Dragon Ball Arc Rating/Review

[Captain Cadaver]

To those not familiar with such a thread, the rules are simple:

- Arcs are rated on a scale of 1 to 10
- A review must be provided alongside them. The length is flexible, though it must be enough to show a concise opinion.
- One arc per day.
- Manga versions of the arc, though if you have enough of a differing opinion of the arc in each medium, you can also add a secondary review/score for their anime counterparts. We'll be covering up to the Boo Arc, though if there's a demand for more, we'll go into GT and Super.

Once the day has passed, I'll tally up the scores to find the Zeta average score and then move on to the next arc.

---

So, we begin with the Hunt for the Dragon Balls Arc, or the Son Goku Arc (or the Pilaf Arc if you just watched the anime or the dub).

This arc had a somewhat simplistic structure as most of the threats didn't tie into each other, making many events seem unconnected. However, this works well in an adventure arc such as this, as all the characters had varied overall goals revolving around the Dragon Balls. As an arc to introduce the series, it does a great job at displaying differences between our world such as Capsules and the Kinto Un. It does have problems when compared to the other arcs of the series, due to the comedic tone causing a few inconsistencies such as Goku being able to breathe in space and his Nyoibo being able to extend to the moon, though if viewed in isolation, it still holds up as a fun, whacky adventure.
Speaking of continuity, the arc also presents the first implication of Goku being an alien. Whilst Toriyama definitely hadn't thought of it yet, it does work as slight foreshadowing when viewed in retrospect, hence boosting the arc's score.

One aspect I feel is vastly overlooked by the community is characterisation. The character interactions between all of the main cast is consistently entertaining, with everyone having distinct personalities and goals. Moreover, it's also interesting to see how Toriyama subverts the convention of the just band of heroes and comradery, as prior to being captured by Pilaf, most of the gang were pretty selfish in their goals, with Bulma using Goku and Oolong for her own desires. It's made even more entertaining by Yamcha, who was considered a villain before that point, showed the purest sense of selfless friendship with Pu-erh, whilst the final villain of the arc, Pilaf has a lot of loyalty from his subordinates, despite him not having any real means beyond weaponry for them to be forced into serving him. Most importantly though is that this is the only arc in the series wherein every member of the main cast manages to hold equal importance in the plot, despite over half of the gang not being fighters. Bulma's genius allows for the gang to get so far, Oolong saves them by interrupting Pilaf's wish and even someone as irrelevant as Pu-erh plays a vital role by cutting off Oozaru Goku's tail. This level of relevance in it's cast despite their diverse physical and characteristic abilities makes this a very underrated arc. I'd even go as far as to say it's the best arc in the series purely due to it having little to know actual flaws within it beyond it's simplicity.

Score - 7/10

Anime-wise, the addition of Pilaf's gang in earlier antics make their reveal as the final villains seem far more relevant, with their comedic antics boosting the arc's score in terms of entertainment and characterisation of those outside the main cast. I also like the additional scene of Yamcha saving Bulma, making his transition into not being afraid of women seeming far more realistic and significant. I'd say the anime does a better job of this arc than the manga, though not by enough to warrant a completely different score.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Pilaf Arc:

Goku meeting Bulma was fun along meeting guys like Yamcha, Puar, Oolong, Roshi, Ox King and Chi Chi. Comedy was great with Yamcha touching Bulma's boobs, Goku trying to identify everyone's gender and with Mr. Rabbit. It's one of the great adventure that Toriyama produced. Goku's characterization development was fun as he meets more people in this arc.

4/10

 

[Animelover5487]

Son Goku arc


Pros

- The wacky, lighthearted adventure tone works well with it being the prologue.

- It has a lot of great comedy moments: The running gag of Goku understanding the difference between a man and a woman, especially when he underessed Bulma while she was sleeping or who could forget the time she showed Roshi her pussy? Yamcha, Oolong and Roshi were hilarious too.

- Monster Carrot. I felt Monster Carrot was an interesting character with a unique ability, it's a shame he didn't get more screentime.


Cons

- Monster Carrot's defeat contradicts everything established later in the story. I know it's a gag but still I don't like when a story has to contradict it self for the purpose of a quick joke.

