What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

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What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by WittyUsername » Thu May 17, 2018 11:52 am

I realize it might potentially be too early to ask something like this, but since there doesn’t seem to be any real way of telling when the ToP will end in the manga, I figured I would ask this question right now.

It goes without saying that opinions on the anime version of the arc were pretty polarizing, but what does everyone think regarding how the manga has handled things?

Personally, I’m conflicted. On one hand, I like how the manga took more time to showcase more of the individual personality traits of each of the Gods of Destruction, but I also liked how the anime seemed to focus a bit more on the other universes that were competing in the tournament, besides 6, 7 and 11. I also liked how the anime gave some focus for Gohan, Kuririn, Tenshinhan and Roshi (though in Roshi’s case, the focus he received mostly amounted to him trying to be less of a perv), whereas the manga pretty much glossed over giving any of them some real development prior to joining the tournament. I also liked how the anime seemed to focus quite a bit on U9 at the beginning of the arc, since it made their inevitable erasure feel more dramatic, but at the same time, I prefer the way that Toppo and Jiren, along with Caulifla and Kale, have been portrayed so far in the manga.

As for the tournament itself, I do like how the manga has been more fast paced so far, but I also feel like that’s been somewhat detrimental as well, since Toyatoro seemed to have been in a rush to get rid of Kuririn, Tenshinhan and Hit. Plus, I’m not sure how I really feel about how several of the fighters have been eliminated offscreen, or the fact that the only people outside of U7 who have been shown eliminating anyone so far have been Frost and Jiren.

What does everyone else think at the moment?

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by dbgtFO » Thu May 17, 2018 5:55 pm

Way too fast paced. TOP just does not fit a manga format.
There's too much stuff and maybe Toyotaro is only allotted a set number of chapters to tell the story before having to move on to promoting the movie.
I liked Hit getting wrecked though!

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by Logania » Thu May 17, 2018 6:11 pm

It just feels like a jumbled mess in the manga. I'm having a hard time being invested in it honestly. Also they did my boi Hit dirty in the manga, he's treated even worse than in the anime which irritates me.
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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by Zen Yabuki » Thu May 17, 2018 7:57 pm

Comparing where the manga is up to from where the anime was at the time, I prefer the anime a bit more as it was overall just more enjoyable. The fights overall were more engaging, I cared more about the characters, and I like the interactions more there too. But I don't dislike the ToP in the manga at the moment, it just isn't very engaging to me.

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by Marlowe89 » Thu May 17, 2018 8:23 pm

Despite the manga's rushed eliminations for Krillin and Tien, I feel that it ultimately handles the characters better than the anime by far -- particularly Hit, who was highlighted more for his dynamic with Goku instead of some "family relationship" with the rest of Universe 6 that felt weirdly random in the anime given what was established previously, as well as the entirety of the Pride Troopers (and especially Jiren) actually feeling like a competent team of superheroes. Hell, even the Gods of Destruction themselves are more interesting.

The chaotic and unpredictable nature of the tournament in the manga also lends itself much better to the atmosphere of a battle royale, and the pacing is absolutely perfect.

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by CJStriker_CBR » Thu May 17, 2018 11:11 pm

What I have seen of the Manga so far it is doing well in how they are presenting what Major Battle Royals should look like allot better then the Anime.

BUT..........Character Eliminations are WAY to Fast and Furious, this being even more apparent in the recent chapter, leaving little room for more in-depth fights and wanting more characterization.

So Overall the Manga started out Well, but the Fast Eliminations is hurting it now IMO, Make the Anime more well handled at this point in the story of the Manga.
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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by Rebel Instinct » Fri May 18, 2018 4:20 am

I feel like it's still far too early to be asking this question. By the beginning of the last chapter, only 5 minutes of the Tournament of Power have elapsed. Even though several of the same plot beats from the anime have occurred, there's still roughly 40 minutes left in the tournament and 37 contestants left. Anything can happen between now and then and most of the major fights of the arc haven't even started yet. It would be best to reserve judgement until the arc finishes, so that both tournaments can be compared in their entirety. As it stands, we're comparing the events of 5 minutes to the events of 48 minutes. Once we see how Toyotaro writes the main battles and the pacing therein, then we can properly compare the two.

From what I can tell, it seems like Toyotaro is getting most of the incidental fights out of the way early and intends to save the remaining majority of the time limit to spread out the pacing of the important battles within a reasonable time frame. If he does this well, then I feel like the lightning fast eliminations of the early part of the tournament will be well justified.

