Anime Jiren Vs. Manga Jiren: Which Do You Prefer And Why?

[ankokudaishogun]

the reveal being an antisocial prick.

BTW, I believe people misunderstand Jiren's blast toward the spectators. They seem to forget Jiren was in the middle of a nervous breakdown where his whole outlook on life, same outlook that made him the goddamn Strongest in the Multiverse, was challenged by a guy who was MUCH weaker at the start of the ToP but kept getting stronger for no apparent reason, saying it was thanks to his friends and comrdes.

Remember: Jiren's famili, master and friends were murdered even though they fought together and those not killed did ABBANDON Jiren. He still went about in life becoming a Hero, while he could have been anything else.
And while he probably didn't thinbk of the Pride Troopers as more than Co-workers(and therefore he did know what they were able to deal without him) instead of Comrades, he only did show dislike for when Toppo threw awa y his pride and still lost, while otherwise showing respect for Vegeta who never abbandoned his pride even in defeat.
Manga Jiren is much more of a prick. He wouldn't have saved Dyspo from Majikayo.

[supersaiyanZero]

Anime by far. I don't really care for either that much, but AT LEAST the anime one warranted UI being necessary from his abilities alone (being able to dish out attacks that could not be seen and his glare thing), not even getting to his raw power and speed. That prevents him from being the complete bore he is in the manga, where there's nothing to seperate his fighting style from any generic Dragonball character.

You realize all those are cheap gimmicks because the animators didn't want to/have the necessary resources to come up with anything more compelling, right? It was one of the biggest cop outs from the animation team that I've ever seen.

[reecehoward]

Anime by far. I don't really care for either that much, but AT LEAST the anime one warranted UI being necessary from his abilities alone (being able to dish out attacks that could not be seen and his glare thing), not even getting to his raw power and speed. That prevents him from being the complete bore he is in the manga, where there's nothing to seperate his fighting style from any generic Dragonball character.

You realize all those are cheap gimmicks because the animators didn't want to/have the necessary resources to come up with anything more compelling, right? It was one of the biggest cop outs from the animation team that I've ever seen.

I agree to an extent, but it DID something. No one in the series attacks with glares or whatnot. He is unique in that way. What can you say for manga Jiren other than "muh approval"...which further makes him look like a bitch even after getting humiliated by Goku AND Roshi earlier.

Let me tell you something...Jiren is looking like Scooby Doo begging Shaggy for his Scooby Snacks after this chapter.lol Seriously though, THIS is supposed to be a dude that is taken seriously as more powerful than a GoD and his motivation is to get his doggy treats.lol

Also, it's bullshit that people are even trying to pretend this backstory is soooo superior to his anime counterpart. Let me explain the fallacy. His manga counterpart only explains his wish and motivations for joining the tournament, while his anime counterpart actually explains WHY he is a loner in the first place AND his ideology along with giving you a "read between the lines" explanation as to what his wish would have been. You tell me which of those gives you more insight into a character. Don't worry, i'll wait...

[supersaiyanZero]

Anime by far. I don't really care for either that much, but AT LEAST the anime one warranted UI being necessary from his abilities alone (being able to dish out attacks that could not be seen and his glare thing), not even getting to his raw power and speed. That prevents him from being the complete bore he is in the manga, where there's nothing to seperate his fighting style from any generic Dragonball character.

You realize all those are cheap gimmicks because the animators didn't want to/have the necessary resources to come up with anything more compelling, right? It was one of the biggest cop outs from the animation team that I've ever seen.

I agree to an extent, but it DID something. No one in the series attacks with glares or whatnot. He is unique in that way. What can you say for manga Jiren other than "muh approval"...which further makes him look like a bitch even after getting humiliated by Goku AND Roshi earlier.

Let me tell you something...Jiren is looking like Scooby Doo begging Shaggy for his Scooby Snacks after this chapter.lol Seriously though, THIS is supposed to be a dude that is taken seriously as more powerful than a GoD and his motivation is to get his doggy treats.lol

Also, it's bullshit that people are even trying to pretend this backstory is soooo superior to his anime counterpart. Let me explain the fallacy. His manga counterpart only explains his wish and motivations for joining the tournament, while his anime counterpart actually explains WHY he is a loner in the first place AND his ideology along with giving you a "read between the lines" explanation as to what his wish would have been. You tell me which of those gives you more insight into a character. Don't worry, i'll wait...

