Why Is Dragon Ball BETTER Than Dragon Ball Z? 

KEEP IN MIND THIS IS JUST MY OPINION OK! Please don't send me to the Shadow Realm. In any case, reply to this comment with any anime recommendations you have! What are the best shows to watch? And don't forget to support the channel and Sign up at crunchyroll.com/theactman to get CrunchyRoll ad free for 14-days!

“You need ..” Please don’t say Raid Shadow Legends. “... anime.” Oh thank god.

Dragonball is just so satisfying. I love how Goku pretty much starts with nothing, and ends with him being surrounded by his friends and family. No one gets left behind.

DB: real action and adventure DBZ: Power Levels DBS: Power levels don't mean sh*t anymore

“But once Vegeta *c a m e* “ Hehehe, you evil guy.

Because Dragon Ball feels like an actual adventure with friends

"remember when blank did blank in Dragonball" 75% of fans "no I only watched Z"

My god the original soundtrack for Dragon Ball is so beautiful.

And DBZ got rid of one of the best characters in the franchise, Launch.

To simplify: In Dragonball, the fights were to supplement the story while Z offers story to supplement intense fights.

Act man: " I like Dragonball more than dbz" Internet: " So you hate Dragonball Z?!?!"

I remember kid Goku couldn't differentiate between the 2 sexes so he'd feel up the person's crotch. That was very impactful for me lol

I'm almost 34 year old. I've just watched first Dragon Ball series (in original and without censorship) after 21 years. I was afraid that it would have been too childish but luckily I was so wrong about this. I'm glad I did it. So many good memories from my childhood were refreshed during watching. I can remember that I've always loved DB 1 for the adventures, humor and marvelous martial art techniques. What I've discovered now is that DB has its depth and philosophy which all brings too honesty, friendship, honor, humbleness and most of all life adoration. That last thing escpecially in Goku's performence. I love watching him enjoying life, he's so positive attitude can be very inspiring to others. I lost my job last month. I live alone in a big city.There is pandemic state. I've been fighting with depression for 18 years. I should be down in the dumps now but instead I feel ... better than before for sure. I can see my situation more in silver linings. I am glad that what I still have and I appreciate my phisical condition; that I can run run as fast as I can again and f..k all restrictions and just enjoy the life. Like the words of DB say "live life to the fullest". Sory for my english, I'm Pole.

Me for years: Dragon Ball is better than Z. Me seeing this video: They called me a madman.

I agree. DB feels so much more like an adventure, while DBZ kinda feels like a series of boss fights with filler in between.

The Red Ribbon Army saga was a legitimately good story arc. Reminds me of inspector gadget and Dr. Claw. That’s when the series became a legit hero vs. villain story.

Its sad that characters like Kale, Caulfia, and Jiren get more love than characters like Yamcha and Tien now. :(

Cause Goku Looked Up Bulma’s Skirt

i hear many people skip dragonball when they wanna get into the franchise which is a huge shame because wherever its better then dbz or not, its a great show and one people should give atleast a try

I love how even after all this time Bulma, Goku and Krillin are still best of friends.

The scene where goku saw his grandpa gohan again almost made me cry cause it reminded me he was still a young boy despite everything he's accomplished And felt like goku really was exploring a vast earth learning its secrets and *actual martial arts techniques* I feel like when we hit z all technique went away and it just became about power levels alone Edit: so glad how much he addressed these after watching

I mean, I like Dragon Ball Z but Dragon Ball was more adventurous and every major character felt relevant.

Did this man just do Ginyu poses for a sponsor advertisement? Absolute legend.

The first part of Z always felt like it was meant to be a bookend to Dragonball to explain where Goku came from and end the series, but it was just so successful that it kept going.

DBZ was too drawn out, the fights made up for it, but Dragon Ball just had this chill vibe and aesthetic from its nature scenes to its music

Remember when the World Martial Arts Tournament actually mattered and WASN'T a punch line? Yeah, that was the original Dragonball series.

