Thoughts on Cell arc

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by z_cherub » Wed Apr 13, 2016 2:04 pm

LuckyCat wrote:
Bullza wrote:It was the best arc of the lot and probably will never be topped.
Yes, I think the idea of bringing the threat back to Earth and using a lot of awesome backdrops (Islands, Frozen Mountains, Canyons, Valleys, Cities, RoSaT, Budoukai Ring) really give the fights some great atmosphere. Although I'd rank Saiyan saga up there for the same reasons.
Wat?

Literally ALL of the major fights through all of DB & Z took place on the Earth both before, during and after Cell except for the Freeza arc. What do you mean "bring it back to Earth"?

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by LuckyCat » Wed Apr 13, 2016 2:06 pm

z_cherub wrote:What do you mean "bring it back to Earth"?
Typical backdrop from previous arc:
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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by NintendoFan28 » Wed Apr 13, 2016 2:10 pm

Probably my least favorite arc. It wasn't terrible by any means, but I just did not enjoy it as much as the other arcs.

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by z_cherub » Wed Apr 13, 2016 3:00 pm

LuckyCat wrote:
z_cherub wrote:What do you mean "bring it back to Earth"?
Typical backdrop from previous arc:
Image
That was only one of 9 major arcs (search for DB, Budokai, RR, Piccolo, Piccolo, Jr, Saiyajin, Freeza, Cell & Boo) and was certainly the exception _ not the rule setting-wise. Need a "change of pace" after ONE arc taking place somewhere foreign?

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by Draconic » Wed Apr 13, 2016 3:08 pm

It's Dragon Ball so of course it's enjoyable, but it, along with the Buu arc are the low points of the series writing-wise. However, the Buu arc was more fun, while the Cell one at times seemed to drag on forever after a while. I guess this would put it at the bottom for me, but it does have some of the highest individual moments of the series.
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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by Soppa Saia People » Wed Apr 13, 2016 4:02 pm

I've often said this my least favorite arc, and I still stand by that, but I'm will give it some positives
+ The build up of Cell is great, super mysterious and overall cool
+ Cell's a great villain, cool back story, awesome design and both the original VA and the Funi VA are great
+ From Freeza coming back to Cell's second form is great
Everything after that :? :thumbdown: :think:
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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by Kuririn Fan » Wed Apr 13, 2016 4:04 pm

z_cherub wrote:
LuckyCat wrote:
z_cherub wrote:What do you mean "bring it back to Earth"?
Typical backdrop from previous arc:
Image
That was only one of 9 major arcs (search for DB, Budokai, RR, Piccolo, Piccolo, Jr, Saiyajin, Freeza, Cell & Boo) and was certainly the exception _ not the rule setting-wise. Need a "change of pace" after ONE arc taking place somewhere foreign?
10 arcs, you forgot 22nd TB :P
He probably meant that Freeza arc dragged on a little bit and we were fed up with boring Namek for so long, that it was nice to see Earth's diversity once again.

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by LuckyCat » Wed Apr 13, 2016 4:32 pm

Kuririn Fan wrote:He probably meant that Freeza arc dragged on a little bit and we were fed up with boring Namek for so long, that it was nice to see Earth's diversity once again.
Exactly this, thank you! Actually I did enjoy the exploding Namek backdrop. But before we even get to that, there's 40+ episodes with fights on generic blue shrubs and green oceans. It was nice to see Earth again, as it's way more geographically diverse. Even the filler scenes like Krillin fighting on an airplane and Gohan and Goku fighting in raging fires and icebergs in the RoSaT were pretty interesting.

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by Lord Beerus » Wed Apr 13, 2016 4:57 pm

It's one of the low point of the series and the original story and has aged horribly.

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by Khin » Wed Apr 13, 2016 6:30 pm

Its the worse arc in the Z era in my opinion.The arc starts good with the Trunks stuff but once #18 and #17 got released,it all went down from there.They hype the Kami and Piccolo merge was only for Cell to absolutely destroy them.Kamicollo was wasted.Most of the characters act dumb in the arc.The Cell games was all just about Goku and Gohan.The arc is filled with some plot holes.Once Gohan turned SSj,the Super Saiyan just isn't that exciting and mysterious as it used to be.
MajinMan wrote:From the Z era, I think that it is the worst arc. It has enjoyable moments here and there, but it doesn't interest me like the others. The story is ok, but the way they asspulled the ROSAT was just stupid. Gohan was also handled poorly and his transition to being the "main" character was extremely rushed. There are a few more things I don't like, but hey, what the hell do I know. I think the Buu arc is the best in the series.
Agree with all points.

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by TheGodfather93 » Thu Apr 14, 2016 7:02 am

Hyena_Yamcha wrote:I think the cell saga and red ribbon army saga are alike , both has good parts but they're boring for the most time
Heh, I feel the exact opposite. The Cell arc was my favourite arc in the Z portion of the anime, while the Red Ribbon Army arc was my favourite from the pre-Z stuff. Comparing the two specifically, I prefer the Red Ribbon Army arc, as I enjoyed DB quite a bit more than DBZ.

