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The Influence of the Big 5 in Manga

Any manga reader as well as many other people could name you the names of the 5 largest names in the manga industry. Fairy Tail, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach. But how much of what we read is influenced by these iconic mangas and the elements they include? Just how much have these action packed, butt-kicking mangas warped the world of modern manga?

  • There's a lot to be said with a topic like this. You could even narrow the scope and just analyze how Dragon Ball has had an influence on all the others, because each of the other manga has drawn influence from Dragon Ball as the precursor. Manga and anime in later years have put more emphasis on the fighting aspect, but you still have big-breasted women, fan-service chapters/episodes, the main character frequently deus ex's themselves to stronger abilities, etc. – Nayr1230 8 years ago
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  • I agree that you need to narrow down your topic. There has been many influential mangas for different genres, so it would be important to limit the scope. I think you are focusing on the battle manga, such as Dragon Ball, which may require examination of other classics like The Fist of Northern Stars, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Sakigake Otokojuku, and others. – idleric 8 years ago
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  • Narrow your topic. For example, the tournament preparation and event theme in Dragon Ball is something mimicked in other popular anime's targeted towards a similar audience (for me, HunterxHunter). – JMIWrites 8 years ago
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  • It can easily be said that most of modern manga was inspired off of Dragon Ball, HunterxHunter and Yu Yu Hakasho. Super power manga as followed the same formula for almost 2 decades, perhaps longer, and I can say that a lot overlaps. However with the new manga, for example Boku no hero Academia, there are some traits that add a rejuvenated feel to it. – Khaotix 8 years ago
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  • Your question itself is weird. Those "5 big" aren't in any way the most largest names in the manga industry. Except maybe on the US market. However, Dragonball is the most important manga of your list since he basically is the reason why all the others exist: Manga wouldn't even be a thing in western world without Dragonball. So to put it in an other way: "How much did Dragonball influence One piece, Naruto, Fairy tail and Bleach". Here is your answer: cinematographic sequences, pacing and editing of the scenes, power-ups, Nakama power, awesome Deus ex machina, tournaments, charismatic allies, bad guys who turn into friends, stylish battles, transformations, VEGETA and EXPLOSIONS. An interesting question would be: "Which other manga influenced them?": Kishimoto (writer of Naruto) took his inspiration from Dragon ball (DB), Jojo's bizarre adventure (JJBA), Japanese mythology, Ninku and Ghost in the Shell, and in turn inspired none except black clover and my hero academia maybe. Fairy tail is basically a cluster*** of everything that has ever been successful in pop-culture (#fanservice), which explains it's popularity. One piece is here thanks to western cartoons (Tex avery), JJBA and DB. Bleach was inspired by DB, Saint-seiya, samourai movies, Japanese folklore. "What is the most influencable Shonen nekketsu manga ever?": Ashita no joe. A pioneer and a masterpiece – Tracel 7 years ago
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