Fortunately, there are a few different ways to watch Dragon Ball. While you can go the completionist route, a large portion of the franchise isn’t considered canon so you can save a lot of time if you cut out non-canon content. However, you’ll also miss some of Dragon Ball’s most creative and epic moments if you go this route so you might be better off doing a chronological viewing and deciding for yourself how much you’d like to watch. This article will cover the main Dragon Ball viewing orders and where you can watch it all online.
How to Watch Dragon Ball in Canonical Order
If you’re just looking for the “core” Dragon Ball experience, a canonical viewing is the way to go. This viewing order cuts out the movies, as well as a few series like Dragon Ball GT. Consider this Goku and the Z Fighters’ main story. One important consideration you’ll need to make is whether to watch Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball Z Kai. The former is the original anime that ran from 1989 - 1996, while the latter is an updated version of the same series with remastered picture and sound, as well as a more streamlined story that cuts out much of the filler material found in Dragon Ball Z. It’s debatable which is better—Kai is higher-quality in a number of ways, but lacks some of the charm of Dragon Ball Z’s wackier excursions. You could always hop back and forth to decide which you prefer but it’s arguably worth sticking to one since there’s so much overlap.
