Manga vs Kai

[Nex Carnifex]

If I was going to watch/read one, which one would it be?

[Pokewhiz7]

Watch: Z
Read: Manga

[Bussani]

I'd vote for manga. You can read it at your own pace, and apart from Toriyama's style changing gradually over time, the art is a lot more consistent, looking good all the way through to me.

[Nex Carnifex]

Watch: Z
Read: Manga

Z has confusing fillers and inconsistencies though, is it the same with Kai?

[AgitoZ]

Just read the manga, it's a better product than both Kai and Z.

[CaBrPi]

I'd go with the manga, because I can read the entire thing in a day or two.

Three, if you include DB.

[The Time Traveller]

The manga, there's something more fun about it...

[gameleon]

The manga, there's something more fun about it...

Cell's face when he dies?


Just like was said before, you should probably go for the manga

[DemonRin]

If you're gonna read Read the manga.
If you're going to either read OR watch something, read the manga.
If you're going to read AND watch something, read the manga and watch Kai.

Because the filler seems to be an issue with you, as it is with me, that's my recommendation.

Kai fixes a lot of the pacing and filler issues IMO. And it actually has a really good and watchable dub.

[sangofe]

Watch: Z
Read: Manga

Yeah, go for that. I watched parts of Kai first, then read the manga, and I have to say it was pretty boring reading the manga after watching Kai...

Weird as it sounds, I actually welcome changes made in the anime so that it doesn't feel you're getting the exact same thing.

[theoriginalbilis]

If you care about the original DB portion of the story or the Buu saga, you can only read the manga or watch DB/Z. There is no condensed version of those parts of the story...

[Kendamu]

The manga is the original and superior product.

[Vice]

I dunno... while the manga is clearly the superior product quality-wise, sometimes I'd just like to see the action in motion.

[Kuwabara]

Both Z and Kai are superior to the manga in that they feature color, animation, voice acting, music, sound effects etc. All of these culminate into a much richer experience than... pictures and text lingering on a page...

I've never been a huge comics/manga fan.

[Kendamu]

Both Z and Kai are superior to the manga in that they feature color, animation, voice acting, music, sound effects etc. All of these culminate into a much richer experience than... pictures and text lingering on a page...

I've never been a huge comics/manga fan.

If you're not a comics fan, does that mean you haven't read the manga? If you haven't, then wouldn't it be fair to say that you couldn't actually say which one is better as you haven't even experienced it?

If you have, then more power to you. I know a lot of people who think that color and music make it better than consistent art and the best pacing.

[Kuwabara]

If you're not a comics fan, does that mean you haven't read the manga? If you haven't, then wouldn't it be fair to say that you couldn't actually say which one is better as you haven't even experienced it?

If you have, then more power to you. I know a lot of people who think that color and music make it better than consistent art and the best pacing.

That's kind of a silly question to ask... I'm a huge Dragon Ball fan, so of course I've read the manga. In fact, I have several different versions of Dragon Ball and Z respectively. I've managed to collect the Western style comic book releases, the first prints of what few volumes were released before Viz started slapping the Shonen Jump name onto most (all?) of it's properties, the first prints of said Shonen Jump releases, the VizBigs and most recently the box set releases.

More than anything I'm not a fan of the stilted, wooden dialogue that Viz and other manga translators seem to favor, but I won't touch on that much. Beyond that quibble, as great as the manga art and pacing can be, animation cels from the most well animated portions of the series look way more impressive to me. And even the not so well animated portions of the series still resonate more with me. I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm personally more amused by the inconsistent art in the anime than I am by most of Toriyama's actual attempts at humor. So even though the manga has way more consistent art, I'm still more entertained by quite possibly the greatest pitfall of the anime.

Whenever I read the manga I wish I was watching the anime instead. One example that sticks out in my mind is when I read through Trunks' initial appearance and his scuffles with Freeza and King Cold. As I read the manga, I kind of just plodded along, I wasn't gripped by what was going on. But as Heroic Face-Off played while Trunks steadily backed King Cold into a proverbial corner in Kai, I became amped beyond words. That's such a satisfying experience.

[SSJ4_Zankuto]

I think the manga wins it for me because there is no Majin Boo arc in Dragonball Z Kai and that is good enough reason to like the manga much better.

[Gogeta8001]

Read the manga.

Kai still had some inconsistencies.

[SylentEcho]

As far as I'm concerned, Z is way better than Kai. Kai's just good in the Freeza fight because it doesn't take forever.

Watch DBZ first and then read the manga. That's what I did.

[Attitudefan]

I would say both. Thank god we don't have god-awful New-Age art that is plaguing the series at the moment. If Kai was like that, I would say, stick to the manga.