DB: The Z Fighters were relevant DBZ: Jobber Fighters

This is one of the things I liked about GT, it tried to blend the OG and Z together and although most of the ideas were executed really sloppy, It did have it's moments. Instead of finding the black star balls in a short amount of time they go on adventurous journeys to find them. It didn't have super saiyan forms in every battle, it gave Oozaru more meaning because after super saiyan came in Z Oozaru was just pushed to the side and is never seen again throughout the rest of the series or movies but in GT when Goku achieves Super Saiyan 4 he masters' Oozaru making it his ultimate form. There were more fighting techniques that didn't involve big energy blasts such as Goku's spin technique against Oceanous Shenron and Haze Shenron's toxin to weaken opponents and how the shadow dragons were created by the misuse of the dragon balls and how Shenron leaves because of it.

I think the biggest thing people honestly miss about the series and I don’t see how is that DB was about the human side and martial arts learning about your body and mind then DBZ is about learning about ki and energy and super is about exploring heritage and legend the next arc is exploring the correlation between all of these and how you can overcome not being able to use them.

The entire manga was originally titled "Dragon Ball". The whole reason the Dragon Ball Z anime was created was because Toriyama's editor was unsatisfied with the production of the original Dragon Ball anime, feeling it didn't properly reflect the manga. In a way, i see what he was talking about. The Dragon Ball anime had the producer from the Dr. Slump anime, which made sense in the beginning. But Toriyama went from focusing purely on comedy to focusing more on martial arts and action. It went from initially having comical and cowardly villains like Pilaf and Boss Rabbit to more serious and ruthless villains like the Red Ribbon Army, Tao Pai Pai, and Piccolo Daimao. Interestingly enough, the Dragon Ball anime had overall better filler material. Whereas the filler in the Dragon Ball Z anime was usually contradictory and often felt like it was slowing down the pace of the story, the filler in the Dragon Ball anime usually filled in gaps and sometimes even expanded on stuff from the manga.

In summary: Dragon Ball- "I know I'll have to work hard to get stronger than you." Dragon Ball Z- "It's over 9,000!"

I am one of the few in America that actually started watching DragonBall original before Z... And till this day right now, I much prefer the original over the Z.... Thank you for this video. The original was so adventurous and had so much build up. And all the characters had memorable moments

poor yamcha, my boy was a punching bag in dbz then they got him totally cucked

Seeing a buff gamer guy talk about dragon ball is something I'll never forget, thank you act man!

*Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for The Act Man to do a "Why Fallout New Vegas Was So Awesome"*

12:23 “basic porn story structure” lmao

All the characters were interesting and relevant, and they didn't rely on who had the highest power level, it was who had the most fighting experience, and was the best at it. Chi Chi was cool, and not annoying too. And kid Goku is probably smarter than adult Goku

"Why Dragon Ball is better than Dragon Ball Z." Finally, someone said it.

*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP* *WARNING, THIS OPINION IS NOT ALLOWED.* *WARNING, THIS OPINION IS NOT ALLOWED.* *WARNING, THIS OPINION IS NOT ALLOWED.* *WARNING, THIS OPINION IS NOT ALLOWED.* *WARNING, THIS OPINION IS NOT ALLOWED.* *WARNING, THIS OPINION IS NOT ALLOWED.* *WARNING, THIS OPINION IS NOT ALLOWED.* but i mean i guess it all just depends on what you would rather watch at the end of the day

15:01 "It seems like Toriyama thought - with each new saga he had to increase the drama vertically" shows the longest most vertical foreheads in the anime. I thought that was really funny.

I remember watch DB and how much more I enjoyed it compared to DBZ. DBZ has a lot of style but DB has more substance.

Dragon Ball: Hulkamania Dragon Ball Z: Attitude Era Dragon Ball GT: Ruthless Agression Dragon Ball Super: PG Era

Act Man: "You need something to distract you from the worries of the world" Me:not you too. no, I dont want to hear another word

Literally like 95% of the fan base have missed the first and BEST part of the OG series

I want a dragonball remake so bad, it would be great to see all those arcs in an updated coat of paint

8:02 & 17:56 specifically those WHOLE Sections THank you FRGGIN Thank you!! I love both series but the fights in DBZ are so repetitive later on that me and my friends made a drinking game out of it at a con we were at. Every fight practically devolved into rapid fire punching and kicking blast here blast there power up power up stare stare maybe a flashback charge On the next ep of.. hahaha I OG DB more for all the points you brought up and also seeing and feeling the skill of each fighter was something I really loved. Great video!

