Has One Piece surpassed Dragon Ball or is DB still king?

[Gog]

Then why is the manga the preferred way of viewing One Piece? And One Piece shares a lot more actors with Dragon Ball then just Mayumi Tanaka.

Okay buttercup, lets be real here, the One piece manga is actually the preferred way of consuming the series. No Luffy voiced by krillin, or Yajirobe here. But in actuality the reason why people read one piece is because of the story. And the fanservice. So MUCH OF IT

Sorry for making a joke, guys. Lesson learned. I won't do it again.

Oh I'm sorry, just thought that you were being serious sorry about that

[NintendoBlaze53]

Then why is the manga the preferred way of viewing One Piece? And One Piece shares a lot more actors with Dragon Ball then just Mayumi Tanaka.

Okay buttercup, lets be real here, the One piece manga is actually the preferred way of consuming the series. No Luffy voiced by krillin, or Yajirobe here. But in actuality the reason why people read one piece is because of the story. And the fanservice. So MUCH OF IT

Sorry for making a joke, guys. Lesson learned. I won't do it again.

Sarcasm is hard to convey through text. Seriously after the anime adaption of Dressrosa there is no doubt Manga>Anime.

[Gog]

Then why is the manga the preferred way of viewing One Piece? And One Piece shares a lot more actors with Dragon Ball then just Mayumi Tanaka.

Okay buttercup, lets be real here, the One piece manga is actually the preferred way of consuming the series. No Luffy voiced by krillin, or Yajirobe here. But in actuality the reason why people read one piece is because of the story. And the fanservice. So MUCH OF IT

Sorry for making a joke, guys. Lesson learned. I won't do it again.

Sarcasm is hard to convey through text. Seriously after the anime adaption of Dressrosa there is no doubt Manga>Anime.

Huh? What happened to make the anime worst than the manga? Was there to much filler, that's most likely the case then.

[NintendoBlaze53]

Sorry for making a joke, guys. Lesson learned. I won't do it again.

Sarcasm is hard to convey through text. Seriously after the anime adaption of Dressrosa there is no doubt Manga>Anime.

Huh? What happened to make the anime worst than the manga? Was there to much filler, that's most likely the case then.

I dropped it a bit after 4th Gear. But awful animation for most parts, way too much filler when Dressrosa is an already long arc, and horrible pacing. But hey, 4th Gear's introduction was absolutely perfect. My best guess would be behind the duality was between Film Gold and the Goku Black Arc, Toei were just worked too thin.

[SaiyanZ]

In terms of sales and popularity in Japan, yes.

[rereboy]

Back in the 80's/90's, shifting large numbers of manga was vastly different and more difficult than it is today. With the age we live in, it's not surprising that something as popular as One Piece has outsold DB.

I have no idea what you are trying to say. There was no significant difference in how they sold the magazine and the volumes.

[PelicanDynasty]

I look at it like this, and as a heads up, I'm ignoring other franchises for simplicity. I would tend to agree that Pokemon is number one, but that's not really the topic.

For the general population, DB is above One Piece. Not even close. People use DB pictures all the time on twitter and stuff to set up jokes, about 10 million rappers mention it in their lyrics, and it's constantly in the public eye even if you don't really know what it is. There is a reason people gif Lebron and El Piojo turning Super Saiyan, and not (insert One Piece equivalent here. Never read/seen it).

For bigtime anime fans, it definitely seems that One Piece is far more popular. That shows in the sales numbers. But in terms of brand awareness? No contest if you ask me.

[Vertical]

Back in the 80's/90's, shifting large numbers of manga was vastly different and more difficult than it is today. With the age we live in, it's not surprising that something as popular as One Piece has outsold DB.

I have no idea what you are trying to say. There was no significant difference in how they sold the magazine and the volumes.

The internet makes a huge difference in marketing and distribution. Less reliance on "snail mail". Increased audience, and their accessibility. And that's not taking into account any actual internet sales... if those are even a thing.

You would also need to take into account cultural changes. Being an "otaku", or just an avid fan or manga/anime is far more acceptable now than it was 25+ years ago. It's almost glorified.

[rereboy]

Back in the 80's/90's, shifting large numbers of manga was vastly different and more difficult than it is today. With the age we live in, it's not surprising that something as popular as One Piece has outsold DB.

I have no idea what you are trying to say. There was no significant difference in how they sold the magazine and the volumes.

The internet makes a huge difference in marketing and distribution. Less reliance on "snail mail". Increased audience, and their accessibility. And that's not taking into account any actual internet sales... if those are even a thing.

You would also need to take into account cultural changes. Being an "otaku", or just an avid fan or manga/anime is far more acceptable now than it was 25+ years ago. It's almost glorified.