- Quite a bit of the chapters/episodes are forgettable since this arc isn't as story-based as the later arcs a lot of it comes off as padding.

- Chi-Chi and Ox King's lack of screentime following their debut. Since we are talking about the manga we never see Chi-Chi again until the 23rd Budokai which I find odd, especially with the confirmation that Goku accidentally proposed to her off-panel making her presence at the tournament come off as kind of weird and random.

- Pilaf and his henchmen were boring. I have never been a fan of Pilaf and think having him be the main villain of the arc was what dragged it down. I mean, I understand that he fits the tone but still he just isn't memorable, I felt he could have been replaced by any other wacky bad guy.


Score: 4/10. I think the cons outweigh the pros somewhat, aside from the humor and Monster Carrot's unique ability I felt there was nothing too noteworthy about the arc, I cut it a bit of slack since it was the first arc but still in general it's not too solid of an arc.

 

[Flame]

Hunt for the Dragon Balls- 8/10

Probably from start to finish of Dragon Ball this is the worst part, but it isn't necessarily bad. It had a lot of setting up mostly and the series was far from perfection. The humor was probably what carried this the most, the anime especially was that way. Quite honestly Yamcha vs Goku is one of the greatest Dragon Ball fights ever in the Dragon Ball Universe. An awesome fight and a humorous weakness for Yamcha. I don't really need to mention the humor of Yamcha and Bulma in the bus. Fighting is lacking in this part of the series, but once again it was a set up for what was to come. It was still enjoyable and entertaining, I'd probably actually give the anime a higher rating than 8/10.

 

[Papasmurf]

5/10

I liked the humor and the character moments, it was also consistently entertaining moreso than the fodder beat em up game that the RRA saga was. It was also cool watching Roshi pull the Kamehameha and such, although most of the cast other than Bulma and Yamcha to some extent just getting forgotten after this arc was a little lame.

 

[freezamite]

I give it a solid 7/10

Despite it not trying to do anything especially complicated, it served its purpose very well. Goku is a very appealing protagonist for a manga, and the humour is on point.
I don't care if it breaks tons of rules that will be introduced later (like Goku going to the moon) because an author has to be coherent with the rules he has already introduced, not rules that at those moments weren't even planned.

The art is good even if not as good as it will be, and the jokes are on point. The main cast is varied in terms of both design and personalities (the contrast between Bulma and Goku works wonders here, and mutenroshi, yamcha, puar, oolong or pilaf are also pretty original characters with a personality trait that defines them).

It does what it has to do and it does it well.

 

[ahill1]

Man, Captain Cadaver's analysis is SO good that I feel somewhat ashamed of showimg my puny one, even more when some of its points will pretty much be a repeat of what he said. Still, I think it's better posting my own (even though it's pretty meh) than going with the "what CC said" route.

Goku having that innocent nature (mostly for not having any contact with other humans besides his granpa) came off as pretty funny to me, with lots of moments in which I legit lol'd (e.g Goku letting that bird dinossaur tie him up with the excuse of being Bulma's friend, not giving a damn about Bulma's ass [why would I like to touch in your disgusting butt lol] and comparing Bulma's tits to a butt). It pretty much made Goku into a charismatic and soft character, giving him somewhat of a cuteness that I enjoyed. It was also a good set up for the 23rd Budokai, wherein Bulma said something like "who would think that small Goku would turn out to be this one as potent as a mountain", making a perfect representation of an innocent little kid that would turn out to be someone really important. Goku's interaction with others characters like Yamcha, Oolong and Bulma was pretty well made, as well as how they got along in a "we'll team up and get friends if we have to face a common enemy", not to mention Goku and Yamcha respecting each other's as martial artistis.

I completely agree with CC that the anime's earlier addition of the Pilaf's gang gave them a better characterization in general and was a good set up for them as the first arc final villains, as well as the anime's posterior addiction of them in fillers at the RRA arc, making them less of rushed villains, imo.

To sum it up, a pretty good arc with its strongest point being showing how some of the main Dragon Ball cast like Goku, Yamcha, Oolong and Bulma got along, as well as fun interactions between them.

8/10.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Let me guess, if you guys rate the Pilaf Arc to be 8/10 and rate the Saiyan Arc by 9/10, does that mean Pilaf Arc ~ Saiyan Arc in your opinion?

