Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

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Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Khanage » Thu Jan 17, 2013 6:45 pm

So since I restarted my Dragon Ball journey early last year, I was frustrated by the fact that I couldn't find a simple guide for viewing order on the internet in terms of movies and specials, so I decided to make my own. Now that I've finished all the series: Here it is

Dragon Ball:
Emperor Pilaf Saga
Tournament Saga
Red Ribbon Army Saga
General Blue Saga
Commander Red Saga
Fortuneteller Baba Saga
Tienshinhan Saga
King Piccolo Saga
Piccolo Jnr Saga

Dragon Ball Z:
Dead Zone Movie
Vegeta Saga
Namek Saga
Ginyu Saga
Freeza Saga Ep. 75-86
Bardock : Father of Goku Movie
Freeza Saga Ep. 87-107
Episode of Bardock Special
(Goku came back to Earth on a visit by Instant Transmission)
World's Strongest Movie
Tree of Might Movie
Lord Slug Movie
(Goku then went back to space to train)
Garlic Jnr Saga
Trunks Saga Ep. 118-123
History of Trunks Special
Trunks Saga Ep. 124-125
Revenge of Cooler Movie
Androids Saga
Imperfect Cell Saga Ep. 140-146
Super Android 13 Movie
Imperfect Cell Saga Ep. 147-152
Perfect Cell Saga Ep. 166-173
(Gohan has entered the Hyperbolic Time Chamber again)
(Trunks has entered the Hyperbolic Time Chamber)
Return of Cooler Movie
Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan Movie
Plan to Eradicate All The Saiyans Special
Perfect Cell Saga Ep. 174
Cell Games Saga
Bojack Unbound Movie
The Great Saiyaman Saga Ep. 195-207
Broly's Second Coming Movie
The Great Saiyaman Saga Ep. 208-209
World Tournament Saga
Babidi Saga
Majin Buu Saga Ep. 232-250
(Trunks and Goten take a break from fusion training)
Bio-Broly Movie
Majin Buu Saga Ep. 251-253
Fusion Reborn Movie
Fusion Saga
Super Buu Saga Ep. 276-288
Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return Special
Wrath of The Dragon Movie
Super Buu Saga Ep. 289-291

Dragon Ball GT:
Black Star Dragonballs Saga
Baby Saga
Super 17 Saga
Shadow Dragon Saga Ep. 48-(Half-way through)64 [Just before the tournament]
A Hero's Legacy Special
Shadow Dragon Saga Ep. 64 [Ending]

The idea was to have it in chronological order as best as possible, with notes I have made to explain inconsistencies (The worst I understand being the Goku coming back to earth after Frieza but what could I do? poor Icarus appears out of nowhere otherwise) Any input from you guys? Maybe alternative reasons for inconsistencies?

Also I wanted to do a general inconsistencies explanation thing, with my own interpreted back stories to eliminate things that don't fit, but I'll post that when I have time.
Last edited by Khanage on Sat Jan 19, 2013 9:34 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Daimakku » Thu Jan 17, 2013 7:44 pm

I like it! I also have been trying to find a good guide of when to watch the movies along with the TV series, until I finally found this list, which I find to be really cool since it follows where the manga was at when the movies came out. But now I'm contemplating to use your guide instead since it makes things pretty consistent in terms of what happened when in the story. I find it interesting that you put Movie 6 (second Cooler movie) after Movie 7 and 8! Never seen it be placed like that before. Though to be honest, trying to explain how the movies fit into the main story is useless, since its pretty much considered that all movies take place in alternate universes from what happens in the main series. Kind of how Future Trunk's timeline is different than the main series' timeline, since different actions resulted in different outcomes. That's how I think of them at least.
Also, where would you put the three Dragonball movies in the story? I'm trying to watch from the begging of Dragonball until the very end of Z, including all 16 movies (and maybe Path to Power at the very end of it all).

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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Jackal puFF » Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:22 pm

How about putting the Bardock special right before watching any dragonball?