No. It was incredibly boring to watch especially after the 100th time. It is literally the biggest cop out of any animation team in a battle shounen, ever. And this comparison between the two backstories isn't even close. In the anime we got a generic, soulless backstory shoehorned into the arc which does absolutely nothing for the character. In the manga, as brief as it was, at least humanized Jiren to the point where we as an audience can relate to him. To be fair, he is just a terrible character devoid of personality at this point in either medium.

[RandomGuy96]

Manga Jiren by far. Toyotaro actually capitalized on his concept by making him a much more heroic character than Goku and adding pathos to his past. I appreciate the dramatic ironies inherent in his character, both in his very mission (which humanizes him) and in his goals. He's not a good character by any means, but there's something there. Anime Jiren by contrast barely even counts as a character to begin with. He's just a generic anime villain; what little characterization he has seems to shift depending on which cliche the episode's writer wants to do that day.

Not getting the complaints about Manga Jiren not being as physically intimidating as Anime Jiren, either. Not-SSBE Vegeta just had to flex to knock out Toppo (who could match CSSB Goku and Vegeta), yet multiple clean shots to the face from him did nothing to Jiren, who proceeded to brutally him beat down. Ditto Goku's not-SSBKK. Manga Jiren also beat MUI Goku cleanly, even shrugging off a Warp Kamehameha, while Anime Jiren jobbed towards the end and pathetically admitted defeat for no reason. Anime Jiren also sandbags too much. He overall comes across as more dignified and competent in the manga. The only part where the manga erred, IMO, was by just having Toppo casually mention that Jiren is stronger than Vermoud while talking to Goku. I like how the anime saved that for later and treated it as a huge deal (with Belmond's bittersweet smile and Beerus's terror), because it is; it represents an enormous upset of the cosmic order and casts Jiren's relationship with Vermoud into a different light.

[reecehoward]

You realize all those are cheap gimmicks because the animators didn't want to/have the necessary resources to come up with anything more compelling, right? It was one of the biggest cop outs from the animation team that I've ever seen.

I agree to an extent, but it DID something. No one in the series attacks with glares or whatnot. He is unique in that way. What can you say for manga Jiren other than "muh approval"...which further makes him look like a bitch even after getting humiliated by Goku AND Roshi earlier.

Let me tell you something...Jiren is looking like Scooby Doo begging Shaggy for his Scooby Snacks after this chapter.lol Seriously though, THIS is supposed to be a dude that is taken seriously as more powerful than a GoD and his motivation is to get his doggy treats.lol

Also, it's bullshit that people are even trying to pretend this backstory is soooo superior to his anime counterpart. Let me explain the fallacy. His manga counterpart only explains his wish and motivations for joining the tournament, while his anime counterpart actually explains WHY he is a loner in the first place AND his ideology along with giving you a "read between the lines" explanation as to what his wish would have been. You tell me which of those gives you more insight into a character. Don't worry, i'll wait...

No. It was incredibly boring to watch especially after the 100th time. It is literally the biggest cop out of any animation team in a battle shounen, ever. And this comparison between the two backstories isn't even close. In the anime we got a generic, soulless backstory shoehorned into the arc which does absolutely nothing for the character. In the manga, as brief as it was, at least humanized Jiren to the point where we as an audience can relate to him. To be fair, he is just a terrible character devoid of personality at this point in either medium.

I couldn't relate to either version, so you definitely aren't speaking to me. I don't even like people in real life that live based on getting validation. To see that from Jiren makes me care less about him than I already did. To top that off, he didn't do ANYTHING memorable in the manga. He punched Hit off the ring... ...he got finessed by Roshi, then karate chops him off of the ring... ...He tanks Goku's attacks and punches him a few times... Now, at the height of his showing all he did was power up a few times, throw out a generic big beam, and catches Goku's foot and throws him... Does any of that give him uniqueness as a fighter? I mean, it's not like this is a fighting series or something like that.

[reecehoward]

Manga Jiren by far. Toyotaro actually capitalized on his concept by making him a much more heroic character than Goku and adding pathos to his past. I appreciate the dramatic ironies inherent in his character, both in his very mission (which humanizes him) and in his goals. He's not a good character by any means, but there's something there. Anime Jiren by contrast barely even counts as a character to begin with. He's just a generic anime villain; what little characterization he has seems to shift depending on which cliche the episode's writer wants to do that day.

