I wish we got to see more of the characters from the 23rd TB era

[SSJ YUSUKE]

The start of the 23rd TB feels like the start of a new series. Everyone is grown up, the characters are stronger and even everyones personalities seem more mature. I especially love the opening of the arc where Goku is first introduced and Bulma sees him for the first time.

But I feel like it was a bit of a missed oppurtunity to have another large timeskip right after the 23rd TB. Most Western English speaking fans watched Z first so they can't imagine the series without Gohan playing a major role but I think the Saiyan and Frieza arcs would have been just as Great if the events took place right after or not long after Goku's fight with Piccolo Junior.

Sure the series would be totally different but it would be interesting to think how things may have been differently written. Goku and Chi Chi would not yet be married or at least not have had Gohan yet so their dynamic would be a lot closer to what we saw in the wedding dress filler arc which I actually like as we never really get many good scenes of Goku and Chi Chi together and she is basically just treated as the annoying wife. Not only that I feel that without Gohan Toriyama would have defiently given more spotlight to Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and even Roshi. Chi Chi would have almost certianly been a fighter.

Perhaps a good place for another time skip would be after the Frieza arc with Gohan and Trunks basically being the same age and having the same dynamic we see with Goten and Trunks in the Super Manga

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I kinda agree, I remember first seeing the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc in late 2004 when it aired here in Ireland and wanting to see more stories before Raditz. It was an interesting time period when Piccolo was still evil and planning world domination and no doubt there was an adjustment period for Goku settling down.

I've heard people say this arc would have been a perfect ending point for the series as Goku reached the top of the top fighting league and emerged victorious, but I think because the story went on there would have been room for more to be told in the years before Raditz arrived, even if they were just filler.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

On the face of it, I agree. The 23rd Budokai gives us a physically grown Goku entourage that terrifically strong, but still not so much so that they're zooming across the planet in what feels like half an hour or that new enemies can't somehow rise up to challenge them. We're arguably on the edge of excess, but not quite there. Barely-a-man Goku trying to be a young husband to sheltered, poorly-informed new wife who hasn't yet realized what she signed up for would inevitably be funny, and you don't need to hang around it for too long. Just seeing Chi-Chi acting of her own accord without Gohan in the picture just yet, too. And of course the first three or four DBZ, though they feature Tullece and Slug, do still offer a phantom tease of a post-Piccolo, pre-Freeza situation on Earth for our cast to exist and fight in.

The thing that is easy to forget, though, is that Yamcha, Kuririn, and Tenshinhan (mostly the former two) had been Goku's fighting buddies for four years by the time the Saiyan arc dropped. It is easy to want to change the direction of the story to achieve a different outcome in hindsight but I cannot blame anyone involved for going for a more dramatic shake-up at that point.

[nineko]

Given how much they like to write midquels to fill timeskips, and how much they like to come up with unimaginative names, I can totally see how a "Dragon Ball Duper" which covers said period of time could appear eventually.

In all seriousness, I agree with you, by the way. As much as I like universal threats and rainbow hair and whatnot, I kinda miss the good old days of OG Dragon Ball on Earth. Even if they would be filler or slice-of-life, I'd like to see more episodes about that.

For example, they seem to throw a party every other day in Super (and in the Tarble special), and yet they never did that up to Z (to the point of Bulma saying they haven't seen each other for several years), which feels weird in retrospect. Bulma doesn't like to get older (who does?), and yet she waited until Super to start celebrating her birthdays? Correct me if I'm wrong, but have we ever seen young Bulma with a cake before? Why haven't there been any parties whatsoever before Super?