What would you change about the series?

[Cipher]

The King of the World can be a dog pretending it's a duck to sway political favor.

Oh, the King of the World would still absolutely be a dog. No question. That should've been obvious.

[irreality]

I miss kaio-ken. I'd give it to the "fight club" members; Tenshinhan, 18, and Piccolo. Maybe Kuririn.

Speaking of, more use of Piccolo's stretchy arms attack.

Would've liked to keep Chi-Chi on the battlefield, even if she only chose to because she wanted to help protect Gohan.

Launch never formally met Vegeta. I would like to change that. There's ssj-related humor there.

That is pretty much my list. Why didn't everyone learn the Kaioken? That would be so useful and great for last minute assists. The other body-modifying attacks in general were also fun: to much focus only on only energy attacks in the series.

Why did Chichi not proceed to learn to fly or do small ki attacks anyway? She was as quarterfinalist at the Budoukai, given the other people that made it that far, she would have the potential to do so. And being married to Goku, I can't believe they wouldn't spar for fun occasionally.

SSJ humor, wow, what a missed opportunity.

[Ree]

Bulma would NOT get with Vegeta but with Yamcha

Energy based attacks would conserve more energy so no one can spam them and there would not be many of them

[irreality]

Bulma would NOT get with Vegeta but with Yamcha

Why would you want that? They have like zero chemistry and zero plot potential. I can see liking Yamcha and wanting to give him a happy ending, but just introduce another female character that is interesting to the series, instead (I know, hard to do in DBZ, but more interesting plot wise).

Like, I always thought Launch/Yamcha would actually work since Tenshinhan was not shown to be interested. They both have a sort of bandit past, and Yamcha would like both sides of Launch at diferent times. Sweet for sweet moments and harsh for when he needs to be whipped into shape.

conserve

I'm not sure conserve is what you meant. Did you mean "use"?

[Ree]

Vegeta DEFINITELY should not have ended up with her as he's even worse

Never thought of Launch and Yamcha.

Yeah i meant use

[IDreamtIWasABee]

I would either

1) set the Boo saga when Gohan's still a kid of 11 or so, like Bojack Unbound. Future Trunks would visit regularly and 18 would join the team. Shit, I'd even keep Saiyaman (a kid playing superhero isn't so cringeworthy) and Videl (the whole romance is written like they're 6th graders anyway).

or

2) set the Boo saga even further in the future, when Gohan's a family man, Goten doesn't exist, and Goku and Vegeta go on a buddy adventure with a decidedly non-obnoxious Pan being the only mutt eager to fight with them.

I just really, really find the Boo era's status quo distasteful, much as I love Boo himself. All the more because the new movies are stuck with it.

I'd also give SSJ2s blue hair and SSJ3s pink hair. Just cuz.

[theoriginalbilis]

I would definitely plan out and schedule the animated versions so that they get the more talented staff at Toei Animation to work on it.

I would like to incorporate more of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, the various Toriyama Q&As, and DragonBall Online into the material as well (perhaps as prologues/epilogues, or even a set of OVAs or movies.)

Hironobu Kageyama would definitely come back to do some music for the modern productions.

[FoolsGil]

Why would you want that? They have like zero chemistry and zero plot potential.

Except for Gohan and Videl, Toriyama never tried his hand at romance. You just assume that because Vegeta and Bulma have 2 kids and stay together, that they are OTP and no one else could be a better fit than them. But all of that romance and baby making was done offscreen. Toriyama could have easily placed Goku in Vegeta's place, or Yamcha in Vegeta's place, apply a time skip, then boom, baby and relationship upgrade, and he did this to Goku, and Krillin. Any chemistry or plot potential except for Future Trunks is nothing but fan interpretation.

Anywho, If I was to change 2 things in the series:

1) Make Tenshinhan the only Crane School Student. Yamcha doesn't get his leg broken and take Chaozu's spot in the King Piccolo Saga, including his demise against King Piccolo.

2) Make it 4 Saiyans excluding Goku that escaped Planet Vegeta's destruction. This new Saiyan would replace the Saibamen and kill Yamcha and Tenshinhan, before being put down with a combined effort of Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin, Nappa continues the assault afterwards.

[Sandubadear]

They should've ended the "God" trilogy with a Universe 6 movie, and then start Super as a sequel to those movies.

[ekrolo2]

Couple more came to mind:

1) I'd have Earth's population learn about Mister Satans friends using the Dragon Balls to basically Identity Crisis everyone just so they can conveniently have Majin Buu live with them without raising any problems. Actually having the characters reliance on the DBs and lack of foresight bite them in the ass for once.

