Dragonball or Dragonball Z? Its all a matter of how much you want to familiarize yourself with. If you really want to start from the TRUE beginning than the story of Goku as a kid is the way to go. (Dragonball). From there Dragonball progresses to Dragonball Z and finally Dragonball GT. If you want to go straight to the action than Dragonball Z (Adult Goku and future generations) is the way to start. If your hoping to prep yourself for the movie, than stick with Dragonball. As much flak as people catch for watching the Dragonball, DBZ, DBGT series....It's honestly a must for any anime fan no matter how you look at (it in my opinion.) Afterall, it's been labeled as the greatest action cartoon of all time.