The Manga is always way better than the anime

[GreatSaiyaJeff]

When it comes to pacing, the manga will always be better but in terms of having characters actually seem to matter the anime has that. Like Yamcha, Tien and Chautzu fought the Ginyu Force or when Gohan was struggling against Cell, the other characters jumped in and gave their reasons for fight.

[Cipher]

I’ll take consistent art, amazing paneling, good pacing, and Toriyama’s great scene framing over the voices and music any day. I feel like people seriously overrate the importance of voice acting and soundtracks in anime versus manga debates. The manga carries enough weight on its own. Honestly, the manga carries far more weight. Toriyama’s action comes to life on the page in ways that the anime doesn’t always deliver on.

The long and short of my response would basically just be expressing full agreement with this post.

[Gokitalo]

I have to disagree when it comes to Super. I liked the fight between Frost and Piccolo more than the anime for example, and Trunks' "Spirit Bomb of Hope" in the anime gave me such a thrill.

Honestly, I don't think either medium tells Super consistently better than the other. I thought the manga did a better job with the Goku Black/Zamasu storyline in a lot of respects, true (especially in the way it handled the characters' strength levels-- it makes more sense for Trunks to survive Goku Black if the latter only knew how to go up to Super Saiyan 2 in the beginning), but even then, the anime had cool moments that weren't in the manga, like Goku sparring with Zamasu and Whis using his staff and temporal do-over power to show physical evidence that Zamasu planned to murder Gowasu. And now with the Tournament of Power, I much preferred how Tenshinhan and Krillin performed in the anime, where they lasted a lot longer in the fight. Although the manga's decision to have the Gods of Destruction take part in the pre-tournament exhibition match instead of Universe 7 and 9 was an awesome change.

As for Z... again, that depends, too. One of my favorite moments in the anime is when Piccolo, Tenshinhan, Krillin and Yamcha join in the fight against Cell, and I enjoyed Piccolo's extended fight with 2nd stage Frieza (even if it's the first of like three times that Dende learns that Piccolo and Nail have fused ).

[ABED]

I really don't think the manga carries that weight all that well. Good action but pacing doesn't just mean quick. Boy does it not mean that, which is what I feel that's what people take it to mean.. There's SO much that's missing from the manga. There are beats between moments. When I read the manga, I plow through the story. Even the action often feels a little thin at times. Take the first fight against Vegeta. In the manga, when Goku uses Kaio-Ken x3 and one little skirmish later, Vegeta's ready to blow it all up. It moves too quickly.

I feel like people seriously overrate the importance of voice acting and soundtracks in anime versus manga debates.

I think you severly underrate it. Humor is more often than not dependent on performance and timing. Music adds SO much moments. The tension, the emotion just feels lacking without it.

Maybe it's bias, but I've always preferred TV and movies to comics.

[OhHiRenan]

If you’ve always preferred television and movies to comics then chances are, yes, it’s probably bias. There isn’t anything important missing from the manga. Toriyama says everything he needs to say in one chapter. The anime slows the plot down and drags moments out to “flesh” them out, but the manga does what it needs to and moves on. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have weight, though. In a single panel, Toriyama can convey emotion, power, and pathos without a single text bubble. Just compare how Goky gazes down at Freeza after killing him between the anime and manga. In the anime, it’s a neutral, almost angry expression. In the manga, it’s a nuanced moment where Goku’s almost sorrowful. It completely recontextualizes the entire right. That’s the kind of fight missing from the anime.

More importantly, though, what you see as “thin,” I see as knowing when to move on. Goku and Vegeta’s fight moves quickly, but why wouldn’t it? Toriyama keeps the action fresh. A chapter is a chapter, and a lot can happen in just 14 pages. A lot consistently happens in just 14 pages in Dragon Ball. Toriyama is a writer who tells his story through the action, and he keeps the story moving. There’s no reason to slow down Goku’s first skirmish with Vegeta, because there’s more weight to an escalation. The anime does that as well, of course, since it’s an adaptation, but it’s also slowing the story down.

