Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.
User avatar
MCDaveG
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 5754
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 5:54 pm
Location: Prague, Czechia
Contact:

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by MCDaveG » Wed Mar 05, 2025 5:32 am

Honestly, I am the OG manga guy... My continuity basically would be it :)
Including the original show that brought me to it. I am just always bummed how GT cut short and ditched the narration at the end of the Z epilogue. But that was my continuity as a kid.

With the stories basically not being interconnected and each new installment flies without restrictions on what else is there, except for the OG show, I do enjoy them on it's own for what they are, hence based on which show I'd be watching, it always spurs from Buu arc, with the exception of GT.

But basically, my favorite TV continuity would be GT, basically because it follows after the whole show, doesn't cut into that 10 years time-skip, which makes the chronological watch awkward.
But I don't do headcanons or make stuff fit.

IMHO GT had a lot of brave ideas, of course, with the now infamous bad executions, but what it did that other series are afraid to do:
Bold new designs showing progression, not being afraid to drastically alter Vegeta and ditch his iconic big spike of a hair... Toriyama's design was even more old uncle-like.
Follow up the show after open ending and tried to do the next adventures, instead of cramming it into that speck of time, where somehow a load of new shows happens, but as we know the cast is alive and well after those, hence it's not really interesting as you have to go bold and have pretty good writing, as the same old fights won't just cut it anymore.
With the old people designs for the cast, it made more sense that Goku was made younger all those years after Z, the adventures just weren't that captivating and fun.
I think that the core ideas and plot about Tsufuru revenge, albeit taken from that Gaiden story and revamped, and Shadow Dragons were more interesting ideas than another evil Goku, two space tournaments or dumb Demon King with invincible eye from supermarket - unfortunately with lots to be desired from the writing and execution.
I do like the production quality of GT as well, it's nice and interesting to look at.

I'd pick the DB - Z - GT as my fav TV continuity, but funnily enough, I do enjoy Super more than GT :)
FighterZ, Street Fighter 6, Mortal Kombat: Funky_Strudel
PS5: Dynamixx88
Trust me, I'm millenial and a designer.

User avatar
sangofe
Kicks it Old-School
Posts: 8072
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 3:39 pm

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by sangofe » Wed Mar 05, 2025 7:49 am

DB, Z up to episode 288, Super, Daima, Z 289-291, GT I guess?

User avatar
Kunzait_83
I Live Here
Posts: 3044
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:19 pm

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by Kunzait_83 » Wed Mar 05, 2025 8:28 am

Option 1: the original 1986 - 1997 run of DB, DBZ, and DBGT and all their associated movies and specials. Just stick to that and/or the original manga run.

Kai straight up sucks and has no justification for existing whatsoever. Its not even really a "manga cut" at all, so that excuse is totally out the window. Its just an all around worse version of Z any way you look at it.

Super has some very strong moments and some solid concepts, but those moments and ideas come in between some pretty rough stretches, which makes them generally not really that worth it in the grand scheme of things unless you're an absolute die-hard. Its a mixed bag at best.

Still haven't gotten around to Daima yet, so I guess I'll see on that whenever I do. Just not all that enthused for it still.

But yeah, basically just stick to the original 80s and 90s run of both the anime and manga and call it a day. There's some genuinely really good stuff in the revival material, but you have to sift for them underneath a lot of tedious nonsense. Not really worth it unless you're just absolutely starving for more DB material for whatever reason.
http://80s90sdragonballart.tumblr.com/

Kunzait's Wuxia Thread
Journey to the West, chapter 26 wrote:The strong man will meet someone stronger still:
Come to naught at last he surely will!
Zephyr wrote:And that's to say nothing of how pretty much impossible it is to capture what made the original run of the series so great. I'm in the generation of fans that started with Toonami, so I totally empathize with the feeling of having "missed the party", experiencing disappointment, and wanting to experience it myself. But I can't, that's how life is. Time is a bitch. The party is over. Kageyama, Kikuchi, and Maeda are off the sauce now; Yanami almost OD'd; Yamamoto got arrested; Toriyama's not going to light trash cans on fire and hang from the chandelier anymore. We can't get the band back together, and even if we could, everyone's either old, in poor health, or calmed way the fuck down. Best we're going to get, and are getting, is a party that's almost entirely devoid of the magic that made the original one so awesome that we even want more.
Kamiccolo9 wrote:It grinds my gears that people get "outraged" over any of this stuff. It's a fucking cartoon. If you are that determined to be angry about something, get off the internet and make a stand for something that actually matters.
Rocketman wrote:"Shonen" basically means "stupid sentimental shit" anyway, so it's ok to be anti-shonen.