 

[ahill1]

I think they are good in their unique ways. Saiyans saga is more epic, while the "Hunting Dragon Balls" saga is more gagish, with more funny and gags moments. Maybe their score will end up somewhat close (I'd rate Saiyans saga at 9.5), but it's tough to rate something I really liked such as this saga in question with less than 8 imo.

 

[freezamite]

Let me guess, if you guys rate the Pilaf Arc to be 8/10 and rate the Saiyan Arc by 9/10, does that mean Pilaf Arc ~ Saiyan Arc in your opinion?

Dragon Ball is a drama, are you seriously expecting an introductory arc to be as emotionally investing as an arc that could perfectly be the last one in the series if the author wanted it?
If the pilaf arc was between the Cell and Bu sagas I would give it a 5 or less, but it was the first arc in the series and it has to be reviewed taking this into consideration.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Hunt for the Dragon Balls Average Score - 6.1/10

Now, the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai.

There were many things for me that made this not only the best tournament arc in Dragon Ball, but one of the best in any Shonen. The early events have the most focus on training out of any segment in the series, showcasing a very nice wax-on, wax-off approach to strength building, as well as taking the time to show good characterisation and interactions due to Goku and Kuririn's different personalities showing us alternate ways in which to handle the situation. Compared to other series at the time with tournament arcs such as Ring ni Kakero and Kinnikuman, this DB Arc had a far better focus on training in preparation for the event and made Goku and Kuririn's results seem far more well earned.

Onto the Budokai itself, the plot can be seen as somewhat basic in it's structure, as expected of a tournament, but handles this as best as a tournament could. All the matches were very entertaining, showing a good balance between strength and abilities, with the final match between Jackie Chun and Goku being a great watch due to how they were constantly changing their battle tactics to match their opponent. Never since has Toriyama also had a fight so close, to the point that it had to be concluded by one of the fighters maintaining the strength to stand up and talk. Moreover, despite Toriyama usually penning a simple narrative of wanting Goku to win and usually villainising his opponents, this thankfully wasn't made so black and white here due to the audience having just as much desire to see Goku win to prove the results of his training as they would for Roshi to win and give Goku a desire to become stronger. Hell, we even had a minor character to root for due to Namu needing to bring water to his village. Most importantly though is that it subverts what's still a standard in tournament arcs today by not having the protagonist win in the end.

There were a few minor problems in the arc, though. For instance, Lunch was a pretty pointless character, only existing because a fanservice character was needed with Bulma gone and to perform a gag that got so old in such a short amount of time, Toriyama had to subvert it about 2-3 chapters after introducing it. Also, the fact that Oozaru Goku never left the ring during or after his transformation seems very convenient for Goku to not lose by TKO. Nevertheless, I find these pretty minor compared to the positives it brought.

Like the previous arc, I find this to be another arc that works better in the anime, though not by enough to offer it a different score. There was a lot more moments in between battle that allowed for better build up and a look into each character's personalities, particularly the Goku VS Giran episode.

Score - 6/10

 

[Animelover5487]

21st Tenkaichi Budokai

Pros

- The turtle hermit training excerises they did were classics. Delivering milk, mowing the lawn with hands, etc this type is training is much mor realistic and relateable then the over the top training methods in Z and it does make the power up they recieve more rewarding.

- Lunch. I liked her gimmick of going from a sweet, blue haired lady to a violent, gun-toting criminal. It made for some hilarious moments.

- Kuririn's character development. Kuririn left the Orin Temple to go train under Roshi after being bullied for being smaller and weaker than the other students (which is all too relateable) after training with Goku he gains confidence, stands up to and one shots his former bully.

- The humor. Since we are still in the gag portion of DB the arc is full of humor. From Roshi covering up his Jackie Chun identity to the wacky fights.

- Goku vs Jackie Chun. This is the best fight in DB imo and ranks in the top 10 overall best fights of the franchise. The fight is simply a classic.



Cons.....hmm can' think of any cons.



Anyway, I will give it a 9/10 I don't think the arc was perfect but it was damn near it. The humor was great, the fights were great and memorable, the development was good and just all around a great arc.

 

[ahill1]

Another pretty good review, CC.