Regardless, I do appreciate the unpredictability of the tournament in the manga so far. Even if you've seen the entire Tournament of Power in the anime, you still have no idea what to expect next outside of the events hard-baked into Toriyama's outline. It prevents the manga version of the tournament from being a complete retread and keeps things constantly feeling fresh. Who would've expected Frost to eliminate most of Universe 9 single-handed or [spoiler]for Gamisaras to eliminate 6 contestants alone?[/spoiler]
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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by TheDipDap1234 » Fri May 18, 2018 7:21 am

I don't like it so far. Really don't like how it treats the U7 fighters and everything just fells rushed. Maybe it will get better later on, who knows but so far i'm not a fan of it and I highly prefer the anime version.
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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by BlueBasilisk » Fri May 18, 2018 8:25 am

It's a chaotic mess like you'd expect a battle royale to be, but I find it really hard to get invested in how anyone is doing or any of the new characters because they're here and gone so fast. The anime went a bit too far in the opposite direction and dragged things out a bit longer than they probably should have but it gave other characters more focus and most of the U7 team got a cool moment before being eliminated, and iirc, Vegeta is the only one who went down in a straight fight instead of self-sacrificing or getting cheap shotted when his guard was down. I'm not crazy about the way Toyotaro is handling this so far, which is a shame because I loved Toppo kicking Goku's ass in the exhibition match and the god brawl.

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by OLKv3 » Fri May 18, 2018 8:49 am

It's a fun chaotic mess, but that's just hiding that so far it's nothing more than a condensed, less entertaining version of it's anime counterpart.

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by OhHiRenan » Fri May 18, 2018 10:01 am

The manga version feels "realer," and I much prefer the pacing. The anime's version of the ToP was way too slow with too many forgettable episodes and fights. I think Toyotaro could benefit from slowing down, but that's a lost cause at this point. I also don't think the manga has reached the same highs of the anime's ToP, but it's been nowhere close to its lows.

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by Lord Beerus » Fri May 18, 2018 10:47 am

The story is progressing FAR too quickly. And while this may somewhat suit the archaic and frantic nature of the Tournament Of Power, it's next to impossible to actually get invested in what's happening because nearly all the fighters in the Tournament Of Power are so undercooked in terms of characterisation or development that you have no little to no reason to really get attached to them to any way.

Getting the feeling of battle royale is one thing, and actually giving a shit about what happens to the main cast and the other participants in the Tournament Of Power is another. And right now, I don't really care about what happens to, well, anybody in the Tournament Of Power because the story hasn't given me enough of an incentive to care. And that's a MAJOR fucking issue for me.

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by Zamasu55 » Fri May 18, 2018 10:53 am

It depends on how you look at it.

In the anime, U7 dominated the Tournament from start to finish, to the point that in the final episode it was a THREE against one. The other universes, on the other hand, did nothing and were mostly disappointing: The two last fighters from U4 were hidden for 4 months and yet they were quickly defeated by U7 (oh, now that is a surprise). U11's top fighter, the strongest antagonist of all time, spent the majority of the time standing, meditating and couldn't even boher to ring out the likes of Kale (who ended up eliminating half of his team-mates the following episode) and Base Goku.
Not the mention the great God of Destruction, who accomplished less than Basil, Gamisaras and other fodders. What a waste.

The manga is different. U11 are dominating the tournament so far, while the others, U7 included, are struggling to survive. Plus, U4's hidden fighters actually did something, taking out seven people in total.

The manga is not perfect, but I still find it much better than the anime. This is my opinion of course.

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by Robo4900 » Fri May 18, 2018 1:02 pm

Stronger characterisation, more logical storytelling, feels much more like this thing is actually going to take 48 minutes, the fights feel more intertwined, Freeza joining the team wasn't dragged out across like 5 episodes, in fact the lead-up in general wasn't a giant slog like it was in the anime, Boo didn't get a stupid infuriating nonsensical annoying recycled idiotic snub, no Sumitomo music, nicer visuals, etc.

It's better in pretty much every way so far, in my opinion.
Still a pretty stupid story, but it feels like it kind of knows how stupid it is. The Freeza thing wasn't bigged up as an epic, serious thing; more humour is derived from it than any kind of drama in the chapter where he joined the team, which I think goes a long way in softening the blow of how stupid of an idea it is; some funny jokes are told, and overall it kind of relaxes you, leading to you being a bit more open to when he's actually pretty great in that one chapter(I think it was the one from March?), and it also makes that one stand out a bit more because he's been set up humourously, then suddenly you're like "Oh yeah, he's Freeza..."
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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by Dbzk1999 » Fri May 18, 2018 1:16 pm

Underwhelming overall. Just feels hard for me to personally get invested in it. Don’t really care if it’s more logical when it doesn’t pop out to me as much imo
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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by shadowfox87 » Fri May 18, 2018 2:20 pm

I like it. The manga will always be the underdog because well, it's not animated or colored. Having watched all of the anime, we kind of know how things are going to go, so there's not much surprise factor. As with most of the people in this thread, I find Toyotaro's pace too fast, but it is also more logical in terms of storytelling. Toyotaro is being pressured to complete the manga so it can catch up to the anime most likely before the debut of the movie in Dec. 14th. I do think that if Toyotaro was not being pressured, he would slow the pace down. I agree with Toriyama sensei in that I like Toyotaro's ideas refreshing. It is much more satisfying to read a story that is logical and makes sense, not just one that is written for the purpose of entertainment.

