Dragon Ball Ranking

[Innagadadavida]

Uh... One Piece isn't original, but Dragon Ball is? One Piece gets points over Dragon Ball for not introducing nonsense powerlevels, and having doctors that heal people using western medicine.

What nonsense powerlevels? Are you talking about the plot device where the whole point was that they were nonsense and not to be relied on?

Also, what? Dragon Ball should have had doctors using western medicine to heal aliens?

[Piccolo Daimao]

Wow, I'm really surprised by some of these results. I was expecting most people to rank Dragonball number #1.

Personally I have to remain devoted to the Dragonball series. It's certainly my number 1, although I do really enjoy Wolf's Rain. I think possibly that's number #2. As for other animes they are all pretty equal on my ranking scale. I'm not really into Naruto or Bleach despite watching a few episodes from my brother's DVD collection.

When we say Dragonball we are talking about the entire series right? Including Z and *coughs* GT .

Yeah, expecting Dragon Ball to be number one isn't all too surprising, considering the amount of discussion about it here. But for Dragon Ball to number one, you really have to overlook most of its flaws, inconsistencies and its derivativity in parts of it.

And yeah, I should've specified, when I talk about Dragon Ball, I'm talking about Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z as a whole. Definitely not GT. Normally, when I talk about Dragon Ball (as in, Pilaf Arc to 23rd Budokai Arc), I make a mention of it being "pre-Z".

[Xyex]

Yeah, expecting Dragon Ball to be number one isn't all too surprising, considering the amount of discussion about it here. But for Dragon Ball to number one, you really have to overlook most of its flaws, inconsistencies and its derivativity in parts of it.

The same holds true for any series, really. For instance, I told a friend who has OP as their favorite series that I'm stalled at reading One Piece in the Skypeia arc because the series was dragging too much and I got told "Keep reading, it gets a lot better" which is the same thing I was told when I stalled in the Alabasta arc because the series had been dragging too much then, too.

To like anything you have to overlook it's bad points because no story is perfect.

[Big Momma]

History repeats itself.

And jeez. What is with all these people placing One Piece above Dragon Ball? One Piece is a fun show and everything but it's also the first term in the dictionary under synonyms for "derivative."

I'd have to say because, after 10 years and 500+ chapters, One Piece still has that charm it had in the very beginning.

And while I do love Dragon Ball, and probably do place it higher than OP, I'll admit that you can tell near the end that Toriyama was just ready to end Dragon Ball. (Doesn't he even admit this himself?) Not that it's his fault, I'm just saying.


As for my list? Hmmm...

Dragon Ball
One Piece
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Katekyoushi Hitman Reborn
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Gantz
Naruto
(Bo-Bo-Bo goes in there somewhere, too)


EDIT

Yeah, expecting Dragon Ball to be number one isn't all too surprising, considering the amount of discussion about it here. But for Dragon Ball to number one, you really have to overlook most of its flaws, inconsistencies and its derivativity in parts of it.

The same holds true for any series, really. For instance, I told a friend who has OP as their favorite series that I'm stalled at reading One Piece in the Skypeia arc because the series was dragging too much and I got told "Keep reading, it gets a lot better" which is the same thing I was told when I stalled in the Alabasta arc because the series had been dragging too much then, too.

To like anything you have to overlook it's bad points because no story is perfect.

I skipped the Skypeia arc, too. If there is a big flaw that OP does have, it's that it can seem to drraaaaaaaagggg at points.
There's no doubt that Oda is a good storyteller, though. Reading Brooke's story....it was the first time I'd ever cried at something I was READING. (I came close with Of Mice and Men...maybe I was just in a not-crying mood)

[Eddie]

DB is definitely my favorite manga. Naruto and Bleach are my next favorites after that. It's difficult to rank after these particular series, but some of my other favorites are FMA, Death Note, Gintama, and Black Cat.

DB is also my favorite anime. For those who complain about DB's anime adaptation, I have a suggestion: try to sit through Naruto's end of part 1 filler and Bleach's current BS ignore the actual plot & interrupt the fight of the century filler. DB's adaptation is quite good in comparison.

