Is Dragon Ball Your Favorite Anime Ever?

[Oniman]

Is the DB your favorite anime or do you like other anime besides it? I love Dragon Ball, but I like other anime way better because I have been a fan of anime since I was 9 years old. DB may be in my top 50, but not all time favorite. These are my main favorites (My love with anime started with Devilman!!)





















Of course, I love newer anime like these (I still keep up the newer anime seasonly)







Of course, no matter how many anime that I love, that DB will always be in my heart and no one will replace it

[mute_proxy]

Not the best, but definitely the most favorite

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

It's my personal favourite, but I don't watch a lot of anime in general.

I appreciate there are better written, animated and directed anime out there, but Dragon Ball has a special place in my heart and is just a fun series all round, so it will always top my list of most enjoyable.

[Bruma rabu]

Watching dragon ball is literally one of my most earliest memories. Hell yeah it's my number one.

[Grimlock]

In general, probably yes. But considering just the modern times, I would like to still say yes but I can't. When I'm asked what is my favorite animated series these days I have to think a lot, and even then, Dragon Ball being the answer is unlikely.

The honor of being my favorite animated series goes probably to Avatar series. I'm finally watching Naruto, paying close attention to the story, it might as well end up being another series I enjoy more than the current Dragon Ball once I finish it. I still love Dragon Ball but it really gets harder to place it as my number 1 series considering the lack of effort while favoring and considering battle scenes to be more important than an interesting story and developed characters nowadays.

[saiyanhajime]

I don't really care for many others, certainly don't keep up with any.

I really dig Evangelion but I ain't watched it in yeeeears. It's definitely the only serial anime I've cared for in any meaningful way. I checked out One Punch Man because it was so short and actually digestible, haha, I enjoyed it. There's a few movies which are great, mostly the well known ones.

I find that there's so many things I enjoy doing that are at odds with one another that there isn't the room to introduce new stuff a lot of the time. I feel the same way about gaming, too. By the time I've done everything I need to do, I just want to draw and indulge in stuff I already love haha.

Dragon Ball isn't even anime to me, to be honest. I don't really file it in the same place of my brain because it's so monumentally more important to me. Is it better than all the others? I mean, I doubt it. But I love it.

[Polyphase Avatron]

Hard to say really. It helps to differentiate between nostalgic classics from my childhood and new stuff sometimes.

[emperior]

Yes. I haven’t been able to find an anime I love as much as I love Dragon Ball.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

One of my favourites sure, the most I spend money on sure. But when coming up with a Top 5 Fav list of anime not sure DB will make it infact it doesn't currently, FMA, Wolfs Rain, Clannad, Gosick & Konohana Kitan is above DB for me. Characters are ultimately what make DB for me, it's probably why for example I enjoyed the U.S arc so much because of all the character interactions.

[Saikyo no Senshi]

No. Never was. It probably won't rank even in my top 100 or anything if I were to make a list. I get its appeal and even enjoy it somewhat(modern DB can burn though), but there's just way better stuff out there that personally grab me in a way that DB can never do.

[Gligarman]

If we're strictly talking TV series and excluding OVA's and films then yes, it's my favorite and for one specific reason. I have never seen any other anime with such a large cast of likable characters. Though admittedly I do think the manga's better.

My other favorite anime include the following:

TV
3,000 Leagues In Search of Mother
One Piece
The Vision of Escaflowne
Cardcaptor Sakura
Kino's Journey

OVA
Tenchi Muyo!
Macross Plus
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (1993)
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
Dragon Half

Film - Ghibli
Princess Mononoke
The Wind Rises
Porco Rosso
Pom Poko
Whisper of the Heart

Film - Non-Ghibli
Night on the Galactic Railroad
The Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer
Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

[PacificOceanDub]

Oh for sure, with the exception of YuYu Hakusho and Spirited Away, I can’t stand any of the other anime I’ve seen.

[Lord Beerus]

Absolutely not.

I like Dragon Ball a lot, but it is nowhere near my favorite anime. I could name at least a 50 different anime that kicks Dragon Ball's ass in every department.

[CJStriker_CBR]

Nope, it is Up their, But it is Not My Favorite.

