How would you rank the 4 anime finales?

[MasenkoHA]

Inspired by the Kanzenban vs GT ending thread. How would you rank the 4 anime endings. And yes technically only GT and Z are actual “endings”

1. Dragon Ball Z- “Even Stronger! Goku’s dream is super huge!” Admittedly the manga’s original ending works better in the manga where Goku wasn’t played up as a selfless messiah half the time but I still think this is the best possible ending for a series that started with
a young boy living in seclusion and going out to see the world to become stronger


2. Dragon Ball GT “Goodbye Goku! Until the day we meet again”- An actually more fitting ending for the Toei version of Goku. It’s a shame GT just wasn’t that great.


3. Dragon Ball “Mount Frypan Burns! A do or die journey”- To be fair this was hardly ever intended as a finale even the ending lets us know the next part will take place 5 years from now (unlike Super’s wishy washy ending) and the actual proper ending to this portion of the manga, the 23rd Tenkaichi Tournament is fantastic. But this? Goku and Chi Chi get married. None of Goku’s friends are in attendance including the man who trained Goku and the two men that raised the bride and the groom. And the last shot of this series is on Baba smiling…of all the ways to end a series. The only thing that even feels like some sort of finale is Goku getting to say goodbye to his grandpa one last time.

4. Dragon Ball Super- “A miraculous conclusion! Farewell Goku! Until the day we meet again” I nearly went into a diabetic coma watching this saccharine crap of an ending.

[JulieYBM]

Oh, I love Super #131. Ishitani Megumi's directing is so good! I liked seeing this sort of surreal combination of characters coming together to prove the power of trust against a broken soul--Jiren. I just thought that it really worked as a big, grand finale while leaving room for more.

[Grimlock]

Since it's just anime endings and not all them, then my rank is probably something like this:

1 )---> Dragon Ball GT - It's great because it's an emotional one. Still got chills with the very last scene where Goku looks at the screen, waves and goes off with the cloud. Plus playing the Dragon Ball GT theme just hits hard, you know.

2 )---> Dragon Ball Z - A good ending, I guess. Going off to train Uub in order to potentially make him his successor is a good set up, but one that still has to pay off even decades later.

3 )---> Dragon Ball - Nothing that writes home about, really. Goku saves the day and proceeds to marry. It's an okay ending with not much to say about.

4 )---> Dragon Ball Super - Can we call that an ending, though? We just see Goku and Vegeta sparring and that's it. If it's an ending, it's the most forgettable one.

[SupremeKai25]

Including the Super "ending" is disingenuous because it's not an ending in the first place, or rather it's the ending of just one arc and not an entire series. Indeed, the narrator even says that it's just a "brief parting" until the arrival of a "new threat" (BROLY). So really it's not an ending, it cannot be compared to these other ones.

If anything it's interesting to think about what kind of ending Super might have as a series, it could either be a reworked End of Z (basically the same tournament event but maybe with new additions like Beerus and Whis showing up) or it might even go past the End of Z and make an entirely new ending set maybe 50 or 100 years into the future.

Regardless the ending you posted is just the ending of the ToP arc, not all of Super. Not even the anime really, because Broly is still animated content.

[JulieYBM]

Including the Super "ending" is disingenuous because it's not an ending in the first place, or rather it's the ending of just one arc and not an entire series. Indeed, the narrator even says that it's just a "brief parting" until the arrival of a "new threat" (BROLY). So really it's not an ending, it cannot be compared to these other ones.

If anything it's interesting to think about what kind of ending Super might have as a series, it could either be a reworked End of Z (basically the same tournament event but maybe with new additions like Beerus and Whis showing up) or it might even go past the End of Z and make an entirely new ending set maybe 50 or 100 years into the future.

Regardless the ending you posted is just the ending of the ToP arc, not all of Super. Not even the anime really, because Broly is still animated content.

It's no more disingenuous than calling Dragon Ball #153 or Dragon Ball Z #291 the end of arcs. Dragon Ball Super #131 ends with the same spirit as either one of those two, very much wanting to not feel like an ending.

Dragon Ball GT #64 works as an ending for an entire era of TV production and broadcast.

