I just read the manga from beginning to end for the very first time

[Xeztin]

After being a fan since the early 2000's, growing up to DBZ I finally finished the Viz Dragon Ball and Z volumes. I have to say, I really don't see how it could have continued between EoZ and Boo's defeat, Toriyama really meant it when he said if it weren't for Beerus and Whis there would be no world to build upon. Right at Boo's defeat everyone's life seems to be at closure, especially at the EoZ after Goku trains Oob. The manga gave me a very different understanding than what the show did, a very different perspective. Have any of you seen the show before reading the manga? (I'm sure at least half of us seen or completed the show first right?) and do you agree without Beerus and Whis (And the universes) it would be hard to continue or top Boo? Also how was your experience of the anime different from reading the manga? I'm very glad I read the manga, I felt like there was lots of information that I didn't know before only watching the show. I could feel the punches in Toriyama's panels sometimes, and I could also feel him slowing down (Art wise and burning out) at the start and end of the Boo saga. Reading the manga really gives you a first point of view of Toriyama's progression and digression (As he slows down) of the series, which is very neat to me over the years he has drawn it.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

It definitely has an entirely different vibe than the anime, and in a good way. Although the world definitely could have continued without new gods. I know I bring this up a lot, but we literally saw less than a dozen planets. For Toriyama to have created a gigantic universe, it's bizarre how little we've seen. Also, there's that Demon Realm thing that was teased and never went anywhere. There were plenty of threads for new stories that were never followed up on.

[DHM211]

DBGT is basically a continuation of DBZ without Berrus or Whis or any of the God stuff for the matter.

[eledoremassis02]

One thing that really stuck out for me was the pacing and how say 5 minutes on namek felt like 10 or 15 and not hours lol. I do agree without beerus and them there really isnt nothing else. But thats also what kills me, and its a bit more from a perspective point of veiw. It's a whole new series wedged in the last volume and if they change the ending than that would be even more odd. But I felt the manga to be refreshing and a more simplistic take with a person touch and maybe even better continuity (cause TOEI needed the filler to slow down).

[s-shield]

I agree about the sense of completion with EoZ and the oddness of trying to fit Super in there. For one thing, in my reading, Vegeta is DONE competing with Goku after the fight with Buu. So his continued rivalry in Super feels tacked on.

For another, I like the idea that Goku was bored out of his mind for a decade after the Buu fight, as Piccolo and I think Vegeta both mention not seeing him so happy as during his fight with Uub in a long time. Adding Beerus and the Multiverse kind of ruins that.

Also, I love the end with Uub, especially the addition of him getting Goku's cloud. Uub was "born" a monster meant to destroy worlds, just like Goku. He receives the gift of a second chance on Earth, just like Goku. And then he gets the cloud.

Anything after that point would HAVE to have Uub as the main character, with Goku as the Master Roshi. Nothing else would work, in my mind.

Overall, the manga just feels like a complete thing, from one person's mind and hand. Like Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter. Adding more stuff to it after the fact is like telling the perfect joke, and then going "Oh, oh, and then this other thing happened...!"

[OLKv3]

DBGT is basically a continuation of DBZ without Berrus or Whis or any of the God stuff for the matter.

The biggest disappointment of GT is that they stopped the "Grand Tour" part of it and just stayed on Earth. Goku going through the universe was a great concept and I wish they stuck with it. Multiple arcs could take place on one planet

[DHM211]

DBGT is basically a continuation of DBZ without Berrus or Whis or any of the God stuff for the matter.

The biggest disappointment of GT is that they stopped the "Grand Tour" part of it and just stayed on Earth. Goku going through the universe was a great concept and I wish they stuck with it. Multiple arcs could take place on one planet

I know I'm in a minority here (then again I'm in a minority for enjoying GT in the first place) but I actually think Funimation cutting down the first 16 episodes into one recap episode was the best thing they could have done for GT. The first part of the Grand Tour is absolutely dreadful to sit through imo.

[sintzu]

Overall, the manga just feels like a complete thing, from one person's mind and hand.

Like Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter. Adding more stuff to it after the fact is like telling the perfect joke, and then going "Oh, oh, and then this other thing happened...!"

What I really like about it is how it feels just right, it's not too long and it's not too short. A lot of manga either end too soon or just keep going on until they're uninteresting anymore.

That's what those franchises did as well with the beasts and hobbit movies.

