Help me choose what Dragon Ball to watch!

[sangofe]

Edit 9th of august 2025: After about 5 months, in 144 days precisely, I've finished my DBZ rewatch. Most of the time at 1.5 x speed, others at 1x others at 1.3 and a few at 1.7. It's been a great experience, however, some episodes left me "WTF" when it came to the french dub script. Lots of great voice acting but damn were some of the replacements hard to like - like the ones on Vegeta, Kuririn and Trunks. While some replacements were excellent (like Lecordier on young Trunks).

I'm really unsure what I should watch next - DB? DBZ Kai? DBGT? I'm rewatching DB Super dubbed in danish.

I'm having such a hard time deciding what to watch of Dragon Ball. I have watched all of DB 3 times before; twice dubbed in french, and once DB recut. I have never actually watched ALL episodes of DBZ because I have jumped here and there since I started watching as a kid because of... reasons. Mainly tv and taping. I did watch all episodes from the Cell games and out one after another, though. I watched it dubbed in french. I really like a lot of the french DBZ voices but the script is all over tha place. Then there's DBGT - I wathed 1-12, then believe it or not super 17 and out, except that episodes 61 and 63 were missing. I watched all baby saga in order. Daima I have watched every episode 2-3 times. Dragon Ball super I have watched start to end in japanese, and am rewatching dubbed in danish. In Dragon Ball Kai I am episode 34 of the french dub. And episode 10 of DBZ (works well to watch in nearly 2x speed lol).

So now I wonder... What should I watch? I am CONSIDERING buying a hard drive to put digital copies of french BDs and color corrected material of DB to watch that. Then all of DBZ. Possibly dubbed in french because I like the voices and music so much and know the story so it's not that important that the script is messed up. DBZ Kai has excellent script and alright pacing but the music REALLY ircks me. The censorship isn't great either. I was gonna wait for french BDs of DB Z GT to watch that in order- but now that seems stalled...
I know for sure I want to watch DBZ in order since I never did that, but haven't decided on the version. I do lend towards dubs though as I watch anime only when I work out and I miss out on subs because of this reason.I also think it's a must experience to watch all of DB in japanese. And watch those last 4 DBGT episodes in order. I will NEVER watch DBGT dubbed as the french dub is AWFUL.

Edit:
So I am rewatching DBZ from episode episode 6 in French(I have seen the Raditz saga in Kai within the last month). It's incredible how I still find a lot of the excitement and joy I originally had when I watched Dragon Ball/Z as a kid. And it's so great. I actually have never watched every single episode in DBZ because... broadcasts and availability being all over the place throughout the years then the story was repeated through video games, I read the manga 3 times etc, so this is a great experienxe. Much better than watching Kai even if the dialogue in french sometimes is corny or just plainly wrong. And what's great is that the experience is a great or greater when I speed up the slow parts so I progress quickly! I have in less than a week watched 6-35. And that's only while working out.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

If you're going to watch Z, then there's currently no better version to watch than Seed of Might's merged Dragon Box release, same goes for their color corrected version of GT. To make your experience of watching GT more enjoyable, I'd recommend skipping episodes 6-15, as that's when the quality takes a major nose dive. I'd also recommend skipping Z's filler arcs (118-127 & 195-199).

[sangofe]

If you're going to watch Z, then there's currently no better version to watch than Seed of Might's merged Dragon Box release, same goes for their color corrected version of GT. To make your experience of watching GT more enjoyable, I'd recommend skipping episodes 6-15, as that's when the quality takes a major nose dive. I'd also recommend skipping Z's filler arcs (118-127 & 195-199).

I won't skip DBZ fillers - why would I watch DBZ then? Besides, the arc with Paikuhan are episodes I like very much in DBZ haha. Oh what good times discovering this tournament with these characters. I loved it so much. But thanks for feedback nevertheless.

[FinalForumPodcast]

It sounds to me like you've kinda made up your mind to watch the French dubbed DBZ in order....


...I'm unsure if SoM's releases have the French dub, but if they do, that's where I'd go.

[sangofe]

It sounds to me like you've kinda made up your mind to watch the French dubbed DBZ in order....


...I'm unsure if SoM's releases have the French dub, but if they do, that's where I'd go.

Not 100% sure. I'd like to watch it in Japanese, too. But it does make things easier to watch it dubbed in french when I work out.