[SupremeKai25]

Including the Super "ending" is disingenuous because it's not an ending in the first place, or rather it's the ending of just one arc and not an entire series. Indeed, the narrator even says that it's just a "brief parting" until the arrival of a "new threat" (BROLY). So really it's not an ending, it cannot be compared to these other ones.

If anything it's interesting to think about what kind of ending Super might have as a series, it could either be a reworked End of Z (basically the same tournament event but maybe with new additions like Beerus and Whis showing up) or it might even go past the End of Z and make an entirely new ending set maybe 50 or 100 years into the future.

Regardless the ending you posted is just the ending of the ToP arc, not all of Super. Not even the anime really, because Broly is still animated content.

It's no more disingenuous than calling Dragon Ball #153 or Dragon Ball Z #291 the end of arcs. Dragon Ball Super #131 ends with the same spirit as either one of those two, very much wanting to not feel like an ending.

Dragon Ball GT #64 works as an ending for an entire era of TV production and broadcast.

The DBZ ending is pretty much a conclusive ending, because it has Goku training Uub and passing the torch to the next generation. This is as of right now the definitive ending of Goku's story. Then we have Uub's story, which is different. But Goku's story ends with him leaving the tournament to teach Uub.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

3. Dragon Ball “Mount Frypan Burns! A do or die journey”- To be fair this was hardly ever intended as a finale even the ending lets us know the next part will take place 5 years from now (unlike Super’s wishy washy ending) and the actual proper ending to this portion of the manga, the 23rd Tenkaichi Tournament is fantastic. But this? Goku and Chi Chi get married. None of Goku’s friends are in attendance including the man who trained Goku and the two men that raised the bride and the groom. And the last shot of this series is on Baba smiling…of all the ways to end a series. The only thing that even feels like some sort of finale is Goku getting to say goodbye to his grandpa one last time.

If there's one thing i have to seriously nitpick about DB 153, it's the fact that nobody was at the wedding aside from Ox King and Baba and some of the village people. It makes no sense, they should've had the whole crew there including Roshi. Why in the world was Krillin, Bulma, Yamcha, Puar, Tien, Chiaoutzu, Oolong and Lunch not present? It seems so strange that none of them came unless Toei's writers just didn't bother including them. You'd think that would be so considering it's customary to invite friends and family to an occasion such as this.

As to the wedding dress arc as a whole, yeah all filler that transitioned to DBZ but this here was the thing that bugged me most about it.

4. Dragon Ball Super- “A miraculous conclusion! Farewell Goku! Until the day we meet again” I nearly went into a diabetic coma watching this saccharine crap of an ending.

Agreed, i just rolled my eyes because it seemed so underwhelming and half baked. But then again that can be said about the majority of Super in general.

[MasenkoHA]

Including the Super "ending" is disingenuous because it's not an ending in the first place, or rather it's the ending of just one arc and not an entire series

I hate to break it to you but it is the ending of the Super tv series :/ if you want to consider Broly or the 2022 movie finale fine but don’t pretend episode 131 doesn’t act as a finale for Super. More so than the original Dragon Ball finale. It’s still the last episode of the Super tv series.

. So really it's not an ending, it cannot be compared to these other ones.

It ends with the theme song playing over a montage of the main cast and a very annoying shonen action series “protagonist and rival about to duke it out and freeze frame!” You can claim whatever you want but it acts as an ending.

Regardless the ending you posted is just the ending of the ToP arc, not all of Super. Not even the anime really, because Broly is still animated content.

And if you want to argue Broly is the proper finale. Fine. It’s a movie and not the episode finale but sure.

It's no more disingenuous than calling Dragon Ball #153 or Dragon Ball Z #291 the end of arcs. Dragon Ball Super #131 ends with the same spirit as either one of those two, very much wanting to not feel like an ending.

Right, which is why I acknowledge Z and GT are the only actual endings. And Z only because it adapts the end of the manga. For all intents and purposes GT is the true ending of the anime’s original 1986-1997 run. But if Toei is going to distinguish them as separate series with “I am Gohan! “being counted as Z episode 1 and not Dragon Ball episode 154 for example” then it’s fair game to consider them all finales. Including Super’s finale which at some point telling yourself they’re only on a break when there’s been no sign of the tv series continuing is just heavy duty denial.

