Dragon Ball: How The Majin Buu Saga Could Have Been Improved

The Majin Buu Saga, despite having some of the most memorable moments in the series, is a flawed ending that could have easily been reworked.

The Majin Buu Saga is the last story arc of the original Dragon Ball manga, and the Dragon Ball Z animated series. It has been criticized for many reasons. This is accentuated because it follows the Cell Saga. The Majin Buu Saga has been criticized for its excessive length and uneven pacing. It also received criticism because of the out-of-control power scaling as well as absurd powers of the main villain.

Even with its faults, the story still had some iconic moments, character development, world-building, and lore that no other story could match. Many people still focus on the highs of this story, despite its many faults. It is still a must-read or watch for all Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z fans, and a vital part of Goku's journey with his friends. The Majin Buu saga could have been improved in a variety of ways to make it a better story.

Evening out the Pace

The Majin Buu Saga has a lot of moments which drag down the storyline. The World Tournament Saga was a major lull, as were the Babidi Saga's initial rounds. The pace and intensity of this narrative increased following the appearance of Majin Buu. However, the momentum was lost in the Fusion Saga.

This was especially evident in the case of Gotenks, who repeatedly stalled on finishing his fight just to showboat. was especially evident in Gotenks's case, as he repeatedly delayed his fight for the sake showboating. He only lost when Buu became more powerful. Many of these decisions were made without any logic, and instead left the characters to make poor, borderline frustrating decisions.

The escalation of the plot was made to seem frivolous by the excessive fluff. This could have been corrected by a more balanced resolution of plot threads, without the unnecessary fluff. The narrative would then have moved faster and the slower parts of the Majin Buu Saga would be less tiring to watch.

Gohan to take center stage

During The Conclusion of the Cell Games Saga, there was a character who received the payoff for his development that had been building since Dragon Ball Z. Gohan's immense potential was teased in multiple ways, including his ability to deal damage to Raditz and Vegeta while also gaining power from his emotional state.

Since his debut, Gohan has shown a direct relationship between his emotional state and power, with moments of stress bringing to the surface his monstrous strength. This was brought to light in the Cell Games Saga, when Gohan's rage at the death of Android 16 pushed him to Super Saiyan 2 - the first of the main cast. He was the focus of the Z Fighters in their efforts to defeat Cell. This gave him more limelight and he became the main character after Goku's demise.

It seemed like the perfect path for Gohan to follow, as he would be taking over from his father and become the Earth's protector. All this was undone when Goku and Vegeta dominated the Majin Buu Saga. This forced Gohan to the backseat. The arrival of Ultimate Gohan in the battle against Super Buu seemed to indicate that the son was prepared to take over the story from his father, but the defeat was a shocker and all his previous development was wasted. Gohan's central role in the Cell Saga would have been a great way to increase the momentum and allow him to mature into the martial artist and hero he was built up to be.

Improving Majin Buu As A Villain

Majin Buu, among the list of Dragon Ball Z's most iconic antagonists is not the most intriguing. Majin Buu's greatest strength is the regeneration of his body and the ability to take damage. He also has various powers that he uses for the sake of the story. Buu's actions are not motivated by anything other than his desire to destroy the world and fight the heroes. Babidi is a major player in the first half, directing Buu to conquer the world. As soon as Babidi dies, Buu is left with no goals.

Buu's behavior becomes increasingly bizarre throughout the rest of the story. He does everything from destroy cities, the Lookout and the Earth, to settle down in his own house or turn people into candy just to consume them. Buu's lack of a clear goal or direction is his biggest failing as a character. Buu, with his limited intelligence, is shown to be a character who seeks power and a chance to face stronger opponents. However, the real reason behind this desire to gain more power and fight harder opponents is never revealed. Kid Buu's portrayal as pure evil and chaotic is not as interesting as that of Vegeta, Frieza or the Androids.

Strangely, Mr. Satan provides Buu with more direction than the character could have ever imagined. He plays a bigger role in the story than any other character, and even convinces the monster to change his ways and value life. Majin Buu could have been made more interesting by giving him a motive or making him more aware of himself. Akira Toriyama's series of villains includes Majin Buu and Super Buu. He also created Evil Buu and Kid Buu. However, he did not provide a clear path to defeating them. This is one of many problems with the power scale of this saga.

Power Scaling and Escalation

Dragon Ball Z's previous sagas had a much more defined power scale and included side characters in a greater degree than the Majin Buu Saga. In the Majin Buu Saga core members of Z Fighters like Tien, Krillin and Piccolo played an important role in the battles against Frieza and Cell, as well as the Saiyan invaders. The ridiculously high power levels of the Super Saiyan transforms rendered them all useless in the Majin Buu Saga.

The power gap between Saiyans, other characters, and the Supreme Kai in the Buu saga is so wide that even a god like the Supreme Kai cannot defeat even the weakest form of Buu. Goku's Super Saiyan 3 Transformation, which is one of the best moments in the saga, is an example. He spends hours powering up and screaming before he sends shock waves all over the world. The Saiyans who did not have the Super Saiyan 2 or Fusion transformations played a very small role in the fight, other than to be punching bags or distractions to warm Buu up before they took the field.

The previous sagas capped the power level at the planetary level. In the Majin Buu saga, the Earth and the entire human population are destroyed in the climax. The entire universe would've been destroyed if not for Goku’s Spirit Bomb. This shows that power creep has reached absurd levels. If this power creep had been stopped, the non-Saiyan cast members would have had more time to prepare and participate in the fights in a meaningful way, adding a lot more interest to the saga.