The 21st Budokai did put an emphasis on Kuririn and Goku's method of training, which I really liked (a different method than the normal training of punching each other and learning techniques) and served as inspiration for others series like HxH. I also really enjoyed Kame-Sen'nin's way throughout the arc, initialy being reluctant in accepting both as his disciples, but when done so, going to the extreme to build them up the better way possible to the path of Martial Arts, in which a defeat is a fundamental thing in the maturing of a warrior. Good to see that, unlike the other Tournaments, there aren't that kind of "bad rivalry" let's say between the two finalists and a good array of techniques employed by the old man, against the young's incredible ability to learn fast and copy. Good to see how Goku didn't try to find excuses for his loss in the end and quickly recognized how he was still likely to lose even were him with a full stomach, with this loss being (maybe) fundamental in his path as a warrior. Like CC, this is also my favorite tournament.

8.5/10

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

21st Budokai is arguably the best in terms to leading to the tournament only because of Goku/Krillin/Roshi being so much funny and turtle hermit's training IMO. We have a funny rivalry between Goku and Krillin, Roshi trying his luck on Launch, etc. As for the tournament, it wasn't that really impressive compare to its other counterpart and the only matter in that tournament was Goku and Jackie Chan. One of the greatest fight in equal battle powers.

6/10

 

[Future Warrior]

Huge improvement over the first arc. I love the training segments due to how much focus they put into it contrary to what we see in later arcs. The humor is funny and the fight scenes are enjoyable. Roshi entering the tournament to beat Kuririn and Goku in order for them to become better fighters is a nice concept too. I respect this arc for showcasing that skill and technique crucial in battle. I have only two complaints, one being that I feel the relationship between Kuririn and Goku wasn't developed well, and fights not being that intense.

7.5/10

 

[freezamite]

The part leading to the tournament, as it's been said here, it's the best training saga of the whole series and it also serves to introduce Krilin and deephen into Mutenroshi, and the humor is even better than the pilaf saga. Regarding Lunch, even if it's a very limited character that will disappear from the series for a good reason, it was still funny enough in here (be it the novelty).
Regarding the tournament, I'm conflicted here. It surely is entertaining enough, and if this was any other series I would give it a solid 7/10. But DB became what it became thanks to the HUGE improvement Toriyama made in this area, both when it came to draw cohesive, spectacular and easy to follow fighting choreographies and getting deep with concepts like the varying Ki reserves of the fighters.
In the first department, those are by far the most simplistic coreographies in the whole series, and the masterful use of concepts like the remaining Ki of the fighters wouldn't begin until much later, so to be fair to the rest of the series I have to be much harsher here.

So with that on mind I'm forced to punish the tournament side of this saga and with that, the final score for this saga would be a 6/10.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

21st Tenkaichi Budokai Average Score - 7.2/10

Now, the Red Ribbon Army Arc.

I used to consider this the worst arc of Part 1, though after recent analysis, I've come to consider it better than I gave it credit for.

To start off on a critical note, this arc logically shouldn't exist, since the Dragon Balls should've needed 3-4 months before activating again. You could assume this time passed offscreen, though I can't remember whether or not the official timeline's dates would contradict that. Another flaw compared to other arcs in Part 1 is that the supporting cast are vastly underused for the first and third sections of this arc and even when they are of use during the General Blue portion, Goku is still the one who gets the most spotlight.

Those flaws aside, it has a lot of which is underappreciated. Whilst many complain that Goku had an easy time up until Taopaipai, that's obviously only true from a raw power perspective. One of this arc's best qualities in it's action is having more of an emphasis on power VS ability matches such as Goku VS Buyon, Goku VS Pirate Robot and Goku VS Blue, meaning some tactics were necessary in these battles for Goku to win. Along with this, the constantly changing locations allow for each battle to be unique. From the different rooms of Muscle Tower to the dangers in the Pirate Cave, this arc definitely has the most variety out of any in DB when it comes to battle locations and scenery. We also got to learn a lot more about the world and lore, through places like Metro West and Karin-to.
Moving onto the main meat of the arc though, the third part of it with Taopaipai is the best part by far. Along with Taopaipai's personality and performance making him one of the most badass characters in the series, the training Goku required to beat him was very well done in the same way as his Kame Sennin-ryu training, being more focused on the training and it's philosophies than the gains. The segment with the invasion of the Red Ribbon base was good as well, as it's nice to see one of the few instances of a group's mastermind not being the physically strongest member, grounding some level of realism that would later be phased out after the Piccolo Daimao Arc. It was also good that Black's Battle Jacket was capable of putting up enough of a fight to not make the confrontation anticlimactic.
The segment with Uranai Baba was pretty average. It had it's good points, such as even Upa and Pu-erh being able to hold some relevance and Goku's reunion with Gohan and using Gohan's memento to revive Bora allowing for what was at that point Goku's Hero's Journey to come full circle. At the same time, however, it resulted in sidelining Kuririn and Yamcha just to get Goku to solo over half the opponents.