User avatar
MasenkoHA
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 7270
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:38 pm

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by MasenkoHA » Wed Mar 05, 2025 8:43 am

SupremeKai25 wrote: Tue Mar 04, 2025 7:13 pm
Vegeta th3 4th wrote: Tue Mar 04, 2025 6:53 pm
SupremeKai25 wrote: Tue Mar 04, 2025 6:40 pmI think the green tint looks better. If that makes me the object of mockery by nostalgic people, so be it.
There's no shame in liking something that factually looks bad. More power to you. :thumbup:
Of course. I bet there's nothing in old DBZ that looks "factually bad". What are the odds?
The animation could look bad in Z due to time constraints and different animators working on it for sure. Nobody is going to deny that. But all of that is inherited in Kai. If Kai was reanimated from the ground up I could buy "it looks better' was an actual opinion someone had, but its Z with the occasional awkward redrawn scene looking completely out of place and some censorship. It looks better seems less like an honest opinion and more like some weird contrarian thing.

If you like Kai because it's shorter and has way less filler more power to you but be for real about it looking better.

User avatar
Vegeta th3 4th
Temporarily Banned
Posts: 856
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:17 am

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by Vegeta th3 4th » Wed Mar 05, 2025 11:00 am

Here's another continuity that kind of works:

Dragon Ball (1986)
Dragon Ball Z (1989)
Goku and his Friends Return OVA (2008)
Battle of Gods (2013)
Dragon Ball Daima (2024)

The only thing indicating that Daima takes place before BOG is Trunks' age being mentioned at the start, but you could technically consider it a mistake on Bulma's part. Apart from that, everything works better in Daima as a sequel to BOG.

User avatar
BernardoCairo
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 351
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2021 4:09 pm
Location: Brazil

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by BernardoCairo » Thu Mar 06, 2025 11:34 am

I don't know... I get what you're saying. If anything, Daima and Battle of Gods are the two stories that fit almost perfectly with the original manga. But Daima happened right after Buu, while Battle of Gods seems to take place a few years later.
Just sit here and waste your precious time. When you want to do something, don't do it right away. Don't do it when you can. Read my posts instead. It's the only way to live a life without regrets.

Sani007
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 217
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2013 8:13 am

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by Sani007 » Thu Mar 06, 2025 12:19 pm

If I have to think about what feels the most Toriyama-esque and what offers the highest-quality Dragon Ball entertainment with the least contradictions, the 34 Kanzenban volumes and the upcoming Dragon Ball Daima UHD BD Box in July come to mind.

If we're talking about TV continuity, then it's Dragon Ball → Dragon Ball Z → Dragon Ball Daima.

That said, it's also true that I'm not too picky when it comes to DB, I love EVERYTHING except Heroes.

User avatar
Vegeta th3 4th
Temporarily Banned
Posts: 856
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:17 am

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by Vegeta th3 4th » Thu Mar 06, 2025 2:01 pm

BernardoCairo wrote: Thu Mar 06, 2025 11:34 amDaima happened right after Buu, while Battle of Gods seems to take place a few years later.
I know that, but if you ignore the one line about Trunks' age, then Daima fits perfectly after Battle of Gods. Battle of Gods ends with Goku and vegeta still stuck with Ssj3 and Ssj2, with the two Kais still fused. Daima starts with the two kais getting unfused, then we later find out that Goku and Vegeta surpassed their previous transformations. Vegeta took advantage of his "my Bulma" power boost to finally unlock Ssj3, while Goku being dissatisfied with having to do a ritual to reach SsjG results in him searching for a form he can achieve without said ritual (Ssj4). When you think about it, Goku and Vegeta's development in Daima logically follow where they were left off in Battle of Gods, so I don't know why it was set before it. Actually, I think they just didn't want this project associated with Super, which Battle of Gods is unfortunately. That movie is far too good to be part of that series.
Sani007 wrote: Thu Mar 06, 2025 12:19 pmIf I have to think about what feels the most Toriyama-esque and what offers the highest-quality Dragon Ball entertainment with the least contradictions, the 34 Kanzenban volumes and the upcoming Dragon Ball Daima UHD BD Box in July come to mind.
I don't think we can talk about quality Dragon Ball content without bringing up the Battle of Gods movie. If there were any content in this revival that we can point to that feels like something Toriyama would've written during his prime, it's this movie and Daima.

