"Dragon Ball Is Better Than Dragon Ball Z"

Why do people say Dragon Ball is better than DBZ? Let's get into why some people may say that. #dragonball #dbz #goku

[@flygonkerel781]

YES. end of video

[@BlazingAuras]

LMAOOO

[@flygonkerel781]

@@BlazingAuras just telling it how it is man XD

[@lilmigo1020]

@@flygonkerel781Dragon ball story is better!!! and pacing but come on man Dragon ball Z is what made the franchise i used to be the group of people who thought The original was better it is in some parts but overall loses to Z

[@BlazingAuras]

@lilmigo1020 I will make a video on Z since I think both are equally good. Like how Z has less tournament arcs and higher stakes and all of that

[@xspawnx83]

OK i believe you

[@princelevi3733]

Here, why i like og better. 1. The animation is so beautiful. 2. The background music is so relaxing. 3. Ki blast used to be a big deal back then because it wasn't so spam. 4. Some of the perverted jokes back in the day, unfortunately, you can't get away with it now. 5. Watching Master roshi fight is always amazing to me. Hell goku vs. jackie chun is still my favorite fight to this very day, and I'm surprised people don't talk about this fight. 6. Tien character development. Tien came from wanting to kill goku to trying to risk his life for the group. 7. Yamcha wasn't a total joke. Yamcha was the first person to figure out how to turn goku back to his normal form. 8. The king piccolo arc was dark as hell. Almost every fighter in the world is dead, King Piccolo got his youth, the dragon ball got destroyed, and the world was in chaos. Goku, tien, yamcha, and yajirobe were the world only hope left. 9. Launch, you can kinda tell goku needs a mother figure in his life, and that what launch was to goku. Such an underrated relationship.

[@SantiagoCaballero-gv3xr]

Thank for mentioning launch and goku relationship ❤

[@dyzzifromdivsel7975]

All facts!

[@miquel4529]

Tien Shinahan 😢😢😢😢

[@Wen6543]

Pretty much agree. The fights in Z, Super, etc are nice but many of my fav are from the original, the first time i felt chills with an anime was with Yamcha vs Tien and that awesome song in the background, Wolf Hurricane, everything in Japanese. Also Yamcha's voice actor and the singer of Wolf Hurricane are the same, even better. About story, character and World content and development, etc i feel the "original" as the best.

[@georgefenrirtyson]

Tien Shinhan and Yamucha 😢

[@ZidaneTheTribal]

I'm a 31 yo guy and let me just spit. I never watched all of OG DB start to finish till just this year. I took it slow, started in November and literally finished the last EP the day of the horrible news. Dragonball is unbelievably adventure PEAK. I cried at how beautifully it ended, i loved it so so damn much.

[@Dontclickmychannellll]

Same bro I read the manga but didn’t finish it and I finally finished it and it became an instant favorite

[@LCVybz]

Thanks bro for spitting

[@rGGdom]

og Dragon Ball was all about adventure and comedy. Sure there was always the fighting and martial arts aspect of it, but it was just a part of it not the whole thing. I still to this day find it to be hilarious

[@macdog1]

fr, so funny

[@StevenJones851]

OG Dragon Ball is so good

[@Travybear1989]

Yeah, the original is a LOT sillier and more easygoing but Z definitely has more drama and heavier hitting fight scenes. Both are great in their own ways.

[@macdog1]

@@Travybear1989 I wish the adventure vibe wasn't as sacrificed in the Z era as i feel it was. I love the more drama/fights, but the lack of adventure not so. GT was decently mid, but they at least tried to hit on that factor again.

[@StevenJones851]

@@Travybear1989 both ate great

[@PipeRetrogamer]

My 9yo recently asked me to watch DB together. I never liked it much, but on a second watch it's been really entertaining and it really picks up once Goku starts training with Roshi and the first martial arts tournament. I also thought this anime was way longer because it has many story arcs, but it runs just a little over 150 episodes, which is really impressive for the ammount of story and characters presented.

[@BlazingAuras]

And the training is only the second arc as well! For me, the back to back stellar writing (and also when the animation for fights improve and the story gets dark) starts with the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai with Tien, King Piccolo... and it goes all the way up to the end of the Cell. So that's a lot of chapters/episodes of just AMAZING story telling

[@kossemoore3342]

I mean for me the way I look at is toriyama jade this as one story. The z portion and db portion are scratching completely different itches tho.

[@adi6293]

I started watching it with my kid just the other day, it brings back so many memories 😂😂

[@richborn6700]

It's crazy in 153 episodes covered six years of the story of Goku, but Super barely told any real stories in 131 episodes.

[@sirlionheart4614]

what?!? youre telling me you dont wanna watch 1100+ episode of nonsence?

[@davidramirez9568]

Most American fans, to clarify. in Mexico and most countries we watched the whole thing as it should be.

[@pablocasas5906]

Exactly, while the DBZ episodes of are the most memorable, I think many people in Latin America and Europe watched Dragon Ball since the beginning. I did it

[@SenkaPress]

@@pablocasas5906 Yes, it helps a lot when Dragon Ball pre-Z it's the first exposure your country has. It's perfectly fine if the first exposure is Z though, even after you consider that you miss a good chunk of the context that Z demands if you start with the Saiyan arc, and a few iconic moments, like Roshi's Kamehameha to the Moon on the 21st tournament, Goku killing King Piccolo, and everytime Tao Pai Pai is on screen during the Red Ribbon arc.

[@automnevert]

Italy as well. At least for us early-mid millennials

[@pablocasas5906]

@@automnevert Saint Seiya (Los Caballeros del Zodiaco) was popular in Italy, France and Spain as well, wasn't it? Don't if Kurumada's other series, B't X, (the one I got my profile picture from) was well known there as well

[@stanbrule9357]

​​@@SenkaPressDB actually did get a limited test run in the US in the 80s albeit with heavy changes, they didn't so much dub anime in the 80s as they took footage from anime and basically created a new show I.E. Robotech.

[@noanswer1864]

The slowness of Dragon Ball is carefully hidden in adventure. The slowness of Z comes mostly from screen-time padding. You get filler in the form of screaming. I'm not saying Z was bad, because it's fantastic. Dragon Ball was just had better pacing. I think people would like it much more if the audio wasn't quite so crusty.

[@gafhs1235]

That’s more of an anime pacing thing for both. Like some filler arcs in DB are great, but the filler in fights can make some action scenes really slow.

[@the_exegete]

The audio thing is so annoying to me because crisp clear stereo recordings of all these episodes exist, but Toei simply refuses to use them. I dunno if it's some kind of pride thing or a weird legal issue, but it's absolutely possible for DB and DBZ to have official releases with good stereo high quality audio. They just refuse. It's the high seas to the rescue, as it's always been with Dragon Ball. Has such a popular series ever gotten the shaft on it's physical releases so consistently?

[@BlazingAuras]

Toei...please...release them... for the love of God...

[@gafhs1235]

@@the_exegete funny thing is didn’t toei throw out the original broadcast audio? I think the only high quality audio we have are from fans who recorded the original broadcast.

[@the_exegete]

@@gafhs1235 They disposed of the audio masters, but they did keep copies of the original broadcast audio as it was stored on the original broadcast tape. This would be fine, except they really didn't do anything to properly preserve that tape, and as a result both the video and audio degraded. For the video this really only meant discoloration, but the much more sensitive audio took a huge hit in quality. (BTW I made a mistake in saying the original broadcast audio was in stereo. It was mono, just a much higher quality of mono than any physical release has ever gotten.) I'm waiting with bated breath from AB Groupe to release the rest of their Dragon Ball restorations. The first volume came out a couple years ago and it's taking forever since they're painstakingly correcting all the colors as well as using those high quality broadcast audio recordings. But man, it's so good. Hopefully they'll go on to give DBZ this treatment.