My Favorite, #1 Anime Ever, of All times and Extremely Likely for the rest of My Life will Always Be Sailor Moon!!!

[Freeza Soldier #156]

Absolutely, and it probably always will be. I don’t watch much anime but all of the series that I do watch: Hunter X Hunter, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, One Punch Man are all considered of higher quality than DB, but they just don’t give me the same joy that DB does.

[MajinMan]

To all the people saying “it’s not even in my top 50 or 100 anime,” why do you waste your time on this forum? What makes you want to come here and talk about a series, which some of you do on a consistent basis, that doesn’t even crack your top 50 anime? Hell, that’s not even counting all the other countless things you can enjoy like movies, live-action TV shows, non-Japanese cartoons, etc. Genuine question, not trying to be mean or rude.

Now my personal answer is yes. I love Dragon Ball. The series intrigues me so much with all its history. Not only the show/manga itself, but all the behind-the-scenes stuff too.

One of my new (well, it’s not so much new anymore) favorite things to learn about is the animation side of things. I remember when AnimeAjay started out in these forums making posts about DBS episodes with screenshots representing the animators, and now he owns a successful youtube channel with 50k subscribers and is a mod/member of the site staff. Watching the community itself grow and learn to appreciate certain things that weren’t really talked about all too often like animation has been wonderful to witness. It proves that there is always so much to learn, even if you think you knew everything already.

I haven’t seen too many other anime, but even if I had, DB will always be my favorite. I’ll never claim that it has the best writing/production/music of anything ever, but that won’t stop me from declaring it my favorite. It truly is a series that keeps on giving.

[OmegaRockman]

It and Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 are tied for my favorite, but I definitely love a lot of other anime. Eureka Seven, Escaflowne, Eva, Akira, Naruto, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Death Note, Bebop, Haruhi Suzumiya, Ouran High School, and bit of Gundam are among some of my favorites from my child and teen years. I didn't see Trigun until a little later, but I still loved the hell out of it. I'm slowly working through Yu Yu Hakusho and I'll get to One Piece after that, but I have seen enough of both to say I love them dearly. I really like Hellsing, but need to finish the Ultimate OVAs. I also watched a ton of other stuff (Kenichi, Love Hina, Karin, Glass Fleet, Back Cat, spring to mind) but I wouldn't call them favorites.

I also sat down and watched a bunch of stuff last summer since I had a ton of free time. Gankutsuou was great, but the visuals ocassionaly strained my eyes a little. It was also a bit slow, though that's not necessarily a bad thing. Galaxy Express 999 became one of my top 5 favorites for me, and I totally see why Nozawa'a other legendary role is Tetsuro. I also loved Fist of the North Star. I thought Captain Harlock was okay, but it became a bit if a chore to get through after a while. Arcadia of My Youth was excellent, though. Baccano blew my freaking mind and I wonder how I could have slept on it for so long. I was a little late to the game on Made in Abyss, but it was another great show. I also finally finished One Punch Man and watched through Mob Psycho 100 and they were both fantastic. I need to catch up on Mob Psycho 2, though. My fiance and I both fell in love with My Hero Academia and can't wait until Season 4. Finally, I bit the bullet and did the big one: I watched through all of Jojo. It's lovely.

As for movies I finally got to, my fiance had been raving about Perfect Blue for the longest time and she was 100 percent correct. I also enjoyed Angel's Egg, though it kinda worsened my existential dread a bit. I think that may have been the point, though. Mind Game and Tekkonkinkreet were trippy but visually stunning. Steamboy was a little disappointing coming from the creator of Akira, but it wasn't bad. I watched Ghost in the Shell for the first time since high school and was able to appreciate the deeper philosophical stuff I never picked up on before.

I also kept up with some of last year's new shows as rhey released and fell for several. At the beginning of the year, A Place Further than the Universe made me nearly cry. Not a lot of series do that to me. Devilman Crybaby was one I binged with a friend and my fiance and we were all bown away. Megalobox was an awesome throwback to the late 90s and early 00s era that Bebop helped define. Plus who doesn't like the idea of Rocky except robot arms? Plus the protagonist is basically Goku (I'm on topic, I swear!). I should probably check out Ashita no Joe sometime. I also never saw Legend of the Galactic Heroes other than My Conquest is the Sea of Stars (which has Horikawa in it! On topic!), so Die Neue These was a good excuse to finally take a look and I ADORED IT. I should check out the old show since VRV has it now, but it's a commitment. GE999 and FotNS were already huge time sinks, and I'm set to finish college this semester so I may just stick with the new show once it comes back. I binged Hinamatsuri after the season ended since I heard great things and it was certainly great.

