Is the Dragon Ball Franchise now less about awesome story telling and just about hey there's the new enemy go fight him?

@jwabeasley Jwa Beasley
Mon, 13 Apr 2026 23:41:11 +0000

@jwabeasley wrote:

I enjoyed DBZ as a teen, up through the end of the Friez Arc, which was as far as my school library's manga volumes went. As an adult, I've seen up through the Cell Saga and a good chunk of original DB.

There's a lot to like, but the plot this whole time is train-fight-travel-fight and so forth. It works, but it's never been a subtle show and it's plot is clearly ad-hoc introducing new threats for the heroes to face.

About halfway through the cell Saga it gets pretty tedious just because of the way they show powerups. To wit:

Character A: Ha! I am stronger than you and this fight will be easy!
Character B: Fool! Now I have powered up, and your power is like a baby to me. In fact, I can stand still while you punch me in the face without needing to blink!
A: Oh no! How can I face him now? (A finds a way to power up)
B: Ha! I am stronger than you and this fight will be easy!
A: Fool! Now I have powered up, and your power is like a baby to me. In fact, I can stand still while you punch me in the face without needing to blink!

Not knocking anyone for liking it but it does get a bit dull after a while. I found the lower power-level fights of OG DB to be more creative and interesting.

The point at which their formula goes stale for you tends to vary, but it sounds like you hit that point a while ago.

If you're looking for a good manga with great fights that never felt repetitive, try Change 123. Fantastic manga, one of my favorites.