5 Worst Dragon Ball Sagas
Suffice it to say, the Dragon Ball franchise is complicated.There’s no denying that the [...]
Suffice it to say, the Dragon Ball franchise is complicated.
There's no denying that the long-running series can make even the most dedicated fans feel lost. After more than twenty years, there are hundreds of episodes and characters to navigate between the various Dragon Ball series, but Toei Animation at least blocked out the franchise's stories into sagas.
Since Dragon Ball premiered, the franchise has been partitioned into chapters, or sagas, which interconnect to create the series' canon. There are more than twenty blocks for fans to suss through, and there are some which audiences definitely wish they had skipped over. Just as there are plenty of excellent sagas, there are also terrible ones which sear a bad taste into one's tongue.
Here at ComicBook.com, we've made a list of five of the worst Dragon Ball Sagas from the original series forward.
Watch these episodes at your own risk; don't say we didn't warn you.
Fortuneteller Baba Saga
On the heels of one of the better saga from Dragon Ball, fans were dismayed to see the original anime take a turn for the worse with episode 68. The episode began what is know as the Fortuneteller Baba Saga, and viewers were left scratching their heads over the cheesy, slow-paced affair.
The saga follows Goku after he's defeated the Red Ribbon Army, and he is now determined to locate the final, seventh Dragon Ball. To do so, he seeks out the help of the Fortuneteller Baba, but she refuses to assist him unless he defeats five powerful warriors. Sadly, the villains are not anything memorable, and fans are left wondering why they sat through 15 episodes of fluff for little reward.
Great Saiyaman Saga
If you have the choice to be a Super Saiyan or the Great Saiyaman, then you always choose the former. Fans of Dragon Ball Z were dumbstruck when they were introduced to the latter hero after Gohan elected to take up the heroic moniker. And, in doing so, the fabled protagonist of the series was relegated to somewhat of a joke.
The Great Saiyaman Saga is a pointless one that follows Gohan during his high school years. The boy abandons martial arts for textbooks and adopts the name Great Saiyaman. The clumsy, tunic-clad hero was a truly poor sight to sore eyes, and the saga's overall tone was too campy in light of the show's more serious aesthetic. By the end of the saga, fans learn that all this superhero nonsense was really nothing more than filler, and fans wanted to facepalm because of it.
Garlic Jr. Saga
In the world of anime, fillers are hated yet necessary parts of life. The term refers to the various episodes which anime studios insert into series once they've caught up to their source manga. Series like Naruto, One Pice, and Bleach have all suffered from chronic filler concussions that leave audiences snoring - and Dragon Ball Z has one of the most notoriously terrible fillers ever.
The Garlic Jr. Saga is one that Toei Animation was forced to create once they had reached a stalling point. The weak plot follows Gohan and Krillin as they go head-to-head with Garlic Jr. who has just escaped from the Dead Zone and wishes to wreak havoc on Earth. The narrative drags on painfully though there are redeeming elements due to some character building - but those highlights are then totaled by Krillin's obnoxious girlfriend Maron.
Baby Saga
Dragon Ball GT is a series that anime fans only dare speak in hushed tones. The notorious show is known for how bad it is, and many fans refuse to acknowledge its existence. While there are some highlights to the series, the overall fit of Dragon Ball GT is an uncomfortable one, and the Baby Saga proves why.
Occurring between episodes 17-40, the Baby Saga did one thing which fans can't forgive: It retconned the reasoning behind the Saiyan genocide. The saga reimagines the Tsufuru-jin as a race hellbent on destroying opposing races and foregoes their once-peaceful demeanor. The retcon eased the sins of the Saiyans by making their adversaries even more destructive, and Dragon Ball fans were not pleased with the change. Not in the least.
Black Star Dragon Ball Saga
There are plenty of reasons to dislike Dragon Ball GT, and the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga might be the biggest reason to do so. The episodes were so despised that Toei Animation initially attempted to cover them up, but time eventually brought them back to the public's attention - and it was not pretty.
The trippy saga sees Goku transformed back into a little boy after a run-in with Emperor Pilaf goes wrong. The baddie uses his collection of Black Star Dragon Balls to turn the hero into a kid, and the only way for Goku to return to his adult form is to wish on the same Dragon Balls. Goku, along with the likes of Trunks, then sets out to find the rare items and visits plenty of planets along the way. The saga was an attempt to recapture the whimsical quirkiness of the original Dragon Ball anime, but fans agree that the era failed to do so in every respect.
More Dragon Ball
Since Dragon Ball debuted, the franchise has hosted more than 30 sagas which all vary in scope, character focus, and power levels. Some of these fan-favorite sagas might be the perfect place for newcomers to experience the action-packed tale that is Dragon Ball, and longtime fans always love to revisit the episodes.
So, sit down, recenter your ki, and get ready for one wild ride through Dragon Ball history.
- Dragon Ball: A History
- 5 Best Dragon Ball Sagas
- 7 Strongest Saiyans in Dragon Ball
- 8 Villain Transformations in Dragon Ball
- 8 Best Transformations in Dragon Ball History