Dragon Ball Z Is Still The Greatest Anime Of All Time Because It Breaks Every Single Rule Of Shonen Storytelling
By Published Apr 19, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT Branson is a Senior Writer for ScreenRant. Anime has been a major part of his life since he was able to raise his hands in the air for a Spirit Bomb. As a journalist, Branson focuses heavily on listicles and op-eds detailing the industry's greatest shonen series. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
Most shōnen series follow the same unwritten rules. The main character doesn't start as the strongest around, but eventually, they become number one. They rarely lose fights, and if they do, they become significantly stronger or smarter because of their loss.
There are a ton of rules series like One Piece, Naruto, and more follow, and yet, arguably the greatest shōnen series ever made follows none of them. is unquestionably one of the most influential anime series of all time, and it might be the king of shōnen because it doesn't follow all of these unwritten rules.
Dragon Ball breaks the mold through a couple of key changes that separate it from the competition. Most of these rules are created in order to help a series out, but Dragon Ball might prove that true greatness comes from ignoring these guidelines and doing your own thing.
Dragon Ball Is Still Interesting After 40 Years
Most shōnen series know when it's time to call it quits. Sometimes, the decision is made for them, as fans have run out of interest for what was once one of their favorite series. Dragon Ball destroys that rule, existing as one of .
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Dragon Ball has recently celebrated 40 years through both its manga and anime. It's a ridiculous feat that isn't even worth comparing to other shōnen series, as most can barely get a second season, let alone literal decades of screen and page time.
One Piece is the only other true comparison to this feat, as Eiichiro Oda's masterpiece has accumulated more than 1,000 episodes and doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.
The Series Creates and Ignores Plot Holes Frequently
Dragon Ball was never meant to be the decade-spanning series it is. What started as a simple story about a boy with a tail learning martial arts and chasing after the titular Dragon Balls turned into a massive, multiverse-spanning saga that nobody could have seen coming.
Because Dragon Ball is absolutely massive in scale, there are that the series has created along the way. Some are fairly mundane, like Piccolo starting the series as a demon, becoming an alien in Dragon Ball Z, and then becoming a demon once again in Dragon Ball DAIMA.
One of the most important plot holes, however, is the reintroduction of Super Saiyan 4 into the main canon. Goku was able to achieve the legendary form in Dragon Ball DAIMA, but if DAIMA happens before Dragon Ball Super, then why didn't Goku use this form to fight Beerus? It's an odd plot hole that, hopefully, the new Dragon Ball Super: Beerus series will rectify.
The Biggest Moments Are The Fights
This might seem counterintuitive, but in a genre defined by fights, the biggest moments aren't usually the fights themselves. The biggest moments are almost always small, subtle character moments that define both the characters in them and the series themselves, and Dragon Ball, yet again, couldn't be more different.
isn't Gon's fight against Pitou, nor is it Netero's fight against Mereum: it's either Gon finally meeting Ging or Mereum pointing Pitou's location out to Gon. Both moments are smaller in scale than the massive fights they precede or come after, but they tell the viewer more about the story than anything else.
Dragon Ball rarely has these moments. The biggest, most climactic, and most substantial moments come during the fights themselves. Goku handing the reigns over to Gohan as Earth's protector happens during the Cell fight, and Goku's amazing speech about being the Hope of the Universe happens during the Frieza fight.
Even Toriyama Doesn't Really Know What's Going to Happen
Akira Toriyama is the creator of the Dragon Ball franchise and a near mythical figure in the world of anime and manga. His series has shaped not only shōnen, but anime as a whole, and the art form wouldn't be the same without him. While most authors have some idea as to where their series is headed, there were a few moments in which Toriyama had no idea what was going to happen.
Toriyama famously wanted to kill off Vegeta. He saw the Prince of all Saiyans as a one-off villain but kept him around because of how overwhelmingly popular he became. He also wanted to end the series after the Cell Saga, but his editors convinced him to keep going.
Toriyama also had no idea that Dragon Ball would become the cultural phenomenon that it is today, and he did an amazing job keeping it going for so long.
The Franchise Is Retconned Constantly
For the same reason that it has a lot of plot holes, Dragon Ball is retconned pretty frequently. The series implements a lot of rules it doesn't follow later in the franchise, and that's probably because it never thought it would last as long as it has.
Most of the retcons aren't a big deal, and one of them is actually good. Broly's reintroduction into Dragon Ball is the best retcon in years. He might've been one of the most beloved villains in the franchise when he was first introduced to the series in Dragon Ball Z, but now, he's looking better than ever.
One of the most egregious and frustrating retcons has to be Future Trunks' design. His original design in Dragon Ball Z is easily a franchise high, and his redesign is terrible. His purple hair was iconic, and for seemingly no reason, it got changed to a dull blue. If only Dragon Ball will make another retcon and bring back his original character design.
Goku's Ultimate Attack Might Be His Worst
Every anime character has an ultimate or signature attack. Goku uses a ton of attacks in Dragon Ball, but there are two that he's known for more than most: the Kamehameha and the Spirit Bomb. They're two of , at least on the surface.
Goku's Spirit Bomb is his ultimate attack. It's the attack he uses when all else fails, and he needs to do whatever it takes to destroy his enemy. His Spirit Bomb is his worst attack statistically, however, as it fails more than it succeeds.
Goku has most recently used this attack on Jiren in the Tournament of Power Saga, and Jiren deflected it like it was nothing. Luckily, Goku was able to absorb its power and tap into the Ultra Instinct transformation, but Jiren's dismissal of his supposed strongest attack isn't a good sign for the Saiyan warrior.
Death Is Meaningless
There's no series that treats death as flippantly as Dragon Ball does. Death means absolutely nothing in this franchise; if anything, Goku dies to get some time away from his family so he can focus on training. There isn't a single character who has died in Dragon Ball that can't be brought back to life, and some characters have been brought back to life more than once.
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Goku has died several times throughout the franchise. He's been killed by Piccolo trying to defeat Raditz, Cell during the Cell Games, and Hit during the Universe 6 arc, although he revived himself after Hit killed him.
Goku, Krillin, and Vegeta have been brought back by the Dragon Balls, and if something were to happen to them again, the Dragon Balls would probably be used in an instant.
Goku Rarely Wins Important Fights
One of the biggest rules in shōnen is that the main character wins the big fights. Naruto defeated Pain, Gon defeated Pitou, and Luffy has beaten his fair share of Warlords, Emperors, and everyone in between. Goku, however, has rarely won a fight that he's participated in.
Goku has lost to way more villains than he's defeated. He died to defeat Raditz (with Piccolo's help), only beat Vegeta because of Yajirobe and Krillin, lost to Cell, lost to Beerus, lost to Jiren, and lost to Broly before fusing with Frieza. On the surface, it makes , but it makes sense after a deeper take.
Dragon Ball is all about friendships and relying on the people around you. Vegeta has the best character arc in the franchise because he learns to rely on others. If Goku were to win everything on his own, it would make Dragon Ball boring. The fact that he loses makes Dragon Ball the titan of shōnen that it is, and we wouldn't want it any other way.
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