What do you think of Dragon Ball's pacing?

[Turtle Marked Stone]

What is your opinion on the original Dragonball's pacing in regards of the anime? I feel like it was done very well and most times the filler was actually pretty interesting. The only portion that I felt that was dragged on far too long was some of the General Blue stuff but other then that I think it was a very solid anime series.

[Codarik]

I think DBs pacing was great, just about all the filler didn't bother me at all. It's DBZs pacing that was horrible.

[caejones]

I think DBs pacing was great, just about all the filler didn't bother me at all. It's DBZs pacing that was horrible.

Agreed. Blue didn't really need to last as long as he did (someone else used for the crossover might have turned out better?), but over all DB was paced pretty well.

Five minutes on Namek, though...

[AnimeMaakuo]

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[Kiyza]

I felt that the original Dragon Ball's pacing was rather smooth, particularly in the anime. A lot of the filler may have just padded it out, but most of the time the filler was pretty good. I felt it added to the overall quality of it. The manga can be a little off with pacing at times, such as the time skip to the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. That just seemed to happen way too fast. And in the middle of a chapter too! Sheesh, it needs to slow down at times like that. The little bit of filler revolving around Goku in the wilderness in the anime was arguably boring, but a nice break from all the action.

[Perfect]

I felt it was fine. The only problem I had with Z was the end of Freeza and Garlic Jr.

[Cipher]

You're nuts if you think Z's pacing problems lie only in the Freeza and Garlic Jr. arc.

Z's predominant problem, which lasts all the way through the end of the Cell arc, is its propensity to cut away to sideline characters to re-iterate what you've just seen. It happens from the Vegeta fight (with the Kame house gang) all the way to the end of the Cell games with damn near constant interruptions from Mr. Satan and co.

The Garlic Jr. arc actually doesn't do this at all, nor does it contain the second largest offender (the less frequent but still irritating stare-downs), so I'm not exactly sure what's so poorly paced about it. It could have been an episode or two shorter, but each individual episode is paced fairly well.

Dragon Ball and the Buu arc really shy away from these cuts to characters, although it did become a bit heavy during the fight against Piccolo Daimao. Instead they pad out the story with interesting or humorous sideplots. So I hardly have any problems with their pacing.

[Perfect]

You're nuts if you think Z's pacing problems lie only in the Freeza and Garlic Jr. arc.

Z's predominant problem, which lasts all the way through the end of the Cell arc, is its propensity to cut away to sideline characters to re-iterate what you've just seen. It happens from the Vegeta fight (with the Kame house gang) all the way to the end of the Cell games with damn near constant interruptions from Mr. Satan and co.

The Garlic Jr. arc actually doesn't do this at all, nor does it contain the second largest offender (the less frequent but still irritating stare-downs), so I'm not exactly sure what's so poorly paced about it. It could have been an episode or two shorter, but each individual episode is paced fairly well.

Dragon Ball and the Buu arc really shy away from these cuts to characters, although it did become a bit heavy during the fight against Piccolo Daimao. Instead they pad out the story with interesting or humorous sideplots. So I hardly have any problems with their pacing.

I was just saying what filler saga and padding bugged me.

[Corporate_Nothing]

Dragon Ball Z's pacing is forgivable when you consider that this had to air once a week in Japan, and compete with the pacing of the manga. They weren't meant to be watched in a marathon or even back-to-back format. And most fans had no concept of what was going to happen next, so there was a great deal of suspense and mystery behind every episode (other than the damn episode previews/titles that tend to give away exactly what happens).

That being said, I really don't care about Maron's undying love for Krillin in the middle of Vegeta getting his ass kicked by 18.

[Cipher]

And most fans had no concept of what was going to happen next, so there was a great deal of suspense and mystery behind every episode (other than the damn episode previews/titles that tend to give away exactly what happens).

Actually, most fans knew exactly what was going to happen because, as you said, it had to keep pace behind the manga. I'd imagine the vast majority of viewers had already read what they were watching at least a month prior.

[Nazi Cola]

I think DBs pacing was great, just about all the filler didn't bother me at all. It's DBZs pacing that was horrible.

Agreed. Blue didn't really need to last as long as he did (someone else used for the crossover might have turned out better?), but over all DB was paced pretty well.

Five minutes on Namek, though...

Yeah, what the hell was that all about? The manga in slow production or something? 'Cause that was just torture.

[Corporate_Nothing]

And most fans had no concept of what was going to happen next, so there was a great deal of suspense and mystery behind every episode (other than the damn episode previews/titles that tend to give away exactly what happens).

Actually, most fans knew exactly what was going to happen because, as you said, it had to keep pace behind the manga. I'd imagine the vast majority of viewers had already read what they were watching at least a month prior.

Hmmm....very true.

(I am aware that this post didn't contribute to the discussion but I feel the need to admit when someone has made a valid counterargument to my post.)

[Turtle Marked Stone]

I'm not really sure how going by a week by week basis makes DragonBall Z's filler forgivable to be honest. Shows like Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho and One Piece all manage to add filler to their production without creating slow monotonous padding (for the most part.) Maybe I just kinda misunderstood you.

[Perfect]

I'm not really sure how going by a week by week basis makes DragonBall Z's filler forgivable to be honest. Shows like Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho and One Piece all manage to add filler to their production without creating slow monotonous padding (for the most part.) Maybe I just kinda misunderstood you.

Well we do have Kai for those of us that didn't like filler (We'll get to Buu eventually), and I wouldn't add One Piece to that list. But Yu Yu Hakusho, Cowboy Bebop, Dragon Ball, Big O and Cyborg 009 all have wonderful padding or next to no filler at all.

[Turtle Marked Stone]

Really? I thought One Piece's filler was usually considered to be very good. I'm not a huge fan so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

[Perfect]

Really? I thought One Piece's filler was usually considered to be very good. I'm not a huge fan so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

Think of it this way, Z had fantastic filler episodes during the Saiyan saga, but the actual padding in episodes wasn't so great.
The same really applies to One Piece. I wouldn't say it's pacing is as bad as Naruto's but, you get the idea. Also not all of those episodes are really that great either. One thing I've noticed about One Piece fans is they tend to think of it being "perfect" or "the best of all anime/manga/" and tend to only look at the positive things, acting like there's nothing wrong with the series.

[Kid Buu]

Back when I watched Z on TV, I never had a problem. It was only when I joined the internet did I discover what filler was and how people didn't like it for dragging the series.

As far as DB, I never saw the RRA arc in the anime so I'm not sure but the other arcs seemed alright.

[B]

Really? I thought One Piece's filler was usually considered to be very good. I'm not a huge fan so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

It's pretty bad. It's like some sort of middlepoint between the original Dragon Ball's tolerable filler and pacing, and Z's abysmal feet-dragging. I can only see hardcore One Piece fans wading through the anime, as the decay is pretty early. But that's our Toei.

I'm not really sure what happened with Dragon Ball that caused such a rift, for lack of a better word, in Z's presentation. My best guess is the Freeza, Cell, and Buu arcs are naturally longer than the earlier stories even in the manga, and Toei having to adapt one major event for that long was over their heads. Dragon Ball managed to wrap up things, especially tournaments, pretty damn neatly. The 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai is a little sloppy(a lead-in of things to come?), but that's about it.