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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Herms » Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:32 pm

Khanage wrote:So since I restarted my Dragon Ball journey early last year, I was frustrated by the fact that I couldn't find a simple guide for viewing order on the internet in terms of movies and specials
The reason being that there's no set order in which the movies and specials were intended to be watched in relation to the main series. There's the timing in which they came out, but that's about it. Daizenshuu 6 lists the general timeframe in which the movies are set in-universe (while noting the inconsistencies between the movies and main story), but this isn't really intended as a viewing order.
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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Bando » Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:46 pm

Daimakku wrote:I like it! I also have been trying to find a good guide of when to watch the movies along with the TV series, until I finally found this list, which I find to be really cool since it follows where the manga was at when the movies came out. But now I'm contemplating to use your guide instead since it makes things pretty consistent in terms of what happened when in the story. I find it interesting that you put Movie 6 (second Cooler movie) after Movie 7 and 8! Never seen it be placed like that before. Though to be honest, trying to explain how the movies fit into the main story is useless, since its pretty much considered that all movies take place in alternate universes from what happens in the main series. Kind of how Future Trunk's timeline is different than the main series' timeline, since different actions resulted in different outcomes. That's how I think of them at least.
Also, where would you put the three Dragonball movies in the story? I'm trying to watch from the begging of Dragonball until the very end of Z, including all 16 movies (and maybe Path to Power at the very end of it all).
Wait so the movies were timed with the manga? I've kinda suspected it but at the same time I'm not sure.

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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Daimakku » Fri Jan 18, 2013 1:33 am

Jackal puFF wrote:How about putting the Bardock special right before watching any dragonball?
Chronologically speaking this would make sense, but is it really the right way to watch it? I feel like watching it after the episode where Vegeta gets killed by Freeza and before Goku starts his fight with Freeza is the right time to watch it, just as Khanage put it. That way you know the struggles Bardock went through and his hopes of Goku taking vengeance against Freeza for the destruction of their planet and the demise of their race. Makes it much more emotional.
Bando wrote:Wait so the movies were timed with the manga? I've kinda suspected it but at the same time I'm not sure.
No, not at all, it's just that since the manga was the main source for inspiration for the movies, it makes a little more sense to watch the movies right around where the manga was at at the time of release. Just like I explained in that thread, Movie 05, the first Cooler movie, came out between episodes 99 and 100 in the anime series, in the middle of Goku and Freeza's final battle, yet in that movie it is implied that Freeza was already dead.. doesn't make much sense. Therefore, you can only assume that they were basing the movie depending on where the manga was at the moment of production. The manga was already at the part where Trunks kills Mecha Freeza and his father when the movie came out, so they already knew Freeza was going to be defeated by Goku. That's why I think watching the movies based on where the manga was at the time of release instead of the TV show makes a little more sense.
But then again, like Herms said, there's no real precise and set way to watch the movies along with the anime, so you could do it any way you want to. Some movies don't even have anything to do with the series at all.

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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Khanage » Fri Jan 18, 2013 7:45 am

Daimakku wrote:Chronologically speaking this would make sense, but is it really the right way to watch it? I feel like watching it after the episode where Vegeta gets killed by Freeza and before Goku starts his fight with Freeza is the right time to watch it, just as Khanage put it. That way you know the struggles Bardock went through and his hopes of Goku taking vengeance against Freeza for the destruction of their planet and the demise of their race. Makes it much more emotional.
That's what I was going for with the Bardock and trunks specials, I can't remember exactly what places they are in in terms of what is happening in the surrounding episodes as I made this list ages ago, but I did intend the Bardock special to be just before Goku and Frieza fight.

In terms of the Dragon Ball Movies, they all seemed to be retellings of the series, but I can't 100% confirm that since I stopped watching because I got annoyed at Goku's new voice :p

Also the dimension is really messed, I think there are movies such as the Super Android 13 in which the beginning shows Future Trunks' version of Dr. Gero's death, in which case we can assume that the events of that movie occurred in a Future Trunks timeline, but I wanted to include it in the main timeline anyway because I like thinks like that.
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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Gaffer Tape » Fri Jan 18, 2013 10:15 am

Jackal puFF wrote:How about putting the Bardock special right before watching any dragonball?
I would say no, no, no emphatically. Sure, it's chronologically accurate, but that's pretty much all it has going for it there. Aside from the simple fact that it wasn't made or thought of to be put in that place, it's also completely tonally jarring to be placed there, to go from this big, tragic melodrama straight into panty jokes, and it's a narrative dead-end that has nothing to do with the next 200 or so episodes you're going to watch.
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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by mattymoron » Fri Jan 18, 2013 11:39 am

I always watch Bardock before I start DB whenever I re-start the series. I'm always in the process of going through it, at any given time.

