Manga vs. Anime comparisons.

[OWmyDragonBallz]

Aside from extensive filler scenes, the anime also takes main scenes from the manga and intertwines them with something completely original to the anime version of the story, such as -

In the anime Dodoria kills Cargo while in the Manga it was Freeza.

Gohan dropping Bulma off at the ship and goes off to fight Freeza, only for Goku to return moments later and continue the fight, and then Bulma teleports to earth from the ship, while in the manga Gohan and Bulma teleport to Earth while flying to the ship together.

Vegeta gets to see Goku and Freeza in the anime, while in the manga he teleports by his grave.

In the anime when Goku wakes up from his heart virus, he's outside At Kame house doing a Kamehameha wave across the beach. While in the manga when chi chi walks in the room, Goku is looking out the window. Roshi is trying to fix the door knob too in the anime.

When Goku teleports to the plane to pick up Gohan, Krillin jumps on him out of excitement breaking the back door of the aircraft out the door itself.
While in the manga, he just talks to him and says welcome back.


In the anime, Saiyaman saves Chobi and some dinosaurs when Videl exposes him as Gohan while in the manga, he stops some burglars when she exposes him.

Anyone wanna add more to the list? I have always thought it interesting that they go through the same story, but have these slight differences. Not story breaking, the same narrative is still there in the anime, but the way it plays out is different.

[DHM211]

In the Manga after Frieza survives the spirit bomb, he fires a blast directly at Piccolo. In the anime, Frieza fires at Goku, but Piccolo pushes Goku out of the way, taking the blast.

[ErikB]

In the anime, there's an old man that Android 20 kills by choking him until he stops moving. In the manga, 20 chokes him so hard that his head separates from his body.

There's a difference with when Tenshinhan uses/doesn't use the Mafuba on King Piccolo but I can never remember which way around it is. I believe in the manga, Tenshinhan doesn't use it at all because he notices the jar he was going to use is cracked. In the anime, he does attempt the Mafuba catches one of Piccolo's offspring instead (Drum?).

[sintzu]

The classic scene of Vegeta kicking Cell in the stomach isn't in the anime.

[DrakenballP]

In the Manga, Goku fights Kid Buu entirely in SS3, while in the anime he fights in SS2, then 3.

[Soppa Saia People]

There's another version of Piccolo Boo in the Manga. It was cut in the anime.

[Lord Beerus]

A small detail but Piccolo has four fingers in the manga, while in the anime he has five. And Majin Boo (Kid Boo and Super Boo) has on finger and one thumb in the manga, while in the anime he has full set of fingers.

[Ripper 30]

In the anime when Gohan is killing Cell Jr. We only see smoke covering them and cell Jr. Exploding after being kicked



whereas in the manga it's more brutal as we see the eye balls of the cell Jr. Popping out.




Also,another example is when Vegeta kills Ghurdo. In the anime we just see him behead Ghurdo with a Ki blast.




Whereas in the manga vegeta straight away chops off Ghurdo's Head



Also, in anime the part where Nappa disarms Tenshinhan is not as brutal



Whereas in the manga it's more brutal as we see drops of bloods
(scanlation removed)

So I think overall manga was more gory

[DBZ Macky]

In the anime when Gohan is killing Cell Jr. We only see smoke covering them and cell Jr. Exploding after being kicked
whereas in the manga it's more brutal as we see the eye balls of the cell Jr. Popping out.

I'd argue that Anime Gohan was more brutal. After all, Gohan killed 8/7 Cell jrs. in the Anime and made Goku proud. Asian parents just aren't satisfied even with a perfect score nowadays, speaking from experience.

[Ripper 30]

In the anime when Gohan is killing Cell Jr. We only see smoke covering them and cell Jr. Exploding after being kicked
whereas in the manga it's more brutal as we see the eye balls of the cell Jr. Popping out.

I'd argue that Anime Gohan was more brutal. After all, Gohan killed 8/7 Cell jrs. in the Anime and made Goku proud. Asian parents just aren't satisfied even with a perfect score nowadays, speaking from experience.

Yes I can understand being an Indian, scoring 70% is better than scoring 98% because then they ask "why not 100% ?"

[MainJPW]

A small detail but Piccolo has four fingers in the manga, while in the anime he has five. And Majin Boo (Kid Boo and Super Boo) has on finger and one thumb in the manga, while in the anime he has full set of fingers.

And Dodoria had three fingers in the manga while in the anime it's five. I wonder what the point of upgrading everyone to five digits was, the fewer fingers really lends itself to alien designs.

[dbgtFO]

A small detail but Piccolo has four fingers in the manga, while in the anime he has five. And Majin Boo (Kid Boo and Super Boo) has on finger and one thumb in the manga, while in the anime he has full set of fingers.

And Dodoria had three fingers in the manga while in the anime it's five. I wonder what the point of upgrading everyone to five digits was, the fewer fingers really lends itself to alien designs.

Apparently it's because there's a law stating humanoids have to have 5 fingers, because it would otherwise bring comparisons to the finger-cutiing punishments the Yakuza dish out.

[DBZ Macky]

Yes I can understand being an Indian, scoring 70% is better than scoring 98% because then they ask "why not 100% ?"[/quote]
Yeah, the struggle is real. So glad school is finally over.

Apparently it's because there's a law stating humanoids have to have 5 fingers, because it would otherwise bring comparisons to the finger-cutiing punishments the Yakuza dish out.

Sorbet also has 4 fingers in the Movie and the Manga, while he has 5 in the Anime. I think it's more of a case of censorship rather than an Anime-Manga difference. What I don't understand is why it's okay to let him have 4 fingers in one of the animated media but it isn't in the other?

[dbgtFO]

Sorbet also has 4 fingers in the Movie and the Manga, while he has 5 in the Anime. I think it's more of a case of censorship rather than an Anime-Manga difference. What I don't understand is why it's okay to let him have 4 fingers in one of the animated media but it isn't in the other?

Because those regulations only apply for media on tv, I think.

[OLKv3]

In the anime, Goku and Vegeta fight Super Buuhan for awhile before finally fusing at the last minute. In the manga, they fuse before Buu arrives
In the anime, SSJ3 Goku fights Buutenks for a bit. In the manga, Buutenks downgrades as he's charging at a scared Goku
In the anime, Goku and Vegeta fight Super Buu inside his head. In the manga, Vegeta rips Fat Buu out with no battle
In the manga, Trunks never gets to fight Semi Perfect Cell.
We see none of Gohan's RoSaT training in the manga. We do see Goku explain the SSJ upgrades though
In the anime, Goku vs Majin Vegeta is a full battle. In the manga, the battle is pretty much skipped entirely outside of the beginning

[Darkprince410]

Also,another example is when Vegeta kills Ghurdo. In the anime we just see him behead Ghurdo with a Ki blast.




Whereas in the manga vegeta straight away chops off Ghurdo's Head

No, it was still meant to be a slice to the neck that killed Gurd in the anime. It's just that it was meant to be taken as a dramatic "stream of light" from how fast his attack was.

[Desassina]

In the manga, Gohan is fighting Dabura already transformed, while he starts at base in the anime.
Vegeta and Trunks seem to be using Grade II SSJ against the Cell Jr. in the anime but not the manga.

[OWmyDragonBallz]

Lots of neat little differences, but nonetheless, lead to the same outcome. That's why I prefer the anime's perspective a bit more. Particularly DBZ Kai since that significantly removed the filler.