Yeah, I always used to argue that DBZ lost its way when the characters got so powerful. I mean, Vegeta blows up an entire planet with his finger the first time we ever see him, and much later his mind is blown when somebody causes an earthquake. It got to the point where it never really felt like there were any stakes.

Toriyama actually wanted to finish the series much earlier after the Freezer saga (Freezer is strongest in the universe, Goku becomes Super Sayajin, that would have been the end). However, he was pushed to continue drawing. I'm not sure but this might be also the reason why he killed off Goku in the Cell saga and handed the torch to Gohan, to finally end it. But as we know it didn't work and he had to draw the whole Boo saga. Fun fact: Cell is Toriyama's least favorite character. The reason being his dots. Everytime he finished drawing a page, he noticed he had forgotten to draw the dots.

“Why do care about seeing your dirty little fanny” kid Goku Wise words

“Dragon ball is better than DBZ.” Palpetine: It’s treason then....

I never get why DBZ fans are so skeptical about watching the original DB

I love both Dragon Ball and DBZ but I must admit you made a lot of great points.

in most things people do not like to pay close attention to details, simplicity is key when it comes to making the most profits overall for most companies. For DBZ they over worked Akira so to keep with his creativity and longevity of his work he probably changed to focus on making something that would grab most audience attention all over the world in the long run. The proof is obvious DB is amazing but DBZ is remembered best, there is a reason for that. DBZ will hype more people up than DB would. Even though I personally love both the same I find my self coming back to DBZ clips any time and never DB. DBZ is way more profitable and the business can see that. Thats why all these other amines have the same concepts and other excellent animes die out even if they were meant to be short like death note... Making the most money is what matters to businesses for example In most gaming businesses they rather make you pay for micro transactions because they can make nearly 3 times the profits. This method stops them from making an excellent game majority of the time for that extra buck (Battle front II remake is a prime example of this)...

Random fact: Toriyama stated that the only reason why he introduced power levels in the show was to show how unreliable they are. I don't know why he did that, but its probably something about how nothing is set in stone if you try hard enough? That or hes just a giant troll

"This is the Anime Man here" Why does your voice sound deeper than usual, Joey?

"The fights are too long" One Piece Fans: ಠ_ಠ

The Act Man:"Dragon Ball is better than Z" Z Fans:"So you've chosen death "

"After vegeta CAME yamcha went back into being a punching bag" I see what you did there act man

23:45 'They might be telling us the powerlevels are higher, but the feats are the same' This is what I keep telling the Power level fanatic crowd. King Piccolo kicking someone into a mountainside and have the mountain collapse on the fighter has the same physical effect as when Goku kicks Vegeta into a mountain. Or when Frieza kicks Piccolo into a mountain. Or Goku kicks Broly into a mountain. I can't buy the bullcrap around 'Yeah Goku can lift fifteen ceptillion tons and sneeze the galaxy into oblivion'. Nah... he's pretty much as strong as he was when he was a kid and pushed a giant boulder across the ground. None of the feats of Strength in DBZ matches the supposed power of the individual.

Same, My favorite arc of Z was actually the Great Saiyaman arc due to the character interactions and stuff. I didn't want the show turn a full boruto or anything obviously but I wish they continued with that arc as they really had something great going there.

When I was younger, I liked Z a lot more. Now I like DB almost the same as Z. I appreciate it a lot more now.

The insane power escalation was doomed to happen from the start. By the end of the original Journey to the West Son Goku was literally battling and crushing the heavens

I do like Z better solely cause of the memories I made with my brother watching it and it was the first one I saw. I watched Dragonball in my earlier 20s and helped me remember who I wanted to be during a time that when things didn’t go well at all. I wanted to be a good and kind person and have the ability to eat as much food as I possibly can.

The namek Saga-Ginyu saga wasn't about saving the world, it was about reviving their fallen comrades with the dragon balls. Even when Freeza becomes the main target, it seems to be more about staying alive, because if they were to die, which was likely considering, all hope would be lost.

“Yamcha had an important side story until vegeta... CAME.” I’m crying

I just liked how the focus wasnt on all of the alines. Nearly everyone was important in draginball EVEN YAJIROBE!!!!!!!!!!!! I didnt know he was badass

The way you’re able to articulate how you feel about so many different interests of yours is truly amazing. I’m striving to better express myself and your channel is a big inspiration for that.

