What are the official Arc titles for the anime series?

[sumpter360]

I've decided to embark on a journey! I'm going to try my hand at developing an app for the Windows Phone 7 devices. I hope to make an episode guide, but first, I need to know what the official names of each of the Story Arcs.

I've already looked a bit on Wikipedia, but all I found were the Dub Arcs. I'm not sure if they would be much different from the Arcs in the Japanese version, but I plan on using preferably no dub terms at all in making this app. Since I know lots of names are changed, I assumed FUNi or whoever came up with these names changed them a bit from the source material.

I'll be starting with Dragon Ball, then working my (long, long) way through Z, and finishing with GT.

Any help you guys could offer would be greatly appreciated!

[SonGoku86]

Dragon Ball Z

1. Saiya-jin arc

2. Freeza arc

3.Cell arc

4. Boo arc


(Boo is the Japanese spelling of Buu, and the Garlic Jr. arc is considered part of the Freeza arc. I'm not sure about Dragon Ball Or Dragon Ball GT, but I think GT doesn't have that many arcs, considering how short it is.)

[Herms]

Unfortunately, there really isn't any consistent official way of dividing up the anime into story arcs. Hujio has written the following about the various systems used in different official sources:

Shueisha / Anime (sources: Daizenshuu 3, 5, & 10)
[The TV Animation daizenshuu split up each arc into smaller acts, but I'm not going to list all those.]

DragonBall; 5 arcs

• Son Goku (episodes 001-028; 11 acts)
• Red Ribbon Army (episodes 029-068; 10 acts)
• 22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai (episodes 069-101; 9 acts)
• Piccolo Daimao (episodes 102-132; 7 acts)
• 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai (episodes 133-153; 7 acts)

DragonBall Z; 12 arcs

• Attack of the Saiyan (episodes 001-035; 10 acts)
• Battle on Planet Namek (episodes 036-074; 11 acts)
• Terrible Emperor Freeza (episodes 075-107; 10 acts)
• Fight with Garlic Jr. (episodes 108-125; 7 acts)
• Android No. 16~20 (episodes 126-147; 7 acts)
• Over the Super Saiyan (episodes 148-165; 7 acts)
• Beginning of the Cell Games (episodes 166-194; 8 acts)
• Anoyoichi Budoukai (episodes 195-219; 8 acts)
• Majin Boo Returns (episodes 220-237; 5 acts)
• Appearance of the Super Saiyan III (episodes 238-254; 7 acts)
• The Final Fighter, Vegetto (episodes 255-268; 5 acts)
• The Final Battle (episodes 269-291; 6 acts)

DragonBall GT

• Nothing about the GT story arcs has ever been officially classified by Shueisha. The GT Perfect Files don't organize the episodes by arc, but by the location of each episode.

Toei Animation (source: Official Websites)

DragonBall; 6 arcs

• Encounter with Bulma (episodes 001-013)
• 21st Tenkaichi Budoukai (episodes 014-028)
• The Search for the Four-Star-Ball (episodes 029-068)
• 22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai (episodes 069-101)
• Daimao's Revival (episodes 102-132)
• 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai (episodes 133-153)

DragonBall Z; 4 arcs

• Saiyan (episodes 001-035)
• Freeza (episodes 36-117)
• Cell (episodes 118-199)
• Majin Buu (episodes 200-291)

DragonBall GT; 4 arcs

• Dark Dragonballs (episodes 001-022)
• Baby (episodes 023-040)
• Super 17 (episodes 041-047)
• Evil Dragon (episodes 048-064)

Toei Animation (source: Dragon Box)
[Just like Shueisha, you'll note that Toei isn't all that consistent either.]

