In terms of villains I don't really have a favorite between Frieza and Cell, and Majin Buu certainly isn't a bad villain either. And that's something about DBZ, in which I thought damn near
all of the major villains were on point, from Vegeta up through Kid Buu. Heck, I thought most of the side villains like Zarbon and the Androids were handled well too. For the time they were appearing in, each did a good job as a threat. In terms of personality, Frieza had the arrogance thing down. He was so damn convinced of his superiority and he backed it up. From the second he appeared on the screen there wasn't a question as to whether or not he was the biggest, baddest dude around. Then he just proceeded to grow even more powerful and at his absolute best (Right before the fight Goku notes that he feels better and more powerful than he ever has before) Goku still couldn't take him down, only managing to
really dent him with the Spirit Bomb. Frieza's fall from that point on was pretty epic to see and I really don't know that there has even been a fight that epic, in terms of location. Two gladiators going at it as the planet explodes around them?
Man that's one of the best things i've ever seen on television.
Cell kind of had to share time with the Androids at first, but is in my opinion the overall creepiest villain we've ever had. His entire insect-like nature and the way he drained people down to their clothes was always chilling to me as a kid. He was arrogant like Frieza (Due to having his DNA, along with Vegeta's and even 17's after the absorbtion), but there was more to him than that. Frieza wasn't dumb, but Cell was a great manipulator. He really used the fact that he had people's DNA in him and therefore
knew them in a way to his advantage, specifically when it came to dealing with Vegeta so he could attain perfection. I also thought that Cell's origin was probably the best out of the villains in Z, because it called back to the original series and really only happened because of the events of the original series between Goku and the Red Ribbon Army. It was a good connection.
Toriyama gave Buu a unique origin, going the route of magic and all, but I actually thought where he really excelled was how different he was between his forms. Majin Buu was super powerful, but also extremely playful and easily distracted. Super Buu was far more sadistic and somewhat more intelligent, while retaining some of the traits of the original and also having a strong desire to fight powerful opponents. And with his absorbtions of Gotenks and Piccolo, followed by Gohan he only became more intelligent and powerful. Kid Buu was just crazy as hell and only cared about destroying things, which is why the final fight with him stands as my favorite out of all the fights Buu was involved in. SS3 Goku vs Kid Buu is definitely one for the ages. But at the same time, the absorbing thing had been done previously. It wasn't exactly the same, but the same basic idea. Buu growing more sophisticated over time was also similar to Cell, though his reversion to savagery was then notably different. I also feel that there were a lot more silly moments with Buu than there were with previous villains, which is an issue I had with his acr in general.
The Buu saga was my least favorite. Too much going on. I also started checking out from Dbz at the time it was airing, so that may have something to do with it.
Buu Saga had everyone looking like an idiot in my opinion.
Gohan stops training for seven years.
Vegeta knocks Goku out to go fight Majin Buu on his own.
Goku could've destroyed Majin Buu in SS3 but didn't.
Gotenks ***** around and doesn't destroy Super Buu, because he was focused on looking cool.
Goten and Trunks blow Gohan off to fuse into Gotenks, because it's what Super Buu wants, allowing themselves to be absorbed right after.
Vegito doesn't just kill Super Buu and revive everyone with the Dragon Balls later
Goku opts to save Hercule, Dende, and a ******* dog over Gohan, Trunks, Goten, and Piccolo.
The entire arc is just spurred on and on by the bad decision making skills of the Saiyan race. Really felt that the arc dragged on way too long.
And the really funny thing is that the anime-filler right before it? The Otherworld Tournament? That was one of the best fillers i've ever seen and I thought would really lead into something special, yet the Buu Arc is my least favorite in Z.