Character-wise, this arc didn't develop anyone that much beyond the surface level, though it did at least fix it's initial mistake of character relevancy by having the supporting cast all play their role during the General Blue segment, with the interactions between Goku, Bulma and Kuririn along with everyone at Kame House playing a role when Captain Dark invaded. Many of the RRA had pretty distinct personalities, such as Murasaki being idiotic, yet funny, Blue's over the top campness being very entertaining when seeing it come from what's basically a Nazi and Taopaipai's serious nature not only offering us two of the best kills in the series, but also some deadpan comedy with a lot of his dialogue such as saying "Aloha!" when arriving at Karin Tower.

Score - 5.5/10

Anime-wise, I feel this arc is about equal to the manga due to adding in some good pros and cons. It was good to see Chichi and Gyumao, rather than having them absent throughout a large chunk of the original series, as well as seeing Pilaf and his gang be active. The strategy #8 had for he and Goku to get past White's maze was a lot more interesting than in the manga and the expansion/rewriting of the Penguin Village segment has a lot more going for it both as it's own segment of the plot for first time viewers and nice fanservice for the Dr. Slump fans. It also helps that in the anime, Violet seemed like an actual character, rather than a 0-dimensional cameo. However, it also came at the cost of the Dr. Frappe filler contradicting not only what we'd see in the Cell Arc, but also White saying he was the one who created #8 specifically, though at least it eliminates the Chekov's Gun that was #8's bomb. Also, the segments with Silver seem very out of touch in terms of the increase of scale, since it makes little sense for a Colonel like him to have a larger force than what a General invading Jingle Village would have. The Chichi filler also creates a plot hole in Chichi learning Goku thinks Bride and Marriage are types of food, yet being shocked by his naivete at the 23rd TB.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Red-Ribbon-Army Saga is under-appreciated. Everyone seems to not like that that much, but I can just watch it for young Goku, if nothing else. Always so funny. And the snowy location where Goku almost froze to death (I think he was almost) was also very kewl.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Red Ribbon Army is definitely one of the most underrated arc in DB's history. But for me it has such to do with my attention span since it felt like an eternity watching it on anime version, but in case of the manga version, it was really great and very easy to be entertained. The arc is more about Goku on his own against the villain which is rare in DB but it showed a rare characteristic of Goku [No gives a fuck] by killing all the RRA who gets in his way something that completely vanished later in the series. I just find the arc to be stalling until the arc hit General Blue along with Tao which is the highlight of the arc. I'm a kind of fan who tune more in serious stuff rather than just a normal adventure
therefore that's how I see it.

As for the Baba saga, it's just a way to established the fact that Goku is on whole new level compare to his friends including Roshi, also the scene with his Grandpa is one of the rare scene that made Goku cry with no comedy purpose.

6/10

 

[Flame]

Dang, I forgot to do this yesterday for the 21st Tournament oh well.

Red Ribbon Army- 9/10

The manga arc for this is way way way better than the anime. The struggle between Colonel Silver was short yet they had only the good parts that the anime had. Muscle Tower was incredible. The fight against Major Metallitron was, Ninja Murasaki was humorous, and the fight against Buyon was all right. Thankfully we didn't have to see the voyage to Dr. whatever in the manga. Next was General Blue Saga which is more tolerable in the manga and some good fights like Pirate Robot and we got to see Krillin get whooped. Arale was . . . horrible, the crossover should probably bump my rating down to 8/10. But I think that the two fights against Mercenary Tao and the Fortune Teller Baba Saga more than make up for that.