[@Mari_Izu]

In the manga, there's no Z, so Dragon Ball is the bestest from Goku meeting Bulma to him leaving to train Oob!

[@darkenkil4416]

Uub*

[@Mari_Izu]

@@darkenkil4416 Not in my country, smartass.

[@JodaroKujo]

@@darkenkil4416 Majin Boo

[@darkenkil4416]

@@JodaroKujo buu*

[@androidsenpai1462]

@@darkenkil4416 No, it’s Oob and Boo in the manga. That’s what it is translated into English.

[@SmugStick]

They’re one in the same

[@BlazingAuras]

Basically my opinion as well 😅

[@ShadowDante7]

Technically they actually are if we’re talking about the manga

[@edit4310]

Z started off right, but Toriyama quickly realised the hype of transformations and levels, and that became the Z's template for story progression. Dragonball fans didn't have all these transformations to carry the story, so Akira's writing did the lifting. This is why other anime fans (who hate DBZ) all talked about who much they admired Toriyama's design and work in dragonball.

[@0vern9K]

No, people say that because they just regurgitate whatever they see online and can’t comprehend any narratives in Z for whatever reason. Even the fans can’t see a theme unless it’s shoved down their throat or said in a KZbin video. Like how ppl say gohan going ssj2 makes no sense because 16 died. despite the fact 16 was the only person to actually talk to gohan and understand how gohan felt. The majority of ppl who don’t like dbz say it’s just enemies showing up and goku beating them. If anything that’s OG ball not Z. Yes dbz had a lot of transformations what does that have to do with the writing and characters. The fights told the stories that’s why they fought so much. And the forms represented character growth. Dbz is better.

[@edit4310]

​@@0vern9K LMAO how you FEEL about 16 talking to Gohan is YOUR opinion. Nothing to do with storytelling. ;) Delete your essay. The top comment in this video is the top comment for a reason. ;) Even DBZ fans agree. GG wp

[@lilmigo1020]

@@0vern9K THANK YOU bro they just talking just to talk people always say the original of anything is better there drunk asf DBZ is better without Z dragon ball would be nothing there is no argument 😂😂

[@lilmigo1020]

@@0vern9K Heavy on can’t comprehend the story most dragon ball Z fans don’t know the actual story at all and only played the games and watched youtube videos covering the story within a hour these people our not actually rewatching dragon ball like i am on hulu

[@alexdeghost2729]

Well that makes no sense because the writing in Z is genuinely better than the OG and the constant form upgrades is directly tied ti Martial Arts philosophy of constant adaptation and improvement of what came before.

[@WinspearUltima]

Fun fact I’m watching OG Dragon ball and I love it already very well paced just like YuYu Hakusho for me.

[@sirreepicheeprules7443]

Original was better because it was more about technique and skill than raw power, Z has several cases of someone being so strong that you know there's no possibility to fighting them and winning, some literally just stand there and don't even care as they are attacked by much weaker foes (Frieza tanking Nail's attacks and Cell tanking Krillin's are examples). But in Dragonball, the scales are more even and you see Goku using tactics to win instead of pure strength, his fights with Nam, Krillin and Tien are great examples of how Dragonball uses skill over power. For me the biggest reason is that OG Dragonball used the characters better as everyone has some relevance; characters like Yamcha at least were capable enough to matter and weren't completely sidelined and forgotten. Roshi and Tien were awesome and serious challenges for Goku to overcome. Also seeing how strong and capable Tien and Piccolo are made the Saiyan saga way more terrifying to me. Nappa is crushing these powerhouses and there's still Vegeta after him, you really feel how monstrous these enemies are. And that's where Gohan is our point of view character, you can't help but think this little kid is so far out of his league and I don't blame him for being scared. Z definitely has plenty of great moments, but the presence of characters like Yamcha and Chaotzu is hard to appreciate because they barely exist within the story, they are there but never do anything, even Yajirobe manages to do something by cutting off Vegeta's tail and giving a senzu bean here and there. Roshi went from being the awesome mentor to some old pervert that has lost any relevance and is now just some comic relief. It's sad to see characters go waste and be forgotten and mistreated as they are. More recently in Super you even see Gohan, Goten and Trunks be forgotten and sidelined, astonishing since Gohan was a major character in Z and Goten and Trunks' raw potential are shown and then completely wasted.

[@densincomprehend8879]

I disagree ppl only like shit just because it's original.

[@0vern9K]

Heavily disagree. Can we stop this dumb notion that the Z portion introduced this idea of “ raw power “ fights? And them not being about skill. Or characters just being strong? Piccolo and Piccolo Jr knew 0 marital arts and still were leagues above everyone Who knew martial arts and had skill. They were also neck and neck with goku. Kid goku doesn’t even learn any new skills or trains to defeat king piccolo he just drinks water, and his power level went up to where he was slightly stronger then king piccolo. It was only a close fight really because teins dumbass got in the way and was used as a shield. The 1st half of the 23rd budokai is just waiting for piccolo Jr vs goku because we all know nobody else stood a damn chance. By that time goku and piccolo were way stronger then anyone else. Not more skilled just stronger. And them tanking attacks is cool. Tatics mean strategy, there’s strategy in Z again I disagree. Literally anytime the spirit bomb is being used a strategy or tatic has to be in motion for goku not to just get pummeled while charging it, kaioken goku has to strategically use it so he doesn’t die or cuck his body, in the cell arc we see him combine 2 moves with IT and the kamehameha, their fight with raditz grabbing raditz’s tail and sacrificing himself. Goku using solar flare and kaioken to hide and charge the spirit bomb vs vegeta. I feel like original db has more time to show of goku fighting since Original db was Goku’s story. The majority of Goku’s fights in Z he looses or he’s fighting in a group or duo. Which I find better actually imo considering most of Goku’s fights in og db ESPECIALLY THE BEGINNING he just washes everyone.

[@0vern9K]

Characters like Tein yamcha roshi all had “ relevance “ because that was their time in the story they are characters from original db. All their character arcs ended. So naturally when Z comes around and all these new characters are introduced / other characters getting development ofc already established characters will take a backseat it isn’t there story anymore they are from the previous series. idk what is so hard to understand about this. It isn’t even like tein and yamcha disappeared from the story they just weren’t driving the plot anymore because it wasn’t their story anymore partly. They were still around and active in the group. Yamchas the one who took goku home and helped him recover from the heart virus. But ig nobody cares about that since it isn’t fightin. Roshi stopped showing up as much but that makes logical sense. He only started training again in og ball after meeting goku and krillin, before that he was doing the same shit he was doing in Z. NOTHING, just chilling on his island he’s old asl ofc he doesn’t fight. Og db doesn’t use characters better it just used the characters who were In the series… z did the same but more. Z was juggling new characters, developing old ones like Goku who just became an adult and had a son, and piccolo who was Introduced in the last arc of db, while keeping the old ones there as well. Toriyama had way more to juggle in the z portion of the story while still keeping old characters in the story. Ones like vegeta, trunks, gohan and piccolo who are way better written and interesting then yamcha krillin tein or roshi. an it was there story in Z Also don’t try to compare what supers doing to characters like Z did that with og ball💀👎🏿

[@AcidTripOk]

For me OG DB feels like The Hobbit, from Tolkien, in the sense that it was made specifically as a kids story, it's about adventure in a more light hearted tone. DBZ feels more like Lord of the Rings in the sense that it is a bit more mature, more serious, more epic and grandious in scale, and if our heroes fail, it will be the end of the world. Both are different and amazing in their own way, and I love them both for what they are.

