Do you truly think DBZ is the best anime ever?

[MajinMan]

I haven't seen many anime other than mainstream shonen, but from the ones I've seen, Dragon Ball is my favorite. DB/Z. The Naruto series would probably be second place. I used to watch Yu Yu Hakusho a lot back in the day, but I haven't seen it in a long time. I tried to watch HxH, but the first 3 or so episodes just bored me, so I stopped. I might return to it later. One Piece is a strange one because I've only read the manga (no way in hell am I watching that anime right now), and I ended up stopping at the Fisherman Island arc because it bored me to death.

I guess DB is the most ideal fit for me. I'd call it the best from a personal perspective. I could care less about it being the "best" to be honest.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Critically though Death Note is the best anime ever.

Isn't that Evangelion though? Like, in terms of critical reception.

[buutenks]

i have watched many series. But I only have interest in DBZ. The moment i watched it i got hooked it, and will always be hooked. And am glad Z is being continued with super.

Now if its the best anime, i doubt there is such a thing. people will have different opinions.

[Gonstead]

The best ever? No.

The best ever to me? Still no.

Do I still love it? Yes. It may not be in my top 10 but it holds a special place.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

I'm sure I'll get some raised eyebrows for this, Spice and Wolf as the most consistently excellent, in all respects, anime. That I've seen, of course.

I've only seen the first dozen episodes, but wow, talk about something living up to the hype. Barring the economic machinations going at a spitfire pace.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I don't watch much anime, so I'm by no means qualified to make that judgement.

If we're talking about which series I enjoy the most Dragon Ball wins hands down.

[SaiyanZ]

No. I think the manga is in the conversation for best manga, but definitely not the anime, its too slow paced. Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo are better anime to me, I believe Bebop is the best. Dragon Ball is one of the greatest manga ever to me, but not the best, that title goes to Vinland Saga or JoJo's Part 7 imo.

[VegettoEX]

Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo are better anime to me, I believe Bebop is the best.

While I certainly think Cowboy Bebop is a better show than Dragon Ball Z, is that really a fair or even relevant assessment to make? Remember, anime is a medium, not a genre. That's like saying War and Peace is a better dead-trees than Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead House, or like saying "Let It Be" is a better singy-tune than "Old Macdonald Had a Farm". Are they even in the running together? I think a lot of this gets confused by the (great!) variety of material both the Toonami and Adult Swim blocks threw together. Sure, most of it is all on a sliding scale of "Japanese cartoons for young boys", but still.

Bebop and Champloo might at least be in the same ballpark due to the action, but if you're saying "best anime"... that's an enormous base of material pulling from all sorts of genres with all sorts of different intentions. I don't see much purpose in comparing them.

Then again, WTF do I know? People have favorite songs and favorite books pulling from all sorts of different genres, and that seems to fly. I do the same thing. I dunno. Mostly rambling, I guess?

Anyway, Dragon Ball isn't the best anime I've seen. It's not even the best shonen I've seen. But it's still my favorite.

[TheMikado]

I think we may be conflating "Best" with other adjectives.

It definitely has mass appeal and many other aspects going for it, from a technical standpoint it's far from the best. What Dragonball is a gateway, an introduction to the entire world of a particular medium which was culturally unique to a small island country.

It's hard to quantify what this franchise is, but it's unique because it requires no understanding of the culture of its native country and is able to be uniquely shared across language and cultural barriers. This is why it is able to achieve its global popularity.

[SaiyanZ]

Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo are better anime to me, I believe Bebop is the best.

While I certainly think Cowboy Bebop is a better show than Dragon Ball Z, is that really a fair or even relevant assessment to make? Remember, anime is a medium, not a genre. That's like saying War and Peace is a better dead-trees than Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead House, or like saying "Let It Be" is a better singy-tune than "Old Macdonald Had a Farm". Are they even in the running together? I think a lot of this gets confused by the (great!) variety of material both the Toonami and Adult Swim blocks threw together. Sure, most of it is all on a sliding scale of "Japanese cartoons for young boys", but still.

Bebop and Champloo might at least be in the same ballpark due to the action, but if you're saying "best anime"... that's an enormous base of material pulling from all sorts of genres with all sorts of different intentions. I don't see much purpose in comparing them.

Then again, WTF do I know? People have favorite songs and favorite books pulling from all sorts of different genres, and that seems to fly. I do the same thing. I dunno. Mostly rambling, I guess?

Anyway, Dragon Ball isn't the best anime I've seen. It's not even the best shonen I've seen. But it's still my favorite.

I see what you're saying, but I think Bebop and Dragon Ball are comparable because of how they're both action oriented series, despite one being for kids and the other for more mature people (I'm guessing with Bebop here lol). Of course though, its like you said, anime has different genres so how can one compare a romance anime to something like Dragon Ball? I think for me, it comes down to comparing characters, story and other criteria, regardless of genre. I guess I should've said that its the best anime I've seen lol. Personally, I think Dragon Ball has better characters and story than Bebop (Bebop has good characters and story too imo), but the other elements that make up good television, like animation and directing and music, etc., separate Bebop from DB for me even though I think Bebop's characters and story are inferior (though not by a whole lot). Also, I would say as far as shonen goes, Dragon Ball is one of the best to me in terms of manga, but I can agree that other shonen have had better anime adaptations, like Hunter x Hunter (2011)

[Baggie_Saiyan]

No way near. One of the most impactful? Yeah sure maybe but no way near the best. Kai 1.0 saves it slightly but then if they reanimated it all with the care as the recent "F" special to make it more like the Manga then it's a different story.

[Zephyr]

From what I've seen? I'd probably say Naoki Urasawa's Monster is the best. As with many others here, DB is still far and away my favorite, though.