after rethinking this I think it's different for games vs the actual show

in every game I HATED the Saiyan arc cuz the setting/characters were the most boring to me after becoming familiar w them & their stronger Saiyan versions + fusions and wanting to skip as fast as possible to unlock SS2&3, Gotenks, villains, GT etc.

but WATCHING IT I remember how insane it was when they both went ape and then when Vegeta escaped

i'll put that fight/era below the Frieza fight as the best tbh

in terms of WATCHING the fights for me:

Frieza
Saiyan
Super Buu
Kid Buu
Android (Future Trunks until b4 Cell)
Majin/Fat Buu
Cell (Imperfect until Cell Games)

my last post was mostly considering playing the games & the characters I liked/used the most like Gotenks & SS2 Gotenks

gohan filler episodes with him training in the saiyan arc >>

you can tell what dbz a nigga grew up on depending on which one they prefer. if you dont get that censored, marching band ass soundtrack tf outta here man

s*** cut off the classic peaceful episodes like goku and piccolo getting their license and garlic jr

goku was positive masculinity fr

ppl always say this but i honestly feel like the cell saga just as bad as the buu saga. Ppl were just making mistakes just so the plot could move forward. Felt way more organic in all the other previous arcs.

Cell saga

which mistakes are you referring to?
vegeta leaving cell absorbing 18, gohan not killing cell immediately when he could or something like krilin not straight-up murdering 18 because he got a crush on her/he isn't a killer were pretty explainable to me.

Namek, Cell, Saiyan and Buu. But I loved all of them

I like them all, but imma go with

Android Saga
Buu Saga
Namek Saga
Saiyan Saga

Namek only slightly below Buu. If you look at Namek, like... Nothing happens? But it's a direct consequence of the Saiyan saga and builds the universe of dragon ball in a succint way.

Namek laid the groundwork from everything else later like multiple transformations, galactic warlords, zenkais, Gohan's character arc, Piccolo's duties as the Namekian on earth etc.

But nothing really happens. It's an isolated battle on planet that's not theirs against someone who maybe eventually would have gone to earth but maybe not? In fact, if they didn't all get folded by Nappa, they wouldn't need to go to namek. They could have actually never went and just let them niggas stay dead like wtf do Chiatzou and Yamcha bring to the table except extra medical bills.

The scenery isn't amazing, and there's way too many fodder characters that exist just to get folded. The only real threat was Freeza.

Like in the light the Ginyu and Freeza force are just a bunch of jobbers in the least threatening way.

I think people overrate it compared to Buu since people generally d***ride the overall consensus of things. Buu is, at the most bare minimum, just a more unhinged Cells. Dabura alone could have solo'd the Z squad.

Goku not taking the medicine just because he thought he didn't need it. Every z fighter trying to fight gero and the androids makes sense for goku and vegeta but tien, piccolo, and even gohan kinda being okay with it is crazy. Chi chi having to remind krillin he can fly
Bulma flying into to see the fight with gero with baby trunks. Just felt like way too many stupid decisions to make the plot go forward.