Dragon ball It is without a doubt one of the most influential anime of all time. Its action style and character writing can be seen as a clear influence on dozens of anime and manga, with One Piece and Naruto being particularly transparent about how much Dragon Ball influenced them, and even Western creators like the staff behind Steven Universe have spoken candidly about how much Dragon Ball has inspired them.
Dragon Ball’s influence on popular culture cannot be underestimated, and there are a number of anime that have done a great job of continuing its legacy. Some do so by being clearly influenced by Dragon Ball’s art style and creating their own style, while others do so by adopting Dragon Ball’s writing style, whether it’s character writing or stylistic bias, too much. -top fighting. Regardless, these anime and many others have clearly been influenced by Dragon Ball, and they all have done well to live up to its immense legacy.
10 Dragon Quests: Dai’s Adventure
Akira Toriyama’s other major franchise comes to the Anime world
Year of release
2020
Episodes
100
Where to stream it
Hulu, Crunchyroll, Hoopla
The first notable anime to continue the legacy of Dragon Ball was Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. Akira Toriyama’s second most famous creative endeavor was providing character designs for the JRPG Dragon Quest franchise, and fittingly, the spin-off manga Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai also went in that direction by capturing Perfect Toriyama’s art style and character writing. The 2020 anime goes even further by using excellent animation to recreate Dragon Ball’s explosive fighting tendencies, and the result is an anime that expertly uses Dragon Ball influences in its writing while still succeed in becoming its own thing.
9 Seven deadly sins
Dragon Ball meets medieval fantasy
Year of release
2014
Episodes
100
Where to stream it
Netflix
Another anime that does a great job of continuing Dragon Ball’s legacy is The Seven Deadly Sins. Just like Dragon Ball, the Seven Deadly Sins boasts superior fighting and abilities, and the series even introduces its own Scouters and power levels, which help define the early parts of Dragon Ball Z. The writing is also clearly inspired by Dragon Ball with the way it effortlessly combines serious drama with lighter moments, in addition to its emphasis on the importance of will and friendship between characters, and It all comes together to create a series that builds very well on the foundational Dragon Ball.
8 Bell Zatch!
Dragon Ball Reborn Comedy & Writing
Year of release
2003
Episodes
150
Where to stream it
Hoopla
When it comes to Dragon Ball’s writing style, one of the best anime to follow in its footsteps is Zatch Bell! Although the fighting style of Zatch Bell! may be very different from Dragon Ball, but the writing has much more obvious similarities through its penchant for humor and emphasis on willpower and friendship, and Zatch himself even bears similarities It’s clear to Goku that as a child he has incredible strength and a large appetite. Zatch Bell! It may not have as many similarities with Dragon Ball as other anime, but it still succeeds in upholding its legacy in its own way.
7 black clover
Goku’s legacy lives on
Year of release
2017
Episodes
170
Where to stream it
Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation
With Dragon Ball being a weekly Shonen Jump manga, it’s only natural for a Shonen Jump manga to follow it, and a perfect example of that is Black Clover. Not only does Asta overlap with Goku by being a goofy, dynamic shounen protagonist with immense willpower, but the battle also has many similarities to Dragon Ball. The way magic is used in Black Clover is very reminiscent of Dragon Ball’s energy attacks, with Asta and other characters even developing Super Saiyan-like transformations. Add in how big the scale of the battle is and Black Clover does a great job of following Dragon Ball.
6 fairy tails
Dragon Ball’s action gets a magical twist
Year of release
2009
Episodes
328
Where to stream it
Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation
Another magic-based anime that does a great job of continuing the legacy of Dragon Ball is Fairy Tail. Like Black Clover, Fairy Tail’s magic usage and general fighting is very similar to that of Dragon Ball, it also tends to be explosive and over-the-top, and Natsu is another character that follows a similar archetype. the goofy fight-loving hero that Goku popularized. Not only that, the art also follows the example of Dragon Ball not only through a similar style but also creating animation through the simplest of means and in doing so, Fairy Tail has successfully captured one of the The core element that creates the success of Dragon Ball.