In a former interview, Toyotaro said that his manga will be ahead of the anime in the future. I hope that for 2019, that is the case. The anime needed to end not only to focus on the movie but also to allow for the manga to catch up. This will give them plenty of time to think about the next story arc, plan, and create a more slower paced story in the manga.
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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by Zen Yabuki » Fri May 18, 2018 3:39 pm

OLKv3 wrote:It's a fun chaotic mess, but that's just hiding that so far it's nothing more than a condensed, less entertaining version of it's anime counterpart.
Essentially this. It's definitely nailing the Battle Royale aspect I feel better than the anime version, but there's been nothing so far that gets me as invested as the anime version. It's not to say the manga version of the ToP is terrible though.

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by Exline » Fri May 18, 2018 3:42 pm

Logania wrote:It just feels like a jumbled mess in the manga. I'm having a hard time being invested in it honestly. Also they did my boi Hit dirty in the manga, he's treated even worse than in the anime which irritates me.
What about the manga feels like a mess? It's much more coherent compared to the anime.
Zen Yabuki wrote:Comparing where the manga is up to from where the anime was at the time, I prefer the anime a bit more as it was overall just more enjoyable. The fights overall were more engaging, I cared more about the characters, and I like the interactions more there too. But I don't dislike the ToP in the manga at the moment, it just isn't very engaging to me.
I actually kind of agree with this. Chapter 33 and the beginning of Chapter 35 had my favorite fights. Gohan's fight with Trio De Dangers, as well as Frost's fight against all of U9 was just boring. This new chapter seems promising however. More characters involved like in 33.
CJStriker_CBR wrote:.Character Eliminations are WAY to Fast and Furious, this being even more apparent in the recent chapter, leaving little room for more in-depth fights and wanting more characterization.
So Overall the Manga started out Well, but the Fast Eliminations is hurting it now IMO, Make the Anime more well handled at this point in the story of the Manga.
Agreed. Sucks to see hear what happened to a couple of our favorites. Maybe Toyotaro was not a fan :(.
Marlowe89 wrote: I feel that it ultimately handles the characters better than the anime by far -- particularly Hit, who was highlighted more for his dynamic with Goku instead of some "family relationship" with the rest of Universe 6 that felt weirdly random in the anime given what was established previously, as well as the entirety of the Pride Troopers (and especially Jiren) actually feeling like a competent team of superheroes. Hell, even the Gods of Destruction themselves are more interesting.
The chaotic and unpredictable nature of the tournament in the manga also lends itself much better to the atmosphere of a battle royale, and the pacing is absolutely perfect.
I have to disagree with you on the pacing. I think it's a tad too fast. We get such little time to become invested in these new characters compared to the anime. I'm not implying that the manga should slow the pace down to how the anime was doing it, but at least follow a much more reasonable pace for a battle royale and the narrative as a whole.

These off-screen eliminations are also annoying the hell out of me. It's making me enjoy the manga less than the anime in terms of characterization and the execution of character eliminations. I can't tell if this is Toyotaro being lazy or just trying to breeze through unnecessary fights.
Rebel Instinct wrote:I do appreciate the unpredictability of the tournament in the manga so far. Even if you've seen the entire Tournament of Power in the anime, you still have no idea what to expect next outside of the events hard-baked into Toriyama's outline. It prevents the manga version of the tournament from being a complete retread and keeps things constantly feeling fresh.
I'm a sucker for subverted expectations, especially when it exceeds my own expectations. This is one of Toyotaro's strengths as a writer. It baffles as to why people want to see the same fight as opposed to new ones. 80 characters to choose and all they wanna see is the same 10 fights for a second time.
Lord Beerus wrote:The story is progressing FAR too quickly. And while this may somewhat suit the archaic and frantic nature of the Tournament Of Power, it's next to impossible to actually get invested in what's happening because nearly all the fighters in the Tournament Of Power are so undercooked in terms of characterisation or development that you have no little to no reason to really get attached to them to any way.
Getting the feeling of battle royale is one thing, and actually giving a shit about what happens to the main cast and the other participants in the Tournament Of Power is another. And right now, I don't really care about what happens to, well, anybody in the Tournament Of Power because the story hasn't given me enough of an incentive to care. And that's a MAJOR fucking issue for me.
This is true as well. Toyotaro has not yet established any subplots for us, which I feel is such a missed opportunity. However I'd rather get none rather than be teased about Frieza wanting to take over Zeno's throne, only for it to not happen at all. Same goes for the set up of Goku being the arc's villain.

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by Lord Beerus » Fri May 18, 2018 4:26 pm

Exline wrote:These off-screen eliminations are also annoying the hell out of me. It's making me enjoy the manga less than the anime in terms of characterization and the execution of character eliminations. I can't tell if this is Toyotaro being lazy or just trying to breeze through unnecessary fights.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't like this. I was dreading the idea of Toyotaro of taking this route with the Tournament of Power because it lessens the chances of any potentially good fights or character moments from the other universes. Some people may say that those moments would be superfluous, but that doesn't mean they can't be entertaining or wholesome in their own right.

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Re: What’s everyone’s opinion on how the manga has so far handled the Universe Survival arc compared to the anime?

Post by DHM211 » Fri May 18, 2018 4:54 pm

The TOP arc is 90% spectacle and 10% story so I don’t dont see how the Manga can best the Anime, especially considering how beautiful episodes like 109/110, 130, 131, amongst others, looked.

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