Sani007
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 217
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2013 8:13 am

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by Sani007 » Thu Mar 06, 2025 4:23 pm

Vegeta th3 4th wrote: Thu Mar 06, 2025 2:01 pm I don't think we can talk about quality Dragon Ball content without bringing up the Battle of Gods movie. If there were any content in this revival that we can point to that feels like something Toriyama would've written during his prime, it's this movie and Daima.
Yes, the screenplay is incredibly good, it really feels like the original manga. Unfortunately, though, the movie is very ugly

User avatar
Vegeta th3 4th
Temporarily Banned
Posts: 856
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:17 am

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by Vegeta th3 4th » Thu Mar 06, 2025 4:44 pm

Sani007 wrote: Thu Mar 06, 2025 4:23 pmYes, the screenplay is incredibly good, it really feels like the original manga. Unfortunately, though, the movie is very ugly.
I'd take a good written movie that doesn't look the best, over a good looking movie that falls flat in the writing department, such as Broly 2018.

User avatar
dragonballhero
Regular
Posts: 507
Joined: Sat May 30, 2015 2:17 pm

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by dragonballhero » Thu Mar 06, 2025 5:49 pm

Vegeta th3 4th wrote: Wed Mar 05, 2025 11:00 am Here's another continuity that kind of works:

Dragon Ball (1986)
Dragon Ball Z (1989)
Goku and his Friends Return OVA (2008)
Battle of Gods (2013)
Dragon Ball Daima (2024)

The only thing indicating that Daima takes place before BOG is Trunks' age being mentioned at the start, but you could technically consider it a mistake on Bulma's part. Apart from that, everything works better in Daima as a sequel to BOG.
Honestly, I think my 'quintessential' DB continuity is near-identical to yours, with some differences here and there.

Namely that I could take-or-leave the movie version of Battle of Gods as part of it and Neko Majin (Well... the final chapter that features Uub and (most of) the Son family, at least) as THE final sighting of Goku and (most of) the gang.

So I guess my continuity is as follows:
Dragon Ball (1986) [Can be interchangeable with the OG manga (1984-1995)]
Dragon Ball Z (1989) [Can be interchangeable with the OG manga (1984-1995)]
Dragon Ball Daima (2024)
Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!! (2008)
Battle of Gods (2013) [Honestly, I can take-or-leave this actually happening]
Neko Majin (2005) [Chronologically, Goku's final on-panel adventure]

User avatar
Vegeta th3 4th
Temporarily Banned
Posts: 856
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:17 am

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by Vegeta th3 4th » Thu Mar 06, 2025 6:03 pm

dragonballhero wrote: Thu Mar 06, 2025 5:49 pm Honestly, I think my 'quintessential' DB continuity is near-identical to yours, with some differences here and there.
Neko Majin (2005) [Chronologically, Goku's final on-panel adventure]

I really need to check this out when I get the chance.

User avatar
dragonballhero
Regular
Posts: 507
Joined: Sat May 30, 2015 2:17 pm

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by dragonballhero » Thu Mar 06, 2025 9:49 pm

Vegeta th3 4th wrote: Thu Mar 06, 2025 6:03 pm
dragonballhero wrote: Thu Mar 06, 2025 5:49 pm Honestly, I think my 'quintessential' DB continuity is near-identical to yours, with some differences here and there.
Neko Majin (2005) [Chronologically, Goku's final on-panel adventure]

I really need to check this out when I get the chance.
Yeah, it's a pretty cute outing, all things considered.

Honestly, part of the reason as to why I like this piece of DB content enough to consider it part of my 'quintessential DB continuity' is that it pretty much disproves most folks' notion that Goku "abandoned" his loved ones for Uub. If anything, Neko Majin implies that Uub might (at the very least) show up at Goku's place often enough that he can be considered an 'honorary' member of the Son family.

In fact, I'd say that it reveals something I had always figured to be the case... even if you ignore the fact that he has Instant Transmission to help him jump between seeing Uub and his loved ones, the guy can fly almost as fast as the speed of sound. Given all of that, can anyone REALLY say that he 'abandoned' his friends and family??

Remember, the Majin Buu arc THANKFULLY *didn't* end with Goku dying at the end of the arc (like with Cell). Like, even Goku surely has the fortitude to realize that he can train Uub whenever he wants and be back home in time for dinner. By Goku's own standards, the guy truly has it all and more here.

Like, I'll give everyone who thought such a thing the benefit of the doubt in that GT (which is currently the ONLY piece of mainstream DB media to take place AFTER EoZ) didn't exactly paint a good picture of the situation, heavily implying that Goku hadn't seen his loved ones in 5 years following the end of the 'Z' anime. What's more, it doesn't help that Neko Majin IS relatively obscure among Toriyama's works.

All in all, this might be a bit of a hot take (especially to those who enjoy the ending to GT), but honestly? I think the Son family's brief cameo in Neko Majin is a perfect ending point for them. The whole thing is just a fun little reunion party with Goku and the gang, with Toriyama clearly getting to do what HE wanted to do here, playing to his strengths as a gag manga writer and NOT having to making up some new enemy for Goku and the gang to fight.

