Dragon Ball Z Abridged delivers both comedy of the original Dragon Ball and hype of DBZ.
DBZA + second season of Kai is better than DBZ or two seasons of Kai.
So, you have finally decided to check out the Dragon Ball franchise. We don’t know if you’ve watched the original Dragon Ball anime — it’s 153 episodes of mostly comedy that has little to no bearing on the latter seasons, so we won’t judge if you’ve skipped it — but you are about to start your journey through the Z saga. But wait, there’s no need to watch the original Dragon Ball Z! There is a better way to experience the story!
Toei made Dragon Ball Z, but better
If you thought the original Dragon Ball was long, Dragon Ball Z takes the cake with its 291 episodes. And the lion's share of those is just filler! We’re talking both inflating episodes with flashbacks, still shots and filler content the same way One Piece does, as well as full-on filler arcs in-between! This made DBZ’s pacing legendarily terrible — to the point where even Toei Animation agrees.
In fact, back in 2009, they released Dragon Ball Kai — a better paced version of DBZ, that cut out all (or at least, most of) the filler. Its two seasons, airing until 2015, covered the entirety of DBZ, allowing for an easier entry into Dragon Ball Super timeline with just 158 episodes — almost two times shorter than the original — and nothing of value was even lost!
TeamFourStar made Dragon Ball Kai, but even better
In 2008, TeamFourStar released the first episode of Dragon Ball Z Abridged — a parody series that told the story of DBZ through a comedic lens. It depicts completely flanderized versions of the entire cast — and yet, somehow, still remains truthful to the original material.
On the one hand, in DBZA, Goku is not just a simpleton — he’s a certified idiot. Piccolo grows into even more of a surrogate father to Gohan, and Vegeta’s blind pride is cranked to eleven (to the point of outright annoying emperor Freeza). On the other hand, these comedic changes don’t subtract from the fights — in fact, we feel like the legendary clashes only get better when highlighted by the comedic bits. Also, TFS is way better than Toriyama at writing romance (Vegeta and Bulma, 18 and Krilin).
The original Dragon Ball was equal parts martial arts and comedy. This combination is what made Toriyama’s story so popular — something he seemed to forget in DBZ era, as the arrival of Raditz to Earth signified a complete tonal shift to a battle shounen with little in the ways of levity — something that was remedied later in DBS. This, we feel, makes DBZ a weird outlier in the franchise — and could be fixed by substituting it (or Kai) with DBZA. Except, not fully.
The last 60th episode of DBZA concluded the Cell Saga, and TFS announced they had no plans of releasing a full abridged version of the Boo Saga. Which means that, for the best viewing experience, we recommend that you watch DBZA — and then either watch the second season of Dragon Ball Kai (61 episodes that cover Buu Saga), or skip straight to Super. Either way, we won’t judge.
Dragon Ball Z Abridged delivers both comedy of the original Dragon Ball and hype of DBZ.
DBZA + second season of Kai is better than DBZ or two seasons of Kai.
So, you have finally decided to check out the Dragon Ball franchise. We don’t know if you’ve watched the original Dragon Ball anime — it’s 153 episodes of mostly comedy that has little to no bearing on the latter seasons, so we won’t judge if you’ve skipped it — but you are about to start your journey through the Z saga. But wait, there’s no need to watch the original Dragon Ball Z! There is a better way to experience the story!
Toei made Dragon Ball Z, but better
If you thought the original Dragon Ball was long, Dragon Ball Z takes the cake with its 291 episodes. And the lion's share of those is just filler! We’re talking both inflating episodes with flashbacks, still shots and filler content the same way One Piece does, as well as full-on filler arcs in-between! This made DBZ’s pacing legendarily terrible — to the point where even Toei Animation agrees.
In fact, back in 2009, they released Dragon Ball Kai — a better paced version of DBZ, that cut out all (or at least, most of) the filler. Its two seasons, airing until 2015, covered the entirety of DBZ, allowing for an easier entry into Dragon Ball Super timeline with just 158 episodes — almost two times shorter than the original — and nothing of value was even lost!
TeamFourStar made Dragon Ball Kai, but even better
In 2008, TeamFourStar released the first episode of Dragon Ball Z Abridged — a parody series that told the story of DBZ through a comedic lens. It depicts completely flanderized versions of the entire cast — and yet, somehow, still remains truthful to the original material.
On the one hand, in DBZA, Goku is not just a simpleton — he’s a certified idiot. Piccolo grows into even more of a surrogate father to Gohan, and Vegeta’s blind pride is cranked to eleven (to the point of outright annoying emperor Freeza). On the other hand, these comedic changes don’t subtract from the fights — in fact, we feel like the legendary clashes only get better when highlighted by the comedic bits. Also, TFS is way better than Toriyama at writing romance (Vegeta and Bulma, 18 and Krilin).
The original Dragon Ball was equal parts martial arts and comedy. This combination is what made Toriyama’s story so popular — something he seemed to forget in DBZ era, as the arrival of Raditz to Earth signified a complete tonal shift to a battle shounen with little in the ways of levity — something that was remedied later in DBS. This, we feel, makes DBZ a weird outlier in the franchise — and could be fixed by substituting it (or Kai) with DBZA. Except, not fully.
The last 60th episode of DBZA concluded the Cell Saga, and TFS announced they had no plans of releasing a full abridged version of the Boo Saga. Which means that, for the best viewing experience, we recommend that you watch DBZA — and then either watch the second season of Dragon Ball Kai (61 episodes that cover Buu Saga), or skip straight to Super. Either way, we won’t judge.