I think you are grasping at straws, honestly. Mangas in general and Shonen Jump magazine didn't became more well-known in Japan from 1997 to 2005 than they were from 1984 to 1995. At least, not significantly.

[ekrolo2]

One Piece is the bigger franchise now so its won on that end and given its massive length and big prominence, it'll probably be the Dragon Ball for a whole slew of generations going forward, serving as a template for many manga and anime to come. Which is a good thing since One Piece does a lot of things right but also bad because One Piece does fuck stuff up (the dark backstory is a perfect example of this, Sanji's history is so laughably over the top it feels like a parody now).

[Vertical]

I have no idea what you are trying to say. There was no significant difference in how they sold the magazine and the volumes.

The internet makes a huge difference in marketing and distribution. Less reliance on "snail mail". Increased audience, and their accessibility. And that's not taking into account any actual internet sales... if those are even a thing.

You would also need to take into account cultural changes. Being an "otaku", or just an avid fan or manga/anime is far more acceptable now than it was 25+ years ago. It's almost glorified.

I think you are grasping at straws, honestly. Mangas in general and Shonen Jump magazine didn't became more well-known in Japan from 1997 to 2005 than they were from 1984 to 1995. At least, not significantly.

I'm not grasping at anything, just noting what needs to be taken into account... because it's not as clean cut as simply comparing sales, that's all.

That said, I'm also not trying to take away from One Piece's success. Domestically, it is incredibly successful and popular, surpassing Dragon Ball sales no matter what comparison is made or how it managed to do so or even how times have changed. Internationally, it's not the same monster Dragon Ball has managed to be... and, personally, I don't think it ever will be.

[rereboy]

I'm not grasping at anything, just noting what needs to be taken into account... because it's not as clean cut as simply comparing sales, that's all.

When the question is which of the two has sold more taking into consideration the number of volumes (which was what I was responding to), it really is a matter of looking at the numbers.

You were trying to somehow "negate" those numbers by offering an abstract notion that, somehow, the business has changed significantly from 1984-1995 to 1997-2005 which simply isn't true.

That said, I'm also not trying to take away from One Piece's success. Domestically, it is incredibly successful and popular, surpassing Dragon Ball sales no matter what comparison is made or how it managed to do so or even how times have changed. Internationally, it's not the same monster Dragon Ball has managed to be... and, personally, I don't think it ever will be.

The sale numbers are worldwide, not just in Japan, even though most of the sales are from Japan. The Dragon Ball manga simply doesn't touch the One Piece manga in terms of sales. Period. If you want to argue about the franchise overall, namely in terms of recognition, go ahead, but that wasn't the point of my post anyway.

[SaiyanGod117]

One Piece is the bigger franchise now so its won on that end and given its massive length and big prominence, it'll probably be the Dragon Ball for a whole slew of generations going forward, serving as a template for many manga and anime to come. Which is a good thing since One Piece does a lot of things right but also bad because One Piece does fuck stuff up (the dark backstory is a perfect example of this, Sanji's history is so laughably over the top it feels like a parody now).

How is One Piece the bigger franchise? The only thing it has over Dragon Ball is episode count.

[ekrolo2]

One Piece is the bigger franchise now so its won on that end and given its massive length and big prominence, it'll probably be the Dragon Ball for a whole slew of generations going forward, serving as a template for many manga and anime to come. Which is a good thing since One Piece does a lot of things right but also bad because One Piece does fuck stuff up (the dark backstory is a perfect example of this, Sanji's history is so laughably over the top it feels like a parody now).

How is One Piece the bigger franchise? The only thing it has over Dragon Ball is episode count.

It's outsold Dragon Ball by a 100 million copies and that's outdated information from almost 2 years ago, that number is most certainly higher. Now, if Toriyama kept the manga going or launched a revival of it, I've no doubt Dragon Ball would kill it in the sales charts but One Piece has outsold it and will likely far eclipse it by the time it ends sometime around the heat death of the universe.

[Vertical]

I'm not grasping at anything, just noting what needs to be taken into account... because it's not as clean cut as simply comparing sales, that's all.

When the question is which of the two has sold more taking into consideration the number of volumes (which was what I was responding to), it really is a matter of looking at the numbers.

You were trying to somehow "negate" those numbers by offering an abstract notion that, somehow, the business has changed significantly from 1984-1995 to 1997-2005 which simply isn't true.

I was not trying to negate the numbers. I was expanding upon them because a number is never simply a number. Many things need to be taken into consideration when comparing sales of anything.