2) I'd also change it so Bulma somehow figures out that 17 and 18 can be brought back if Cell is damaged enough to regurgitate them. This would give Gohan an actual excuse not to just obliterate Cell that goes beyond "Pfft, I'm too cool to use my brain!" once he turned SSJ2.

[Rockman X]

Oh this is my kind of thread!

Saiyan Saga
Make Krillin&Tien KILL Nappa in a double team effort when vegeta says "Nappa look out" Tien uses solar flare then Vegeta kills Tien and piccolo saves gohan but doesn't die and then Namek Saga would be much more awesome with Piccolo,Gohan&Krillin... i won't change anything else Freeza/Namek Saga is PERFECT.
Android Saga
I'd rewrite the Freeza's return entirely and make it so that Freeza is as strong as the androids and after being beaten by Trunks he escapes and also i'd make sure to distinguish between Androids,cyborgs,alien cyborgs&Bioweapons like cell.

I would keep C-17&18 as strong as they were in the future and Cell doesn't return in the end with a B.S power boost just to die quickly but instead i'd make it so that Freeza returns AGAIN but this time rebuilt by Dr-gero stronger than a SSJ2 with an army like in Revival of F and NOW Goku sacrifices himself to kill Freeza!
Buu Saga
There is no Super saiyan 3! this form is so fu*king useless it hasn't been useful for ANYTHING it just exists for Goku to win the p!ssing contest with Vegeta SSJ3 design also Sucks IMO if Gohan never cuts his hair and goes ssj3 he will become the male rapunzel? lol akira didn't think this through did he?

I'd remove the bullcrap about Spopovich energy drain and make piccolo go "Majin Demon king" gohan has to fight him to remind him of his good self and vegeta fights dabura not cui's cousin then all the events unfold the same until the fusion Saga,i'd make sure that Gotenks isn't a fu*king retard and have a serious fight with Super buu and i'll keep Goku dead but after fusing with Vegeta he gets more time to be in the living world so when Vegito diffuses he goes back to the kai world so vegeta removes Fat buu and kai teleports Vegeta and everyone else not just satan&Dende!

Now for the FINALE i'd make it so that Kid buu REALLY is the strongest buu! so Gohan,Gotenks,Goku&Vegeta all fight Kid buu but in the end the only way to beat buu is spirit bomb so Gohan&Gotenks get ragdolled until Goku finishes the spirit bomb and that's pretty much it! an infinitely better version of Buu Saga ending.

*sigh* DBZ could've been so much more awesome if akira thought of DBZ as more than just a weekly manga that he has to finish ASAP to get his next paycheck..

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

Beyond cutting out Super Saiyans, Dragon Ball is such a domino of a story that I don't care enough to be bothered with the consequences of any changes I might make!

The story really isn't about Goku anymore and hasn't been for a long time. He's stuck in this cycle where he can't develop or grow, and for awhile Toriyama could buoy that with peripheral characters growing and maturing because of Goku(Bulma, Tenshinhan, Vegeta, etc.) and now you have neo-DB supplementing the development of the secondary characters with more gags and humor, almost as if to say there isn't anything else you need to know about Krillin or Trunks or whoever, so just kick your feet up and watch lovable characters you're nostalgic for do silly stuff. And that's entertaining for a while, but can feel empty and fleeting. Maybe Toriyama prefers it that way, being the unattached, no-messages-allowed franchise curator he is.

The Z-era taught us to expect certain things out of Dragon Ball that some would argue are entirely out of place in it: changing roles for weaker characters, concepts and character aspects that might be introduced in one arc and reemerge in entirely different contexts a decade later, the passage of time wiping the narrative board clean every arc or two. Any story claiming to follow the Z-era inherits that legacy, regardless of whether or not it wants to continue it. Battle of Gods aside, modern Dragon Ball treats it as an over-and-done-with product; video games, random specials, merchandise, Resurrection F, of course they don't mean anything, they're there to take your money just like umpteenth Luke Skywalker figure produced since 1983. Is that because Dragon Ball's world has been stretched to its limit with no new stories to tell, or is writing the Goku and Vegeta show so much easier that Toei and Toriyama have no need to bother finding out? Next time on Dragon Ball Super, circa... December 2015!

Maybe if we must ask ourselves "what would we change?" then that means we're not as huge fans as we believed we were?

Really, though, you would only ask this question if you have considered the property in such depth that you might have meaningful changes to make. The issue sounds less like having never been a fan in the first place as having dove deeper down the historical and analytical rabbit whole than you should have.

