When did the series drag for you?

[Alruneia]

Put simply (I'm considering the anime here):

• Parts of the Red Ribbon arc
• Saiyan arc training (all the Gohan filler)
• Frieza arc, especially towards the end where the filler cutaways were at their worst
• Cell Games (insert Vegeta grumbling in many, many unnecessary scenes)
• The Super Buu fight ("can he stop transforming and just die already")
• The recruitment episodes we're currently having in Super

[TheBigBoy]

Freeza fight. Just completely and painfully obvious that they are dragging out the fight as long as possible. I think I counted once and there's 10 episodes from Freeza's famous "only 5 minutes until this planet explodes!" line until the planet actually blows up. They actually manage to throw in a clip show episode there as well. It doesn't help the animation quality takes a dip too.

On a personal level...the first half of the Namek arc really drags for me. Why? Because I used to watch the old Ocean dub in syndication and when they would run through all the episodes they had (they showed two a week), they started back at the beginning of the Namek arc. So that means I had to sit through that crappy fake Namek and Goku's ship goes too close to the sun filler multiple times.

It didn't help that when they finally started airing new episodes it was the Bulma and the crab episodes. Another time they aired the TV edit of the third move and I had NO idea what was going on. I about gave myself brain damage trying to figure out when that was supposed to take place.

Is it agreed upon that the Namek saga has the worst filler in the series?

[ekrolo2]

The RRA drags quite a bit, The Freeza fight drags, especially before Goku gets to the battlefield. There are only so many times I can deal with "Yes, we aren't going to die! Fuck we're screwed! Yes, we got him, we might just make it out alive! Shit, he's still alive and he's transformed!" The Cell arc drags during the episodes between 17 fighting Piccolo and Cell issuing a challenge to Trunks. The Buu arc as a whole drags a lot.

I'd say the Boo arc drags is for the same reason the pre-Goku Freeza fight does. It has waaaayyyy too many moments of things looking up then going to shit then back up again. It's especially aggravating since Gotenks and Gohan just forget that Boo's killed everyone they care about and just dick around with him.

[Lord Beerus]

Everything that happened on Namek was padded out hell and back. The Goku/Freeza fight being the most (in)famous offender of unnecessarily dragging shit out. The Majin Boo arc, as much as I love it, went on far longer than it should have. But it helps that the additional material is mostly good. The Red Ribbon Army arc also drags out in large portions of its story.

[ABED]

I don't feel the Goku/Freeza portion of the fight is as dragged out (especially in Kai and the manga) as before Goku arrived on the battlefield.

[TheZFighter]

If you held a gun to my head and forced me to pick a part of the series which dragged, then I'd reluctantly say the Namek/ Freeza sagas. It was a bit long, particularly the Goku/ Frieza fight.

That being said, in all honesty I fell in love with this series when I was like 9 and 17 years later I'm still here following it, despite not approving of some things (discarding of most non-Saiyan characters, too many Saiyan forms, etc), so I can't criticise it too much.

I see a lot of people saying the Buu saga, but honestly I thought the Buu saga was brilliant. There was a real sense of desperation and characters clutching at straws, trying to think of ways to defeat Buu. You had Gohan training on the Kai planet, Goten and Trunks learning to fuse, Mr. Satan trying to befriend Buu, etc, most of the population being wiped out, Gohan finally stepping up as a character (although that was short lived!), Tenshinhan appearing from nowhere to save Gohan, Dende and Mr. Satan, Goku coming back and trying to find someone to fuse with, the return of Vegeta, the destruction of Earth, and the eventual defeat of Buu. I loved, and still love, it a lot. As a person who enjoys seeing old characters appearing, I have always really liked the seen where we saw lots of old friends giving energy to the Spirit Bomb.

[sintzu]

The Buu arc still drags even in the manga. It's ironic given that it also feels as though Toriyama was rushing to the finish.

That arc is 99 chapters so if it was made like the others with longer fights then it might've reached 130-150.

I thought the Buu saga was brilliant. There was a real sense of desperation and characters clutching at straws, trying to think of ways to defeat Buu.

That's the best thing about it and why I think Toriyama's original villains are the best in long running Shonen. Each one is harder to defeat than the one before and with Buu Toriyama pushed everyone to thier breaking point. If you're going to end a story that's the way to do it.

[Lord Beerus]

I don't feel the Goku/Freeza portion of the fight is as dragged out (especially in Kai and the manga) as before Goku arrived on the battlefield.