A few years ago I decided to re-watch the whole Dragon Ball series and I agree with this clip. I got introduced to Dragon Ball Z and didn't watch Dragon Ball first. So I was surprised how good Dragon Ball was compared to DBZ. I actually disliked DBZ after watching Dragon Ball. It was way too dramatic, serious and drawn out. Thank you for making this video!

I remember when Goku climbed Korin’s tower for days, and Bulma just flies above it lmao.

I remember telling myself that “I’m not a real dragon ball fan since I never watched DB” And I talked myself almost out it by saying “but there is no super saiyan.” But pushes on and I know why i love the show more than Z. It because of character growth... ...Great ape

great video !! my issue about dbz was that with power levels characters would blow up chunks of land but even after their power levels upgraded to ten times more , the damage would be same also the speed would look same even after 10 times greater levels . my fav dbz was the cell saga because seemed more mellowed and with gohan struggling to hide his identity.

I would love more videos like these @The Act Man Got any more in the pipeline? These are great.

The Act Man: I like Dragon Ball more than DBZ. RU-vid: I'm about to demonitize this mans whole career. Edit: Thx For the likes.

"This is the anime man here" *This is getting out of hand! Now there are more of them!*

I have a lot of Dragonball Manga but I have all Dragonball Manga and only a few DBZ Manga because Dragonball is much more enjoyable for me.

A High quality video👏🏼 And the later parts of the video that didn't have the high replay thing,I enjoyed the most.

Fun Fuct: Piccolo in italian means "small," but it can be intended in this case as "junior", and that's exactly how we call it in Italy: "Junior" lol

A fan of Yamcha, of Tien....of friggin Yajirobe. I salute you.

Totally agree with almost all that you said and have felt the same for years. The power creep in DBZ became really stupid after a while. Especially as it reduced all the intricacies of how someone would fare in a fight to an exposition massacre. In the original Dragonball, fights were much more organic. The viewer didn't need it spelled out, why the trajectory of the fight was the way it was, because there were obvious strategic implications, that were playing out - influencing the fight. Which was much more engaging to watch. In DBZ however, it always needed to be spelled out why one character was kicking another one's ass. Either by a number (power level) or by how amazed the opponent or some characters on the sideline were. It had zero depth to it and was super clumsy. Battle prowess in Dragonball always came across as matter of technique, physical attributes, strategic prowess and special abilities. Wheras in DBZ it is just this one thing, that is either bigger or smaller. It all became Ki Blast galore and Sajan circle jerk from there on. And ever since the Freeza saga, the series continued to retcon itself time and time again, by raising stakes, that were alrady impossibly high before. For me DBZ declined sharply after the Namek/Freeza saga and lost all it's appeal after Cell.

i'm an adult now and have no intention of ever watching a minute of dbz. i haven't ruled out rewatching a few dragon ball episodes though, it's definitely WAY better

Me when Act Man makes a video about DB: "A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one."

Dragonball was fantastic due to the fact it was more...centered. Took itself serious but not too serious. But DBZ pushed that bitch to a new level. Shit got ridiculous but I guess I love the ridiculousness. Also Cell Saga is the best saga of all time don't @ me.

I love the original Dragon Ball. I must admit I got bored watching Dragon Ball Z as it's just all the same.

Dragonball: a nice adventure around the world mixed with martial arts and comedy. Dragonball Z: *OH NO HE'S TOO STRONG I HAVE TO GO SUPER SAIYAN 45 OR ELSE KRILLIN WILL DIE FOR THE 163648TH TIME*

Dragon Ball: Globetrotting adventure in a bonkers version of our planet. DBZ: Powerful bad guy shows up; defeat bad guy; wait for badder, most powerful enemy to show up, defeat, repeat.

man wow, this was a great watch. Dragonball has such a charm to it that’s so different than Z, it’s hard for me to really compare them because they scratch 2 completely different itches. DB feels so innocent, and crude at the same time. almost endearingly juvenile. that combined with the characters we all become genuinely invested in makes such a fun show

one of my favorite Act Man videos to come back to, massive Dragon Ball fan here and I'd love to see your takes one some of your favorite games, especially Budokai Tenkaichi 3 or any of the other games in that or the Budokai series since a new Tenkaichi one is coming out. Or hell do your personal childhood favorite one, I'll still watch it even if I never touched it

This was a good review of Dragon Ball as a whole, and damn, you're right. Now I feel like I've committed some taboo since I've watched DBZ and DBS, but not the original Dragon Ball. And considering I grew up with DBZ, Sailor Moon (I think they were on S), and Yu-Gi-Oh were all airing I feel like I missed something. I need to rectify this right away!

