5 Best Anime like Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball is one of the most famous and popular Japanese manga and anime all over the world, and it may be the first manga or anime you experienced. It is also known that Dragon Ball was adapted into the Hollywood live action movie titled Dragonball Evolution in 2009.

If you like Dragon Ball and wonder if there are some anime similar to Dragon Ball, here are good recommendations. Today, I’d like to introduce 5 best anime like Dragon Ball, which you can enjoy watching in English, of course.

▽Have you completed the Dragon Ball movies?▽

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About Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball, written by the famous Akira Toriyama, was serialized on the manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump between 1984 and 1995. The action adventure manga has led the genre of action manga as the pioneer producing the ideas of unique battle techniques like Kamehameha and quantified character’s power.

The legendary anime franchise consists of some major parts: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Kai and Dragon Ball Super.

The first season of an anime adaption as Dragon Ball follows the story of the original manga until the middle of the vol.17. The Protagonist Son Goku in his boyhood goes on his journey in search of the seven Dragon Balls and develops his martial arts skills there.

Dragon Ball Z was adapted from the rest of the manga story. The Saiyans come to the earth and Goku understand he is one of the Saiyans coming from outside. The Super Saiyan transformation and the Goku’s two sons Gohan and Goten are depicted in Dragon Ball Z. As the remaster anime of Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Kai was broadcasted with over 150 episodes from 2009 to 2015.

This story is followed by Dragon Ball Super, which started its publication and anime series from 2015. It is set in the world after the battle with Majin Buu ends and peace in the earth is restored. The recent anime movie Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013) and Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ (2015) are related to the world of Dragon Ball Super.

Dragon Ball GT was made as the sequel anime of Dragon Ball Z though it was not exactly directed or written by Akira Toriyama. The setting of the story is 5 years after the end of Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball GT centers on the three characters: Goku who is transformed into a kid due to the power of Dragon Balls, Trunks (the son of Vegeta and Bulma) and Pan (the daughter of Gohan and Videl).

▶︎Check the anime series of Dragon Ball!

▶︎Check the manga series of Dragon Ball!

▶︎Check the manga box of Dragon Ball!

▶︎Check the manga box of Dragon Ball Z!

If you have not watched any of the series, just try them at first. And then, let’s enjoy the manga and anime like Dragon Ball below.

1. One Piece

One Piece, the ongoing adventure manga and anime series, is one of the masterpieces of Shonen Jump as well as Dragon Ball. The manga has been read the most all over the world since it started in 1997 and was adapted into the anime in 1999.

The story of One Piece centers on the Straw Hat Pirates consisting of the protagonist Monkey D. Luffy, the Samurai Roronoa Zoro, the navigator Nami, the sniper Usopp, the ship chef Sanji, etc. Luffy goes on a voyage with his crews to become the King of the Pirates and find the ultimate treasure “One Piece”.

If you like the passionate character Goku, you will also like Luffy, who are considerate of friends and make their utmost efforts to developing their combat skills. Both Dragon Ball and One Piece focus on a variety of characters including villains.

▶︎Check the anime series of One Piece!

▶︎Check the manga series of One Piece!

▶︎Check the manga box of One Piece!

2. My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia (僕のヒーローアカデミア) is a popular ongoing anime and manga with the theme of superhero on Weekly Shonen Jump, published from 2014. It has been adapted into several seasons of anime series since 2016.

There are a variety of heroes who have supernatural abilities called Quirks to fight against Villains. My Hero Academia centers on a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, and his growing-up story with other heroes is depicted in the manga and anime.

You can see the powerful battle scenes of the heroes and villain characters’ supernatural techniques like Dragon Ball.

▶︎Check the anime series of My Hero Academia!

▶︎Check the manga series of My Hero Academia!

3. One-Punch Man

One-Punch Man (ワンパンマン) is one of the most recommended manga and anime series like Dragon Ball. At first, it was released as an action and comedy manga online in 2009, and an anime adaption has started since 2015.

The main character superhero named Saitama who never looks cool beat any enemy with a single punch. However strong the monsters and villains are, he defeats them with only one punch.

In addition to the strongest protagonist, various unique hero and opposite characters are depicted the same way as Dragon Ball.

▶︎Check the anime series of One-Punch Man!

▶︎Check the manga series of One-Punch Man!

4. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

The classic manga and anime series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険) is serialized on Ultra Jump with the latest title JoJolion. There are eight parts in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure from Phantom Blood to JoJolion. There are the five seasons of its anime adaption released from 2012, which cover until the sixth part Stone Ocean.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure follows mysterious adventures of the Joestar family. A main character varies by part but they all are the Joestar family. They battle e against the family’s rivals for over a century.

The first title Phantom Blood centers on Jonathan Joestar and the second Battle Tendency focuses on his grandson Joseph Joestar as Dragon Ball depicts the story of Goku and his sons Gohan and Goten.

▶︎Check the anime series of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure!

▶︎Check the manga series of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure!

5. Fist of the North Star

The classic martial arts manga series Fist of the North Star (北斗の拳) started its publication on Weekly Shonen Jump in 1983 which is the one year before Dragon Ball was released on the same magazine. The manga was read by lots of action manga fans for about five years, and it is still one of the most famous manga in Japan. Several anime adaptions were made from 1984.

Is set in the ruined world after a worldwide nuclear war in the end of the 20th century. The main character named Kenshiro is the successor of an ancient martial art of assassination called Hokuto Shinken. He survives the world battling with villains to save his fiancee Yuria.

▶︎Check the anime series of Fist of the North Star!

▶︎Check the manga series of Fist of the North Star!

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If you like Dragon Ball manga and anime, this list should help you to find the next one. For more recommended manga and anime, check these best lists below!

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