Probably I should watch DB in japanese from BDs and then SoM, then DBZ dubbed in french, maybe mix with japanese broadcast video. And then watch the last 4 GT in japanese.

[FinalForumPodcast]

I'd watch whatever you WANT not what you feel like you "have to".

It's supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not an obligation. You don't have to conform to other people's opinions of what the "right" way to watch or be a fan is. If you want to watch the French dub, then do that, and enjoy your fandom.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

If you're going to watch Z, then there's currently no better version to watch than Seed of Might's merged Dragon Box release, same goes for their color corrected version of GT. To make your experience of watching GT more enjoyable, I'd recommend skipping episodes 6-15, as that's when the quality takes a major nose dive. I'd also recommend skipping Z's filler arcs (118-127 & 195-199).

Seed of Might released their colour corrected version of original Dragon Ball back in mid-2023, and GT followed a year later. They are the definitive way to watch either series, as Z will be when the colour correction for it is done. I've only seen the Westwood dub synced to the merged Dragon Box release (which is of course cut up to be faithful to how Westwood Z was broadcast), was thinking of rewatching in Japanese with the merged Dragon Box video, but I've been told the colour correction is coming this year, so holding on for that.

It was quite the experience watching the Seed of Might versions of original series and GT with broadcast audio, NEPs, the whole shebang, and I can't wait to have that with Z as I watched all the episodes before, but missed those elements because the English-friendly home releases only included recaps, Funimation title cards and no Japanese NEPs.

For now if you want to watch in Japanese CC Dragon Ball, Dragon Box Merge Z and CC Dragon Ball GT is the way to go. For dub watching its a little more subjective because a lot of fans have "their dub" for familiarity, nostalgia, etc. I can recommend the Blue Water dubs of original Dragon Ball and GT for them being more faithful and (in my opinion) better acted than Funimation's dub, but I understand I did grow up with them so I'm more forgiving of the acting (which isn't awful, but again this is subjective) than others.

I'd also advise everyone, if they haven't done so, to support the series legally by any means (home releases, streaming, etc) in addition to consuming the Seed of Might releases because they are obviously not licensed projects. Piracy on its own can hurt the industry.

I've seen very little of the French dub (just clips) but if you enjoy that version and want to revisit it do that.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

Seed of Might and Team BT4 are the best things to happen to the classic material. If anyone from either group is reading this, thank you.

[sangofe]

I'd watch whatever you WANT not what you feel like you "have to".

It's supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not an obligation. You don't have to conform to other people's opinions of what the "right" way to watch or be a fan is. If you want to watch the French dub, then do that, and enjoy your fandom.

The thing is that I don't have time to watch everything I WANT. I would want to watch all of DB in Japanese with broadcast audio. I would want to watch all of DBZ in both french and japanese broadcast audio, and all of dbz kai in french... Plus the last few GT episodes with broadcast audio.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I'd watch whatever you WANT not what you feel like you "have to".

It's supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not an obligation. You don't have to conform to other people's opinions of what the "right" way to watch or be a fan is. If you want to watch the French dub, then do that, and enjoy your fandom.

The thing is that I don't have time to watch everything I WANT. I would want to watch all of DB in Japanese with broadcast audio. I would want to watch all of DBZ in both french and japanese broadcast audio, and all of dbz kai in french... Plus the last few GT episodes with broadcast audio.

If you don't mind taking your time why not watch a few episodes a day every day rather than binging?

Maybe even just 2 episodes, because if you watch 2 a day for a whole year that's 730 episodes. In that timeframe you could watch all of original Dragon Ball in Japanese, Dragon Ball Z in either French or Japanese, Dragon Ball Kai in French and as much of GT as you want (153 original Dragon Ball + 291 Dragon Ball Z + 169 Dragon Ball Kai + as you say 4 episodes of Dragon Ball GT = 615 episodes), or if you want to watch Dragon Ball Z twice, once in Japanese and once in French you'd need time for 291 more episodes, which would be 906, that is a high number, but you'll have time to watch that many episodes in a year if you can watch 3 episodes a day.

