Vegeta voted greatest rival in Anime/Manga history by Japanese fans.

[ricky84]

https://comicbook.com/anime/2018/08/29/ ... ote-japan/
https://ranking.goo.ne.jp/column/5337/ranking/51384/

I thought this was pretty interesting. Notably, this isn't the only time Vegeta was voted 1# in a Japanese DB related poll. He was also voted greatest male Tsundere in anime/manga history: https://animeharbor.com/guide/most-belo ... haracters/

And he once was voted best DB character in another Japanese poll: https://www.animeranking.net/totalization.php?id=34&li=

All of this seems to debunk the popular lie that Vegeta is only super-loved in the West (which is clearly not true lol).

Any Thoughts?

[Logania]

My thought is why is he considered the best rival, when the person he's "rivals" with, doesn't really care about keeping up with him or think of him that way.

Now the tsundere part I don't dabble in that stuff, so I guess...?

[Chuquita]

Wow, almost that whole list is all older series. Are rival characters not as popular in newer shounen? Is it more about straightforward friends now?

Also about tsundere Vegeta...yeah he is, imo. Tsundere's the cares about you, but doesn't want you to know it and or doesn't want to be thought of as uncool or soft hearted to varying degrees. "It's not like I like you or anything, idiot!" they'd say after going out of their way to help you out.

[RandomGuy96]

Vegeta was never really Goku's "rival" in the context of the original manga. He was an irrelevant weakling that Goku stopped thinking about the second he touched down on Namek. There was no "rivalry" there, just a one-sided obsession.

[Vijay]

Say whatever you want...

Goku always priotized improving himself. True dat. Training, more training, fight stronger beings, train to be stronger than em!

But Veggie left a devastating impact on Goku waay back in Saiyan Arc. Dude flat-out said Veggie's marvelous strength & capability to be beyond him & his crippling defeat pushed Goku to train like madman in Space Capsule while going on the journey to Namek.

Mere thought of Veggie being leagues ahead of Goku & premonitions of fighters stronger than him marked Goku's 1st "urge out of neccessity" to out-do or out-train himself.

With that being said, I'd say Veggie has always considered Goku as his rival or someone to test his power levels

So...its more than safe to assume both are indeed rivals

Tsundere part...yeah. I saw some parts of em in late Z films (Fusion Reborn, Wrath of Dragon, BoG, RoF) & Super

[sintzu]

Vegeta is by far my favorite DB character but I don't think he's the best rival, that honor goes to Sasuke from Naruto. Unlike Vegeta he doesn't just follow in Naruto's footsteps or is always trying to catch up to him. Instead, he goes on his own adventures, fights his own villains, had his own team and when he does eventually cross paths with Naruto he's his equal. Sasuke is always what I've wanted to see Vegeta eventually become but he's yet to become that. I think Vegeta being picked #1 is due to his popularity. Super has thankfully done a lot with Vegeta which has improved him and his status as Goku's rival but he has a long way to go before catching Sasuke, something I don't think DB's writers will want to do.

[DBZAOTA482]

Vegeta is by far my favorite DB character but I don't think he's the best rival, that honor goes to Sasuke from Naruto. Unlike Vegeta he doesn't just follow in Naruto's footsteps or is always trying to catch up to him. Instead, he goes on his own adventures, fights his own villains, had his own team and when he does eventually cross paths with Naruto he's his equal. Sasuke is always what I've wanted to see Vegeta eventually become but he's yet to become that. I think Vegeta being picked #1 is due to his popularity. Super has thankfully done a lot with Vegeta which has improved him and his status as Goku's rival but he has a long way to go before catching Sasuke, something I don't think DB's writers will want to do.

Why would DB writers want Vegeta to be a shit character like Sasuke?

[ABED]

Goku doesn't stop thinking about Vegeta. He's not as obsessed about it as Vegeta, but he does use Vegeta and others as impetus to push himself. The fact that Vegeta's far more obsessed with it than Goku in no way means it's not a rivalry.

[sintzu]

Why would DB writers want Vegeta to be a shit character like Sasuke?

I'm not talking about writing him like Sasuke himself but following the structure. What I mean is for them to give Vegeta his own adventures and villains away from Goku, maybe give him his own small cast of characters to interact with and most importantly, move him from under Goku's shadow and make him his equal. This is of course not to say Vegeta has been badly written as I think Super has been doing a good job demonstrating why he's a force to be reckoned with but there's still more they can do to truly justify him as Goku's rival.

[ABED]

DB isn't that kind of story. It's Goku's story. Vegeta's a fantastic addition but the focus shouldn't be bifurcated that way.

[sintzu]

DB isn't that kind of story. It's Goku's story.

