Where would you rank DB among "Shounen" Anime

[RecolorSaiyan]

I know Shounen is a demographic not a genre but its a simple title. If you watch other shounens, how would you rank DB (as a whole not just OG DB) among them?

Personally DB is #5 for me behind HxH, YYH, FMAB and Bleach

[Doctor.]

Among the best, because it's not derivative garbage without a semblance of creativity, charm or personality.

[OhHiRenan]

At the very top. Toriyama never stopped pushing the series forward for 42 volumes, constantly changing up the status quo and reinventing the wheel. It’s thematically cohesive from start to finish with great character arcs, fantastic paneling, the best choreography in the game, and far stronger writing than it gets credit for.

I do really like HxH and FMA though.

[Big Boss]

In general I find modern shounen to be trash. Dragon Ball is easily my most loved series (despite it being shounen), even if it's not technically the 'best' in terms of plot. There's a reason Toriyama and DB are worshiped by manga artists, and it's because his style has such broad appeal and charm compared to its peers.

[Vijay]

I know Shounen is a demographic not a genre but its a simple title. If you watch other shounens, how would you rank DB (as a whole not just OG DB) among them?

Personally DB is #5 for me behind HxH, YYH, FMAB and Bleach

Coincidentally, DBZ for me is #1 ahead of YYH, HXH2011, FMAB, Inuyasha

I think DB or Z or simply DragonBall franchise is a gem in the anime ocean. A king of its kind. Pioneer of how great anime shows can be made without being stereotypical, cliched (cough...naruto...cough), over-the-top plot/filler arcs (bleach bount arc comes to mind) & populated by uninteresting, bland character designs (bleach, one piece comes to mind)

Not saying DB or Z is 100% devoid of all those aspects. But for a show now aging close to frickin 30 years & still has dormant staying power & global fanbase stands as testimony to its monstrous appeal as standard bearer of Shounen. Hell, even Face of Anime imo

[sintzu]

The original story (DB&Z) is my favorite among the Shonen I've seen as everything from the writing to the action is nearly perfect. I do recognize that other Shonen do some things better like One Piece having a better, more fleshed out world and Naruto having better developed and utilized characters. I will say that DB's action from start to finish by far exceeds everything I've seen as nothing gives me the excitement that the original DB & Z do. I also really like Toriyama's original writing style as he manages to keep things simple yet focused and engaging. When comparing DB to other Shonen I try to keep things to the original work and its adaptions which clearly don't include GT & Super as both are very inferior to the original IMO.

[Hellspawn28]

It's good, but not the best Shonen or manga in general. I consider Devilman to be the best Shonen manga next to Tomorrow Joe in my opinion.

[GreatSaiyaJeff]

I have been watching DB far a little over 20 years. It has always been my top anime of all time. While I understand it's not everyone's cup of joe, a lot of people I have talked too (the one's that don't care much for DB) don't deny it's major influence in shonen anime and manga.

[Saikyo no Senshi]

Probably somewhere around #15-20. I have only seen 20 or so battle shounen though. And, most of them kick Dragon Ball's ass with ease.

It is alright for what it was in the 80s-90s. But, many of its competitors back then(YYH, Saint Seiya, Slam Dunk etc) executed the shounen formula better than it ever did. Especially YYH, which I like to call "Dragon Ball done right". Then, there's stuff that came out after it had ended like Naruto, Bleach, Gintama, HxH, FMA etc that do a lot of things Dragon Ball never had any ambitions of doing. Its personal taste basically. I just find the aforementioned series' more appealing(just to be clear, they have their fair share of shortcomings) compared to the basic stuff Dragon Ball does. Finally, stuff that's ongoing now like HeroAca, Yaiba, The Promised Neverland, Shingeki, Haikyuu etc are all tackling different things in their own different ways and I'm having way more fun with them. I'm getting tired of HeroAca though.
Top

[Lord Beerus]

It wouldn't be in my top 10, but it would it into my top 20. I love Dragon Ball but there are SO MANY shonen anime out there that murder Dragon Ball in every department, and you don't have to look far to find them.

