Nightmare Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Around the time Cars becomes the ultimate being by using the Stone Mask there's a couple of panels that are just close-ups of Cars' body. Hell, there's even one with sparkles and his loin cloth flowing in the wind as if to suggest that the artist wants to show more of his glory. But really, what was there left to show? >_> Oh, that's just showing how glorious he has become. Or at least, that's how I interpreted it as. It's mostly just that Araki never has done fanservice, even in places where it was really easy for him to do so (the many exploits of Trish in part 5, for example), so I'm mostly inclined to believe it isn't. Though if it is, I wouldn't be surprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 (edited) Is it really derived from Fist of the North Star or are you just saying that because Fist of the North star preceded it? I can't find anything official on this, so I'd like to see a source. As far as I know Dragon Ball wasn't "inspired" significantly by any existing anime. It was inspired entirely by Journey to the West. Modern anime in its genre is clearly inspired by Dragon Ball, however (One Piece, Naruto and Bleach are by far the biggest offenders, as the authors themselves have admitted to). Like how can someone even say Dragon Ball was inspired by something that was released a year before it? Dragon Ball's first volume was released Nov 1985, FotNS was released March 1984. So Akira created Dragon Ball in that 1 year between their releases? Plus Dragon Ball is nothing like it anyway, so it makes no sense >_>. If there is one thing Dragon Ball could possibly have been inspired by, it'd be Astro Boy. and One Piece is the best selling manga ever made. This is impressive.. to a point. One Piece sold that amount on sheer volume. In the same amount of volumes, Dragon Ball sold more. And it doesn't really say a lot as far as popularity goes to have sold the most manga copies - DBZ is obviously far more popular worldwide than any other anime or manga, even today (DBZ videogames regularly sell over 2 million copies despite the series being over and despite the fact that anime & manga themed games are awful sellers on average). Nothing has been able to achieve the same worldwide success since, which is unfortunate. Anyway, outside of my obsession for statistics, manga! I'll read most anything by Tezuka, Phoenix is probably my favorite manga. I love Black Jack, though I am more partial to the animated version. I'm still reading through Buddha (slowly), but so far it's what you can expect from him . I haven't gotten around to checking out Adolf yet because I am super slow at manga/anime, but it's definitely going to get read at some point. Edited February 8, 2012 by Tangerine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightmare Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 As far as I know Dragon Ball wasn't "inspired" significantly by any existing anime. It was inspired entirely by Journey to the West. Modern anime in its genre is clearly inspired by Dragon Ball, however (One Piece, Naruto and Bleach are by far the biggest offenders, as the authors themselves have admitted to). Like how can someone even say Dragon Ball was inspired by something that was released a year before it? Dragon Ball's first volume was released Nov 1985, FotNS was released March 1984. So Akira created Dragon Ball in that 1 year between their releases? Plus Dragon Ball is nothing like it anyway, so it makes no sense >_>. If there is one thing Dragon Ball could possibly have been inspired by, it'd be Astro Boy. Yeah, that's why I'm really sceptical about what he said. Dragon Ball pretty much started up a new kind of happy, more vibrant shounen, while still being action heavy; a stark contrast to Fist of the North Star, which is as grim, gritty and violent as can be (not as much as Berserk though). That and, Blademaster has a history of saying dubious things. >_> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademaster! Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Is it really derived from Fist of the North Star or are you just saying that because Fist of the North star preceded it? I can't find anything official on this, so I'd like to see a source. It is more of something that I picked up/saw other people say than found an official source for, like how people believe One Piece inspired Fairy Tail and Toriko. FotNS was extremely popular when it was released, and is generally thought to have inspired all battle shounen in some way shape or form, especially for manga in JUMP, much like Dragon Ball did. Derived probably isn't the best word though. In terms of how DB was inspired, some people think it influenced the Z part of the series, given how drastically different that part is from DB. You don't really see/hear much about early 80's manga though, so it's tough to call. Bleach Bleach takes more from YYH than DB really... This is impressive.. to a point. One Piece sold that amount on sheer volume. In the same amount of volumes, Dragon Ball sold more. Depending on the numbers you are using, the reason for that may be merely because Dragon Ball has been in circulation for a much longer amount of time. DBZ videogames regularly sell over 2 million copies despite the series being over and despite