[@csherminator]

For such a moment, I'd consider having kids

[@jusjay3834]

Kids story?! Goku was slapping vagina and pee pee to reveal gender 😂 Don’t get me started on Bulmas tits 😅

[@Reset-sm6rg]

That's an excellent analogy! Two masterpiece franchises

[@Jdudec367]

That is true actually! Huh I never thought about that...

[@Ben10chickenhero]

As a huge fan that loves both of these franchise with my heart I do happily agree

[@LANMEE2]

I would not separate OG DB from saiyan, namek sagas. That all together is a beautiful masterpiece. Garlic jr, trunks, android, cell I would consider t2. Everything after that is lackluster :( Super has been picking it up lately, hopefully it becomes better

[@lycanlube7484]

You didn't just say super is picking things up but everything after namek saga is lackluster! Wtf

[@LANMEE2]

@@lycanlube7484 Exactly what I said, it is lackluster. BUT it is showing promise lately that it can get better.

[@lycanlube7484]

@@LANMEE2 cell saga was great,.but ideally the perfect wrap up would end it at namek saga. I wish super never happened though its just a smear to the franchise I don't see them saving it from this point especially with toriyama gone.

[@LANMEE2]

@@lycanlube7484 We share the same opinion. When I say super can get better, I don't mean in comparison to db, or z, I just mean that as a standalone piece super can get better, since curently it is the worst of all.

[@lycanlube7484]

@@LANMEE2 Ah okay, well yeah id rather they just leave it alone because i can only see it getting worse in art style and writing. I really dislike where they have taken the franchise alot its all a cash grab now.

[@edward18517]

Dragon Ball and Z are the same thing. They're one series that was given a name change in the anime version a third of the way through. That being said the Pre-Saiyan-Saga stuff is definitely better to me, no contest.

[@pablocasas5906]

I know that there was some sort of marketing or creative reason why Toei decided to rename the show Dragon Ball Z when they reached they Saiyajin Saga, but various anime shows back in the day used to change names between seasons or sagas. For example, City Hunter's last batch of episodes were released under the name of City Hunter '91, and then we have Sailor Moon which changed the name of the seasons (R, S, Super S and Stars)

[@firestriker3580]

The preseason soccer stuff is not better OG dragon ball is better

[@firestriker3580]

They are not the same thing

[@edward18517]

@@firestriker3580 Assuming you're talking about Dragon Ball and Z, they are absolutely the same thing. It's one series that was made into animated form and given a name-change partway through afterwards in the animated version. It's still just one series.

[@BlazingAuras]

You know sometimes I wonder what goes inside people's heads when I try to convey correct information in the video and they just ignore it💀

[@TheJadeFist]

Namek really did go all in on the Green. And there was no change in biome or terrain. Just green tiny islands with a green sea, and a green sky.

[@BladeMasterIcarus]

Namek was also tidal locked because Toriyama didn't want to drawn night scenes

[@TheJadeFist]

@@BladeMasterIcarus I'm just going to head canon it, that, the disaster that destroyed namek in the past... something something something green.

[@BladeMasterIcarus]

@@TheJadeFist meh, namek is a planet with three suns so that head canon is actually possible if not true

[@mateogarciaguerra9536]

The 2 main things most people love from the Goku vs. Vegeta fight were already in the 23rd Budokai Tenkaichi Goku vs. Piccolo. Think about it: 1. Kamehameha Beam Clash, with the same angle, and the same result of undefeated, yet damaged foe. 2. Giant Form foe, then going back to small to finish the fight. I guess you could also add Goku forgiving them, or them both enduring a "Final technique" for a last push before the end, but that was just Toriyama's writing in general. Vegeta is my fav character, but OG Dragon Ball was just SO GOOD MAN!

[@NinjaChris77]

"Most of the fanbase has only seen Z", .... that is so weird to me, because how do you even understand any of the world building if you havent seen og DB before Z???! No wonder alot of ppl joke on Yamcha or dont care alot about any of the old characaters when they die, like the Krillin jokes, WHAT??! They dont even understand their backstories, lol. Idk if theres a difference in how Dragonball got broadcasted in the US vs the rest of the world and i can mainly speak for myself here, but we had og DB n german TV in the 90s before Z was even a thing here and it was huge too, most kids in my school grew up with og DB and loved it! Then in the early 2000s we got DBZ, after og DB already got multiple reruns. To me og DB is alot better, but i also love early DBZ, ... now i did enjoy later DBZ arks aswell, but they got a lil crazy with the Saiyan stuff and the enemies were kinda just copies of Freezer with the 20 transformations and stuff. They also draged on for waaaaay to long with Boo. Early Boo ark was fun, caus it was different! But overall im for sure a og DB kid!

[@pablocasas5906]

Yeah, here in Latin America many people from my generation, I'm talking about the late 90s (around '97 or '98), started watching Dragon Ball from the first episode of the Pilaf Saga and it was a huge hit since the start, I even had a cassette with the Latin American Spanish versions of Makafushigi Adventure (DB's first OP theme). It's just that when the show got into the Saiyajin Saga and beyond that the series got even MORE popular, like DBZ and Pokémon were the shows that took anime into the mainstream

[@NinjaChris77]

@@pablocasas5906 It was kinda like that here too, DB was popular, but DBZ was even crazier. Now, idk DBZ took anime into the mainstream here, i guess its different everywhere, i feel like for us it was the og DB/Sailor Moon/Pokemon era that did that, if not earlier shows tbh, cause we had german/japanese cooperative anime made specific for the german audience such as "Biene Maja" or "Vicky und die starken Männer" in the 70s i think, and even later they did more and then actual anime like Heidi were huge here too. So there where whole generations growing up with anime, before people even rly knew it was anime, haha. But yea, 90s kids then knew what thez were watching and started calling them anime.

[@pablocasas5906]

@@NinjaChris77 well, here in Spanish-speaking Latin America there were some anime shows that managed to become very popular years before Dragon Ball arrived. I'd say that the for the generation that grew up in the early eighties the anime shows that were able to achieve huge populairty were Candy Candy, Heidi, Mazinger Z and Robotech, but I think that was a time were people didn't exactly understand how different was anime from other types of animated productions. Then, in the early, I say 90s Saint Seiya was the first show that introduced the concept of a battle shonen show to most people and it helps that it got rerun for a really long time in various TV channels. But I think the late 90s and early was the time that most people finally saw anime as its own thing here, the avalanche of shows like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Digimon Adventure, Slam Dunk, Captain Tsubasa, Detective Conan, Rayearth, Cardcaptor Sakura, Pokémon, Evangelion, The Slayers, etc. was unprecedented. There were channels like Fox Kids that had programming blocks dedicated to anime and other like Locomotion that shown more mature shows like Cowboy Bebop, Saber Marionette J, Boogiepop Phantom, etc. There were even magazines and shows that talked about anime in various countires like Argentina, where I live. There was one called "El Club del Anime", that talked about shows that were airing in Japan at the time, this is from a time in which very few people had access to the Internet

[@NinjaChris77]

@@pablocasas5906 uuuh, i didnt know latin america had Detective Conan, since it kinda failed in the US, they only got like 50 episodes i think. I loved that show and its still very liked here in germany and austria today, even the movies are able to get theater releases, its dope. Same with Digimon btw, but i knew Latin America loves Digimon. Dope how much Germany and Latin America has in common with Anime past, i have alot of US friends and they seem to had a very different time with some of these shows not being as popular as they were over here, or they got changed and censored so hard that they basically not the same anymore, lol.

[@firestriker3580]

Most kids grew up with other anime before dragon ball

[@bizarroeddie1]

by coincidence i was watching some episodes of DB yesterday. It's so much fun, nothing takes too long to happen. Z on the other hand is way too serious and drags a lot. It's hard to believe it's the same show ("Z" is just there for comercial reasons).

[@slavishentity6705]

Z is false advertising because of Super, and before that, GT in the anime only department.