User avatar
GurixDr34
Not-So-Newbie
Posts: 74
Joined: Sat Jun 17, 2023 6:50 pm

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by GurixDr34 » Sun Mar 09, 2025 9:01 pm

The Original Run Original Show Z and GT i like the 80s and 90s tone of the Old Anime

User avatar
Vegeta th3 4th
Temporarily Banned
Posts: 856
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:17 am

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by Vegeta th3 4th » Sun Mar 09, 2025 9:39 pm

Kunzait_83 wrote: Wed Mar 05, 2025 8:28 amKai has no justification for existing whatsoever.
I think a "Kai" series done right would definitely be a good addition to the franchise. By done right, I mean cover both DB & Z, make sure the pacing makes sense, keep in in 4:3, remaster and color correct it frame by frame, etc... Basically it needs to be handled by people who know what they're doing and be given the time to do it right.

User avatar
Benjamin-Simons-91
Banned
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2025 5:27 am
Location: Samaria, Israel

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by Benjamin-Simons-91 » Thu Mar 13, 2025 8:02 pm

Bardock - The Father of Goku -> Dragon Ball -> DBZ -> GT.

User avatar
MisteryOne
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1006
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2016 10:27 am

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by MisteryOne » Fri Mar 14, 2025 6:51 pm

None of them. Most of the TV animes are subpar. The only exception to that is most (hi RoF) Toriyama-involved movies and Wrath of the Dragon.

So the original manga- Super manga if I have to choose any continuity at all. I like Daima but Z is horrible pacing-wise and Kai a half-assed product that doesn't even know what it wants to be. Similarly, Jaco and Neko-Majin are still somehow manga only, so they can't even count as interesting TV additions yet.
Vegeta th3 4th wrote: Thu Mar 06, 2025 2:01 pm I don't think we can talk about quality Dragon Ball content without bringing up the Battle of Gods movie. If there were any content in this revival that we can point to that feels like something Toriyama would've written during his prime, it's this movie and Daima.
BoG would genuinely work even as an epilogue of sorts for the manga even as a standalone story. The movie of course, not the blink-or-miss manga or the atrocious anime arc.
English is not my first language. Please excuse my gramatical mistakes.

User avatar
Vegeta th3 4th
Temporarily Banned
Posts: 856
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:17 am

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by Vegeta th3 4th » Fri Mar 14, 2025 7:05 pm

MisteryOne wrote: Fri Mar 14, 2025 6:51 pmBoG would genuinely work even as an epilogue of sorts for the manga even as a standalone story.
I've always viewed the movie that way as well. Goku losing at the end and being reminded of there always being someone stronger out there brings the story full circle back to what he was taught by Roshi at the start of the manga.

User avatar
Saiya6Cit
Regular
Posts: 529
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2021 10:53 am
Location: MEXICO
Contact:

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by Saiya6Cit » Fri Mar 14, 2025 8:19 pm

Continuity 1: The original '86 anime run: DB, Z, GT

Because that one was the one that I first met/knew... before I would even have access to the internet or money to buy manga, there was only the TV and my VHS recordings.

I admire people who keep a track on the distictions. You should see my Polish friend he is like DB encyclopedia including videogames and movies, the whole thing.


It does not matter much because for me DB is a hobbie. I don't make profit with it (it has been less than 6 paid fanart comissions in 4 years, therefore I don't count them, to be fair) and I don't have the need to fixate on what is canon and what is not. I can focus on simply enjoying it. I work about 12 hours a day. Dragon Ball is what I do when I am not at work... thus making my view on the matter irrelevant for some, I am aware of it...

Continuities? So that is how we are calling them now?

Ok

Truth be told, I dislike fan wars. Let's be tolerant of the differences in the "continuity" and be prepared to learn whenever there are facts that proof a certain thing happened in one of them that might contradict whatever happened in another one.

johnboy1
Regular
Posts: 723
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2004 7:15 pm

Re: Poll: Let's forget about "canon". What's your favorite TV continuity?

Post by johnboy1 » Fri Mar 14, 2025 8:55 pm

Saiya6Cit wrote: Fri Mar 14, 2025 8:19 pm Continuities? So that is how we are calling them now?
The word "canon" has become toxic. It only leads to arguments because it has taken on meanings that obscure what people are actually asking about when they say "Is [a given work] canon?". "Continuity" is relatively uncorrupted in terms of its widely accepted definition in fan circles, is more flexible when a given IP has more than one timeline of events, and it carries no pretense of stone-walled inarguability like "canon" does. I'm glad to see more and more people using it.
To a strong man, the end justifies the means. To a stronger man, the means justify the end.

Post Reply