the fact that anime & manga themed games are awful sellers on average That is definitely to large of a number per game. DBZ as a video game franchise is one of the most successful ones, but I don't think it sells that well per title. That and, Blademaster has a history of saying dubious things. >_> I do? Though from my point of view it is everyone else who says dubious things. I'm more surprised people actually take notice of what I say since I barely ever post here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) I do? Though from my point of view it is everyone else who says dubious things. I'm more surprised people actually take notice of what I say since I barely ever post here. You're one of our favorites Blademaster! and we have a long memory Bleach takes more from YYH than DB really... Having watched nearly all of DBZ, much of DB, nearly all of YYH and a few seasons of Bleach, I will second this. But then it becomes a question of whether YYH is inspired by DB. Edited February 9, 2012 by Jet Black Gunner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademaster! Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 But then it becomes a question of whether YYH is inspired by DB. Author Yoshihiro Togashi stated that he began working on YuYu Hakusho during a period of time around November 1990, though he forgot the exact time.[4] As a fan of the occult and horror films, he desired to write and illustrate a manga based on his interests.[5] Signs point to no, but the two share a couple of similarities. He also came up with his idea for the manga in at most two months... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) It is more of something that I picked up/saw other people say than found an official source for, like how people believe One Piece inspired Fairy Tail and Toriko. FotNS was extremely popular when it was released, and is generally thought to have inspired all battle shounen in some way shape or form, especially for manga in JUMP, much like Dragon Ball did. Derived probably isn't the best word though. In terms of how DB was inspired, some people think it influenced the Z part of the series, given how drastically different that part is from DB. You don't really see/hear much about early 80's manga though, so it's tough to call. Well people really shouldn't believe anything unless the author states it themselves. Passing it off as fact is just silly. Bleach takes more from YYH than DB really... Kubo himself said that Bleach was heavily influenced by DB & DBZ. Depending on the numbers you are using, the reason for that may be merely because Dragon Ball has been in circulation for a much longer amount of time. That is entirely offset by the fact that One Piece is selling during a time that manga and anime is significantly more mainstream - largely due to DBZ. That is definitely to large of a number per game. DBZ as a video game franchise is one of the most successful ones, but I don't think it sells that well per title. It isn't too large at all. A lot of the main series games do in that range. Burst Limit - 1.3 million Raging Blast - 1.1 million Budokai - 3 million Budokai 2 - 2.1 million Budokai 3 - 1.9 million Tenkaichi - 1.5 million (2.0 with Tenkaichi bundle) Tenkaichi 2 - 1.5 million (2.0 with Tenkaichi bundle) Tenkaichi 3 - 3 million Legacy of Goku - 1.6 million (1.8 with GBA bundle) I've never even played a DBZ game and don't even like the show, feels weird looking up sales numbers >_>. I am such a statistics junkie. Those are just a few of the main series' I picked out that had recent releases (only listed ones released after DBZ stopped airing on TV, and obviously rounded numbers). There are a bunch of DBZ one-off games that do a lot worse, but the flagship series' always sell in that range. Keeping in mind that both BL and RB were released on PS3 and 360's lower userbases, their numbers still match up relatively with the others. Plus those two were just considered bad games and had poor reviews to begin with, which was reflected further by the sequels' poor sales. The point is, there isn't another anime or manga that has seen its worldwide and lasting appeal. While a manga that is over 20 volumes longer than it (and still continuing) might have passed it in overall Japanese manga sales, it is still silly to say it has surpassed it as the most popular manga series. One Piece is a flop compared to Dragon Ball outside of Japan. Edited February 9, 2012 by Tangerine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Marth 64 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) Dragon Ball Z Kai is now doing more focused on the Manga and remaking to correct the stuff that Dragon Ball Z anime (removing Anime fillers, correct Gohan's power level from Raditz's scouters, and fixing Vegeta's color appearance from the beginning). And they are removing PG stuff on the Cutted Version. Edited February 9, 2012 by King Marth 64 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serene Flight Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) My Balls (it really is manga). Edited February 9, 2012 by "Chibi"Felix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademaster! Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) Kubo himself said that Bleach was heavily influenced by DB & DBZ. Didn't mean to deny anything, it's just odd that the manga is so much more similar to YYH and yet he claims DB as an influence when there are barely any similarities between the two really. That is entirely offset by the fact that One Piece is selling during a time that manga and anime is significantly more mainstream - largely due to DBZ. Fair enough. It isn't too large at all. A lot of the main series games do in that range. Burst Limit - 1.3 million Raging Blast - 1.1 million Budokai - 3 million Budokai 2 - 2.1 million Budokai 3 - 1.9 million Tenkaichi - 1.5 million (2.0 with Tenkaichi bundle) Tenkaichi 2 - 1.5 million (2.0 with Tenkaichi bundle) Tenkaichi 3 - 3 million Legacy of Goku - 1.6 million (1.8 with GBA bundle) I've never even played a DBZ game and don't even like the show, feels weird looking up sales numbers >_>. I am such a statistics junkie. Oh wow, so it does. I only looked up the sales of two of the games, and neither had surpassed 500k. In fact, I thought one of them was raging blast... Plus those two were just considered bad games and had poor reviews to begin with, which was reflected further by the sequels' poor sales. I think most DBZ games get low reviews in general. Just sayian The point is, there isn't another anime or manga that has seen its worldwide and lasting appeal. While a manga that is over 20 volumes longer than it (and still continuing) might have passed it in overall Japanese manga sales, it is still silly to say it has surpassed it as the most popular manga series. One Piece is a flop compared to Dragon Ball outside of Japan. I never really said it was the most popular series, just that it sold better. Also, One Piece has sold so well in Japan that it actually managed to surpass DB in world wide sales apparently http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Piece#Manga_2 But then that just goes back to the whole manga/anime is more mainstream now to help contribute towards its success. DB is obviously more popular than OP world wide of course, I don't mean to make it seem like I'm attacking DB, as I'm a big fan of it too. Edited February 9, 2012 by Blademaster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) Didn't mean to deny anything, it's just odd that the manga is so much more similar to YYH and yet he claims DB as an influence when there are barely any similarities between the two really. The structure of the show is more like DBZ than any other anime, from what I've seen. Bleach doesn't take as much from DBZ as shows like Naruto or One Piece, but it's still there. Oh wow, so it does. I only looked up the sales of two of the games, and neither had surpassed 500k. In fact, I thought one of them was raging blast... You probably only looked up the sales for one of the consoles it was on, rather than both. Multi-platform games always do worse on each singular console than if they were exclusive to one, so you have to check both. I think most DBZ games get low reviews in general. Just sayian They're not that bad . Just looking at some reviews, Budokai 3 got 77/100 from pro reviewers and 82/100 from fans. Tenkaichi 3 got 73/100 from pros and 86/100 from fans. Not super AAAs, but pretty solid scores :P. Around the same score that most Fire Emblem games get, in fact! Raging Blast got 57/100, which is awful for a DBZ game. No surprise the sales staggered to reflect that. I never really said it was the most popular series, just that it sold better. Also, One Piece has sold so well in Japan that it actually managed to surpass DB in world wide sales apparently http://en.wikipedia....e_Piece#Manga_2 But then that just goes back to the whole manga/anime is more mainstream now to help contribute towards its success. DB is obviously more popular than OP world wide of course, I don't mean to make it seem like I'm attacking DB, as I'm a big fan of it too. DB's worldwide manga sales aren't that impressive due to the relative unpopularity of manga outside of Japan (in that the number is around half of their Japanese sales, but significantly better than any other manga's). Manga isn't big in the west like it is in Japan, especially not when DBZ was still around. Looking at manga sales when determining the popularity of DB in particular (and this is unique to it) is deceptive because DBZ appealed to the masses with its anime. But it is interesting to note that, while DBZ was running, total manga sales in the US nearly tripled. Also interesting to note is that Dragon Ball made manga and anime popular in Europe of all places; France and Germany account for something like 70% of all manga sales in Europe, and Dragon Ball is the best selling manga in those places. DB's sales are a lot more impressive to me considering the time period and all that it has accomplished for anime and manga. Naruto (#1 outside of Japan out of modern shows), Bleach and OP (#1 in Japan currently) are riding the waves that DB created; if there was no DBZ I would bet money that they wouldn't be doing nearly as well (and imagine how different they'd be, if they materialized at all?), which skews any comparisons made between the three and DB itself. And only DB is significantly more popular in all other forms of media than any other manga or anime. Some random comparisons I did on several stat site searches: Total game sales: DBZ (44 games): 31.3 million Naruto (52 games): 16.6 million One