[@Kairac112]

I still remember coming home from kindergarden/school at 2 pm to watch Goku. Dragon Ball was great, but so is Z! The part where Cell is revealed, Piccolo's merging with Kami, imo, some of the best storytelling in all anime history.

[@athfcoz]

My introduction to Dragon ball was the movie Curse of the blood rubies. I don't know how many times me and my brother rented that damn tape before our parents finally bought it for us.

[@eddo3581]

i love z, but the og handles characters way better and it feels way more lightharted and fun

[@0vern9K]

How does it handle characters better? Lemme guess the earthlings do a lot 😂?

[@igotkeyzzz]

@@0vern9Kthe side characters in Z get little to no screen time and basically get treated like fodder

[@0vern9K]

@@igotkeyzzz no they don’t who gets treated like fodder? I swear this criticism makes no sense. it’s not being fodder it’s introducing new characters. Ofc when introducing more of the cast established members with naturally take a backseat that’s literally writing in 99% of shonen. Ik your talking about the earthlings since everyone else in Z gets consistent screen time. Krillin and tien are relevant for 90% of the series and were introduced in OG ball. They took a backseat in the buu arc the literal last arc of the series. Yamcha is even funnier ppl swear up and down Z ruined him but he was a loser in og ball, he lost damn near all his fights and In embarrassing fashion. He had to be lifted out the arena after fighting tein. if anything og db made Yamcha fodder nobody noticed cause he happened to be funny

[@D__634]

​@@0vern9K kid Goku is funnier, simpe and I like his personality. Adult Goku is more hungry to fight stronger opponents. DB is better when it comes to story writing while DBZ is better at hyping up the series.

[@0vern9K]

@@D__634 y’all don’t explain how the story is better tho? It wasn’t but since you think so tell me how it was better. And don’t say adventure or it focused on more then fighting cause Z had adventure they literally travel to outter space, heaven, hell etc. while still focusing on more then fighting

[@nachoooshagy]

Short answerd = Yes Long answerd = Yes, definitely

[@Jdudec367]

Nah tbh

[@shawn092182]

FYI, In the US, the Dragonball anime was released about 10 years before the Dragonball Z series. However, it only aired the Pilaf arc.

[@doomhammer3022]

At the end of the day, OG DB and DBZ are just very very different. So is it a fair comparison? Within their respective adventure and action genres, I think OG DB slaps more consistently, whereas DBZ averages out by slapping harder in key moments

[@derloco2035]

Being honest: Back in the days when Dragonball Z came into TV where I life, I really was disappointed how the show downgraded from the lovely campy worldbuilding with some really creative ideas into neverending formulaic fights "to save earth" against the generic replacable big bad of that story arc. So YES original Dragonball is much better!

[@WEAREALLJUSTMEAT]

If you read it in its entirety, you understand that the hyper violence in the end pays off things set up in the first half. You can draw a single thematic/narrative line from the first tenkilaichi budokai to cell. Especially from king piccolo to frieza, which is easily the best part of the story imo.

[@seemantable3985]

Putting aside which ADAPTATION is better and looking at the manga version of both, I think the Z portion wins by a long shot. I sometimes feel like the anime did a lot of disservice to the Z storyline, because in many aspects I find it wayyyy more compelling than OG Ball, even in terms of how action and everything around is written. It's just that it's most popular adaptation... has some uhhh, issues.

[@treehugger3615]

The reason I liked the OG DB so much was because it was full of ancient Chinese folk tale and wisdom. Nearly everything in DB from characters to the fighting could be traced to some ancient belief or archetype, including the concept of "ki" and this idea that martial arts can make you inhumanely strong. DBZ lost pretty much lost all of that and became more of an Alien vs Human vs Other Aliens thing.

[@tlst94]

What if in an alternate timeline, Toei never split DB into two shows? While the series aired worldwide at the same time as Japan? And if Toriyama wrote both the Baby and Shadow Dragon Arcs in the manga soon after the 10-year timeskip? And ended the series for good with Goku Jr Vs Vegeta Jr? And if Toriyama then wrote a contract that prevented anymore DB works from existing(even foreign projects like Evolution)? How'd the world, DB franchise, and Anime industry have looked like from our altered memories, experiences, and POVs?

[@Mastersabre]

Honestly this may be an unpopular opinion, but I think since you mentioned it, I feel like shippuden did overshadow the original series at least as far as the anime. The only reason is because in my opinion I feel like the original series was a bit annoying at times and had way more filler from what I remember, and shippuden was more interesting and far more action packed (similar to DBZ compared to DB) but to conclude my 2 cents, this is just my opinion and I feel like I’m possibly not alone in thinking it

[@bytheboat2]

I agree even though I like og naruto more I can acknowledge that the akatsuki alone make shippuden more talked about

[@kesenaememere8520]

​@bytheboat2 facts, in my opinion Og Naruto is way better. Back when the Konoha 11 wasn't completely useless.

[@fossfox]

No the fuck it did not lmao

[@mike1989libra]

@@bytheboat2bigger fan of both and only can watch sub

[@bytheboat2]

@@mike1989libra I watch dub but sub is cool

[@alexdeghost2729]

OG Dragon Ball is a good introduction to the series that lays down the foundations if the story but Dragon Ball Z/Kai is the main story that develops Goku’s character with said foundations.

[@JohnSmith13146]

I started watching DBZ back in high school in the late 90s and very early 2000s. Up until recently my only experience with the original Dragon Ball was a VHS movie I had picked up at the mall. Just recently started watching Dragon Ball with my partner and we both absolutely love it. Again, I love both but I think I need to give my vote to Dragon Ball. Reasons below. 1. It feels more like an adventure with friends show, whereas Z feels like it moves from one giant fight to the next 2. Although some of the humor is a little much, a lot of it is hilarious even as an adult 3. It feels like there is genuine character development. Z definitely has that with Vegeta and Gohan but seems lacking elsewhere. 4. The non Saiyan characters get a lot of the spotlight. DBZ and Super are so ridiculously obsessed with transformations and power levels that it makes the humans almost obsolete until a few arcs of Super.

[@SuperCuttyBlackSow]

Just watched DB for the first time I don't think either is better they both have arcs I love and some that are ok King Piccolo and Cell arcs still my favorite

[@0A1ywusjsjs0a1]

VALID

[@Superziddyay]

tbh every dragon ball show, I love them all probably besides super, og,z and gt are my favs and they are all great I can’t decide which one is my favourite tho ❤️

[@androidsenpai1462]

Not many people rank the original Red Ribbon arc very high on ranking lists, especially with the Cell arc far overshadowing it, but honestly? I prefer the manga over the anime 9 times out of 10, and in the manga, this is probably one of the most well done arcs in the series. The whole arc feels like the best kind of Toriyama work: adventure, comedy, a mix of fun and serious action, pop culture references out the butt, likable characters, creative settings and environments-and man, the VILLAINS AND OPPONENTS. Toriyama’s character design has always been his greatest strength; he puts it to full use in this arc with how many awesome characters he created. Honestly, the only character/design I DON’T like is Tao Pai Pai, and that’s because he’s entirely divorced from Toriyama’s creative mold. And if that’s not enough, he had the balls to make the end of the arc a tournament. Like, name one arc in Z that’s this densely layered with what’s going on. I like Goku in Z, but nothing can replace his hero’s journey throughout his all too iconic years as a kid.

[@treehugger3615]

Yajirobe made one, ONE contribution in Z and it was arguably one of the most important and a defining contributions, one that could have changed the whole course of the series. But after that he became as relevant as Mr. Popo.

