilaf & the Tournament sagas together as the Beginning. First hunt for dragon balls, first villains, Goku learns his first martial arts lessons, leading to the first major fights of the series.

I'd group Baba into RRA Arc. The whole reason they even fight in her tournament is to find the last dragon ball to revive Bora, thus undoing the aftermath of the RRA.

[Kakacarrottop]

I've never thought of the Saiyan saga stuff as a stand alone arc. To me it's part of the greater Freeza arc, since the two are so closely connected. Similar to how the Trunks-Android & Otherworld-Great Saiyaman sagas get lumped in with the Cell & Buu arcs.

[Lord Beerus]

There doesn't seem to be any single, official and agreed upon naming scheme for all of the arcs.

The Wiki says these are Toie's official names for them :

DB :
Son Gokū (Episodes 1~28)
Red Ribbon Army (Episodes 29~68)
22nd Tenkaichi Budōkai (Episodes 69~101)
Piccolo-Daimaō (Episodes 102~132)
23rd Tenkaichi Budōkai (Episodes 133~153)
Z :
Saiyan (Episodes 1~35)
Freeza (Episodes 36~107)
Cell (Episodes 108~194)
Buu (Episodes 195~291)

You know, for all the shit I give the DB Wiki, the names of arcs actually fit pretty well given the context of the plot in each arc, and I'd certainly go with those names.

[Vijay]

Too tired to list everything, but I prefer to call Buu Arc as whole (Ep 200-291)

Forget about intrinsic/extrinsic value, it predominantly build-up to & deals about Majin Buu & major chunck of bloated portions focused on Fat & Super Buu.

So, theres that

[IDreamtIWasABee]

Saiyan saga, Freeza saga, Cell saga, Boo saga. Simple, honest, and it's how I was introduced to the series in the early days of online fandom.

When did people start saying "arc" instead of "saga," anyway? "Arc" is a perfectly good synonym, but fans here seem to use it almost exclusively. Is it because FUNi started calling portions of each arc "sagas" when they obviously weren't (Ginyu saga, Imperfect Cell saga, etc)?

[trick007z]

Dragon Ball Quest (everything up to the first wish)
21st World Martial Arts Tournament
Red Ribbon Army (includes the Baba tournament)
22nd World Martial Arts Tournament
King Piccolo
23rd World Martial Arts Tournament
Saiyan
Namek/Freeza (the whole conflict on Namek, culminating with the Freeza fight)
Android/Cell (the whole conflict with Gero's artificial humans including Cell)
Buu (everything after the 7 year gap)

and er I guess I would call all of Super the "God arc"

[successoroffate]

Saiyajin Saga, Freeza Saga, Androids/Cell Saga, Majin Buu Saga, Bebi Saga, S17 Saga, Shadow Dragons...

Pretty straight forward for me.

[apex_pretador]

DB hunt
21st TB
Battle with RRA
22nd TB
Daimao arc
23rd TB
___
Saiyan arc
Namek/freeza arc
Cell arc (contains android arc + CG)
Buu arc
BoG arc
Freeza arc

[nickzambuto]

Saiyan saga, Freeza saga, Cell saga, Boo saga. Simple, honest, and it's how I was introduced to the series in the early days of online fandom.

When did people start saying "arc" instead of "saga," anyway? "Arc" is a perfectly good synonym, but fans here seem to use it almost exclusively. Is it because FUNi started calling portions of each arc "sagas" when they obviously weren't (Ginyu saga, Imperfect Cell saga, etc)?

By definition, a "saga" is supposed to be a long story about a hero, with a definitive beginning and end, so that term would be more indicative of the Dragon Ball story as a whole. "Arc" refers specifically to a part of something, so saying "saga" is actually just incorrect, as far as the English language goes.

[MarCas92]

Yeah, I don't like the term saga. To me, the WHOLE thing is a saga.

Hunt for the Dragon Balls: Pretty self explanitory, probably the most common used. I don't like Pilaf since it only applies to the anime and Goku isn't really the focus so Goku arc doesn't fit either.

21st Budokai: Pretty self explanatory.

Hunt for the 4 Star Ball: I prefer this over RRA for 1 major reason. That's what started the journey and thats what ends the journey. Sure, Goku decides to get rid of it half way through the arc, but I feel that the quest for this ball is what the journey was all about to begin with. I think the appearance of Grandpa Gohan really drives this point home.

22nd Budokai: Some people call this the "Tenshinhan" Arc/Saga. It fits, but personally I just like naming all the tournaments after the numbers rather than the conflict.

Piccolo Daimao : He's really the entire focus of the arc.

23rd Budokai Same reason as 22nd.

Saiyan Some people say Vegeta, but to me that kind of defeats the whole purpose of the arc. It's not about defeating Vegeta, it's about defeating the Saiyans. It's about Goku's relationship to that race. Heck, the heroes barely even refer to the Saiyans by name. Their just "the saiyan".