Not getting the complaints about Manga Jiren not being as physically intimidating as Anime Jiren, either. Not-SSBE Vegeta just had to flex to knock out Toppo (who could match CSSB Goku and Vegeta), yet multiple clean shots to the face from him did nothing to Jiren, who proceeded to brutally him beat down. Ditto Goku's not-SSBKK. Manga Jiren also beat MUI Goku cleanly, even shrugging off a Warp Kamehameha, while Anime Jiren jobbed towards the end and pathetically admitted defeat for no reason. Anime Jiren also sandbags too much. He overall comes across as more dignified and competent in the manga. The only part where the manga erred, IMO, was by just having Toppo casually mention that Jiren is stronger than Vermoud while talking to Goku. I like how the anime saved that for later and treated it as a huge deal (with Belmond's bittersweet smile and Beerus's terror), because it is; it represents an enormous upset of the cosmic order and casts Jiren's relationship with Vermoud into a different light.

The complaints stem from the fact that in the manga, that's literally all he did was tank shit. This chapter is the first time he's really done anything and it was generic as fuck.lol The only reason the fight looks cool is due wholly to Goku's choreography and fighting prowess.

I called it back in the manga thread a few months ago that if Roshi was able to slip through Jiren like that, Goku was gonna finesse the shit out of him, which he did. The tension was sucked out of this fight the minute Roshi started doing his thing, this was confirmed when Goku did it. Both instances make Jiren look like he isn't really a good fighter and is just raw power, no unique technique to boot. The only saving grace Toyo threw in was the fact that Jiren was able to somewhat adapt towards the end, but even that didn't last as he instantly lost enough power to be on par with Goku and Vegeta's non powered up base forms... So yeah, that's plenty to complain about. Toyo doesn't make credible antagonists. No character depth can save a lack of credible threat in an arc.

[HeroR]

Anime by far. I don't really care for either that much, but AT LEAST the anime one warranted UI being necessary from his abilities alone (being able to dish out attacks that could not be seen and his glare thing), not even getting to his raw power and speed. That prevents him from being the complete bore he is in the manga, where there's nothing to seperate his fighting style from any generic Dragonball character.

Piccolo Jr. is one of the best DB villains, but he doesn't have any gimmicks to differentiate himself from this supposed, "Generic Dragon Ball Character."

Piccolo Jr DID have gimmicks!lol Since when is turning giant not a gimmick? He did so twice and Goku got around that. That and he could fly in an era where that wasn't commonplace.

What can manga Jiren do that gives him his own uniqueness in battle, especially compared to everyone they've fought in Super?

Piccolo also regrew an arm, something not seen in Dragon Ball at that point.

[Bergamo]

Manga Jiren has a much better backstory, and that makes the character for me.

Manga Jiren's backstory focuses on Jiren's master, who actually feels like a real part of the world. Jiren's master had actual goals, like making Jiren both a stronger fighter and a better person. Jiren also mentions his master's teaching throughout the tournament. Finally, Jiren's master has a lot of symbolic meaning as a mirror to Master Roshi. They were both killed by a monster leaving their students torn and angry, but Goku had the dragon balls, so he didn't end up like Jiren. Gicchin actually being given a name helps too.

In the anime, Jiren has a really generic master and a really generic evil doer. The fact that we know nothing about the evil doer would be fine if he didn't kill Jiren's parents and then wait for him to emotionally recover, only for him to return to kill everyone he loves again. It's super melodramatic, and it honestly doesn't surprise me that people thought that the evil doer was going to be Belmod or Jiren's evil brother.

[Nokra]

Manga Jiren has a much better backstory, and that makes the character for me.

Manga Jiren's backstory focuses on Jiren's master, who actually feels like a real part of the world. Jiren's master had actual goals, like making Jiren both a stronger fighter and a better person. Jiren also mentions his master's teaching throughout the tournament. Finally, Jiren's master has a lot of symbolic meaning as a mirror to Master Roshi. They were both killed by a monster leaving their students torn and angry, but Goku had the dragon balls, so he didn't end up like Jiren. Gicchin actually being given a name helps too.

In the anime, Jiren has a really generic master and a really generic evil doer. The fact that we know nothing about the evil doer would be fine if he didn't kill Jiren's parents and then wait for him to emotionally recover, only for him to return to kill everyone he loves again. It's super melodramatic, and it honestly doesn't surprise me that people thought that the evil doer was going to be Belmod or Jiren's evil brother.

