I have no real idea why, but Dragon Ball Z has been popping up super frequently for the last couple months. I haven't seen this much DBZ since middle school...
Anyhow, with the Resurrection of Frieza movie, or whatever it's called, coming out, and reviews calling Frieza DBZ's greatest villain but saying he's useless in the movie....
combined with Team Four Star's EXCELLENT and hilarious 'History Of Trunks' video (which I just watched)....
I just realized that the Majin Buu Saga should have happened BEFORE the Android Saga.
Now, I'm not saying they got it wrong for continuity reasons or anything.
My point is that:
1- Frieza has always actually been kind of a shitty villain (he's only remembered as "cool" because he could transform, and because he was the first villain Goku had to go Super Saiyan to kill. Otherwise he's just kind of an ugly little creep with a girly voice.
2- Majin Buu is just super random and arbitrary. I mean, I get it, he's a djinn - a genie, and he's magical and super powerful and whatnot.....but so are the Eternal Dragons, Shenron and Porunga. Except the dragons seemingly have a cap on their power that means they can't auto-solve every problem. Majin Buu should likewise have a cap to his powers that means he can't be an unsolvable problem, so there was no real reason he had to be some sort of ultra-powerful force of destruction.
He was a completely random plot thread that came out of nowhere and could have been handled however the hell they felt like writing him. And time and time again the Dragon Ball series makes the point of showing that mortals willing to go to the greatest extremes, willing to sacrifice everything, and unwilling to be limited by what they "should be able to do", are able to constantly transcend their limitations and overcome anything. With Goku being their leader, and the heart and soul of the team, because he truly aspires to be the absolute most powerful, and has no doubt that he can do it, if he EARNS it.
3- The Android Saga and the Cell Saga are the grand finale of the Dragon Ball series' great ongoing battle from all the way back in the original Dragon Ball. The Androids and Cell are the ultimate creations of Dr. Gero, and therefore the ultimate culmination of the conflict between Goku's team and the Red Ribbon Army.
It also continues the theme of mortals going to incredible lengths and sacrificing everything to transcend their limitations, except that Dr. Gero's methods call into question what and how much you can sacrifice without losing yourself in the process. It questions the consequences of taking what are arguably shortcuts to reach beyond your limits. It challenges the notions of family, humanity, life, and identity.
My main point is that the Android and Cell Sagas are narratively a VASTLY superior final story arc, but also that they pose a series of much deeper philosophical challenges than anything else the series ever touched on. A perfect capstone to complete the series and reflect back on what kind of greater meaning might be derived from the adventures and struggles of Goku and his friends.
Not that it seems like Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z have ever been remotely interested in things like meaning, narrative complexity, or philosophy, but why not right at the end there? Why not take the ending and make it and the entire series mean much more?
And then, from there, fine, sure, keep doing random movies.
'Battle Of The Gods' would serve as an excellent continuation of the lessons - teaching 'there's always something or someone more powerful than you" and "there's always another challenge to face and overcome" and "there's always a better version of you that you can become".
As far as Dragon Ball GT is concerned, I don't know enough about it. But it doesn't need to be part of the same big overarching narrative message/lessons that DBZ dealt with, and that would actually give purpose to the distinction between Z and GT.
i.e. It would answer the question of why GT isn't simply more DBZ.
GT, from what I know of it, could've been handled as an exploration of the concepts and meaning of legacy and consequence.
New heroes continuing in the footsteps of their heroes and ancestors, old heroes teaching the new generation, old evils giving rise to new ones, etc etc etc.
All that said, Dragon Ball Z really isn't like that.
It's a cool series with a lot of flaws.
Just watch Team Four Star's 'DBZ Abridged' series instead. Much shorter, better paced, filler-free, and completely HILARIOUS.
