Akira Toriyama's enduring influence on shonen manga and anime is a feat that will be hard to replicate in the future, and his untimely death was a tragedy that was mourned all across the world. With Dragon Ball, Toriyama inspired an entire generation of manga artists to follow in his footsteps, with one of the most successful among them being Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto.

One of the most prominent visual parallels between Dragon Ball and Naruto can be seen in the similarities between the character designs of Goku and Vegeta, alongside Naruto and Sasuke, who are among the most identifiable characters in manga and anime history. On this note, let's dive into how Dragon Ball helped foster another iconic shonen rivalry whose influence has grown to become nearly as impressive as the one that sparked its creation.

Related

What Was The Best Story Arc In Naruto?

With so many thrilling narrative segments comprising its story, which arc represents the pinnacle of Masashi Kishimoto's work on the series?

How Naruto Was Influenced By Dragon Ball

Akira Toriyama's Impact On Masashi Kishimoto

It is no secret that Akira Toriyama's work had a huge influence on Masashi Kishimoto during his formative years, beginning with Dr. Slump, which was soon followed by Dragon Ball. The latter series would have the largest effect on Kishimoto's approach to being a manga artist, from his art style and character designs, to his use of world-building and the narrative structures he employed.

Originally, Naruto was conceived with an adventure theme in mind, much like the first arc of Dragon Ball, where Team 7 were supposed to embark on journeys and missions while encountering shinobi from other villages in the process. While the Prologue — Land of Waves Arc echoed certain aspects of this idea, it soon turned into a narrative segment that was focused on fights, written in a way that prioritized strategy and deception over brute force, which would become Kishimoto's signature in due time.

Not too long after, Naruto took another leaf from Dragon Ball's book and jumped into a tournament arc with the Chunin Exams. Although Kishimoto has been quoted saying that it was not part of his original plan and occurred due to his editor's wish, the Chunin Exams Arc posited an extremely clever reinvention of the tournament arc format.

Eventually, this segment would go down as one of the best story arcs in the entire series. From these instances, it is easy to see how Dragon Ball influenced Naruto's narrative, but Akira Toriyama's impact on Kishimoto is also evident in the appearances and personas of the main rival pairings from both franchises.

Examining Naruto's Parallels With Goku

From Super Saiyan Color Scheme To Exuberant Personality

As the boisterous protagonists of two of the most well-known battle shonen series in history, Naruto Uzumaki and Son Goku have a lot in common, even on a superficial level. Both characters are loud, outgoing, and ambitious, but can be quite dense when it comes to social cues or grasping complex explanations. That being said, they excel under pressure and can comprehend concepts quite well through hands-on learning.

Both characters are also exceptionally pure of heart and have the rare ability to draw others towards them, through acts of genuine kindness and compassion. When it comes to their designs, there is no mistaking the fact that Naruto's color scheme was derived from Goku's appearance as a Super Saiyan, with his blonde hair, blue eyes, as well as his orange and blue tracksuit being obvious nods to Toriyama's work.

Related

Naruto: How Rock Lee And Neji Hyuga’s Rivalry Was Wasted

Built up but never realized, this contest between a natural genius and a determined hard worker never got the spotlight it needed to bloom.

While Kishimoto did away with the blue in favor of an orange and black design in Part II of Naruto, the subsequent jinchuriki transformations Naruto underwent, could be taken as a more developed version of the Saiyans' Great Ape/ Oozaru form. Furthermore, the versions of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode Naruto unlocked during Part II have even more references to the numerous Super Saiyan forms, ranging from their golden auras, to the spiky flame-like hairstyles they featured.

Naruto was also depicted with soft expressions much like Goku for the most part, although his features would take on a more aggressive look when provoked in battle, just like Dragon Ball's protagonist. Even some of Naruto's techniques and power ups have precedents in Dragon Ball, ranging from the Rasengan resembling a palm-sized Spirit Bomb, to Sage Mode's ability to gather energy from other living beings. Looking at all this, it is intriguing to see how Kishimoto put his own spin on Toriyama's ideas to create something equally iconic.

Vegeta's Impact On Sasuke's "Rival" Persona

Brooding Anti-Heroes With Menacing Designs

Alternatively, the links between the two franchises are even more apparent when examining the similarities between Vegeta and Sasuke, who both embody the "rival" archetype that serves as a foil to the protagonist's character. Both have similar white and blue color schemes, with Sasuke's leg and arm warmers offering a less militaristic take on the boots and gloves of Vegeta's Saiyan armor.

Sasuke also has jet black hair that spikes upwards towards the rear, with a widow's peak and split bangs at the front. Theee are some very obvious references to Vegeta's own spiky-haired silhouette here, along with his prominent widow's peak, which are some of the defining traits of his character's appearance. Both Sasuke and Vegeta also have sharp, angular faces drawn in a perpetual scowl, which intensifies the harshness of their features.

Even when sizing up their personalities, it is not too hard to spot how alike the pair are to one another. Sasuke and Vegeta are both among the few survivors of their respective clans/races in the aftermath of tragedies that wiped out most of their kinsmen. Moreover, the two characters display immense pride in their heritage as well as their own natural talent, refusing to acknowledge themselves as being inferior to anyone.

They seldom smile or appear cheerful, and possess a sense of humor that is sarcastic or, at times, even condescending, which illustrates how much influence Kishimoto drew from Toriyama in creating the perfect counterpoint for his protagonist. In more ways than one, Naruto owes a lot to Dragon Ball, in terms of its narrative structure, character archetypes, and world building, but it is through the designs of its main duo — Naruto and Sasuke — that these parallels find a visual medium to be expressed.

Naruto is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

Naruto

Animation

Action

Adventure

A popular shonen anime based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga, Naruto follows its eponymous shinobi's journey as he goes from his town's outsider to its hero.

Release Date

October 2, 2002

Studio

Pierrot

Creator

Masashi Kishimoto

Number of Episodes

220

Streaming Service(s)

Crunchyroll , Hulu , Netflix , YouTube

Watch on Amazon