Start with Z or the Beginning

[ABED]

Since some considered it a tangent from another thread, I'll continue the discussion here. Some start their Dragon Ball experience with Z, now people have the gift of starting with Kai. However, even though there's a recap, I argue that missing 1/3 of the series is a lot. Not in terms of plot, it's easy to catch up and enjoy, but emotionally, the shows are so much better if you are there from the beginning. For one, DB is better, and secondly, reading or hearing about the plot isn't the same as experiencing the story for yourself, and it's not like DB is plot heavy. It's a show that is mostly about the humor and fights. THAT'S what those people are missing out on. I know you can go back afterwards, but I don't see why starting with Z is necessarily a better starting point for any newbie. Any thoughts?

[SupremeSSJ]

well its better to start from the beginning, me on the other hand started with Z and I'm mad at myself for doing it. Yes Z is action packed and its cool to the newcomers eye but when you finish it your gonna want to watch the rest, I just blame this mostly on promotion for the series as a whole in the US. My advice to newcomers is to start with Bardock Sp then DB,z,and gt.

[Ajay]

I appreciate you making a new thread, thanks

I think it's certainly a better experience if you have the time but not one that is a necessity.

I only watched and read Dragon Ball back in May after marathoning through Kai for nostalgia's sake and whilst I do appreciate the development between Goku and Piccolo, I feel that majority of the old relationships are mostly put on the back burner in favour of new ones.

I think it's that reason that 'Z' as a separate animated entity exists in the first place. It's very different in tone to the original and easily stands on its own as we've all seen.

For a newbie, I don't think it's the end of the world. I hadn't watched Z since I was a child until recently and I can't say that reading Dragon Ball following my rewatch of Z made the experience better or worse. It feels so different that it was actually quite a nice denouement after the action heavy Z.

Either way, I think you get the same experience regardless.

[90sDBZ]

Damn I just made a big post in the other topic about this before I saw this one. I'll just repost it here to save typing it out.

I actually saw Z long before DB but I still love DB. In fact when I first saw the King Piccolo saga I actually thought it was better than anything in Z. If the person that you're introducing to the series just wants to see it because they've heard of the OTT action and want that then you might as well start them off with Z or Kai.

Watching DB as a prequel is actually really interesting too because you know how things end up but you don't know how they end up that way. Like when I first saw it I was shocked to find out that most of Goku's allies were enemies to begin with. I was intrigued by how much more interesting Tenshinhan's character was in DB. I was intrigued by how there was a much greater emphasis on martial arts. I was intrigued by how Roshi was a major character. And I wasn't put off by how different it was to Z but intrigued by how different it felt to Z which actually made me even more excited to watch it all.

In my opinion someone either likes original DB or they don't and seeing Z before or after ultimately won't affect that too much. If someone is like me and not only loves Z for the action but also for the characters and story then they'll naturally feel like they absolutely need to see DB. But if they're the type of person who doesn't care for story or characters then they'd get bored of DB and give up on it whether or not they've seen Z already.

[TheAldella]

Watched Z, GT and Kai before DB, so that morphed my opinion of DB (Anime) a bit. It felt super slow, but I enjoyed it more often than not.

[ABED]

well its better to start from the beginning, me on the other hand started with Z and I'm mad at myself for doing it. Yes Z is action packed and its cool to the newcomers eye but when you finish it your gonna want to watch the rest, I just blame this mostly on promotion for the series as a whole in the US. My advice to newcomers is to start with Bardock Sp then DB,z,and gt.

Well, for many of us, there was no easy way to see DB until it was released by FUNi, now the dvds are easy to get, but back in the 90s, not so much.

Z has a lot of action but DB does as well, in fact the fights are better, I would argue.


I like to go in order, but I watch the films like this
DB: 1-13, Movie 1, 14-16, Movie 2, through the Red Ribbon Army arc, movie 4, 69-78, movie 3, through the end of the series...
DBZ: Movie 1, Vegeta arc, movie 2...

One of the things I like so much more about DB over Z is the emphasis on strategies. I also think the art is better. Z has the reputation for better action but I don't think that's the case at all. Some people's mileage obviously varies.