You say there are beats within moments as if the manga is in any way lacking comparatively. Everything you can get from the anime, you can get from the manga in a more consistent and coherent package where the story doesn’t need to slow down to explore them, because they’re explored within the action. I don’t believe there’s a single piece of Dragon Ball’s puzzle that the manga lacks and the anime somehow offers.

But I feel as thought I’ve gotten off the topic of weight, at least explicitly. The manga’s weight comes from Toriyama’s subtleties that don’t find their way in the adaptation. Gohan gets a filler arc in the Saiyan arc to help flesh out his development, but it ends up derivative since Toriyama already does this arc during the training chapters and the fight against Nappa. The manga gives you everything you need while moving the story along; the anime repurposes Gohan’s arc and does it twice. And I know the filler is popular, and the common defense is that it’s realistic in that of course Gohan will relent in the face of real danger and combat, but it loses its weight when the entire arc is telegraphed beforehand. The action isn’t always just action, it’s story. At the same time, though, Toriyama keeps the action far more engaging than the anime can adapt. With one panel, Toriyama can convey how heavy a hit is, how dire the situation is, and how much force a character is emitting just to stay alive. At its core, Dragon Ball is a story that’s best told in the manga format. It takes full advantage of its medium as far as pacing, framing, characters, action, and subtleties are concerned. That gives it a weight the anime simply can’t replicate.

[ABED]

you’ve always preferred television and movies to comics then chances are, yes, it’s probably bias. There isn’t anything important missing from the manga. Toriyama says everything he needs to say in one chapter.

Important to you and stories aren't merely about exposition. Those extra moments can be vital. Stories aren't just about saying what you need to say and then moving on at lightning pace, and I absolutely believe the manga lacks weight. The moment where Kuririn or even Bora die don't land as well for me in the manga. And it's not about just slowing things down. There are extra bits that help flesh out the fight and make it more intense. There's understanding and there's feeling.

Good pacing doesn't just come down to telling and showing all the relevant information and moving on. There are moments to speed up and moments to slow down. Action doesn't mean movement.

manga’s weight comes from Toriyama’s subtleties that don’t find their way in the adaptation

I don't agree at all. For one, Toriyama lacks subtelty. And when you say it recontextualizes the entire fight, you are overselling it. And I 100 percent disagree that Gohan's story is told twice. We actually experience in the anime him growing up as well as that bond forming between he and Piccolo. Without it, you get the idea but it doesn't land as strongly when Piccolo gives his life for Gohan. It's more of a twist than a moment with emotional impact. As for the rest of your comment, I just don't see it. I've read the manga and I've seen the anime and the anime is just the manga plus. The hits and the impact are the same, but with the dots connected. I also don't see how the anime can't recreate the moments in the panels.

[GamerSkull]

I think the manga is paced better. However, I really dig Dragon Ball in animated form and it's great to see the choreography of the fights in fluid animation.

[PFM18]

as far as the "manga always being better" I disagree as it pertains to the Super manga because I am just not a very big fan of the Super manga. in terms of DBZ the manga is objectively more consistent and "better" in that way but I just enjoy watching the anime more. It just brings it to life rather than just reading a panel.

[prince212]

Manga-anime comparison to which one is better will be always a subjective opinion , unless the quality in one of them is really bad . Talking about dragon ball , both products have good quality .. with some exceptions.
I rather manga because reading relax me , and usually are the original idea oF the artist , and if the series are good , I take both manga and anime .

[ABED]

Of course it's ultimately a matter of taste, but ALWAYS? There aren't at least moments you can think of that the anime did better?

[Gligarman]

The manga's always better? Spoken like someone who's never seen the Honey and Clover anime. But in Dragon Ball's case, yeah. The manga's better pretty much from start to finish.