What If Eiichiro Oda wrote Dragon Ball?

[thatdbzguy]

I'm pretty sure most of us can agree here that One Piece is a more tightly written series than Dragon Ball. However, since Oda's work is usually full of charm like Toriyama's, how do you think Dragon Ball would've ended up if he had wrote it? Do you think the characters and plots would be better? Would you like Oda's art style in Dragon Ball?

[Saiga]

I don't think One Piece is better written than Dragon Ball at all. The current arc is decent, but it's gone majorly downhill since the timeskip.

If Oda wrote DB there would be more foreshadowing, the humour would rarely work, there would be more callbacks and far more fanservice.

And the series would be even more sexist than it (arguably) already is.

[Herms]

I'm pretty sure most of us can agree here that One Piece is a better, more tightly written series than Dragon Ball.

Well, it's more tightly written at least. That part's fairly objective. However, it's a little odd to expect people on a DB forum to automatically agree that One Piece is better.

Anyway, DB was one of Oda's main inspirations, so him being the one to write it in the first place would create a nasty little temporal paradox.

[thatdbzguy]

I don't think One Piece is better written than Dragon Ball at all. The current arc is decent, but it's gone majorly downhill since the timeskip.

If Oda wrote DB there would be more foreshadowing, the humour would rarely work, there would be more callbacks and far more fanservice.

And the series would be even more sexist than it (arguably) already is.

Really? I've heard that One Piece just keeps getting better and better with each arc.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Really? I've heard that One Piece just keeps getting better and better with each arc.

Nothing beats the Water 7/Enies Lobby & Impel Down/Marineford arcs yet. And I didn't like the Punk Hazard arc. But the Fishman Island arc was good, and the current arc looks promising.

[Saiga]

That's because it's overrated as all hell. It's never been able to top Water 7 - Enies Lobby, which is about 9 years old now.

edit: I didn't even like Fishman Island DBZGTKOSDH. Too much time spent hyping up villains who went down too easily.

[kei17]

I'm pretty sure most of us can agree here that One Piece is a better, more tightly written series than Dragon Ball.

Why are you sure?

Anyway, I definitely don't want to see a sob story with the DB characters we know constantly crying ridiculously loud over something about friends.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

edit: I didn't even like Fishman Island DBZGTKOSDH. Too much time spent hyping up villains who went down too easily.

It was just "good" IMO. When I watched the anime version, I found it boring, and the only reason I was looking forward to it was because I was looking forward to see how much the Straw Hats had developed after their training. The manga version though was much better, but still "good".

As for the topic, as much as I like One Piece, Dragon Ball is better IMO, so no.

[Saiga]

edit: I didn't even like Fishman Island DBZGTKOSDH. Too much time spent hyping up villains who went down too easily.

It was just "good" IMO. When I watched the anime version, I found it boring, and the only reason I was looking forward to it was because I was looking forward to see how much the Straw Hats had developed after their training. The manga version though was much better, but still "good".

As for the topic, as much as I like One Piece, Dragon Ball is better IMO, so no.

I haven't seen the anime version. Read the manga version twice (Jump and Tankobon version) and honestly it was worse on the re-read. It took too long and the villains were too unimpressive. I think the Saobody stuff should have been extended so we could see the Straw Hats show off earlier so that stuff had been gotten out of the way and by the time we reach Fishman Island the villains could be competent.

Although Zeo was still great.

[Blade]

How would Dragonball be if Oda wrote it? Well, it wouldn't be Dragonball, that's for sure! Adding to the fact that Dragonball inspired Oda in many ways, there's no saying how different his writing style would be had Dragonball never existed.

Really? I've heard that One Piece just keeps getting better and better with each arc.

That'd be a point of much debate if it was brought up in a One Piece specific forum, but I think it's fair to say that One Piece on the whole is of fluctuating quality - but in my opinion, has a much higher ratio of good material than bad.

I think that the Anime adaptation has a lot to answer for in terms of skewing people's opinions one way or the other, though, as the pacing has made many story arcs that were enjoyable in the manga almost un-watchably bad. The end of Water 7, Thriller Bark, Enies Lobby and Marineford in particular were incredibly stifled - a trend which has only gotten worse post time-skip. Fishman Island and Punk Hazard were practically a chore. How Japanese kids have the attention span to stick with weekly portions of such a snail-paced story is beyond me.

Nothing beats the Water 7/Enies Lobby & Impel Down/Marineford arcs yet. And I didn't like the Punk Hazard arc. But the Fishman Island arc was good, and the current arc looks promising.

It's all subjective, really, and while it's true that Water 7 is a popular story arc - a lot of people, for example, hate Impel Down/Marineford and Fishman Island.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Nothing beats the Water 7/Enies Lobby & Impel Down/Marineford arcs yet. And I didn't like the Punk Hazard arc. But the Fishman Island arc was good, and the current arc looks promising.

It's all subjective, really, and while it's true that Water 7 is a popular story arc - a lot of people, for example, hate Impel Down/Marineford and Fishman Island.

Of course it's subjective, it's just my opinion.

