Things different in the manga

[Krillin1994]

I've been reading through the manga of the Saiyan arc and noticed a couple of things that didn't quite make it into the anime,

first was master roshi mentioning that they didn't know where Tien and Yamcha were, but him and Krillin would help fight Raditz. they seem to cut this down in the anime to having Piccolo appear without that really being said.


Second is a bizarre one, Roshi in the manga assumes that Piccolo is the fourth person to survive (not yajirobe) so the dragonballs are there, with Karin knowing otherwise. This then has Bulma realise she can't bring yamcha back.

Whereas the anime have Roshi having already been aware of Piccolos death and informed bulma about the dragonballs.

the second one I find particularly odd, perhaps the anime wanted Roshi to seem wiser?



Anyway are there any other differences people have noted from manga to anime?

[8000 Saiyan]

If I recall correctly, the fight between Yamcha and Tenshinhan is much shorter in the manga.

[KBABZ]

If I recall correctly, the fight between Yamcha and Tenshinhan is much shorter in the manga.

Having done a Kai-fication of Dragon Ball, you have no idea! Nearly every fight in the series is extended in some way, particularly if they're at the Budokai. It's incredibly common to insert a moment of "characters stand there, staring, maybe talking or taunting, before engaging in a generic brawl with no special moves just to take up time". Fights that go for two episodes despite being only two Chapters long in the manga are particularly prone to this, and many of them I was able to edit down to a single episode, like Chiaotzu vs. Krillin.

I mean, even the first fight ever in the series with the Bear Thief is padded by having the first portion be Goku simply stepping aside from his sword slashes like he's Frieza, long before he does the "stand on the sword's blade" thing that began the fight in the manga.

[Gaffer Tape]

Whereas the anime have Roshi having already been aware of Piccolos death and informed bulma about the dragonballs.

the second one I find particularly odd, perhaps the anime wanted Roshi to seem wiser?

The reason they know about Piccolo having died in the anime is because they watch most of the fight from Kame House.

A really big head-scratching moment is that, in the manga, Zarbon tells Vegeta that Freeza can transform, setting up that plot point for later. In the anime, however, the line is removed. However, Vegeta still later tells Freeza that Zarbon told him about it.

The entire Great Saiyaman section is completely different in the anime, and the one crime that Great Saiyaman stops in the manga isn't even used.

[Duo]

I still haven't watched the majority of the Dragon Ball anime. Just read the manga over and over until I knew it as deeply as everything after. Oh 2004, how I miss you so.

[Krillin1994]

Whereas the anime have Roshi having already been aware of Piccolos death and informed bulma about the dragonballs.

the second one I find particularly odd, perhaps the anime wanted Roshi to seem wiser?

The reason they know about Piccolo having died in the anime is because they watch most of the fight from Kame House.

A really big head-scratching moment is that, in the manga, Zarbon tells Vegeta that Freeza can transform, setting up that plot point for later. In the anime, however, the line is removed. However, Vegeta still later tells Freeza that Zarbon told him about it.

The entire Great Saiyaman section is completely different in the anime, and the one crime that Great Saiyaman stops in the manga isn't even used.

I thought the TV crew in the anime get killed before Piccolo dies?

[TheBigBoy]

Vegeta neatly karate chops Guldo's head off in the manga, but in the anime, he slices it off with a laser. Seems like an odd change.

[Gaffer Tape]

I thought the TV crew in the anime get killed before Piccolo dies?

Yes, but then they watch most of the rest of the fight on Uranai Baba's crystal ball.

[GreatSaiyaJeff]

When Future Trunks has his final showdown with the androids, 17 kills an old man before that. In the anime, Trunks saves him in the nick of time.

[Lord Beerus]

Off the top of my head:

- Freeza killed Cargo (Dende's sibling) in the manga while the anime changed it to have Dodoria kill him
- The Namekians have four fingers in the manga
- Majin Boo (Kid Boo and Super Boo) has one finger and a thumb in the manga as supposed to having a full set of fingers like a normal human being in the anime.
- Future Trunks is already a Super Saiyan by the time he was training with Future Gohan as a young teen in the special manga chapter "Trunks The Story - The Lone Warrior", as supposed to having attained the form through sadness and rage as he did when found Future Gohan's corpse in the TV special "The History of Trunks"

[8000 Saiyan]

Unlike in the anime where Frieza shoots his Death Beam at Goku, Frieza shoots his Death Beam at Piccolo directly in the manga.

