Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball has collectively lasted for nearly four decades and continues to find new fans every year. One of the main reasons that Dragon Ball has endured for so long is because the franchise has been divided into separate series that tell the same story, but cater towards slightly different audiences and goals.
Both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z chronicle Goku’s courageous adventures, albeit in unique ways. There’s tremendous crossover when it comes to the original Dragon Ball and its sequel successor, Dragon Ball Z. However, there are also some major differences between these two sides of the same coin that account for their contrasting fandoms.
10 Comedy
Dragon Ball has become such an action-driven anime that it’s easy to forget that it embraces much more of a gag comedy atmosphere when it first begins. Action slowly begins to overpower comedy in the original Dragon Ball once the World Martial Arts Tournament comes around.
However, a lighthearted sense of humor continues through the rest of the series. Alternatively, Dragon Ball Z’s uses of comedy are fewer and far between. That’s not to say that Dragon Ball Z’s gags don’t work, but they feel more out of place and at war with itself.
9 Treatment Of Human Characters
Goku’s Saiyan heritage doesn’t get revealed until Dragon Ball Z, but it’s around this point that Saiyans and other extraterrestrial warriors begin to dominate the narrative as the world’s strongest fighters. The original Dragon Ball presents Yamcha, Krillin, Master Roshi, and Tien – all of whom are human – as the series’ strongest characters.
There’s a very inspirational quality to the anime where it feels as if humans can accomplish impossible things. Dragon Ball Z gradually benches its human cast following the Saiyan Saga and they only become more irrelevant over time.
8 Dragon Ball Focuses On Martial Arts Over Energy Attacks
The original Dragon Ball still indulges in plenty of flights of fancy with absurdist characters like a giant rabbit that can turn people into rabbits. However, it begins as a largely grounded look at martial arts when it begins. The original Dragon Ball really emphasizes the fundamentals of hand-to-hand combat, even if many techniques poke fun at the action genre.
There’s not even any flight in Dragon Ball until its final battles. Dragon Ball Z pushes its action to more exaggerated places where destructive energy blasts take precedence over dedicated martial arts. Neither of these approaches is better than the other, but they’re two very different styles of combat.
7 Dragon Ball Z Leaves Earth’s Atmosphere & Features Endless Aliens
Dragon Ball has expanded its scope to feature a whole multiverse of mayhem that's teased many new celestial deities who pull the strings. Dragon Ball Z boldly leaves the safety of Earth's atmosphere when its characters travel to Planet Namek, but it's not long until interplanetary transportation is a common occurrence.
The original Dragon Ball is only set on Earth and creates more than enough chaos on its home planet before moving deeper into the galaxy. So many of Dragon Ball Z's villains are invaders from other planets who hold vendettas against Earth.
6 Dragon Ball Z Has A More Mature Demographic
The original Dragon Ball begins with a child protagonist who very much informs the series' storytelling and tone. Goku steadily grows into an adult over the course of Dragon Ball, which is when Dragon Ball Z begins. As a result, Dragon Ball Z skews towards a slightly older audience who can handle greater violence and mature content.
This is especially prevalent when it comes to Dragon Ball Z's villains, who are incredibly wicked and willing to destroy entire planets. Dragon Ball Z still entertains younger viewers with Gohan, Goku's son, but the sequel series is still much denser in death and destruction.
5 Different Villains
The original Dragon Ball introduces some truly malevolent villains into the world, most of which make a greater impact because they’re corrupt humans who have been led astray. It’s not until the tail-end of Dragon Ball that truly fantastical villains like Demon King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr. enter the mix.
This human quality is largely lost with Dragon Ball Z’s villains, who are either galactic tyrants, macabre creations, or ancient evil entities. Dragon Ball Z villains like Majin Buu and Frieza feel completely detached from Dragon Ball’s Red Ribbon Army or Master Shen.
4 Dragon Ball Z Emphasizes Transformations
Dragon Ball Z’s radical Super Saiyan transformations have practically become synonymous with the series. These bold metamorphoses have only become more prominent in subsequent Dragon Ball series and they’re still the biggest way to indicate that a character has grown stronger.
Transformations are so baked into Dragon Ball Z’s DNA, yet they’re barely present in the original Dragon Ball other than Goku’s uncontrollable Great Ape form. A less transformation-heavy approach forces the characters to showcase their strength in less transparent ways. It also promotes more creative problem-solving when it comes to the villains’ defeats.
3 Filler Episodes
Anime-exclusive filler episodes are frequently a necessary evil in any shonen anime that’s adapting an ongoing manga series. Both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z feature a bunch of original filler episodes, but very different approaches are taken in these series. 21 of Dragon Ball’s 153 episodes are filler while 38 of Dragon Ball Z’s 291-episode run are anime originals.
In Dragon Ball Z’s case, many of these filler installments are used to prolong big battles and add to the action. Dragon Ball instead largely uses its filler for sillier excursions that introduce original odd characters. Dragon Ball Z’s filler is more forced and obvious.
2 The Size Of Its Casts Of Characters
Dragon Ball slowly expands its central characters beyond Goku, Bulma, and Yamcha, but it never reaches truly unruly heights even after Tien and Chiaotzu align themselves with the heroes. Dragon Ball’s cast is the perfect size in which everyone can still receive substantial attention.
Dragon Ball Z continues to add more powerful players into the mix in a way that naturally leads to the neglect of others. Dragon Ball Z’s cast grows so cumbersome that it’s eventually only Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan that receive adequate growth. A bigger cast shouldn’t have to come at the expense of old favorites.
1 Dragon Ball Has A Generational Legacy
One of the biggest ways Dragon Ball Z differs from its predecessor is that it’s able to take a larger legacy into account as the second series in a grander franchise. It’s extremely satisfying to watch Goku mature from a child into a married adult by the end of Dragon Ball, but there’s even greater enjoyment to be found in Dragon Ball Z’s ability to shine a light on the next generation of heroes.
Goku’s children, Gohan and Goten, get a healthy showcase, but the same is true for Vegeta and Bulma’s son, Trunks. This generational concept gets pushed even further in Dragon Ball Super and GT.