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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Khanage » Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:46 pm

I think the Bardock could work quite well dramatically if it were say a 2 hour movie about Freeza's reign and destruction, but like Gaffer Tape said, there's more than 200 episodes in between which equates to over 24 episodes, disregarding the fact there are many big story lines in those 24 hours, that amount of time is far too long to remember Bardock and make any emotional connection with the goku frieza battle.

If you consider it from the perspective of someone who has never heard of the DB serieses, putting Bardock at the very beginning would just confuse them.
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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Daimakku » Fri Jan 18, 2013 11:57 pm

Khanage wrote:I think the Bardock could work quite well dramatically if it were say a 2 hour movie about Freeza's reign and destruction, but like Gaffer Tape said, there's more than 200 episodes in between which equates to over 24 episodes, disregarding the fact there are many big story lines in those 24 hours, that amount of time is far too long to remember Bardock and make any emotional connection with the goku Freeza battle.

If you consider it from the perspective of someone who has never heard of the DB serieses, putting Bardock at the very beginning would just confuse them.
All very true!

Also Khanage, I just noticed you didn't put movie 02, The World's Strongest, anywhere on the list.. how come?

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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Khanage » Sat Jan 19, 2013 9:20 am

I didn't even realise that! Fixed it now :)

Also I made a slight change in putting movie before movie 8, I think that way is more consistent. I'm sure there must have been a reason I did it the other way but I honestly can't remember, at the moment this order makes more sense to me
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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Daimakku » Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:54 am

Khanage wrote:I didn't even realise that! Fixed it now :)

Also I made a slight change in putting movie before movie 8, I think that way is more consistent. I'm sure there must have been a reason I did it the other way but I honestly can't remember, at the moment this order makes more sense to me
Lol, cool. I really like your list. I'm going to use it for the marathon I'm doing right now. I'm still at the beginning of the Red Ribbon Army saga in Dragonball, but things get confusing during DBZ for the series/movies placement, so this guide will come in handy for sure. :) Thanks!

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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Khanage » Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:54 pm

No problem man, it's just what I made it for! :D

(Also I remember the RRA part of my marathon: 8PM-7AM non stop haha!)
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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by xXRuSS1anRus1anXx » Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:49 pm

Hi there, first of all thank you very much for this guide! This is the only site I managed to find while looking for it.

I was wondering if you could tell me where continuity-wise Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods movie is? between which film/episode? I am not sure if there are any other new films not mentioned in your guide but this is the only one I failed to find so far.

Again thanks a lot for posting this, I think this should be added to the Dragon Ball wiki.

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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Kamiccolo9 » Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:54 pm

xXRuSS1anRus1anXx wrote:Hi there, first of all thank you very much for this guide! This is the only site I managed to find while looking for it.

I was wondering if you could tell me where continuity-wise Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods movie is? between which film/episode? I am not sure if there are any other new films not mentioned in your guide but this is the only one I failed to find so far.

Again thanks a lot for posting this, I think this should be added to the Dragon Ball wiki.
Battle of Gods is set in the 10 year gap between the fight with Buu and the Budokai where Goku fights Uub. Judging from Pan's age, I'd say it's a little past the halfway point there, but I'm not sure exactly.
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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by xXRuSS1anRus1anXx » Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:11 pm

Thanks Kamiccolo9! Didn't expect an answer so quick. So the movie is set after episode 288 in Dragonball Z, before episode 289 (Grandaughter Pan). I hope OP edits first post so nobody will have question about this.

Thanks a lot again! Cheers, regards.

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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Kamiccolo9 » Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:44 pm

You're welcome.
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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Insertclevername » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:48 pm

xXRuSS1anRus1anXx wrote:Hi there, first of all thank you very much for this guide! This is the only site I managed to find while looking for it.

I was wondering if you could tell me where continuity-wise Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods movie is? between which film/episode? I am not sure if there are any other new films not mentioned in your guide but this is the only one I failed to find so far.

Again thanks a lot for posting this, I think this should be added to the Dragon Ball wiki.
For me personally, I'd place BoG in between Yo! Son Gokuu and his friends return and the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai (the one with Oob and Pan).
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Re: Dragon Ball Watching Order Guide

Post by Lord Beerus » Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:21 pm

F4e wrote:I guess it is time to update this with Resurrection F and Dragon Ball Super, huh? :wink:
I'd hesitate to put Dragon Ball Super on anywhere on your watching order. We have no idea how long that show is gonna last. It could end up overlapping GT and royally screw up your watching order. But if you don't care for continuity that much, just place it after Resurrection F and call it a day.

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