Question about how to watch Dragon Ball

BORTZ

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My favorite way to enjoy at least the Z series was through playing Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Wii. All the fun fights, no filler and you actually get to be part of the action.
 
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sarkwalvein

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IMHO, it is worth skipping DBZ and DB Super. Only watch the original series... (it is the first one I watched and the one I like the most by far, anyway)

PS: TBH, it is all worth skipping, the series isn't anything worth the time required TBH, but there is always the "social factor", that is sharing with your colleages whatever you are watching right now as part of a social experience, with that in mind don't waste your time and skip the first series and only watch Super, it is all bullshit after all, but you can only enjoy the social factor with this last one, it may be the only thing that could justify the waste of time.
 

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So all my friends at school are watching dragon ball super. And I was like oh OK I'll watch it and catch up. (I never watched it as a kid like they all did) So I took a look and realized before I could even start watching dragon ball super, I had to go through the original dragon ball and dragon ball z. So now I'm thinking, is it worth skipping the original dragon ball and going straight to dragon ball z to catch up that much sooner? Thanks for any suggestions!

I looked at your profile to help in forming this suggestion, you're 14, right? It's really hard to recommend Dragon Ball to anyone who hasn't watched it before that is already an adult. With all the anime out there now, it's just a really hard sell, only if they want to try to give the old school a chance, but then they'd have to be committed with time. Watching it since 2000, following the series on TV was easy, binge watching it as an adult when I was in between houses following a tragic event 5 years ago...was great, an escape. Following it now through Super is somewhat painful, especially this arc. Painful because I have to wait for a new episode. I never had to do that before, waiting a whole week. Waiting a day? Fine. A weekend? No problem? A week as an adult with access to instant entertainment in various other means? It's painful.

I was shaking and had goosebumps over the most recent episode, Vegeta-driven, I was scared something bad would happen, but it seems to be a part 1 deal.

For someone as young as you coming in, if you have the time, watch it now. It's not going to be any easier. I'm now 25 and I will never watch One Piece, or even finish Naruto, gotta start young. But, if you're only coerced into this because it's "cool," don't bother. That's why I hadn't watched Rick & Morty until a few months ago, I wanted the desire to watch it. I hate hype shit. If you don't truly want to watch, don't bother.

If you do and don't have time, just skip to Super. Actually, just go to the movies first. They introduce all the characters to you, especially in Battle of Gods, you get some funny stuff there, serious dramatic action closer to the second half. The second movie is more Z-oriented, lots of action and stuff. Then you can decide whether Super's worth it, though you'd have to go through 27 episodes of rehashing the two movies. If you have the time...

Start with Dragon Ball, then watch DBZ Kai. Now if you have no life? Go watch the original 291, watch Super, so that it gives you some space, then watch Kai and realize the differences. Z has filler, you have to wade through some serious fluff, but come on, the driving episode. That cannot be unseen, that's one of the best filler episodes ever, and that was right between Frieza's invasion of Earth and the androids' arrival. The filler before that, yeah, good luck with that. The filler with the otherworld tournament, that was awesome, look forard to that. Either Kai or Z, after that, watch the two canon movies, Battle of Gods and Resurrection F, then watch Super. Maybe watch GT if you are curious about the alternative, because that's what it is, an alternative. A lacking, flawed alternative, but yeah.

Another thing, if you've watched quality anime through Crunchyroll and other internet sites, Dragon Ball will probably be too dated. Keep an open mind for that, if it's not your style, don't bother. You don't HAVE to watch Dragon Ball, much like you don't HAVE to watch Star Wars. I'm over the Star Wars hype, after I first saw it, I would say "WATCH IT," but now? Fuck that. Give it a try though, the good thing about anime in general is you watch one episode, then another, and another and you're hooked, have to watch what happens next. I think Dragon Ball is the best example of that, hell I followed it and am now about 500 or so episodes deep? That's counting GT and Kai.

Also, what isn't highlighted here, the voices. English and Japanese, you may not like the stories or creative decisions, but man those voice actors put so much into it, the quintessential screaming anime. I was just watching DBS 39 where Goku goes Kaioken over his Super Saiyan Blue, and I kept picturing the raw voice of the English Goku, Sean Schemmel. Something really piercing and powerful, and in the show, there's some mixing and engineering, echoing work, peppering it up, but at the core, is one man in a booth screaming like mad for a few minutes, which on paper doesn't sound difficult, but sustain that second to second, it's insane. Really the last few years I've gotten much more appreciative of the voices, and I think Kai and Super have that edge, especially in the US versions because now the cast are experienced, screaming for almost 20 years. Japanese cast, most of them date back to Z in 1989, Masako Nozawa voiced Goku from the very beginning of the anime, 1986, over 30 fucking years, she's such a sacred cow, can't even shit on the voice, even if it's an old woman voicing this iconic character. In hindsight, I'd probably recommend Dragon Ball to an older person if they want to hear voice actors swing for the fences and hit homeruns.

That's ultimately why I can't even have a dislike towards Dragon Ball (well, I get more sour about the DBZ ending, fuck Uub and stuff). For example, I was really confused and almost angry at the Vegito return and how it transitioned to Trunks being such a Deus Ex Machina at the end of the Goku Black arc, but man the voices were on point. Trunks' little speech about "we" and having a sword imbued with strong and wavering spirits, the Japanese voice of Zamasu's death scream, it puts to rest those negative feelings because the acting's so fucking good.