[TheAldella]

Hm...The Dragon Balls might have different rules. I know that Oda loves making his characters as close friends as possible, so that'd surely have a greater impact. As said, previously, more foreshadowing...But honestly, I think One Piece's humor is great. The guy knows how to plan ahead, and I love it.

[Flame Dragon]

I feel it would be great, but it wouldn't feel like... Dragon Ball.

One thing i always liked DB for is that the "friendship is power" theme is subtle. Goku gained SSJ for the death of his friend, but the show rarely outright said things like "nakama" or "i won't let my friends die!". Also i don't think anyone ever looked up to Goku and thinked "you are special, people are drawn to you" and stuff.

Meanwhile in One Piece it's not subtle at all i feel.

[Blade]

Also no one ever looked up to Goku and thinked "you are special, people are drawn to you"

I disagree with that, it's stated a number of times how Goku seems to have an ability to make friends and bring people together. In that respect I think he's definitely the archetype for that aspect of Luffy's character, especially in aspect of befriending former enemies or dangerous individuals. Sure, the main cast of characters in Dragonball Z aren't the tightly bonded group that the crew of the Thousand Sunny is, but they're a motley crew of colourful individuals who largely only have Goku in common.

Luffy has in common with Goku a great many things - not just his incredible strength and determination, carefree and fearless approach to adventure, insatiable need to challenge the best and, of course, a ridiculous appetite.

[rereboy]

That's because it's overrated as all hell. It's never been able to top Water 7 - Enies Lobby, which is about 9 years old now.

edit: I didn't even like Fishman Island DBZGTKOSDH. Too much time spent hyping up villains who went down too easily.

Nope. One Piece is amazing. Never disappoints.

That being said, the reasons why like DB and its style, are different from the reasons I like OP and its style. They aren't very similar at all, despite the fact that everyone compares them. So, if Oda wrote DB, it wouldn't even have the same style. It would probably have more backstory and emotional moments, though.

[Flame Dragon]

Also no one ever looked up to Goku and thinked "you are special, people are drawn to you"

I disagree with that, it's stated a number of times how Goku seems to have an ability to make friends and bring people together. In that respect I think he's definitely the archetype for that aspect of Luffy's character, especially in aspect of befriending former enemies or dangerous individuals. Sure, the main cast of characters in Dragonball Z aren't the tightly bonded group that the crew of the Thousand Sunny is, but they're a motley crew of colourful individuals who largely only have Goku in common.

Luffy has in common with Goku a great many things - not just his incredible strength and determination, carefree and fearless approach to adventure, insatiable need to challenge the best and, of course, a ridiculous appetite.

I still feel it's more subtle in DB, it's not always hammered down on you, and fights don't remind you of "i can only win this fight with FRIENDSHIP!" everytime. Maybe BoG was the only thing that kinda did this.
I'm not saying it's bad to not be subtle about it, just that it's something that i appreciated in Dragon Ball.

When every character keeps saying "ShonenProtagonist is special!" or "I trust ShonenProtagonist with everything, even my life" or "There's no way ShonenProtagonist can fail, he's the only one!" over and over again, it kinda becomes... creepy.
All the other characters then look like fanboys and seem to think of the protagonist as a deity. Like they are mindless zombies bent on worshipping the protagonist without thinking with their heads.

I still haven't seen this in One Piece, but one Naruto chapter almost made me think this. Glad that shit is over.

[Blade]

I still feel it's more subtle in DB, it's not always hammered down on you, and fights don't remind you of "i can only win this fight with FRIENDSHIP!" everytime. Maybe BoG was the only thing that kinda did this.
I'm not saying it's bad to not be subtle about it, just that it's something that i appreciated in Dragon Ball.

Doesn't a 'Spirit Bomb' more or less cover this, but on a more 'every living thing' level? And in Dragonball more often than not, Goku is fighting either for or to avenge his friends. It's still remarkably similar.

When every character keeps saying "ShonenProtagonist is special!" or "I trust ShonenProtagonist with everything, even my life" or "There's no way ShonenProtagonist can fail, he's the only one!" over and over again, it kinda becomes... creepy.

"If Goku can't do it...!"

[Gyt Kaliba]

Putting aside the paradox needed to make this work as Herms already pointed out, I'm honestly not so sure how much I'd like this concept. Don't get me wrong, I love One Piece, but...if Toriyama and Dragon Ball's problem is that it's too linear in places, than Oda and One Piece's problem is the exact opposite in that it's all over the place.

Especially if we're talking about the artwork. It's gotten to the point in the latest material in One Piece that sometimes you (well, I at least) can't even tell what's going on in some panels until I stare at it for a few minutes. There's often about thirty characters in a panel, all brand new, and you don't know who to pay attention to outside of your main characters because any one of them could turn out to be important 200 chapters from now.

So yeah, while I like One Piece a lot, and I do feel Dragon Ball could be better in some areas, I can't say I'd want the full One Piece effect here either.

[TheAldella]

I'll just say right now that I wouldn't want anyone but Toriyama drawing Dragon Ball.

[Kid Buu]

Isn't One Piece basically just his version of Dragon Ball?