How different would the series be if Toryama planned it?

[FoolsGil]

As we all know, Toryama made up Dragonball and DBZ as he went along. Series is still great and all, but we all know where things are inconsistent, could be better planned etc. Hell Toryama said in an interview(source eludes me) that if he was going to do it all again, he'd have planned that Goku was a Saiyan from the beginning. What other ways do you think the series would been different if Toryama planned it all from the start?

[Blade]

Well, for starters, I doubt we'd have all the weird and wonderful twists such as Goku suddenly springing Super Saiyan 3 on us or the endless list of enemy forms and transformations.

I think that perhaps the story would have turned out a little more like One Piece, where major story arcs and developments are hinted at or seeded far in advance, so that when major developments happen they make more in-universe sense. I mean, take the Marineford arc - the events that led up to it were planted all the way back before the Strawhats even made it to Alabasta, so we're talking a slowly developing set of circumstances that occur in the backdrop of over 400 chapters of Manga.

In a strange way, though, I think Toriyama's lack of planning provides a lot of Dragonball's charm. I think if he knew exactly where he was going with the plot well in advance then perhaps the story wouldn't have turned out as interesting. Too much fore-planning can make for predictable plot-lines, there's nothing worse than following a story where the writer is very clearly just joining the dots between ideas.

[InfernalVegito]

I like to think that if he really planned the story ahead then everyone besides the Saiyajins wouldn't have become completely useless garbage. Kind of like in One Piece where all the secondary characters get to fight enemies and show their strengths and weaknesses too.

Oh and I always dream that he would have kept Radditz and let him become good to train and fight with his brother.

[Blade]

I like to think that if he really planned the story ahead then everyone besides the Saiyajins wouldn't have become completely useless garbage. Kind of like in One Piece where all the secondary characters get to fight enemies and show their strengths and weaknesses too.

That does become a little bit formulaic to One Piece's detriment, though. It's almost like every major arc Luffy will fight the main antagonist, Zoro will fight his second in command (who usually just so happens to be a swordsman), Sanji will fight the third-strongest and so on... Giving secondary characters secondary fights just for the sake of secondary involvement doesn't make for an interesting plot.

[InfernalVegito]

I know. That has become boring by now as well. I was just arguing from the point that it would have been more interesting to some extent at least at that time (before OP) obviously. Not necessarily now anymore.
It would have been better than just letting all of them stand aside and do nothing if you ask me.

[rereboy]

It would be more like Hunter x Hunter.

[SaiyanZ]

It would be more like Hunter x Hunter.

This tbh. Hunter X Hunter and Dragon Ball really do have a lot of similarities when I think about it.......for that matter, Togashi and Toriyama are really like-minded mangakas.

[Beercorn]

If he had the whole thing planned from the beginning, I imagine it would be something of an SoL series, but with martial arts stuff in it.

[FoolsGil]

SoL? What does that mean?

[Saiga]

Slice of life.

[Draken]

So out of luck? O_O

[dbzfan7]

The controversial power level debates would be gone. I would also think the story would have less inconsistencies.

[Chuquita]

I'd watch a db slice of life series. I really did like the Jump tour special a lot.