[Big Momma]

And for anime? With Cowboy Bebop, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Bubblegum Crisis, Vision of Escaflowne, Big O, Giant Robo, Space Battleship Yamato, Spirited Away, FLCL, Patlabor, Macross Plus, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and the like,

I've always wondered; What is the appeal of FLCL? Don't get me wrong, I do like it and it was a ton of fun to watch...but it just seemed kind of scrambled. Like, the entire series was just kind of confusing, and even at the end I didn't really get it. (Or was that the point?)

[penguintruth]

And for anime? With Cowboy Bebop, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Bubblegum Crisis, Vision of Escaflowne, Big O, Giant Robo, Space Battleship Yamato, Spirited Away, FLCL, Patlabor, Macross Plus, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and the like,

I've always wondered; What is the appeal of FLCL? Don't get me wrong, I do like it and it was a ton of fun to watch...but it just seemed kind of scrambled. Like, the entire series was just kind of confusing, and even at the end I didn't really get it. (Or was that the point?)

FLCL wasn't that confusing to me. The imagery was pretty obvious.

A lot of people will tell you that it's about growing up, but I don't think it's that simple. I think it's more about not growing up too soon. The entire show, Naota tries to act like an adult, while all the adults around him act like children. But he's not really mature enough to be an adult. It's an act. He's still very much a child, and by trying to be mature, he's missing out on his childhood. He spends so much time fussing about other people's behavior he doesn't really enjoy himself, he allows himself to be the straight man who confronts people about their immaturity. But he's really, as Haruko points out in the end, a kid. If he wants to grow up, he has to allow it to happen naturally instead of trying too hard.

As for the appeal, it's just plain fun in its approach to things, and seems to do more with six episodes than most anime do with far more.

[Hellspawn28]

As for my list, it's somewhere on the top 20 (I'm doing anime and ova's not movies or manga)

1. Fullmetal Alchemist
2. Neon Genesis Evangelion
3. Cowboy Bebop
4. The Guyver (12 ep. OVA and 26 ep. series)
5. Devilman (39 ep. 70's series, 2 ep. OVA, and 90's Amon OVA)
6. Tenchi Muyo/Ryo-ohki/GXP (Never care for the Tenchi Universe stuff)
7. Hellsing
8. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
9. Saint Seiya
10. Gunbuster/Diebuster
11. Bubblegum Crisis
12. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 13 ep. OVA
13. Violence Jack 3 ep. OVA
14. Battle Angel OVA
15. FLCL or Bastard!! 6 ep. OVA (It's a tie, but the Manga of Bastard!! is much better in my opinon)
16. Iria: Zeiram the Animation
17. Trigun
18. MazinKaiser
19. Zoids: Chaotic Century
20. Dragon Ball/Z/Kai (GT sucks)

I need to see more animes though. I'm just listing down ones I enjoy the most. Also I like the manga version of One Piece better by the way.

[Miracles]

History repeats itself.

And jeez. What is with all these people placing One Piece above Dragon Ball? One Piece is a fun show and everything but it's also the first term in the dictionary under synonyms for "derivative."

Uh... One Piece isn't original, but Dragon Ball is? One Piece gets points over Dragon Ball for not introducing nonsense powerlevels, and having doctors that heal people using western medicine.

edit - whoops, didn't mean to single you out in both threads.

As for the topic, Dragon Ball would probably also rate second for me below One Piece

Hold on, nonsense power levels? Dragonball's power level system was logical and it worked. One Piece characters pulls power ups out of nowhere and is basically a copy and past of Dragonball.

Dragonball is number one for me...Follwed by Guyver, YYH, Yugioh, Rurouni Kenshin, Naruto, Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, Gundam, Trigun, Sain Seiya, one piece ect

[B]

One Piece ... is basically a copy and past of Dragonball.

How much have you read or watched... of EITHER series? Aside from (intentionally)similar MCs and Japan slurping up everything related to them, they are vastly different.