[@Oneandonlyagust]

See for me the difference is the level of scale dragonball was able to create. Dragonball made the EARTH feel as though it were an entire universe. Dragon ball z did also make the universe feel even more big with the trek to namek, but after that. Not much. You couldn't really feel the scale anymore. You simply know its huge because they tell you. Dragonball allowed us to FEEL it

[@bafenada1141]

I also think the world begins to feel smaller at some point because of how strong and fast the characters are becoming and because traveling is becoming more trivial

[@longlivetheblackmamba2-8-24]

All comes down to preference. OG dragon ball is slower and more grounded, Z takes a shift and grows the characters and world building. It really comes down to nostalgia for some

[@rimimimimimimimim4170]

I think DBZ is undoubtedly the peak of it all, it's the continued part of DB and after Toriyama had already written his first masterpiece. I don't see a point seperating DB and DBZ as they are the same in the manga, but if we are, purely by what it has given to all of anime and manga, what it has done, the unbelievable and massive influence, emotional and iconic scenes, DBZ is probably the best. Whenever something happens in DBZ, it's one of the best ever, most memorable and iconic scenes in the history of Japanese fiction - not even joking. Goku turning SSJ, Kaioken Kamehameha vs Galick Gun, Special Beam Cannon, It's over 9000, Final Explosion, Final Flash, SSJ3 Transformation, SSJ2 Transformation, some of the soundtracks, Spirit Bomb, Fusions and more, all are extremely - almost universally loved and iconic. DB is amazing and I really, really do like Kid Goku, but there is so many arguably better characters missing in DB that are in DBZ, and as consistently good as DB is, it's a great watch but nothing in DB is as hype, jaw dropping, intense or memorable as the stuff that happens in DBZ. Vegeta's quotes, his final explosion alone are just amazing. Hard to really beat DBZ, especially with the AMAZING movie collection Lord Slug, Broly 1, Broly 2, Fusion Reborn, BoG, RoF, Returcn of Cooler, Cooler, Wrath of the Dragon, Super android 13, the tree of might, and yeah, not all the movies were good, and id give the edge to DBS becuase wow those were probably the 2 best DB movies we have ever seen, but it has such a large variety of movies which is the area DB lacks in comparison to DBZ and DBS, giving it a boost over already having the amount of content it has, the amount of new characters added ontop of the already loved, returning old ones and the amazing action packed story I think each of the three - DB, DBZ and DBS are all amazing and unique in their own way. DB is an adventure with comedy, it's not serious and creative, DBZ is hype, emotional and amazing battles, amazing and iconic characters and transformations, amazing and iconic scenes, it's probably the peak of dragon ball, and then DBS was amazing, being a modern dragon ball that's nice and easy to watch, but also having some of the best movies, I count BoG and RoF as DBS movies even though they were DBZ, because THEY WERE DBS IN THE MANGA. So to me, i'm counting them as DBS content, and in terms of content (MANGA TO ANIME), it has 4 amazing movies, the ToP arc which is honestly just an amazing arc, and then some decent arcs with it, but they are the eh arcs which hold super back. If we are counting BoG and RoF as DBZ movies not caring that it is DBS material for manga, then DBZ is easily the best in terms of a mix of anime and movies, also having the og broly films, Fusion Reborn, Bojack, Cooler etc, I think DB is amazing, fun and great for what it is, but it doesn't make you jump out of your chair with the hype of DBZ, the unbelievable moments and soundtrack. Gohan's rage vs Raditz, Piccolo's special beam cannon and Goku's sacrifice vs Raditz, Piccolo training Gohan then sacrificing himself for him, it's over 9000 - Goku vs Nappa. Great Ape, Kaioken Kamehameha vs Galick Gun, Gohan and Krillin combo on Namek (amazing duo), Ginyu Force, Ginyu in Goku's body, Krillin vs Freiza, Goku vs Freiza, Super Saiyan, Destroyed Namek, Angry Kamehameha, Future Trunks vs Mecha Freiza, SSJ Goku vs SSJ Future Trunks, Goku vs Android 19, Vegeta vs Android 19 - TURNS SSJ, Vegeta vs the other androids, Cell absorbing androids, hyperbolic time chamber, goku and gohan time together and some great filler, Cell absorbing androids, FINAL FLASH, Tien NEO TRI BEAM, Super Trunks vs Cell, Goku (Master SSJ) vs Cell, Gohan SSJ vs Cell, Android 16 death, Gohan SSJ2 vs Cell, Goku Death, Gohan Father Son Kamehameha, Vegeta character development attacking cell for Gohan to win was nice, winning the cell games, it JUST GOES ON. DBZ was soo good with SOOO many memorable moments, NOT EVEN STARTING on SSJ3, Majin Vegeta vs SSJ2 Goku, Gohan's life in the city and Great Saiyaman, VEGETA'S FINAL EXPLOSION, GOHAN'S POTENTIAL UNLEASHED, FUSIONS (Gotenks which went SSJ3 and Vegito SSJ), Goku's spirit bomb vs Kid Buu, everyone raising their hands - genuinley was just amazing and UNBELIEVABLE how many iconic and memorable moments there are, LITERALLY EVERYTHING IN DBZ IS ICONIC AND MEMORABLE, it was a spectacle and as good as the other series are, I think whenever something happened in DBZ, it was just like wow, the writing was amazing too, with shifts in perspective and massive character development, DBZ was a masterpiece and if you couldn't tell, no, DB is not better than DBZ. If you want a fun adventure it's nice, or a more modern and laid back action with slice of life added, DBS is a very nice show to watch, but DBZ is in soo many ways just a masterpiece in places where other shows that try to do the same thing aren't, and it's just so memorable and iconic, it made so many shows what they are today. RIP the GOAT, Toriyama

[@crestofhonor2349]

I do enjoy OG Dragon Ball more than DBZ. Love the comedy and action in it. OG Dragon Ball also has some of my favorite fights in the series

[@theflashfan3234]

Yes it is. The Red Ribbon Army Arc is alone enough to make you see that. Not only is Goku an actual character, instead of a detached and battle obsessed idiot, but it also reinforces the importance of life and death despite the possibility of revival via the Dragon Balls, but also establishes the VALUE of the wish granted by them. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai to Freeza Arc is actual peak Toriyama, with Krillin's death being the last to actually hold any emotional meaning. The series takes a nosedive during the Android Arc and keeps going lower in Buu. We all still love Z because we have nostalgia for it and for most it was our first shonen, but if Android and Buu Arcs came out today, they'd be dragged through the mud for how much worse they look in comparison to something like the Saiyan Arc

[@mike1989libra]

lol

[@0vern9K]

Clearly you don’t know nothing about goku as a character

[@theflashfan3234]

@@0vern9K I don't know nothing about Goku as a character. You don't know anything about Goku as a character. We are not the same.

[@0vern9K]

@@theflashfan3234 no you don’t, clearly if your calling Z goku some battle obsessed idiot you don’t. Don’t let them lil 7 likes go to your head 💀.

[@0vern9K]

And your yapping the android and buu arc wouldn’t be dragged 💀. Also idk why y’all act like this. THERES DRAGONBALLS IN OG DB TO AND CHARACTERS GET WISHED BACK. Y’all act as if db were introduced in the Z portion. That’s a criticism that started in OG.

[@stanbrule9357]

It didn't occur to me as a kid that DB came first, I thought it was a spinoff prequel show. I treated it as a neat companion show to the "main" one, and watched both religiously. Which is "better" all comes down to which tone you prefer. Its an arbitrary distinction to begin with IMO, the last 2 arcs of DB have more in common with Z than the rest of DB. I think you owe it to yourself to experience the full story start to finish in any case.

[@rosshector9904]

Dragonball is a campy adventure based on journey to the west and drunken master. Dragonball Z is a dramatic soap opera for boys about sacrifice.

[@ViltrumiteIsRite99]

“DBZ, a dramatic soap opera for boys” 💀 Been a fan for a good 13 years now, and I’ve never heard that take. Funny as hell.