Because a "demon" or "monster" is so much less generic than an "evil-doer"

[Bergamo]

Manga Jiren has a much better backstory, and that makes the character for me.

Manga Jiren's backstory focuses on Jiren's master, who actually feels like a real part of the world. Jiren's master had actual goals, like making Jiren both a stronger fighter and a better person. Jiren also mentions his master's teaching throughout the tournament. Finally, Jiren's master has a lot of symbolic meaning as a mirror to Master Roshi. They were both killed by a monster leaving their students torn and angry, but Goku had the dragon balls, so he didn't end up like Jiren. Gicchin actually being given a name helps too.

In the anime, Jiren has a really generic master and a really generic evil doer. The fact that we know nothing about the evil doer would be fine if he didn't kill Jiren's parents and then wait for him to emotionally recover, only for him to return to kill everyone he loves again. It's super melodramatic, and it honestly doesn't surprise me that people thought that the evil doer was going to be Belmod or Jiren's evil brother.

Because a "demon" or "monster" is so much less generic than an "evil-doer"

They are both generic, but when the anime puts so much emphasis on this evil doer who seems to be trying to mess with Jiren's life for no reason, then it's strange. Also, we get to see kid Jiren and Jiren's master in the anime, but the evil doer is just a shadowy figure.

[Koitsukai]

Anime Jiren, without a doubt. Manga Jiren has been unfulfilling to me in every way, he was never that much intimidating(except for his introduction) and his greatest fight was ughhhh, and now he happens to be weakened after nothing really, he even won his fight against MUI Goku, and then they revealed the lamest wish ever, if it is not something original then I prefer it to be kept a secret. Besides, the manga gave much more importance to Jiren's wish than the anime, and it ended up being so stupid after that much build up.
At least the anime never really took that too serious and left us all wondering "hey, maybe he wanted to go back in time and destroy the evil-doer with his current power before he wrecked his whole life, or revive everybody or for more power or to bring that evil-doer here and kick his ass"

[PerhapsTheOtherOne]

When it comes to backstory, I find that Anime Jiren's does a lot more to inform his character and overall fits better with what the moral is of his story.

In the anime, Jiren is the driving force of his origin, the one who becomes the centre of events that would mold the man he would eventually become. Because of his own "hero's journey", his perspective on life has been altered drastically for the worse; everything formed around Jiren.

In the manga, it's all about his master, this man who Jiren's story is a part of and which informs us of his actions; his master drives his story forward, rather than Jiren himself.

While I don't expect the people who prefer Manga Jiren to agree, it's an interesting notion, isn't it? Pure levels of content doesn't always mean a more impactful story/character. Sometimes, it's about how the content is made use of. For me, at least, I feel that the anime has done a better job of making Jiren a major story focus and contrasting his role with that of Goku, as well as making Jiren's whole character more impactful on our cast as a whole.

[reecehoward]

When it comes to backstory, I find that Anime Jiren's does a lot more to inform his character and overall fits better with what the moral is of his story.

In the anime, Jiren is the driving force of his origin, the one who becomes the centre of events that would mold the man he would eventually become. Because of his own "hero's journey", his perspective on life has been altered drastically for the worse; everything formed around Jiren.

In the manga, it's all about his master, this man who Jiren's story is a part of and which informs us of his actions; his master drives his story forward, rather than Jiren himself.

While I don't expect the people who prefer Manga Jiren to agree, it's an interesting notion, isn't it? Pure levels of content doesn't always mean a more impactful story/character. Sometimes, it's about how the content is made use of. For me, at least, I feel that the anime has done a better job of making Jiren a major story focus and contrasting his role with that of Goku, as well as making Jiren's whole character more impactful on our cast as a whole.

Exactly. Both backstories leave something to be desired, but at the very least you can see how Jiren became stoic in the first place with his anime backstory. All the manga did, for me, is raise the question of why he is stoic to the degree he is in the first place. He's an asshole for no reason, but I'm supposed to find it humanizing that he wants his master's approval while he just naturally doesn't give a shit about anyone else. I really don't get this.

[Lord Beerus]

I honestly feel that Jiren in both mediums is characterized at two opposite ends of the spectrum.

