WHY THE CELL SAGA WAS THE PERFECT ENDING FOR DRAGONBALL Z

If you would rather watch than read: 



Outside of GT, dragonball endings don’t feel like endings

The original DB didn’t feel like an ending, the DBZ ending doesn’t feel like an ending, and the last two entires to DragonBall Super don’t feel like endings either.



However, though I love what came after and I’m very happy we got more content, I would say the Cell saga is the closest thing to a complete feeling ending to DragonBall that we’ve gotten and would of been a perfect way to end the series.

We have the enemy of the arc being the combination of every villain who’s came before.

Perfect cell is an amazing legacy villain, combining everything that came before alongside the main hero in a totally organic way to the story. As far as final bosses go, he's pretty incredible. I totally forgot to put Freeza & king cold in this image, no idea how! 

That enemy gets his power from the short-comings of the main cast.


It's the actions of each of the cast members which result in Cell becoming perfect. On a side note, it's also these characters being in Cell's genetic makeup which leads to Cell's downfall in Dragonball Z. There's probably an underlying theme of nature here, as Gohan does the exact same thing when he becomes Super Saiyan 2 and toys with Cell in a similar fashion to how Goku treated Freeza on Namek.

Gohan finally surpasses Goku, a plot-thread that had been dangling from the early episodes of Z.


It's constantly hinted at throughout DragonBall Z that Gohan had a hidden power within him that was dying to awaken. Literally from episode 1, to fighting the Saiyans, to fighting Freeza etc. To end the series any earlier without that pay-off would have been a travesty and it's unfortunate Toriyama didn't know how to continue with Gohan in the lead. That's also one of the reasons I believe that this was the perfect end point.

Goku sacrifices himself in the most Goku way possible, taking responsibility for everything that has led to this moment.


Goku's very specific brand of selfish heroics is on full display here. He takes full responsibility for the situation and gives up his life, but it's also what he wants to do and that's how he's always lived his life. He's a hero, but not because he wants to be. That's just who he is (pure of heart) and what Dragonball is about. This is the perfect ending to his character arc.

And when Cell returns, all the remaining characters get pretty conclusive arcs during the final beam struggle as they reminisce on what Goku and Gohan mean to them and everything they’ve done for them. Everybody left on the battle field has a part to play, ending with Vegeta denouncing that he’ll ever fight again and acknowledging Goku and Gohan as ultimately besting him.


It's genuinely hard to believe that this alongside other incredible moments in the Dragonball z anime were actually filler. The Dragonball anime adaptation definitely drags on too long at times, but the amount of extra content is incredible for fleshing out the characters and is definitely partly responsible for the series' longevity

It ends with Gohan defeating Cell; the combination of all the villains that came before and even the heroes. This solidifies that Gohan is the strongest person in the series, not only surpassing his father but surpassing everyone.



This moment is such a conclusive ending for the Dragonball arcs because Cell represents EVERYONE and he's getting blown away by a one armed Gohan. It's excellent visual storytelling to show that Goku has passed the torch to his son, and he's surpassed everyone in the story in every single way. Side note; the broken arm is an extra reference to future Gohan failing to destroy the androids in the future where he never had his fathers guidance.

Goku staying dead so villains stop coming feels like an ending. It’s strong, tragic, but also a very hopeful and Goku way to go out. Protecting earth in his absence, whilst fighting bozos in the afterlife. It’s a win for our main character, that we know the earth will be safe and that Goku’s adventures will continue.


The story of Journey to the West is about Monkey obtaining 'god-hood'. DragonBall takes a lot of inspiration from that story, in this instance that Goku trains with Gods in DragonBall, Dragonball Z, DragonBall GT, and DragonBall Super. Dying and entering the afterlife could be interpreted as a pretty conclusive way of delivering that homage without having to have him literally become the Super Saiyan God. Basically, every 'ending' of DragonBall since the Cell arc has re-invented the idea of Goku becoming a 'god' and passing on the torch. 

Lastly, we get a great feel good moment with the cast one final time. And we feel Goku’s spirit watching over them, forever.



DragonBall has a lot of myths and rumours surrounding it and there’s a lot of conspiracy theories of when DB was meant to end, all of them unsubstantiated.  It's frequently cited that it was meant to end at Freeza, however there is very little evidence (none really) to suggest that this is true.

Plus it would be a pretty naff ending to just have the hero not be able to escape and die on his own whilst suffocating in space and being blown limb from limb. It also isn't a satisfactory ending for Gohan's character.

The Cell arc probably wasn't the intended ending either, but it does the whole Goku dying thing far better imo. If Toriyama chose to end his story this way? I can’t think of a more perfect place to end it. As a side note, I also think this is why so many games have historically ended at the Cell saga; because it just fits so damn well.


Ahhh yes, the perfect ending to DragonBall. Sky Goku will fight bozos in the afterlife forever whilst the rest of the cast also live happy lives. Win win!