The best Dragon Ball watch order is: original Dragon Ball (1986), Dragon Ball Z (or Kai), Dragon Ball Daima, Battle of Gods, Resurrection ‘F’, Dragon Ball Super, Super: Broly, then Super Hero — skip Dragon Ball GT, which Toei has never folded into Akira Toriyama’s canon. Watching in release order preserves every twist exactly as fans experienced it.
Quick Answer: The Complete Dragon Ball Watch Order
Dragon Ball is really eight things stacked on top of each other — four TV series, four canon movies, and one dead-end spinoff. Here is the release-order path that keeps every payoff intact, with the one series you can skip called out.
Want to see how the cast stacks up once all of that is finished? Check our ranking of the strongest Dragon Ball characters of all time.
| # | Title | Year(s) | Length | Where It Fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dragon Ball | 1986–1989 | 153 episodes | Goku’s childhood, through the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament |
| 2 | Dragon Ball Z (or Kai) | 1989–1996 (Kai: 2009–2015) | 291 episodes (Kai: 159) | Saiyan invasion through Majin Buu’s defeat |
| 3 | Dragon Ball Daima | 2024–2025 | 20 episodes | A side-quest set right after Buu’s defeat, before the gods notice Earth |
| 4 | Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods | 2013 | Film, 85 min | 10 years later — Beerus wakes up looking for a Super Saiyan God |
| 5 | Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ | 2015 | Film, 94 min | Frieza is revived and comes back for revenge |
| 6 | Dragon Ball Super | 2015–2018 | 131 episodes | Universe 6, Goku Black & Future Trunks, the Tournament of Power |
| 7 | Dragon Ball Super: Broly | 2018 (Japan) / 2019 (int’l) | Film, 100 min | Right after the Tournament of Power |
| 8 | Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero | 2022 | Film, 99 min | The most recent canon story, follows Broly |
| — | Skip: Dragon Ball GT | 1996–1997 | 64 episodes | Non-canon anime-original sequel — optional, not required |
Dragon Ball (1986): Where It All Starts
The original Dragon Ball ran for 153 episodes on Fuji TV from February 1986 to April 1989, adapting the first, goofier half of Akira Toriyama’s manga: a tailed kid named Goku meets Bulma, hunts the seven wish-granting Dragon Balls, and works his way through three World Martial Arts Tournaments before the story hands off to Z. It’s lighter and more comedic than everything that follows, and it is not optional world-building — the Red Ribbon Army, King Piccolo, and Goku’s own backstory all pay off later. Of its 153 episodes, 21 are anime-only filler (about 14%), concentrated in a couple of stretches like the Red Ribbon Army’s tail end; skipping those loses nothing.
Dragon Ball Z vs. Dragon Ball Z Kai: Which One to Watch
Dragon Ball Z picks up right where Dragon Ball left off and runs 291 episodes (1989–1996), carrying the story from Raditz’s arrival through the Saiyan, Namek, Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu sagas. It is also the padded version: 38 of those 291 episodes are pure filler (about 13%), on top of slow-paced fight commentary that stretches single manga chapters across multiple episodes.
Dragon Ball Z Kai is Toei’s 2009–2015 re-edit: a tighter recut that trims the padding, restores the original Japanese pacing, and comes in at 159 episodes in Japan (167 in the international cut, which splits some episodes differently) with almost no filler of its own — only about 1%, roughly two episodes. Kai was produced in two pieces: the original 2009–2011 run covers the Saiyan through Cell sagas, and 2014–2015’s Kai: The Final Chapters adds the Majin Buu saga. If you want the story at a modern pace, watch Kai. If you want the version that shaped the Toonami generation — and don’t mind some slower stretches — watch the original Z and use a filler guide to skip the worst of it (the Garlic Jr. Saga and the Snake Way filler are the two most skippable chunks).
Dragon Ball Daima: The Side Story You Shouldn’t Skip
Dragon Ball Daima (2024–2025) is a 20-episode series set almost immediately after the Buu Saga, before Beerus ever wakes up — Goku and friends get shrunk down and dragged into the Demon Realm. Unlike GT, Daima is canon: Akira Toriyama personally oversaw its story and character designs before his death in 2024, and Toei’s 40th-anniversary materials list it alongside the mainline series. It’s short, it’s Toriyama-approved, and it slots in cleanly between Z/Kai and Battle of Gods.