The impact of the internet and cultural changes from that era are undeniable, especially when talking in terms of international sales. But please do not take my raising of these points as me attempting to make excuses for Dragon Ball falling behind because I am not. Taking these points into account does not change the fact that Dragon Ball has been quite handily outsold... It simply gives one a fuller picture of the situation.

That said, I'm also not trying to take away from One Piece's success. Domestically, it is incredibly successful and popular, surpassing Dragon Ball sales no matter what comparison is made or how it managed to do so or even how times have changed. Internationally, it's not the same monster Dragon Ball has managed to be... and, personally, I don't think it ever will be.

The sale numbers are worldwide, not just in Japan, even though most of the sales are from Japan. The Dragon Ball manga simply doesn't touch the One Piece manga in terms of sales. Period. If you want to argue about the franchise overall, namely in terms of recognition, go ahead, but that wasn't the point of my post anyway.

My "monster" comment was in regard to infamy and recognition. It was more a general comment in relation to the topic at hand.

[SaiyanGod117]

One Piece is the bigger franchise now so its won on that end and given its massive length and big prominence, it'll probably be the Dragon Ball for a whole slew of generations going forward, serving as a template for many manga and anime to come. Which is a good thing since One Piece does a lot of things right but also bad because One Piece does fuck stuff up (the dark backstory is a perfect example of this, Sanji's history is so laughably over the top it feels like a parody now).

How is One Piece the bigger franchise? The only thing it has over Dragon Ball is episode count.

It's outsold Dragon Ball by a 100 million copies and that's outdated information from almost 2 years ago, that number is most certainly higher. Now, if Toriyama kept the manga going or launched a revival of it, I've no doubt Dragon Ball would kill it in the sales charts but One Piece has outsold it and will likely far eclipse it by the time it ends sometime around the heat death of the universe.

That really doesn't equate to being a bigger franchise since your talking about in terms of manga sales. Dragon Ball has spawned numerous toy lines, games, and apps so has One Piece, but DB more so. With also having far more worldwide recognition and popularity, Toei is setting up Dragon Ball just to expand the brand even further. It's practically all ready mainstream, for a time it was #1 selling TV show on Xbox and among the Top 5 (or # 1) on Hulu's Top watched shows can't really remember correctly. Right now it's doing better than One Piece in merchandise sales, the manga really isn't the main product anymore. For example, One Piece has a lot more comic book sales than a lot of comic characters, but there still far more poplular. I'm pretty sure One Piece manga sales are close to number of Batman comics sold, but as well know Batman is the far bigger franchise.

[ekrolo2]

That really doesn't equate to being a bigger franchise since your talking about in terms of manga sales. Dragon Ball has spawned numerous toy lines, games, and apps so has One Piece, but DB more so. With also having far more worldwide recognition and popularity, Toei is setting up Dragon Ball just to expand the brand even further. It's practically all ready mainstream, for a time it was #1 selling TV show on Xbox and among the Top 5 (or # 1) on Hulu's Top watched shows can't really remember correctly. Right now it's doing better than One Piece in merchandise sales, the manga really isn't the main product anymore. For example, One Piece has a lot more comic book sales than a lot of comic characters, but there still far more poplular. I'm pretty sure One Piece manga sales are close to number of Batman comics sold, but as well know Batman is the far bigger franchise.

Then I worded it poorly, One Piece has stomped Dragon Ball in manga sales but you're right in that Super has caused a resurgence of merchandising.

[sintzu]

One Piece is the king in Japan but DB is still VERY popular there, easily in the top 5 most popular franchises.

Internationally though, DB is still and always will be king, If 4kids didn't dub one piece before funimation and if Naruto didn't go into filler hell for 80+ episodes after the 1st fight with Sasuke then maybe things would've been different.

[SaintEvolution]

Well, talking about success around the world, DB is still bigger, and the biggest reason of that is probably the Latin/South American market. One Piece was initially dubbed into latin american spanish and brazilian portuguese in the 4Kids version, and because of that was a big failure in those countries ... and, until today, 2017, One Piece was not redubbed without censorship into mexican spanish and brazilian portuguese, while that happened in US(with Funimation), India and a few other countries that broadcasted the 4Kids version first.

About other markets, like Europe or Asia, One Piece is very big. Not so much as Dragon Ball maybe, but as Naruto at least.

And well, just for clarify, I'm talking about the anime of One Piece only. The manga at least has very good sells in Brazil, but I don't know about the manga in the hispanic-speaking american countries.

[kinisking]

In Japan but the rest of the world cares about DB more. At least in the US. Dragonball has also had a more lasting impact in pop culture. We also don't know if one piece will maintain popularity after it ends in the same way Dragonball has either. I don't know why everyone's comparing manga sales only considering there are so many other factors to popularity.