You picked one of the worst examples to make your point. If you want to catch up with Dragonball, here's what you need to do:
Read Dragon Ball up through the end of the Saiya-jin saga.
Watch the anime only tv special DBZ Special (Bardock - The Father of Goku)
Read the Freiza saga.
Watch the anime only films Cooler's Revenge and Cooler's Return
Watch the anime only tv special DBZ Special (The History of Trunks)
Read the Cell saga.
Watch the anime only films Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan, Broly - Second Coming & Bio-Broly.
Read the Buu saga (BUT FOR GOODNESS SAKE DON'T READ THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS!).
Watch Dragon Ball Daima.
Watch Dragon Ball GT
Read Dragon Ball Super
Now, and only now, you may read the last two chapters of the original Dragon Ball.