Pinkie Pie Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 LET'S MASTERLY DEBATE! We all know both of these shows, decently well, I hope, and we all know that people often like to compare these shows due to the sheer fact that Naruto looks like a Super Saiyan. Now, we settle this once and for all! Which manga is really better? By that, I don't mean in feats of power, I mean in story, art, characters, fillers and animation. Why do I post this here? Because this forum is one of the few that have people who know how NOT to debate like Youtube idiots. Story: I prefer Dragonball, and I'm talking about the entire series, not just Dragonball Z. A mistake a lot of people make comparing Naruto and Dragonball 's story is that they simply go on to DBZ instead of starting in Dragonball. Many people assume that Dragonball has no story because everyone skips over to DBZ, and do not know the context at all of the story in the first place. That's like watching Naruto Shippuden before watching Naruto, if you watch Shippuden before Naruto, then you would also think Naruto makes no sense. People also fail to realize that Dragonball is a series of plots instead of being one big plot. Anyways, I prefer Dragonball because it goes on a much faster pace than Naruto. I admit, Naruto at first had a more interesting story, but the 'Naruto trying to get Sasuke' thing has dragged on for way too long. The entire series to me has been just that, with additions that feel as if they were just added on to make it seem longer. Dragonball has far better plots than Naruto, in my opinion, the Cell saga was a lot more interesting than the Pain arc, actually, all of the sagas were more interesting than what Naruto has offered so far. Animation: I think it's obvious that Dragonball is superior here in animation. Especially because it is older. The biggest flaw with the animation of Naruto is the fact that on some scenes, Naruto's face looks how it normally would be, but on others, he just looks plain ugly then sometimes he even looks fat, the animation itself also seems clumsy at some points. Characters: Dragonball, hands down. I probably sound like a fan-girl by now, but, let's be honest. Naruto's more prominent characters hardly have any development at all, and the ones who do have development, die off soon after. Dragonball, while they eventually left behind some characters, still continued on with development of the new ones. The best example, is none other than Vegeta. Vegeta started out as a ruthless villain, but eventually became one of the best heroes of the series. Despite his bad-ass ness, he was still flawed, however, he let his pride get to him occasionally, often leaving him at number 2 to Goku. Vegeta himself realizes this at the end of the series, when he finally admits that Goku has and always will be better than him. But, that doesn't stop him from trying to become the best. Sasuke is the most talked about character in Naruto, but think about it. Sasuke really has had no development at all, he started out wanting revenge, became Naruto's friend briefly, but then went back to revenge again. And it has been the same ever since he left. He's also pretty much a copy of Vegeta, only a cry-baby. "My clan was destroyed.." "My entire planet was destroyed, fuckin' deal with it" Art: Naruto's art ranges from mediocre to decent in the actual manga chapters, it's pretty inconsistent. However, if you were to put them side by side at their best, although Dragonball will have better colors, Naruto would look better drawn. I think this is more of a tie, really. Fillers Uh...well, Naruto was murdered by filler episodes, so no competition here. Meanwhile, Dragonball fillers were so good, no one realizes that Kai is the complete version of DBZ without fillers. Music Naruto wins this one, for once. But in Dragonball's defense, there wasn't a new song every new season. So, I think it's pretty much obvious now that I enjoy Dragonball more than Naruto, but, what do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xdaniel Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Now that's an interesting topic... First things first, it's been awhile since I've seen or read either of the shows in question, I haven't seen a shred of Kai - one reason being no-one's brought it over here yet, as far as I'm aware, otherwise I would've watched it on TV from time to time - and I have dropped Shippuuden several years ago. On one hand, this should give me some reasonable distance to judge them fairly, while on the other hand this means that my memory of each the shows might not be the best. That out of the way, here we go... Story: If you exclude any non-story or at least less important events from each, Dragon Ball probably has an edge over Naruto overall, yet I think the world of Naruto is more interesting and more defined, with its countries and ninja villages, their histories, etc. Yet again, I'm of the opinion that Naruto could've as well ended after the conclusion of the Chuunin exam or after Naruto and Sasuke's battle at the Valley of the End (or whatever it was called), because, while potentially interesting, the execution of the whole "bringing back Sasuke" thing fell kinda flat. An even more extreme opinion would be that they could've left the whole thing as a short one-shot and ended