Introducing Somebody New To Dragon Ball

[shadowmaria]

Hi everyone

So I'm working on a very extensive project at the moment involving Dragon Ball, and I'm bringing a friend on board as a collaborator.

The only hitch is, he's never seen Dragon Ball!

So I'm going to start him off with the Dragon Ball blue bricks (then orange, and then green, and then Super BD's before moving to CR - it's what I own, don't judge me), but I was wondering on the best order from there?

I was thinking; Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, the Dragon Ball movies, Dragon Ball Z movies and OVA's (including Ep of Bardock, Yo!, BOG, and ResF), and A Hero's Legacy, and then Dragon Ball Super (due to it's on-going nature), but I'm also torn on if I should show him the movies where they likely take place in the timeline (Bojack after the Cell Games, etc.)

And thus I extend my query to the Kanzenshuu community - what's your recommendation?

A couple of things;

- I'll be getting him to watch all of the series, including filler.
- He'll be watching the FUNimation dub for as much of the series as possible, as he's very anti-sub and the dub does a well enough job. I can fill him in on bits he misses or is a dubism
- This isn't the place for a canon debate, GT bashing, dub/sub bashing, or GT vs Super competitions, please leave that to those to the appropriate threads.

Thank you in advance, Kanzenshuu community.

[sintzu]

Start with the original 508 episodes of DB, Z & GT.

After that move on to the 3 TV specials of Bardock, Future Trunks & a hero's legacy.

Finally show him the original 17 movies.

After he's seen the original content, you can show him the new content in the order it was released in so the 2008 OVA, followed by the 2010 remake of Hatchyack, then the Bardock special, after that the 2 new movies and finally Super.

You'd have to explain why the movies don't fit in the timeline and why the new content is so different from the original. Going through the original stuff alone will take a long time so by the time you're done there might be new movies, some OVAs and Super will most likely be above 150 episodes.

[mute_proxy]

He could watch it in order of release
Complete Viewing Order:
[spoiler]• DB Episodes 1-43 - 26 February 1986 to 17 December 1986
• DB Movie 1 - Curse of the Blood Rubies - 20 December 1986
• DB Episodes 44-70 - 24 December 1986 to 15 July 1987
• DB Movie 2 - Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle - 18 July 1987
• DB Episodes 71-118 - 22 July 1987 to 6 July 1988
• DB Movie 3 - Mystical Adventure - 9 July 1988
• DB Episodes 119-153 - 20 July 1988 to 19 April 1989
• DBZ Episodes 1-11 - 26 April 1989 to 12 July 1989
• DBZ Movie 1 - Dead Zone - 15 July 1989
• DBZ Episodes 12-39 - 19 July 1989 to 7 March 1990
• DBZ Movie 2 - The World's Strongest - 10 March 1990
• DBZ Episodes 40-54 - 14 March 1990 to 4 July 1990
• DBZ Movie 3 - The Tree of Might - 7 July 1990
• DBZ Episodes 55-63 - 18 July 1990 to 26 September 1990
• DBZ TV Special 1 - Bardock - The Father of Goku - 17 October 1990
• DBZ Episodes 64-81 - 24 October 1990 to 6 March 1991
• DBZ Movie 4 - Lord Slug - 9 March 1991
• DBZ Episodes 82-99 - 13 March 1991 to 17 July 1991
• DBZ Movie 5 - Cooler's Revenge - 20 July 1991
• DBZ Episodes 100-130 - 24 July 1991 to 4 March 1992
• DBZ Movie 6 - The Return of Cooler - 7 March 1992
• DBZ Episodes 131-147 - 11 March 1992 to 8 July 1992
• DBZ Movie 7 - Super Android 13! - 11 July 1992
• DBZ Episodes 148-175 - 15 July 1992 to 17 February 1993
• DBZ TV Special 2 - The History of Trunks - 24 February 1993
• DBZ Episode 176 - 3 March 1993
• DBZ Movie 8 - Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan - 6 March 1993
• DBZ Episodes 177-193 - 10 March 1993 to 14 July 1993
• DBZ Movie 9 - Bojack Unbound - 10 July 1993
• DBZ Episodes 194-220 - 21 July 1993 to 9 March 1994
• DBZ Movie 10 - Broly – Second Coming - 12 March 1994
• DBZ Episodes 221-232 - 16 March 1994 to 6 July 1994
• DBZ Movie 11 - Bio-Broly - 9 July 1994
• DBZ Episodes 233-258 - 13 July 1994 to 1 March 1995
• DBZ Movie 12 - Fusion Reborn - 4 March 1995
• DBZ Episodes 259-270 - 8 March 1995 to 12 July 1995
• DBZ Movie 13 - Wrath of the Dragon - 15 July 1995
• DBZ Episodes 271-291 - 19 July 1995 to 31 January 1996
• DBGT Episodes 1-4 - 7 February 1996 to 28 February 1996
• DB Movie 4 - The Path to Power - 4 March 1996
• DBGT Episodes 5-41 - 6 March 1996 to 12 March 1997
• DBGT TV Special – A Hero's Legacy - 26 March 1997
• DBGT Episodes 42-64 - 16 April 1997 to 19 November 1997
• Jump Super Anime Tour Special - Heya! Son Goku and Friends Return!! - 21 September 2008
• Jump Festa 2012 Special - Episode of Bardock - 17 December 2011
• DBZ Movie 14 - Battle of Gods - 30 March 2013
• DBZ Movie 15 - Resurrection 'F' - 18 April 2015
• DBS Episodes 1-ongoing - 20 June 2015 to present[/spoiler]