I find the fight is still a slog to get through, even in the manga. I mean, there are literally cases where nothing is happening and Goku and Freea just stare at each-other.

[FortuneSSJ]

In the battle against Freeza on Namek. If I didn't love this series as much as I do, I wouldn't be able to rewatch that part anymore.

[precita]

I see a lot of people saying the Buu saga, but honestly I thought the Buu saga was brilliant. There was a real sense of desperation and characters clutching at straws, trying to think of ways to defeat Buu. You had Gohan training on the Kai planet, Goten and Trunks learning to fuse, Mr. Satan trying to befriend Buu, etc, most of the population being wiped out, Gohan finally stepping up as a character (although that was short lived!), Tenshinhan appearing from nowhere to save Gohan, Dende and Mr. Satan, Goku coming back and trying to find someone to fuse with, the return of Vegeta, the destruction of Earth, and the eventual defeat of Buu. I loved, and still love, it a lot. As a person who enjoys seeing old characters appearing, I have always really liked the seen where we saw lots of old friends giving energy to the Spirit Bomb.

That's what I like about the Buu arc a lot too. The main cast was actually HIDING from Majin Buu. This is the first time the main cast didn't confront a villain head-on and all the main characters were in hiding on Kami's lookout or dead. People say nothing is happening, but Piccolo desperately trying to get Gotenks trained or done correctly, and everyone else believing Gohan is dead while they're working on him in Otherworld....and both Goku and Vegeta completely gone because they're both dead...was something they never did in any other saga.

Plus at the same time we had Mr. Satan befriending Buu and other subplots going on, so I don't know why people say nothing is happening. I also really like that the anime let us see base form Gotenks fight Fat Buu, I love that form and it got no screentime in the manga.

[Super_Divine_Genki]

On my initial viewing of the Z series, the one that stands out to me far above all is the 10-15 episodes of Fusion/Gotenks content -- even with the luxury of marathoning through the Boo Arc at the time.* It's jarring having this stretch of episodes sandwiched in between some of the best stuff that the franchise has produced, imo. *Which for some odd reason, had been released in full to DVD before FUNi finally completed releasing the Cell Games to DVD...

On rewatches: Some of the mid Namek arc and Goku VS Freeza, #20/Dr. Gero hiding from the Z-senshi, Fusion/Gotenks, and Goku and Vegeta inside Boo.

Kai: Fusion/Gotenks -- went virtually untouched in the "recut".

[ABED]

I don't feel the Goku/Freeza portion of the fight is as dragged out (especially in Kai and the manga) as before Goku arrived on the battlefield.

I find the fight is still a slog to get through, even in the manga. I mean, there are literally cases where nothing is happening and Goku and Freea just stare at each-other.

That happens in every fight, but it's not a whole episodes worth. The staring is usually not what makes it feel like a drag.

[Desassina]

This series started to drag on when it dropped the ball.

[Neo-Makaiōshin]

That's what I like about the Buu arc a lot too. The main cast was actually HIDING from Majin Buu. This is the first time the main cast didn't confront a villain head-on and all the main characters were in hiding on Kami's lookout or dead.

It was done first in early portions of Freeza Arc before the Ginyu Squad came to Namek, with the main cast train to avoid confronting Freeza & his minions as long as possible

[ABED]

They may have hid but there was the goal of finding the DB's.

[Doctor.]

I don't feel the Goku/Freeza portion of the fight is as dragged out (especially in Kai and the manga) as before Goku arrived on the battlefield.

I find the fight is still a slog to get through, even in the manga. I mean, there are literally cases where nothing is happening and Goku and Freea just stare at each-other.

In the manga? Absolutely not. The manga is fast-paced action through and through. There's not one moment in the Goku vs Freeza fight where it slows down. It may be long, but every chapter is a spectacle.

Anyway, it dragged on for me beginning with the Android #19 fight all the way up to the Cell Games.

[Robo4900]

There are a couple of parts of the Red Ribbon arc, and a huge chunk of Namek/Freeza.

I feel like a lot of Super has felt rather draggy for me. The filler/breather episodes haven't, but most of the arcs have.

[floofychan333]

The Goku vs Freeza fight, the Trunks vs Cell fight, and the Majin Buu saga of the Buu arc.

[ThatFanaticJackatoo]

The fight in the saiiyan saga was slow. So was Frieza.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

The fight in the saiiyan saga was slow. So was Frieza.

It's only about 10 episodes from the time the Saibaimen begin their attack to the the point where Ape_Gohan falls on Vegeta. Not very slow.