Namek: Some people use "Freeza". While that works better than Vegeta and Cell, I still think that story arcs name should encompass everything, not just the final threat. It's the struggle against the Saiyan's not Vegeta. It's the journey to Namek, not the fight vs Freeza. It's the Android Invasion, not the fight against Cell.

Android People call this the "Cell" Arc sometimes. I already listed why I think this one doesn't work.

Boo: Like the Piccolo Daimao arc, this actually works as a name for the arc. The whole point of the story is to stop Boo. He's the obstacle the entire story, not just the final boss.

[Khin]

I'm calling the new arc for Super as Champa Arc.I don't know why people calling it as Universe 6 Arc/Saga when they're not even in Universe 6.

[IDreamtIWasABee]

Saiyan saga, Freeza saga, Cell saga, Boo saga. Simple, honest, and it's how I was introduced to the series in the early days of online fandom.

When did people start saying "arc" instead of "saga," anyway? "Arc" is a perfectly good synonym, but fans here seem to use it almost exclusively. Is it because FUNi started calling portions of each arc "sagas" when they obviously weren't (Ginyu saga, Imperfect Cell saga, etc)?

By definition, a "saga" is supposed to be a long story about a hero, with a definitive beginning and end, so that term would be more indicative of the Dragon Ball story as a whole. "Arc" refers specifically to a part of something, so saying "saga" is actually just incorrect, as far as the English language goes.

I see your point, but precision in language isn't enough to make a fan base change its vocabulary - otherwise Spider-fans wouldn't still be calling it the Clone Saga.

Whatever the reason, both words have something to recommend them. "Saga" has a heft to it, and even a gravitas, that "arc" lacks; you feel like you're part of an epic even greater than the present storyline, which is immense. "Arc" is more pleasing to the mouth, throat, eyes...lungs...it's generally more satisfying from a sensory perspective.

[DanielSSJ]

1. Hunt for the Dragon Balls (This is the only arc where the Dragon Ball hunt is the main focus)
2. 21st Budokai
3. Red Ribbon Army (While they're defeated a while before the arc wraps up, the Red Ribbon Army is the main opposing force and the thing that moves the plot forward.)
4. 22nd Budokai
5. Piccolo Daimao
6. 23rd Budokai
7. Saiyan
8. Freeza (While Namek is the main setting, Freeza and his forces are the driving force behind the plot of this arc.)
9. Android (Cell may be the final antagonist, but he doesn't show up AT ALL for the first third of the arc. Also, the term "Android/Artificial Human/Jinzoningen" applies to all of Dr. Gero's creations, including Cell.)
10. Majin Boo

[Captain Strawberry]

Invasion of the Saiyajin Saga in other words, the Saiyajin saga would consist of: The Raditz arc, The training arc or Kai arc, Nappa arc (to keep it simple) and then we have the Vegeta arc.

Frieza or Namek saga would be something like: the rebellion arc, Ginyu arc, SSJ arc or revenge arc.

The artificial Humans saga which would be broken down into two Sagas (Android saga and Cell saga), Cyborg Frieza, android 19 & 20 arc, android 17 & 18, Imperfect Cell, refined Cell, room of spirit and time, the Cell games arc

Majin Buu: Tournament and Buu revival arc, Majin Vegeta arc, Gotenks arc, Gohan arc, Vegetto arc and Kid buu arc.

[MetaMoss]

For me, I don't think I ever had a really exact way of defining each arc; I'd just use whatever term seemed convenient at the time. Also, I also define some "sub-arcs" (i.e. the Cell Games arc, which is part of the greater Artificial Humans arc). Right now, this is what works in my head:

First Hunt for the Dragon Balls
21st Tenkaichi Budokai
Red Ribbon (with the Baba sub-arc kinda awkwardly tacked as the end of that)
22nd Tenkaichi Budokai
Piccolo Daimao
Piccolo Jr (I know it's a Budokai arc, but the threat of Piccolo is a looming presence throughout)
Saiyan
Namek (Sub-arcs: Namek Incursion [or just Namek, confusingly enough], Ginyu Force, Freeza)
Artificial Humans/Androids (Sub arcs: Trunks, 19/20, 17/18, Cell, Cell Games)
Majin Buu (Sub arcs: Seven Years Later, Fat Buu, Super Buu, Pure Evil Buu)

[Hujio]

There doesn't seem to be any single, official and agreed upon naming scheme for all of the arcs.

The Wiki says these are Toie's official names for them :

DB :
Son Gokū (Episodes 1~28)
Red Ribbon Army (Episodes 29~68)
22nd Tenkaichi Budōkai (Episodes 69~101)
Piccolo-Daimaō (Episodes 102~132)
23rd Tenkaichi Budōkai (Episodes 133~153)
Z :
Saiyan (Episodes 1~35)
Freeza (Episodes 36~107)
Cell (Episodes 108~194)
Buu (Episodes 195~291)

Oh, I'd just love to see the source for that... Either way, Toei themselves don't even have a singular division of the series, so I'm curious where they pulled that from. Of course, all this gives me a great excuse to link to my list of "official" story arc divisions.