Let me put it in the simplest way possible for DBZ fans who haven't seen DB. DB would be like the best Cheeseburger ever with the best fries ever on the side and onion rings and your favorite beer/drink to wash it down. DBZ would be just like the best Hamburger ever. Now there's still a lot of meat and flavor there, it's still the best burger ever too. But it just doesn't have all the extra toppings or the amazing sides you got with DB that really make it fulfilling.

U just started a war Edit: Since this is actually getting attention I think I’ll add my own opinion. I think DB is the best one of all. Before I say why I think we should address a problem DB as a whole faces. It’s what us weeb analyst calls the escalation problem. It basically boils down to Shounen Jump, especially Dragonball, feeling the need to up the stakes by raising power levels. This leads to fights becoming more similar in their choreography and it is shown the most in DBZ and DBS. Dragonball never really had this problem because, as addressed in the video, Japanese anime was do or die and Akira didn’t expect it to gain the traction that it did so when DB finished I think Akira was confused on where to take the series and eventually fell into the escalation problem by adding saiyans and galaxies and Kais and what-not. Not to say that all the fights are bad. DBZ is still a classic with all the memorable villains and Goku vs Jiren and Goku vs Hit were some of the most entertaining fights I’ve seen in a while. Also, in DBZ I think adding the hierarchy of kais and Gods of Destruction were a good add. PS: Thanks for noticing me Act Man

I’m not an anime fan, I don’t really watch it at all and I’ve never wanted to until watching this. The passion Act Man has for this show keeps me coming back to this video! Dragon Ball here I come!

Duuuuuuùde! I was about to browse your roster for this video thinking it's been a while, no kidding! Auto play popped it on even though I haven't watched dragon ball in 7 months...... spooky! Let's strap in Time to kick back and enjoy the dragonbalman braling down my childhood Sunday TV

I always thought Dragon Ball had something DBZ didn't.

Dragon Ball had Launch, she was one of the awesome characters and she was hotter than Bulma and Chi Chi together.

Back in the day then piccolo was a great danger, I also appreciate the PS2 DB soundtrack

Great vid! I first found your channel back when you made the vid bout cod ww2. But I never knew someone like you loved dbz as a kid! That makes 2 of us although I got introduced to dbz through kai on Nickelodeon tbh (don't @ me). But yeah glad someone else doesn't hate dbz just because it's an anime. I don't like that many animes but I love dbz! I just feel really upset that people hate it just cause it's an anime. Glad you're not one of those people act man! I can agree with the points you made on the vid so keep up the great work!

I’ve always treated almost like different franchises at times. Dragon ball is really just a fun martial arts adventure story. While Z is more of a sci-fi action drama. Personally I’ve always preferred Z but it’s completely rational to prefer the original. Only time I REALLY disagree is when people say GT is better than Super.

Act Man: Why Dragon Ball is better tha... Kevin Spacey: WRONG!!!

10:18 ok actually THAT one moment in DBZ came close to matching the gravitas of OG but Damn So close..yet so satisfying

What a great video, man. I subscribed due to your commercial break alone, it was that fun ^^ This whole video of yours just oozes with love, personality and dedication. These little title cards you made; the footage that always fit, what you were saying - I love seeing me some videos, which were made with that kind of passion. But you also had something to tell, so that in the later parts I still sat there, interested in your debate. Y'know, it's not that kind of video, where someone just says "Oh, I love that show so much, it's my childhood yadi yadi yada" for 30 minutes straight. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but you did something more with it and I appreciate that effort. Keep it up! PS: Good move there, on using Budokai Tenkaichi 2 music; every true dragonball fan knows, in terms of db-videogame scores, that game's right at the front ;D