The Movies That Actually Matter
Dragon Ball has released more than twenty theatrical films since 1986, but only four are canon to Toriyama’s story going forward: Battle of Gods (2013), Resurrection ‘F’ (2015), Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018), and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022), all developed with Toriyama’s direct involvement per Toei Animation’s official lineup page. Everything else — Dead Zone, The Tree of Might, Cooler’s Revenge, Fusion Reborn, the earlier Broly trilogy, and the rest of the 1989–1995 run — is a self-contained side story that does not affect the main timeline and can be skipped entirely without confusion.
Battle of Gods takes place ten years after Buu’s defeat, when the God of Destruction Beerus wakes up looking for a mythical Super Saiyan God. Resurrection ‘F’ follows directly after, bringing Frieza back from the dead for one more shot at revenge. Broly is set after the Tournament of Power arc that closes out the Dragon Ball Super anime, and Super Hero — the most recent canon entry, built around Gohan and Piccolo — picks up after that. For context on how strong these threats get by the time Frieza and the God of Destruction arc are through, see our breakdown of the strongest Dragon Ball villains of all time.
Dragon Ball Super: The One Redundancy Every Guide Gets Vague About
This is the part most watch-order guides either skip or get wrong. Dragon Ball Super ran 131 episodes from July 2015 to March 2018, but it does not start with new material: episodes 1–18 (the God of Destruction Beerus Saga) are a full anime retelling of Battle of Gods, and episodes 19–27 (the Golden Frieza Saga) retell Resurrection ‘F’ beat for beat, per Wikipedia’s episode list. New, anime-original story doesn’t actually begin until episode 28, with the Universe 6 and Duplicate Vegeta Saga. In practice that means: if you’ve already watched the two films, you can skip straight to episode 28 of Super without losing anything — watching both the films and episodes 1–27 back to back is watching the same story told twice. From episode 28 on, Super is where Ultra Instinct debuts during the Tournament of Power; we cover exactly what that technique is and how it works in our Ultra Instinct explainer.
What to Skip: GT’s Canon Status and the Worst Filler
Dragon Ball GT (1996–1997, 64 episodes) is not canon. It was made after Toriyama’s manga ended, and his own involvement was limited to the title and a handful of character designs — Toei and its writers built the story and the Super Saiyan 4 transformation without him. Toei’s own 40th-anniversary retrospective in 2026 highlighted every mainline Dragon Ball anime except GT and the mobile-game spin-off Super Dragon Ball Heroes, which CBR reported is as close to an official confirmation as it gets that GT sits outside the main story. You can watch it as an alternate “what if” continuation, but nothing in Super, Daima, or the movies assumes you have.
Beyond GT, the filler to actually budget around is inside Z itself: the Garlic Jr. Saga (a 20-episode arc invented for the anime between the Vegeta and Namek arcs), the Snake Way and Other World training filler that pads Goku’s trip to King Kai, and the “Fake Namek” driving-school stretch during the Cell Saga. All of it is skippable, and Kai already cuts almost all of it for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to watch Dragon Ball GT?
No. Dragon Ball GT (1996–1997) is not canon to Akira Toriyama’s manga or to Dragon Ball Super — Toriyama contributed only the title and some designs. Nothing later in the franchise, including Super, Daima, or the four canon movies, references or requires it. Watch it only if you want an alternate, non-canon continuation.
Should I watch Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball Kai?
Kai if you want the story at a modern pace: it’s a 2009–2015 recut of the original 291-episode Z, running 159 episodes in Japan (167 international) with almost no filler. Watch the original Z if you want the classic pacing and don’t mind roughly 38 filler episodes (about 13% of the series) that a filler guide can help you skip.
Do I have to watch Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’ AND the start of Dragon Ball Super?
No — pick one. Dragon Ball Super’s first 27 episodes are a direct anime retelling of both films, so watching the films and then starting Super from episode 1 means seeing the same story twice. If you’ve watched the films, jump straight to Super episode 28, where the anime-original story actually begins.
Where does Dragon Ball Daima fit in the watch order?
Right after Dragon Ball Z (or Kai) and before Battle of Gods. Daima is set immediately following Majin Buu’s defeat, before Beerus wakes up, and Akira Toriyama personally oversaw its story and character designs, making it canon.
