If you HAD to pick either the manga or anime...

[SupremeSSJ]

if it wasn't for the anime i wouldn't be here.

[rereboy]

The manga. I don't even want the anime nowadays, so the choice is very easy.

[B]

The manga. It's like picking The Dark Knight over the actual Batman comics.

[hleV]

The manga, hands down.

[Gyt Kaliba]

For me, I'd have to go with the anime. Sure, it's got a lot of issues, but...well, it was what I got into first. And maybe it's just because I haven't read the entirety of the manga (just large batches of it), but for the most part I find...hmm. Honestly, especially once you get into the 'Z' era material, I find that the manga has a pacing problem all of it's own that's the complete opposite of the anime's problem. The anime tends to make things drag on WAY too long, but a lot of the same material in the manga, I've found to just go by way too quickly, almost to the point of not having any weight to them. I wish there was a balance between the two, but really the only way to have that that I've found is to have them both.

That said though, I do wish I had the rest of the manga already so that I could visit that when I want to experience the story in a quicker manner than popping in one of the DVDs would take.

[Polyphase Avatron]

Manga

[RandomGuy96]

The anime is what I got into first, and honestly is usually what I enjoy more (at least Kai). It's got waaaaaaay more stuff in it. There's also cool anime only characters like Cooler and Janemba. Assuming that the manga would still hypothetically exist to resolve the MANY contradictions... I'd go with the anime.

[dbgtFO]

I'm also one of those, that experienced the anime before the manga and I have always favoured cartoons over comics, so yeah I'd pick the anime.
Stories quite simply come to life, when animated(which is what the word means anyway).

[Makaioshin]

I don't really waste my time with the anime at this point. It is just a so-so adaptation.
So yeah, the manga. I guess I would miss the movies and specials but, as someone pointed out earlier, there is still the animanga for that.

[garnetjester]

This is a tough call for me, I really love the anime, since it's what got me to know Dragon Ball in the first place, and without it there wouldn't be any songs to go with it, and those are a HUGE part of the reason why I love DB so much (seriously, the DBZ songs in japanese are a very big part of my childhood, and they are so dear to me that I listen to some of them on a daily basis).

However, I feel like the manga tells the story in a much better way. Toriyama is really talented at characterizing his main cast, and stuff doesn't take 300 episodes to happen, which is also a great thing. I also feel like watching the anime made me space out a lot and forget important things from back in the series because everything would take so long, so the manga feels a lot more cohesive to me.

So yeah, it'd have to be the manga for me (featuring Kageyama's songs here and there )

[ABED]

The anime, it's the manga +. It has the animation in motion, great voice acting and music.

The manga. It's like picking The Dark Knight over the actual Batman comics.

Not quite since the TDK is one film and not as long as the comics. The Animated Series is a more apt comparison. In that case, yes, I'd take the Animated Series over the comics.

[FortuneSSJ]

I always rather the anime even if the manga is superior. Only if the anime was really poorly animated, I would choose the manga.
I rather see everything animated, with voice acting and a great ost playing on background.

[MediaFanGirl93]

The manga. I wish I grew up with reading it, because I got the wrong impressions of things from just watching the anime alone.

[RocktheDragon]

I'm actually quite surprised at the number of people who would prefer to have the manga instead of the anime. The manga is great, don't get me wrong, but the universe of DB would be so much smaller without the anime. We would also have way less to discuss and talk about with regards to the overall series. That's probably my major reason for choosing the anime over the manga, I just like to discuss DB so much I wouldn't want to lose a lot of the possible conversation topics.

[Looneygamemaster]

I believe that it's very possible for an adaptation to surpass the work it's adapting. I also believe that this is not the case with the Dragon Ball anime, but as so much of it isn't even interested in trying, it seems kind of pointless to pounce on it for that. Nonetheless, I'd pick the manga.

[Freeza Soldier #156]

As many people have said: the anime. While I love both to death, the anime just offers so much more. Between all three series (with all of their filler), the movies, TV specials, etc., as well as being animated with spectacular voice acting and amazing music, the anime just brings so much more to the table. That said, I will miss the consistently good art of the manga. I just really like Toriyama's style.

[Gaffer Tape]

I'm actually quite surprised at the number of people who would prefer to have the manga instead of the anime.

Funnily enough, I'm surprised at the opposite. I can understand why. It's hard for me to choose to give up the anime, but I guess that's the point of the question. For me, though, while there are a lot of things I would miss (not just the filler stories, but the music and voice work), what's left would be a much stronger version of itself. So I have to go with quality over quantity.

[RocktheDragon]

I'm actually quite surprised at the number of people who would prefer to have the manga instead of the anime.

Funnily enough, I'm surprised at the opposite. I can understand why. It's hard for me to choose to give up the anime, but I guess that's the point of the question. For me, though, while there are a lot of things I would miss (not just the filler stories, but the music and voice work), what's left would be a much stronger version of itself. So I have to go with quality over quantity.

And in that same way I would have to go with quantity over quality. The level of Dragon Ball in my life would be non-existent if it was just a manga. I would certainly appreciate the manga and love it dearly, as many others do, but what keeps me coming back to the series seems to be almost everything but the manga.

[Dayspring]

I wouldn't have known about the manga if not for the anime, ironically. However, the reason I bought all 42 volumes was because I much preferred the manga to the anime. I still haven't even seen most of the anime. The filler is pretty damn atrocious for this series. The only good filler, for me, are the two TV specials. I do like most of the movies, though.

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

I really love both.

Overall, I'd choose the Manga. The pacing was more to my liking than it was in the Anime.