Sasuke getting the focus I mentioned didn't take anything away from Naruto's story or change the image of the show, it was still Naruto's story through and through, regardless of Sasuke and others getting major screen time. Vegeta getting the kind of focus I mentioned won't take anything away from Goku or his story and if anything it could help it as they could focus on Goku even more instead of having to implement Vegeta into everything he's in.

[ABED]

DB isn't that kind of story. It's Goku's story.

Sasuke getting the focus I mentioned didn't take anything away from Naruto's story or change the image of the show, it was still Naruto's story through and through, regardless of Sasuke and others getting major screen time. Vegeta getting the kind of focus I mentioned won't take anything away from Goku or his story and if anything it could help it as they could focus on Goku even more instead of having to implement Vegeta into everything he's in.

I don't know. Giving Vegeta his own set of enemies and characters and adventures to deal with feels too different from DB. I haven't seen Naruto but it strikes me as a very different kind of story from DB.

I like how they've dealt with Vegeta and Goku's rivalry. Even assuming it's one sided, it made for an interesting arc.

[sintzu]

I haven't seen Naruto but it strikes me as a very different kind of story from DB.

It is very different and in a good way. I don't want DB to become Naruto or any other anime as I like DB for being what it is but adapting certain things from other writers who themselves based their work off DB can only improve it in my opinion.

[Vijay]

I haven't seen Naruto but it strikes me as a very different kind of story from DB.

It is very different and in a good way. I don't want DB to become Naruto or any other anime as I like DB for being what it is but adapting certain things from other writers who themselves based their work off DB can only improve it in my opinion.

To be incredibly frank, DB or Z or YYH or Rurourin Kenshin all had superior or better story/tale than Naruto

Former 3 had gripping 1st Arcs respectively with immensely interesting/likable characters.

Characters from Naruto be it Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura are stereotypical. Basically shocks me cuz for a show most fans tend to clamor as "improvised" shounen of its predecessors, in fact was plagued with cliched "nakama-tachi" troope, chronically unoriginal characters barring 3-4 (Oorochimaru, Guy, Madara, Pain), bland design, chakra/ninja battle escalating into crazy ass animal brawls...i can go on

Actually, ur post contradicates itself.

How d'ya regard Sasuke who randomly pursues his own adventure, destiny to some childish, again "nakama-tachi" clinging Naruto as rival?

Sasuke never even bothered bout Naruto even from the start as dude was fixated on avenging his Uchiha clan. It was all Naruto who wanted to get as cool as Sasuke, wanted to grab Sakura chick, wanted to prove his worth all dat crap.... Sasuke to be blunt regarded Naruto as insignificant annoyance...

Dats not how rivalry works...

[superfan2024]

Vegeta is by far my favorite DB character but I don't think he's the best rival, that honor goes to Sasuke from Naruto. Unlike Vegeta he doesn't just follow in Naruto's footsteps or is always trying to catch up to him. Instead, he goes on his own adventures, fights his own villains, had his own team and when he does eventually cross paths with Naruto he's his equal. Sasuke is always what I've wanted to see Vegeta eventually become but he's yet to become that. I think Vegeta being picked #1 is due to his popularity. Super has thankfully done a lot with Vegeta which has improved him and his status as Goku's rival but he has a long way to go before catching Sasuke, something I don't think DB's writers will want to do.

I mean, tbh, Vegeta was going on his own journey ever since the Saiyan invasion up until Goku showed up for Recoome. Vegeta fought a lot of people in that period.

[sintzu]

I mean, tbh, Vegeta was going on his own journey ever since the Saiyan invasion up until Goku showed up for Recoome. Vegeta fought a lot of people in that period.

He even continued to fight a lot of people after that so my issue isn't his screen time or the amount of people he fought as he got plenty of both, I just think Vegeta as a character should move out from under Goku's shadow at this point. Vegeta is by no means being badly written but I just think separating him from Goku can improve him even more.

[superfan2024]

I mean, tbh, Vegeta was going on his own journey ever since the Saiyan invasion up until Goku showed up for Recoome. Vegeta fought a lot of people in that period.

He even continued to fight a lot of people after that so my issue isn't his screen time or the amount of people he fought as he got plenty of both, I just think Vegeta as a character should move out from under Goku's shadow at this point. Vegeta is by no means being badly written but I just think separating him from Goku can improve him even more.

All I'm trying to say is that during that specific period of time, Vegeta was on his own adventure in search of the DBs.

[DragonBallFoodie]

Congratulations to the Prince of Saiyans!

[PFM18]

Dragon Ball is the greatest Anime/Manga in history so naturally their rivalry is the greatest rival in Anime/Manga history. It only makes sense for this to be the case

[zarmack]

Considering the how wide definition of the term rival is used and the overall popularity of the character in Japan (and elsewhere), I'm not surprised at all that Vegeta was voted #1 several times.