[sangofe]

That could be plausible. I will have to take this into consideration. Thanks for the perspective

[sangofe]

So I am rewatching DBZ from episode episode 6 in French(I have seen the Raditz saga in Kai within the last month). It's incredible how I still find a lot of the excitement and joy I originally had when I watched Dragon Ball/Z as a kid. And it's so great. I actually have never watched every single episode in DBZ because... broadcasts and availability being all over the place throughout the years then the story was repeated through video games, I read the manga 3 times etc, so this is a great experienxe. Much better than watching Kai even if the dialogue in french sometimes is corny or just plainly wrong. And what's great is that the experience is a great or greater when I speed up the slow parts so I progress quickly! I have in less than a week watched 6-35. And that's only while working out.

[sangofe]

I've completed my rewatch. Most of the time at 1.5 x speed, others at 1x others at 1.3 and a few at 1.7. It's been a great experience, however, some episodes left me "WTF" when it came to the french dub script. Lots of great voice acting but damn were some of the replacements hard to like - like the ones on Vegeta, Kuririn and Trunks. While some replacements were excellent (like Lecordier on young Trunks).

I'm really unsure what I should watch next - DB? DBZ Kai? DBGT? I'm rewatching DB Super dubbed in danish.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

How about GT next? It's only 64 episodes. After that I'd go for original Dragon Ball to end your rewatches on a high. Maybe if your still up for more after that go from original Dragon Ball to Kai as they flow quite nicely together.

[Von]

The french script is surprisingly accurate-ish to the plot and vibes despite being from 1988 (for DB) and 1990 (for Z).
(those who don't know, we "changed" some names because we didn't know they were "names" lol like "Saiya-jin" we understood it was "population of something?" but never thought it was the name of an alien race; so we called them Space Warriors since that's what Raditz introduced them as... Again, 1990, at the time the concept was not super super clear and there were no alien races established and most importantly, no internet, no access to data books and the like lol)



You don't need to do Kai if you watched Z.
Give 1986 DB a chance.
And add in the movies (DB movies + DBZ movies up to the Tapion one)

[sangofe]

The french script is surprisingly accurate-ish to the plot and vibes despite being from 1988 (for DB) and 1990 (for Z).
(those who don't know, we "changed" some names because we didn't know they were "names" lol like "Saiya-jin" we understood it was "population of something?" but never thought it was the name of an alien race; so we called them Space Warriors since that's what Raditz introduced them as... Again, 1990, at the time the concept was not super super clear and there were no alien races established and most importantly, no internet, no access to data books and the like lol)



You don't need to do Kai if you watched Z.
Give 1986 DB a chance.
And add in the movies (DB movies + DBZ movies up to the Tapion one)

Yeah, I don't need to watch Kai, but the script is much more accurate and the voices aren't replaced here and there. I've watched the first DB anime 3 times in the last 6 years The movies I am re watching with an rl friend.

[Saiya6Cit]

Sometimes it is very hard for me to understand how the DB american dub could be so... peculiar (quoting: Bardock the scientist here) as to be a decesive point on how to watch DB. I had the fortune to be born in Mexico and grow up watching the DB Mexican DB, which was done beautifully, but as a general rule people should just watch the show in its original language, with subtitles on their mother language.

Watch DBZ if you have the time. My last rewatch was in 2021. I don't fast forward neither speed up anything but you could...

If you don't have much time just watch Kai. They improved the English dub. I haven't watched it but they say it is good. In Mexican dub they changed many voices for Kai (even Goku's... but Mario, came back for Battle of the Gods so fans could be happy).


Wish you Good luck and happy times on your Dragon Ball rewatch

[sangofe]

Sometimes it is very hard for me to understand how the DB american dub could be so... peculiar (quoting: Bardock the scientist here) as to be a decesive point on how to watch DB. I had the fortune to be born in Mexico and grow up watching the DB Mexican DB, which was done beautifully, but as a general rule people should just watch the show in its original language, with subtitles on their mother language.

Watch DBZ if you have the time. My last rewatch was in 2021. I don't fast forward neither speed up anything but you could...

If you don't have much time just watch Kai. They improved the English dub. I haven't watched it but they say it is good. In Mexican dub they changed many voices for Kai (even Goku's... but Mario, came back for Battle of the Gods so fans could be happy).


Wish you Good luck and happy times on your Dragon Ball rewatch

Thanks for taking the time to reply even if I just finished watching DBZ. I'll only watch the French dub of kai and the Japanese version for dbgt.