In the summer I started Banana Fish. Jesus fuck. At Episode 8 I made my fiance catch up and watch the rest with me. It's a top ten favorite now. If yoy have Amazon Prime, check it out. I was shattered when we lost Ishizuka-san this past year, but his performance as Papa Dino was one hell of a final role. I liked Planet With, but I didn't like it as much as I felt I should.

Then Gridman comes out next season and basically gives me the something that Planet With lacked. I'm not sure what that something is, but Gridman had it. Maybe it was that it was unabashedly toku, which I appreciate as a Sentai fan? Maybe it was the deeper themes I got out of Gridman that I didn't quite get from Planet With? I dunno. I also watched through Skullface Bookseller with my fiance over winter break. It was a nice, goofy distraction.

Also, before I forget, Thunderbolt Fantasy. I don't care if wuxia puppet dramas aren't "technically" anime. Go to Crunchyroll now and get on that shit. The land is cloaked in deepest blue.

But yeah, I love DB, but I also love a lot of other anime. I made a conscious effort to try and diversify my anime consumption last year since my anime diet has stagnated a bit since I started college. I may have left out some shows I finally got to since I watched so much, but I had a great time!

[Lord Beerus]

To all the people saying “it’s not even in my top 50 or 100 anime,” why do you waste your time on this forum? What makes you want to come here and talk about a series, which some of you do on a consistent basis, that doesn’t even crack your top 50 anime? Hell, that’s not even counting all the other countless things you can enjoy like movies, live-action TV shows, non-Japanese cartoons, etc. Genuine question, not trying to be mean or rude.

There is a lot of anime out there. Like... A LOT. And while Dragon Ball is a good story for what it is, for a medium like anime, that has spanned several decades and produced thousands of stories, if you've been exposed to a sizable portion of what anime in general has provided, you will find many, and I do mean MANY, shows which objectively kick Dragon Ball's ass in every area (animation, writing, directing, musical score, voice acting etc.)

This not a knock against what Dragon Ball provides. It's a wonderfully, whimsical, fantasy martial arts tale, that succeeds immensely in what it wants to achieve. But there is so much other anime out there that have done what Dragon Ball has done -- before it's time, during it's time and after its time -- and have done it better.

You owe it really to yourself to dip your toes into other kinds of anime that are available and widen your horizon. It's only then that you'll realize that there is so much better shit in the anime genre that what Dragon Ball was/is pumping out. I mean, by your own admission, you haven't watched a lot of of anime, while others (myself included) have. Hence, despite people saying they like Dragon Ball, you see comments like “it’s not even in my top 50 or 100 anime,”.

Dragon Ball is good. But there is SO much stuff better than it. And you don't have to look far to find it. But that doesn't negate the fact that, yes, Dragon Ball is good. Just because some people think it's not the best or among the best, doesn't take that quality away. And I have no idea why some fans obsess over something like that. If you like Dragon Ball, despite there being many other animes that are better than it, why should that matter?

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I think something people often forget is that your enjoyment of something doesn't always necessarily correlate with its quality (which is also subjective to the individual).

This thread is asking whether or not Dragon Ball is our "Favourite" anime, so not necessarily the best written, directed, animated, acted or scored but the one that we get the most enjoyment out of. I love a lot of books, movies, TV shows and other forms of media that are not necessarily the best of their genre but they have personal significance to me and are thus my favourites.

I would never tell anyone Dragon Ball is the best anime ever because I acknowledge there are other anime out there that succeed in areas where Dragon Ball falls short. I can acknowledge that Attack on Titan has better animation or Yu Yu Hakusho has better writing, but they don't entertain me as much as Dragon Ball. I don't feel compelled to talk in depth about them or indeed buy them as soon as new Blu-Rays come out.