[szopman]

I would show him DB in this order:
DB -> DBZ Movie 1 -> DBZ [with Bardock Special after Frieza Saga, Trunks Special after Androids Saga, and movies 5,8-10 and 13 + 'Plan to Eridicate...' and "Yo! Goku and Friends..." OVAs] -> GT -> GT Hero's Legacy -> Episode of Bardock. Then I would show him movies 14 and 15 and Super from 28th episode [but I would show him some DBS fillers from DBS between BoG and RoF movies].
And then I would let him watch non-canon movies. I mean, I know that now Broly movies are non-canon but he would understand better Kale transformation easter eggs after watching Brolly's movies.

[TheBigBoy]

Unpopular opinion around here, but I'd show him Kai instead of the Z dub. The dub of Kai is a lot better, and the extremely slow pacing of Z is painful nowadays.

[Fizzer]

If I were introducing someone to DB these days I'd start with IAmTheMilkman's DB Recut then Kai with Yamamoto, since the biggest thing that seems to put people off is how slow it can be at times, but Kai's Kikuchi placement is... Not the best the series can be, let's say.

Sometimes it's possible with Kai to reinsert episodes of Z or replace a Kai episode with some Z episodes where desirable without ruining the flow with repeated scenes etc. I like doing this with some of the Saiyan arc filler and the first episode of Kai which undermines the reveal about Goku's origins.

[sintzu]

The first episode of Kai undermines the reveal about Goku's origins.

That's because it was being presented as its own thing rather than a sequel/continuation of DB so they had to find a way to start it without the viewer feeling the need to watch what came before.

[KBABZ]

Unpopular opinion around here, but I'd show him Kai instead of the Z dub. The dub of Kai is a lot better, and the extremely slow pacing of Z is painful nowadays.

This is what I would do too, especially if he's going to watch the Dub only. It saves a lot of time and the performances here really nail a lot of the dramatic and comedic aspects of the story. Obviously I'd also include The Final Chapters as well.

the first episode of Kai which undermines the reveal about Goku's origins.

That's really only true of the opening recap of the Episode of Bardock content. How I would do it is, right after the intro finishes, he pause, ask the friend to look away for a bit, then fast-forward through the Bardock stuff until you get to the shot of Gohan holding baby Goku aloft. Or alternatively, since he'll have just come off of Dragon Ball, skip the DB recap and go straight to the shot of Raditz's ship whizzing past the sun.