[Doctor.]

It wouldn't be in my top 10, but it would it into my top 20. I love Dragon Ball but there are SO MANY shonen anime out there that murder Dragon Ball in every department, and you don't have to look far to find them.

What about manga?

[kudo6000]

Easily the best Shounen manga in my eyes. Second would be One Piece. nu!Shounen doesn't cut it for me.

[ekrolo2]

Among Shonen series, I'd probably rank it as one of the best, but on a technical level, I think Full Metal Alchemist and Assassination Classroom are better, though, they're so different from DB that I kinda feel stupid comparing them.

[ClutchBangstrip]

Not afraid of my irrational passion. DB is the GOAT of Japanese fiction n I'm dead serious...Fight Me!

[Hellspawn28]

I like Dragon Ball for what it is. What I like about the series is that Toriyama has a fun take on the kung fu fantasy genre with his wacky sense of humor and creative world building. Toriyama does not take his stories seriously, so you don't have to deal with stupid melodrama bullshit. I find modern shonen from the late 90s and onwards to be bad or just meh. I also don't see the big appeal of Hunter x Hunter and FMA when they just come off as average at best in my opinion. There's other Shonen series that deals with darker and mature themes much better than those two in my opinion like Devilman, Tomorrow Joe (Ashita no Joe), Fist of the North Star, Area 88, Black Jack, Android Kikaider, Galaxy Express 999, The Drifting Classroom and many more others. I did like FMA was younger, but as time went on that I found myself enjoying it less seeing that I discover bigger and better titles.

[Lord Beerus]

It wouldn't be in my top 10, but it would it into my top 20. I love Dragon Ball but there are SO MANY shonen anime out there that murder Dragon Ball in every department, and you don't have to look far to find them.

What about manga?

Same scenario. Not in my top 10, but in my top 20.

Just for the sake of clarity, here is my top 20 Shonen anime and manga:

Anime:

Spoiler:

1. A Silent Voice
2. Fullmetal Alchemist (+Brotherhood)
3. Hajime no Ippo
4. Great Teacher Onizuka
5. Beck
6. Hunter x Hunter
7. Tomorrow's Joe
8. Rurouni Kenshin
9. Samurai Champloo
10. YuuYuu Hakusho
11. Attack on Titan
12. Death Note
13. My Hero Academia
14. Slam Dunk
15. Fist Of The North Star
16. Your Lie in April
17. One Piece
18. Dragon Ball
19. Assassination Classroom
20. Gintama

Manga:

Spoiler:

1. A Silent Voice
2. Fullmetal Alchemist
3. JoJo's Bizarre Adventures
4. Hajime No Ippo
5. Beck
6. Great Teacher Onizuka
7. Barefoot Gen
8. The Promised Neverland
9. Tomorrow's Joe
10. Black Jack
11. Hunter x Hunter
12. Death Note
13. One Piece
14. My Hero Academia
15. Dragon Ball
16. Rurouni Kenshin
17. Slam Dunk
18. Fist of the North Star
19. Attack On Titan
20. Gintama

[Hellspawn28]

I always thought Beck was Seinen for the longest time. If I did my top 10 Shonen titles, it would be (I'm not adding Guyver, Bastard!! and Jojo after Part 6 because they became Seinen titles later on)

Manga:

1. Devilman
2. Tomorrow Joe
3. Silent Mobius
4. The Drifting Classroom
5. Jojo Part 1-6 (I did like Stone Ocean while other people are mixed on it)
6. Fist of the North Star
7. Dororo
8. Black Jack
9. Violence Jack (The first half of it before it was move to Seinen)
10. City Hunter

Anime:

1. Devilman Crybaby (Based on a Shonen manga)
2. Tomorrow Joe
3. Shin Mazinger Z (Same with Devilman Crybaby)
4. Gunbuster
5. Neon Genesis Evangelion
6. FIst of the North Star
7. Macross
8. City Hunter
9. Space Adventure Cobra
10. Area 88 OVA

[Lord Beerus]

Can Neon Genesis Evangelion qualify as a Shonen anime? I've always thought that anime screams Seinen.