[@ViltrumiteIsRite99]

“DBZ, a dramatic soap opera for boys” 💀 Been a fan for a good 13 years now, and I’ve never heard that take. Funny as hell.

[@trailersforfun2669]

For men**

[@NinPossible]

One thing DB always does better is how Goku overcome his opponents by strategies or some meaningful ways. The win feels more satisfying. DBZ and DBS be like “oh no, I can’t win. I’ll have to train more and come up with a new form!” We all like new forms but I’m sure many are tired of Goku winning because of a new form or him overpowering someone.

[@emmanuelharris6445]

3:02 It’s So Very Legendary How I Was Only A Newborn Baby When Dragon Ball Z Ended In Japan Back Then On January 31st, 1996. I’m Blessed To Be Born On That Date📅📆 Which It Makes Me A Real Life Living Legend🥹😭👶🍼🏥📺🐉🐲🔥☮️

[@regel1077]

How can u watch Z whitout Db?

[@JacobNGames]

You'd be surprised, in fact I'm pretty confident most Z fans haven't watched OG Dragon Ball.

[@pablocasas5906]

@@JacobNGames I'd say most English-speaking fans. Many people in Europe and Latin America, like myself, started watching Dragon Ball from the start of the Pilaf Arc, which was rerun on different channels like Cartoon Network alongside DBZ. It's just that DBZ has the most popular episodes of the entire series, but many people still have fond memories of DB's earlier sagas, like the first two martial art tournament, the Red Ribbon Army and Piccolo sagas.

[@caiomarastoni1031]

COnsidering the ammount of characters that are completely forgotten in DBZ.... Yes, DB is much better.

[@benitotall5327]

I’ve been on this since I was 13 years, DB had the better tournaments and was about really throwing hands 😂

[@tristysstuff6664]

It's not lmao. The story, art, character development, etc. were better in Z. If we're comparing the animes then it's by a significant margin, if we're comparing the mangas it's not as big but Z era is still better. Naturally it would be because Toriyama adapted more...the only thing og db has over Z is the choreography of the fights, and even that is surpassed at certain points in Z such as stuff like Goku vs. Vegeta

[@kikitori2413]

dbz's animated adaptation is worse than db's If you talk about manga then they both good

[@jerr0.]

I think people will always argue about this because from around Tao Pai Pai until around the end of Frieza is peak Dragon Ball. I personally see it as one story and don't see the need for a debate. Early Dragon Ball is still finding itself and by the Androids you can tell Toriyama was tired. It is a shame people don't watch or read the original series though. It's worth watching and the later chapters are no different tonally or action-wise from what what we see in the Saiyan or Namek arcs.

[@wijinsama]

People only say DBZ is better than OG DB because they never watched it. Plus, nostalgia is one hell of a drug. Also, people confuse biasness eith preference

[@pablocasas5906]

I'm actually kind of confused how many people, mostly English-speakers, started watching Dragon Ball from the Saiyajin Saga. In most parts of the world many people, myself included, watched Dragon Ball from episode 1 with the Pilaf Arc. Starting with DBZ it's kind like watching Avengers Infinity War without watching the previous MCU movies

[@Pssybart]

Yes, OG Dragon Ball is better, it's an opinion I've held for a long time. Or to express it with a little more nuance, I think Toriyama's writing peaked somewhere between the Demon King Piccolo arc up until the Saiyan arc. Dragon Ball is in essence a kung fu story about a kid who trains to improve himself, and who becomes a super martial artist. But after he becomes an adult and wins the martial arts tournament, the story doesn't have many places to go anymore. The Z portion of the story tries to raise the stakes by adding power boosts upon power boosts. And raising the stakes to astronomical levels doesn't automatically make the story better. You feel the fatigue after a while.

[@0vern9K]

I don’t understand this what is the issue with characters getting stronger. Why does it bug ppl like you so much. Z still told its stories through its fights. Still had adventure, Still had some great writing ( if you actually can see a theme) and still had comedy here and there. The demon king is no where near the peak of the series 💀

[@Omnicron800]

@@0vern9KI think he’s more pointing out that the balance of writing between comedy martial arts and character moments was much better blended than current dragon ball as it’s gone on it’s become less about the comedy and character moments and more about the fights and new power boosts gokus power level by z was 300 something an easily comprehensible number now it’s in the hundreds of millions how am as human supposed to quantify or understand that jump at one point or another it’s literally just a bigger number with no real meaningful change.

[@0vern9K]

@@Omnicron800 Z wasn’t about power levels or how strong you were it was still about the characters. Just cause they started getting astronomically stronger doesn’t erase that. Idk why ppl think it does. Y’all just see how much bigger the stakes got and forget everything else. Goku vs vegeta was about nature vs nurture them being strong had nothing to do with that narrative, gohan vs cell was about the new generation surpassing the old while also being a coming of age story climax for gohan. Again which had nothing to do with how strong they were. Goku vs Freiza was the climax of Goku’s character development accepting and embracing his saiyan side along wit his human side which was what allowed him to become a ssj. Again POWER HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT. And there’s plenty more examples. My guy who cares if it’s 300 or 3,00000 none of it was comprehensible. They all were still doing crazy shit. Roshi in of db was still doing insane shit like destroying the moon, and that was just in the 2nd arc of the series. Characters get WAY STRONGER then that in og ball.

[@Pssybart]

@@0vern9K I never said that stronger characters is a bad thing. Rather the opposite: charcters getting stronger doesn't automatically create a better story. The OG Dragon Ball was a show about getting stonger. But it still happened in meaningful and creative ways. In DBZ, as the arcs went on, the higher power levels seized to impress as much. Overall, DB just had a more balanced story like DBZ. And I love DBZ. Don't get me wrong. I also realize that it's just one continuous story, like this video points out. I just think that the writing in DB was a little stronger. And it's only natural for a serialized story to decrease in quality over time.

[@0vern9K]

@@Pssybart obviously stronger doesn’t mean better I’m not saying that. But simply because characters are getting stronger doesn’t diminish the narrative is my point an even if it doesn’t impress you, you don’t read or watch dragonball or Z to awe at how strong they are 💀. Yes gohan and cell were crazy strong but that wasn’t the focus of the cell arc or the last half. It was about gohan and the turmoil he was feeling of having to fight cell with no idea of how to win with the weight of the world on his shoulders, literally. Characters got stronger in meaningful ways in dbz… gohans training and bonding with piccolo… Goku’s training and bonding with gohan in the chamber… goku getting ssj and everything he went though to get it. was it more creative in og DB yes I’ll say that. Db as a whole was a contentious story goku never really had a set in stone goal from day 1 like other protagonists in series with end goals.

[@pattersong6637]

I'm 100% in the camp that the late part of the original + early parts of Z were best, basically an arc stretching from the 22nd tournament through Namek. I hate how DBZ did Tenshinhan dirty as the #2 in Goku's team by replacing him with first Piccolo and then Vegeta, though. Tenshinhan is better than either.

[@Holland4evahh]

No but i love characters like Frieza, Vegeta, Cell, Trunks, Majin Buu, etc and there not in Dragonball. Z also had a lot more moments that give you goosebumps like Goku turning Super Saiyan, Gohan turning Super Saiyan 2, Vegeta’s suicide, etc. Better enemies, bigger stories, better characters joined, etc. But to each their own.

[@ElladanKenet]

Yes, it is. No video necessary. But since the video exists anyway, here's the TLDR: 1- Goku has character growth. His decisions change overtime. You understand why. You recognize why he makes those choices. 2- The comedy is so much better. The jokes and comedic moments, excluding the nudity and pervy stuff, are legit better than pretty much everything in Z, GT, or Super. 3- Techniques and training mean SO much more than Z. From an actual martial arts perspective, this is a big deal. 4- The story is linear, progressive, and thought out. I'd argue that Goku also just feels like a different character entirely between DB and Z.

