It’s hard to think of an anime franchise as ubiquitous in its influence as Dragon Ball. The series, which dates back to the 1980s, was a massive influence on many of today’s mangaka when they were kids, and that impact can be felt in their work today. While Akira Toriyama may now be gone, his influence on anime will be almost unending, thanks to the power of Dragon Ball.
There are a myriad of reasons why Dragon Ball has been so impactful on anime as a whole. Both the original series and Dragon Ball Z broke new ground for shonen anime, and established a number of tropes which have gone on to be seen in all manner of later works. Below are 10 of the biggest reasons why the series has had such a lasting legacy, and why it’ll continue to be influential for decades to come.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, despite being a direct continuation, are extremely different series. Dragon Ball begins as a goofy, fantasy-adventure, while Dragon Ball Z is much more of a dramatic series which takes a sci-fi bent to its shenanigans. It’s a radical shift, but it’s one that happens slowly, using retcons to change the nature of what Goku is by revealing his Saiyan heritage.
Many later series would also see significant changes to their existing formula as the stories expanded; Bleach, for example, starts out as a story set primarily in the real world dealing with ghosts before going full fantasy and diving into Bleach‘s Soul Society, and the radical transformation the series had as a result of this shift in focus. Dragon Ball‘s successful genre shift made it possible for later series to do the same, eventually helping them grow into the hit series we know them as.
Another storytelling trope which Dragon Ball Z helped to popularize was the idea of passing the torch. With Goku grown as an adult now, it seemed like his son Gohan was set up to take his place. Toriyama fully intended to have Gohan become the main character, but Goku’s insane popularity ultimately kept that from happening entirely. Still, the Cell Saga in particular stands out as a major “passing the torch” moment, where Goku passes the responsibility of protecting the world onto his young son.
The idea of the heroes having successors has become a major element of many manga and anime series, particularly as a way to continue the franchise after the story’s end. One need only look to Boruto to see an example of how anime have latched onto the trope, but it even applies in series like My Hero Academia, where Deku’s role as a successor to All Might is played up until he receives his own passing-the-torch moment.
The Tournament arc is a Dragon Ball special, with the series tackling its first tournament arc only a few dozen chapters in, the World Martial Arts Tournament. Tournament arcs are a great way to have a lot of high-stakes fight scenes back to back, while still offering an explanation as to why one combatant doesn’t simply kill the other one. Tournaments (generally) have rules, after all, and these rules must be followed to win, putting some much-needed limits on what characters can do.
Tournaments also allow other characters a chance in the spotlight, as they fight one-on-one (or team-on-team) against foes whose worthiness is proven by their acceptance into the tournament. While later series like Yu Yu Hakusho would help codify the tournament arc trope in anime and manga, there’s no denying that Dragon Ball was the original inspiration for many a later tournament.
While Dragon Ball Z definitely saw a shift towards being more serious than its predecessor series, it certainly didn’t go so far as to abandon comedy altogether. It took some time, but Dragon Ball managed to find the perfect balance between jokes and fight scenes, careful not to allow the comedy to impact the drama of the fights, and vice versa.
Many later series, from One Piece to My Hero Academia, have borrowed the carefully struck balance between comedy and action that Dragon Ball established. Manga, almost by definition, must include comedic elements, but it can be hard to maintain those jokes in the face of drama, just as it can be difficult to maintain dramatic tension after a joke. Dragon Ball pioneered the perfect balance, knowing when to joke around and when not to.
Dragon Ball’s Super Saiyan transformation is perhaps the most iconic transformation of a hero of all time. While it wasn’t uncommon for villains to go through several terrible forms as they were battled, transforming wasn’t really a power most heroes had before Dragon Ball Z. The series did an excellent job building up to the transformation, making it an incredibly satisfying moment within the series when Goku finally achieves the full Super Saiyan form.
Transformations have become so popular as a result that they’ve almost become standard. One need only look to Luffy and his Gear transformations, or Ichigo and his Hollow transformations to see how much of an impact Dragon Ball had in this regard. Transforming, of course, became a trademark of Saiyans, with many more later transformations unlocked, and that ladder of transformations itself became a new trope that many other series would follow.
Martial Arts often play a big role in manga and anime series, with the practice of martial arts often acting as a gateway to far greater abilities. By mastering martial arts, one can learn to control their Ki in Dragon Ball, which enables everything from energy blasts to flight. While a great many martial arts manga came before Dragon Ball, not so many combined the practice of martial arts with near-magical abilities.
It’s not hard to draw parallels between the use of martial arts in Dragon Ball to other later series as well. Mastering martial arts, ranging from things like Naruto’s jutsu to swordfighting techniques like in Bleach, is an essential part of many a shonen hero’s journey, and that’s yet another major influence of Dragon Ball on what came after.
Even in the world of Dragon Ball, where a new powerful threat seemingly lurks around every corner, there are times when things are peaceful and safe. The franchise has made liberal use of time skips over the years, going back to the first time skip in the series, where Goku and friends split up and agreed to meet back up again at the World Martial Arts Tournament. That’s without even mentioning the massive time skip between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.
Instead of forcing everything to happen over a very short time period, Dragon Ball wasn’t afraid to allow time to pass and its characters to have aged. By the time of Super, Goku has gone from being a child himself to having grandchildren, covering a massive span of his life which very few other series have dared to do. It’s only been relatively recently with works like Boruto and Yashahime that major time skips allowed fans to see their heroes really grow up, but Dragon Ball did it first.
One trope that Dragon Ball basically invented was the training arc, a whole story arc built around growing strong enough to meet the next challenge on the field of battle. This is usually done on a tight time limit; think of Gohan’s first training arc with Piccolo, which had to be completed before the other Saiyans arrived on Earth, with a year to train until then. Some are even tighter, such as Goten and Trunks’ fusion training, which had to be completed in a matter of hours.
Training arcs have become almost mandatory in shonen series since Dragon Ball first popularized them. It’s hard to name a series without at least one training arc, particularly among big names like Naruto and Bleach.Demon Slayer‘s fourth season is built entirely around a massive training arc, for example, intending to prepare its heroes for the final confrontation.
The idea of the rival character, often one on the same side as the hero, certainly goes back farther than Dragon Ball, but there’s no denying that Vegeta is one of the best executed rivals of all time. Vegeta’s slow turn from villain to rival to ally is one of the best character arcs in Dragon Ball, and one can really appreciate how much the character grew to respect Goku rather than just hate him for being better.
Having a Vegeta-like rival has become ubiquitous among shonen anime. My Hero Academia‘s Bakugo is probably one of the biggest recent examples, with dark personality traits like Vegeta that help him to contrast with the main hero’s purity. Rivals are great for pushing characters to grow stronger, as they compete with each other to grow rather than always being forced to measure up against the villains, who may not be directly comparable.