it after Wave Country - I wouldn't have minded, seeing how that first arc is my favorite to this day. Art and Animation: Covering both in one point, I can't really decide about the animation, as it's been so long since I saw DB or DBZ, but just in terms of the art style and still images (backgrounds, etc.) I have to give this one to Naruto. While Akira Toriyama is a great artist no doubt, I'm personally more of a fan of Kishimoto here - character design, background artwork, basically everything in that regard I like Kishimoto's takes on more. Characters: The longer Naruto dragged on, the less interesting the main characters became - maybe excluding Kakashi, especially after reading the Kakashi Gaiden chapters -, but then again, I have to say that Dragon Ball's main characters didn't really leave that big of an impression on me, either. Some of the side characters or even villians from both series were more memorable and interesting, like ex. Shikamaru, or Zabuza and Haku on the Naruto side, or the Red Ribbon Army and their commanders from Dragon Ball. Fillers: I did sit through 30 or 40 of Naruto's filler episodes before skipping ahead to Shippuuden, as I was still catching up while the fillers were winding down in Japan. And while one or two of those filler arcs actually were kinda good, overall they were way more annoying than anything else, especially when there wasn't yet an end in sight, around episode 180 or whenever. Now, while this might be down to how long it's been, I can't really recall any fillers that bad in Dragon Ball. The only thing that I do remember is that Snake Road or whatever the name was that Goku had to travel along in DBZ, although I have no idea if that really took as long as I think it did or not. Something you haven't mentioned, but is a pretty important point for me in any show, is the Music: I cannot remember any specific tracks from Dragon Ball or DBZ other than the first Japanese DB opening, whose instrumental version was occasionally used as BGM, as well as the obvious CHA-LA-HEAD-CHA-LA and We Gotta Power (or their respective German versions, anyway). That's unlike Naruto, which for me is the clear winner in this department. While I can't remember most of the track titles, Naruto had so many great BGMs that really set the tone of a given scene, getting you fired up for the unfolding battle, instilling a certain anxiety in you, making you melancholic or thoughful, etc., etc. Also, Naruto had some of the finest opening and ending themes ever - not necessarily the most impressive compositions, but very fitting and very memorable. And some of them even were a bit more - chock-full of Engrish or not, Akeboshi's Wind (ED 1) is a wonderful piece, similar goes for Sambomaster's Seishun Kyousoukyoku (OP 5). Yeah, I hope that made sense and wasn't too one-sided or whatever. It's late, I haven't seen either show in ages, so... yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcaith Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Dragonball is, at its roots, a comedy. While the middling area of Z was a much more serious work, toward the end it returned to its roots once more. And that is one of the crucial distinctions people often miss when comparing it to other series. Naruto, while having its fair share of comedy, is not intended to be treated as such. It's very typical of its genre, and doesn't really take any steps outside the norm: Step 1: Achieve power. Step 2: Achieve recognition. Step 3: Get yourself a new goal. Step 4: Repeat. Still, it makes for interesting reading some of the time. There are points where both series really shine, but I will say that Naruto has the bigger slumps when it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dekupk5 Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Music: Naruto 8/10 Dragon ball 10/10 Art: Naruto 10/10 Dragon ball 10/10 Story: Naruto 8.9/10 Dragon ball 10/10 Characters: Naruto 8.4/10 Dragon ball 10/10 Entertainment: Naruto 9.4/10 Dragon ball 10/10 Verdict: Naruto 8.8/10 Dragon ball 10/10 Just my opinoin . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zurg Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Bleach. But to answer the question, Dragonball, simply because I don't like Naruto. I'm a great contributor, aye? As an analogy: Naruto is a child attempts and acts like an adult. Dragonball is a child and acts it's age. A would prefer the debate of Naruto: Shippuden vs Dragonball Z, but that's just my style of amine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinkie Pie Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Bleach. But to answer the question, Dragonball, simply because I don't like Naruto. I'm a great contributor, aye? As an analogy: Naruto is a child attempts and acts like an adult. Dragonball is a child and acts it's age. A would prefer the debate of Naruto: Shippuden vs Dragonball Z, but that's just my style of amine. Uh.. when I said the entire Dragonball series, I meant the entire Naruto series too.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zurg Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Uh.. when I said the entire Dragonball series, I meant the entire Naruto series too.. Dragonball still wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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