DB Recut might also be a good idea to again provide a more concise viewing experience, and while it was primarily focused on the japanese audio, it has the dub in it as well.

[Fizzer]

The first episode of Kai undermines the reveal about Goku's origins.

That's because it was being presented as its own thing rather than a sequel/continuation of DB so they had to find a way to start it without the viewer feeling the need to watch what came before.

Oh yeah, I understand why, and I actually really like the way that was done, but it doesn't work if you're coming off the back of Dragon Ball, when the mystery of exactly what Goku is has been in the air for so long.

[KBABZ]

The other thing it spoils is of course the fact that Frieza blew up planet Vegeta, which would be confusing for when Raditz says in the very next episode that it was struck by a meteor. Although I suppose that might work in the sense that it adds to Frieza's character of being a slimy liar.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Why would anyone have the nerve to judge you on what you own? If that's happened in the past then I hope you ignored that's really not on, anyway you seem to have things already fine, but like others have suggested if you can show them Kai instead of Z that would be advisable.

[Duo]

I am here to re-iterate the importance of Kai if you are so set on sticking to the English version.

Honestly, the best way to get this going is to get him to read the damn manga.

[floofychan333]

I would suggest watching the movies sprinkled in between episodes or skipping the bad ones. The Path to Power can be burned in a scrap heap for all I care while Tree of Might, both Cooler movies, and the first Broly movie are pretty bad.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Start with original Dragon Ball. For Z I'd definitely go with Kai, everyone who is a fan of this franchise should see that dub at least once. After Kai I'd go straight to Super. I'd show him the movies, specials and GT at a later point as bonus curiosities, but not initially because while they are fine they're not essential to understanding the main storyline.

[8000 Saiyan]

He should start with the original Dragon Ball series, then with Z and Kai (for the dub). Then go with Super. After that the movies, the specials and GT.

[KBABZ]

The Path to Power can be burned in a scrap heap for all I care

Aw, can't he at least show him the opening scene where Goku and Bulma meet? IMO it's the best-executed version of that scene, from the animation (that is, the movement itself) to the music.

The rest of the movie? Yes, correct.

[Kinokima]

Well I can say how my friend got me into DBZ many years ago. She first started with the Saiyan arc and while I loved baby Gohan I can't say the series did much for me early on.

Then later on my friend told me about future Trunks and how he was the son of Vegeta's. I was really intrigued how the villain in the first arc had become a father. That's what ended up getting me hooked.

[sintzu]

My friend told me about future Trunks and how he was the son of Vegeta's. I was really intrigued how the villain in the first arc had become a father. That's what ended up getting me hooked.

I was introduced to DB through the games but the 1st anime piece I saw of it was Broly's first movie and Vegeta seemingly being a good guy after I thought he was a villain was one of the main reasons that got me into the anime to see how it happened.

[shadowmaria]

Thank you for your input everyone! There's a lot in here I hadn't considered (such as when to show Bardock or Trunks OVA's)

[KBABZ]

Thank you for your input everyone! There's a lot in here I hadn't considered (such as when to show Bardock or Trunks OVA's)

For Bardock, I'd put it in after Goku first shows up to fight Frieza after recovering. It's around this time that Frieza recognises Goku to be the spitting image of Bardock; if you do it at the start of the series, before Dragon Ball, it spoils both Goku's alien heritage and the fact that Frieza destroyed planet Vegeta himself, rather than being struck by a meteor as Raditz claims and is later disproved by Dodoria.

For Trunks, the general consensus is to air it after Cell announces the Cell Games, or at least that's when Mike and co. did it for the Manga Review of Awesomeness. That way it's close enough to Trunks going back to his future for the audience to remember it. If you do it around when Trunks arrives, you spoil the fact that 19 and 20 are NOT the Androids from his future, so that's a poor time to do it. Another potential spot is after Dr. Gero flees to his laboratory, because 17 and 18 will be coming up soon and the audience can be introduced to just WHY Trunks is so worried about them.