What Dragon Ball lacked sophistication in its narrative, it more than made up with its engaging storytelling and memorable conflicts. Contriving an epic story like Dragon Ball does require some skill, and I would argue there is an art into making Dragon Ball. However, we all know that the Dragon Ball franchise i✨s🌞n’t the most intelligent piece of media out there.
The franchise is known for its “making it up as we go” mentality, meaning the series would constantly come up with plot points out of thin air. Somehow, despite the odds, the series was able to construct a stoไry that was able to grab the atten🍬tion of viewers across the globe. I love it, and I know that there are millions of people in the world who feel the same.
But because we love something, doesn’t mean we have to be in love with every little detail. No matter how much I adore the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, there are some storylines I felt hurt the franchise, rather than help it. These storylines include Gohan’s whole story arc post the Cell Games, and most of Dragon Ball GT. Of course, there are storylines I do think end up saving the franchise, like both of Vegeta and Piccolo’s redemption arc. There are a lot of narrative arcs that have hurt, or saved, the franchise. For this list, I’ll only be going over 10 Storylines That Hurt Dragon Ball, And The 10 That Saved It.
20 🌞 Hurt – Black Star Dragon Balls In GT
I don’t hate Dragon Ball GT. At least, I don’t dislike it as much as most fans. There are definitely a lot of odd choices with the show, and I would argue that the first arc, the Black Star Dragon Balls saga, hurt GT the most. The second major arc, the Super 17 Saga, is probably worse than the first arc. However, it is in the first arc𒐪 where lead protagonist Goku is turned back into a li﷽ttle kid.
Apparently, this was done so that they could tone down Goku’s power level, and not make him so overpowered. Of course, their solution was ridiculous,▨ yet they stuck with Kid Goku throughout thᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚe entire show.
19 Saved𝓰 – Introducing Saiyans
Since most US fans' first exposure to the series came from Dragon Ball Z, rather than the original Dragon Ball, a lot of western fans have a hard time believing the series was anything but a sci-fi epic. Though the franchise always had sci-fi elements, including flying cars and capsules, the original Dragon Ball was mostly a fantasy.
The introduction of Saiyans in the first arc of the Dragon Ball Z opened the gates for the series to have a more sci-fi heavy setting. From there, the series would dwell int🐬o space traveling and time manipulation. Gone were the simple tales of fighting demons and martial artists; Goku was now facing the strongest things in the un🙈iverse.
18 🤡 Hurt – Wasting Uub’s Potential
Poor Dragon Ball GT, but the show really did suffer from very mediocre storytelling. There are parts I do love; however, Uub is not one of them. Introduced in the last few episodes of Dragon Ball Z, Uub is the good reincarnation of th🅷e villainous Kid Buu. Goku s♔aw potential in the boy and decided to train him.
You would assume any sequel series would follow through on that plotline, and further explore Uub as a character. Unfortunately, GT doe🦹s not do that. Instead, the show had Uub be nothing more than an afterthought. He 💞never had any cool fight scenes, and he was mostly put in the background.
17 Saved – Introducing Krillin (And Filling Up 🍃The Ca♔st)
The show initially began with Goku and Bulma being the sole leads. Their contrasting personalities and age difference was able to make them an enduring duo during those early Dragon Ball days. With that said, it is hard to imagine any Dragon Ball brand without the rest of the ꧃colorful cast of characters.
We all love Goku and Bulma, but it was really the introduction of Krillin that helped the series find its footing. Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong were part of the cast before Krillin showed up, however, Krillin had a lot more to offer to the series than any of those characters. He acted as an early rival to Goku and remained a consistent presence within the series all the way into Super.
16 𝓰 Hur🃏t – Super Buu Absorbs Everyone
Super Buu, the more sinister version of Majin Buu, started out as a very intimidating villain. Not only was he super powerful, but he also had a fairly creepy yet simple design. His impatient attitude made him one of the more intimidating villains in the franchise, as you never know when🃏 he’s going to blow.
Then his story took a turn for the worst when he suddenly begins absorbing everyone. Not only was it a cheap way to increase Super Buu’s power level, but it also 🌠made him less scary and more annoying. He cheated to win, and he ended up being less interesting as a result.
15 🍰 Saved – Frieza, Strongest In The Universe 💯
Once it was established that Goku was the strongest warrior on Earth, the ⛦natural step was for him to fight against the strongest person in the galaxy. Enter Frieza, Emperor of the Universe and self-proclaimed strongest in the g🍎alaxy.
Adding Frieza in the series was one of the best moves that the franchise could’ve made. Frieza was not only a worthy adversary for the protagonists, but he was also heavily tied with the backstory of the Saiyan r🅘ace. If the fr𒁃anchise has one main villain, without a doubt it would be Frieza. The series continues to bring him back, and while he may soon run into diminishing returns, he isn’t at that point yet.
14 🌠 𒁃 Hurt – All Those Gosh Darn Fillers
Remember 🤪when Frieza said that Namek would blow up in five minutes, and it ended up lasting around ten episodes? That is a consequence of when an anime series catches up wꦆith the manga. Oftentimes an anime and manga would run concurrently, with the anime covering the things that have already appeared in the manga.
When the anime suddenly finds itself already adapting every material presented in the manga, then they come up with filler. Filler is an episode that is not important to the main plot, which is used to help the manga make new material for the anime to adapt. Unfortunately for Dragon Ball Z, they caught up to t🍌he manga during the middle of a five-minute duel.
13 🎶 Saved – Trunks 𓆉
When Goku established himself the strongest in t😼he universe, the series was left in this uncomfortable position. With Goku now indisputably the most powerful in the galaxy, who is left capable to match his power?
The answer was simple and effective. Taking inspiration from Terminator, the series decided to introduce time travel to the narrative. This lead to the creation of Trunks, and what would end up being the coolest introduction of a character ever. Tꦅrunks’ first appearance involves him putting a revived Frieza in half. The fact he was a time traveler just made him even cooler. Trunks and the time travel angle really breathed new life into series, especially considering how stagnant the series felt at the end of the Namek arc.
12 ✃ Hurt – Androids 20 And 19 Were Supposed To Be The 🀅Main Villains
There were many ൩twists and turns in the Android saga. From Trunks putting mech🌟a-Frieza in half to the introduction of Cell, the saga has some of the best twists in the entire franchise. Probably the most clever twist is that the first set of Androids, Android 20 and 19, weren’t the Androids that Trunks warned the protagonists about.
Apparently, that was not the case when 20 and 19 first appeared. They were initially supposed to be the mai𝔉n antagonists of the arc. Some editors vetoed that idea, and the manga author decided to create Androids 17 and 18. It ended up working out in the end; I can’t imagine an Android Saga where Androids 20 and 19 were the big bads.
11 Saved – Cell Becoming The 🌳Main Villain
When it was decided that Androids 20 and 19 weren’t up to snuff to be leading villains, Androids 18, 17, and 16 were made to fill that void. However, it was also decided that they too weren🐟’t up to snuff to be the main antagonists.
So that is where Cell comes in. An Android from the future who needs to absorb 17 and 18 to reach its perfect form, Cell became the main antagonist of the Android Saga. From his atmospheric and sinister introduction to his final batt🌠le with Gohan at the Cell Games, Cell has become one of the most iconic characters in the franchise. And to think, he wasn’t even part of the original plan for the Android Saga.