[@katt-the-pig]

I'm in the camp that thinks Dragon Ball is better than Z. But ironically, I haven't actually seen all of Z. I've seen the Saiyan arc, parts of the Frieza and Cell arcs, and the Buu arc. Also DBZ Abridged, which fills in some details for me. And my thoughts on Z in general are mentioned in this video: filler that drags on, a supporting cast that doesn't provide as much support, a shift from martial arts to zappy lasers, and less humor. Meanwhile, I've seen the entirety of Dragon Ball. But I've never seen both OG and Z chronologically. I've just watched them as two separate series. So I'm taking the time to watch all of it together, to see what it's like as one complete story. Except the Buu saga.

[@silviu7883]

I watched Dragonball in german first it's how i started learning german when i was a kid, it was on RTL 2, im in eastern europe.

[@lrblueslowbro5302]

I grew up with both (95 kid) and as child I loved dbz more but nowadays I can’t say the og is worse. It has so good character developments and it is more real martial arts which I love

[@costelinha1867]

This one thing I loved about the Tournament of Power arc, despite all it's flaws. It made the human characters relevant again, especially Master Roshi. They don't need to rival Goku in strength, they just needed to be allowed a moment to shine in their own right.

[@anthonyjones8007]

I think it depends on the individuals at which one they were raised on

[@Bubblegob]

Early dragonball is a vibe, first two volumes are still very Dr.Slump and the humor is sometime awkward. Other than that I love it, the piccolo arc is great and Toriyama art overall is a masterclass. Yet I do feel like Z is better, you feel more for the characters. Vegeta becomes what Tenshinan never got the chance to be : the OG rival/anti-villain of our hearts, Gohan is a character that really resonated with a lot of people and Z villain are way scarier. Granted the villains were becoming scarier and scarier since the beginning but once you get to Z and they can nuke a planet it's just way more thrilling.

[@toby3678]

Funny you should mention shippuden overshadowing naruto, crunchyroll has a category for people to start watching anime. Z and Shippuden are listed whilst DB and Naruto are not

[@BlazingAuras]

They don't list part 1 Naruto? Damn.

[@TheJadeFist]

OG vs Z, they have completely different tones so I can get people having preferences. OG was much more comedic vs Z being a bit more serious. Not that OG didn't have some more serious moments or that Z didn't have jokes.

[@supportpatriarchyordietrying]

I think they are equally good overall. Major difference is: DB gets better the longer it goes. DBZ gets worse the longer it goes.

[@alexdeghost2729]

That’s cap. Buu Saga is peak DBZ

[@supportpatriarchyordietrying]

@@alexdeghost2729 I see: the strongest enemy always makes the best saga for you?

[@aweirdredtoad3637]

​@@supportpatriarchyordietrying You'll see that with most of the people arguing that Z is better. They will only bring up the fights and how popular it was than DB, but never talk about the flaws Z had. I've already seen the guy with the Spongebob profile, put out essays upon essays trying to show that Z is better because of aliens and exploring planets, the other world and such despite much of it being filler.

[@supportpatriarchyordietrying]

@@aweirdredtoad3637 I think you cannot get the whole experience out of DBZ, if you haven't watched DB before. Imagine Freezer killing Krillin without having seen the bond Goku and Krillin had been building in DB + Krillin's first death Goku had to witness. It wouldn't be the same. Or the first time they all finally fought together in DBZ what we all wanted in DB against Piccolo so hard, but hadn't gotten.

[@wafflehat7369]

I feel Dragonball has a better overall storyline. The fights in Dragonball Z may have been cooler, but rewatching Dragonball has always felt better than rewatching Dragonball Z

[@PokeHokage]

You can actually follow the fights and they're grounded in actual martial arts. In Z I swear its just big explosions, sonic booms and repeat animation of the same punching kicking blocking loop over and over.

[@Bradman1978]

My opinion once Super Seiyan was introduced the show was basically over for the non-seiyans. This alone make DB better over Z. My brothers friend in the late 90's was all about the Z (they are 4 years older than me), and basically said the OG DB is in the past and he doesn't want character development just screaming action. I was like (eye roll).

[@patrickewulum3394]

The cell saga connects fairly well actually. They were created by gokus past. Literally the androids r created for revenge. Cell is created from the dna of all the Z fighters except gohan. Goku looking for a successor after the knowledge of his eventual death. Piccolo fuses with kami. Tien says goodbye. Yamcha retires. Krillin may have messed up once but at the end a W is a W. The og db cast tho they might not be as strong as the saiyans get a nice send off at the end of cell.

[@jumpmanmatthew]

I think Dragonball starts getting better than Z around the Tien / King Piccolo Saga. Those are probably my favorite sagas in all of DB along with Saiyan and Freiza. The only issue I have with Freiza Saga in the anime is the fact that it is drawn out way too much.

[@ThrackerZ0d]

no ideia why people even try to compare the classic Dragon Ball to Dbz, both have the same stuff but the way they're writen is totally different, i feel like you can only compare the classic to Dbz when it's about the King Piccolo saga or the final saga with adult Goku, both are basically an preview of how Dbz sagas would go.

[@zerocks88]

fan being short for fanatic, no, but fan being short for someone who likes the thing, yes

[@user-ij6vt9yx4j]

I did notice after reading both mangas, I did enjoy Dragonball the most. It just had more humor, adventure, and it was a joy to see Goku grow older.

[@Valientlink]

I like Z only slightly more. Dragon Ball is more adventureous and funny.

[@somerandomnon-importantper3219]

The thing with Z is that it completely undermines and disrespects the core message of OG. Which is that Goku is one step in front of the rest not because he's intrinsically better, but because he's constantly doing different things. While everyone else is training like they always did, not learning anything new to challenge their styles, Goku is training with people who completely revamp his fighting style. Korrin taught him to read his opponents movements instantaneously, and that made him surpass Tao and match Tien. Kami taught what is basically Ultra instinct and that made him surpass Piccolo. The ultra divine water for defeating King Piccolo is a huge cop-out, but the common denominator is that Goku doesn't just get stronger because he's more talented but because he's actively forging his own path while the others are doing the same things they always do. By following Goku's path, anyone could reach his level. The Saiyan saga is the last saga that stayed true to this philosophy. There, Goku overpowers everyone else not because he's an alien who's specialty is fighting, but because he again underwent a kind of training that completely revamped his fighting style under 10-fold gravity. But after that, Zenkai boosts get introduced. The single biggest mistake Toriyama ever made in my opinion. Because after that, all human characters lose a reason to even exist in the narrative. Those who once rivaled Goku are reduced to spectators. What exactly is the message that's being conveyed? Unless you were born an alien, don't even bother? Not a healthy message. While OG teaches you to always keep going, Z teaches you to give up unless you're an alien. It also teaches you that you will magically get stronger than an opponent who's several orders of magnitude stronger than you if you just get angry enough (Goku vs Frieza). It's spectacular, but all philosophies are gone

[@jarosbodytko6462]

I completely agree, but I will still count the Namek saga as part of original DB, as it closes off the Saiyan saga completely and gives Piccolo more depth, being part of an actual race of people instead of being just some weird demon creature, and giving the Dragon Balls an explanation for their existence. After that though, I completely agree the story lost its focus, stakes became non-existant, and the transformations became absurd. And as you said, the human characters don’t matter.

[@joehispanico]

both are good, but Z slightly edges it dragon ball for me. I would say the fighting is a bit better in DB. Sometimes DBZ is all about big blast or fast punches an kicks with out much technique.

[@Darkside-bv2zh]

My only issue is the "fans" who think DBZ abridged is actually the real DBZ.

