Summary
Dragon Ball fans should check out Fist of the North Star for epic battles and a protagonist as powerful as Son Goku. Continue the anime marathon with Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, the spiritual successor to Dragon Ball on Crunchyroll. Saiyuki delivers a unique retelling of Journey to the West with a group of heroes fighting demons, similar to the theme of Dragon Ball.
Many of the best anime Dragon ball fans need to watch is streaming Crunchyroll right away. It's a rare anime or manga fan who doesn't at least know about Dragon Ball, even if they haven't watched or read all of it. It chronicles the adventures of Son Goku and his friends, family, and rivals, as they seek greater power and battle increasingly powerful opponents to protect Earth and its people. .
With the recent passing of one of the media's greatest masters, Akira Toriyama, many fans are returning to his seminal work, of which Dragon Ball is just one part. . In addition to Toriyama's own creations, fans will enjoy manga adaptations of the same era as Dragon Ball and the equally explosive anime that wouldn't exist without it.
The 10 fists of the North Star revolve around honor and strength
Based on the manga by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara
In a barren wasteland of a world where only the strong survive, justice and honor are in short supply. Luckily for the innocents he encounters (and unfortunately for the villains tormenting them), Kenshiro is strong enough to correct the mistakes he encounters on his journey. Kenshiro may be a kind person, but as the sole user of the Hokuto Shinken, he can inflict on his enemies some very chaotic deaths with just the right touch.
The original Fist of the North Star manga ran from 1983 to 1988, around the same time as the first Dragon Ball, which ran from 1984 to 1995. While Dragon Ball has a brighter tone and faster pace , the series tends to favor bigger, more powerful things. Heroes and villains attack each other using their favorite martial arts. In both chapters, the greatest battle at least tears the ground and at most shakes the entire planet.
9 Dragon Quest: Dai's Adventure Is the spiritual successor to Dragon Ball
Based on the manga by Riku Sanjo and Koji Inada
In addition to manga like Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, Akira Toriyama also designs characters for other media, including the Dragon Quest video game franchise. The manga adaptation of this game was adapted into an anime from 1989 to 1996. The anime was also produced by Toei Animation, the studio responsible for producing, among many other popular anime, Dragon Ball.
As the only human on the island of monsters, Dai was raised by his foster family on stories of the giant Demon King Hadlar, who used other demons as minions in his efforts to take over the world. When Hadlar was revived, Dai must replace the previous hero and grow strong enough to defeat him. Along the way, he discovers shocking truths about his origin and destiny.
8 Saiyuki also narrated Journey to the West
Based on the manga by Kazuya Minekura
Famously, Dragon Ball was inspired by Hong Kong kung fu films and the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en. Both Dragon Ball and Saiyuki are unique retellings of Journey. Saiyuki's five series tell the adventures of five heroes tasked by the Trinity Buddha to restore peace to a demon-possessed world.
The leader of this group is Genjo Sanzo, a strong but tired monk inspired by Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong's guide in Journey to the West. Naturally, Sanzo guides his own Sun Wukong: another happy, always hungry monkey child named Son Goku. Together with their friends, they not only fight the demon Gyumao and his minions (themselves partners of the Demon King Western Cow and his family) but also challenge the gods themselves.
7 Yu Yu Hakusho is a superpower fighting manga
Based on the manga by Yoshihiro Togashi
Like Goku, thug Yusuke Urameshi is no stranger to being brought back from the dead to fight evil. By doing a good deed that shocks the gods, he gets a chance to return as the Spirit Detective. Together with his friends, Yusuke masters his new powers and fights to right the wrongs of the human and supernatural worlds.
Dragon Ball is famous for many things, including some of the best tournament rounds in anime, from the Tenkaichi Budokai to the Tournament of Power. Once the entire Urameshi Team is reunited, the second part of Yu Yu Hakusho takes them all to the Shadow Tournament. This, To pursue the winner's wish, sixteen teams of heroes and villains did their best before an audience of gambling demons.
6 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure features awesome battles and a heroic lineage
Based on the manga by Hirohiko Araki
The first three seasons of the manga also cover the same era as Dragon Ball, from the late 80s to early 90s. Although his preferred character design changes in later seasons, in the first few seasons by JoJo Araki was completely ahead of power character designs. Moral conflict is nowhere to be found here: the villains are pure evil and while the heroes may be rude and crude, they are always steadfastly on the side of good and never have You can turn your back on your goals.