[OLKv3]

DBGT is basically a continuation of DBZ without Berrus or Whis or any of the God stuff for the matter.

The biggest disappointment of GT is that they stopped the "Grand Tour" part of it and just stayed on Earth. Goku going through the universe was a great concept and I wish they stuck with it. Multiple arcs could take place on one planet

I know I'm in a minority here (then again I'm in a minority for enjoying GT in the first place) but I actually think Funimation cutting down the first 16 episodes into one recap episode was the best thing they could have done for GT. The first part of the Grand Tour is absolutely dreadful to sit through imo.

Oh I agree, the actual execution was dreadful, but the concept of traveling through the universe was amazing. But they wasted it on a lazy DB retread that wasn't anywhere close to being as good as the original. One episode even had them copy almost scene or scene the Oolong debut

[sintzu]

Have any of you seen the show before reading the manga ?

Do you agree without Beerus and Whis (And the universes) it would be hard to continue or top Boo ?

I could also feel him slowing down (Art wise and burning out) at the start and end of the Boo saga.

I've been a fan of the franchise for over 12 years and I still haven't read anything other than the Buu arc. I am going to read the whole thing at some point.

I don't think so cause GT continued without them and its basic ideas were very good.

This is why I love the anime so much, Toei did a really good job with the arc by picking up the pace and improving the parts that Toriyama didn't do well like the fights.

I know I'm in a minority here but I actually think Funimation cutting down the first 16 episodes into one recap episode was the best thing they could have done for GT.

The first part of the Grand Tour is absolutely dreadful to sit through imo.

I fully agree with this and I think it's the reason GT is a lot popular in America than it is in Japan.

The rest of GT has issues as well but nothing as bad as those episodes. I actually didn't mind the 1st 5 but the next 10 is where things really went downhill and to make things worse, you can skip them and go from 5 to 16 and miss nothing which makes sitting through them even worse.

For Toriyama to have created a gigantic universe, it's bizarre how little we've seen.

There were plenty of threads for new stories that were never followed up on.

I think that's because he didn't like overdoing a concept. We spent a lot of time on Namek so him going back to earth was in line with how he switched up his style from arc to arc. If we went from planet to planet then what makes Namek a special arc would be gone cause it would just be a planet arc in a long line of other planet arcs.

I don't think they were meant to be, the story's ending was like that but that was because he wanted the reader to make out what happened on their own. Threads like the demon relm, events in time skips & character history were probably written with the same mind set.

[Cure Dragon 255]

Have any of you seen the show before reading the manga ?

Do you agree without Beerus and Whis (And the universes) it would be hard to continue or top Boo ?

I could also feel him slowing down (Art wise and burning out) at the start and end of the Boo saga.

I've been a fan of the franchise for over 12 years and I still haven't read anything other than the Buu arc. I am going to read the whole thing at some point.

I don't think so cause GT continued without them and its basic ideas were very good.

This is why I love the anime so much, Toei did a really good job with the arc by picking up the pace and improving the parts that Toriyama didn't do well like the fights.

I know I'm in a minority here but I actually think Funimation cutting down the first 16 episodes into one recap episode was the best thing they could have done for GT.

The first part of the Grand Tour is absolutely dreadful to sit through imo.

I fully agree with this and I think it's the reason GT is a lot popular in America than it is in Japan.

The rest of GT has issues as well but nothing as bad as those episodes. I actually didn't mind the 1st 5 but the next 10 is where things really went downhill and to make things worse, you can skip them and go from 5 to 16 and miss nothing which makes sitting through them even worse.

For Toriyama to have created a gigantic universe, it's bizarre how little we've seen.

There were plenty of threads for new stories that were never followed up on.

I think that's because he didn't like overdoing a concept. We spent a lot of time on Namek so him going back to earth was in line with how he switched up his style from arc to arc. If we went from planet to planet then what makes Namek a special arc would be gone cause it would just be a planet arc in a long line of other planet arcs.

I don't think they were meant to be, the story's ending was like that but that was because he wanted the reader to make out what happened on their own. Threads like the demon relm, events in time skips & character history were probably written with the same mind set.

No it isnt what gave you that impression?

[DHM211]

No it isnt what gave you that impression?

I can't speak for sintzu , but from what I've noticed a lot of casual American viewers seem to enjoy GT.

[sintzu]

No it isnt what gave you that impression?

I can't speak for sintzu , but from what I've noticed a lot of casual American viewers seem to enjoy GT.

