Will there ever be a series as big/popular as DBZ?

Mikasa said:
@guy who can't spell
HxH sold more if you do the math. With number of volumes, momentum of continuity, it is marginally more successful than the other two

RedRoseFring said:
I guess I should also debunk that atrocious ratings argument.

Comparing ratings of 20 years ago to ratings now would obviously have huge discrepancies. Even the top ratings of today do not compare to those of the past due to many factors including availability through other media.

If you account for those differences just like with inflation for movies, then DBZ still doesn't compare to Sazae-san and the like.
Even the current DBS anime is below One Piece and Detective Conan in ratings.

I don't think anyone here has argued that DBZ is probably more known than most other anime, but there is a big difference between being known and being liked or successful.

FGAU1912 said:


G13 has been on longer hiatus and still has lagher sales than HxH

both touch and slam dunk have both been over for at lest 10 years and thay both have lager sales than
HxH
http://www.mangazenkan.com/ranking/books-circulation.html

Mikasa said:


You're not very clever are you?

I said continuity, Slam Dunk didn't run through 2-year hiatuses over the span of almost 20 years. It had clean runs that built momentum.


And another important factor that plays into this is also worldwide adaptation. Dubs. If HxH also had the dub runs of as many countries as the rest that is. Overall, if you understand what relativity is, you'd know hxh is more successful

ghoul91 said:


"TV ratings"

Im not talking about the TV ratings, I was talking about how FAMOUS and WELL KNOWN and IMPACTFUL DBZ is. In these aspects no other show comes close tbh.
What impact did Chibi Marwhatever had? Who has heard about that show outside of Japan?

get rekt

Grey-Zone said:
Cold Hard Facts (without any "interpretations", years can be off by up to 1 year each due to rounding all down)


Timeline

1984: Dragon Ball manga starts

1986: Dragon Ball anime starts
1989: Dragon Ball anime ends, Dragon Ball Z anime starts

1995: Dragon Ball manga ends

1996: Dragon Ball Z ends, Dragon Ball GT starts
1997: Dragon Ball GT ends


1997: One Piece mangas starts
1999: One Piece anime starts


2009: Dragon Ball Kai 1 starts
2011: Dragon Ball Kai 1 ends
2014: Dragon Ball Kai 2 starts
2015: Dragon Ball Kai 2 ends, Dragon Ball Super anime starts, Dragon Ball Super manga starts

currently ongoing:
One Piece manga
One Piece anime
Dragon Ball Super anime
Dragon Ball Super manga





Total runtime rounded by years

Dragon Ball manga: 11 years
One Piece manga: 18 years
Dragon Ball anime (including GT): 13 years
One Piece anime: 16 years





Age of franchise

Dragon Ball: 31 years
One Piece: 18 years

Grey-Zone said:
One thing to consider is that in the U.S. One Piece was licensed... by 4kids... I mean 4kids!

No one can say that that had "no effect" on the success (or rather failure) of One Piece in the US...

RedRoseFring said:
Oh boy, what has this thread become?

Anyway, you will first have to define what you mean by popularity. If you simply mean that people know it, then that is useless.
Hitler and Satan are very well-known names, but that doesn't mean that they are


In fact, a lot of the people that know about DBZ actually hate it, and a fair amount of them would not even have watched the full series or more than a couple of episodes, or even remember much beyond childhood.

If you then settle for the big portion in the thread title, there are many series much bigger than DBZ. Sazae-san in ratings and One Piece in sales for instance.

Popularity is a complex social phenomenon with no agreed upon definition. It can be defined in terms of liking, attraction, dominance, superiority, etc.

Grey-Zone said:
Actually, does anyone know what the top10 or so most sold manga VOLUMEs are in Japan and/or worldwide?

ashfrliebert said:
Can't really say I know world wide though, but I'm pretty sure here in America--Dragon Ball is much more well-known than One Piece-I do believe even Naruto is more well known. And I do believe Dragon Ball has sorta introduced most non-native people to anime, or at least from what I've seen.

FGAU1912 said:

http://www.mangazenkan.com/ranking/books-circulation.html

Grey-Zone said:

I guess I didn't convey it properly: What I actually mean is what SINGLE VOLUMEs were sold the most.

Risara said:
One Piece probably will in due time.

keragamming said:


That doesn't seem to be the case, since a lot of people in these time are turn off by series with a lot of episode. A lot of people don't have time to get into a series with hundreds of episode.

TheBrainintheJar said:
People are for more aware of Pokemon in my experience. It has a wider appeal with its less macho attitude, its video games and variety of Pokemon design. Many people are aware of DBZ but it's too macho for wide appeal

Attack on Titan and Death Note also seem to interest outsiders far more than DBZ. They're the type of 'serious anime' with a unique enough idea that captures outsiders.
[b]
I hope DBZ will get outshined. I remember it being very aimless and too macho to have anything interesting.

