Did Dragonball go downhill when it became DBZ?

[LiamKav]

I would also add in "former villian joins the good guys", but that had been happening since Yamcha.

Actually, that's been happening since Oolong. He was the very first.

Actually actually, I'm going to say Bulma was the very first. In her first appearance she shot Goku, then thought that she could use him to get the rest of the DragonBalls. Our protagonist, everybody!

[Piccolo Daimao]

Having given this some more thought, I think one of the reasons I don't enjoy the latter part of the story as much is the shift of focus from ushering in a new era of martial arts to fighting off supervillains. The tournaments were a major part of what I liked in the early stories, and even the Dragon Ball quests were littered with references to martial arts history. I can see why this was lost -- once Goku had become the strongest on Earth the next logical step was to explore the galaxy -- but it was still a shame to see that aspect of the series go, and it really bugs me how after all the focus on the martial arts world the heroes just stop participating in it and everything they do is kept secret from humanity.

Yeah, I agree. Even little things like seeing random monks and these quirky fighters that Gokuu and co. come across during their travels. But once pretty much the Freeza arc rolled around, that was all but gone, in favour of overwhelming strength.

I'd argue just because something is a big plot twist that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good plot twist or that it's well executed. Not that I don't agree with a good chunk of your list, as I said I do enjoy the Saiyan and Freeza arcs to some extent. Piccolo and Goku teaming up and gaining at least a little mutual respect and Gohan are the main reasons I use Dead Zone as a capper when I watch/read Dragon Ball. That and Goku exploring the after life is kickin' rad. However stuff like Goku's terrible origin story and Goku's friends slowly being annihilated one by one being done and done better in the Piccolo Daimao arc is a good example of some of the main issues I have with Z's "plot". Then we have something which was unique and cool at the time like a large threat being completely dwarfed by an upcoming threat that was run into the ground extremely early on.

I don't know if I agree that the Z portion made Dragon Ball because the franchise was already huge in Japan but I won't deny the more you listen to the majority and give them what they want the more you will sell, I think that's pretty much a given.

Yeah, Return my Gohan!! is probably my second favourite Dragon Ball Z film, after Rebirth of Fusion!! Gokuu and Vegeta. Beautifully choreographed fights, the God of Earth fighting (albeit, in a one-sided battle) in his own body, throwback to the mystical theme of the series, Garlic Jr. being probably the most interesting DBZ Movie villain (apparently, Toei thought he was good enough to get his own arc!) and, unlike most of the other films, a satisfying climax with an angry Gohan knocking Garlic Jr. back into his own Dead Zone to be trapped for eternity.

Admittedly, Gokuu's origin story was a thinly veiled Superman rip-off, and it's strange that we apparently need some kind of backstory to explain Gokuu's tail and incredible strength, but not Kuririn's lack of a nose, Tenshinhan's three eyes and ability to grow two arms out of his back (yes, I know what the Daizenshuu said, but that was published after the manga ended), Chaozu's appearance, etc. Piccolo's origin story is actually reasonable, though.

But I don't understand what you mean when you talk about Gokuu's friends being killed off by the Saiyans. I don't think it was "done better" in the Piccolo Daimaou arc, and it's quite different here. For one, Yamcha wasn't killed off in that battle. Secondly, imagine being a Japanese long-time reader who'd been with the series from the start up until now, and seeing the main cast you'd grown up with and emotionally invested yourself with being killed off one by one as if it was nothing. That includes the former bad guy, Piccolo, and this was probably the first significant (note the "significant"; I'm ignoring the incident with Blue and Tao Pai Pai) Worf effect in the series, but it's made even more tense by the fact that his death removed not only the Dragon Balls (currently, still the central focus of the series), but the chance to revive these heroes.

And I thought that Dragon Ball had hit its peak in popularity by the Freeza arc.