I genuinely believe Dragon Ball is at the top where it is now because it has accurately and appropriately represented martial arts like no other anime & manga out there. Getting stronger through hardship & getting rewarded for hard work. And the show is funny & easily "digestible" people may say the plot is too cookie cutter sometimes & while I would very much like more grey elements and more mature story lines. The story's simplistic nature lends itself to be very easy to pick up.