Dragon Ball (Z) Anime

[Akumaito Beam]

So how do you guys feel about the Dragon Ball (Z) anime compared to the manga? Love it, hate it? What are some of your personal pros and cons involving it?

[Pokewhiz7]

On the whole I think that it's pretty decent. The pacing is far better than in Z. The filler is often really creative and more episodic, with more than just reaction shots and repeated animation (though there is still some of that). That being said, I can't decide which I like better. Probably the manga. With Z, it's pretty clear which is better. The Z portion is pretty bad because of the pacing.

[Akumaito Beam]

Ah, I kind of meant Z too! Dragon Ball as a franchise not the first series. I'll go back and make it more clear.

[JulieYBM]

I think it does a perfectly good job of bringing the comic's story to life. I think it could have involved a few more animation original episodes or arcs to tighten a few places up, but over all it's a series I'd easily watch multiple times.

[Bussani]

I'm a bit indifferent towards it. I far prefer the manga, personally, and I haven't gone back and re-watched the animated version much at all. At least, until now: my brother and I recently started watching Dragon Ball from the beginning in our free time, and plan to continue all the way through to the end of GT. Maybe it'll change my opinion! I have to say though, even from these early episodes alone, the story and characters already feel ever so slightly different from what I'm used to with the manga. The way Goku comes off in the anime (at the part I'm at, at least) keeps making me think of Monkey D. Luffy for some reason, which isn't an impression I get from the manga. I can't explain that. S'weird.

[Akumaito Beam]

I have to say though, even from these early episodes alone, the story and characters already feel ever so slightly different from what I'm used to with the manga. The way Goku comes off in the anime (at the part I'm at, at least) keeps making me think of Monkey D. Luffy for some reason, which isn't an impression I get from the manga. I can't explain that. S'weird.

I absolutely agree with you, Toriyama has this really unique writing style the anime really doesn't 'get' a lot of the time. The filler dialogue really does tend to alter the characters ever so slightly. I'm glad that's noticeable to someone besides myself.

[Insertclevername]

In some ways one is more superior to the other, like how the fighting is much bettered paced in the manga, while certain material in the anime, like the Trunks special, takes better advantage in building up characters and themes than the manga does. Either way, I love both so...yeah...

[hleV]

The anime is not too bad, but when you compare it to the manga, the anime is far inferior.

[Saiga]

I really dislike the anime. Can't watch it any more. The pacing is god awful and they include some terrible things in filler.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

I like all four anime series, though the manga beats them all.

[DBZAOTA482]

Aside from the nightmarish Frieza Saga fillers and non-too-fab Garlic Jr. Saga(when they started fighting Garlic adding with often very crude animation), I think it does a perfect fine job at adapting the comic with the occasional bumps on the road (like Trunks powering up for an entire episode). The manga is the top priority but not by too much because there are certain moments the anime handles better than the manga like Gohan's training under Piccolo, Gohan's ascension to Super Saiyan, the final struggle between Gohan and Cell, Goku meeting Goten for the first, and Goku's recovery from the heart virus.

[dprez]

I absolutely fell in love with the anime after watching all of Z in it's original form through the Dragon Boxes. For me, it truly was the manga and all it's glory brought to life.

I think I may love each of them the same these days... I prefer the detail and pacing of the manga, but the exceptional voices, music, and animation makes the anime highly enjoyable. I guess I'm not as jaded as some of you guys are when it comes to the anime, so right now I love the anime just as much, if not more so, than the manga. For me, the pros of the anime even out the cons. Give me another year or so, and by then I will have read through and watched the series again. Maybe then I will have a more acute opinion.

[PhoenixEX]

I really enjoyed the anime. The pacing was really slow but it made it even better because it meant more episodes to watch. Sure there were useless fillers, but a lot of the fillers added much needed humor to the series.

[InfernalVegito]

I don't like mangas anyway, so yeah the anime.

[AnimeMaakuo]

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[B]

I love the first series and would hold it up as an example of how to properly adapt a comic into an animated format, along with being on par with its source material. Very rarely does it feel like they've padded something because they didn't want to catch up with the manga; everything flows smoothly and you don't get that sense of feet-dragging. That's a huge problem with Z.

[Nex Carnifex]

I'd say the manga if I could only find a good way to actually read it, I gave up on Viz after reading how much censorship they did and how much the dialogue was changed to make it more lame and child friendly. The H-word? Seriously?

[Fizzer]

The anime has more major flaws than the manga. The manga doesn't have anything seriously wrong with it, but the anime has filler that drags out fights to 20+ episodes long, often with nothing of substance happening for more than an entire episode at a time, and also some pretty enormous contradictions. For this reason, if I were to introduce someone to the franchise, I'd suggest the manga, as I'd worry that those major flaws in the anime would be deal breakers.

However, despite the manga's better pacing and rigidity, I do still prefer the anime overall. I like most of the filler (pretty much all of it that adds something besides extra punches, face-offs and trash talk), like Gohan's training under Piccolo and Goku's training under God as brilliant examples. The filler often makes me feel very warm inside. I like the music, especially that in the first anime series, before things got more serious. I like the general feel of the anime, it has extra depth and atmosphere that the manga lacks. If only the standard of filler had always been to the standard of that in the first anime series, and there had been enough pre-planning to avoid the big contradictions, the anime would be a very beautiful thing.

Edit: The manga, in English at least, does have one big flaw: censorship. Some of the earlier volumes are fine, but everything else is pretty badly edited. I don't want to see the word "dummy" where "bastard" is more appropriate. Oh, how I long for a kanzenban release, or to be able to read Japanese...

[matt0044]

I'd say the manga if I could only find a good way to actually read it, I gave up on Viz after reading how much censorship they did and how much the dialogue was changed to make it more lame and child friendly. The H-word? Seriously?

I don't see much censorship. I mean, there's blood, impalement and the like. Plus, death is mentioned plenty of times and there's swearing here in there. Dragon Ball even has fanservice at a T rating. Granted, Hercule's still there but I can look past it. At least, the SJ versions I grew up with since Middle School.

[NessMudkip]

I prefer the manga. There's something about it, aside from the pacing, that just feels better than the anime. It kinda feels like Toriyama is almost there with you as you read it, because of all the little notes he leaves, and the times when the characters break the fourth wall. It just feels like there was more work put into it. Plus, if you're reading the kanzenban, you get the delicious-sexy cover art. Man, I wish Viz would release those in English.