No, I agree. I'm mocking the fact that he's trying to make it sound like it's some controversial opinion.
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(VIDEO) Dragon Ball Z: The Best Arc in Shonen History
- Thread starter Sami+
- Start date
No, I agree. I'm mocking the fact that he's trying to make it sound like it's some controversial opinion.
Cell Saga gets at the very least a pass purely because the finale is probably the best single moment of the whole story. But when you look at it from beginning to end imo there's a lot that makes it start to look sloppy compared to what came before.
RareFantasy64
Member
Yup. This was an important element that was lost after this arc and it really damaged the rest of DB, in my opinion at least. Supporting cast becomes nigh worthless
NeonZ
Member
Not really. Freeza himself doesn't even exist until they're going to Namek. Vegeta initially references himself as the strongest in the universe, and there's never any word in the Saiyan Saga about how the Saiyans are just taking over planets for someone else. They talk like the Saiyans themselves were the ones selling planets to random aliens.
Toriyama himself even made a little comic recently where he admits Freeza was only created because Vegeta was too popular to be killed off, so he created a separate villain to be killed in his place.
Vincent Alexander
Member
I'm on episode 170 right now with my son. He is 7 and loving the hell out of Dragon Ball Z. I was really amazed at how well the show has aged. However, that Frieza arc was kind of...not great. For a show that drags ass, I didn't really notice it until the Frieza arc. And I know making sense of power levels is a fool's task, but they really went absolutely bananas with the power levels making any kind of sense with Frieza saga.
Watching the video now.
Watching the video now.
I wish I could get into One Piece. I watched up to the end of the first arc that I was told would sell me on it---think it was around episode 50-60? I was impressed how much I actually loved Luffy, because he always has looked silly, but the rest of the cast and plot outside of him was lackluster.
Tarextherex
Banned
But Saiyan and Frieza are two different arcs
Saiyan is honestly my least favorite one in Z probably, highlights are the Gohan/Piccolo stuff and the Goku vs Vegeta fight but other than that whole arc was literally they get owned, they train, almost everyone that isn't Goku gets owned. Frieza was much more hype since it had a good sense of adventure, kind of like in the original Dragon Ball. Bulma was a relevant character again, they went to another planet, etc
Btw Chimera Ants was just a poor man's Saiyan arc, if you wanna talk about HxH it's Yorknew hands down
Saiyan is honestly my least favorite one in Z probably, highlights are the Gohan/Piccolo stuff and the Goku vs Vegeta fight but other than that whole arc was literally they get owned, they train, almost everyone that isn't Goku gets owned. Frieza was much more hype since it had a good sense of adventure, kind of like in the original Dragon Ball. Bulma was a relevant character again, they went to another planet, etc
Btw Chimera Ants was just a poor man's Saiyan arc, if you wanna talk about HxH it's Yorknew hands down
But this is the best arc in shonen history
This man knows. Chimera Arc was cool and all, and I did love the subversion on how it did things (Also a particular animated episode was the best thing ever the year it aired), but Water 7 still the GOAT for me. Even I break it down in simple terms, that a crew just really wanted to save a friend who thought they had no place to belong in this world, even if they had to say fuck you to essentially the entire world in order to do so, it's like... Damn, what a great arc. I'm a sucker for shit like that, and that's not even the only thing the arc covered.
Well of course.
I have no idea how you can tolerate DBZ lol. I understand your son but you should've gone with DB kai and I also hope you started with dragonball proper, its super good.
I'm gonna push a Naruto recommendation on to you if one piece isn't your vibe.
The manga never even changed its title.
UnemployedVillain
Member
well that's cute.
Water 7/Enies Lobby takes you through every human emotion on the spectrum. Right there with the Chimera arc.
THIS. Even just watching gifs of the intro make me happy and nostalgic
The Frieza saga, Enies Lobby and Chimera Ants arc are the most overrated arcs in shonen. They're good, but not the best in their respective series.
Yorknew arc from Hunter x Hunter would be my top pick. Dark Tournament from Yu Yu Hakasho is also great! If I had to pick one from DBZ I'd pick the Android/Cell saga easily.
Yorknew arc from Hunter x Hunter would be my top pick. Dark Tournament from Yu Yu Hakasho is also great! If I had to pick one from DBZ I'd pick the Android/Cell saga easily.
Vincent Alexander
Member
I'm one of those "love my Bruce Falconer" types who can't watch DBZ without it. Sadly, it's an addiction/nostalgia thing I can't get over. I've tried numerous times with the original japanese, but the low quality trumpet stuff does nothing for me. Re-watching has been rough only because of how much some of this stuff absolutely drags ass at times.
As for Naruto, I've watched it and Bleach. I love them both, even though they have huge flaws. However, I'm also one of those who feels like Naruto should have ended after Pain because everything up to and including that arc were just so damn great.
Dark_castle
Junior Member
The moment this screen shows up in HxH, you know it's GOAT.
No other anime arcs explored the theme of humanity to the extent that Chimera Ant arc. Simple as that. Don't even need to point how it's able to create a very well-written love story with one brutal and dark outer skin, high stakes and interesting characters, villains. CA is fucking masterpiece.
I like his hat
Because it was entertaining and easy to get into?
