At its best, the anime really does outdo the manga. There are a couple of fights that really get in upgrade in the anime adaptation. That said, it’s hard to compete with Toriyama’s fight choreography and Toei’s attempts to adding to it often bog fights down. At that point, reading the manga is much preferable.
10 Anime: Yamcha Versus Mummy-Kun
In the manga, Yamcha’s taken out rather easily by Mummy-kun. His face isn’t even seen in the panel where he ends up forfeiting. While Yamcha fights cleverly, it ultimately isn’t enough to do anything significant against Mummy-kun. The anime isn’t much different, but it changes one key detail: Yamcha perseveres.
He fights back and he fights back hard here. Mummy-kun still ends up bodying him regardless, but Yamcha puts up a considerably more impressive fight. This defeat isn’t handled shamefully, though. While modern Dragon Ball has embraced mocking Yamcha, the series still respected him to some extent this early on.
9 Manga: Goku Versus Tao Pai Pai
One of the most important fights in all of Dragon Ball, Tao Pai Pai’s introduction marks a turn for the more dramatic. Not just that, it’s shocking to see Goku lose so definitively. Were it not for his grandfather’s Dragon Ball blocking Tao Pai Pai’s Dodonpa, Goku would’ve died. Their rematch has even more weight to it since Goku trains so diligently with Karin leading up to it.
On the flip side, the anime absolutely butchers their fight by jamming in filler where Tao Pai Pai climbs up Karin Tower to demand his own power up. It’s a complete waste of time and kills all the momentum, ruining one of the Red Ribbon Army arc’s best moments.
8 Anime: Yamcha Versus Tenshinhan
It’s not often that Dragon Ball lets Yamcha stand in the spotlight, but it’s always a treat when he’s given the opportunity to shine. Yamcha’s match against Tenshinhan during the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai is plenty good in the manga, but the anime makes it a proper spectacle, even giving Yamcha his own theme song.
It’s almost prophetic. There was no way the anime could’ve known it, but this ends up being Yamcha’s last real moment of relevance. He fights God in the next tournament, but he’s very explicitly a side character by that point. The anime’s version of this fight reinforces the idea of Yamcha as a member of the core cast— which he truly was for a long time.
7 Manga: Goku Versus Majunior
Although Dragon Ball Z formally opens with the Saiyan arc, Z’s staff began working on the anime adaptation around the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. Traits that would become part of Dragon Ball Z’s signature style— slower paced fights, long power up sequences— are rooted here. The anime dedicates half an episode to a single Kamehameha.
The manga, on the other hand, uses each chapter brilliantly, telling a cohesive story throughout the battle. The anime is so haphazardly paced that it can’t really compete with the manga version. Akira Toriyama is in rare form throughout the arc, and he only gets better as he transitions into the Saiyan arc.
6 Anime: Tenshinhan Versus Drum
The Demon King Piccolo arc does Tenshinhan real dirty. After winning the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai and spending pretty much the entire arc learning the Mafuba, he accidentally breaks the rice cooker and has to abandon the plan altogether. Piccolo creates Drum, Drum beats Tenshinhan up, and Goku saves the day.
That’s only in the manga, though. The anime actually has Tenshinhan successfully pull off a Mafuba, briefly locking Durm away. It’s not ideal since the rest of the arc plays out pretty much as written in the manga (at least as far as the final fight goes,) and Tenshinhan ends up contributing little.
5 Manga: Vegeta Versus Recoome
In general, the fight against Recoome isn’t bad in the anime. It’s visceral, bloody, and serves as a nice change of pace from the early Namek espionage. The reason this fight is better in the manga isn’t due to any flaws in the anime version. Rather, it’s due to Toriyama’s strengths as a mangaka.
The fight between Vegeta in Recoome ends up being such a smooth read. Toriyama’s fight choreography grabs the eye and naturally takes it from point to point, conveying so much information in a single panel. Toriyama captures action in such a mesmerizing way on Namek that the anime was just never going to compete.
4 Anime: Gohan Versus Buutenks
The manga doesn’t even bother pretending that Gohan’s going to be able to stop Buu and save the day. It’s rather disappointing considering the Buu arc opens with Gohan as the lead, but so be it. The manga version of this fight is fine, more tense than anything, but the anime fight does try to humor the idea of a final battle between Gohan and Buutenks.
The two even strike Goku and Vegeta’s signature poses from the Saiyan arc. Heavy handed, but weirdly charming for a series that would rarely indulge in that type of fan service (back then.) Plus, the fight is just expanded on considerably, allowing Gohan to actually pull off some decent stunts in his Ultimate form.
3 Manga: Goku Versus Freeza
Goku versus Freeza is notoriously one of the longest anime fights of all time, if not the longest. It’s three hours long and exhausting for all the wrong reasons. The first half is fine, but it all falls apart once Goku turns Super Saiyan. The manga doesn’t suffer the same fight. It’s still a long fight, but it’s better paced and each chapter serves a very distinct purpose.
Not just that, the manga format allows the action to move much faster. That alone helps things considerably, but Toriyama writers Goku and Freeza’s dialogue in a very snappy manner that the anime’s direction doesn’t capture. There’s a lot of good banter at play that’s missed by the anime’s emphasis on taking things slow.
2 Anime: Goku Versus Pure Buu
By no means a bad fight in the manga, Goku versus Pure Buu is a good note for Goku to go out on as far as his serious fighting is concerned. His next fight is against Uub and it’s more a skirmish than anything. The anime decides to play the moment up a bit more, allowing Goku to fight as a Super Saiyan 2.
It’s honestly incredible. Most of this fight is filler, but it’s seriously the best filler Toei has ever produced for the series. The manga version is stellar, but the adaptation knocks the fight out of the park. In terms of animation and choreography, the anime’s Buu arc goes out on a high.
1 Manga: Goku Versus Cell
Goku’s fight against Cell in the anime has some rough moments. It’s not all that pretty, but it gets the job done. The manga version on the other hand is a love letter to Son Goku, a fight that exists to highlight the martial artist’s best qualities before he dies sacrificing himself later on in the arc.
Toriyama puts so much care and detail into every panel that this becomes one of the smoothest fights to read in the entire manga. There are few distractions, instead placing emphasis almost entirely on the action. The anime just can’t compete with Toriyama’s mastery of the manga medium.
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