Also, one of the things JoJo is best known for his frequent changes in setting and main characters. All of the JoJos are awesome in their own ways, but each of them inevitably passes on the mantle of hero, often to a younger descendant who is very different from them. Initially, Toriyama planned to kill Goku permanently and let Gohan take on the role of the main character, but things did not go as he planned.
5 Kenichi: The greatest disciple who trains harder than anyone else
Based on the manga by Syun Matsuena
Despite being born with powers greater than any human, the secret to the Z-Fighters' success is training, training, and more training. They use creative and even life-threatening methods to strengthen their bodies and come out even stronger than before. While Goku's teachers conveyed the importance of rest and recovery to build strength, Vegeta's habit of spending every spare minute training actually does him more harm than good. .
Kenichi Shirahama, tired of being bullied at school, joins the Ryozanpaku dojo to learn how to fight. His masters promptly put him through some of the wildest training in anime, boasting that they would turn him into a master fighter, even if it killed him. A lot of their methods, such as beating him, forcing him into a position of holding heavy objects over a fire, and throwing him into the sea without first teaching him to swim, came pretty close.
4 Naruto's hero's journey is like Sun Wukong
Based on the manga by Masashi Kishimoto
In creating his iconic characters, Masashi Kishimoto has always been vocal about how deeply Akira Toriyama and his work inspired him.. Naruto's signature orange outfit, his talented yet fearsome father figure and mentor, as well as the fierce and proud rival who tried to kill him multiple times are all things Naruto shares. with Goku. Even beyond Enma the Monkey King and Son Goku the Six-Tails, Naruto also shares some notable characteristics with his other famous predecessor, Sun Wukong.
Like Sun Wukong, Naruto spent most of his childhood acting rude, rude, and arrogant to attract attention from the village that had shunned him. His journey to maturity, as well as his attainment of Sage Status, mirrors Sun Wukong's journey from arrogantly calling himself a Great Sage on par with Heaven to becoming a true Buddha under the guidance of Duong Tam Tang. Additionally, Shadow Clone Jutsu and dojutsu abilities like the Sharingan are modeled after the powers of Sun Wukong himself.
3 High School Gods love tournaments as much as Dragon Ball
Based on the manhwa by Yongje Park
Of course, Journey to the West and Dragon Ball are famous classics, it's no surprise that there are also manhwa clearly inspired by both. The God of High School stars Mori Jin, who loves to fight and was raised and trained by his grandfather to become extremely good at fighting. He will have to stay alert to win the God of High School martial arts tournament and win the coveted prize.
Mori has always had a thirst for battle and enjoys fighting increasingly stronger opponents. In the current anime adaptation, all he has to worry about are powerful enemies with their own purposes in the ring. But as manhua fans know, he and his friends will have to face cosmic threats with the fate of the universe hanging in the balance.
2 One-Punch Man has unstoppable heroes
Based on the manga by ONE and Yusuke Murata
Contrary to popular opinion, Saitama is not in the hero business for fame, money, or even to surpass other heroes. He's just a hero who's a hero for fun, and if he attracts some fans, friends, and even a loyal disciple along the way, all the better. However, there was a catch: his ability to knock out any villain with a single punch bored him intolerable.
One-Punch Man is called a true sequel to Dragon Ball. Where Dragon Ball established what would become the cliches of the shounen genre, One Punch Man intentionally subverts these cliches. For example, Saitama does not care about his status or rank among the heroes and is almost never enthusiastic about fighting unless he is faced with a real challenge (which means never ). Although he has a strong sense of justice, it is rarely evident in his face, voice, or fighting style.
1 One Piece could be Dragon Ball's strongest successor
Based on the manga by Eiichiro Oda
Like Kishimoto, Eiichiro Oda is also a great admirer of Toriyama and has been open about Dragon Ball's great influence on One Piece. Goku and Luffy share a strong love of food, loyalty to friends and family, and a burning desire to not only become the strongest warriors, but also fight strong opponents. Their ethics and priorities may not always align with audience expectations, but their hearts are always in the right place.
In addition, One Piece also borrows a lot of the tone and story structure of Dragon Ball. Although the story may take risks and often go to dark places, Its exaggerated art style and dramatic villains keep it from losing its humor and becoming too bleak. And just like Sun Wukong's quest for the sacred texts of the gods and true Buddhahood, as well as Goku's quest for power and the seven Dragon Balls, the hunt for One Piece and Becoming Luffy's Pirate King is full of adventure and seemingly never-ending.