[andrewtuell1991]

Trying not to list any already listed:

-Goku's quest for the Super God Water is non-existent in the manga as it's already at Karin's place.
-16's head is show graphically crushed in the manga whereas the anime cut away real quick then showed his chip dying out.
-When the Cell Jrs and the Saibaiman Vegeta killed died, they poofed into smoke in the anime whereas the manga had brains, guts, and eyeballs pouring out and their bodies continued to litter the battlefield until Toriyama forgot about them.
-When countering Roshi's Sui-ken (Drunken Fist) in the 21st Tenkaichi, Goku counters with Kyo-ken (Mad Dog Fist). In the anime, he acts like a monkey.
-While Goku is flying over the Muscle Tower Territory: The airplane he's flying on doesn't have a ceiling in the manga, while it does in the anime.
-During Goku's fight with Metallicon: In the manga Metallicon loses one arm while in the anime he loses both.
-Yamcha's fight with Mummy-kun in the anime is also altered so that Yamcha doesn't give up until he's nearly killed, whereas he quits a bit earlier in the manga. Yamucha doesn't surrender AT ALL in the anime. In the manga, Mummy-kun holds him over the tongues and threatens to drop him into the acid if he doesn't surrender, at which point he surrenders. In the anime, Mummy-kun DOES throw Yamucha into the acid, but Goku uses his Nyoi-bo to stop Yamucha from falling in, at which point Uranai Baba disqualifies him for receiving outside help.
-There's all sorts of changes with colors, be it the original rare-treat colored pages or the new fully colorized manga (and there are differences between the two). One that always stuck out to me was the second Piccolo wearing his father's clothing minus the "ma" symbol, dark navy blue gi with a purple sash. This was seen in Chapters 178 and 205 so at least wore it til a bit after his fight with Raditz. I personally would've had him wear it from the 23rd T.B. to the fight with Nappa and Vegeta when he would've switch to his more popular purple gi with red sash (blue in the anime) as a subtle way of showing off his character development.

[DragonBallKing]

Don't all Namekians besides old piccolo daimao have pink arms in the anime instead of yellow like in the manga?

[BlueBasilisk]

In the anime, Goku uses up the last of his time showing Goten and Trunks how to go Super Saiyan 3 at the Lookout. In the manga this never happens. His time expires while he's teaching them the fusion dance and Goten and Trunks figure out Super Saiyan 3 after watching Goku do it to fight Fat Buu.

Goku also never fights Gohan while training him to become a Super Saiyan in the manga. He has Gohan try to imagine Frieza killing everyone, the story cuts to Vegeta/Trunks vs. Cell for a few chapters, and when it comes back to Goku and Gohan, Gohan has just turned Super Saiyan.

Don't all Namekians besides old piccolo daimao have pink arms in the anime instead of yellow like in the manga?

Younger Namekians have pink arms. Older Namekians like Kami, Moori and King Piccolo have yellow arms.

[8000 Saiyan]

In the anime, it takes Goku a while to transform into a Super Saiyan after Krillin is killed. In the manga, however, he transforms immediately after that happens.

[KBABZ]

Here's a minor one I noticed when editing out filler: in Goku's fight with Tien in the 23rd Tournament, there's a short filler bout where Tien kicks Goku through one of the walls that doesn't happen in the manga. Despite this, the hole in the wall is kept as part of the anime's continuity in later episodes, right up until Piccolo annihilates Papaya island!

[Soppa Saia People]

Off the top of my head
-There's another version of Piccolo Super Boo in the manga
-The Dr. Slump stuff is way different in the anime.

[KBABZ]

-The Dr. Slump stuff is way different in the anime.

Yes! Goku and Arale's search through the village is completely cut, so there's no scene with the policemen, Blue encountering Arale or Blue being a pedo. Instead Arale suggests that Senbei can fix the Radar right there on the mountainside and they go see him, where in the anime that happens after the search of Penguin Village and is instead in the town itself. Oh and they don't have to search for Blue in Senbei's house either.

[Cipher]

No mention of the fucking massive and pace-ruining filler during Goku's rematch with Tao Pai Pai? (And during the assault on the Red Ribbon base, for that matter?)

The Red Ribbon arc suffers from some really languid filler in general. It's a very punchy arc in the manga. (The Pilaf stuff at the beginning in the anime is fun though.)

[KBABZ]

No mention of the fucking massive and pace-ruining filler during Goku's rematch with Tao Pai Pai? (And during the assault on the Red Ribbon base, for that matter?)

The Red Ribbon arc suffers from some really languid filler in general. It's a very punchy arc in the manga. (The Pilaf stuff at the beginning in the anime is fun though.)

Shiva statue! Dr. Flappe! Dreamland amusement park! Dark Nimbus Cloud! The entire Baba arc! (oh, wait, that was in the manga)