That is not to say that for some posters here their preferred anime can't be directly proportional to how good it is, but for those who say Dragon Ball doesn't crack their top 50 can you say for sure that if there were dedicated forums for each of those 50+ other anime that you would use them? Moreover, would you use them as regularly as Kanzenshuu? Because that would be a lot of forums to keep track of, if you had the time for all of them, as I'm sure there's more to all of our lives than having discussions on the internet.

I know Dragon Ball is not the best anime out there. I haven't seen nearly as much anime as some posters here but I have seen some other anime (like the two aforementioned, alongside others like Black Lagoon, Cowboy Bebop, Mobile Suit Gundam, Evangelion etc) I can see why people think is better than Dragon Ball. If I watched more anime would I discover a lot more that can be argued to be better than Dragon Ball? I would say most likely. That said with the time I have spent watching and rewatching Dragon Ball, read the manga, Derek Padula's books, Toriyama interviews, played the video games, the money I've spent, times I've spent talking about it socially and online, recommended it to people, listened to podcasts and discussions on Youtube about it I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it is my favourite anime, not the best, but clearly the one that I get the most pleasure from.

[MajinMan]

Spoiler:

To all the people saying “it’s not even in my top 50 or 100 anime,” why do you waste your time on this forum? What makes you want to come here and talk about a series, which some of you do on a consistent basis, that doesn’t even crack your top 50 anime? Hell, that’s not even counting all the other countless things you can enjoy like movies, live-action TV shows, non-Japanese cartoons, etc. Genuine question, not trying to be mean or rude.

There is a lot of anime out there. Like... A LOT. And while Dragon Ball is a good story for what it is, for a medium like anime, that has spanned several decades and produced thousands of stories, if you've been exposed to a sizable portion of what anime in general has provided, you will find many, and I do mean MANY, shows which objectively kick Dragon Ball's ass in every area (animation, writing, directing, musical score, voice acting etc.)

This not a knock against what Dragon Ball provides. It's a wonderfully, whimsical, fantasy martial arts tale, that succeeds immensely in what it wants to achieve. But there is so much other anime out there that have done what Dragon Ball has done -- before it's time, during it's time and after its time -- and have done it better.

You owe it really to yourself to dip your toes into other kinds of anime that are available and widen your horizon. It's only then that you'll realize that there is so much better shit in the anime genre that what Dragon Ball was/is pumping out. I mean, by your own admission, you haven't watched a lot of of anime, while others (myself included) have. Hence, despite people saying they like Dragon Ball, you see comments like “it’s not even in my top 50 or 100 anime,”.

Dragon Ball is good. But there is SO much stuff better than it. And you don't have to look far to find it. But that doesn't negate the fact that, yes, Dragon Ball is good. Just because some people think it's not the best or among the best, doesn't take that quality away. And I have no idea why some fans obsess over something like that. If you like Dragon Ball, despite there being many other animes that are better than it, why should that matter?

I wasn’t debating that there aren’t shows better than Dragon Ball, and I don’t necessarily agree that there are THAT many anime that are “objectively” better in every single way because this is, in the end, a form of art that’s mostly about subjective taste. You can claim a romance anime is objectively better than DB will ever be, and I can easily respond with “I don’t like romance shows so it doesn’t mean anything to me.” You can’t naturally compare the two genres without showing bias. Sure you can claim that a romance show will have objectively better or more romantic moments, but I can also easily claim DB has objectively better or more action and gags. It all depends on the person and what they prefer more.

You can like and think whatever you want, so don’t take this as an attack from some rabid DB fanboy who has some blind love for the series that he must shove upon everyone else. I have absolutely no problem with you or others claiming DB isn’t as good as many other anime. You can make DB your 96th favorite anime for all I care. My original question was moreso WHY you are on this forum if you don’t think that highly of it. Is it because of a deeper, more nostalgic connection compared to other shows you’ve seen, despite not thinking it’s as great as them? Or is it another reason? At this point the discussion has shifted a little, but that’s what I originally asked.

