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With the excitement of Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO and the sad news of Akira Toriyama’s passing, I felt a lot of nostalgia and rushed to watch Dragon Ball Z. While doing so, I realized something: the Majin Buu saga was the Dragon Ball at its best. I know many will argue that the Tournament of Power is excellent, and I can agree, but Majin Buu’s arc had everything. It had drama, new transformations, fusions became a thing for anime-only fans, and Vegeta gave the best speech in the history of anime.
With almost 100 episodes, the Majin Buu saga gave us some of the best moments in the whole Dragon Ball history, and it is something I realized as I kept watching the show. When I was a kid, my country’s cartoon channel used to have the Namek saga on repeat. At one point, I thought the TV executives enjoyed watching Krillin explode. And while I didn’t mind watching Goku turn into a Super Saiyan for the twentieth time, I was eager to see what would happen with the Z Fighters next. Eventually, the Android and Cell sagas premiered, and sometime later, Majin Buu invaded our screens. At that moment, the time skip, grown-up characters, and new fighters were such a big deal that this arc is one I remember fondly.
A Fresh Start
Since I didn’t have the means to get Dragon Ball‘s manga, I only had whatever episodes aired on a given day on TV. When the Majin Buu saga kicked in, my jaw dropped. Gohan wasn’t a kid anymore; there was a mini-Goku, Vegeta had a jumpsuit, and Krillin had hair. What was going on? Was this the Dragon Ball I grew up with? I asked. Yes, it was. And it was about to get better. Even if the first episodes focused on Goku fighting Pikkon in the afterlife, I felt the Majin Buu saga truly kicked in once Gohan went to school, and yes, it might be a bit too slice-of-life for some, but it was some of the best Dragon Ball had.
Initially, I thought the pacing was a bit slow. Gohan was doing his Saiyaman shenanigans, trying to impress Videl, and just having a somewhat normal high school life. However, Goku didn’t want long to stir things up. We all know Kakarot loves a good fight, and he was eager to participate in the next tournament. Which leads to another big surprise: the Buu conspiracy.
I won’t go into detail about what transpires in the saga because this isn’t a summary, but the way the show shifts from a normal tournament to another universe-ending threat was supreme, and it just kept ramping up. From Babidi arriving to Vegeta turning evil and the big Super Saiyan 3 revelation, everything was excellent.
The Duality of All Fighters
As a kid, I was only worried about the action, the fights, the transformation. You know, the iconic thing about Dragon Ball. However, as I grew up, I kept thinking about how this saga explored characters on a deeper level. Let’s take Vegeta and Majin Buu, for example. The former, in his neverending struggle to surpass Goku, becomes Majin Vegeta, causing all sorts of atrocities. Thankfully, he was able to redeem himself in the most heroic way. On the other hand, Majin Buu has an excellent character that sees him leaning toward a peaceful life but summoning his evil version after looking at the darkness inside humans.
While the shōnen genre doesn’t shy away from serious topics, Dragon Ball took its time to touch upon them. So, when the Majin Buu saga started showing these moments, it felt great. We weren’t just there for the gorgeously animated fights anymore; the characters had more depth. And while one could argue the Future Trunks arc during the Cell saga is Dragon Ball at its finest, the Majin Buu saga has many of these moments, making it the best arc, at least throughout the whole Dragon Ball Z series.
However, these are not the only two characters that get character development through the arc. Gohan, who started as the hero of justice—powerful yet humble, lost against Super Buu by getting cocky. It might’ve not been shocking for some, but it was for me. Gohan was always the level-headed Saiyan, and he dropped the ball hard during the fight. And let’s not discuss Gotenks, which, despite its power, brings out some of the negative traits of Goten and Trunks.
The End that Spelled a New Beginning
The build-up toward the final episodes of the Majin Buu saga cemented it as the best Dragon Ball has ever shown. I will never forget Vegeta leaving his pride aside just to admit Goku is the best. The fight between Kid Buu and Goku as Vegeta reminiscences the past hit me in the feels. I was excited, but in a way, I knew the ending was brewing. The Prince of all Saiyans and the Saiyan raised on Earth were the universe’s hope, and with the most epic Spirit Bomb ever, the saga ended—I was sad. What would happen with Goku, Vegeta, and the other fighters?
While it took years for Super to arrive, and GT did a terrific job at filling that Dragon Ball-less void, nothing will ever beat Buu’s arc; it had everything. Even now, as new movies have premiered and Daima is slowly approaching, I can’t help but remember the first time I saw Goku with his long, golden hair. Or the look of Vegeta saying farewell to his family. We’ve had many epic moments when the world has stood up to watch the Tournament of Power and see the faith of the universe, but the Majin Buu saga will always have a special place in my heart.