DragonBall; 11 arcs

• Goku and Bulma (001-013)
• Kame-sen Training (014-018)
• 21st Tenkaichi Budoukai (019-029)
• Red Ribbon (030-068)
• Uranai Baba (069-078)
• Training on the Road (079-083)
• 22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai (084-101)
• Piccolo Daimao (102-123)
• Heavenly Training (124-132)
• 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai (133-148)
• The Wedding Dress in Flames (149-153)

DragonBall Z; 9 arcs

• Saiyan (episodes 001-035)
• Namek (episodes 036-074)
• Freeza (episodes 075-107)
• Garlic Jr. (episode 108-117)
• Artificial Human (episodes 118-147)
• Cell (episodes 148-194)
• Ano Yo-ichi Budoukai (195-199)
• High School (episodes 200-209)
• Buu (episodes 210-291)

DragonBall GT; 4 arcs

• Searching Space (001-022)
• Super Baby (023-041)
• Super No. 17 (042-047)
• Evil Dragon (048-064)

Now, as to exactly how "official" these are is up for debate, since they all sort of conflict with each other. For instance, you can see that Shueisha lists the Freeza arc as ending at Z episode 107 in the anime, but lists it as ending at chapter 329 (the Z Warriors are revived with the dragonballs) or chapter 337 (the artificial humans first appear) for the manga. On top of all that, they put the Trunks arc in the Garlic Jr. arc for the anime (?!). So you can see how consistent they are (those flip-floppers). As for Toei, they seem to just lump things together in much larger arcs, again with a loose consistency.

[Fox666]

I really dislike these. In fact I would say the "official" sources don't know the definition of "arc".

As the series progress, surely the arcs gets longer. However the official sources ignore that, and split them by number of episodes (so we get some stupid "arcs" like "Vegetto arc").

I myself would put it like this (manga):
• Emperor Pilaf arc (Tankobon 1-2)
• 21st Budokai arc (Tankobon 2-4)
• Red Ribbon arc (Tankobon 4-7)
• Uranai Baba arc (Tankobon 7-8)
• 22nd Budokai arc (Tankobon 8-9*)
• Piccolo Daimao arc (Tankobon 10-12)
• 23rd Budokai arc (Tankobon 12-13*)
• Saiyans arc (Tankobon 14-17)
• Namek arc (Tankobon 17-22*)
• Cell arc (Tankobon 23-28*)
• Majin Buu arc (Tankobon 29-34)
*The arc ends on the last chapter of the Tankobon.

I think anyone would more-or-less agree with me on this.

[sumpter360]

Wow, thanks a bunch for such quick replies! This is exactly what I was looking for. I think I'll take a little bit from each list.

[SolarBlade52]

Here is how I would divide the story arcs:
Dragon Ball:
Search for the Dragon Balls (1-13)
21st Tenkaichi Budokai (14-29)
Red Ribbon (30-78)
22nd Tenkaichi Budokai (84-101)
Daimao's Revival (102-126)
23rd Tenkaichi Budokai (133-148)

Dragon Ball Z:
Saiyan (1-38)
Namek (39-74)
Freeza (75-107)
Artificial Humans (118-139)
Cell (140-194)
Saiyaman (200-209)
Majin Boo (210-291)

Dragon Ball Z Kai:
Saiyan (1-18)
Namek (19-35)
Freeza (36-54)
Artificial Humans (55-67)
Cell (68-??...who knows? It might or might not end at episode 98)

[cpd12589]

Like Hujio posted

DragonBall; 5 arcs

* Son Goku (episodes 001-028; 11 acts)
* Red Ribbon Army (episodes 029-068; 10 acts)
* 22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai (episodes 069-101; 9 acts)
* Piccolo Daimao (episodes 102-132; 7 acts)
* 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai (episodes 133-153; 7 acts)


DragonBall Z; 12 arcs

* Attack of the Saiyan (episodes 001-035; 10 acts)
* Battle on Planet Namek (episodes 036-074; 11 acts)
* Terrible Emperor Freeza (episodes 075-107; 10 acts)
* Fight with Garlic Jr. (episodes 108-125; 7 acts)
* Android No. 16~20 (episodes 126-147; 7 acts)
* Over the Super Saiyan (episodes 148-165; 7 acts)
* Beginning of the Cell Games (episodes 166-194; 8 acts)
* Anoyoichi Budoukai (episodes 195-219; 8 acts)
* Majin Boo Returns (episodes 220-237; 5 acts)
* Appearance of the Super Saiyan III (episodes 238-254; 7 acts)
* The Final Fighter, Vegetto (episodes 255-268; 5 acts)
* The Final Battle (episodes 269-291; 6 acts)

I like that way the best. Although it really doesn't bother me how they're sorted.