5 My Hero Academia
A true Titan Anime gives Dragon Ball a new superhero
Year of release
2016
Episodes
138
Where to stream it
Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation
On the surface, My Hero Academia may not have much in common with Dragon Ball, but it still has some notable similarities. The art style has the same kind of simplicity that defined Dragon Ball, and like Dragon Ball, it’s used to make its action stand out as effectively as possible. The aforementioned action also closely follows Dragon Ball due to the frequency of combat involving cleverly choreographed hand-to-hand combat, something that despite being one of Dragon Ball’s defining characteristics is often overlooked, so to see My Hero Academia focus so much on it shows a real understanding of Dragon Ball’s charm.
4 Man one punch
Spiritual sequel to Dragon Ball
Year of release
2015
Episodes
24
Where to stream it
Netflix, Hulu
When it comes to pursuing Dragon Ball’s over-the-top action, there are few anime that do it as well as One-Punch Man. Every episode of One-Punch Man features battles on a grand scale that seem to constantly outdo themselves, even reaching galactic proportions at various points, and that’s always a complete representation. Perfect for the direction of Dragon Ball. increase the scale of its battles. The first episode even opens with a villain who bears a clear resemblance to Piccolo, so from that alone, it’s easy to assume that One-Punch Man’s actions are following in the footsteps of Dragon Ball.
3 Toriko
Goku’s obsession with food has reached its logical extreme
Year of release
2011
Episodes
147
Where to stream it
Hulu, Crunchyroll
Another anime that does a great job of keeping up with Dragon Ball in terms of action is Toriko. The scale of Toriko’s battles starts out big and gets bigger to the point that by the end of the series every character can unleash potentially world-ending attacks and the series never shies away from describes it in perfect detail. Thanks to that, Toriko has done an incredible job of following Dragon Ball’s large-scale fighting style, and the overlap is even great enough for an official crossover between them, so here goes is a rare example of Dragon Ball’s influence being officially acknowledged. capacity.
2 Naruto
One of the most influential Shonen of all time
Year of release
2002
Episodes
720
Where to stream it
Crunchyroll, Hulu
Among all the anime that try to continue the legacy of Dragon Ball, there are many notable anime like Naruto. Between his orange clothes, blonde hair, low level of education, and immense strength and will, Naruto is clearly an imitation of Goku, with his later power-ups even a clear reference to Dragon Ball’s iconic Super Saiyan transformation. Additionally, Naruto’s penchant for martial arts in combat, combined with increasingly large-scale ninjutsu, is very reminiscent of Dragon Ball’s fighting style, and with all that in mind, it’s no surprise that Naruto and Dragon Ball are often mentioned so much. let’s roll.
Although the original Naruto is available on Netflix and many other streaming services, Crunchyroll and Hulu both have the original series and Shippuden.
1 piece
The ultimate successor of Dragon Ball
Year of release
1999
Episodes
1,080
Where to stream it
Netflix, Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu, Pluto TV
The last notable anime to continue the legacy of Dragon Ball is undoubtedly One Piece. Not only is Luffy another character that fits the Luffy archetype, with Gear 5 even copying the visual aesthetic of both Super Saiyan and Ultra Instinct, but the writing is also very similar to Dragon Ball. One Piece’s anachronism, locations, and extremely bizarre character designs fit perfectly with Dragon Ball’s silliness, while the character writing, use of comedy, and especially the fighting are all spot on. reminiscent of Dragon Ball’s style while still having its own identity. One Piece probably did the best job of following Dragon Ball, and that certainly played a major role in its enduring popularity.
Dragon Ball came out at a time when anime was at the peak of its popularity, so with its combination of incredible action and great writing that never gets too complicated, it’s no surprise that it became the such an iconic and influential series. Each of these anime and others have shown their homage to Dragon Ball in one way or another, and seeing them use that to carve out their own identities has contributed greatly to both the quality and lasting legacy of Dragon Ball. Dragon ball. There are few anime with as great a legacy as Dragon Ball, and it will no doubt continue to inspire creators for years to come.
Source: LA Weekly.