Now I’ll give some context on my experience on the anime I’ve watched and how they compare to DB. This will mostly be a subjective view on things from me. I will first admit most of the anime I have seen are shonen, with some other stuff like Evangelion (mostly because people kept praising it to no end) and some Ghibili films here and there. I’m only going to compare the shonen shows because I feel that they are the most comparable. They are “technically” the same “genre.” Of the notable shonen I have seen, I’ve seen Naruto, MHA, Yu Yu Hakusho, and One Punch Man. Throw in some other random shows I caught here and there, but never really watched or took seriously. I also read around 500 chapters of One Piece before stopping at the Fishman Island arc. The only one I feel that competes is Yu Yu Hakusho.

A lot of these modern shonen shows that everyone says “improved on DB’s formula” have numerous problems that I think DB itself doesn’t have, at least in the original manga and anime run, such as constantly forcing overdramatic moments that are meant to pull on your heart strings at every opportunity. Naruto and One Piece in particular are very guilty of this, somehow spinning almost every single backstory for new characters into some overemotional story. It works the first few times, hell sometimes it can lead to fantastic story telling, but if that’s all they’re going to do for every new character, villain or not, then you have a problem.

Another issue with these two is the overabundance of flashbacks and repeating shit we’ve seen a million times. There are far, far too many moments like this. I was honestly surprised while I was reading One Piece that it would take like 6-8 chapters off at a time to tell me another “boo-hoo” sob story for some character we just recently met. You might think this is just one small element of these shows, and that it doesn’t affect them that much, but I beg to differ. These two series THRIVE off of this stuff. It’s the main selling point of modern shonen. This is the main reason I’ve seen most people praise these shows as “surpassing” Dragon Ball. And truth be told, I don’t hate either of these series. If I did I would not have watched Naruto all the way through or gave One Piece 500 chapters.

The reason I think Dragon Ball succeeds in those areas is because it doesn’t force those moments down your throat every 10 episodes. Could it have used more emotional, sad moments? Maybe, but I’d much rather have less than an overabundance of them. That’s why when we have moments like Vegeta sacrificing himself against Boo, it feels special and deserved. When you start having like 5 different flashback interpretations of Itachi’s past that constantly get brought up, it starts to get a little ridiculous. I found myself, after seeing it for the 109th time, going “yah yah, he killed his parents, nobody cares move on with the plot.” I assure you that’s not a reaction you want to have for a plot point that is so crucial to the story, especially if you genuinely got invested in Itachi’s true past when it was first revealed like I did. At a certain point, it gets mind numbingly boring and ultimately wastes your time.

At this point I feel like I’m just going to keep rambling on and on, so I’ll give these “new” shows some credit where I think they genuinely deserve it so I don’t come off as some hater. I think that the worlds and settings of Naruto and One Piece are very imaginative and well thought out. Compared to Dragon Ball’s world, which I don’t think is bad by any means, they are a step above. Yu Yu Hakusho, a series I mentioned competed well with Dragon Ball, has a great structure and system to it. It’s more stable and consistent than DB. If you told me it was better than DB, I would not argue with you like I would against Naruto or One Piece. MHA is a strange one. One one hand it feels very much like other modern shonen that came before it, and on another it feels more subdued, which I think is a good thing. Now I’ve only seen the anime, so I don’t know where the story is at in the manga. It could’ve gotten better or worse.

I don’t want to compare every aspect of each show because quite frankly, that would take way too long, and I don’t think I have the capabilty to write something like that without making it sloppy and sounding like a broken record. I’m no Kunzait, that’s for sure. I’ll just say that I think Dragon Ball’s more simple and less complicated approach to story telling does it wonders compared to the sometimes over emotional, complicated messes that can be Naruto and One Piece. That’s why, to me, DB will be a step above the anime that I have watched. Even excluding my personal attachment to the series, I think it’s legitimately good in many areas, some of which it doesn’t get the credit it deserves.

Overall, yes, I do know that DB does have its fair share of problems, especially if you include GT and modern DB. I know that there are other shows that have better writing overall, hell even I think YYH has better writing at least. But those things won’t stop it from being my favorite because this series has been in pretty much my entire life, and it keeps on giving in many ways I did not expect it to. Even if I decide to watch other great anime, let’s say like Full Metal Alchemist (which I did catch numerous times on TV a long time ago, but don’t have much memory of), I highly, highly doubt it would become my new favorite. At this point it’s pretty much set in stone for me. That’s my final statement on this piece.