The Timelessness Of Dragon Ball

Yoshi

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Can you think of any franchise in any media that's as timeless as Dragon Ball? Like for example, One Piece is the best selling Anime and Manga in the world, but it doesn't have the same timeless feel that Dragon Ball does to me. Naruto and Bleach were almost as popular as Dragon Ball in the West, but when they both ended they weren't milked to high hell like Dragon Ball was after GT.
 

Beerus

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One Piece is a lot newer. The DB franchise has been around since the 80's and classic anime has always aged better than the newer stuff. At least to me. I prefer older animes.
 
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Mustafar Reginald

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Probably the wrong person to answer this since I don't entirely grasp this timeless feel. I think most series are timeless unless the inundate themselves with current pop culture reference or if they were made to specifically address something currently happening. Or I guess for older stuff if they were like unfortunately super racist or something that wouldn't be timeless. I don't really feel like Dragon Ball is any more timeless than One Piece for example.

I don't think age has anything to do with timelessness outside of the fact that you have stronger proof that it's timeless since more time has passed since it came out. If I had to guess why Dragon Ball feels that way. I'd reckon it's because of how straightforward and accessible it is in comparison to it's peers. Imagine trying to start Naruto at Shippudden or One Piece Post-Time Skip, doesn't quite work but an entire generation got hooked on Dragon Ball starting with Z. It's just far easier to grasp the situation at any point in the story and get invested in it.
Agreed, the timeless stuff comes from materials that are older...Irresponsible Captain Tylor, older and much underrated anime. Needs more exposure.

I need to get back to watching that, I remember finding the one episode I saw hilarious.
 

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Probably the wrong person to answer this since I don't entirely grasp this timeless feel. I think most series are timeless unless the inundate themselves with current pop culture reference or if they were made to specifically address something currently happening. Or I guess for older stuff if they were like unfortunately super racist or something that wouldn't be timeless. I don't really feel like Dragon Ball is any more timeless than One Piece for example.

I don't think age has anything to do with timelessness outside of the fact that you have stronger proof that it's timeless since more time has passed since it came out. If I had to guess why Dragon Ball feels that way. I'd reckon it's because of how straightforward and accessible it is in comparison to it's peers. Imagine trying to start Naruto at Shippudden or One Piece Post-Time Skip, doesn't quite work but an entire generation got hooked on Dragon Ball starting with Z. It's just far easier to grasp the situation at any point in the story and get invested in it.


I need to get back to watching that, I remember finding the one episode I saw hilarious.
thats not really the case most adults who dont start with the original are confused as heck!
also the main reason why you can slightly easier start is because all db arcs are complete stories so it should work just as easialy in one piece!
 

Mustafar Reginald

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thats not really the case most adults who dont start with the original are confused as heck!
also the main reason why you can slightly easier start is because all db arcs are complete stories so it should work just as easialy in one piece!

My dad also started watching with me at the beginning of Z and I'm not even entirely sure if he knows OG Dragon Ball exists. He was never confused as far as I can recall honestly.

I'm sure adults would have more questions than kids of course, but I don't think One Piece is nearly as easy to get into halfway as Dragon Ball. If you start at Z, the only real important bit of context you're going to miss for that arc is Goku & Piccolo's history. In One Piece, the first arc post-time skip has direct pays-off from an earlier arc in the series, and a lot more character dynamic and relationship threads you're going to miss, even more so the further you go. One Piece stories build off each-other a lot more than Dragon Ball, a lot of those arcs are more self-contained than interconnected.
 

Turtle

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The length of the anime can play a part in this. Just like with other television series, longer running shows can leave more of a lasting impact, and DB and DBZ had hundreds of episodes.

I don't watch enough anime or am familiar with Japanese society/culture enough to notice the changes, but in America the talent is certainly not there like it was in previous decades/generations, largely due to politics; also, seemingly greed.

When you combine just those two things you realize why you're unlikely to ever get a Star Trek on par with the late 80's/90's versions like TNG, DS9, Voyager.

DB defined many aspects of the genre, and had/has massive popularity worldwide. Personally, I vastly prefer the 80's/90's character aesthetic/style... the buff manly look that characters had then over the teenage scrawny looks they have today.

Berserk is another great one from that time.
 
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