[@Darkwing4L]

Dragon Ball has an unmatched vibe that none of the other series can emulate. I watched Z first and watched Dragon Ball some years back and loved it. The series serve different purposes I feel Dragon Ball was more Action/Adventure than Z which is more Action than adventure (not saying there’s no adventure)

[@jakstorm3180]

I did enjoy both immensely but the original is better, I liked gokus teen years and the battle with king piccolo by far the best arc of all

[@bicyclelife7088]

Dragon Ball was more about character development and story with comedy thrown in. I saw both when thry first aired in the US. Z became "in this episode Goku throws a punch" "join us next time to find out what happens next" it's shallow. I quit watching Z but watched the entire Dragon Ball series.

[@conkergemini6489]

The character development and also improving their power level on every fight like an RPG video game makes this soo ahead of it's time.

[@nickthompson318]

DB is the best series in the franchise. It has the best story and even most of the filler is good.

[@quenakiannoel1711]

I first introduced my wife to DBZ through the abridged version. And she loved it. So she decided to go back and watch og dragon ball to see Goku grow up and she loved it. But I have to say they’re hand in hand. Can’t have one without the other

[@slavishentity6705]

"You can skip dragon ball" Episode 1 : A bunch of people we don't get properly introduced to are hanging out on an island, why is one of them green, why does one of them have three eyes, a guy arrives on the island flying on a cloud somehow, with his son who somehow has a tail, he has a dragon ball, what the hell is a dragon ball and why does it matter, an alien with a tail comes to tell the magic cloud guy he's also an alien and beats up the bald short guy, steals the child, and the green guy and the magic cloud guy have to do a truice to stop the aliens because I guess they were sworn enemies but that doesn't matter. Also why do they call the useless comic relief "master" and why introduce aliens when earth has dinosaurs and people with three eyes and stuff ? Why did this show never focus on it's earth if it's a unique fantasy world ?

[@extrastarplaya2363]

DB might be better but DBZ is hugely more popular.

[@fushumang1716]

The Red Ribbon army plays a lot in the whole DB story

[@Andrew-Bastin]

DBZ stated off with a great arc in the form of the Saiyan Saga but then declined as the series went on, Frieza arc started on a strong note but as it went on the slow pacing and reuse of previous plot points brought it down, Cell and Buu arcs have their strong moments but overall they’re inconsistent messes. Dragonball however quality only got better as the series went on.

[@maththrive]

Kamehameha shot from feet… 4 arms. Stretchy arms. Dodon ray. Killing with tongue. Riding a pillar to fly. Nimbus. Strategy other than stronger = win nor ability = win. Tail… pig and cat transformed. An army of foes felt more menacing because they were tracking and strategizing, which was decently reflected in the Frieza saga, without the gag of the main leader’s strength being weak…

[@zechSainte]

This is an unpopular opinion and I like it

[@matheusrocha1184]

Goku also grows in Z. Of course, he grows more in the OG one, but see: On the saiyan and freeza arcs, Goku was a fighter. On the Cell and Buu arc, he's a master. And we can see it by his relationship with his kids, and seeing how he wanted to pass on the mantle. This is my favorite interation of Goku, actually.

[@atothed84]

I look at it as one series with nine great arcs and a final one that's all over the place.

[@MaskedFighter]

One of the best fights ever was Master Roshi vs Tienshinhan, the passing of the torch as champion to the younger fighter, after that fight Tien was a changed man forever. The rivalry between Turtle and Crane hermit was awesome, shame Toriyama forgot about the Crane hermit in DBZ not even a little cameo.

[@rayminishi689]

I missed it when the original cast was tough as fuck DBZ just pushed the saiyans way ahead

[@user-zn3bi4gq6h]

yamcha once was the most powerfull character rofl^^

[@michaelsong3733]

Something a lot of people don't understand is that the beggining of something DOSENT MAKE IT THE BEST STARTING POINT! I think Geekdom's reaction to OnePiece was a good example. "Keep watching, it'll get good." "When?" let's give an example very similar to DB's situation: that is JoJo. I don't like PT 1. It is not entertaining at all IMO. And TBH if I hadn't watched a couple of random episodes from Diamond is Unbreakable at random (it was supposed ot be background noise) I wouldn't have watched JoJo. In fact I even had my friends skip pt. 1, and told them to watch it after pt2. And they all agreed PT 1 sucked. On top of this, you can watch JoJo without watching previous parts, and have a vague understanding of what's going on...which triggers people, but it's true (This is a compliment to how good JoJo is, BTW. Which has the same issue as DB with people skipping to PT3). Dragon Ball, to me at least, has the same issue. The first arc of dragon ball is, in my opinion and my friend groups (that doesn't make me right), is boring as hell and has damn near no similarities to the rest of the show. And in fact, I believe that if all the people who started in Z started with DB, it wouldn't be nearly as popular as it is today. You even said yourself that they'd have to do a heavy amount of censorship, so they wouldn't even be able to enjoy the actual show now-a-days (though maybe we don't need to see Goku's privates as he's swimming in a pool, so i cant complain). There's also other things to consider. Dragon Ball's animation hasn't aged as amazingly as people think it did. it does still have some amazing animation yes, but as a personal example I don't like Toriyamas more round artstyle, and those yellow...flashes? that appear when they hit each other. And I don't like the RR arc at all, meaning I don't like 1/5th of the show. I also dont like the chamedic style of OG, it's boring to me. This is not saying that this makes DB bad. This is just showing, that it's possible for you to just not like DB but love DBZ. Dragon Ball Z starts off with a story that can be understood all on it's own. Anyone who disagress, can go talk to my 6 year old self who learned the story playing BT2. i dont agree that you should just never watch DB, however if you genuniely belive they wont like DB until it get's the things it's known for (mostly Z stuff) then why have them start with the part of the story you know they arent going to enjoy? I imagine it like a pizza. If you know someone only likes peperoni, why get them a supreme? The analogy isn't perfect, but you can understand. TLDR: Even if DB is better, it might not be the best way to bring someone into the series. Did i need to write this long comment based off a very short segment explaining that people dong watch OG? No. But I did anyway. what are you going to do, stop me?

[@phloriaernas2149]

Short answer: *YES!* Long answer: *"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!"*

[@hannah60000]

People claim to live DB so much, but hate on the adventure aspect of GT… 🙃 It’s all Dragonball. However, there’s a reason why the Z portion of the anime is much more popular and global. Both are great, but different stories. GT tried to capture both in one series, but didn’t achieve that goal for some. I like the Dragonball franchise! 😊

[@vernslabyrinth9884]

YES. Dragon ball is the phenomenal set up. Its the classic, the undebated goat that's not in conversation but should be respected. The follow up is everyone's influence, favorite, benchmark & the cultural phenomenon, DBZ. DB has a better story than DBZ. In fact, I rather revisit ADBZ in today's present time. The rest of the series? Spin offs of the great follow up.

[@shok.5325]

Both OG and Z have their own special place in them. I am a person whose lifetime got started with Dragonball in its chronological order so I get to watch OG before Z exist. I was pretty much a kid just like OG Goku and became teens during the Z. Dragonball is eventually might lifetime anime. I wouldn’t say which is better. You simply shouldn’t miss any. It’s like how your life has to go through being a kid and then have your own family. Just one of the major point in watching OG and Z, not just watching Z, is that you will really understand the feeling of Goku why he got extremely furious (to then be Super Saiya) when Frieza killed Krillin. You watch OG and you will see how Goku&Krillin go through together and would know that Krillin died once and died again by Frieza where 2nd death won’t be revivable with Dragonball Shenron’s wish.

[@williep200707]

Every character had a part in the show, but in z they disappear and we only see a few of them and by super it’s even worse.

[@travisepps75]

DBZ always get like it was gonna turn over to Gotham until I saw the Buu saga