[SaiyamanMS]

Personally, I actually started the series with Imperfect Cell on TV. I'd love to have been able to do the series from the beginning though, and when I introduced it to my dad, we started from the very first episode, Bulma and Son Goku. (We did however watch Kai instead of Z for the Saiyan to Cell arcs. I don't think he could handle some of the DBZ pacing.)

[SupremeSSJ]

well its better to start from the beginning, me on the other hand started with Z and I'm mad at myself for doing it. Yes Z is action packed and its cool to the newcomers eye but when you finish it your gonna want to watch the rest, I just blame this mostly on promotion for the series as a whole in the US. My advice to newcomers is to start with Bardock Sp then DB,z,and gt.

Well, for many of us, there was no easy way to see DB until it was released by FUNi, now the dvds are easy to get, but back in the 90s, not so much.

Z has a lot of action but DB does as well, in fact the fights are better, I would argue.


I like to go in order, but I watch the films like this
DB: 1-13, Movie 1, 14-16, Movie 2, through the Red Ribbon Army arc, movie 4, 69-78, movie 3, through the end of the series...
DBZ: Movie 1, Vegeta arc, movie 2...

One of the things I like so much more about DB over Z is the emphasis on strategies. I also think the art is better. Z has the reputation for better action but I don't think that's the case at all. Some people's mileage obviously varies.

This is ture. DB feels like a Story that get you really in a fun mood while watching it. Z your just waiting for the next fight full of suspense I love it though.

[Gaffer Tape]

While I would certainly advocate a new fan start from the beginning, I don't think starting from Z is ultimately going to hurt anything. But then again, it depends on what the potential new fan is interested in. If that person only likes the grr tough fighting, ripped up muscle men, and giant beam struggles of the series, then starting them at the beginning would probably turn them off quite quickly. Conversely, if the potential new fan is more into wacky adventures, crazy characters, and fun comedy, the plopping them off at Z would be a terrible idea as well. However, if you start that person at a part of the series that caters to his/her tastes, then he/she will probably end up catching up on the parts of the series they missed once they already have an attachment to the material. I myself have recommended DB movie 2 as a good starting point because it captures the tone and most of the early characters pretty well without an extended time commitment to getting a full story and, well, DB movie 1 is pretty bad, so I wouldn't start anyone with that.

Also, I would never, ever, ever, ever start anyone off with the Bardock special. It's tonally dissonant and narratively irrelevant to anything else in the series. Really bad starting point.

[Gyt Kaliba]

As a general rule of thumb, I tend to prefer starting stuff at the beginning. Even sitcoms tend to have enough development over time that it's usually beneficial to start them off from the beginning, compared to just jumping into the middle. For a long ongoing story like Dragon Ball, it's ideal to start off with the very beginning - episode 1 of 'Dragon Ball', or chapter 1 of the manga if we're going to that.

That said though, what Gaffer Tape says makes a lot of sense too. It's probably good to consider the tastes of anyone you're trying to get started on the series, and perhaps their age too if it's like a younger relative. I don't find much objectionable in early Dragon Ball, but that's cuz I have weird opinions on this stuff - there is however a lot there that others might find so, so that's something to think about too. But, again quoting Gaffer, Dragon Ball really is simple enough as a whole that you can jump in just about anywhere. Hell, I first came in during the Super Saiyan Goku V.S. Freeza fight and I was able to hang on well enough to keep watching while I learned more online. So it is possible, but when we have the benefit of the entire franchise available on DVD at our disposal, why not make use of it IMO.

[Herms]

If someone likes the fighting aspect most of all, they could do worse than start with the 22nd tournament/Piccolo/23rd tournament stuff, since that's where most of the best choreographed fights in the series are. Or start them off with the android stuff if they like time travel stories, the Freeza stuff if they like Star Wars, etc. If somebody's not going to start at the very beginning, then there's no reason they have to automatically go to the Saiyan arc. There are other places to jump in.