Piece (20 games): 4.5 million Bleach (21 games): 2.4 million I only listed games that had recorded statistics. (wtf @ the amount of Naruto games) With Naruto's popularity in NA dwarfing OP's, I wouldn't be surprised if it surpasses it some day 0_o. I wasn't aware that Naruto was that much more popular than it in the West. But it doesn't compare to DBZ still. They are very close in the total number of games, and yet DBZ's game sales double it. That's actually kind of sad though, DBZ has been around way longer than Naruto and their total number of games are so close? They must have several different teams making a bunch of different Naruto games >_>. Personally, I really don't like DBZ, but I love DB. I half-wish that the west went as crazy for DB as they went for DBZ . Edited February 9, 2012 by Tangerine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramy Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Best manga? Fullmetal Alchemist! Hilarious and action packed. Also, I'll also recommend Silver Spoon also by the mangaka of FMA :D Very unique Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademaster! Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 France and Germany account for something like 70% of all manga sales in Europe, and Dragon Ball is the best selling manga in those places. France has the second largest comic market in the world after I believe Japan. With Naruto's popularity in NA dwarfing OP's, I wouldn't be surprised if it surpasses it some day 0_o. Assuming I am understanding this somewhat correctly, Naruto will likely never surpass OP in manga sales. One volume of One piece will generally sell almost 3x as much as a volume of Naruto (Naruto volumes will be lucky to reach 1mil in sales, One Piece volumes lately seem to barely break the 3mil mark in sales). Naruto will also very likely not run for as long a time as OP. Other than that aspect, Naruto could and may already have, surpassed OP in most other areas. Personally, I really don't like DBZ, but I love DB. I half-wish that the west went as crazy for DB as they went for DBZ . I wish everyone just equally liked both parts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) The structure of the show is more like DBZ than any other anime, from what I've seen. Bleach doesn't take as much from DBZ as shows like Naruto or One Piece, but it's still there. I haven't seen Bleach past the Soul Society arc, but I think it's structure is more like YYH than DBZ from what I have seen. The early episodes of YYH focus on Yusuke coming back to life, but also develop his relationship with Botan, Keiko and Kuwabara, which is something in common with the early episodes of Bleach developing the relationship with the cast of characters who support Ichigo in the Soul Society arc (this also includes the artifacts arc of YYH which bring in Hiei and Kurama). DBZ already has the Z fighters pretty much lined up and ready. There's also the focus on a specific setting of Karakura town/Yusuke's hometown in the early episodes as opposed to DBZ, where the fights are in spacious country landscapes for the most part. Also, Ichigo's relationship with Soul Society is more like Yusuke's eventual relationship with the YYH heaven that once employed him, whereas in DBZ I don't think that there's ever any estrangement between Goku and King Kai or the other heavenly characters. Not to mention Yusuke turning out to be part demon and getting sent to the underworld isn't too far removed from Ichigo becoming a vizard or whatever those things are called. DBZ fights also tend to be a lot longer than fights in either YYH or Bleach from what I remember, and end up being a major part of the shows structure. Meanwhile, Bleach has a "monster of the day" format with lots of small fights early on, and even in the soul society arc, even though there's a strong focus on Rukia's brother as the big fight of the arc, his screentime for fights is relatively constrained compared to the Buus, Cell, Frieza or Vegeta. Instead there are a lot of smaller fights between other Shinigami and characters from the Ichigo group, as well as Shinigami VS Shinigami fights. Of course DBZ (and also YYH) has those smaller fights too, but I think that the time spent on big fights draws it apart a bit from Bleach and YYH. While I might be a little in error here...just as a comparison, it looks like the fight against Vegeta was 6 episodes (30-35) and the fight against Frieza looks like it's more than half of season 3. I'm not going to bother looking at Cell or Buu after seeing how many episodes Frieza's was. In Bleach, the battle between Ichigo and Byakuga is 2 episodes and Aizen, the main villain of the series so far AFAIK, has 2 episodes of action in Soul Society. The fight against Suzaku in YYH takes 3 episodes, the final battle against Toguro is 3 episodes, and the battle against Sensui is either 5 or 6 episodes, and the Yusuke VS Yomi battle is 2 episodes. EDIT-That being said, I'm not saying Bleach is that far removed from DBZ, I'm just saying it looks to me like YYH is even closer. EDIT2-OH NO now I am getting advertisements for Bleach on SF. Edited February 10, 2012 by Jet Black Gunner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademaster! Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I haven't seen Bleach past the Soul Society arc Meaning you never got up to the part where they introduce Ichigo's predecessor as a substitute shinigami and introduce a new power similar too territories from YYH. Also, the Frieza battle in DBZ is supposed to be the longest in the series I believe. Well, at least for a one on one fight in the anime without the fighters changing inbetween. Otherwise it should probably be the whole fight against Buu, but Buu fought more than five different people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirie Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 (edited) Maison Ikkoku and/or Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. :3 page snipe Edited March 3, 2012 by Kirie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone2Ground Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Battle Royale - on second thoughts, I shouldn't mention that on a family forum. Kids might get ideas. Personally, my pet favorite is and always will be Death Note...the first half. It just got stupid after L died, which was where the series should have ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fala Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Hokuto no Ken all the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshineYON Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Vinland Saga. Also Berserk, if counting only the first 100 chapters counts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau of Isaac Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Battle Royale - on second thoughts, I shouldn't mention that on a family forum. Kids might get ideas. Personally, my pet favorite is and always will be Death Note...the first half. It just got stupid after L died, which was where the series should have ended. I never got why people hated it. I thought the ending was spectacular, and if it had ended with L's death, I would have found and murdered Ouba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florete Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Battle Royale - on second thoughts, I shouldn't mention that on a family forum. Kids might get ideas. Lol. Battle Royale is good for a while, but the endless speeches in the last couple volumes and the last guy's invincibility really killed it for me. I never got why people hated it. I thought the ending was spectacular, and if it had ended with L's death, I would have found and murdered Ouba. I agree. People compare the second half to the first half too much without realizing that the second half is still pretty good. And the ending is very much appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramy Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Vinland Saga is sooo epic! Highly recommend I also recommend Otoyomegatri, very nice art. I also highly recommend Emma: A Victorian Romance. It's by the same author. GTO is another good one. Soooo funny XD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samias Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Out of the stuff I've read... Ayashi no Ceres - Holy carps, aside from a really embarassing cover for the final volume (wtf transparent tummy with fetus?!) this is a great josei manga. Yuu Watase's work in FY was shaky at times and the last few volumes of FY were really bad and unnecessary. Ayashi no Ceres is much, much better. Skip Beat - Definitely my pick for a modern, ongoing story. Really strong 1st volume, and still has kept up the pace 30 volumes later. It's rare for a shojo manga to run this long, but the protagonist is just really likeable. Buddha - I find it hard to get into most of Tezuka's work, but this one stood out for me as a great historical fiction. It has a lot of his usual anachronism quirks and recurring character designs, but I felt this particular plot was just incredibly intriguing. Maison Ikkoku - Likewise, Rumiko Takahashi loves to rehash. As far as kiss-kiss-slap-slap back-and-forths go, this one is a great and actually builds up to a much more believable ending than Rumiko's usual fare. I think she spent a lot more effort making sure the final arc has a really satisfying ending. The result makes for a spectacular romantic drama, much better than her shonen work if you ask me. I wish she'd do more stories that are closer to seinen again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcus90 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Best manga? No best manga. All mangas are best out of something: badness, goodness, hilarity, originality etc... Just like anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wen Yang Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Berserk Vagabond Battle Angel Alita & Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Vinland Saga Fist of the North Star/Fist of the Blue Sky Lone Wolf & Cub Samurai Executioner Blade of the Immortal Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Angel Heart Aria Battle Royale Bloody Monday - Season 1-2-Last Crying Freeman Drifters Hellsing Eden: It's an Endless World! Family Compo Great Teacher Onizuka Hajime no Ippo Jiraishin Liar Game Monster Wolfsmund Pet Shop of Horrors The Ravages of Time Ubel Blatt Warning: A good chunk of these are not suitable for people under the age of 18. Check at your own risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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