Isterio said:
When the Government of Japan deems the series a national treasure and gives it his own day. May the 9th is officially recognized as Goku day, referencing Dragon Ball.

No other series reached that amount of recognition One Piece maybe will, the end.

As for impact, people could argue about Miyazaki or Gundamn,yet none of those got a special day dedicated to them though the goverment, neither are they as widely known on a global scale or produce the same amouns of Merchandise.

Dragon Ball is the Star wars of Japan,like it or hate it, it´s part of global culture now, other series with Tv ratings in the 50s aren´t recongnizeable like this.

Isterio said:
[/b]

Bad thing that this world is governed by Matchos that put it on a pedastal, that´ll only maybe will be reached by shows copying it´s concept like Naruto or One Piece.

Pokemon is mainly a game and one of the biggest global franchises, still it´s Anime is just a byproduct.

DrGeroCreation said:


All the countries in green DBZ has been broadcasted in.




http://www.saiyanisland.com/2012/09/dragon-ball-z-2013-movie-receiving-government-funding/


https://www.thecnl.com/FunimationDec2014Catalog.pdf

"Dragon Ball Z is the number 1 selling anime brand of all time. Over 25 million DVDs and Blurays of the Dragon Ball franchise have been sold in the US." (Source: Nielsen Videoscan)

"Over 15 million videogames of the Dragon Ball franchise have been sold in the US with over 40 million sold worldwide."

"Over 5 billion in Dragon Ball merchandise has been sold worldwide."

DrGeroCreation said:
Pokemon is more popular worldwide but One Piece will never surpass DBZ worldwide.



LOL even Kai reks One Piece (uncensored One Piece) in the Toonami ratings

http://toonami.wikia.com/wiki/Toonami_Ratings

FGAU1912 said:


now you usinf tv ratings well db ofr a fact will nver repass op in manga sales and both Sazae san hold the world reaced for most epides of an anime show [ fact[ a one piece hold the record fr biggest selling comic by a sngle artist are ou going to debate that

DrGeroCreation said:
The Dragon Ball manga had higher manga sales but One Piece surpassed it because the Dragon Ball manga has been finished for years. If the manga was still ungoing I could see it surpassing One Piece. Sazae san is only popular in Japan. People only bring up manga sales but I bring up everything for worldwide popularity tv sales, video game sales etc.

-Mahesvara said:
OP in Japan and Naruto out in the west.

dhochoy said:
Naruto right now is the big cheese of anime/manga... in America.

ziggy_Z said:
Naruto is still not -- and never will -- be in the same stratosphere of popularity as DBZ.

ziggy_Z said:
Naruto is still not -- and probably never will -- be in the same stratosphere of popularity as DBZ.

StefanHere said:
in japan? probably
worldwide? never

Isterio said:


You can honestly argue that One Piece outdid Dragon Ball as a series in Japan only..
You can also argue Pokemon, Several Marval Heros, Several DC Heros,
Transformers and the Gundam franchise outdo Dragon Ball.

The question however was Anime. Not Franchise.
As for locations Global impact>national popularity.

Milk_is_Special said:

As for locations Global impact>national popularity.

Isterio said:
Dragonball itself wasn't that popular in the west either, dragonball Z however was the series that got popular.

FGAU1912 said:
m final commnet on HxH if you sales cannot bypass total sales of manga that have not been runbing for at lest 20 years then you fail hell osme of them have not benn running for 30 plus year

the sazae san manga fir example

Milk_is_Special said:


Find out yourself why this is a pointless claim

Isterio said:
You said series, not franchise, and with you saying Dragon Ball and not DBZ, I just pointed something out. Also, the global impact from Dragon Ball wasn't big, it was DBZ.

RedRoseFring said:


Lol. Come on.

DBZ recently had a movie in U.S cinemas and you think the advertisement doesn't matter? That's like saying the Pokemon games do not affect any of its other media.
DBZ has had many more years of advertisement than any of the big 3 or other anime not in its time period. It was one of the few defining anime of that time to have a successful run on Cartoon Network when the draw of TV was still so strong.

The fact of the matter is that the time period helped to shape the popularity, and being one of the very first anime Westerners were exposed to, it's no surprise the hold it has on many, even those that cite nothing more than nostalgia for themselves.

Even then, people born nowadays and the newer generation are not nearly as enthralled with it. Even here on MAL it is not even among the top 30 popular anime on the site, and it isn't high on any of the favourite's lists either. Most of them know little about it beyond memes and images, and that could hardly be classified as adoration.

Which brings us back to the point: you have to make up your mind how you are defining popularity. Is it simply being known? Or is actually being liked?
Success or being "big" on the other hand is defined by the numbers, and in that case there are quite a few that outshine popularity.

DrGeroCreation said:
Pokemon is more popular worldwide but One Piece will never surpass DBZ worldwide.



LOL even Kai reks One Piece (uncensored Funimation One Piece not 4Kids One Piece) in the Toonami ratings

http://toonami.wikia.com/wiki/Toonami_Ratings