Dragon Ball is a classic, and authors like Oda have been inspired by it, no one will dispute that. But that doesn't make it inherently better lol
I disagree completely about F.Trunks making Super Saiyain less special, considering how he got that form is about the same as Goku. It's kid Trunks and Goten that do reduce that form to Super Saiyan Bargain Sale..
Also, we always knew that the half-earthlings/Saiyans have more potential than the full Saiyans, so having them (F.Trunks and Gohan) reaching that form is believable at their young age.
Also, we always knew that the half-earthlings/Saiyans have more potential than the full Saiyans, so having them (F.Trunks and Gohan) reaching that form is believable at their young age.
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
He maintains a consistent presence and is the reason Goku transforms though.
I've read more shonen than most have here and yeah Water 7/Eines Lobby is pretty much the peak of shonen arcs when it comes to absolutely everything you would want out of a manga. The only arc that really comes close to it imo is the flashback arc in Rurouni Kenshin, which was just a small part of the final arc so it might not "count" but whatever it's amazing too.
Vincent Alexander
Member
Agreed completely about Kid Trunk and Goten shitting on SSJ.
cool shit post, we gamefaqs now?
The moment this screen shows up in HxH, you know it's GOAT.
No other anime arcs explored the theme of humanity to the extent that Chimera Ant arc. Simple as that. Don't even need to point how it's able to create a very well-written love story with one brutal and dark outer skin, high stakes and interesting characters, villains. CA is fucking masterpiece.
Literally the same things are the topic of interest during the black chapters arc of YYH.
Yeah the music sucks ass in kai, but the pacing and dub make it a even trade for me.
Yeah I understand that, But I also love Naruto meeting his mom, Danzo vs sasuke and some of the war fights alot, god Naruto linking up with Kurama was peak shonen feels.
But you can also tell if Kishimoto had to end it at Pain he could've wrapped it up clean;y enough there.
Like c'mon now, we can debate all day about which had the best arc, but to say OP of all things doesn't get to be in the discussion is just priceless.
This is true and I actually prefer Chapter Black. Still I love the Chimera Ant arc though Yorkshin truly is the GOAT of GOATS
I put him dying more on Frieza.
The only thing of worth Krillen does himself, really in that arc is blast a hole in Vegeta for him to get stronger... which doesn't last long at all.
PixelatedBookake
Junior Member
Bruh and like the thing is, Robin had barely opened up to the crew at that point in the story. They cared that much about a person they knew almost nothing about and stowed away on their ship and whatnot. She had been jerked around her whole like by assholes and deserved better. But they fucked with her anyway because they thought she was worth it. That's freaking beautiful.
Since we're combining arcs, I still think the Piccolo saga is peak Dragon Ball. From the ominous ending of the 22nd tournament arc to Goku's climatic victory in the 23rd tournament, it was such a tonal shift from everything that came before. The anime arguably expands the arc by making Piccolo look even more like a worldwide threat by showing the ensuing chaos brought by his actions and fleshing out some plot points the manga kind of glossed over, Toei's best implementation of "filler" ever. Daimaoh was a huge step up from the villains that came before him and pulled some shit that was legitimately threatening at the time (before multiple sets of Dragon Balls and security nets started trivializing most threats), side characters have their fair share of involvement in the arc, and the whole ordeal was just one of Goku's hardest earned victories... twice. It felt like a series finale, the culmination of everything up to that point in the series, even though Toriyama never intended it to be. It always felt a little weird to me that, after all the shit that went down in that arc, people (within the world itself) just kinda forgot about it.
Shame most people overlook it since it comes just before the part that made DB a worldwide phenomenom.
Shame most people overlook it since it comes just before the part that made DB a worldwide phenomenom.
Well that was pretty much during a time where the only options were it, Skypeia, and Arlong Park in terms of the "big arcs." To be honest I've always felt Alabasta was overrated as fuck as an arc even till this day. I isn't terrible by any means but it felt just as stretched out in Dressrosa and unlike Dressrosa the actual backstory for it was rather weak imo.
This is fact btw, GOAT fight in the series too
Personally, I prefer Baroque Works/Alabasta and the Marineford arcs, myself.
Disagree vehemently with you on Freezer/Androids/Cell, though.
*raises hand*
I think it's still my favorite.
The moment this screen shows up in HxH, you know it's GOAT.
No other anime arcs explored the theme of humanity to the extent that Chimera Ant arc. Simple as that. Don't even need to point how it's able to create a very well-written love story with one brutal and dark outer skin, high stakes and interesting characters, villains. CA is fucking masterpiece.
if only it didn't have garbage pacing and an overbearing dependence on the narrator.
seriously there are multiple episodes in the ant arc that the narrator has like twice as many lines as the next closest character and has more lines than all of the other characters combined.
you remove most of the middle of the ant arc it could be a great arc (Especially involving a stupid starfish), but as it is it just drags on and the good is easily outweighed by the mediocre.
much prefer the pacing of yorknew or even green island (though I still have to rewatch greed island to confirm that, currently watching yorknew again through the english dub but it still stands as the best HxH arc to me).
Yeah, Super saiyan has become such a joke. God I like gotenks and that whole plot line in the buu arc but fuck I could do without them shitting up the whole super saiyan thing.
Especially now more then ever SSJ in being handed out like nothing.
*raises hand*