Dragon Ball Arc Rating/Review

[Captain Cadaver]

Ultimate Dragon Balls Arc Average Score - 0.75/10

Now, the Baby Arc.

For what it's worth, this is the best arc in GT by far. The M2 segment alone helped increase the scale much like previous arcs of DB and Z with Rild surpassing Boo in his base form alone and Baby's parasitic control being quite a unique way of a crafty foe competing with the far stronger heroes. Baby in himself is unique in being perhaps the most justified villain in the entire franchise other than Namek Arc Vegeta, as all he wished to do was avenge and revive his race, a backstory that also links back to previously established, yet not fleshed out lore and done far better than with the Hatchiyack OVA. Alongside this, Super Saiyan 4 also links in well with Toei's previously established lore such as Golden Oozaru being a good throwback to Vegeta's imagination of a Super Saiyan in the anime, with SS4's design helping show the primal return to Saiyan routes. Golden Oozaru Vegeta-Baby further aids in this arc's focus on Saiyans and Tsufurians due to it being the most pure display of Baby's intentional irony of using the Saiyans' power to exterminate them. His use of mind controlling the cast was a unique way of utilising the trope of "turning the heroes' power against them" trope that had been used in the Cell and Boo Arcs, even if it being the third time makes it more of a negative than a positive.
However, there was still a lot of flaws to this arc. For instance, Elder Kaioshin knowing of how to unlock Super Saiyan 4 when he knew so little of Super Saiyans he referred to them as "Super whateveritis" during the Boo Arc. The Sugorokukan segment was absolutely pointless, with the characters met during it having no role afterwards, meaning nothing would've changed by just having Kibitoshin successfully Kai Kai Goku to the Kaioshinkai. Also, the ending is yet again one in which only Goku can be relevant. The arc's themes also seem to not live up to their potential, since for what's essentially a race war between the Saiyans and Tsufurians, nobody seems to acknowledge Baby's point of view, with his role as a sole survivor of his race being little different to how Vegeta and Goku were during the Freeza Arc, but obviously there can't be any empathy towards villains in Toei works. Obviously Baby wasn't a villain who could be redeemed, but no mediation from the heroes on Baby's character did make what could've been good theme exploration in this arc feel redundant.

Score - 3.5/10

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Baby Arc is indeed GT's best arc. Baby is probably the first villain that has a great reason why he wants to attack the Saiyans in the first place. We've got SSjin4 which is arguably the best SSjin forms ever, Vegeta as a villain again but in different concept, everybody were against Goku which is breath of fresh air. The cons are, the arc should've been longer and utilizing Gohan and the others more, Pan annoying as always, buries Majuub, the fights were boring.

5/10

 

[Papasmurf]

A pretty terrible arc that had the potential to be somewhat morally complex but suffers from horrendous execution. Baby's grudge against the Saiyans would've been handled better had he shown some slight good to his character like a "fallen hero" type should, but his screaming, whiny nature and the antilogic of his grudge somehow being greater toward Goku (a low-class amnesiac) than Vegeta, bring his villainy down completely. Most of his kills (attempted kills) somehow end in futility even when the main character isn't involved (e.g. failing to kill Piccolo and the half Saiyans), not to mention trying to kill Piccolo would completely ruin his plan had it succeeded

Sugoroku space and such are garbage of such magnitude that sucking ass doesn't even begin to describe those episodes, and the only half decent fight scenes are Oob vs. Baby (still shit) or SSJ4 Goku vs. Baby, which are still filled with cringey attempts to pass off as "DBZ" that fail due to awful dialogue and Bleach-like bragging at every turn.

Despite the arc's many faults it would've saved GT from being the trainwreck it is had it ended here, with the Golden Oozaru/SSJ4 transformation at least being far more creative than AT's recent line of color change transformations, and despite the overabundance of shitty base Saiyan fight scenes and power inconsistencies (Dende scaring Kibitoshin, etc.) there was some actual tension in the later stages of the arc unlike 90% of the evil dragons or the atrocity that is Super #17.

So 2/10 I guess.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Baby Arc Average Score - 3.5/10

Now the Super #17 Arc.

To start off with it's positives, the focus on villains returning from Hell was pulled off far better than in Movie 12, wherein they were all a one minute cameo. Having #18 have some plot relevance was nice and seeing her be essential support in taking down Super #17 was more original than most arellc climaxes. However, that's where the positives end.

The arc was a trainwreck from it's inception. We're immediately told that Gero intended #17 to be stronger than Cell, yet Vegeta interrupted his upgrade. Not only does this contradict #17's purpose (being a plot device to further Cell's story), but also is debunked by Future #17 not having this problem and being weaker than his present self.
Even ignoring that, the amount that it borrowed from the Cell Arc and Movie 12 make it completely unoriginal. Goku being trapped in Hell was also stupid, considering Boo and Gotenks were capable of breaking holes in dimensions and Super #17's weaknes, whilst a good idea on paper, was executed so poorly when seeing that characters who were ants to him could kill him through it. Easily the worst story arc until those of Super.