[Savage68]

Hold on, nonsense power levels? Dragonball's power level system was logical and it worked. One Piece characters pulls power ups out of nowhere and is basically a copy and past of Dragonball.

I'm not sure if this could be any more backwards.

Toriyama's the one who's notorious for making the story up as he went along(after a certain point, of course), and it suffered because of that.

Oda's known for the exact opposite.

[Shiyonasan]

I actually don't watch many anime, but Dragon Ball is definitely my favorite. My top five anime go like this:

1. Dragon Ball/Z (GT and Kai go lower on the list)
2. Now and Then, Here and There
3. Monster
4. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
5. Full Metal Alchemist/Brotherhood

I also enjoy a few others like Bleach and Yu Yu Hakusho, but those are the cream of the crop for me.

As for manga, well....I hardly ever read any manga, so I won't do a list for that one.

[Big Momma]

And for anime? With Cowboy Bebop, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Bubblegum Crisis, Vision of Escaflowne, Big O, Giant Robo, Space Battleship Yamato, Spirited Away, FLCL, Patlabor, Macross Plus, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and the like,

I've always wondered; What is the appeal of FLCL? Don't get me wrong, I do like it and it was a ton of fun to watch...but it just seemed kind of scrambled. Like, the entire series was just kind of confusing, and even at the end I didn't really get it. (Or was that the point?)

FLCL wasn't that confusing to me. The imagery was pretty obvious.

A lot of people will tell you that it's about growing up, but I don't think it's that simple. I think it's more about not growing up too soon. The entire show, Naota tries to act like an adult, while all the adults around him act like children. But he's not really mature enough to be an adult. It's an act. He's still very much a child, and by trying to be mature, he's missing out on his childhood. He spends so much time fussing about other people's behavior he doesn't really enjoy himself, he allows himself to be the straight man who confronts people about their immaturity. But he's really, as Haruko points out in the end, a kid. If he wants to grow up, he has to allow it to happen naturally instead of trying too hard.

As for the appeal, it's just plain fun in its approach to things, and seems to do more with six episodes than most anime do with far more.

Ah, okay. That makes sense now. I mostly got into because I loved the animation. (Gainax is a great studio)

[Miracles]

One Piece ... is basically a copy and past of Dragonball.

How much have you read or watched... of EITHER series? Aside from (intentionally)similar MCs and Japan slurping up everything related to them, they are vastly different.

Really, the repeated lame adventures ala early Dragonball. Impel down was a low budget Red Ribbon arc. And the current war arc is as boring as a cheesburger without lettuce and tamatoes.

I'm not sure if this could be any more backwards.

Toriyama's the one who's notorious for making the story up as he went along(after a certain point, of course), and it suffered because of that.

Oda's known for the exact opposite.

Yeah, Oda, who just rips off of the man who made his story up as he went along. Says a lot.

[IncompetentOverlord]

One Piece ... is basically a copy and past of Dragonball.

How much have you read or watched... of EITHER series? Aside from (intentionally)similar MCs and Japan slurping up everything related to them, they are vastly different.

Really, the repeated lame adventures ala early Dragonball. Impel down was a low budget Red Ribbon arc. And the current war arc is as boring as a cheesburger without lettuce and tamatoes.

I'm not sure if this could be any more backwards.

Toriyama's the one who's notorious for making the story up as he went along(after a certain point, of course), and it suffered because of that.

Oda's known for the exact opposite.

Yeah, Oda, who just rips off of the man who made his story up as he went along. Says a lot.

Honestly, I'll have to disagree with you on that one.(Except that the Whitebeard War is dragging on just a smidge) One Piece is about adventure, which makes it very different from Dragonball, which, with the exception of the Son Goku arc and portions of the Red Ribbon Army and Piccolo Daimao arcs, is pretty much a slam-bang kung fu action tale. With Dragonball, adventure and plot are secondary elements, allowing Toriyama's brilliant fight choreography and instinct for writing uproariously funny gags to shine. With OP, It's fairly clear that the author gives a damn about his manga, whereas Toriyama seems to do it for money and to just plain fool around. Also, with One Piece, Oda is downright obsessive about the minute details of his world, and never really forgets characters, even subordinates on the importance level of Kui and Dodoria. Toriyama wrote a fun, breezy manga that just reeks of martial arts craziness. Oda is writing an imaginary world into existence, that just happens to reek of Pirate Craziness.

