Dragon Ball Z Fumbled the Majin Buu Saga, And It's All Because of One Saiyan

Dragon Ball's Majin Buu Saga is the most divisive section of Akira Toriyama's original series. Set after a long seven-year time skip, following the events of the Cell Saga, the arc picks up with the all-familiar cast living on a surprisingly peaceful Earth. That peace does not last, however, when the big pink terror Majin Buu awakens, and immediately poses a bigger threat than the Z-Fighters had ever faced before.

Some believe the arc is a misunderstood masterpiece, while others feel it lagged behind the rest of Akira Toriyama's iconic series. In typical fashion, when the going got worse, Goku stepped in to save the day, but it wasn't always meant to be that way. In fact, when the arc began, it was Gohan in the driver's seat. Regardless of how fans think the arc turned out, one thing is certain: the Majin Buu Saga dropped the ball at letting another character take the spotlight.

Gohan Was Originally Meant to Take Over as Protagonist

Akira Toriyama Changed His Mind About the Buu Saga's Lead

A recent interview with Dragon Ball's editors finally confirmed the long-standing rumor that Akira Toriyama planned for his series to end with the Cell Saga. However, due to audience demand and pressure from Shueisha, Dragon Ball continued forward under a creator who wasn't quite sure where he wanted to take his story. Given how the previous arc ended with Goku's sacrifice and Gohan scoring a major victory, it was the hybrid Saiyan who sat on the throne.

The Buu Saga began with Gohan's largely uneventful school days, where he fought small-time criminals as the Great Saiyaman. The section was meandering, and plays like it was written by an author who didn't yet have all the pieces in place for the larger picture. That all changed with the reintroduction of the World Martial Arts tournament, where several of the series' greatest moments took place.

A young and innocent Gohan alongside his beaten and bloodied future self.

This also marked the return of Goku from the Otherworld, who was granted some time back on Earth to take part in the tournament. As fans know, the tournament didn't go exactly as planned, and some interference from a wizard, along with some terrible decision-making from the planet's greatest heroes, led to the awakening of Majin Buu. Unfortunately, Buu's arrival also led to Gohan being stripped of his protagonist role, as Goku stepped back in to take care of the big bad threat.

In an interview conducted some time after the completion of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama touched on the decision to backseat Gohan. He said, "I intended to put Gohan in the leading role. It didn't work out. I felt that, compared to Goku, he was ultimately not suited for the role." There was a genuine opportunity for the series to explore stories led by another one of its cast members, but instead, it fell back onto the shoulders of its usual leading Saiyan.

Dragon Ball Has Rarely Shared Its Focus

Despite Having an Iconic Cast, Few Have Taken the Spotlight

Screenshot from DRagon Ball Z anime show Ultimate Gohan staring down Super Buu before their fight.

Dragon Ball is home to an iconic cast of characters, several of which have their own incredibly dedicated fan bases. Despite that, very few have been able to enjoy being the focus of the series at any given time. Gohan's victory over Cell marked the first time a major villain was defeated by someone who wasn't Goku, and aside from Gohan's defeat of Cell Max in 2022's Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, it hasn't happened since.

The Buu Saga, with all its moving parts, seemingly made it a point to incorporate as many of its characters as it could. Gohan started as the protagonist, and later unveiled his Ultimate form, which turned out to be pretty meaningless but went on to be a staple of his character nonetheless. Vegeta played a central role both in the time he spent under Babidi's control, and later in the climax of the arc. Krillin was present for a large portion of the events earlier in the arc, and even Tien made a clutch save.

Frieza reveals his wish of being taller during the Dragon Ball Super Broly movie with his attendant.

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At the end of it all, however, it was Goku who delivered the final blow. Dragon Ball has always been Goku's story, and history has proven that the series likely functions better that way. However, the Buu Saga presented as good a chance as any for the series to branch out into unexplored territory, and it instead went back to its longtime protagonist. When the series continued into Dragon Ball Super, any cast members aside from Goku and Vegeta became entirely irrelevant. Fortunately, it seems that may change in the future.

Dragon Ball Super Places Its Main Fighters On Even Ground

A Recent Interview With the Series' Illustrator Revealed a Surprising Development

Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccol, and Broly from the cover of Dragon Ball Super volume #24.

Though Dragon Ball has always been hesitant to stray too far from its most powerful one or two fighters, it seems a new era is approaching for the series. In a recent interview discussing the latest volume #24 of Dragon Ball Super, Toyotarou explained his decision to include all of Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, and Broly on the front cover. He said, "I wanted to show that the power of these five characters are the same, so I made this collage."

It has been quite some time since any of Dragon Ball's side characters could rival either Goku or Vegeta, and though fans were aware of the immense power-ups Gohan and Piccolo received in Super Hero, it was largely unknown exactly how powerful the two had become. Now, it seems Dragon Ball will be entering a future in which a team of five fighters takes priority over one or two leads.

Dragon Ball's Buu Saga is divisive, and though it ultimately introduced some of the franchise's greatest additions, like fusion, it failed to expand the roles of its cast members. Goku saving the day will always be the main draw of the series, but its difficult to look back upon the section and not see missed opportunity. Fortunately, the future might hold quite a bit more of fan-favorite characters like Gohan whenever Dragon Ball Super returns.

Sources: Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 2 (translations by Kanzenshuu), Dragon Ball Official