And the thing is, most of the highlights of the Saiyan arc are kinda ruined if you start there. Watching Goku and Piccolo team up has much more impact if you've already seen their history as deadly enemies. Seeing much of the supporting cast get mowed down by Nappa works better if you have an inkling who those characters are, and have some connection to them. Seeing Goku die and travel through the afterlife is more interesting if you've been following him as a main character for a couple story arcs, rather than a couple chapters/episodes. And of course the revealation that he has a son and is an alien comes off better too, but I guess the cat is already pretty much out of the bag on that one.

[SaiyamanMS]

Also, I would never, ever, ever, ever start anyone off with the Bardock special. It's tonally dissonant and narratively irrelevant to anything else in the series. Really bad starting point.

Personally, I feel that a good spot for Bardock is right after Freeza is introduced in person. It also gives Dodoria a bit of build up before Vegeta kills him off. As for the Trunks special, I'd put it right after #17 and #18 are introduced.

[DynasticHunter]

The Beginning. Dragon Ball is a classic. I feel like it made me appreciate the characters more in Z and I got some of the references characters would make toward the some of the events that took place in Dragon Ball. So I would recommend starting with Dragon Ball (especially since the Blue Bricks are going for like $15 on amazon.)

[ABED]

Also, I would never, ever, ever, ever start anyone off with the Bardock special. It's tonally dissonant and narratively irrelevant to anything else in the series. Really bad starting point.

Personally, I feel that a good spot for Bardock is right after Freeza is introduced in person. It also gives Dodoria a bit of build up before Vegeta kills him off. As for the Trunks special, I'd put it right after #17 and #18 are introduced.

I would put the Bardock special right before the fight against Freeza, as I think it's a good T-up for the final fight.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

If someone doesn't have any issue with manga (there are people who don't like manga in general because they are black & white, you have to read from right to left, and they are just pictures without motion or sound), they should read the whole manga from chapter 1. If someone prefers anime, then they should start from episode 1 of DB to episode 291 of DBZ (and then see DBGT if they want to). If they are in a hurry to get into the series (because they aren't patient enough to watch hundreds of episodes, or because they are too busy and they will finish watching the series years later, or for whatever other reason), then they should start with DBKai (assuming that Boo arc of Kai is released), and then watch anything else later.

[ABED]

I still don't see why starting with Kai is a better jumping off point for someone who is in a hurry to see the show.

[Tyro]

I still don't see why starting with Kai is a better jumping off point for someone who is in a hurry to see the show.

Why do you say that? Kai does with 98 episodes what it takes Z 194 episodes to do. That would cut the episode count almost exactly in half.

[ABED]

I still don't see why starting with Kai is a better jumping off point for someone who is in a hurry to see the show.

Why do you say that? Kai does with 98 episodes what it takes Z 194 episodes to do. That would cut the episode count almost exactly in half.

I was referring the entire Dragon Ball series. Yeah, I would probably have someone see Kai if they were pressed for time, but I wouldn't skip DB. I dont' see how DBKai or DBZ are a better way to get people into the show than DB. DB is the better show and has cooler fights. Just because the characters are stronger doesn't mean the battles are somehow better.

[TheAldella]

Everyone seems to have the viewset of "They may be stronger, but the battles aren't as good"
GUYS, GOKU VS CELL WAS WICKED. NEED I REMIND YOU? Haha, anyway, it feels like all members of Kanzenshuu cherish the 23rd Tenkaichi as solid gold, which is the highest level of escalation and strength in Part one, but they act like Z didn't improve on that at all. They just wanna stay loyal to part one as if it's a taboo to bring mention of it being anything less than they see it as. Feels a bit one-sided and like an awkward argument. (Albeit, this sounded Much better in my head, so I'm being awkward too.) I'd say there isn't a definitive reason to start with Z in particular at all. As I've NEVER seen someone start out Shippuden without the original Naruto. It just varies from taste to taste/series to series, that's all. It's simple to just settle with Path to Power, too.

[Quebaz]

As I've NEVER seen someone start out Shippuden without the original Naruto..

*Raises hand*
You can thank video games for that.