[SupremeKai25]

Including Super’s finale which at some point telling yourself they’re only on a break when there’s been no sign of the tv series continuing is just heavy duty denial.

Toei having no plans to bring back Super (unconfirmed) doesn't mean that the ToP arc ending was envisioned as the ending of Super as a whole, the narrator literally tells you it's just "a brief parting". Then we also have Jiren and Toppo saying that they will fight U7 again soon and they won't lose, the U6 Saiyans saying they'll reach SS3, Frieza announcing his return, etc. So there are too many loose threads for this to be considered a definitive ending.

[MasenkoHA]

Toei having no plans to bring back Super (unconfirmed) doesn't mean that the ToP arc ending was envisioned as the ending of Super as a whole, the narrator literally tells you it's just "a brief parting". Then we also have Jiren and Toppo saying that they will fight U7 again soon and they won't lose, the U6 Saiyans saying they'll reach SS3, Frieza announcing his return, etc. So there are too many loose threads for this to be considered a definitive ending.

Some vague cutesy “the adventure never really ends” nods doesn’t make it any less of a finale.

[MyVisionity]

You'd think that would be so considering it's customary to invite friends and family to an occasion such as this.

It's also customary to have wedding ceremonies with only close blood relatives present, no friends or anything. There are many customs, and I think that given the kind of time and place that Frypan is supposed to represent it makes sense.

I don't have a problem with the Dragon Team not being at the wedding because of how quickly it all went down and how far away everyone lives. Also I think it works better if Goku leaves the tournament with Chichi and nobody sees anybody again until Raditz.

[MasenkoHA]

It's also customary to have wedding ceremonies with only close blood relatives present, no friends or anything. There are many customs, and I think that given the kind of time and place that Frypan is supposed to represent it makes sense.

Goku and Chi Chi had a Christian style wedding which were just starting to gain traction in Japan around that time so if anything their wedding was pretty contemporary. No doubt Chi Chi modeled the wedding after one of her magazines

. Also I think it works better if Goku leaves the tournament with Chichi and nobody sees anybody again until Raditz.

I don’t see why it matters either way they hadn’t seen each other in 5 years between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z

[JulieYBM]

Including Super’s finale which at some point telling yourself they’re only on a break when there’s been no sign of the tv series continuing is just heavy duty denial.

Toei having no plans to bring back Super (unconfirmed) doesn't mean that the ToP arc ending was envisioned as the ending of Super as a whole, the narrator literally tells you it's just "a brief parting". Then we also have Jiren and Toppo saying that they will fight U7 again soon and they won't lose, the U6 Saiyans saying they'll reach SS3, Frieza announcing his return, etc. So there are too many loose threads for this to be considered a definitive ending.

They do have plans to bring it back, just not immediately. They have a production slate scheduled for their staff already and they learned from 2015 that trying to cram a series out doesn't work.

Anyway, it's still an ending in the same open-ended vein as the first two series.

[WittyUsername]

The end of the Universe Survival arc isn’t really a finale. DBS is still a thing outside of the television series, but if we’re going to count the end of the pre-DBZ anime, I guess it’s only fair to count that as well. Episode 131 was a pretty cathartic experience for me back when I first watched it, but that’s largely because I was getting pretty exhausted from the Tournament of Power, so seeing it finally end felt like a release. I also liked the twist that it was all a test.

I guess I like the end of GT the best and care for the end of the OG anime the least.

[MasenkoHA]

The end of the Universe Survival arc isn’t really a finale. DBS is still a thing outside of the television series, but if we’re going to count the end of the pre-DBZ anime,

It’s a tv series finale which is why I said anime and made a distinction between Dragon Ball and Z

[Cipher]

DB - The final shot is fine; cute little “to be continued” nod a la the corresponding arc ending in the manga. The wedding dress arc itself though, outside of a few highlights, is a pretty languid way to cap off the series.

Z/Kai - It’s essentially just the Volume 42 ending, which has come to be my favorite, with slightly slower pacing. I guess it’s my favorite of the anime endings by default? Although...