[Doctor.]

It wouldn't be in my top 10, but it would it into my top 20. I love Dragon Ball but there are SO MANY shonen anime out there that murder Dragon Ball in every department, and you don't have to look far to find them.

What about manga?

Same scenario. Not in my top 10, but in my top 20.

Just for the sake of clarity, here is my top 20 Shonen anime and manga:

Anime:

Spoiler:

1. A Silent Voice
2. Fullmetal Alchemist (+Brotherhood)
3. Hajime no Ippo
4. Great Teacher Onizuka
5. Beck
6. Hunter x Hunter
7. Tomorrow's Joe
8. Rurouni Kenshin
9. Samurai Champloo
10. YuuYuu Hakusho
11. Attack on Titan
12. Death Note
13. My Hero Academia
14. Slam Dunk
15. Fist Of The North Star
16. Your Lie in April
17. One Piece
18. Dragon Ball
19. Assassination Classroom
20. Gintama

Manga:

Spoiler:

1. A Silent Voice
2. Fullmetal Alchemist
3. JoJo's Bizarre Adventures
4. Hajime No Ippo
5. Beck
6. Great Teacher Onizuka
7. Barefoot Gen
8. The Promised Neverland
9. Tomorrow's Joe
10. Black Jack
11. Hunter x Hunter
12. Death Note
13. One Piece
14. My Hero Academia
15. Dragon Ball
16. Rurouni Kenshin
17. Slam Dunk
18. Fist of the North Star
19. Attack On Titan
20. Gintama

Good lists, actually, outside of a few I'm not really a fan of (AoT and the Promised Neverland). Still, a lot of these aren't battle manga/anime, so I'm not sure how you can so confidently say they're better than DB when there's not much to compare.

As for those that are battle manga, well, I disagree, but most that you listed are good in their own right.

[Lord Beerus]

What about manga?

Same scenario. Not in my top 10, but in my top 20.

Just for the sake of clarity, here is my top 20 Shonen anime and manga:

Anime:

Spoiler:

1. A Silent Voice
2. Fullmetal Alchemist (+Brotherhood)
3. Hajime no Ippo
4. Great Teacher Onizuka
5. Beck
6. Hunter x Hunter
7. Tomorrow's Joe
8. Rurouni Kenshin
9. Samurai Champloo
10. YuuYuu Hakusho
11. Attack on Titan
12. Death Note
13. My Hero Academia
14. Slam Dunk
15. Fist Of The North Star
16. Your Lie in April
17. One Piece
18. Dragon Ball
19. Assassination Classroom
20. Gintama

Manga:

Spoiler:

1. A Silent Voice
2. Fullmetal Alchemist
3. JoJo's Bizarre Adventures
4. Hajime No Ippo
5. Beck
6. Great Teacher Onizuka
7. Barefoot Gen
8. The Promised Neverland
9. Tomorrow's Joe
10. Black Jack
11. Hunter x Hunter
12. Death Note
13. One Piece
14. My Hero Academia
15. Dragon Ball
16. Rurouni Kenshin
17. Slam Dunk
18. Fist of the North Star
19. Attack On Titan
20. Gintama

Good lists, actually, outside of a few I'm not really a fan of (AoT and the Promised Neverland). Still, a lot of these aren't battle manga/anime, so I'm not sure how you can so confidently say they're better than DB when there's not much to compare.

As for those that are battle manga, well, I disagree, but most that you listed are good in their own right.

The OP asked about Shonen manga in general, and didn't specify as to whether it was battle Shonen manga in particular he/she was comparing Dragon Ball to other that fit the criteria.

But if we're talking about shonen battle manga specifically, then, yeah, Dragon Ball would be very near to the top.