[VegettoEX]

If you're going to argue the merits of a series, please remember that you're expected to type properly. You can't be taken seriously if you can't spell correctly, and you will not be allowed to post at all if you do not relate things appropriately back to DragonBall in some intelligent fashion.

[Miracles]

Honestly, I'll have to disagree with you on that one.(Except that the Whitebeard War is dragging on just a smidge) One Piece is about adventure, which makes it very different from Dragonball, which, with the exception of the Son Goku arc and portions of the Red Ribbon Army and Piccolo Daimao arcs, is pretty much a slam-bang kung fu action tale. With Dragonball, adventure and plot are secondary elements, allowing Toriyama's brilliant fight choreography and instinct for writing uproariously funny gags to shine. With OP, It's fairly clear that the author gives a damn about his manga, whereas Toriyama seems to do it for money and to just plain fool around. Also, with One Piece, Oda is downright obsessive about the minute details of his world, and never really forgets characters, even subordinates on the importance level of Kui and Dodoria. Toriyama wrote a fun, breezy manga that just reeks of martial arts craziness. Oda is writing an imaginary world into existence, that just happens to reek of Pirate Craziness.

Understand that the first part of Dragonball was a mix of well balanced adventure and martial arts [Tournaments] with a well built world as well. All characters were used and not forgotten, so I don't know why you think Oda is the only one who does this when the man just basically copy and pasted from Toriyama. Heck Magellen looks similar to devilman.

And I don't mind if the war arc in one piece is dragging, it's the simple fact that it has been outright boring so far.

[Kaboom]

My top 5 Shonen titles?
1. One Piece - For pretty much the same reasons as anyone else has pointed out. Any series that runs this long yet still manages to keep up such an interesting story with a wide and creative array of characters gets an 'A' in my book.
2. DragonBall - Yes, DB's in second place after One Piece. Just barely, though. Practically tied.
3. YuYu Hakusho - It's hard to argue against this one. A somewhat-lengthy but still concise story with cool characters and fascinatingly wonderful artwork.
4. Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo - My absolute favorite for when I want little more than to bust a gut laughing. The irreverent, violent, and more-often-than-not absurd sense of humor is immensely entertaining. Viz needs to get off their asses and speed up their release schedule of this series.
5. Rurouni Kenshin - If you don't know why this series is good, you shouldn't even be talking to me.

[Innagadadavida]

I've always wondered; What is the appeal of FLCL? Don't get me wrong, I do like it and it was a ton of fun to watch...but it just seemed kind of scrambled. Like, the entire series was just kind of confusing, and even at the end I didn't really get it. (Or was that the point?)

FLCL is a hyperactive coming of age story. You know that horn on his head? That was a metaphor for a boner. That's why he was hiding it.

Would'a been funny to see a coming of age story of Goku... But... Considering he came of age when he was training with Popo... Nevermind.

[Big Momma]

I've always wondered; What is the appeal of FLCL? Don't get me wrong, I do like it and it was a ton of fun to watch...but it just seemed kind of scrambled. Like, the entire series was just kind of confusing, and even at the end I didn't really get it. (Or was that the point?)

FLCL is a hyperactive coming of age story. You know that horn on his head? That was a metaphor for a boner. That's why he was hiding it.

Would'a been funny to see a coming of age story of Goku... But... Considering he came of age when he was training with Popo... Nevermind.

Wow....I can't believe I never caught that. I got most of the other ones, too (At least I hope so)...


Haha, wow....


A coming of age story for Goku would have been funny, though. I can see one of his signs of puberty be growing a tail and transforming into Oozaru.