GT - It’s really good. And it might actually be my favorite anime conclusion just for what small amount is lost in the transition of the Vol. 42 ending from the page to Z, in minor pacing choices. Goku Jr. vs. Vegeta Jr. isn’t great though; never been a fan of keeping things so tied to bloodlines.

Super - Excellent final episode as a whole, but as a series conclusion it’s hurt enormously by going out on the Goku vs. Vegeta homage, which is an extra kick in the teeth after how heavily the latter parts of the ToP descend into referencing iconic moments. Everything up to the eye catch is great, but that isn’t really the ending-ending; the Goku and Vegeta scene is, and it’s more emblematic of Super’s frustrating elements to me than its enjoyable ones.

EDIT — Why are we arguing about endings? The four episodes laid out in the OP are unambiguously TV series finales. No need to get hung up on how the greater meta-series does or doesn’t continue past them.

[SupremeKai25]

EDIT — Why are we arguing about endings? The four episodes laid out in the OP are unambiguously TV series finales. No need to get hung up on how the greater meta-series does or doesn’t continue past them.

Because whether you see it as the "ending of the ToP arc" (how the writers envisioned it) or the "ending of the entire series" changes everything.

For example, as the ending of the ToP arc, episode 131 is very good, as it ties up all the plot threads that were introduced in the Tournament of Power arc. The Tournament is ended and a winner is declared, the main antagonist Jiren is humbled and defeated. I particularly liked the plot twist with Zeno at the end and how he set the tournament up to judge the worth of mortals, this establishes a connection with the previous arc and how Zamasu saw mortals as useless (Disclaimer: just because I mentioned Zamasu doesn't mean I want to derail the thread ). Anyway this is an episode that works as a way to resolve the conflict of the arc (the tournament) and set up some plot threads for the future (like the U7-U11 rematch, the U6 Saiyans going SS3, Frieza's return, etc.).

And for this exact same reason it DOESN'T work as the ending of the entire series, like you can't end the series when Frieza has just returned or when Jiren the current (at the time) main antagonist wants a rematch. This defies basic ABC storytelling.

So basically since the episode was envisioned as an ending for just the ToP arc, I would rate it 8/10 (only because I didn't like the part where Jiren says something like "so this is the power of friendship, amazing", it feels so corny and cringe. Otherwise it does a good job with wrapping up the arc), but if I were to consider it the ending of the entire series then I would rate it like 2/10. Because it's really not an ending, there is no definitive closure lol, so much so that a few months later we had the promotional Heroes anime (canon or not, it takes place right after the ToP arc) and the Broly movie. So much for that ending.

[JulieYBM]

It literally changes nothing. Super #131 is a grand culmination to not just half the series but also The entire series because Gokuu has made so much progress in his training by using Migatte no Goku'i in combat but like other Dragon Ball finales leaves room for more.

[ABED]

And for this exact same reason it DOESN'T work as the ending of the entire series, like you can't end the series when Frieza has just returned or when Jiren the current (at the time) main antagonist wants a rematch. This defies basic ABC storytelling.

I agree about Freeza, but Jiren at that point has been humbled and the rematch isn't required to be seen for closure. We have closure, just like we had closure at the end of the 23rd TB. Goku won in decisive fashion and even though Piccolo vowed Goku would live to regret it, their story has been paid off. Goku won and it's certain he'd win the rematch. All the audience needs to know is everything is fine and will be fine.

Showing the rematch with Jiren isn't basic storytelling. We know however it turns out, Goku would be fine.

The 23rd TB works as an ending and it's my favorite. There's closure and everyone is fine and together. It's joyous and Goku doesn't leave everyone. It's my favorite, but it's not where I want the story to end.

[WittyUsername]

The end of the Universe Survival arc isn’t really a finale. DBS is still a thing outside of the television series, but if we’re going to count the end of the pre-DBZ anime,

It’s a tv series finale which is why I said anime and made a distinction between Dragon Ball and Z

That’s why I said that if we’re counting the finale of the OG anime, then it makes sense to count episode 131 of DBS as well.