The anime goes for the more traditional route and makes him a direct contrast to Goku's early hardships and journey by personifying him as a character who lost everything and didn't have the camaraderie to support him up in his greatest personal challenge(s). The anime goes into much better detail as to why Jiren is so antisocial and is a staunch believer in "Might Makes Right". But at the same time, what he specifically wants to wish for isn't spelled out to the audience, and but is instead given the "read between the lines" treatment. But given the central theme being the whole Tournament Of Power and context of Jiren's character arc, Jiren's wish being vague and not delving into the specifics of it beyond it being selfish actually worked surprisingly well in the end.

Toyotaro gives Jiren more pathos by having him be a man who simply desires approval for his accomplishments in strength. His motivations are more "human". But at the same time, this vulnerability dampens your outlook on Jiren as a general person as it makes it seem as though he is is more of a person driven by what others did or said, rather than his character being molded from his own personal experiences. At the same time, providing the closure of what specifically Jiren wants to wish for with the Super Dragon Balls provides the much needed context of what Jiren is at his core -- a very insecure person. Which, again, works well in making this extremely powerful person still very grounded underneath all that strength.

The anime takes the more simple route of making Jiren a direct foil to Goku, giving him a more antagonist direction to provide more catharsis in Goku overpowering him and disproving his rigid ideal. Which in the end pays off extremely well, albeit being quite rushed towards the climax of the arc. There was also a greater emphasizing how much of threat he was in battle, which in itself aided in making Goku and Freeza's eventual victory over him all the more satisfying.

The manga provide a more subtle approach with Jiren's characterisation, by not delving into why Jiren is the person that he is, but spend more time on what kind of person he can/could have become.

Both approaches to Jiren's characterisation and backstory work well for what the anime and manga were going. In the anime, he's a man deeply broken by his past and uses strength to paper over the cracks. In the manga, Jiren is far more morally upstanding but has never come to terms with understanding the concept of working in a team.

If I were to pick one over the other, I'd go with the anime as Jiren ultimately has more a consistent character, has a more satisfactory payoff, displays a great unique arsenal of abilities in combat and has a greater presence in the story.

[JazzMazz]

I liked how manga Jiren actually bothered to set up and draw the character before his introduction in the tournament.

However, past that point, I think anime Jiren eventually developed more presence as an antagonist, and I enjoyed the character arc that he developed into in the last couple of episodes of the show more than his manga counter-parts(in no small part due to its fantastic execution in those last two episodes).

Not really that fond of Jiren's "character flaw" or ambition in the manga, but I can see why people might enjoy it, I just feel its kind of underwhelming comparatively to Jiren's more spiteful anime counter-part(which I felt at least did a better job of justifying why he was so cold and stoic in comparison to his manga counter-part).

Though the manga hasn't finished yet, I will at least say I did come out of Super liking his character in the anime more than the manga's thus far, though that may change next chapter.

[Bergamo]

When it comes to backstory, I find that Anime Jiren's does a lot more to inform his character and overall fits better with what the moral is of his story.

In the anime, Jiren is the driving force of his origin, the one who becomes the centre of events that would mold the man he would eventually become. Because of his own "hero's journey", his perspective on life has been altered drastically for the worse; everything formed around Jiren.

In the manga, it's all about his master, this man who Jiren's story is a part of and which informs us of his actions; his master drives his story forward, rather than Jiren himself.

While I don't expect the people who prefer Manga Jiren to agree, it's an interesting notion, isn't it? Pure levels of content doesn't always mean a more impactful story/character. Sometimes, it's about how the content is made use of. For me, at least, I feel that the anime has done a better job of making Jiren a major story focus and contrasting his role with that of Goku, as well as making Jiren's whole character more impactful on our cast as a whole.

Exactly. Both backstories leave something to be desired, but at the very least you can see how Jiren became stoic in the first place with his anime backstory. All the manga did, for me, is raise the question of why he is stoic to the degree he is in the first place. He's an asshole for no reason, but I'm supposed to find it humanizing that he wants his master's approval while he just naturally doesn't give a shit about anyone else. I really don't get this.

Stoic like Vegeta, Piccolo, or Tien?

[GreatSaiyaJeff]

Personality wise, I prefer the manga version. He has motivation on what makes him fight.

Fighting wise, I prefer the anime. The ideals were more pronounced despite Jiren not developing a personality towards the end.