DBZ 'ripoffs': Are they really ripoffs?

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bugz =)

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There's something that's been bugging me for the longest time. People keep saying that Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, and Yu Yu Hakusho suck and that they are DBZ ripoRAB. Those people infuriate me. Do they know how influential Dragonball actually was? Furthermore, I don't see any drastic comparisons from what I can tell. DBZ was strictly fighting; Nothing truly complicated, just fighting. The other four have strong character devlopment and emotional scenes and all of this other stuff added in. So characters being one-dimensional is the only way to please those morons? Is it illogical to be 'emo' from being treated like a monster for 12 years or seeing you family murdered at childhood by a sibling?


As for characters, they say that Naruto Uzumaki sucks.......THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT!!! He's supposed to be the least likely candidate to be a ninja so that he can prove everyone wrong. Like most people, HE DOESN'T care WHAT ANYONE (including the viewer/reader) THINKS OF HIM. Hell, that's one reason I still watch that show.

Luffy: Similar reasons as Naruto. Least fitting candidate to be a Pirate, which is the whole point.



As for the series, it's all about the bigger picture of things. One Piece is about the adventure, Naruto is about a boy's quest for respect in a world that hates him, Yu Yu Hakusho is about a deliquient turning into a good guy via forcing him to perform good deeRAB, and Bleach........I got nothing right now.


Your thoughts, anyone?
 
You know, the only show I've ever considered anything like DBZ was G Gundam

But seriously, I think that there are always going to be elements similar to Dragonball Z in shounen the same way that there will always be elements of...let's say, Sailor Moon in magical girl anime. It's the way that it's presented that counts IMO.
 
I agree with that 100%. Fist of the North Star defined shounen fighting series and Dragonball perfected them.

EDIT: Sorry if I confused people. By perfecting I mean that it's obvious it would influence people and there would be similarities to it.
 
The thing is that DBZ was the first of its kind. So whenever people see somebody firing an energy blast they automatically say "Hey! This is a DBZ ripoff!" which isn't the case. Some may have gotten elements from DBZ such as the authors for One Piece and Naruto but they're not ripoRAB by any means.
 
Doesn't make much sense to call those other shounen action shows rip-oRAB if at most they were inspired by Dragonball at one point or another it's the general shounen formula constantly tweaked and modified. But when you think about it... Bleach is fighting Ghosts, YYH is fighting demons, Naruto is fighting martial artists... in Dragonball / DBZ all those types of foes exist along with aliens and other enemies... So how could that be ripping off DBZ?
 
I've always liked boiling series down to one point just to see how different the ideas can be. Now that you mention it....what is the single point that drives the story for bleach. I like that show, but I've noticed that there is something missing... maybe it's the single point? LOL
 
I think that Naruto sucks but that because to me he is a character who never rose to his potential and always came off as second string in his own manga( but that could just be the plot decaying causing those problems). I can see why people like him though.

Now to answer your question I think that anyone who says that any of those series are ripoRAB don't know jack. The reason why they Naruto and One Piece seem similar to DBZ is because the creators grew up watching and reading it and drew inspiration from it to help create their own mangas.
 
Right. Ignorance just really ticks me off. DBZ is the basic shounen formula. I've been reading the Naruto manga lately and I've gotta say, Shippuden proves that it is far from a DBZ rip-off. Just the length that the plot has developed is truly.........wow. I can't say too much about the other three because I don't know too much about Bleach beyond season 1, Yu Yu Hakusho beyond season 2 (sort of, I've seen a bit of Chapter Black), or One Piece beyond Baroque Works (sort of, it's kinda hazy to be honest, and I don't know what to call all the stuff that happened beforehand. I used to call it the 'Straw Hat Rucruitment' arc, but I dunno). DBZ was strictly fighting, not much to it. The other 4 I mentioned are more complex. That is the main difference, story structure. Dragonball, from what I can recall, had a good story (though I can't recall anything beyond Goku vs Tien).
 
No, they aren't ripoRAB. It's one thing to note a cliche or a theme from a specific genre manifesting itself, but I'll always be amazed by people that think that even stuff like Saint Seiya and G Gundam are DBZ clones because they have people powering up. Some just don't know any better, but some have been theoretically watching anime for years and don't really have an excuse.
 
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