[Khin]

No Blue Super Saiyan God or whatever the name of that form is,i think it will be better if Goku and Vegeta will just use their Base forms and not give them transformations anymore.

[Absolute Ice]

I actually liked the idea of using Super Saiyan God power mixed with the regular transformation, the matter is... There is/was not necessity to change color at all.

I agree Goku and Vegeta should stay in their Saiyan beyond God states, and transforming into Super Saiyan with Godly power as last resource, the golden hair should be slightly different though, and that would be enough.

But eh... "We need to change the color to a bad-looking one just because and nothing more".

[Baggie_Saiyan]

I actually liked the idea of using Super Saiyan God power mixed with the regular transformation, the matter is... There is/was not necessity to change color at all.
I agree Goku and Vegeta should stay in their Saiyan beyond God states, and transforming into Super Saiyan with Godly power as last resource, the golden hair should be slightly different though, and that would be enough.

But eh... "We need to change the color to a bad-looking one just because and nothing more".

Yes there was a reason to change the colour, SSGSS is completely differently to SS it has nothing to do with that line of transformation so it wouldn't make sense for it to retain the gold colour, you could argue it should have retained the magenta colour of SSG but I prefer the colour they chose more so I don't really mind they changed it.

[fadeddreams5]

I wish SSJG was SSJ Goku with red hair (or red highlights a la Shadow the Hedgehog), red eyes, and the flaming aura of SSJG. That would look awesome.

He could later ascend to SSG2 (or Saiyan Beyond God), for a lack of a better name, in which his hair would have the SSJ2 design, only it, along with his eyes, would be blue. Also, the blue flaming aura of SSGSS.

This just makes so much more sense to me. Name-wise, "SSJG" would be more fitting. Aesthetically, it's just cooler.

[DBZMerciter2005]

But eh... "We need to change the color to a bad-looking one just because and nothing more".

See I like the blue. I think that would have been a much better color for SSJ than gold. It would have emphasized the "alien" side of Saiyans while still letting Toriyama not have to color in Goku's hair all the time (which is his stated reason for making SSJ have a lighter hair color).

Back on topic: there are so many things I would change to the series that the whole thing would be barely recognizable in the end. My original post was nearly a page worth of bullet-point changes, but long story short I'd try to make the android saga better by having them do more damage and be harder to beat. Once the androids were destroyed Cell would appear, absorb some of the main cast, and then fight ROSAT powered up Goku, Gohan, Trunks, and Vegeta. Killing Cell would have the consequence of killing some of the main cast (not that death has a consequence in the show at this point) and it wouldn't overlap with the androids and make them worthless.

As for Krillin and 18 I guess he could wish her back to life and not as a cyborg.

[irreality]

Except for Gohan and Videl, Toriyama never tried his hand at romance. You just assume that because Vegeta and Bulma have 2 kids and stay together, that they are OTP and no one else could be a better fit than them.

No, I'm not saying Vegeta and Bulma have more romance or are a "better couple" than Yamcha and Bulma. I'm speaking strictly of Bulma and Yamcha's relationship: we saw them together for 10? 15? years? They were really excited and romantic when they met. But by the 22nd tournament, Bulma was already making eyes at Panputt, and was never acting satisfied with what she had with Yamcha (either she suspected him of straying or she was). And after so many years together, where one person's (Yamcha) dream is to get married and you are still *not* married, there is something really lacking and wrong in the relationship.

Even if Bulma didn't end up with Vegeta: Yamcha and her had no chemistry left at that point. They weren't right for each other. And plotwise, there is nowhere interesting for them to go. So even if Bulma ended up single, I wouldn't want her to stay with Yamcha, and that is what I was questioning. What would it accomplish to have them be together? They seemed more miserable together than happy -- like they were holding on to a 16 year old dream and reality never panned out. It is a common enough story in real life for me to not wish that on anyone.

Bulma and Vegeta are not shown being romantic, but they are showing having personality and chemistry. Plotwise, their kids would be "smart and strong", and they are both the auxiliary main characters. Vegeta has a lot of room to grow from the conflict of emotions and having a family, while Bulma needs something to snap her out of her perpetual adolescence. They have qualities that are complementary for all those narrative purposes.

[TheGreatness25]

I'd just be more mindful with the story so it never has plot holes. I would get rid of the movies and any "alternate universe" stuff. Why? Because it drives the fans absolutely nuts when they have to sort through everything and try to figure out what "canon" is.

Oh and I would have never introduced battle powers. God, what a mess those are.

[Cetra]

I'd just be more mindful with the story so it never has plot holes.

God luck with that. Even talented authors and the most well-thought out stories have that.