With that said, the Cell arc had a lot of inconsistencies, and the characters often made some really stupid decisions. To list just a few they are:
1. Not using the Dragon Balls to wish for the location to Gero's laboratory so that they could end the threat before it started... just because Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and Tien wanted to test themselves against the cyborgs. No one cared that the planet, and innocent people's lives would be put at risk. This came back to bite everyone in the ass, particularly Goku. Cell was able to absorb the cyborgs, become as powerful as he did, and ultimately be responsible for Goku's death.
2. Kami apparently being aware of Cell's existence for a while (I might be mistaken about this), and choosing not to do anything about it until things got out of hand.
3. When Vegeta wanted to let Cell absorb #18, Trunks could've easily swooped in and destroyed #18 within seconds. Yes, it would be a somewhat cruel thing to do, but it would stop Cell from absorbing her, and he'd be easy pickings for the Saiyans. And to think Trunks was among the Z Warriors who had the most common sense.
4. Future Gohan being so ridiculously weak that he couldn't even measure up to 50% #17, after over a decade of training, fighting and zenkai boosts. This is the same Gohan who had near limitless potential, and in one timeline was able to unlock SSJ, master it, and ascend to the next level in less than a year. It's not like Future Gohan had insufficient rage or motivation either. Even if he didn't have someone to mentor him, he still should've been much, much stronger.
5. No one recognising the Z Warriors from the Cell Games broadcast despite the fact that most of them participated in the Tenkaichi Budokai.

Despite all that though, when I switch off my brain and decide to just watch the Cell arc without thinking about all these problems, I really enjoy it. It contains some of the best fights in the Z portion of the series. It has a well developed (imo) and extremely dangerous villain in Cell. It has some great character development moments for Goku and Gohan, Vegeta and Trunks, and Piccolo among others. It also has one of the best moments in the series; that being Gohan's transformation to SSJ2. The arc even introduced the ever hilarious Mr Satan. I initially despised the guy, but he grew on me later in the series.

Yes, there are a lot of flaws in the Cell arc, but there are also a lot of positive aspects as well, and I try to focus on the positives instead of the negatives.
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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by Captain Strawberry » Thu Apr 14, 2016 7:06 am

The Cell arc is really when the saga starts picking up
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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by Kuririn Fan » Thu Apr 14, 2016 11:38 am

Captain Strawberry wrote:The Cell arc is really when the saga starts picking up
You mean it started to get good with Cell's introduction?
Saga is a whole thing - Dragon Ball saga and arc is a part of that saga. Funimation fucked up once again and you said it weirdly.

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by z_cherub » Thu Apr 14, 2016 11:42 am

Kuririn Fan wrote:
Captain Strawberry wrote:The Cell arc is really when the saga starts picking up
You mean it started to get good with Cell's introduction?
Saga is a whole thing - Dragon Ball saga and arc is a part of that saga. Funimation fucked up once again and you said it weirdly.
Yep, funi makes it assist as though there's an arc for every minute plot point.

Kuririn gets a peck on the cheek from #18 arc FTW!

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by Kuririn Fan » Thu Apr 14, 2016 11:46 am

My favorite is 7 episodes long Captain Ginyu "saga".

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by z_cherub » Thu Apr 14, 2016 11:54 am

Kuririn Fan wrote:My favorite is 7 episodes long Captain Ginyu "saga".
Probably even shorter in Kai, no?

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by Kuririn Fan » Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:01 pm

z_cherub wrote:
Kuririn Fan wrote:My favorite is 7 episodes long Captain Ginyu "saga".
Probably even shorter in Kai, no?
4 episodes :D
But yeah, they did that so it's easier to collect the singles, by dividing the 4 biggest arcs.
RRA: RRA, General Blue, Commander Red, Baba
Freeza: Namek, Captain Ginyu, Freeza
Cell: Trunks (another great one, 8 episodes), "Androids", "Imperfect" Cell, Perfect Cell, Cell Games
Majin Boo: Great Saiyaman, Tournament, Babidi, Majin Boo, Fusion, "Kid" Boo
And it's Funimation's fault that a lot of casuals divide it this way and call it sagas, instead of arcs. Still not a big deal compared to their other mistakes.

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by ABED » Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:03 pm

I don't think the divisions are horrible, they aren't arcs, but it helps me when I think of the series to think of broken down the way funimation does.
That was only one of 9 major arcs (search for DB, Budokai, RR, Piccolo, Piccolo, Jr, Saiyajin, Freeza, Cell & Boo)
The 22nd Budokai is clearly its own arc and arguably so is Fortuneteller Baba's tournament.
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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by Kuririn Fan » Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:06 pm

ABED wrote:I don't think the divisions are horrible, they aren't arcs, but it helps me when I think of the series to think of broken down the way funimation does.
I also do see these big arcs having multiple parts, but not the Funamation way.

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Re: Thoughts on Cell arc

Post by z_cherub » Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:06 pm

ABED wrote:I don't think the divisions are horrible, they aren't arcs, but it helps me when I think of the series to think of broken down the way funimation does.
They are ridiculous. Trunks and the Androids all lead up to Cell as the "big bad". Treating Trunks and the Androids as their own "sagas" when there's no way they can be self-contained is an idiotic way to divide up the show.

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