Dragon Ball Z is one of the most popular anime of all-time and the standout entry in Akira Toriyama’s acclaimed shonen masterpiece. DBZ raises the stakes and heightens the tension through more mature storytelling and exaggerated action sequences that feel like a true evolution to what the original Dragon Ball established. Dragon Ball Z features a bigger cast, stronger characters, and an expanded scope that extends to outer space and the afterlife.

All these changes help Dragon Ball Z grow for the better, but they also present some natural hurdles to Dragon Ball’s narrative. It’s tricky to maintain consistent lore across several decades while adapting hundreds of episodes of television. Dragon Ball Z does commendable work connecting its dots and making sure that all its developments make sense. That said, there are still some rather glaring plot holes which can seriously hurt the quality of certain story arcs, especially during repeated viewings.

Related

The 5 Worst Dads in Dragon Ball History, Ranked & Shamed

Dragon Ball features some powerful families who sometimes prioritize the wrong things, which results in some rather reckless parenting.

5

Dragon Ball Z’s Rules About Resurrection & Reincarnation Contradict Itself

Death is a common occurrence in an anime like Dragon Ball, but Dragon Ball Z really begins to explore death’s many ramifications. Characters are revived in Dragon Ball, but this is presented as a surprisingly grounded phenomenon where characters’ corpses come back to life. Master Roshi and Chiaotzu’s dead bodies are even preserved so that they don’t rot away and make their revival impossible. Dragon Ball Z explores the other side of death and turns the afterlife’s Other World into its own unique destination complete with a Heaven and Hell.

Dragon Ball Z prolongs the resurrection process and adds more steps to it, as well. For instance, Goku’s revival removes his halo, but he’s still stuck in Other World and has to travel all the way back to the gate between the afterlife and the living realm. This is done to create greater dramatic tension as the heroes do their best to hold their own against Nappa and Vegeta. Later resurrections become considerably more direct and it’s a process that basically changes as the storytelling sees fit.

The Other World as Depicted in the Majin Buu Saga is Incompatible With Earlier Lore

Another major Other World tenet that’s increasingly ignored is the idea it’s a rare privilege to retain one’s body in the afterlife. King Yemma explains that Goku gets to keep his body because of his heroic actions for the planet. By and large, people in Other World are rendered into disembodied souls who then experience reincarnation and enter completely new bodies. Glimpses of this are seen early on in Dragon Ball Z and the reincarnation process even becomes the impetus for Janemba’s creation in Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn when the soul cleansing machine breaks down.

Dragon Ball Z ignores the disembodied soul rule when it’s revealed most DBZ villains retained their bodies in Hell. This gets trickier when Vegeta worries about reincarnation before his Final Explosion sacrifice against Majin Buu, which means the concept still exists. It doesn’t make any sense then why villains like King Cold, Cell, or the Ginyu Force wouldn’t be reincarnated upon death. Finally, Uub is the reincarnation of Kid Buu, but his creation seems to be because Goku errantly wishes to be able to fight against Kid Buu again one day. The prospect of certain individuals having a say in who gets reincarnated makes all this even murkier.

4

The Earth Rarely Fights Back Against (or Acknowledges) Alien Invaders

The original Dragon Ball features increasingly more dangerous threats, the likes of which eventually get the world’s attention and highlight that Goku’s adventures don’t just exist in a vacuum. The Red Ribbon Army causes destruction felt on a global scale. Demon King Piccolo’s crimes are televised and he even creates a Piccolo Day to celebrate his corrupt takeover of the planet. Goku’s victory over King Piccolo is met with an appropriate response and King Furry even renames the day, Goku Day, as a gesture of gratitude. Dragon Ball Z initially retains this tone. Vegeta and Nappa’s arrival on Earth garners a lot of attention, which includes television crews and the world’s military.

Nappa’s horrors are broadcast, but there aren’t really any follow-up or preventative measures taken following Vegeta’s retreat. The planet doesn’t seem to change at all, despite the fact even more extreme casualties are triggered by Cell and Buu. Perfect Cell televises the Cell Games and aspires to terrify the world’s population, but it’s another grandiose gesture that’s not really developed. Hercule is publicly lauded as Cell’s destroyer and Earth’s greatest champion, but there’s no Hercule Day or a personal thank you from the planet’s king. Mr. Satan receives a statue and his exploits are turned into mainstream entertainment.

Related

10 Weird Dragon Ball Characters Who Are Totally Out of Place By DBZ

The original Dragon Ball introduces an incredibly eclectic cast of characters, some of whom feel like anomalies by the time Dragon Ball Z begins.

Society Sticks Their Heads in the Sand & Forgets Goku in Record Time

The world chooses to passively ignore these global disasters and is content to rely on Mr. Satan to handle any future disasters. This is technically some form of acknowledgment of the state of the world, yet it still feels infinitely smaller than how the original Dragon Ball handled smaller events. This reaches a point where Super Buu kills close to Earth’s entire population before Kid Buu finishes things off and blows up the planet.

Admittedly, the Dragon Balls are used to erase the public’s memories of Buu’s atrocities. It’s still a way for Dragon Ball to ignore the planet’s peril and put the series in the very vacuum that it successfully avoided during the original Dragon Ball. Curiously, Dragon Ball Super gets around this issue by setting many of its biggest battles outside of Earth where the planet’s population is oblivious to what’s going on.

3

Vegito’s Fusion Wears Off When Exactly When It’s Most Convenient

Fusion opens Dragon Ball up to endless possibilities, even if it has largely become an excuse to turn Goku and Vegeta into a singular, superior fighter. Dragon Ball Z dips its toe into fusion with Goten and Trunks’ Metamoran fusion dance. There are clear parameters and limitations established for the fusion dance that make sense and are easy for the series to follow. Dragon Ball Z introduces an alternative form of fusion for Goku and Vegeta, rather than have them take advantage of the existing method. Potara Earrings are described as a sacred relic that are a custom of many Supreme Kai. A Potara fusion is supposed to be permanent, which understandably prompts some serious trepidation from Goku and Vegeta before they commit.