Score - 1/10

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Nothing is really memorable on this arc other than #18 and that's because Krillin got owned again. :Krillin

1/10

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Super #17 Arc Overall Score - 1/10

Now, the Evil Dragons Arc.

This arc had potential at first. Although the premise of having a villain that the Zet-Senshi's exploits inadvertently created had already been done (and far better) with Cell, the way in which the Evil Dragons were handled at least didn't seem to be borrowing heavily from previous arcs like the other GT Arcs did. However, this is completely bastardised once the fight with Yi Xing Long starts. Not only is Galu's power up the same as in the Baby Arc, but once Gogeta is formed, it becomes a Boo Arc ripoff.

It also doesn't help that characterisation was very poor in this arc. For one, Elder Kaioshin knowing about the Minus Energy, yet only giving the cast a cryptic clue about something so dangerous beforehand was stupid. We also have no reason as to why only Goku and Pan went hunting for the Dragons prior to the fight with Yi, since it would've resulted in far more variety in the fights. The execution may have made the Dragons (aside from Liang) too strong for any of the supporting cast other than Oob or Vegeta to help out against, but it'd still make sense for them to be there instead of showing up just for the last battle. It also doesn't help that this arc's final villain had absolutely no personality and just looked cool.

The arc did at least have a more solid ending than the Boo Arc, though that's not enough to provide it much points when it ended up being a poor man's version of that arc during the final battle.

Score - 1.5/10

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

2nd best arc of the series. Great potential, but failed to execute it. The beginning of the arc felt so promising as we could probably see Goku, Vegeta and Gohan might join on hunting the SDs but fuck Pan has to ruin it everything and it ruined the hype of the arc. It also doesn't help that they allowed some comedy gags around there when the arc felt a big deal. So in short, BitchPan ruined the first beginning of the arc.

The battle against Nouva Shenron where it started to feel seriously and Goku meet his match. Then Syn Shenron arrived and completely destroyed Goku and the Eng dub even make it worse where Syn's power up destroyed the city which amazed Goku. Goku surpassing his limit was cool, Syn turning into Omega was cool, SSjin4 Vegeta was cool, the almighty Gogeta was good but not great and that's because how he acted so childish and I know he had reason for his actions but it was a ripped off Vegito/Boo fight. Then you have Goku in his base forms being so much stronger than his SSjin4 where Omega needs put a lot of effort into his attack against Goku.

The ending was cool but it didn't explain well.

5/10

 

[xenos5]

Haze Shenron was the absolute worst embarassment. His pollution powers made him more akin to a captain planet villain. Him and some other shadow dragons were completely pathetic.

 

[Pocket-Gog~]

How did the Cell Arc get the second worst score? Sheesh.

Agreed. It should be the worst.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Evil Dragons Arc Overall Score - 3.25/10

Now onto Super, with the Battle of Gods Arc.

I won't repeat most of the details I did in the movie review, so to keep it short, I'll say that the main positives are introducing a new tier and build up for the series as well as actually having Galu admit defeat, whereas the main negative is Super Saiyan God being so easy to achieve in retrospect, since 6 Saiyans just need to hold hands for one of them to get it. Another thing that's absolutely plot breaking is the Oracle Fish being one of the biggest plot holes in Super. Prophecy can't exist in a series with multiple timelines, especially not when the prophecy never happened in Trunks' timelines. Time travel doesn't work like that.

As for how the Super manga's version compares, it's overall worse than the movie due to just being a rushed work that only offers the highlights of the movie. Beerus' introduction and actions are far blander than in the movie as well. The only positive I'd give it is that Beerus and Galu's Universe level feat was a far better way of conveying how far above everything before them God Ki really is. Overall, it was too rushed to be a solid story, making it far inferior to the movie.

Score - 1.5/10

Anime-wise, we have enough to call it an actual arc, yet it has the opposite problem in being too drawn out compared to the Battle of Gods movie. Whilst the Beerus VS SSG Galu fight is a lot longer, it's also worse due to asspull power ups (Goku regenerating from the damage Beerus caused him, despite he and Vegeta never displaying this ability against later foes like Black), as well as Goku completely absorbing his SSG power into his SSJ form causing some problems with his use of the form in the current arc. Overall, it's just as bad as the manga version, if not worse.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

The arc is much better than anything that GT can produced. Beerus and Whis introductions were awesome with Beerus destroying the half of the planet, the hype is much better than the movie although the only negative in this movie was having the event takes place on that Titanic. Vegeta being a family man for a day was awesome, Mr. Satan continues his awesome works, it established that Super > GT in terms of power scaling that had been going on since the release of BoG movies.

