The only thing that Goku ever cared about was fighting, which meant that he had no problem with ditching his family. Goku is a great fighter, but he is a terrible father, husband, and friend.

Kishimoto managed to weave the human drama alongside the fantasy ninja action, which was one of the factors that helped the Naruto franchise become popular. These are relatable parts of life that all humans go through at some point or another. He also had to endure feelings of abandonment and being isolated from others. As an orphan, he cherished the bonds that he made with the others in his village.

Naruto is defined by his relationships with other people. This meant that those who started the series from the beginning wouldn't be shocked by the content in later issues, as it was smoothly woven into the story from at an early start. Naruto always managed to link together light-hearted moments and serious storylines throughout its run. This is especially true of Dragon Ball Z, where almost every main character from the original series is killed fighting the Saiyans in the space of a few issues. What makes this so jarring is how easily the series jumped between light-hearted adventure and brutal murder fests. The reason for these shifts was due to the fact that Akira Toriyama made everything up as he went along, with no long-term plans for where the story was going to go. The story started out as a fantasy adventure that parodied certain aspects of Journey to the West, but, by the end of Dragon Ball, you had the alien Super Saiyans battling a genie that had existed for millennia. This is why the few evenly matched battles (like Piccolo versus Android 17) are still so well remembered.ĭragon Ball was a weird series in that it seemed to totally change tone and genre from each story arc to the next. Dragon Ball Z battles boiled down to a specific formula of pointless punches & kicks, transformation sequences, and massive beam attacks.Ī lot of the Dragon Ball Z fights were often one-sided, which also made things less interesting. The fight scenes in Dragon Ball Z were often visually exciting to watch, but the conclusion often boiled down to a level of strength that was determined long before the battle even began. He used his intelligence to win battles and fans loved to see him outthink his enemies. This is why Shikamaru placed so highly on character popularity polls, despite the fact that he had a boring technique in battle. Instead, when it came to a fight, intelligence could win over brute strength.Ī character with weaker skills than his opponent could still be victorious with smart planning and quick thinking. One of the aspects of Naruto that helped the series to become popular (at least at the beginning) was the tactical nature of its fights.

Dragon ball z vs naruto games