In my opinion, the best-written part of Dragon Ball was...

[SouthWall]

Namek shenanigans. That was awesome.

You know, for someone doesn't consider future stories when he's writing, Akira Toriyama made the wish juggling between Porunga and Shenlong work out pretty well.

[Suupaa Gohan 2]

Piccolo Daimaoh. I grew up on DBZ, and when I think of Dragonball, I'm mostly thinking of Z, Z is the one that holds all my nostalgia, my favorite characters and adventures I enjoy reliving the most are all in the Z era...but...

Honestly, if I wasn't on the bandwagon of kids who got into the series via the original Z dub and just went from there, and actually had some knowledge about what the series is, what order they go in, yadda yadda yadda, then me as the type of fan I am now would no doubt vastly prefer the original DB to Z.

To me, coming off the 22nd tournament so perfectly (I like arcs that bleed into one another, as opposed to Z's famous 'okay time for a new arc, here's a timeskip), and setting the first truly serious tone for the series...it's amazing. It's not without its classic Dragonball humor, of course, with things like Yajirobe, but it did the first real 'drama' of the series very well, and that's a big thing considering the direction the Z portion of the story would head into. Main cast members were dying, and then, even the Dragon was killed, so it seemed like they really were killed off for good - back before the Dragonballs became a mere plot device for resurrecting the dead, this was kinda a first for the series. Piccolo Daimaoh was truly evil, Gokou was dealing with opponents that he genuinely could not defeat (yes, I know, Ta'o Pai Pai, but that still felt different), and non-Gokou cast members actually played a pretty large role off doing their own things, when the gang has previously almost always been in tow either with Gokou or with all the other non-Gokou characters. We have Tenshinhan's goals for revenge, Gokou off alone, Yamcha and co. doing what they can from their area, etc...the tone was dark, but not in a way that felt 'too dark for Dragonball' either. It's hard to explain, but since I'm going to assume everyone reading this post is at least somewhat familiar with the arc anyways, I won't waste any more time doing so.

Overall I think that arc had the best flow to it. It was dynamic from start to finish and tied in brilliantly to the previous and next story arcs surrounding it. Once Gokou finally does beat Piccolo Daimaoh, is it over? Nope, PiccDa decides to spit out an egg and have his child continue his grudge against Gokou!! And then, even beyond worrying about that new enemy, Gokou goes to meet God himself, and finds out that he and Piccolo Daimaoh were actually once the same being...great, great stuff here, left and right, with just the right pauses in tension before pulling out the new surprises. Compare it to the sheer amount of things going on in, say, the Freeza Saga, and this arc manages to be full without being terribly bogged down with too much information and somewhat duller surprises. And I mean come on, it ends on the note of our little hero training with God himself. That's a pretty fucking awesome way to end the arc.

I'd go on to say that the 23rd Budoukai fits in as a close second to me, coming so well off of the aforementioned, keeping that classic silly Tenka'Ichi Budoukai spirit, but also tying in the new arch enemy and save-the-world subplot really well. I couldn't hate Gokou for being Mister I-Always-Have-To-Save-The-Universe at this point, because it wasn't all the series was about. It was fresh and that's probably why it was written so well, compared to when the series became more focused on the action and *ugh* battle powers, and that witty and intriguing storytelling got pretty diluted.

I find it very hard - in fact nigh on impossible - to truly call any part of the Z-era 'well written'...Dragonball started its run as a silly Gag Manga parodying a famous Chinese story with a Toriyama spin. It eventually evolved into this huge high-stakes action-filled megaseries where everything could be solved with a high-powered energy blast to the face (or planet). But there was that glorious period in the middle of its run when it was coming off the former but just beginning to evolve into the latter...and to me, writing-wise, story-wise, that's where it really hit its peak.

[Ahiru77]

Time Travel. Hm...hmm...hmph. Quality is maximum!

[Perfect]

Toei's Imperfect Cell filler.

[Drayenko]

Toei's Imperfect Cell filler.

That and Fake Namek.

[Perfect]

Toei's Imperfect Cell filler.

That and Fake Namek.

Let's not forget that heart warming episode with Pigero!

[T Pac]

Namek shenanigans. That was awesome.

You know, for someone doesn't consider future stories when he's writing, Akira Toriyama made the wish juggling between Porunga and Shenlong work out pretty well.

I'd agree if not for the "Grand Elder was indirectly killed by Freeza" thing. Quite the stretch.

[Catterix2006]

Oddly enough I'd actually say the Android Saga. Purely because it is such a good example of a serial writer having to completely alter the direction of his story, and doing it so well. Everything is paced so well, with each twist coming off like it was planned (aside from one or two slight... "what the?"s), and making the entire saga into one long line of tension, chapter after chapter. And then, though no credit to Toriyama, just the pure luck of never having Trunks say what the Androids look like, or what they did specifically, was a stroke of genius for covering up any potential plot holes.

What I found fascinating is noticing the ideas he decided to change. Because with the original Androids, you got the mayhem and panic, the pure mechanised evil that Trunks first warned about, so we don't feel disappointed. But then, come the introduction of the second set of Androids, who never actually kill anyone or do anything remotely bad, they're able to be developed into real characters in light of the forthcoming introduction of Cell, the new evil. This was just a fairly subtle clever way of telling the story, because the point is never made that these new Androids don't... actually... do anything. They just drive a pink van for miles, but still there's tension because they're ridiculously strong and are out to kill Goku. The two antagonist storylines faded into one another pretty well.

The only real issue was the; "Oh, me going back in time altered history somehow..." storyline, which somehow created three new androids out of nowhere, and the second set somehow being stronger and more fun loving. Though some fans try and explain that maybe in Trunks' storyline, 19 & 20 got beaten and Dr Gero released 17 & 18 who then wreaked havoc, but that's pushing it.

But I do just love how you have no idea what's going on, you're left in the confusion alongside the characters, there are no cutaways revealing the plot outside of the character's revelations, and whilst there's a bit too much expository dialogue, especially from Cell, it for the most part, just holds out as such a unique form of story telling.