7/10

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Battle of Gods Arc Overall Score - 4.25/10

Now, the Resurrection F Arc.

I'll only bother talking about the anime version for this, since the manga is just promotional material for the movie.
Again, I'll only summarise what I said in the movie review. The arc fails for the most part due to a weak plot that's a rehash of the Freeza Arc, any sort of logic going out the window with Freeza's training gains, the new forms being just colour swaps and the arc being settled with something as lazy as a time reset.
However, I will say the writing for the arc in the anime was a little better than the movie, since we actually saw Goku and Vegeta's training and were given an explanation about how Tagoma and Shisami became so strong, rather than just coming to the conclusion through assumptions as we did for Movie Shisami. Piccolo dying also offers some level of threat for the arc, unlike the movie wherein everyone comes out alright. However, we still didn't get a good explanation on how Goku and Vegeta obtained SSB, or what kind of training Freeza did to become so strong. It also doesn't help that the animation and art are far worse than the film, making it hard to even pass as dumb entertainment. Whilst I'd say it's better than the film, it's not by enough to deserve a different score.

Score - 1/10

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

I didn't watch the movie version but a few clips of Eng dub version of the anime.

 

[Papasmurf]

Yeah the arc is trash nearly rivaling the Super 17 arc

1/10

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Resurrection F Arc Overall Score - 1/10

Now, the Universe 6 Arc.

Despite being the first wholly new content we got in Super, it was an even worse arc than the two that came before it. For one, it's a generic tournament arc with barely any stakes. Goku even makes it evidently clear the only ones concerned about the outcome are Beerus and Champa, which isn't compelling when both of them are highly selfish characters. It also doesn't help that Frost's existence was purely fanserviceful. Him pulling a bait and switch to show him as no different from Freeza made him a waste of a character, coupled by the fact it was purely so Vegeta could get the win against "Freeza", which we wouldn't have had to endure had the anime fixed the ending of the FnF Arc. It was nice to see abilities play a role in combating superior power, though it was reduced to a simple tactic of it falling apart once one of the U7 fighters countered it, leaving the U6 fighters mainly being one trick ponies.
The only reason it existed was to introduce characters who'll be relevant in the current arc, and even that doesn't help when all of the fighters were very bland characters. Botamo is just a generic opponent who brags about his ability, I've already gone over Frost being the epitome of unoriginal and fanservice, Magetta was interesting due to his weakness, but that was a one note thing. Cabba is just a relevant Tarble with completely pathetic pythons for a Saiyan, brotha! Hit was the only likeable character out of the bunch, and even then, he isn't anything spectacular. Beyond being a stoic badass, there's not much depth to his character beyond being a typical rival.

Score - 1/10

Anime-wise, the arc was made even worse due to adding a major plot hole (Vegeta knowing about Oob), as well as the utilisation of Kaioken x10 making powerscaling for the anime awry from thereon, due to Beerus initially seeming intimidated by x2-3, despite the fact that from what we know currently, even x20 should be nothing to him. Hit's abilities were a lot more interesting, but at the same time, it made him too overly broken for his own good, to the point he feels more like a Gary Stu. Goku's pre-Blue performance against him is also far more perplexing due to the anime not including the statement of SSB Vegeta's power dropping to 10%.

 

[Papasmurf]

Would've been better if Beerus at least made it clear he'd erase the Earth should they lose, but alas it was never the case.

2/10 due to not making me suicidal

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Well the arc introduced us some great characters like Hit, Champa, Vados, but it also introduced us some dumb characters like Magetta, Botamo and Cabba. Frost was one of the highlight of the show, he could've been execute better but not enough. Goku Vs Hit was awesome but hated how they retcon Beerus's power. Moreover, the stakes doesn't give us a hype at all.

4/10

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Universe 6 Arc Overall Score - 2.3/10

Now, the Future Trunks Arc.

This was the first arc of Super to be primarily a serious story similar to the arcs from Piccolo Daimao to Cell. However, the quality, or lack thereof, show that a lighthearted mediocrity is still better than a serious trainwreck.

The arc is automatically made bottom tier by how it's time travel logic becomes inconsistent. In DBZ, whilst there were a lot of inconsistencies you'd have to chalk up to the butterfly effect somehow being in effect with multiverse theory, the time travel at least was semi-coherent. In Super, however, Zamasu's time travel is filled with paradoxes so flawed Toei had to make a chart to explain it that still ends up nonsensical.
Next is the problem of it's villains. Black is a character who's only good when a mystery. When we learn he's little more than Ginyu 2.0, the mystery is gone and so is any intrigue his character had. Also, it makes no sense he can gain Zenkais with Goku's body when Goku can no longer do so with his own. Zamasu is also a poor villain. He may be different from most other previous DB villains, but different doesn't mean better. In the grand scope of things, he's basically your typical Saint Seiya villain with even more narcissism and hypocrisy, especially the latter, given without the wish from the Super Dragon Balls, he's every bit as mortal as the NINGEN he despises.