This makes Vegito’s fusion a really big deal. It’s a last-ditch effort and the ultimate example of selfless heroism. Goku and Vegeta are willing to sacrifice their individuality in order to become strong enough to defeat Buu. It feels like Dragon Ball Z is in its endgame at this point, so it wouldn’t be hard to imagine the series concluding with Goku and Vegeta – former enemies – united as one. However, Vegito’s fusion is conveniently broken when he’s consumed by Buu and enters the villain’s stomach. There’s no explanation given for why being in Buu breaks the Potara fusion and it’s a blatantly convenient development that Dragon Ball Z just wants the audience to look past so they can get excited about what’s to come. In reality, it’s just an easy way to go back on a big, impulsive decision.

Dragon Ball Super & Dragon Ball DAIMA Both Retconned Vegito’s Defusion

Dragon Ball Super later reveals that Potara fusion is only permanent for Kai, otherwise it only lasts for an hour – or significantly less if the individual exerts tremendous power, like Vegito Blue. Buu’s consumption of Vegito may also have just happened to be when the one-hour time limit was over. The fusion’s separation, while taking place inside Buu, may not have had anything to do with Buu at all.

Greater context is curiously provided in Dragon Ball DAIMA when it’s indicated that the gases inside Buu were responsible for the Potara fusion’s separation. Dragon Ball DAIMA’s English dub doesn’t retain this piece of information, which complicates matters even further. Regardless of the truth, the whole Vegito and Buu subject is filled with plot holes that are emblematic of the Buu Saga’s larger issues.

2

Goku’s 24-Hour Furlough Back On Earth is Inconsistent

Dragon Ball Z engages in a major seven-year time-skip between the Cell and Buu Sagas. Many of the Buu Saga’s events kick off at the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament. Goku previously refused his friends and family’s wish to bring him back to life, but he’s granted a 24-hour window to return to Earth and celebrate the martial arts tournament with his loved ones. The existence of such an Other World reward has never been mentioned before and it’s somewhat unusual that nobody else has ever taken advantage of this perk. It comes across as an easy way to bring Goku back to Earth, despite still technically being dead.

Dragon Ball Z introduces some interesting rules regarding Goku’s 24-hour furlough that actually make his situation more interesting. Goku has held back on the use of his Super Saiyan 3 transformation because its extreme use of power would shorten his time left on Earth. Desperate measures push Goku to turn Super Saiyan 3, so his time on Earth eventually runs out. This would be a satisfying and believable end to Goku’s arc in the Buu Saga if he was meant to be a supporting player while Gohan takes the lead. Unfortunately, Dragon Ball Z goes all-in on Goku in a manner that makes his Dragon Ball wish refusal and the conditions of his 24-hour visit completely pointless.

Related

5 Times Gohan & Piccolo Were The Best Dragon Ball Duo

Gohan and Piccolo have one of the best relationships in Dragon Ball, and DBZ & Dragon Ball Super are the proof.

Dragon Ball Z Brute Forces a Way to Bring Goku Back to Earth

Goku learns from Old Kai that he has the ability to transfer his lifespan over to other individuals and bring them back to life. This is quite convenient, especially since Old Kai just sits around on the Sacred World of the Kai and his life wouldn’t be demonstrably different if he were dead with a halo over his head. Old Kai graciously gives Goku his life, which allows him to return to Earth, re-enter the spotlight, and use his powers to his heart’s content without any fear of consequences.

It’s the least interesting version of events and a decision that makes the various hoops that Goku had to previously jump through become irrelevant. The previous setup is the perfect way to showcase what makes Goku so great without him completely dominating the storyline and overshadowing everyone else’s development. Goku’s return to Earth, alive, gives him too much power and it means that the final fight against Kid Buu follows the same formula as so many other Dragon Ball Z battles.

1

Goku Loses Touch With His Friends After Beating Kid Buu

Goku’s friends and family have always been incredibly important to him and he’s even been willing to sacrifice himself in order to protect those that he cares about the most. Kid Buu’s defeat is followed by a ten-year time-skip which functions as a short epilogue to Dragon Ball Z’s action-packed exploits. Referred to as the Peaceful World Saga, Goku and company all congregate at the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament. This meeting prompts some curious criticism from Bulma, where she yells at Goku for not seeing her for five years.

Goku is someone who can get lost in training, but it’s hard to believe that he would just stop seeing his friends, especially when the world experiences a decade of peace and there aren’t any grander problems to worry about. It’s a line of dialogue that reflects Goku’s naive and oblivious demeanor that likely wasn’t meant to be put under greater scrutiny. However, it also reflects a level of negligence from Goku that just doesn’t make sense.

Dragon Ball Super Outright Contradicts the Peaceful World Saga

Furthermore, this argument no longer makes sense after Dragon Ball Super’s release, which takes place during this ten-year period. In fact, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is supposed to only be a month or so before the 28th World Tournament. Not only has Goku seen Bulma and the rest of his friends, but quite recently, in fact.

This is just a throwaway piece of dialogue that Akira Toriyama was forced to retcon, but Dragon Ball Super has the potential to change Goku and Bulma’s “reunion” conversation if and when it presents its own version of the 28th World Tournament. This still adds an awkward quality to Dragon Ball Z’s Peaceful World Saga episodes and it’s too easy to get caught up in their inconsistencies with Dragon Ball Super than their slice-of-life silliness.