Similarities between Dragon Ball and One Piece

[PiccoloFan7289]

I have been doing some research on One Piece lately and find it very interesting. I have also found it to be very similar to Dragon Ball in terms of writing and major themes. One major similarity between the two is that the main protagonist of each series (Son Goku/Luffy) are both very childish, love fighting, and seem to make new friends everywhere they go. The Straw Hat Pirate Crew is also very similar to the Dragon Ball Gang/Z-Fighters in that members of both groups started out as antagonists but learned the error of their ways or changed because they gained respect for Goku or Luffy. Another similarity I have noticed is that Mayumi Tanaka voices Luffy, who is the main protagonist of One Piece, and Krillin, who is the best friend of main protagonist Goku and one of the main protagonists himself (Probably in third place tied with Piccolo and Vegeta). Can you guys tell me some other similarities between the two series?

[Pokewhiz7]

Another similarity between Goku and Luffy would be their huge appetites.

[PiccoloFan7289]

Another similarity between Goku and Luffy would be their huge appetites.

By the way I'm really thinking about giving One Piece a shot. The characters look very interesting and the depth of the anime looks to rival Dragon Ball as well. The Straw Hat Pirates look very interesting as well. Franky looks to be interesting, as does Zoro.

[MugiMikey]

Yeah, there are a lot of shared voice actors among the two. Piccolo and Ace are both voiced by Toshio Furukawa in Japan, and Goku and Kureha are both voiced by Masako Nozawa. Also, in the FUNimation dub, they share a LOT of voice actors too.

Another similarity between the two that's a big factor among the fanbase is Luffy's Gear Second technique, which is similar to the Kaioken. In the anime, Luffy's skin turns pink (which does not happen in the manga) and gives off steam while his thinking speeds up and his body gains massive amounts of power and speed.

There are some things that I believe One Piece does better than Dragon Ball, and the biggest one would be nobody in the cast is forgotten. All of the main characters receive equal amounts of screentime and they each have their own unique fighting styles which makes everything more interesting. It's definitely worth checking out. The Dragon Ball-esque feel it gives off made me interested in One Piece years and years ago and I still love it.

[Perfect]

I only liked One Piece very briefly, but by very briefly I mean probably around a month or two. You could easily spot a ton of similarities since they're both shonen series and One Piece was greatly influenced by Dragon Ball. I think one big similarity is how long each series is, both anime and manga wise.

[PiccoloFan7289]

Another similarity I noticed is that Luffy starts out his crew with only a couple members but has more join as time goes on. The same can also be said for Dragon Ball. Goku's Dragon Ball Gang/Z-Fighters starts out with Goku himself, Bulma, Yamcha, and Kuririn. I don't count the animals like Umigame, Oolong, and Puar because they are basically side characters and Roshi, Korin, Mr. Popo, and Kami are basically mentors so they are supporting characters. Later on just like in One Piece The Dragon Ball Gang/Z-Fighters gain new members in Tenshinhan, Chiaotzu, Yajirobe (sorta), Piccolo, Goku's son Gohan, Vegeta, Future Trunks, etc...

[dprez]

They are both extremely entertaining, and consist of a bunch of super-human fighters following their dreams. That's like, the most obvious similarity, but yea...

O and yea, read One Piece. It may take a while to catch up, but if you like Dragon Ball than One piece should be right up your alley. I couldn't believe such a great manga existed for so long without me knowing when I finally picked it up. I now own volumes 1-60 .

Way more emotional than Dragon Ball, with a better plot and character development. Let me just tell you that I teared up when Piccolo dies to save Gohan, and when Vegeta sacrifices himself, and that's it for Dragon Ball. One Piece got me teared up numerous times, no joke. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I wont list the super emotional moments in One Piece that got to me, but I will say that it makes you feel so good, One Piece that is. Such an incredible story with some incredible people doing incredible things.

[kemuri07]

I heard that many of the similarities between One Piece and DB are due to the fact that Oda was considered a disciple of Akira Toriyama.

Early One Piece certainly evokes a Dragonball feel, and pretty much would be what would happen if Goku ever became a pirate.

[Bussani]

I think you just described virtually every shonen manga ever written.

You might be interested in the interview between Toriyama and Oda that was printed in the One Piece artbook, Color Walk 1.

[dprez]

I think you just described virtually every shonen manga ever written.

You might be interested in the interview between Toriyama and Oda that was printed in the One Piece artbook, Color Walk 1.

I'm assuming you talking about what I said. Yea I know ....but it''s true!

O crap I'm gonna read that right now!

[Bussani]

I was talking about the topic in general. Guess I should have made that more obvious. Oh well, no harm done.

[medama_oyaji]

I love One Piece! Without a doubt my favorite current manga, and definitely rivaling some classic series as potentially my favorite manga ever! I think you should give it a shot. It does take about 10 volumes to hit its stride, which sounds like a lot, but with a 60+ volume (and counting) series, that's just the beginning

[OK, now I'm going to mention something that happened in the arc that just finished, but it's very minor, so I wouldn't consider it "SPOILERS!!!!" but just in case you really care, watch out!]

Recently a character actually threw a giant coral and rode on it, which definitely reminded me of Tao Pai Pai. I haven't seen any official confirmation that this was a nod to DB, but since Oda is a major Toriyama fanboy, it seems like a strong possibility!

[Super Sonic]

If you count Kai and the redone GT, both franchises have the same person singing opening theme songs.