The execution of the arc's fights and progression were also very poor. All it takes is a Rosat trip for Vegeta to turn the tables on Black, despite his gains in the previous arc from triple the training being minimal (though you could assume it was purely from better utilisation of SSB), Goku & Vegeta waiting too long to fuse or for the former to quickly end the arc with the Zen-Oh button, Goku somehow being able to master SSB to a level far above Vegeta, who couldn't at the time for no reason and Goku asspulling Hakai.
The ending is also pretty poor. Although you could say there was consequence due to the timeline Future Trunks and Mai went to not being their own, it really isn't anything beyond slightly bittersweet. Trunks still found a timeline identical to his own to get a somewhat happy ending, making the loss seem far less poignant.
Easily the worst arc of the series up until the Tournament of Power pushed the bar even lower.

Score - 1/10

Anime-wise, things are far worse. Black and Zamasu are made far less efficient (failing to complete the Zero Mortals Plan until Zen-Oh did it for them) and even manage to have the mortals they're trying to kill escape not once, but twice. The utilisation of SSB is far less interesting. Future Trunks is also hoisted into the position of generic Shonen lead at the end of the battle with Zamasu. His asspull power ups aren't the worst in Super, considering Gohan can gain far greater power ups in less time, but his role as a healer in the manga made far more sense, as it actually explained why Mai could possibly survive a hit from Black. Gowasu is also made more incompetent in the anime due to letting Zamasu fight a battle hungry mortal to prove not all mortals are violent, a true oxymoron. The battles, whilst more original than the nostalgia fuelled ones of the manga, are also worse due to wasting more time on sequences that only exist to stall time, such as Black's clones or Zamasu's pointless Halo technique. I like to dub the arc Dragon Bleach due to that, as the way the fights play out feel like characters are pulling out their Bankais in a perpetual dick measuring context as in Detergant. The Anime version of the Future Trunks Arc was the bottom tier shit of the franchise and evidence that Super can only ride on nostalgia, as almost every time they try to do something different, it fails hard (until ToP went even lower).

 

[Papasmurf]

Yeah this arc is more or less DBS' version of part 2 Naruto. It starts off with some promise and decent concepts such as a more formidable and srs antagonist, intrigue and whatnot but completely falls apart sometime before the antagonists fuse, which is made worse by their characters going even more stale upon fusing and a grand cavalcade of asspull after asspull plaguing the show. I still rank it above shit like the shinobi war's second half or Bleach, but primarily due to not being as lengthy (even then the manga taking a literal year to finish makes this not really a strength).

Some silver linings include some minor character development and somewhat more strategy to the fights

1/10

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Manga:

Pros:

1. We've got to see SSjin Black.
2. Some great informations like Zamasu unable to emerge from fusion and the Potara stuffs.
3. More reason why Black needs Zamasu.
4. SSjinB Vegito being officially said to be stronger than Beerus (the ceiling that we've been waiting for to be shatter by mortals.)
5. No Jedi Trunks.
6. Vegeta learning that Future Bulma really wanted to meet him again but was killed by Black first.
7. Merged Zamasu destroying Goku and Vegeta with ease which was the right thing to do.

Cons:
1. Less character development for Zamasu/Black.
2. SSjinGay Vegeta because of that terrible artwork of Toyotaro.
3. Inconsistent stuff like SSjin2 Vegeta manhandling SSjin Black.
4. Zamasu's death felt so lame.

Anime:

Pros:
1. Great character development of Zamasu's character and Black.
2. Black stabbing Vegeta, killing Goten and Chi Chi.
3. Awesome fights in all of their 3 encounters
4. Black and Zamasu blaming Trunks as being responsible of this mess which is true BTW.
5. SSjinRage Trunks was awesome as hell with his Broly's little mannerism.
6. The partnership between Black and Future Zamasu.
7. Trunks playing a huge role in this arc.
8. Zeno killing Universal Zamasu.
9. SSjinB Vegito Vs Merged Zamasu.
10. KK Goku Vs Merged Zamasu (despite how ridiculous was that but the drama was there which is the most important thing in the entertainment.)
11. The Father-Son Galick Gun stuff was awesome!
12. Merged Zamasu's anger towards the mortal being visible was intense!

Cons:
1. Black constantly powers up by getting beaten up.
2. Trunks with that spirit bomb.
3. The fight between Merged Zamasu Vs Vegeta, Goku and Trunks with that ridiculous gap.
4. Merged Zamasu and SSjinB Vegito still weaker than Beerus is bullshit.
5. The Mafuba stuff.

7/10