I've noticed that too which is why I brought it up. I don't think it's liked as much as the originals but its reputation in America seems to be better than Japan.

[Marugoto]

If I remember correctly Funi's GT season sets also sold better than Og DB ones.

[ShadowBardock89]

It definitely has an entirely different vibe than the anime, and in a good way. Although the world definitely could have continued without new gods. I know I bring this up a lot, but we literally saw less than a dozen planets. For Toriyama to have created a gigantic universe, it's bizarre how little we've seen. Also, there's that Demon Realm thing that was teased and never went anywhere. There were plenty of threads for new stories that were never followed up on.

That Demon Realm bit could still happen. Super isn't over, yet.

[emperior]

While expanding on the Gods with Beerus and Whis feels like the most natural progression of the Buu arc events, I'm quite sure that, had Toriyama genuinely wanted to continue the manga after Buu (not forced by editors) he would have come up with good ideas for a new enemy. He could have brought Future Trunks back, or he could have expanded upon the Demon Realm, the Makaioshins, or he could have made the deads returning alive, he could have canonized Broly/other movie characters, or he would have come up with some crazy new story.

EoZ feels like an ending because that's how the manga portrays it: there's nobody stronger than Buu so this is the end. I'm quite sure that if Toriyama ended it at 23rd Budokai Tenkaichi, Freezer, or Cell, it would have felt even more conclusive than what we got.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

It definitely has an entirely different vibe than the anime, and in a good way. Although the world definitely could have continued without new gods. I know I bring this up a lot, but we literally saw less than a dozen planets. For Toriyama to have created a gigantic universe, it's bizarre how little we've seen. Also, there's that Demon Realm thing that was teased and never went anywhere. There were plenty of threads for new stories that were never followed up on.

That Demon Realm bit could still happen. Super isn't over, yet.

That's not the point. He said that the story couldn't have continued without Beerus and Whis. I disagreed, and listed a couple of loose threads that could have been followed up on if the series had continued immediately after the Boo Arc.

[Lord Beerus]

It definitely has an entirely different vibe than the anime, and in a good way. Although the world definitely could have continued without new gods. I know I bring this up a lot, but we literally saw less than a dozen planets. For Toriyama to have created a gigantic universe, it's bizarre how little we've seen. Also, there's that Demon Realm thing that was teased and never went anywhere. There were plenty of threads for new stories that were never followed up on.

That's my biggest grip with Dragon Ball as a whole: the universe feel so much smaller than it really is. Earth itself just fels like such a barren wasteland of nothingness after the Red Ribbon Army arc. It's one of the pitfalls of Toriyama's writing style. Once he's done with a certain plot point, he will completely disregard it in favour of coming up with something else, without even taking into consideration the possibilities of whether what he has introduced can be expanded upon. The only time he will go back to a previous plot point is if it comes at the convenience of artificially continuing the story or the sake of one of the characters getting a cheap power up. His overall lackadaisical approach to the story is also culpable for Dragon Ball sub standard expansion of the baseline narrative. I mean, if wasn't for Toei, we probably would have never seen Goku's father.

Dragon Ball's world building is just crap.

[ABED]

I'd rather authors don't world build beyond the needs of the story. Lord of the Rings is overly complex and I don't think it enhances the story at all. It makes it feel overly complicated and sometimes hard to follow because of the excessive details. I feel as though many who love world building judge stories based on what they think should happen instead of what actually happens in the story. They fall in love with their ideas of what else to do with a setting and then use that as their basis for criticism.

I mean, if wasn't for Toei, we probably would have never seen Goku's father.

He's not important to the story.

The only way I will agree that DBZ feels smaller than DB is that as the characters are able to travel greater distances in shorter amounts of time and it shrinks the world. When Goku is discovering new places (and the audience along with him) there's a great sense of scope and wonder.

[sintzu]

If wasn't for Toei, we probably would have never seen Goku's father.

He's not important to the story.

He is if you're looking for something more in Goku and Freeza's relationship. Without Bardock, Goku has no connection to Freeza other than "he's the main character so he's fighting the main villain of the arc" which is what a lot of anime do.

The Bardock special is even better if you watch it before the original DB cause there's this anticipation that builds across 8 arcs of them finally confronting each other. It also builds up his fight with Vegeta (and I think with Piccolo). Goku's unnatural strength, his ape form & his origin don't come out of nowhere if you watch the Bardock special first.