So, don't just watch the show, listen. Even if Dragon Ball and even Z are archaic in sound quality, that rustic charm is endearing. I spent way too much time typing this out, but that's because I love Dragon Ball so much. Given that, it sounds like a show to try out, right? A one sentence "Because it's Dragon Ball" doesn't work. An essay? Yeah, I think it does. Fucking Hell, I've been watching panel shows with the English voices of the show for about 5 hours now, I paused one to type this post out. So, yeah, actually this panel has the Japanese voice of Vegeta, Ryō Horikawa, that's cool.
 
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ATofix

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My favorite way to enjoy at least the Z series was through playing Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Wii. All the fun fights, no filler and you actually get to be part of the action.
Actually, a big reason I'm watching it is Dragonball Fighterz looks awesome and I want to see if that awesome fighting translates over into the series.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

SO what I've concluded is I should watch the original. Then the battle of the Gods, Then DBS?
 

WeedZ

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Actually, a big reason I'm watching it is Dragonball Fighterz looks awesome and I want to see if that awesome fighting translates over into the series.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

SO what I've concluded is I should watch the original. Then the battle of the Gods, Then DBS?
Just watch dbz, at least from the saiyan saga through buu saga. Then youll have a enough for dbs. You can go back to db (the original) and gt (a sort of spin off that is set after the events of dbs) while watching dbs without breaking the flow.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also, skip the movies atm. Most of them are a recap of sagas anyway
 
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BORTZ

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Actually, a big reason I'm watching it is Dragonball Fighterz looks awesome and I want to see if that awesome fighting translates over into the series.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

SO what I've concluded is I should watch the original. Then the battle of the Gods, Then DBS?
I'm going to save you a lot of time. No. It does not.
 
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WeedZ

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I'm going to save you a lot of time. No. It does not.
There are some cool moments as far as fights go. But yeah, mostly..
tumblr_lig2qcCt3j1qgfevpo1_400.gif
 
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Actually, a big reason I'm watching it is Dragonball Fighterz looks awesome and I want to see if that awesome fighting translates over into the series.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

SO what I've concluded is I should watch the original. Then the battle of the Gods, Then DBS?
It only translates into about 4 fights throughout 100s of episodes. Personally I'd say if you want to watch go

original DB>Kai to the Cell arc>History of Trunks movie>Bardock movie>DBZ og from there on to the end>battle of gods>super

But it's only worth it if you think you'd like a crazy long shounen anime that's quality arguable makes a steep decrease after Kai.

I'm going to save you a lot of time. No. It does not.
Especially with the way animation quality drops in Super :(
 
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I am actually pretty sad that there isn't an updated game (like Xenoverse) that allows one to play through the entire existing Dragon Ball and onward story like DBZ BT 3 for the Wii/PS2.

To that end. I am glad that I can experience Naruto in this fashion with the Ultimate Ninja Storm games.
 

ATofix

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It only translates into about 4 fights throughout 100s of episodes. Personally I'd say if you want to watch go

original DB>Kai to the Cell arc>History of Trunks movie>Bardock movie>DBZ og from there on to the end>battle of gods>super

But it's only worth it if you think you'd like a crazy long shounen anime that's quality arguable makes a steep decrease after Kai.


Especially with the way animation quality drops in Super :(
Really? Don't you like the animation in super? I personally think it looks really nice.
 

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Really? Don't you like the animation in super? I personally think it looks really nice.
...

1379007683892525859.jpg

1379007683618939939.jpg

And fights overall look much stiffer than they did, as well. Super seems to stay within Toei's animation team, but DBZ actually brought in animation teams from other shows, with greater skill, to animate some of DBZ's best moments. At least the latest arc in Super looks a bit better than prior episodes, but still. It doesn't feel the same at all.
 

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Watch all of dragon ball and dbz. Dont watch gt, it is not important story. Watch battle of gods movie. Skip season 1 of dbs. Season 1 is just the battle of gods movie mixed in with a lot of boring filler.
 

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Why is everyone putting so much importance on dragonball and battle of the gods? Dragonball has almost zero impact on z except for understanding some history of certain characters, groups and the dragonballs, which can be quickly understood without having watched it. Battle of the gods is literally a condensed synopsis of the first part of super.
 

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Why is everyone putting so much importance on dragonball and battle of the gods? Dragonball has almost zero impact on z except for understanding some history of certain characters, groups and the dragonballs, which can be quickly understood without having watched it. Battle of the gods is literally a condensed synopsis of the first part of super.

Mainly to underdstand character back stories.


I said to skip season 1 of super because an hour long movie summerizes it.
 

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so
get all the episodes
even from GT because people say it's bad, and yea it's a biiit but not so bad and the intro is great
and watch EVERYTHING
and don't care about those kiddos bitching with "uuuuughhh just DBZ is gud, the others are BAAAAAD now i will play minescreft and drink my toddyinho"
 

KevinLSX

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so
get all the episodes
even from GT because people say it's bad, and yea it's a biiit but not so bad and the intro is great
and watch EVERYTHING
and don't care about those kiddos bitching with "uuuuughhh just DBZ is gud, the others are BAAAAAD now i will play minescreft and drink my toddyinho"
Gt isnt canon. If op is trying to get into db it would be a waste of time to watch a spin off
 

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